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aviation

Ex-F-4 crew members highlight why loved it despite its issues

by Till Daisd October 18, 2022

“The hard wing variants did not turn as well as the slatted models. Smaller planes could outturn it however a well-flown Phantom was the king until the next generation fighters came out,” Rick Danzey, former USAF F-4 Phantom driver.

One of the most versatile fighters ever made was the two-seat, twinjet, all-weather McDonnell F-4 Phantom II, which could travel at high speeds exceeding the speed of sound. More Western air forces than any other plane used it as their front-line jet.

16 records for speed, altitude, and time to climb were set by the F-4. At 98,556 feet, the prototype broke the world altitude record in 1959. (30,000 meters). On a 15-mile circuit, an F-4 achieved the world speed record in 1961 at 1,604 mph (2581 kph). In addition to Mitsubishi in Japan, McDonnell had produced 5,068 Phantom IIs by the time manufacturing ceased in 1985.

In addition to serving with the air forces of the United States, F-4s also saw action in the Vietnam War and Operation Desert Storm. From 1969 until 1973, the Phantom II was flown by the Navy Blue Angels and the Air Force Thunderbirds, two U.S. military flight demonstration teams.

John Chesire, an F-4 US Navy combat pilot during the Vietnam War, claimed that the powerful Phantom was almost a flawless aircraft.

‘Nothing was “bad” about the F-4 Phantom!nOnly three things as I recall were regrettable… Its excessive engine smoke, its wide turning radius, and its lack of a gun. But its many strengths far outweighed these lesser disadvantages. And with training, they were easily overcome.

‘It was a superior aircraft along with its later more advanced ‘look-down-shoot-down” pulse doppler radar (PD) weapons systems in the “J” model. It was advanced for its time and years later too.

‘Designed as a high-speed, long-range fleet air defense interceptor against Soviet bombers, it thankfully never met that mission. It later surprised everyone with how diverse its other superior capabilities were. The F-4 was extremely successful in varied multi-missions.

‘It was my most favorite aircraft that I ever flew! It was an awesome aircraft, and we became good friends together, forever!’

From 1980 until 1988, Rick Danzey flew F-4 Phantoms with the U.S. Air Force, and he recalls:

Former F-4 Crew Members Point Out Phantom’s Issues. And they Explain why they Loved Flying it despite its Flaws.

‘The Phantom takes heat for its maneuverability. The hard-wing variants did not turn as well as the slatted models.nSmaller planes could outturn it however a well-flown Phantom was the king until the next generation of fighters came out. Even then, a Phantom could do well tactically against 14s, 15s, 16s, and 18s. I think that the two-seat Phantom was a tactical advantage as it gave us a second set of eyes in the fight.

‘The smoke from the engines was an issue. The smokeless engines made a huge difference/improvement.

‘The radar was a limitation with best contacts occurring inside of 25 miles.

‘Regarding AIM-7 missile employment. My WSO, Fish, and I had the opportunity to shoot one AIM-7F at a PQM-102 (drone F-102). We hit the maneuvering drone right in the weapons bay and broke the drone in half. I did throw a party that night as it was the first kill for thenWSEP deployment for our squadron.’

Instead, according to Randy Raines, a former USMC Captain and F-4 RIO (1972–1981), the Phantom had a number of problems:

‘They were always broken. When you reported from a flight it was “up & up” if the plane and the avionics were working. “Up & Down” if the plane was OK but the avionics was down. I can probably count on two hands the number of times I called in “up & up”. I was in four squadrons over my career and every one of them had all the planes grounded until something could be fixed. Fuel leaks were a huge problem.

‘Designed as an interceptor the structure had a hard time handling the high G’s of 1V1 combat. Then there was the bleed air system (which I understand the USAF shut down) that bleed hot exhaust gas over the leading and trailing edge of the wing when the flaps were down. That system was a continuous problem. Picture hot exhaust leaking next to a wing full of JP-5. We came pretty close to losing a plane because the crew didn’t recognize the problem and didn’t shut the valve controlling the system off.

‘Then there was the problem in the tail when you pulled the drag chute. Radios, both comm and nav, designed in the 50’sn(lots and lots of tubes) were a Huge problem! A box maybe 10″ X 10″ by 20″ in the nose wheel well, another one about half that size under my seat, plus control boxes for each cockpit. I remember a section flight out of San Francisco where one plane had the comm, another had the nav, and the third plane was squawking (IFF). Just before I got out they reconfigured my cockpit and installed a Bendix emergency radio above the radar scope. It was similar to the little box you see in Cessnas. Solid state reliability.

‘The F-4B had a pulse radar. If you were close, lower, had a peaked up set and you knew about where the boggy was you could get a radar lock in the mountains. No way if you were looking down. The F-4J had a pulse Doppler Radar. When it was working there was no ground clutter. I think I may have had one that worked. But, our F-4’s were old Navy “hand me downs” Scuttlebut had it that one was flown by Randy Cunningham in Vietnam. He and Willy [William Patrick “Willy Irish” Driscoll, Cunningham’s RIO] must have pulled some serious G’s because the pilots said that they couldn’t make it fly straight.

‘The avionics shop got mad at us because we stopped turning on the “main” radio. I heard that the Navy crew that maintained the Blue Angles loved the simplicity of the A-4 that replaced the F-4 during the ’70s gas crisis. I imagine it was the extra time off they had that really pleased them.’

But Raines comes to this conclusion:

‘Having said all that, I loved the F-4. It was a great plane that always brought you home.’

