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coldwar

An ex-Blue Angels CO explains the decision to replace the F-4 Phantom II with the A-7 Corsair II and the choice of the A-4 Skyhawk rather than the F-14 Tomcat

by Till Daisd January 29, 2024

‘While we were doing this search for airplanes, a couple of squadrons were coming back from Vietnam and were being decommissioned. They had the A-4F, which was the latest model at that time,’ Ken Wallace former Blue Angels CO

The lightweight, high-speed A-4 Skyhawk gave the US Navy, Marines, and friendly nations a maneuverable yet powerful attack bomber with great altitude and range capabilities and unusual flexibility in armament capacity. It was built small to be cost-effective and to fit more of them on a carrier.

Between 1956 and 1979, around 3,000 A-4s were built; they were used as aggressor aircraft, as front-line squadrons, and as advanced trainers (the latter being called TA-4s and having two-seat cockpits). The Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron’s Blue Angels were also equipped with A-4s.

Following a series of accidents and maintenance issues with their McDonnell Douglas F-4J Phantom IIs during the 1973 air show season, the Blue Angels stood down to allow Secretary of the Navy John Warner—who would go on to serve six terms in the US Senate as a representative of the state of Virginia—to give a program overview. Six senior flag officers were assigned by Warner to examine the Blue Angels program, and they all agreed that it should be continued as a “prime recruiting asset.”

According to Nicholas A. Veronico’s narrative in The Blue Angels a Fly-By History, Ken Wallace, a team leader in 1961–1963 and slot pilot in 1954–1955, was asked to lead the team through challenging times. Wallace was the tactical air plan officer in the chief of naval operations’ office. “Because of my past association with the Blue Angels, whenever anything that concerned them came up, I was rung in on it in some way,’ he said.

According to Wallace, “the Secretary of the Navy was not fully supportive of keeping the team. Admiral Zumwalt, who was chief of naval operations and not an aviator, was very much insistent on keeping the team in business. So he and I went to chat with the Secretary of the Navy. The Secretary agreed to keep it in business, but we had to change airplanes. He would not let us continue with the F-4s, partially due to the crashes, and at this point, we were in the fuel crunch of the mid-1970s. The F-4 is not an economical airplane on fuel, and it is a heavy-maintenance airplane. It was just a little bit too visible for the times.”

Given the job of program manager for the Blue Angels, Wallace had his work cut out for him. Drawing on his previous experience with the team, he would implement many far-reaching changes. “I started casting about for a different airplane. The airplane that I really wanted was the F-14,’ he said. “I did not want an F-14 with all the weapons control systems in it; that was wasteful.” After proposing his idea to Grumman, they decided that it would cost more to make an airplane without the systems than it would to make one with them. Cost became the determining factor, and the F-14 idea went by the wayside.

For Wallace, the A-7 was the next logical choice. He said, “There simply were not enough airplanes in the pipeline to let us have them. The fleet needed the A-7 desperately and could not divert seven aircraft for our use. I went down to Chance Vought and flew the airplane, and it certainly would have been quite suitable.”

Although it had been looked at by many team leaders in the past, Wallace once again considered McDonnell Douglas’ A-4 Skyhawk. “The A-4 was about the only fleet airplane left that was anywhere near usable by the team,” he said. “It just so happened that while we were doing this search for airplanes, a couple of squadrons were coming back from Vietnam and were being decommissioned. They had the A-4F, which was the latest model at that time. They also had the latest engine, the P-408. It had more thrust than any of the previous engines the A-4 had used.

“We got together with the engineers at McDonnell Douglas and with some of the people at Naval Air Systems Command. We needed some changes to the control system. We needed more nose-down force. Traditionally, the Blue Angels fly the airplane, regardless of the model, with a full-down nose trim. It gives us, in some cases, 40 pounds of nose-down stick force. We want that nose-down force, so we’ve got something we are putting pressure against all the time. Plus, in rough air, it tends to make you bounce away from the formation rather than up into the airplanes ahead of you. By bracing our right forearm on our leg or knee, it provides a very stable or firm base to control the airplane with the stick. By just flexing your wrist a little bit, rather than having large-magnitude arm movements, you get your control that way. The engineers at McDonnell Douglas came up with a bungee cord arrangement that modified the bell crank assemblies in the airplane, thus providing the nose down force.

