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history

The story of the USAF B-52 Stratofortress Strategic Bomber’s fly-by below the USS Ranger Aircraft Carrier’s flight deck

by Till Daisd November 26, 2023

In 1990, five miles off the USS Independence, a USAF B-52 Stratofortress strategic bomber requested permission to do a fly-by. The carrier accepted the request but stated that there was no visual on the aircraft.

The images included in this post were taken in 1990 when the USS Ranger (CV-61) was five miles away from the US Air Force (USAF) B-52 Stratofortress strategic bomber, which requested permission to fly by. The carrier agreed to the request but stated that there was no visual on the aircraft. The B-52 instructed them to look down before flying past the Independence below the flight deck level.

This is how the story unfolded. When two B-52s wanted to do a fly-by of the USS Ranger, the carrier air controller approved it. The carrier controller stated he had not seen the B-52s when they indicated they were nine kilometers away. The carrier crew was directed to look down by the B-52s.

B-52 Pilot: “Ranger, we’re 5 miles out.”

USS Ranger: “We do not have visual…”

B-52 Pilot: “Look down”

The Tailhook Association website states that although the B-52’s paint scheme made it difficult to detect from above, sailors were able to make out the aircraft and the water that the B-52 jets were causing to spray out as they approached.

As we have already explained B-52s usually practiced low-level flights during Cold War years to come in under Soviet radar. In this case, the B-52 pilots asked the carrier controller if they would like the bombers to come around again. The carrier guys said yes, and a lot more sailors had their cameras out this time.

While low fly-bys by USAF aircraft below a carrier’s flight deck are extremely uncommon, sometimes B-52s perform low fly-bys over US Navy flattops. In fact, two B-52 Stratofortress strategic bombers stationed in Guam carried out a low flyby over the aircraft carrier USS Midway (CV-41) during the winter of 1981.

Note: The carrier in the images is unquestionably the USS Ranger, despite the fact that one of the pictures shows an F-14 with tail markings from VF-154 and an E-2C with tail markings from VAW-115 parked on the flight deck, with NK in the tail of the aircraft at the time not assigned to USS Ranger.

However, as a reader explained: “Top photo is definitely Ranger CV-61. As for CAG-5 or CVW-5, they were not deployed on Independence until August 1991 after Indy relieved Midway. I was ship’s company on Indy from 1989-1992 and I definitely do not remember ever seeing or hearing of this happening.”

Another added: “VF-154 didn’t joke CAG-5 until 1991/1992. NK is the tail letter for CVW-14. Judging by the few aircraft on the flight deck this looks like a 2 week carrier quals. During carrier quals, the squadrons will go to whatever carrier is available not necessarily the one they deploy on.”

Photo by U.S. Navy

November 26, 2023 0 comment

History

The US Navy A-1H Skyraider attack aircraft that during the Vietnam War, dropped a toilet bomb

by Till Daisd November 24, 2023

written by Till Daisd

Yes, this really happened. Once more, truth is way funnier and stranger than fiction

The pictures in this post show the US Navy Douglas A-1H Skyraider (NE-572, BuNo 135297) of Attack Squadron 25 (VA-25), “Fist of the Fleet,” being prepared for a mission over the Mekong Delta aboard the aircraft carrier USS Midway (CVA-41), on November 4, 1965. The temporary name “Paper Tiger II” was used for this one flight. VA-25 was deployed to Vietnam from March 6 to November 23, 1965, and was assigned to Attack Carrier Air Wing Two (CVW-2) on the Midway.

To commemorate the mark of delivering 6,000,000 lbs (2721.56 tons) of ordnance, NE-572 was equipped with a unique “bomb”—a toilet!

According to Eugeneleeslover.com, the US Navy flattops in Vietnam were so short on ordnance that missions were frequently launched with only a half load in order to maintain the sortie rate and prevent blistering messages from the Rear Echelon Mother M****r F****r’s (REMF) in Washington, DC, regarding the failure to support the war effort, etc.

Since the loss rate approached, and sometimes exceeded, one aircraft a day, all will understand that there was a degree of reticence to launch with less than a full load. However, in certain rather strange ways, the unwavering spirit of the US Naval Aviators and their squadron-mates triumphed. Yes, this really happened. That’s right, this actually did happen. History is, as always, way funnier and stranger than fiction.

This story was provided by USNR Ret. Captain Clint Johnson, one of the two VA-25 A-1H Skyraider pilots who have been credited for downing a MiG-17 on June 20, 1965.