Photo by U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Marine Corps

October 18, 2022 0 comment

Military

10 Swing-wings aircraft

by Till Daisd October 16, 2022

written by Till Daisd

The swing wing was the preferred design for strategic bombing and attack aircraft in the 1960s and 1970s when the ‘Swing-Wing’ capacity to further streamline aircraft was incorporated into the future of advanced high-speed flight. An airplane wing or set of wings that can be swept back during flight and then returned to their original straight posture is referred to as a “swing-wing.” It enables the aircraft’s shape to be changed while it is in flight, making it an illustration of a variable-geometry aircraft.

Here are 10 of the most awesome swing-wing aircraft ever built.

#1. Bell X-5

The Bell Aircraft Company’s X-5 was an experimental single-seat, single-engine, jet-powered fighter design prototype. It was the first aircraft to use in-flight changeable geometry wings.

The German Messerschmitt Me P.1101 served as its inspiration, and the X-5 substantially adapted that design for its general shape. There were only ever two X-5 prototypes built, with the second being destroyed in an accident. An American/NATO initiative to develop low-cost tactical fighters was taking the X-5 program into consideration. The two aircraft flew for the first time on June 20, 1951, and December 10, 1951.

Nearly 200 flights were conducted at up to Mach 0.9 and 40,000 feet in the air. On October 14, 1953, one aircraft was lost when it was unable to recover from a spin at 60° sweepback. At Edwards Air Force Base, Air Force Captain Ray Popson perished in the collision. The other X-5 stayed at Edwards and carried out active testing there until 1955. It was then used as a pursuit aircraft until 1958.

#2. General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark

The Aardvark, whose wings could sweep from 16 degrees to 72.5 degrees, was the first variable-sweep aircraft to go into production. The swing wing of this jet wasn’t its sole ground-breaking feature, either. It also made terrain-following radar possible, enabling it to fly quickly and low to the ground. The EF-111 Raven, a swing-wing bomber, replaced the F-111 Aardvark, which had been in service with the United States Air Force from 1967 when it was retired from active duty in 1996.

#3. Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

The successful MiG-27 Flogger ground strike variant was made possible by the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 Flogger, the first Soviet aircraft to have variable-sweep wings. It was also the first fighter in the Soviet Union to use side-mounted air intakes and look-down or shoot-down radar. On January 4th, 1974, the MiG-23 was formally commissioned into the Soviet Air Forces for the first time. It was retired in 1998.

#4. Panavia Tornado

German Panavia Tornado — Panavia Tornado

One of the most iconic swing-wing aircraft is the Tornado. Thrust reversers, another uncommon fighter aircraft component, are a part of the Tornado. To improve STOL capability, the reversers were attached. The Tornado is a family of the twin-engine, variable-sweep wing, multirole combat aircraft that Italy, the United Kingdom, and West Germany jointly developed and produced. British Aerospace, MBB of West Germany, and Aeritalia of Italy formed the tri-national Panavia Aircraft GmbH to design and construct the Panavia Tornado.

It took to the skies for the first time on August 14th, 1974, and entered service in 1979–1980.

#5. Sukhoi Su-24

The Soviet Union’s response to the General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark was the Sukhoi Su-24 “Fencer.” The spectacular and potent American “swing-wing” design undoubtedly served as inspiration for the Soviet design, which made an effort to imitate it with a mount that was equally capable and deserving of her airmen.

The outstanding Fencer’s career as an active member of society, which has lasted more than 35 years, is almost over because many aspects of her appearance are becoming antiquated. A total of 1,400 Su-24s in three different operational variants have been constructed by Sukhoi OKB and delivered to a small number of foreign operators.

#6. Rockwell B-1B Lancer

It has a lot of power and is the sole swing-wing aircraft in use by the US Air Force. This bomber’s payload capacity is 125,000 pounds at Mach 1.25. And with a thrust of more than 120,000 pounds, it can travel far. During Operation Desert Fox in December 1998, the B-1 made its first combat appearance supporting operations in Iraq while using unguided GP weapons.

Later, B-1s were employed in Operation Allied Force (Kosovo), Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan), and, most memorably, the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

#7. Tupolev Tu-160

Since its beginnings, the Tupolev-built Tu-160 has been the largest swing-wing combat aircraft platform ever built, with the most powerful jet engines ever installed in a military aircraft. The Rockwell B-1 “Lancer” strategic bomber of the United States Air Force was directly countered by the Tu-160, which was created for a slightly different purpose: stand-off missile launching.

The B-1, on the other hand, was principally used to transport significant quantities of precision ordnance in the shape of cruise missiles and other powerful air-to-surface models. The Tu-160 began active service in April 1987 with the 184th Guards Heavy Bomber Regiment at Pryluky Air Base in the Ukrainian SSR.

#8. Tu-22M

The Tupolev Tu-22M Backfire is a swing-wing, supersonic upgrade of the Tupolev Tu-22 Blinder Medium Bomber from the 1960s. It is a specialized platform for strategic marine strikes and bombardment that primarily serves Soviet goals (both during the Cold War and even today).

The Tu-22M was an advancement over the original Tu-22 “Blinder,” which was lacking in many ways. The Tu-22M, on the other hand, increased the employment of missile weaponry, introduced supersonic flying, and had variable geometry wings, making it possible to consider it an “all-new” bomber aircraft.

#9. Su-17

Sukhoi_Su-22M4_Czech_Republic_-_Air_Force_cropped — Su-17

The successful Su-7 “Fitter-A” fighter-bomber family line was developed into the Mach 2-capable Sukhoi Su-17 “Fitter.” The aircraft’s partial variable geometry wing (“swing-wing”) technology enhanced the former’s takeoff and landing capabilities as well as its low-level performance, which was necessary for ground assault runs.

