Tag:

aviation

The Air Warrior Combat Memorial, honoring ace pilot Robin Olds and air power, unveiled by the USAF Academy.

by Till Daisd June 10, 2023

As commander of cadets from 1967 to 1970, Robin Olds was a “triple ace” with 17 victories in both World War II and the Vietnam War. He served in the military for 30 years before retiring from the Air Force in 1973.

At the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, a $1.4 million memorial commemorating the first 100 years of aerial combat was inaugurated on October 1, 2021.

According to Ray Bowden, U.S. Air Force Academy Public Affairs, in the article “Academy honors air power, ace pilot Robin Olds with the memorial,” the Air Warrior Combat Memorial, which is located close to North Gate and Stadium Boulevards, includes a bronze statue of Brig. Gen. Robin Olds, a former commandant of cadets and pilot, as well as a model of an F-4 Phantom aircraft and displays highlighting the development of air power since World War I.

According to Greg Knedler, vice president of the class and constituent development for the school’s fundraising arm, the Academy Foundation, 368 donors together covered the full cost of the memorial, with the class of ’71 contributing 90% of it.

USAF Academy unveils Air Warrior Combat Memorial honoring ace pilot Robin Olds and air power — Above: The $1.4 million Air Warrior Combat Memorial was unveiled with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the U.S. Air Force Academy, on Oct. 1, 2021. The memorial, near North Gate and Stadium boulevards at the base, features a statue of the former commandant of cadets and ace pilot, Brig. Gen. Robin Olds, an F4 Phanton aircraft model and displays highlighting the advances of air power since World War I. Top image: United States Air Force Academy graduates, family members, and staff tour the just-unveiled Air Warrior Combat memorial at the Academy, Oct. 1, 2021. The $1.4 million memorial features a model of the F4 Phantom aircraft and a statue of ace pilot and former Academy commandant of cadets, Brig. Gen. Robin Olds.

The memorial is the culmination of an 11-year fundraising and design effort organized by the Class of ’71, according to retired Col. Frank Morgan, a 1971 Academy graduate and project chair.

After the class’s 40th reunion in 2011, “We were eating pizza and having a beer,” he said. “That’s how this started. We all knew we needed to do something.”

Morgan claimed that graduates from the Academy’s classes of ’63 and ’69 as well as private contributors all helped to the fundraising campaign. The Academy’s commandant of cadets and fighter pilot, Brigadier General Paul Moga, graduated from the institution in 1995. He claimed that Olds is the prototype for air power. Beside his office are pictures of each Academy commandant, but Olds’ picture is the one the commandant focuses on the most.

He chuckled, “I feel his eyes tracking me. According to Moga, Olds set a positive example for all Airmen and cadets with his “deep commitment to the Air Force, air power, and Airmen.” He claimed that the memorial serves as an illustration of the “grit, discipline, innovation, and courage” cadets must possess in order to succeed as warfighters.

Olds served as the commander of cadets from 1967 to 1970 and was a “triple ace” with 17 victories in World War II and the Vietnam War. He served in the military for 30 years before retiring from the Air Force in 1973.

Because his father served as a World War I pursuit pilot, a personal assistant to Brig. Gen. Billy Mitchell, and the commander of the first B-17 squadron, Robin Olds grew up surrounded by military aviators and airplanes. At West Point, where he studied, Robin Olds’ innate fearlessness helped him succeed on the football field; in 1942, he was chosen as an All-American tackle. Olds completed his studies in 1943, then he attended aviation training before flying the P-38 in Europe.

As a risk-taking pilot and natural leader, Olds distinguished out. He became the 479th Fighter Group’s first ace within a few months after downing five hostile aircraft. He received a major promotion and 434th Fighter Squadron command while he was just 22 years old. As the unit switched to P-51s, Olds continued his success, and he concluded the war with 12 victories.

Olds assumed control of the 8th TFW at Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base in the fall of 1966. Because of Olds’ charisma and bravery, his people admired him, and the “Wolfpack” became the USAF’s most effective MiG-killing wing in Southeast Asia under his command. The Red River Valley Fighter Pilots Association, which facilitated communication between USAF wings in Southeast Asia and developed into an enduring fraternal group, was also founded in large part thanks to Olds.

Robin Olds MiG Kill — Col. Robin Olds painting a victory star on the F-4 he was flying on May 4, 1967, when he shot down a MiG-21.

Olds took the initiative and flew on the most dangerous missions, sharing the risks with his aircrews. He was the first USAF pilot to use F-4s in Southeast Asia and achieve four combat wins. For his bravery in battle, he received numerous awards, including the Air Force Cross for a mission in August 1967 during which he led a strike force against North Vietnam’s fiercely guarded Paul Doumer Bridge.

Olds’ greatest accomplishment was organizing and directing Operation Bolo, which forced North Vietnamese MiG-21 pilots into an unfavorable air battle. Public access to the Air Warrior Battle Memorial is available during base visiting hours.