“We also bolted up the leading-edge slats. The A-4 in its normal configuration has aerodynamic slats on the leading edges of the wings. They are actuated by aerodynamic force and are used in heavy g-loads or accelerations. They increase the camber of the wing so that you get more lift. The problem with those aerodynamic slats is that depending on the condition of flight, if you’re not exactly in balanced flight or if you are in a turn, one slat may not come out and the other may fully deploy. It really depends on the air loads. If they come out asymmetrically, they can pop you right on your back faster than you can think about it. We determined that by bolting them up we would not add to the landing speed of the airplane by any significant amount.

“We took the guns out, some armor plating, added a drag chute for operations from shorter airports, and added weight to the nose for balance. The overall weight reduction was significant. We ended up with an airplane that weighed 11,300 pounds [dry] and we had an engine that produced 11,400 pounds of thrust. When you got down to a light fuel load, you could do some pretty cute tricks with that little airplane. The roll rate would certainly not spin your head, but it was more than enough for what we wanted to do in the air show.’

The ultimate modification saw the Blue Angels elevated to the rank of a full U.S. Navy squadron, endowing the team commander with the same power and position as a squadron CO. This meant that the flight surgeon, supply and administrative officers, and the public affairs and maintenance teams were no longer loaned to the team.

The Skyhawk made its show season debut in 1974 and flew with the Blue Angels until 1986, when the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet took its place.

Photo by U.S. Navy

January 29, 2024 0 comment

Cold War

F-4 Phantom II: J79 Noise, Sonic Booms and Extremely Low Flying

by Till Daisd January 27, 2024

written by Till Daisd

This post’s video from the Sierra Hotel may be the best F-4 Phantom II footage ever filmed

The Noise You Hear is the Sound of Freedom!

The s**t hot video in this post, which was posted on the f4flys YouTube channel, is possibly the coolest F-4 Phantom footage ever filmed. There is no background music, and the video shows USAF F-4 and RF-4 Phantom IIs flying very low while producing J79 noise and some amazing sonic booms.

The mighty Phantom could travel faster than Mach 2 because of the General Electric J79 turbojet engine, which produced up to 17,000 pounds of thrust when the afterburner was engaged.

The Phantom II was initially created for US Navy fleet defense, and it made its maiden flight in May 1958. The F-4C, the first version used by the US Air Force, flew for the first time in May 1963, and six months later, production deliveries started. Over 5,000 Phantom IIs were produced before manufacturing stopped in 1979; over 2,600 were for the USAF, roughly 1,200 were for the US Navy and Marine Corps, and the remaining aircraft were for friendly foreign nations.

The Air Force sent its first F-4Cs to Southeast Asia in 1965, where they conducted air-to-air missions against North Vietnamese fighters and attacked ground targets. In Vietnam, the many incarnations of the F-4 achieved over 100 MiG kills.

The F-4 Phantom II could carry twice the typical load of a B-17 bomber from World War II when it was used for air-to-ground missions. Nine external store stations are equipped to carry weapons and/or external tanks. In 1967, eight 750-pound Mk 117 bombs, four AIM-7E, and four AIM-9B air-to-air missiles were the standard setup for an F-4C. Additionally, the aircraft was equipped with one ALQ-87 electronic countermeasures (ECM) pod on the right inboard pylon and two external fuel tanks on the outboard pylons. An enhanced fire-control system complemented an inbuilt 20mm multi-barrel gun on the F-4E.

Air-to-air missiles were typically carried by the aircraft for self-defense when they were performing close air support or attack missions. The Phantom was the first multiservice aircraft, flying concurrently with the US Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps. It was also the only aircraft that the Air Force and Navy flight demonstration teams, the Thunderbirds and Blue Angels, had ever flown simultaneously.

Up until its retirement in 1996, the aircraft was still in use by the Air Force, having played an essential role in Desert Storm. After being retired, the F-4 was converted into the high-performing, unmanned QF-4 Aerial Target, which was used for air-to-air and surface-to-air missile testing.