The export Su-20 and Su-22 Fitter variants, which have different avionics, engines, and weaponry, were developed from the Su-17. A total of 2,867 Su-17/Su-20/Su-22 Fitters were produced, with over half going to Soviet export customers. Additionally, more than a dozen other countries received the type, making it a common fighter bomber throughout the Cold War.

#10. Grumman F-14 Tomcat

The F-14, which went on to become one of the most amazing Navy aircraft ever to fly, was featured in the best aviation film ever made and was capable of reaching speeds of Mach 2.34. Unlike the F-111B, which was developed from a land-based fighter-bomber aircraft, the F-14 was created from the ground up as a carrier-based fighter. The “swing-wing,” variable geometry wing assembly, radar system with support for long-range missiles, two-man crew, and twin-engine configuration are only a few of the characteristics and parts that remain in the F-111B, however, in the F-14.

Grumman produced 712 F-14s in total, from 1969 to 1991, and they were all produced by the company. For the series, non-combat attrition proved to be relatively significant, with 160 people lost in accidents alone. Today, numerous preserved F-14 Tomcats are on display in both outdoor and indoor settings all around the country.

October 16, 2022 0 comment

History

How American B-17 bombers intended to gain air superiority over Germany

by Till Daisd October 14, 2022

written by Till Daisd

The destruction of the Luftwaffe and its industries was the Eighth Air Force’s top mission in 1943, and its B-17s were dedicated weapons for long-range, daytime precision bombing

The destruction of the Luftwaffe and its industries was the Eighth Air Force’s top mission in 1943, and its B-17s were dedicated weapons for long-range, daytime precision bombing.

The gyrostabilized Norden M-4 bombsight, developed in the middle of the 1930s, ironically for the US Navy, was one of the factors that led the US Army Air Force (USAAF) to commit to daytime precision bombing, as Marshall L. Michel III explains in his book Schweinfurt-Regensburg 1943. The Norden was ordered by the USAAF for its brand-new B-17s, and tests of the Norden/B-17 combo under perfect weather and visibility conditions revealed that it much outperformed the accuracy of its forerunners and would enable precise bombing from a tremendous height. The Norden garnered much attention from the media, and to increase its mystery, no images or information regarding how it operated was ever made public.

However, the Norden was most effective when used by single aircraft that could independently maneuver to line up on the target. The maneuvering required for the Norden to perform at its peak couldn’t be met in combat, and the Nordennbombsight, with its delicate adjustment, lost much of its value. All aspects of the bombing mission, aside from the brief moments of the bombing run, were dominated by defense-related considerations.

Even under ideal circumstances, more than half of the bombs hit more than 1,000 feet from the target. These circumstances were the best for accuracy and protection from flak, but they would not give enough defense against aircraft strikes in combat. An inferior sight that required less careful adjustment was briefly considered, which would have significantly jeopardized the American bombardment theory’s foundational accuracy ideal.

Norden Bombsight, Formation Bombing and Lead Crews: How American B-17 Bombers Hoped to Achieve Air Superiority during Long-Range Daylight Precision Bombings over Germany — *Norden bombsight on display at the Imperial War Museum in Duxford*.

It was necessary to create techniques to hit the German objectives with sufficient accuracy while maintaining the bombers in their tight defensive formation since the Eighth Air Force Bomber Command hoped to survive over Germany unescorted by their heavy firepower and tight formations. Flak was also a danger to the target, even if German fighters were the main danger. Flak hindered efficient bombing operations more by forcing the aircraft to bomb at high altitudes, which decreased accuracy, than by actually killing or injuring the bombers.

Because of the German fighter defenses, it was clear that each bomber could not disperse and conduct a separate bomb run. As a result, formation bombing, in which all bombers drop their bombs simultaneously with the lead aircraft, was successfully tried as early as January 1943. The VIII Bomber Command’s Operational Research Section strongly advised using this method in March 1943. Although it would be difficult to maneuver the large formations onto the bombing run and the resulting bomb pattern would scatter more widely than was ideal for the desired accuracy, in July 1943 VIII Bomber Command’s leadership agreed and ordered that the combat wings begin to plan to use formation bombing.

The wings had to build well-coordinated pilot, navigator, and bombardier teams in order for formation bombing to succeed. In order to do this, VIII Bomber Command ordered the formation of special “lead crews” in each squadron at each station. Squadrons were required to identify their top bombardiers before joining with a carefully chosen navigator. The lead crew pilot was picked for his ability to fly smoothly and make modifications gradually to keep the formation together. These lead crews alone would be responsible for identifying the target, guiding the unit on the bomb run, finding the release point, and delivering the order to release.

Only three other aircraft in each group carried bombsights in case the lead aircraft was shot down: the high and low squadron leaders and the wingman of the lead aircraft. The other crews’ task was to remain in strengthened defensive positions and release when the commander was freed.

To serve as squadron or group lead crews on combat missions, the lead crews received extensive training. They frequently carried an extra navigator, and typically an officer pilot served as the tail gunner, giving the pilot advice on the formation’s status. Finally, the lead crew’s tour would be curtailed by five missions, and they were only allowed to take part in combat as a lead crew. In addition to these crews, each squadron had two extremely dependable B-17s that were designated as “lead bombers” and outfitted with every device necessary to accurately bomb a target as it became available.