Photo by Trevor Cokley / U.S. Air Force

June 10, 2023 0 comment

History

The Hawaiian Air Depot scheme: the most peculiar B-17 Flying Fortress livery from WWII

by Till Daisd June 9, 2023

written by Till Daisd

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, it was decided that all B-17 Flying Fortress bombers stationed in Hawaii need better camouflage than the USAAC olive drab scheme

From December 1941 through the beginning of March 1942, both sides engaged in daily aerial combat in the South Pacific. A few understrength squadrons of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) put up a spirited fight as Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) flying boats and land-based bombers penetrated over huge distances.

The greatest impact, nevertheless, came from the aircraft carriers’ superior power.

Ships from the US Navy (USN), including a carrier task force, were traveling to the Fiji region in February 1942. According to Michael Claringbould and Peter Ingman in South Pacific Air War Volume 1, the USN was given 12 US Army Air Corps (USAAC) B-17E Flying Fortresses for the purpose of keeping an eye on them. These heavy bombers would be perfect for service in the Pacific because of their long range. Six aircraft from the 88th Reconnaissance Squadron (RS), one from the 38th RS, and five from the Bombardment Squadron were among the aircraft allotted, which were all stolen from Hawaii’s 7th Air Force (BS). The 14th RS, a composite squadron that had been redrawn, was assigned as its primary mission the defense of supply lines to Australia.

The Hawaiian Air Depot scheme, the most peculiar B-17 livery of the conflict, was worn by about half of these bombers. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, it was decided that all fortresses stationed in Hawaii required camouflage that was more effective than the USAAC olive drab scheme that was applied at the factory. As a result, all Fortresses then stationed at Hickam Field and others that traveled through the Hawaiian Air Depot (HAD) throughout December 1941 were quickly outfitted with an unofficial camouflage scheme. The design, which used the topside hues olive drab, dark sand, rust brown, light sand, and blue-grey, lacks official orders or technical requirements due to its ad hoc nature.

The simple availability of paint stocks at the depot at the time led to the selection of the colors. All HAD aircraft, unusually, also had the distinctive USAAC red and white striped rudder, without the prewar dark blue leading edge, and with “US ARMY” painted in bold, dark blue lettering on the undersides of the wings. A few weeks after arriving in Australia, the unusual rudder marking on all of 14’s RS Fortresses would be painted over in olive drab because it was felt that the marking made the aircraft stand out too much.

Major Richard “Dick” Carmichael, a 28-year-old University of Texas graduate and “ring knocker” (a Westpointer), headed the young, colorful squadron. Carmichael had a somber memory from his time as the 11’s BS deputy commander when he and his commanding officer had drowned while in a boating accident in Lake Yellowstone. Carmichael held onto the hull for hours before being rescued, barely making it to tell the tale. Afterward, he was given the position of leader.

The colorful Fortresses took off from Hickam Field and staged their way to Nadi airfield on Viti Levu, the main island of Fiji. A wide runway appreciated the characteristic colonial ambiance and the attractive, rising, green karst escarpment in the distance. The Fortresses would launch a series of prolonged searches and reconnaissance missions to a 700-mile range from this New Zealand-managed area. The B-17s completed 16 missions in five days in the middle of February.

South Pacific Air War Volume 1 is published by Casemate Publishing and is available to order here.

Photo by Casemate and War Thunder

The story of the Hawaiian Air Depot scheme, the most unusual B-17 Flying Fortress livery of World War II — The foremost B-17E Fortress sports the colourful Hawaiian Air Depot (HAD) scheme on a patrol from Nadi, Fiji, in mid February 1942.

June 9, 2023 0 comment

Military

Black shield

by Till Daisd June 8, 2023

written by Till Daisd

The first of a series of Silverjavelin-coded long-distance, high-speed, high-altitude test flights took place on January 27, 1965. In about one hour and forty minutes, article Number 129 flew the 2580 nautical miles, with one hour and fifteen minutes of that time spent traveling at speeds more than Mach 3.1. Also attained were cruising altitudes of between 75,600 and 80,000 feet.

On March 18, 1965, the heads of the CIA and DoD decided to start making preparations for flying the A-12 over communist China. All of the Agency’s project pilots met the requirements for Mach 3 before the year’s end. Oxcart would never fly sorties over the USSR or China, despite this near-state of preparedness, due to political sensitivities surrounding the overflight conundrum. Then, where was this expensive national security asset to pay for itself? A covert project with the codename Upwind appeared to contain one potential immediate solution.

In 1964, a KH-4 Corona space photo-reconnaissance satellite captured images of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, which some analysts thought to be an anti-ballistic missile installation. An A-12 would fly from the US into the Baltic Sea and meet up with a U-2, the latter of which was equipped to acquire electronic intelligence (ELINT). This composite mission was described in a highly classified proposal with the codename Project Scope Logic (with the confidential cryptonym Project Upwind). The A-12 would then travel north of Norway before turning around and traveling back south along the border with Soviet-Finnish. Before continuing west to the States, the pilot would travel west-southwest around the Baltic Sea, avoiding the coasts of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and East Germany.

The A-12 would need four aerial refuelings to accomplish the 11,000-mile flight, which would take eight hours and forty minutes. Although the high-speed, high-altitude target did not enter Soviet airspace, it was believed that it would cause Soviet radar operations to trigger the Tallinn system. High-resolution photos of the anti-ballistic missile site would be captured by the A-12’s Type 1 camera, while the more susceptible U-2 would remain out of range of the SA-2 and record the signal characteristics of the radar. Despite the idea’s backing from both Agency and DoD officials, Secretary of State Dean Rusk vehemently disagreed with it, and the powerful and covert “303 Committee” (which controlled covert operations) never forwarded the proposal to President Lyndon Johnson for his approval.