Photo by the U.S. Air Force

Video credit: F4Flys F4Flys@gmail.com

January 27, 2024 0 comment

Cold War

How the Valkyrie crew overcame the failure of both hydraulic systems, which prevented both sets of main gear from fully lowering

by Till Daisd January 20, 2024

written by Till Daisd

There was trouble with both sets of main gear on the XB-70A Valkyrie. On the left side, the gear had not fully lowered. The right-side gear was in worse shape as it hadn’t lowered at all before rotating

The B-70 Valkyrie was intended to be the ultimate high-altitude, high-speed manned strategic bomber, with a planned cruise speed of Mach 3 and an operating height of 70,000 feet. But as things turned out, it would have a quite different role in aviation history.

Even though the B-70 was an amazing technological achievement, it was being developed when the future of the manned bomber was unclear. Many people thought manned aircraft were obsolete and missiles were the way of the future in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The Kennedy Administration opted to cancel its plans to use the B-70 as a result.

Two experimental XB-70A prototypes were under construction at North American Aviation when the program was canceled. The first XB-70A (Air Vehicle 1 or AV 1) flew in September 1964, and it achieved Mach 3 flight in October 1965. The second Valkyrie (AV 2) first flew in July 1965, but in June 1966, it was destroyed following an accidental mid-air collision. It had made its maiden flight in July 1965. There was never a third Valkyrie (AV 3).

The original XB-70A aircraft was transferred to the U.S. Air Force National Museum in 1969, although it continued to fly and produce useful test data for the research program.

According to Graham M. Simons’ description in Valkyrie: The North American XB-70- The USA’s Ill-Fated Supersonic Heavy Bomber, on March 7, 1966, AV 1’s 37th flight demonstrated the kind of hardship that two seasoned test pilots could endure. Van Shepard was the pilot, and Joe Cotton was the copilot. Halfway through the planned flight, both hydraulic systems began to fail.

Shepard quickly brought the Valkyrie home as Cotton extended the landing gear. No green indicators came on, and that was soon followed by a call from the chase aircraft that there was trouble with both sets of main gear. On the left side, the gear had not fully lowered before rotating to meet the direction of travel, leaving the rear wheels higher, rather than lower, than the front set of wheels.

The right side gear was in worse shape as it hadn’t lowered at all before rotating. Even more concerning was the fact that, although being close, it hadn’t fully rotated in the direction of travel. The issue wasn’t resolved by either the emergency or backup system. The pilots must have spent hours in the cockpit before engineers on the ground called up their plan. Shepard would land the Valkyrie on the dry lake bed at Edwards Air Force Base (AFB), so there would be plenty of room.

The engineers thought that the left gear would level out on touchdown because the XB-70A’s weight would force the gear into its proper position. Though the right gear was likely to be much lower than the left, the landing should at least force the gear to finish swinging in the direction of travel and allow the wingtip to clear the ground. The right gear was behind the main strut’s centerline, so it was unlikely to level out.

When Van Shepard positioned AV 1 on the lake bed, all of the main gears performed as the engineers had intended. The aircraft was down and rolling, but it wanted to turn sharply to the right, threatening to ground-loop, which, although probably not fatal to the pilots, would probably destroy the aircraft. Shepard continued to provide power to the No. 6 engine in order to maintain the XB-70A in a nearly straight line.

After rolling almost three miles across the lake bed, the XB-70A came to a stop, having swung over half a mile to the right and turned 110 degrees. The sole factor enabling this landing was the size of the lake bed. As soon as the damage was assessed and fixed, AV 1 was able to get back to flight on March 22.

Photo by U.S. Air Force

January 20, 2024 0 comment

Cold War

Why the tires of the SR-71 Blackbird were silver and changed after ten takeoffs

by Till Daisd January 19, 2024

written by Till Daisd

The SR-71 Blackbird’s tires could withstand about 15 full-stop landings, but after ten takeoffs, they were replaced

The SR-71 Blackbird collected intelligence in some of the world’s most dangerous settings during its service. The SR-71 was designed to fly at very high altitudes, speeds, and temperatures. It was the first aircraft built of titanium since the air molecules’ friction against it at Mach 2.6 would have melted an aluminum frame.

Its engineering was so advanced that new tools had to be created in order to build the SR-71. There are a plethora of fascinating details regarding the legendary Blackbird. The SR-71, for example, had silver tires.

Why were SR-71 tires silver?