The few seconds before the lead bombardier launched the bombs when he had to carry out his final sighting operation and find the bomb release site, were the most crucial in the entire mission. This required that the lead bomber be kept as close to a constant course without slips, skids, or changes in altitude. VIII Bomber Command decided that a mechanical instrument could maintain this precise position better than a pilot, who might be distracted by flak or advancing fighters.

This automatic flight-control equipment (AFCE), sometimes known as an automatic pilot, was created and successfully deployed for the first time on March 18, 1943. By synchronizing sighting and pilotage, the AFCE allowed the bombardier to control the aircraft on the bomb run with mechanical precision, allowing him to produce a steadier bombing run than even experienced pilots could. The AFCE was soon given to all of the B-17s that had been assigned as “lead” aircraft.

However, as the Combined Bomber Offensive in 1943 gained momentum, two infamous raids compelled the Americans to reconsider the viability of long-range daylight precision bombing. The Americans lost 60 bombers and hundreds of troops when they launched a massive and ingenious double-strike against the factories in Schweinfurt and Regensburg, flying far outside the P-47 escorts’ range. This temporarily crippled VIII Bomber Command. The devastation was only duplicated in the raid that followed on Schweinfurt.

To weaken the Luftwaffenfighter force and secure the necessary air supremacy for the accomplishment of Operation Overlord, the American campaign goal for the daylight bombing sorties deep into Germany in 1943 was to do so. Because the Germans were successful in achieving their own goal of destroying so many Eighth Air Force bombers, the Americans were unable to complete their campaign objective by the middle of October 1943.

The North American P-51B Mustang was the actual answer to this problem. In reality, the long-range P-51B not only reduced bomber losses but also soon established air superiority over Europe, which helped pave the way for D-Day in numerous ways.

Schweinfurt-Regensburg 1943 is published by Osprey Publishing and is available to order here.

Photo by Robert Taylor via Aces-High.com, U.S. Army Air Force, and Rama via Wikipedia

October 14, 2022 0 comment

History

The YF-23’s debut on the world stage

by Till Daisd October 11, 2022

written by Till Daisd

The video clip in this post also includes commentary from the news media at the time regarding the YF-23 and the YF-22, a rival that later evolved into the F-22 Raptor

The video in this post, which was captured in the summer of 1990, shows YF-23’s debut on the World Stage and its maiden taxi tests. The video clip also includes commentary from the press at the time on the YF-23 and the YF-22, a rival that later evolved into the F-22 Raptor.

The contractor team of Northrop and McDonnell Douglas created two aircraft, including the YF-23 prototype, for the Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) selection program of the U.S. Air Force’s demonstration and evaluation phase. The aircraft, the product of thousands of aerospace specialists working for 60 subcontractor companies in 31 states and Northrop and McDonnell-Douglas’ $700 million investment in developing the ultimate jet fighter, was unveiled to the world.

There were two YF-23 prototypes produced. Both YF-23 prototypes were moved from Northrop to Dryden after the Air Force chose the YF-22. The two YF-23s had no engines, and NASA had no intention of using them in any scientific projects.

One of the two aircraft would be used extensively by NASA to research strain gage load calibration methods, with the other one remaining at Dryden in storage. But both planes stayed in storage until the summer of 1996 when they were moved to museums. On a protracted loan from NASA, the YF-23A Prototype Air Vehicle 2 (PAV-2), serial # 87-0801, is on display at the Western Museum of Flight in Hawthorne, California. YF-23A PAV-1 (87-0800) is currently on display at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (AFB), Dayton, Ohio’s National Museum of the United States Air Force.

The contractor team Northrop and McDonnell Douglas created both YF-23 prototypes as part of the demonstration and evaluation stage of the U.S. Air Force’s Advanced Tactical Fighter selection program, which was completed in 1990. Unofficially, the YF-23 was referred to as the “Black Widow II,” a nod to the NorthropnP-61 Black Widow night fighter from World War II.

Photo by Northrop / U.S. Air Force

October 11, 2022 0 comment

History

When a U.S. Navy F/A-18 Hornet did a high-speed flyby that dispersed a riot

by Till Daisd October 7, 2022

written by Till Daisd

“I smiled to myself and breathed a prayer: ‘Lord, please let that little guy grow up to be a pilot – he’ll never forget his first up-close glimpse of an aeroplane!”, Capt Mark Fox, VFA-137 F/A-18 Hornet pilot

Around 250 F/A-18 Hornets participated in combat during Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) from land bases and the six U.S. Navy supercarriers stationed in the Northern Arabian Gulf (NAG) and the eastern Mediterranean. The F/A-18 Hornet served as the “universal soldier” of the war effort.

The Iraqi Republican Guard’s T-62 tanks and the government buildings in Basra, Baghdad, and An Najaf were just a few of the targets that the F/A-18 dropped hundreds of thousands of pounds of ordnance on during the battle. The Hornet was capable of firing anti-radar missiles, operating as an aerial tanker, intelligence surveillance, and reconnaissance platform for other strike types, in addition to dropping precision explosives like JDAM and LGBs.

Capt. Mark Fox, Commander of CVW-2, launched from the deck of USS Constellation (CV-64) on his 12th OIF sortie on April 10, 2003, according to Tony Holmes and Chris Davey’s account in their book U.S. Navy Hornet Units of Operation Iraqi Freedom (Part One). In a F/A-18C BuNo 164698, he was flown by his wingman, Lt Cdr Steve Cargill of VFA-137, and they held south of Baghdad.