Cuba was another potential area of activity for Oxcart. Early in 1964, Project headquarters started making preparations for potential “contingency overflights” as part of the plan known as Skylark. Article Numbers 125, 127, 128, and 132, four of the thirteen A-12s now stationed at Area 51, were first designated as primary Skylark aircraft. Later, aircraft 129 and 131 were added to the group as a result of the installation of additional modifications. A consensus over the platForm vulnerability over the skies of Cuba, however, could not be reached during a meeting between Agency and government officials on September 15. As a result, it was decided that more research should be done.

Skylark was instructed to become operationally ready for emergencies by 5 November by Gen. Marshall S. Carter, Head of the National Security Agency, on 5 August 1965. Any emergency missions would have to be carried out below the A-12’s maximum capability (nearer to Mach 2.8) if security concerns required it. The aircraft would need to be deployed without its whole electronic countermeasures (ECM) arsenal in order to achieve this short deadline.

Although there was little time to prepare the aircraft, they were ready on the day specified by Gen. Carter with a restricted capacity. The Cuban contingencies were never used because, on September 15, 1966, the “303 Committee” decided not to send Oxcart on any reconnaissance missions to Cuba since they may be regarded as provocative and disturb the political calm that was already in place. Southeast Asia was now facing a more serious crisis, therefore it was given precedence.

On March 22, 1965, Brigadier General Jack Ledford briefed Deputy Secretary of Defense Cyrus Vance on Project Black Shield, which involved the deployment of Oxcart to the Japanese island of Okinawa in response to the growing SA-2 threat that U-2 and Firebee drone reconnaissance assets were now facing as they were making overflights over communist China. Although the President would need to personally approve such missions, Secretary Vance was willing to make $3.7 million available to build support facilities at Kadena Air Base. These facilities were to be completed by the fall of 1965.

On June 3, 1965, Secretary McNamara met with the Under Secretary of the Air Force to discuss the buildup of SA-2 missile sites near Hanoi and the potential for switching out the vulnerable U-2s that were conducting reconnaissance flights over the North Vietnamese capital for A-12s. He was told that if sufficient aircraft performance was confirmed, Black Shield may fly over Vietnam.

After a maximum endurance flight of six hours and twenty minutes was accomplished on November 20, 1965, the Silverjavelin validation procedure was finished. During this period, the A-12 showed sustained speeds beyond Mach 3.2 at altitudes close to 90,000 feet. Kelly Johnson accepted personal responsibility for making sure that the four A-12s chosen for Black Shield operations were entirely “squawk-Free.”

On December 2nd, 1965, a formal request to deploy Oxcart operations to the Far East was made to the “303 Committee.” However, the committee decided that all efforts should be made to create a quick-reaction capability for deploying the A-12 system within a 21-day window at any time after January 1, 1966. The idea was swiftly rejected.

The committee received multiple requests to put the Black Shield Operations Order into effect in 1966, but they were all denied. Nonetheless, crew training and testing went on, and the time needed to deploy the A-12s was further shortened from 21 to 11 days. Bill Park flew non-stop 10,200 miles in just over six hours on December 21, 1966, to further demonstrate the aircraft’s ability to perform long-range reconnaissance operations.

Nevertheless, only 15 days after Park’s proof-of-range flight, another plane crashed, this time killing pilot Walt Ray, bringing tragedy to the program. On January 5, 1967, at 11:50 a.m. (local time), Walt took off from Area 51 using his personal call sign, “Dutch 45.” He had just finished the final 30 minutes of a routine training and test sortie when he reported that his fuel consumption was unusually high. He radioed that he was down to 7500 pounds at 15:22 and said, “I don’t know where it’s gone.”

He reported that he was running low on fuel 30 minutes later while near Hanksville, Utah, and one minute later declared an emergency. At 1556 hours, he radioed that he was 130 miles from his destination, had only 4000 lbs. of fuel left, and was using it too quickly. Within 30 seconds, he said that the engines were blazing out. Five minutes later, he reported that the fuel low-pressure lights had turned on.

Walt made his last radio communication at 16:03, informing that both engines had burned out and that he was ejecting. Just 70 miles from Area 51, Article Number 125 (60-6928) had run out of fuel. Walt was killed when he hit the ground after “gliding” to a lower altitude and doing a controlled bale out because he was unable to detach his parachute from the ejection seat. Both the loss of an excellent pilot and a highly regarded cast member was sad.

The book Lockheed SR-71 Operations in the Far East is available to purchase here.