Powdered aluminum was infused into SR-71 tires, such as the one shown in the article’s featured image, according to the sign that goes with the tire on exhibit at the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center in Hutchinson, Kansas. When aluminum was added to rubber, the tire’s flash point increased significantly, which made it more resistant to the intense heat produced by friction with the ground when landing at very high speeds.

Nitrogen was also injected into the tires. Because there would be less oxygen in the tires when inflated with nitrogen rather than air, a fire would be less likely to ignite. The SR-71’s tires have 415 psi of pressure, whilst your car tires have 32–35 psi. The lifespan of each $2,300 tire is estimated to be about 15 full-stop landings.

As former A-12 and SR-71 pilot Colonel Ken Collins says, the tires could withstand about 15 full-stop landings, but they were changed after 10 takeoffs;

‘The tires were changed after 10 “takeoffs”. The wear & tear was during takeoff. The extreme pressure was at that point of rotation. That the reason we took off with half fuel load and air-air refueled shortly after takeoff, that reduced the tire stress. The temperature in the cockpit at the front windshield got up to 650 degrees F. Early in the experimental flight testing we wore silver suits. At cruise, if you touched the side canopy glass it would melt the silver coating on you glove. The coating on the suit was not “silver” metal. The cockpit and the pressure suits were air-conditioned. The cockpit got hotter as you burned the fuel. You were ready to get new fuel as it would cool it down.’

The SR-71 flew at an average speed of Mach 3, roughly 2000 mph, so it had to deflect a lot of heat! The SR-71’s metal skin would heat up to 400 degrees Fahrenheit at this high speed. To withstand the extreme heat, titanium made up more than 90% of the aircraft’s frame. To further dissipate excess heat, the SR-71 was coated with an extremely advanced and specifically blended black paint.

By disturbing incoming radar energy, the special paint also offered defense against detection by making the aircraft harder to identify by hostile forces.

One of the SR-71 tires is on display at the Hill Aerospace Museum.

The following video shows how the SR-71’s tires are kept from melting by Scott Willey, a docent at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the National Air and Space Museum in Chantilly, Virginia.

Check out Habubrats and Born into the Wilde Blue Yonder Facebook pages for further Blackbird photos and stories.

Photo by U.S. Air Force and The Unwanted Blog

January 19, 2024 0 comment

Cold War

Amazing nighttime pics of the iconic Blackburn Buccaneer attack aircraft

by Till Daisd January 17, 2024

written by Till Daisd

Two Blackburn Buccaneer strike aircraft (XW544 and XX894) are featured in the excellent pictures in this post, which were captured at the former Royal Air Force (RAF) Kemble base (now known as the Cotswold airport) by Andrew Timmerman from Finn Aviation Photography

The amazing pictures in this post, taken recently at the former Royal Air Force (RAF) Kemble base (now known as the Cotswold airport) by Andrew Timmerman from Finn Aviation Photography, include two Blackburn Buccaneer strike aircraft (XW544 and XX894).

Timmerman explained:

“The event was organized by Threshold.aero. The day started with an anti-deterioration run on both engines on the Buccaneer XW544. After sunset, XX894 was used for the wing folding shoot.”

Threshold.aero Aero often performs photo shoots at various UK locations with the express purpose of helping aviation photographers capture that unique moment.

Both XW544 and XX894 are Buccaneer S.2Bs, and they served with the RAF, according to the Buccaneer Aviation Group (TBAG). A few weeks before its retirement, XX894 was painted to represent Fleet Air Arm Buccaneer XV869 “020” in honor of the Buccaneers’ service in both the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force.

Following the Buccaneers’ retirement, Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground acquired both XW544 and XX894. At almost every Cold War Jet and TBAG event, both aircraft participated in fast taxi runs.

As previously reported, Bruntingthorpe’s days of watching historic Cold War aircraft fast taxi down the 2-mile runway regretfully came to an end in 2020. After much discussion, The Buccaneer Aviation Group elected to move both XX894 and XW544 to Cotswold Airport as this prospering location allows both aircraft to continue doing what they do best…. blasting down the runway!

During its time in the Royal Navy and later the RAF, the Blackburn Buccaneer proved to be a reliable carrier-borne strike aircraft. The Buccaneer’s extremely robust build was intended from the beginning for low-level operations over land and sea. In 1961, the Royal Navy began the Buccaneer’s service trials.