Fox recalls: “Flying as ‘Minx 11’, and tasked with providing Close Air Support (CAS), I checked in with the E-2 controller. Lt Cdr Cargill and I then started working down a list of frequencies in search of a Forward Air Controller (FAC) who might need our help. Finally, the E-2 controller told us to go and check in with ‘Diablo 69’, but I couldn’t raise him on the radio. I told the E-2 that we had no comms with ‘Diablo 69’, so he instructed us to head further south, giving us the FAC’s location – 85AS, Keypad 3. We then realized that he was down in An Najaf, about a hundred miles south of us.

“We started driving south, and the controller informed us that our guy on the ground was using a weak hand-held radio, desperate for help. This did not sound good, as we had captured An Najaf weeks ago. We finally checked in with our contact and turned out that he was a GI trying to distribute humanitarian aid in the plaza outside the city’s Imam Ali Mosque. Dealing with desperate, starving people, he was facing a near riot. Assuring us there was no threat, he asked us to fly a series of high-speed, low-altitude passes to distract or disperse the crowd.

“Skeptical of the FAC’s ‘no threat assessment, I was greatly concerned about AAA or MANPADS. Carefully scoping out the scene, and maintaining good mutual support, Lt Cdr Cargill and I came up with a game plan – we’d swap roles, keeping one set of eyes looking for ground fire while the other made a high-speed flyby, always coming from a different direction.

That time a U.S. Navy F/A-18 Hornet performed a high-speed flyby that dispersed a riot and... Wowed an Iraqi child — Arabian Gulf (Apr. 10, 2003) – An F/A-18C Hornet assigned to the “Kestrels” of Strike Fighter Squadron One Three Seven (VFA-137) launches in full afterburner from one of four steam-powered catapults aboard USS Constellation (CV 64).

“We flew several passes over An Najaf, which looked like something out of the Bible – surrounded by desert plains and set amongst palm trees on a tributary of the Euphrates River. Seemingly untouched by modern structures, there were lots of single-story, dull brown buildings, and in the middle of them was this huge, gold-domed mosque.

“I was looking at my gas gauge and my watch, thinking ‘how much time can I give this guy?’ On my first pass, I was 100 ft above ground level at 500 knots, just about co-altitude with the mosque’s dome. I then rolled into a left ‘knife-edge’, using the dome as a ‘pylon’, Reno air races style, pulling about 5Gs. I stroked the afterburner for noise as I passed the city center in the turn, popping chaff and flares and moving the jet around fairly aggressively.

“Glancing down on the plaza as I rocked up on my wing in the turn, a snapshot freeze-frame image of a startled Iraqi boy looking up with his mouth in perfect “O” and his eyes literally on stalks registered in my mind. He was standing with his mother on the corner of the square, diagonally across from the Imam Ali Mosque.”

Fox concludes: “I smiled to myself and breathed a prayer: ‘Lord, please let that little guy grow up to be a pilot – he’ll never forget his first up-close glimpse of an airplane!

“Diablo 69 seemed happy with our help, and he thanked us as we climbed away.”

Photo by Photographer’s Mate 2nd Class Felix Garza Jr. and Photographer’s Mate 2nd Class Daniel J. McLain / U.S. Navy

October 7, 2022 0 comment

History

When the F-117 Nighthawk airstrikes started Operation Iraqi Freedom

by Till Daisd October 6, 2022

written by Till Daisd

Hoehn and Toomey learned that their intended location was maybe where Saddam Hussein, the president of Iraq, was staying

We remember the U.S. Air Force F-117 airstrikes over Baghdad on March 19, 2003, which signaled the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom with the article Bombs over Baghdad, written by Airman 1st Class Emily A. Kenney, 49th Wing Public Affairs.

The morning of Wednesday was gloomy. The black clouds that covered the sky shook with thunder, and rain poured down. Maj. Mark Hoehn, who was stationed with the 49th Fighter Wing at Holloman, observed the sunrise through the clouds, the grays and blues transforming into reds and oranges. Hoehn thought, “Wow, this would be a beautiful sight if I wasn’t about to blow something up.”

He didn’t know who or what his intended target was. Only six hours ago, from Al Udeid Air Base, then Maj. Clint Hinote gave the order “Do whatever it takes to get two aircraft ready for combat tonight.”

Operation Iraqi Freedom started at 5:30 a.m. on March 19, 2003, when the first airstrikes were fired in Baghdad.

Col. Mark Hoehn poses in front of an F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter static display at Heritage Park, Holloman Air Force Base, N.M.

“F-117s were used to make the opening attacks on Baghdad on Jan. 17, 1991, the opening salvos on Desert Storm,” said James Burrett, 49th Wing historian. “Just 12 years later, in 2003, F-117s were used again in the first airstrikes over the same city in Iraq at the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom.”

Hoehn claimed to have foreseen this day. He had only shaken hands with President George W. Bush four months earlier when he asked, “You ready?”

Maintainers started preparing two Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighters for the mission not long after the order was granted. Hoehn claimed that the crew chiefs and maintainers meticulously checked each plane, making sure it was prepared, using modern GPS weapon technology.

As the deadline approached, then Lt. Col. David Toomey looked at Hoehn and asked, “Fuji (Hoehn’s call sign), are you ready to go?”

“You bet,” Hoehn said.

At approximately 3 a.m. the aircraft were prepared to fight. After a quick prayer, Hoehn and Toomey stepped and boarded their jets.

“We were briefed that we would taxi and take off ‘comms out’, not talking to anybody,” Hoehn explained. “We had folks in the tower that flashed a light gun at us, signaling when we were able to taxi and take off. We went completely stealth, with our antennas in, and anything that would omit a signal turned off.”