June 8, 2023 0 comment

History

F-15E used a 2000-pound laser-guided bomb to bring down an Iraqi Mi-24 attack helicopter

by Till Daisd June 8, 2023

written by Till Daisd

“I said, ‘There’s no chance the bomb will get him now,’ even though Dan was working hard to keep the laser spot on him. I got a good lock with my missile and was about to pickle off a Sidewinder when the bomb flew into my field of view on the targeting IR screen. There was a big flash, and I could see pieces flying in different directions. It blew the helicopter to hell, damn near vaporized it,” Richard T. Bennett, F-15E Strike Eagle Driver

The F-15E Strike Eagle is a two-seat, dual-role, fully integrated fighter for all-weather, air-to-air, and deep interdiction missions that was created to replace the General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark.

During Operation Desert Storm, the campaign that took place between January 17, 1991, and February 28, 1991, with the goal of rescuing Kuwait from the Iraqi assault, the F-15E saw its first action. The 335th Tactical Fighter Squadron (TFS, now 335th Fighter Squadron, FS) “Chiefs” F-15E Strike Eagle #89-0487, sometimes known as “487,” is credited with one of the most unusual air-to-air kills in aviation history during this combat.

On February 14, 1991, Capt. Richard T. Bennett, a pilot, engaged in an air battle. Weapon systems operator (WSO) Daniel B. Bakke achieved the first air-to-air victory for an F-15E Strike Eagle.

“On one flight, we used a laser-guided bomb [LGB] to shoot down a helicopter,” Bennet explained to Barry D. Smith for his article Tim Bennett’s War. “This occurred on February 14, Valentine’s Day. The mission was a Scud CAP [combat air patrol] in northwestern Iraq. During the Scud CAPs, we would look around with either the FLIR targeting pod or the radar to find the mobile Scuds. My wingman had twelve Mk. 82s and I had four GBU-10s-2,000-pound LGBs-four AIM-9s and two external fuel tanks. I was leading the flight.

“Our CAP time on this mission was 1:00 to 3:00 in the morning. We went up and hit the tanker and then proceeded north. Our patrol area started up at Al Qaim, near the Syrian border, and ran east about halfway to Baghdad, south to just beyond H-2, and then back to the Syrian border.

“The weather was bad that night, with clouds from about 4,000 feet to about 18,000 feet. We were cruising above the weather, waiting for AWACS [an E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft] or someone else to pass us some coordinates on some Scuds.

“AWACS gave us a call and said that a Special Forces team was in trouble. They had been found by the Iraqis, who were moving to cut them off. We had ten to fifteen Special Forces teams in the general area looking for Scuds. This team was about 300 miles across the border.

“Five Iraqi helicopters were in their area-about fifty miles to our west. As we headed in their direction, I put my wingman in a four-mile trail formation behind me because I had to go down through the weather. When I was about fifty miles from the team, Capt. Dan Bakke, my back-seater, began working the radar to look for the helicopters. We got contacts on them moving west to east, just like the AWACS had said.

“Dan and I started talking about what we were going to do. We knew there were helicopters down there, but if we were going to shoot them down, we wanted confirmation that they were bad guys. We called up AWACS, call sign Cougar, and asked them if there were any friendly helicopters in the area. The AWACS controller said, ‘We don’t have any friendlies in the area. Any helicopters you find, you are cleared to shoot.’

“We got a little closer and kept going down to get below the weather. I wanted to confirm, one more time, before we lost contact with AWACS, that these were definitely bad guys and not some of our Special Forces helicopters coming to get the team. We had a few based in Syria that would have been following the same general course and could have gotten to the area fairly quickly. AWACS confirmed there were no friendlies in the area.

“We continued to press in and were down to about 2,500 feet along the major road between Baghdad and the Syrian border. That area was always hot with a lot of AAA. I was working the radar, and Dan was working the high-resolution FLIR in the targeting pod to find the helicopters. When we popped out of the clouds fifteen to twenty miles from the team, Dan could see the helicopters with the pod. They were moving pretty much abreast, with the lead out in front in the middle. They were still moving west to east. They were moving and stopping at regular intervals.

“There was also a group of troops on the ground to the east of the team. We started getting AAA fire from these troops. To us, it looked as if they were trying to herd the team with the helicopters into the troops to the east. The helicopters were keeping an even distance from each other, and we figured they might be dropping off troops to help herd the team.

F-15E Driver explains how he shot down an Iraqi Mi-24 attack helicopter with a 2000lb laser-guided bomb — Mil Mi-24 Hind gunship

“The image on the pod was good enough to identify the helicopters as probable [Mi-24] ‘Hinds,’ five to ten miles out. Hinds can carry troops and are heavily armed with rockets and machine guns. As soon as the helicopters picked up and started moving, we were getting hits off them on the radar. The radar would stay locked on them when they were on the ground because the moving rotor blades were picked up.

“Dan and I discussed how we wanted to conduct the attack. We decided to hit the lead helicopter with a GBU-10 while he was on the ground. If we hit him, he would be destroyed. If he moved off before the bomb landed, it would still get the troops he just left on the ground. It would also give the other helicopters something to think about, which might give the team a chance to get away from the confusion. We would then circle around and pop the others as we could. We passed our plan to our wingman and told him to get the first helicopter he saw with an AIM-9.

“By this time, we were screaming over the ground, doing about 600 knots–almost 700 mph. The AAA was still coming up pretty thick. Our course took us right over the top of the Iraqi troops to the east of the team.