With the withdrawal from the Royal Naval service (with the retirement of their carriers), 62 Buccaneers were assigned to the RAF, and an additional 49 “new-build” Buccaneers were added to the fleet. These new aircraft had a 16,000 lb weapon load, a larger weapons bay, more fuel capacity, and a greater all-up weight. 16 Buccaneers were sold to the Air Force of South Africa.

When the type was in service with the RAF, it was fitted with laser designation equipment for “Paveway” laser-guided bombs and performed excellently in the 1991 First Gulf War. In 1994, the remaining Buccaneers were removed from the RAF.

January 17, 2024 0 comment

Cold War

Tomcat RIO describes how he and his pilot shot down a supersonic target drone with an AIM-7 from their F-14

by Till Daisd January 16, 2024

written by Till Daisd

“Halfway through the turn, my “radar lock” lights went out. I had messed up the intercept! ‘Broke lock,’ I growled to Drifty. ‘Going to search.’ I didn’t have to include the dammit!” Dave “Bio” Baranek, F-14 Tomcat RIO

Dave “Bio” Baranek found success and fulfillment serving in the Navy for 20 years. He began his career with assignments to F-14 squadrons as a Tomcat Radar Intercept Office (RIO) and in the prestigious TOPGUN training program. Later, he was assigned to the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the US 7th Fleet. He commanded an F-14 Tomcat fighter squadron, which was in charge of fourteen aircraft valued at over $700 million and close to 300 people. Upon his retirement, he logged 2,499.7 flying hours in an F-14 Tomcat and 688 carrier landings.

The first of the American teen-series fighters, the Grumman F-14A Tomcat, was built to integrate lessons learned during air combat against MiG fighters in the Vietnam War. The F-14 was an excellent dogfighter, but the Tomcat’s ability to defend the fleet’s air space was what set it apart. In order to complete this mission, the aircraft was outfitted with the powerful AWG-9 weapons system, which supported the AIM-54 Phoenix, offered an unheard-of one hundred-mile range, and had a small onboard radar to help it locate the target in the last stages of flight.

The remarkable capabilities of the AWG-9 required the need for a RIO in the F-14’s back seat in order to optimize it at different stages during a mission.

Among all the training scenarios encountered by a Tomcat crew, one of the most difficult ones for a RIO would have been a “MISSILEX” (a Missile Exercise, in which a “live” missile is fired against a drone that imitates an airborne target). Baranek describes the second AIM-7 Sparrow he ever shot in his book Before Topgun Days. In December 1982, while serving with the VF-24 Fighting Renegades Fleet squadron, he and Lieutenant Commander Steve “Drifty” Smith were chosen to fire a Sparrow at a target over the Pacific Ocean off Southern California.

The drone and the Tomcat had to fly supersonic because the missile shot had to follow a test and evaluation (T&E) profile. This requirement added another level of complexity to the already difficult drill scenario.

Drifty shoved the throttles to Zone 5, the F-14A’s highest afterburner, as they got closer to the launch range. They accelerated over Mach 1, and an A-6 Intruder from the Pacific Missile Test Center fired an AQM-37 target drone.

Let’s join Bio again in the Tomcat cockpit to live with him the tense moments he experienced during the MISSILEX: “Our range to the target was thirty miles. That may sound like a long distance, but we were supersonic, and so was the drone. Add the two speeds, and you find that the range was shrinking by more than two thousand feet each second. […] One minute after the start [of the intercept], we were at the right range and angle to launch the Sparrow. I pushed the red ‘missile launch’ button. The 500-pound weapon jumped off the jet with a strong thump—that was the small explosive charges that made sure it cleared the plane—and rocketed out ahead of us. […] I sweated the radar picture. I had two small green lights indicating the radar was still locked on the drone. But the track was near the edge of my scope. If it went off the scope, that meant the radar antenna could not turn enough to follow target. Our radar would break lock, the AIM-7 would go ‘stupid,’ and I would have to try to find that little drone again. That was hard enough when fighter and target were going 300 knots or less; at over 600 knots… I didn’t want to think about it. Halfway through the turn my “radar lock” lights went out. I had messed up the intercept! ‘Broke lock,’ I growled to Drifty. ‘Going to search.’ I didn’t have to include the dammit! that I was thinking. ‘Bio, relax,’ Drifty drawled. ‘It was a direct hit. We broke lock because the target is gone. We just blew it out of the sky.’”