They continued up the Persian Gulf, stumbling into a thunderstorm while trying to maintain visual flying.

“I remember looking at the fuel gauge as we were approaching the Iraq and Saudi Arabia border, where the tankers were supposed to meet us, and I was really getting nervous,” Hoehn said. “At that point, I had just enough gas to get back to Al Jaber (Air Base in Kuwait). If I was going to make it to Iraq, I needed fuel and I needed it soon.”

It didn’t take him very long to wait. A KC-135 Stratotanker arrived shortly after to deliver the critical fuel. Toomey first refueled his aircraft before directing it directly north toward Iraq. Hoehn then connected to the tanker and started refueling.

“Sir, it sounds like you’ve got an interesting mission,” said the in-flight refueling specialist. “Can you tell us anything about it?”

“Unfortunately I don’t know much more than you,” Hoehn said. “All I know is to put bombs on coordinates at a certain time.”

Hoehn ordered the refueling tanker pilot to drag him north into Iraq to save time while he was being refueled as the time-over-target (TOT) drew near. He dispersed from the tanker and moved in the direction of his destination once his tank was full.

Hoehn immediately went back into mission mode. He claimed to have observed the Tigris river weaving through Baghdad through the cloud cover.

“I wasn’t able to see my target because of the overcast, but I was able to see landmarks enough to know that my cursor was, if not directly on, within a few meters of the spot I was targeting.”

Even though the target was still hidden, Hoehn released his weapons and used the GPS weapons system to hit the target at precisely 5:30 in the morning. Hoehn and Toomey swiftly turned their aircraft and left Baghdad as soon as the bombs dropped.

“I reached over and pushed the throttle even further forward to get as much speed as possible, and get out of there,” Hoehn said. “I didn’t really start feeling comfortable until at least 30-40 minutes outside of Baghdad. Then I thought, what’s next? I hadn’t really thought it through this far in the mission, and once again, I was running low on fuel.”

Hoehn turned on his antennas and radioed the Airborne Warning and Control System at that point (AWACS). He informed AWACS of his general location and received instructions on where to locate a tanker for refueling.

He flew to the tanker track area in the south after spotting a tanker waiting. When he hooked up, he recognized the tanker as the one that had previously refueled him.

The same in-flight refueling specialist asked, “So how did everything go?”

“Well, I’m about 4,000 pounds lighter,” Hoehn said. “I can’t wait to go back and find out exactly what we hit, but you guys were a big part of it.”

In order to readily communicate with the Air Traffic Controllers at Al Udeid, Hoehn flew the same path on his return trip.

“When I landed and pulled back into the hangar, there were probably 100 people there,” Hoehn said. “Nobody slept at all. All the maintainers and the rest of the squadron were there. As the doors opened, everyone tried to look and see if the bombs were gone, and when they saw that they were, everyone cheered.”

Hoehn and Toomey learned their destination was where Saddam Hussein would be living during the mission debrief. Even though they missed Hussein that evening, Hoehn thinks that the attack made Hussein frightened and act sporadically, making him vulnerable to capture later.

Photo by Staff Sgt. Aaron D. Allmon II, Airman 1st Class Emily A. Kenney, and Senior Airman Brian Ferguson / U.S. Air Force

October 6, 2022 0 comment

History

When an F-16 Sead mission covered a ‘mysterious’ air asset over Iraq

by Till Daisd October 5, 2022

written by Till Daisd

“I came out of the AOR, contacted the appropriate agency, and said, ‘Copy. You’re going to support ‘Ram 01′.’ That’s all I got. Who’s ‘Ram 01!?’,” Capt Paul Carlton 55th FS F-16 pilot

For more than ten years, the F-16, also known as Viper by her pilots, has been the most productive fighter in American and Coalition operations in the Middle East. It has been the workhorse of U.N.-sanctioned operations in the area since the 1991 Gulf War, performing in “Wild Weasel,” “ground attack,” and “air superiority” roles.

Over a decade-long period, Operations Southern Watch and Northern Watch necessitated daily and ongoing combat patrols over Iraqi territory; this work was made easier by the abundance of F-16s available in the U.S. Air Force (USAF) service, as well as the jet’s historical capacity for a variety of functions and applications.

The following narrative, which is from the book F-16 Fighting Falcon Units of Operation Iraqi Freedom by Steve Davies and Doug Dildy, tells what happened when the U.S. in an effort to locate, identify and destroy Iraq’s extensive air defense system, President George W. Bush sent his forces into Iraq in March 2003. The F-16CJ was the second aircraft to enter enemy airspace during this operation.

“On 19/20 March we were flying on-call SEAD and had HARMs on board the airplane. I was a night guy, flying only at night, and it was early in the morning. I had one more vul to cover before I went home. We were covering six-hour vul times (vulnerability periods), where we’d come away to get gas when we needed it and then go back in again. I came out of the AOR (Area of Responsibility), contacted the appropriate agency, and said, ‘Copy. You’re going to support ‘Ram 01′.’ That’s all I got. Who’s ‘Ram 01!?’ “

A skilled F-16 pilot with more than 1500 hours of Block 30/50 flight time under his belt, Capt. Paul Carlton. Only a few weeks earlier, he had been transferred from Shaw Air Force Base’s 55th Fighter Squadron (FS) to the 77th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron (EFS) to add Night Vision Goggles (NVG) experience. At the time he received this cryptic message, he was commanding a two-ship of F-16CJs on the last position of their assigned vulnerability time.