“[…] Dan was lasing the lead helicopter. We let the bomb go from about four miles out while the leader was on the ground. Because of our speed, it had a hell of a range on the it-more range than an AIM-9. I got AIM-9 guidance going and uncaged a Sidewinder. I was ready to fire the missile as soon as we were in range.

“Just as we released the bomb, the airspeed readout on the radar showed the target at 100 knots and climbing. The lead chopper had picked up and started moving. I said, ‘There’s no chance the bomb will get him now,’ even though Dan was working hard to keep the laser spot on him. I got a good lock with my missile and was about to pickle off a Sidewinder when the bomb flew into my field of view on the targeting IR screen.

“There was a big flash, and I could see pieces flying in different directions. It blew the helicopter to hell, damn near vaporized it.

“We sat there for a few seconds, just staring. By that time, the AAA was getting really heavy and the other helicopters were starting to scatter. I told my wingman to put three Mk. 82 500-pounders in that same spot to get any troops that the helos dropped off.

“We beat up the area with bombs and were going to circle around and come down on them again. I popped up above 10,000 feet and talked to AWACS to tell them what was going on. They said, ‘I understand you visually ID’ed that as an Iraqi helo.’

“I said, ‘No, it’s still dark out here, but I saw a FLIR image of what I took to be a Hind.’

“At that point, my stomach hit the floor. I told AWACS to get the AWACS commander on the radio. Dan and I were thinking, ‘We hit a friendly helo.’ But when we got the AWACS commander on the air, he confirmed that there were no friendlies in the area.

“With that confirmed, I told Dan, ‘OK, let’s go back down and get the rest of the helos.’ We got down low and the AAA was just as bad as before. The helicopters scattered and were running north. My wingman and I were sorting them out and waiting to get within the AIM-9 range. We were about ten miles behind and closing fast.

“I was running in on them and getting ready to be a hero and knock a few more down when, all of a sudden, I started seeing flashes on both sides of us. I thought, ‘What have they done? Here we are in the middle of a bunch of SAMs!’

“Then it hit me: Those weren’t SAMs. They were bombs! AWACS had sent another flight in and told them to drop bombs on a set of coordinates. Those coordinates happened to be us!”

Bennet concludes:

“I figured we had pushed our luck far enough, and we got the hell out of there. AWACS gave the orders to that other flight on another frequency. If it had been on ours, I would have heard the bombers’ side of the conversation and could have canceled the drop. I decided we had had enough for one day, but our night wasn’t over yet. We still had fifteen minutes left on our Scud CAP and were directed to a site near H-2. We found a mobile Scud on a launchpad, attacked it, and then headed home.

“The Special Forces team got out OK and went back to Central Air Forces headquarters to say thanks and confirm our kill for us. They saw the helicopter go down. When the helos had bugged out, the team moved back to the west and was extracted.”

Today, “487” is still assigned to the same squadron it made history in 1991. It’s the Chiefs’ flagship and still has a small green star adorned on the aircraft’s port side representing that moment in the squadron’s history.

Photo by Master Sgt. Lance Cheung, James D’Angina and MSGT STEVEN TURNER / U.S. Air Force

June 8, 2023 0 comment

History

Lightning vs Spitfire: Mach 2 interceptor struggled to prevail against the WWII aircraft in mock dogfights

by Till Daisd June 7, 2023

written by Till Daisd

“We did find that the piston-engined fighter presented a very poor target to infra-red homing missiles, especially from the rear aspect,” Wing Commander John Nicholls, former Lighting Pilot.

The interesting image in this post shows a Spitfire PR XIX PS853 parked next to an English Electric Lightning Mach 2 fighter plane at RAF Binbrook in 1963.

In that year, PS853 was flown in a series of test flights against Lightnings from Binbrook by Wing Commander John Nicholls, who served as the Officer Commanding the Air Fighting Development Squadron under the Central Fighter Establishment (CFE). He wrote about the reason for these unusual sorties, as well as the flights themselves, in Alfred Price’s 1974 book Spitfire At War (later made available in John Dibbs and Tony Holmes’ book Spitfire The Legend Lives On). He was a veteran of combat in Malaya in the Spitfire XVIII and a MiG killer while on exchange with the USAF during the Korean War.

‘This was at the time of the Indonesian confrontation and, since the Indonesian Air Force operated a large number of P-51 Mustang fighters, we were very interested in discovering how best a Lightning might engage such an aircraft. In the RAF we did not have any Mustangs, but at Binbrook, we did have our Spitfire with a performance that was, in many respects, similar. Thus it came about that our Spitfire came to be involved in a short battle trial pitted against a fighter that was her successor by three generations.

‘Of course, from the start we knew that the Lightning could overtake the Spitfire by nearly 1,000 mph – there was no need to run a trial to prove that. But we did find that the piston-engined fighter presented a very poor target to infrared homing missiles, especially from the rear aspect. And, since the Lightning would therefore very likely have to follow up its missile pass with a gun attack, a high overtaking speed would have made accurate firing very difficult. On the other hand, if the Lightning pilot slowed down too much he could end up playing the slower and more maneuverable fighter’s dogfighting game and lose. None of this was new – we had learned the same thing during trials between the Lightning and the Hunter. Another problem was that if the Spitfire pilot had sufficient warning of the attack he could spin around to meet it head-on – and thus present the most difficult target of all.