Photo by all images used with permission of author Dave “Bio” Baranek

January 16, 2024 0 comment

Cold War

The B-36 takeoff and landing in James Stewart’s Strategic Air Command in 4K

by Till Daisd January 12, 2024

written by Till Daisd

This post’s video features some interesting clips of the incredible Convair B-36 strategic bomber landing and taking off

The cool video in this post shows some neat clips of the awesome Convair B-36 strategic bomber taking off and landing.

Since the video was re-edited in 4K from material from James Stewart’s Strategic Air Command film, it looks great on a big-screen 4K or 8K TV, as stated in the video description.

James Stewart starred in the 1955 American military aviation movie Strategic Air Command, which was the first of four Hollywood productions that portrayed the role of Strategic Air Command (SAC) during the Cold War.

Jimmy Stewart was recruited into the US Armed Forces on March 22, 1941. As an enlistee, he was assigned to the Army Air Corps and stationed at Moffett Field, California. In order to earn a commission, he also enrolled in extension courses throughout his nine months of training at that base. When Pearl Harbor occurred, he had finished the courses and was awaiting the results. A month later, he received his commission, and because he had logged over 400 hours as a civilian, he was permitted to take basic flight training at Moffett and received his pilot wings.

He flew bombardiers in the training school in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and instructed in AT-6, AT-9, and B-17 aircraft over the following nine months. Stewart traveled to England in the fall of 1943 as Commanding Officer of the B-24-equipped 703d Bomb Squadron.

After starting to fly combat missions, he was named Operations Officer of the 453rd Bomb Group on March 31, 1944, and Chief of Staff of the 2nd Combat Wing, 2nd Air Division of the 8th Air Force after that. Stewart flew 20 combat missions before the war was over.

Stewart took his Air Force Reserve duties very seriously, making sure he flew the B-36, B-47, B-52, and B-58 even after he started his acting career again. On July 23, 1959, he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general while serving in the USAF Reserve. He retired on May 31, 1968.

January 12, 2024 0 comment

Cold War

US Navy test pilot recalls the unexpected F-14 Tomcat Fatal Flat Spin Mode

by Till Daisd January 11, 2024

written by Till Daisd

‘Within seconds, the F-14 Tomcat rotation rate shot up to 180deg/sec and g forces reached 7.8g eyeballs-out! My head was slammed against the instrument panel and my mask and eyes filled with blood!’ Donald D.D. Smith, Naval Aviator and test pilot

The development of Soviet long-range patrol and bomber aircraft during the Cold War required a fleet defense fighter capable of engaging high-altitude bombers that were well beyond visual range. Grumman’s response was the iconic F-14 Tomcat. Equipped with the long-range AIM-54 Phoenix air-to-air missiles, F-14s were able to engage enemy targets more than 90 miles away. Grumman created the F-14’s highly effective variable-sweep wing, which allowed it to fly at a variety of airspeeds, in response to the need for an interceptor to be able to go at a high speed while carrying this heavy ordnance.

Following Grumman’s tradition of naming its aircraft after cats, the new “Tomcat” made its first flight in December 1970. The first F-14As were delivered to the Navy in June 1972 after a series of modifications during flight testing, with Fighter Squadron (VF) 124 designated for crew training. On the West Coast, VF-1 and VF-2 were the first operational squadrons to receive the new aircraft, while on the East Coast, VF-14 and VF-32 became the first Atlantic fleet Tomcat squadrons.

Donald D.D. Smith, Naval Aviator and test pilot recalls:

‘The F-14 hadn’t been in the fleet a year when some handling problems at high AOA (low speed) started to bust out. Good low-speed maneuvering is right up there with speed and acceleration in the list of “must haves” for a good fighter plane. It turns out that F-14 jocks were having to cross-control to get the roll performance they needed during low-speed hassles. Being fighter pilots, it didn’t bother them much, but it set off alarms all throughout the test community. The Tomcat, after all, was America’s world-class fighter, and was the greatest carrier-based fighter ever built! NAVAIR told Grumman to fix it – and tasked the Naval Air Test Center to test it.