That time a U.S. Navy A-1H Skyraider dropped a

“I was a pilot in VA-25 on the 1965 Vietnam cruise.

572 was flown by CDR C. W. ‘Bill’ Stoddard. His wingman in 577 was LCDR Robin Bacon, who had a wing station-mounted movie camera (the only one remaining in the fleet from WWII).

The flight was a Dixie Station strike (off South Vietnam) going to the Delta. When they arrived in the target area and CDR Stoddard was reading the ordnance list to the FAC, he ended with ‘and one code name, Sani-flush’.

The FAC couldn’t believe it and joined up to see it. It was dropped in a dive with LCDR Bacon flying in a tight wing position to film the drop. When it came off, it turned hole to the wind and almost struck his airplane.

It made a great ready-room movie. The FAC said that it whistled all the way down. The toilet was a damaged toilet, which was going to be thrown overboard.

One of our plane captains rescued it, and the ordnance crew made a rack, tail fins, and nose fuse for it. The squadron flight deck checkers maintained a position to block the view of the Captain and Air Boss while the aircraft was taxiing onto the catapult. Just as it was being shot off, we got a 1MC message from the bridge: ‘What the hell was on 572’s right wing?’

There were a lot of jokes with air intelligence about germ warfare. I wish that we had saved the movie. CDR Stoddard was later killed while flying 572 in October 1966. He was hit by three SAMs over Vinh.”

Russell Falb got the footage below, which features Paper Tiger II carrying the toilet bomb, through Ken Young, James E. Young’s son and NE 572’s plane captain.

Photo by U.S. Navy and Bayou Renaissance Man

November 24, 2023 0 comment

History

F-8 Crusader Vs F-4 Phantom II: the “Last of the Gunfighters” and the first “All-Weather Interceptor”

by Till Daisd November 23, 2023

written by Till Daisd

In contrast to the F-4’s “all-weather interceptor” role, the Phantom made many of its early cruises as paired squadrons with F-8 units, which were considered “day fighter” (or, in the opinion of the F-8 pilots, “fighter”) units

A sleek design with a gaping jet intake beneath the fuselage and a variable-incidence wing that could be raised to enable the aircraft to land and take off at slow speeds while maintaining excellent visibility for the pilot made the F-8 Crusader one of the most capable fighters of the post-World War II era. The Crusader’s pilots dubbed it the “Last of the Gunfighters” because it carried a 20mm cannon during a time when fighter pilots depended more and more on missiles.

Rather, the Navy’s need for a high-altitude interceptor to protect carriers equipped with long-range air-to-air missiles from attacking aircraft led to the development of the F-4 Phantom II. McDonnell Aircraft Company provided the F4H (later renamed the F-4) Phantom II in answer to these requirements. The aircraft had its first flight in 1958, with deliveries to Navy and Marine Corps squadrons beginning in 1960. It became one of the most frequently used aircraft in aviation history when its performance and adaptability eventually drew the attention of not only the US Air Force but also the air forces of 10 other countries.

In contrast to the F-4’s “all-weather interceptor” role, many of the Phantom’s early cruises were paired squadrons with F-8 units, which were considered “day fighter” (or, in the F-8 pilots’ estimation, “fighter”) units, as explained by Peter E. Davies in his book Gray Ghosts, U.S. Navy and Marine Corps F-4 Phantoms. When the F-4 started to outnumber the Crusader and F-8 drivers began switching to the Phantom, the antagonism between the two communities grew more intense. Before making the switch, Jerry B. “Devil” Houston, who piloted Crusaders with a VF-11, summed up the situation as follows:

“The F-8 stole your heart from the get-go with its beauty and, for its time, power (God, an afterburner!), but it quickly earned an ensign-killer reputation, rightly or wrongly. In the long run, that reputation contributed greatly to fighter pilot development in the Navy; only the top ten percent of pilot graduates were even considered for the F-8 pipeline—the créme de la créme. And as luck would have it, a damn solid base of mid-level stick-and-throttle talent groomed the hungry youngsters into frothing-at-the-mouth tacticians. Without experiencing it, anyone would be hard-pressed to understand the aura that surrounded that early F-8 Crusader community. An ensign in F-8s took no crap from a Lieutenant Commander who flew anything else. Period.