‘In the end, we evolved a type of attack that was the antithesis of all I had learned from my own operational experience of fighters-versus-fighters combat over Korea. Instead of trying to get above the enemy and diving on him to attack, we found it best to use the Lightning’s very high power-to-weight ratio to make a climbing attack from behind and below. From that angle the field-of-view from the Spitfire was poor, there was a good chance of achieving surprise and the infra-red source gave the best chance for missile acquisition. If the Lightning pilot did not acquire the target or bring his guns to bear on his first pass he could continue his steep climb – which the Spitfire could not possibly follow – and when out of range he could dive and repeat the process. Using such tactics, we felt that in the end, a competent Lightning pilot could almost always get the better of an equally competent Spitfire (or Mustang) pilot.

‘Almost certainly that trial at Binbrook was the final operational act carried out in earnest in the Spitfire’s long career.’

PS853, which had been completed on September 5, 1944, joined the BBMF in Coltishall, Norfolk, in April 1964. Four years later, it took part in The Battle of Britain filming.

Spitfire The Legend Lives On is published by Osprey Publishing and is available to order here.

Lightning Vs Spitfire: why the iconic Mach 2 interceptor struggled to win mock dogfights against the legendary WWII plane during the trial flights conducted by the RAF between the two types

Photo by Crown Copyright

June 7, 2023 0 comment

History

The urban legend of Kelly Johnson receiving a bag containing $30M. to pay the first six CIA U-2s

by Till Daisd June 6, 2023

written by Till Daisd

The contract for the first six U-2s the CIA bought is the subject of an urban legend

David Peters, an SR 71 pilot, was accepted into the program in 1976 and continued flying until his retirement in 1986. His hometown is Tacoma, Washington. It was 1967 when he first saw the SR 71. He was flying F-4s when they ran out of fuel and had to land at Navy Fallon in Nevada. He witnessed something there that he had never seen before. It just so happened that John Storie and George Bull, two SR-71 pilots, were flying the “B” type at the time and had to land due to a fuel issue. Dave said to his backseater, “Someday I’m going to fly that plane.”

In Lockheed’s “Skunk Works” in Burbank, California, a group led by Clarence L. “Kelly” Johnson developed and produced the U-2 to carry out surveillance missions in perfect secrecy. The first flight of this single-engine aircraft, which had sailplane-like wings suitable for the thin atmosphere over 55,000 feet (over 70,000 feet for subsequent models), took place in August 1955. After going into operation in 1956, its employment was kept a secret until a surface-to-air missile shot down a U-2 aircraft being flown by a civilian over Soviet territory on May 1, 1960.

The urban legend of the brown bag with $30 million in cash delivered to Kelly Johnson to pay for the first six CIA U-2 spy planes — David Peters in SR-71’s cockpit

The deal for the first six U-2s that the CIA bought is the subject of an urban legend. Kelly Johnson received a call from the CIA while he was in his office. He received instructions to meet a man at a specific Georgetown restaurant. He would be in the back, they claimed, and wear a pink carnation as a lapel. He received a time and date. Johnson arrived, and sure enough, a sketchy-looking figure was seated in a booth near the back.

The man was wearing a trench coat with a pink carnation pinned to the lapel, along with a fedora. Johnson claims that after approaching the man and sitting down, the man simply stared at him for a short while. “We will take six for 30 million,” he continued. Johnson felt something on his leg and looked down after they continued to stare at each other for a moment. When he looked up, the man had left and there was a sizable brown paper bag under the table. He searched the bag and founds bundles of $100,000 dollars. “Kelly you’re a*s is dead.” Johnson reportedly thought as his first thought. Brown bag in Georgetown, downtown Washington, DC, contains $30,000,000 in cash.

U-2s — Above: Initial U-2 testing was done at a remote dry lake in Nevada nicknamed “The Ranch.” Disassembled aircraft were airlifted in pieces from Lockheed’s Burbank, Calif., plant to the Ranch and assembled there. Note that these CIA aircraft carry fictional National Advisory Council for Aeronautics (NACA) insignia and numbers. Top image: Clarence L. “Kelly” Johnson, chief designer at Lockheed’s secret “Skunk Works” facility, initially designed the U-2 around the F-104 Starfighter fuselage.

The only federal employee with spending authority over unvouchered government funds is the director of the CIA.

Peters recalls; ‘I obviously can’t prove the story but Kelly told it to me when I was just starting the program. He and Bill Parks were there for a ceremony dedicating Kelly Johnson Street at Beale. My backseater Ed Bethart and I were assigned to escort them. The only time he was under control was the actual ceremony. So, Ed and I had the unbelievable pleasure of escorting them anywhere Kelly wanted to go for about nine hours. The majority of that time the four of us alone.’

Check out Linda Sheffield Miller’s, (Col Richard (Butch) Sheffield’s daughter, Col. Sheffield was an SR-71 Reconnaissance Systems Officer) Facebook Page Habubrats for amazing Blackbird photos and stories.