‘I was the only one standing around who had a lot of experience spinning fighters and was also current in the F-14, so I was asked to participate. Suited me fine! Now, this wasn’t going to be a spin program, but we were going to have to take the Tomcat out of control to do the job. Sort of poke the Cat in the eye, so to speak. We learned from Grumman model tests that the F-14 had a vicious spin mode that was NOT SURVIVABLE BY THE CREW – but not to worry, it was not possible for a pilot to fly the airplane into a spin – they said. The Navy had gone along with this – there was never a spin test program on the F-14.’

He continues;

‘This was to be a Class-A Hazardous Test, so our little 15-flight test program was reviewed by senior engineers and test pilots up the line. We hijacked a new airplane right off the Grumman production line and wired it up for a dozen key parameters for live monitoring. But there were none of the usual spin accouterments like batteries, auxiliary hydraulics, spin parachute, etc. (the airplane wouldn’t spin, remember?).

‘Flights 1 through 11 were completed without too much excitement. Unlike the A-7, the F-14 exhibited a docile post-departure mode and recovered easily after half a turn. All this changed on Flight 12 – my flight. The show didn’t stop – it was just beginning. During departure recovery with the nose well down, the airplane started to develop a yaw rate, and within a couple of turns the nose came up to a flat attitude. Within seconds the rotation rate shot up to 180deg/sec and g forces reached 7.8g eyeballs-out! My head was slammed against the instrument panel and my mask and eyes filled with blood! Twenty seconds had gone by and I lost consciousness.’

D. D. Smith concludes;

‘There is much more to this story – obviously since I am here to tell it. You might check it out on Amazon, “Above Average – Naval Aviation the Hard Way.”

‘The video below has been exhibited widely over the past decades, but I think you’ll find it worth a look.’

Photo by NASA

January 11, 2024 0 comment

Cold War

Tomcat RIO tells the story of his pilot’s unrestricted climb during his third F-14 mission

by Till Daisd January 10, 2024

written by Till Daisd

“I looked at our rapidly increasing airspeed as we neared the end of the runway, and Crush yanked back on the stick to launch us into a steep nose-high climb,” Dave “Bio” Baranek, F-14 Tomcat RIO

After serving in F-14 squadrons as a Tomcat Radar Intercept Office (RIO) and in the prestigious TOPGUN training program, Dave “Bio” Baranek had a fruitful and fulfilling 20-year career in the Navy. He later was assigned to the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the US 7th Fleet. At one point, he commanded an F-14 Tomcat fighter squadron, responsible for fourteen aircraft valued at around $700 million and nearly 300 personnel in an F-14 Tomcat fighter squadron. With 2,499.7 flying hours and 688 carrier landings, he concluded his career as an F-14 Tomcat pilot.

The first of the American teen-series fighters, the Grumman F-14A Tomcat, was built to integrate air combat experience against MiG fighters in the Vietnam War. The F-14 was an excellent dogfighter, but the Tomcat’s ability to defend the fleet’s air space was what set it apart. To accomplish this mission, the aircraft was fitted with a powerful weapons system known as the AWG-9, which was able to support the AIM-54 Phoenix, which provided an unprecedented one-hundred-mile range and included a small onboard radar to guide itself to the target during the final phase of flight.

A RIO in the F-14’s back seat was necessary to maximize the AWG-9’s remarkable capabilities at different stages of the mission. Becoming a skilled F-14 Radar Intercept Officer, however, required a number of training stages, as Baranek explains in his book Before Topgun Days: The Making of a Jet Fighter Instructor.

Actually, after one year spent at Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola, future RIOs progressed to the Replacement Air Group (RAG), a squadron aimed at training naval aviators in specific types of aircraft.

Bio was assigned to Fighter Squadron (VF) 124 Gunfighters at NAS Miramar, the RAG for West Coast Tomcat Fleet squadrons, where he was trained to become an F-14 RIO. As he recalls in his book, among the first Tomcat flights, one stands out in his memories.

Not long after reaching RAG, Bio and his F-14 instructor pilot (IP), Ron “Crush” Gollhofer, took a cross-country flight to Denver. The flight, according to Baranek, took place over the course of a weekend. He, Crush, and their wingman arrived at Buckley Air National Guard Base, which is currently Buckley Air Force Base, which is located just outside Denver. They stayed at Gollhofer’s parents’ home and went to a Broncos football game, but, as Bio explains, the highlight of the trip was their departure Sunday evening, which was the start of his third Tomcat flight.