“I had no idea what was going on. I asked, ‘Can you tell me who ‘Ram 01′ is, what their time-over-target (TOT) is, and where they’re going?’ I got nothing back. Silence. The RoE was that we couldn’t shoot or drop anything unless we were given permission to do so. That morning we were briefed that we were not to shoot any weapons unless were we told we could. So, I sent ‘Two’ (Carlton’s wingman) off to get permission to fire our weapons if needed, and at the same time, I started looking for ‘Ram 01’ on the radio. I had no idea what he was or what was going on.”

Carlton was completely unaware of the upcoming assignment to support this mysterious mission, but he assumed that ‘Ram 01’ was presumably a conventional asset, such as a Block 40 Viper or similar. He had no idea that the aircraft posing as “Ram 01” was actually an F-117 on a time-sensitive mission to strike a bunker where Saddam Hussein was allegedly hiding.

“‘Ram 01’ came up on the radio and told me roughly where he was and the coordinates of where he was going. He also gave me the coordinates of his IP (Initial Point) and his target, which I plugged into my jet to figure out where he was going and what his target was. His target plot fell into the little map of Baghdad. That clued me into what he was about to do, and I knew that things were about to get much more exciting.

“Having learned the TOT and seen where he was going, I knew all I needed to know. I knew what threats he was up against and now I was thinking about how best I could support him. I had just four HARMs to work with (two per F-16), which is not a whole lot to cover the entirety of Baghdad. Having devised a basic strategy, I flew back into the AOR but chose not to go up near his target, even though we were now allowed to cross the No-Fly Zone. The F-16 is a radar-significant target, and I didn’t want to simulate the air defenses before they needed to be. I never heard anything else from ‘Ram 01’, which thinking about it now makes sense to me as the pilot always ‘cleans up’ when they go to war (the F-117 retracts its communication antennas when entering hostile territory).”

Carlton kept his composure but was still unsure of who he was rooting for. For around an hour, he observed the SuperMEZ (super missile engagement zone), “then I hit Bingo fuel. I had not seen anything happen to ‘Ram 01’, so I told the controlling agency, ‘I’m bingo and have to go home’. I got handed off to different agencies and headed back to the tanker down south to get gas for the trip home.

“We were on the tanker when ‘Ram 01’ came over the radio and said, ”Ram 01”, ‘tanker 51′, behind you and checking in for gas’. As I came off the tanker with my wingman, I looked behind me and there was this ‘Stinkbug’ taxiing up. That was the first clue that I had that we’d just helped started the war.”

Although “Ram 01” was successful in hitting the bunker, Saddam Hussein would later show up on television still alive. The mission was supported by a large number of Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM) strikes, which caused Coalition pilots to watch in silence from their cockpits as the cruise missiles moved along the TLAM corridors to their targets while their heat signatures were visible on NVGs.

The last-minute SEAD escort for “Ram 01” was around 48 hours before the war’s scheduled start date, according to the original briefing. Although “Shock and Awe” may have been a little less frightening and not nearly as awe-inspiring as many had expected it would be, Capt Carlton was more than satisfied with his performance on March 19, 2003. The subsequent “Armageddon” that the public had been taught to expect never quite materialized. He had just executed a textbook demonstration of the skill for which he had spent nine years receiving training in the Air Force.

“Most of our peacetime training centers on us learning rules-of-thumb and doing the calculations in flight so that when this kind of tasking comes during wartime, we don’t need to do detailed planning there in the jet in order to get the mission done.”

Then, Operation Iraqi Freedom was in progress.

Photo by Senior Airman Kevin Tanenbaum and Tech. Sgt. Gregory Brook / U.S. Air Force

October 5, 2022 0 comment

History

Few pics of the Lockheed Mach 3 Airliner L-2000

by Till Daisd October 4, 2022

written by Till Daisd

Lockheed proposed two L-2000 models: the intercontinental L-2000-7A, which could carry up to 266 passengers, and the domestic L-2000-7B, which could accommodate up to 308

The amazing images in this post, which first appeared in Code One Magazine, show the Lockheed L-2000, a concept plane for the US Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Supersonic Transport, or SST, program.

Lockheed was one of the two companies selected in June 1964 to carry on with the SST development. The wooden mockup of the Lockheed L-2000, which is depicted in the first image, would have had a 4,000-mile range and Mach 3 cruise speeds. It had a double delta wing configuration for quick transonic acceleration and superb control at low speeds. The L-2000-7A, an intercontinental variant with room for up to 266 passengers, and the somewhat larger L-2000-7B, with room for 308 passengers, were the two designs Lockheed presented.

The second image, on the other hand, was shot in 1965 and shows workers setting up a large-scale model of the Lockheed L-2000 design for a ground plane test in the 40 by 80-foot wind tunnel at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California.

In order to compete with the then-under-construction Soviet Tu-144 and the Anglo-French Concorde, President John F. Kennedy committed in 1961 to have the government pay 75% of the development of a commercial airliner. Najeeb Halaby, the director of FAA, decided against directly competing with the Concorde in favor of enhancing its design. The SST was designed to transport 250 passengers (a huge amount at the time, more than twice as many as Concorde), fly at Mach 2.7–3.0, and have a range of 4,000 km. It may have represented a significant improvement over the Concorde (7,400 km).

The FAA predicted there would be a market for 500 SSTs by 1990 when the program was established on June 5, 1963. Official responses came from North America, Lockheed, and Boeing. The Boeing and Lockheed concepts were chosen for further investigation whereas North America’s design was quickly discarded.

Ultimately, the Boeing 2707 prevailed over the L-2000.

Some photos of L-2000, the Lockheed Mach 3 airliner that never was

However a combination of environmental, economic, and political factors led to the cancellation of the American SST program in 1971.