Photo by U.S. Air Force and David Peters

June 6, 2023 0 comment

History

The real reason for the P-51B/C/D Mustang’s range

by Till Daisd June 4, 2023

written by Till Daisd

The P-51 Mustang was mostly used as a long-range escort fighter because of its superb range and maneuverability

One of the best and most well-known fighters employed by the US Army Air Forces (USAAF) in World War II was the P-51 Mustang. The USAAF received the first batch of P-51A fighters in March 1942.

The first P-51B/C Mustangs powered by Merlin entered action in Europe in December 1943. These P-51s gave the US bombing campaign against Germany the desperately needed long-range, high-altitude escorts. The P-51D became the main long-range escort fighter for the USAAF when it began to arrive in large numbers in Europe in the spring of 1944.

The Mustang was the first single-engine aircraft based in Britain to enter Germany, arrive in Berlin, and fly with heavy bombers over the Ploiesti oil fields in Romania thanks to its prowess in long-range escort duty. How did the venerable Mustang manage to complete such distant escort missions? Its drop tanks are not the reason.

‘Lots of planes could carry drop tanks: P-47, P-40, P-38, etc.,’ says James Gibson, former MP&P Engineer at Boeing, says on Quora.

‘The real secret to the Mustang’s range was not the laminar flow control wing or the Merlin engine. It was the addition of a fuselage tank behind the cockpit halfway through the production of the P-51B. This additional internal tank increased fuel capacity by 85 gallons: original P-51Bs only had 184 gallons in the wings. The addition increased total fuel to 269 gallons or some 30%. Further adding two 75 gal drop tanks you reached 419 gallons. The later D&H models carried 110 gal drop tanks for 489 gallons.

‘But when you carried so much fuel you had to be aware of which tanks you were using at which point in the flight. On take-off, you used the rear fuselage tank. This tank affected the center of gravity of the plane. You didn’t want to tangle with a 109 or a Focke Wulf when carrying fuel in the rear tank. So you burned it first and then switched to the drop tanks about halfway to Berlin.’

Gibson concludes;

‘You would then burn off the drop tanks, hopefully before engaging enemy fighters. But if they struck early you could drop those tanks and thus be clean and maneuverable. This was the fight profile that allowed the Mustangs maximum range and best performance when over target.’

Photo by U.S. Air Force

June 4, 2023 0 comment

Cold War

30 years later, the World Speed Record Aircrew reunited with the Phantom “Black Mike”

by Till Daisd June 4, 2023

written by Till Daisd

A world record for the fastest time between John O’Groats and Land’s End was set on February 24, 1988, by RAF Phantom “Black Mike,” which traveled that distance in 46 minutes and 44 seconds at an average speed of 772.19 mph

2018 marks both the Royal Air Force’s centennial and the 30th anniversary of one of its record-breaking accomplishments. The world record for the fastest time between John O’Groats and Land’s End was established on February 24, 1988, by an RAF aircraft (McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom XV582) of the 43(F) Squadron, traveling at an average speed of 772.19 mph.

In order to commemorate this accomplishment’s 30th anniversary, the British Phantom Aviation Group (BPAG) brought the aircraft’s original crew back together with it. On August 12, 2018, RAF Cosford hosted this event. Paul Wright, the BPAG’s chairman, said:

World Speed Record Aircrew reunited with legendary Phantom 'Black Mike' 30 years on

“We are proud and happy to finally bring back together XV582, pilot John Brady and navigator Michael Pugh for the first time since their record-setting flight, over 30 years ago. To hear their recollections and stories of that day firsthand was truly wonderful and inspiring.

“Today’s event is made more poignant as it takes place during a year that has seen the aircraft displayed to the public once again and its future secured. We would like to thank RAF Cosford and, in particular, WO Steve Brown for providing us with the facilities to host today’s event, which will be the final appearance of the aircraft at Cosford before it moves to a new home”

Delivered to the RAF in May 1969, XV582 is a K model (designated FG.1 in UK service) derivative of the F-4 Phantom. It operated with the 43(F), 111(F), and ultimately 228 OCU Squadrons. The aircraft’s distinctive paint scheme made it earn the nickname “Black Mike.” The aircraft was the first Phantom to log 5000 flying hours and broke the speed record from John O’Groats to Land’s End. It was used for display by 228 OCU until it was retired.

The aircraft was disassembled, transported from Scotland to RAF Cosford, and then restored in time for a temporary exhibition at the 2018 Cosford Airshow. The aircraft is currently owned by GJD Services and maintained by the British Phantom Aviation Group. The aircraft was then relocated to a new location in St. Athan, South Wales.

Photo by John Kendal, Ian G. Topham / British Phantom Aviation Group and Mike Freer – Touchdown-aviation via Wikipedia

June 4, 2023 0 comment

History

USAF F-15C Eagle drivers loved RCAF CF-18’s fake canopy during Cold War

by Till Daisd June 3, 2023

written by Till Daisd

“Some Eagle pilots mockingly suggested we should paint our aircraft like submarines: ‘Just think: That brief hesitation as he thinks What’s that submarine doing up there?’,” Robert “Scout” Winebrenner, former F-15C pilot

The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F/A-18 Hornet, designed as an all-weather fighter and attack aircraft, swiftly established itself as the core of the air forces of the United States Navy and Marine Corps. It is proudly flown by the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels Flight Demonstration Squadron. For seven foreign customers, including Canada, Australia, Finland, Kuwait, Malaysia, Spain, and Switzerland, the Hornet serves as the aircraft strike force.