Once ready to take off, Crush told Bio to request an “unrestricted climb.” If this procedure were cleared, they would not have had to conform to the stepped climb profiles that accommodated a wide variety of traffic, from propeller-driven Cessnas to Boeing 737s, and instead would be able to use their fighter’s power and zoom quickly to altitude. Although it seemed completely reasonable for a fighter, it was just a request that would have to be made, granted or not. However, since air traffic around Buckley was light, the request was granted, and Buckley Tower cleared Bio and Crush to take off and climb unrestricted to 18,000 feet.

To better understand what an unrestricted climb looks like, Baranek takes us into the cockpit of their Tomcat, ready to go: “We took the runway. Crush pressed the brakes and ran the engines to military power, and the jet’s nose dipped. He wiped out the controls, throttled up to the afterburner, checked the instruments, and asked if I was ready to go. I was, and he released the brakes. The nose popped up, and we accelerated quickly. I called airspeeds, we rotated, and Crush raised the landing gear and leveled off to fly down the runway as we accelerated. In the evening darkness, I was keenly aware of the bright blue-white glow of flame from our engines forty feet behind me. Lights on hangars and buildings streaked by in my peripheral vision. I looked at our rapidly increasing airspeed as we neared the end of the runway, and Crush yanked back on the stick to launch us into a steep, nose-high climb. ‘Buckley Tower, Navy November Juliet 426, airborne, switching Departure.’ I tried to sound like I belonged here, but I’m sure the controllers in the tower knew that I was both new and loving it. Since Buckley is about 5,600 feet above sea level, it took quite a bit less than thirty seconds for us to reach our assigned altitude of 18,000 feet. Crush smoothly leveled off while I rapidly switched through the Departure Control frequency and contacted Denver Center. We were cleared to climb to a higher altitude and start the route back to Miramar. I was storing all the sensations and images in my long-term memory and looking forward to a nice flight home when Crush said, ‘Okay, get some contacts on the radar.’”

Photos used with permission of author Dave “Bio” Baranek

January 10, 2024 0 comment

Cold War

The F-15E Strike Eagle’s 2000-lb laser-guided bombing of an Iraqi Mi-24 during Operation Desert Storm

by Till Daisd January 5, 2024

written by Till Daisd

One of the most unique air-to-air kills in aviation history is ascribed to “Chiefs” from 335th Tactical Fighter Squadron (TFS, now known as 335th Fighter Squadron, FS) during Operation Desert Storm F-15E Strike Eagle #89-0487, or “487” for short

The F-15E Strike Eagle was created to satisfy the US Air Force’s (USAF) requirement for air-to-ground missions. It took off for the first time in December 1986 from St. Louis. In addition to having an infrared targeting and advanced navigation system, which enables the Strike Eagle to fly at night or in bad weather at a low altitude while maintaining a high speed, the Strike Eagle can carry 23,000 pounds of air-to-ground and air-to-air weaponry, shielding it from enemy defenses.

April 1988 saw the delivery of the F-15E’s first production model to the 405th Tactical Training Wing at Luke AFB in Arizona.

During Operation Desert Storm, which was launched between January 17, 1991, and February 28, 1991, with the intention of freeing Kuwait from the Iraqi invasion, the F-15E was used for the first time in combat. One of the most unique air-to-air kills in aviation history was attributed to F-15E Strike Eagle #89-0487, or “487” for short, from the 335th Tactical Fighter Squadron (TFS, now known as the 335th Fighter Squadron, FS) “Chiefs” during this combat.

The first air-to-air kill for an F-15E Strike Eagle took place on February 14, 1991, during an air encounter by Capts. Richard T. Bennett, pilot, and Daniel B. Bakke, weapon systems operator (WSO).

“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, 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.

“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 in 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.

F-15E Mi-24 killer — F-15E Strike Eagle #89-0487 armed for a close air support mission over Afghanistan.

“[…] 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 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 real heavy and the other helicopters were starting to scatter. I told my wingman to put three Mk. 82 500-pounders on 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 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 with 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.

F-15E Driver explains how he shot down an Iraqi Mi-24 attack helicopter with a 2000lb laser-guided bomb — The green star on Aircraft #89-0487 represents an air-to-air victory achieved during Operation Desert Storm.

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

January 5, 2024 0 comment

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