Photo by Lockheed Martin

October 4, 2022 0 comment

History

The Triple Ace Robin Olds and mustache march tradition

by Till Daisd October 3, 2022

written by Till Daisd

USAF “triple ace” Robin Olds is credited as wearing a mustache as a sign of resistance against authoritarian authority

Military men have worn mustaches throughout history. Younger men and those in lesser ranks typically wore mustaches that were smaller and less ornate. A man’s mustache would get thicker and bushier as he rose in rank until he was allowed to grow a full beard. It was fashionable during the American Civil War to have a thick mustache and a lengthy goatee like General Lew Wallace did.

Every year in the month of March, personnel in the United States Air Force (USAF) grow mustaches in memory of Robin Olds, a legend of the air force. The concept was inspired by an early Air Force custom in which military men would grow mustaches in amusing defiance of facial hair laws during the month of March.

The USAF’s “triple ace” Robin Olds is credited for growing a mustache as a sign of dissent against rigid command.

As explained in AFROTC Detachment 755 Cadet Document The History of Mustache March, Robin Olds was a “triple ace” spawned from an Army Air Corps father and West Point with a combined total of 16 victories in WWII and Vietnam.

In Vietnam, Col. Olds was renowned for his extravagantly waxed handlebar mustache. Because it was believed that only “bulletproof men” would return home alive at the time, and “real men” wore mustaches, many Airmen sported what was known back then as a “bulletproof mustache.” However, mustaches were against military regulations in the 1960s, so many were required to shave them off. As he was stationed far from his home base (Olds assumed command of the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing at the Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base in the fall of 1966), Col. Olds decided to keep his mustache because he believed it reflected his unique personality.

The base’s kids loved it. Most people started to grow mustaches. Olds began growing the mustache after Operation Bolo’s success and allowed it to get longer than it should have because, as he put it, “It became the middle finger I couldn’t raise in the PR photographs. The mustache became my silent last word in the verbal battles…with higher headquarters on rules, targets, and fighting the war.”

The end of this flamboyance, however, came with his return home.

Olds arrived for his first interview with General John P. McConnell, Chief of Staff of the Air Force, who was not a fan of Col. Olds’ mustache. Col. Olds said, “Yes, sir,” when Gen. McConnel approached him, placed a finger under his nose, and commanded, “Take it off.”

Col Olds was not upset with the order. He said, “To tell the truth, I wasn’t all that fond of the damned thing by then, but it had become a symbol for the men of the 8th Wing. I knew McConnell understood. During his visits to Ubon over the past year he had never referred to my breach of military standards, just seemed rather amused at the variety of ‘staches sported by many of the troops. [It] was the most direct order I had received in twenty-four years of service.”

The legendary triple ace Robin Olds and Mustache March tradition

The incident involving the mustache is credited with sparking a new Air Force tradition known as the “Mustache March,” in which aircrew, aircraft maintainers, space operators, cyber operators, and other Airmen from around the world demonstrate their unity by staging a symbolic, albeit amusing “protest” against the rules regarding facial hair for one month.

Photo by U.S. Air Force

October 3, 2022 0 comment

History

The first Tupolev Tu-114 flight to America took place during Khrushchev’s 1959 visit to Washington

by Till Daisd October 2, 2022

written by Till Daisd

The flight was excellent, and the Tupolev Tu-114 made an impressive landing at Andrews AFB

When President Eisenhower and the American delegation arrived for the 1955 superpower summit in Geneva in four-engined propliners and Khrushchev arrived in a modest, twin-engine Ilyushin Il-14 transport, Khrushchev felt embarrassed. Khrushchev, who was known for being a showman in the international arena, chose to fly to the United States for his historic visit in 1959 on the massive Tupolev Tu-114 because he didn’t want to be shown up by the Americans once more.

However, as JP Santiago explains in a fascinating article that appeared on his website Tails Through Time, Soviet planners were not thrilled at the idea since 80% of the route between Moscow and Washington would be over water and as Aeroflot, the operator of the Tu-114 had infrequently conducted trans-oceanic flights at the time, lacked training with ditching techniques, sea survival, and the use of life rafts and life jackets.

Khrushchev was adamant about making a “grand entrance” on the first visit of a Soviet leader to the US, despite calls from the KGB and the Communist Party Politburo to change his mind. Should the airliner have to ditch, the Soviet Navy had ships stationed every 200 miles along the route, and the KGB even constructed a model fuselage and tested it in a sizable swimming pool in Moscow to simulate various water evacuation scenarios.

The flight went off without a hitch, and the airplane itself was quite the superstar when it landed at Andrews AFB, as described by Von Hardesty in his book Air Force One: The Aircraft that Shaped the Modern Presidency. Khrushchev had been offered a helicopter tour of the city by Eisenhower, but he declined because he thought someone was planning to kill him by throwing him out of the aircraft. He wouldn’t agree unless Eisenhower assured him that they would be riding in the same chopper.

The Aeroflot Tu-114 faced a storm in Greenland during the return flight to Moscow after his historic tour of the United States, and St. Elmo’s fire danced all over the airframe as the aircraft briefly lost contact with Moscow. Although Khrushchev was asleep and unaroused during the storm, the crew worried that a loss of contact may send Moscow into a panic and fuel suspicions of a U.S. plan. Fortunately, the huge airliner made a safe landing in Moscow, ending another unreported anxious Cold War moment.

Photo by FORTEPAN / Magyar Hírek folyóirat via Wikipedia

October 2, 2022 0 comment

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