Noteworthy Compared to standard F/A-18As, Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) CF-18s have a few unique features, such as a bright identification spotlight integrated into the port fuselage immediately ahead of the cockpit, a distinctive ejection seat, and a fake cockpit shape painted on the underside.

The U.S. Air Force (USAF) F-15 pilots of the units stationed in Europe who, during the Cold War, conducted much dissimilar air combat training (DACT) missions against the Canadian Hornets based at Baden-Soellingen in what was then West Germany, thought the latter was a great idea.

In fact, the mock cockpit may initially leave the opponent in confusion, rendering him unable to determine whether the aircraft is turning toward or away from him. Several Eagle pilots made the insulting suggestion that we paint our planes to look like submarines: ‘Just think: That brief hesitation as he thinks What’s that submarine doing up there?’ may be all the advantage you need!” says the former F-15C pilot Robert “Scout” Winebrenner in Issue 23 “McDonnell Douglas F/A-18A/B/C/D Hornet” of Aviation Classics magazine.

When Winebrenner was assigned to the 32nd Tactical Fighter Squadron in Soesterberg, the Netherlands, he witnessed the Canadian Hornets in action. Winebrenner took part in a sortie in his F-15C along with a CF-18 being piloted by a Canadian Captain by the name of Greg “Claw” Morris while serving in the same deployment as a Tactical Leadership Programme (TLP) instructor.

As Scout recalls “After checking the applicable national regulations, we determined that it was not allowed to fly dissimilar close formation. But there were no prohibitions on different tactical formations. So we found the best weather on Low Fly Area (LFA) 7 in southern Germany and briefed up a low altitude VFR ingress through France at a slower speed to save fuel, intercepts on target of opportunity in LFA7, and a high altitude recovery to individual instrument approaches at Florennes.”

Here's why Cold War USAF F-15C Eagle drivers loved RCAF CF-18's fake canopy

As they arrived at LFA7, a number of aircraft were already present, and the F-15C and CF-18 engaged in a number of combat missions against Neuburg Phantoms, Memmingen Tornados, along with some F-16s.

Scout and Claw got along great and the two planes were quite compatible, but Winebrenner realized that while everyone could see his F-15, no one could see Claw’s CF-18. Invariably, during the final part of the intercept, the targets of the intercept would respond and turn into the US F-15, searching for the “second Eagle,” leaving Claw with more close-range belly Sidewinder shots than he probably wanted to take.

Similar circumstances occurred as two CF-18s pitched up and turned toward Winebrenner’s Eagle, leaving Morris just behind them. However, Claw swiftly informed his buddies to check their six, as Scout remembers: “Hey, what are YOU doing back there? I’m with the F-15! Fox 2 on both of you!”

Even now, Winebrenner still considers that mission to be one of his best ones flown in LFA7, but there is another distinctive quality that causes him to consider the Hornet, as he explains: “After 26 years in the air force, I retired in 2005. Now my only exposure to the Hornet is watching the US Navy Blue Angels practice over my home in Pensacola. I did note disappointedly that they don’t have the fake canopy.”

Photo by Cpl. Manuela Berger / Royal Canadian Air Force and U.S. Air Force

June 3, 2023 0 comment

Cold War

BAe test pilot explained why he chose to fly a Tornado without a canopy

by Till Daisd June 2, 2023

written by Till Daisd

In his open-top Tornado XZ630, BAe Test Pilot Keith Hartley conducted the “cockpit habitability trial.”

British Aerospace (BAe) Test Pilot Keith Hartley is shown in the unusual images in this post performing the “cockpit habitability trial” in an open-top Tornado XZ630. The photos were taken in 1988.

As stated by BAE Systems on Twitter:

“In 1988, our test pilot Keith Hartley flew at 500 knots in a Tornado aircraft with the canopy off, testing the emergency escape procedures of the jet; just one example of the lengths we go to test the safety of the planes we build for the RAF.”

Here's why BAe Test Pilot Keith Hartley flew this Tornado with the canopy off

On March 14, 1977, the Panavia Tornado XZ630 made its first flight. It then took part in weapons release trials at the Aeroplane & Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) in Boscombe Down. Noteworthy A number of improvements over earlier prototypes were included in pre-production Tornados that would later be added to finished aircraft.

Ian Black, a former Lightning and Tornado F3 pilot, remarked: “While the first ten aircraft could be considered true prototypes, the first real Tornado for the RAF flew in March 1977 (XZ630) and it was quickly assigned to the A&AEE at RAF Boscombe Down in Wiltshire.”

Panavia Tornado XZ630 was retired to ground operations after a successful career as a trials aircraft, and it has served as the Gate Guardian at RAF Halton’s Recruit Training Squadron Parade Square since 2004. It was updated to look like a GR4 from 31 Squadron, also known as the “Goldstars,” which is currently based at RAF Marham. Serco contractors carried out the renovation.

Photo by Kate Yates, BAe Heritage Centre

June 2, 2023 0 comment

Newer Posts

Older Posts