“Among that small but growing privileged group, anyone in the first few squadrons knew damn near exactly where they stood in the overall tactics ladder. Killing, capability meant everything: King of the Mountain, in spades. Gunnery, tactics, gunnery, tactics, just enough intercept training to get you into the sky with another victim. F-8s didn’t bomb then—hell, the plane didn’t even have hard points on the wings. In other words, everything funneled the best pilots and the best airplanes through a narrow training spout and out-popped the world’s best fighter pilots. They all ate, breathed, thought, and dreamed about fighting airplanes. All the time.

“The F-4, on the other hand, was an ugly, two-seated, gas-hog monster that hit the Fleet with a bunch of F3H Demon interceptor pilots. Consequently, the F-4s got off to a horrid start when running into F-8s. Their reputation was dog-s**t, and the ex-Demon drivers didn’t have a clue about changing it. So they practiced intercepts, avoided tactics, and groomed follow-on clods in their own image. All the while, that lovely top-ten percent advantage kept aircrew infusing the Crusader community with superior talent, which rapidly molded into long-clawed killers. The rich got richer—and even richer. Better people, better training, frightful competition. Crusader pilots didn’t have to brag; they owned the sky. So it remained, until finally an F-8 jock got into an F-4, screaming and dragging his heels all the way. The rest is history.”

F-8 pilots and tactics, which were initially transferred from their squadrons to the Phantom, undoubtedly contributed to the rapid advancement of F-4 ACM training. Jerry Houston described his VF-51 squadron as a “double-barreled Crusader squadron with an extra set of eyeballs in each plane” as late as 1971 when the squadron transitioned from the F-8J to the F-4B. However, the need for ACM was recognized far earlier than then, and it was even recognized before the late 1960s initiatives that led to the development of the Top Gun ACM training program.

Gray Ghosts, U.S. Navy and Marine Corps F-4 Phantoms is published by Schiffer Publishing and is available to order here.

Photo by U.S. Navy

November 23, 2023 0 comment

Cold War

Without fighters on alert, the RC-135 spy plane was forced to intercept a Soviet Tu-95 bomber

by Till Daisd November 23, 2023

written by Till Daisd

‘The RC-135 was diverted to do the intercept. The RC snuck up on the Bear from low rear and then pulled up alongside. It was a surprise to the Soviets,’ Roberto Benitez, working on USAF RC-135 aircraft

Since 1962, the pool of -135 aircraft has undergone several modifications resulting in the current RC-135 fleet. Originally used by Strategic Air Command to meet national intelligence collection requirements, the RC-135 fleet has participated in all significant armed conflicts involving US assets during its time in service.

Support operations in Vietnam, the Mediterranean (Operation El Dorado Canyon), Grenada (Operation Urgent Fury), Panama (Operation Just Cause), and Southwest Asia (Operations Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Enduring Freedom, and Iraqi Freedom) were all carried out with the help of RC-135 aircraft. Since the early 1990s, RC-135s have been a constant presence in Southwest Asia.

Roberto Benitez, who worked on USAF RC-135 aircraft, recalls on Quora that once an RC-135 was even diverted to intercept a Soviet Tupolev Tu-95 Bear strategic bomber.

‘One day, a Soviet Tu-95 Bear recon bomber overflew the Alaska mainland. It wasn’t the first time.

‘The radar station notified Alaskan Air Defense Command (AADC) of the intrusion. There was only one minor problem: AADC was asleep at the wheel and had no fighters on alert.

‘So AADC called SAC at Eielson AFB in Fairbanks to see if they had any aircraft available to respond. Well, it just so happened that they had a Boeing RC-135 training in the area (close enough to give backend specialists a chance to monitor the Soviets for training), but over the Alaskan mainland.

‘The RC was diverted to do the intercept. The RC snuck up on the Bear from low rear and then pulled up alongside. It was a surprise to the Soviets. They were even more surprised when the RC backend crew asked them in Russian if they were lost. Of course they were (uh huh). So, in Russian, they were told where they were from, their unit, where they were, how to get home, and cheerfully escorted out of US airspace.’

Benitez concludes;

‘Once got home, our unit painted a red star on the nose area and renamed the RC-135 (reconnaissance) to an FC-135 (fighter/interceptor).’

Photo by Crown Copyright and U.S. Air Force

November 23, 2023 0 comment

History

US Navy F6F Hellcat pilots remember their first experience with the formidable N1K1-J Shiden fighter

by Till Daisd November 22, 2023

written by Till Daisd

On November 6, 1944, US Navy F6F Hellcat pilots encountered a Japanese fighter they could not identify while conducting a fighter sweep over the airfields north of Manila

The F6F Hellcat squadrons entered the Pacific in late 1943 and quickly proved their superiority against their Japanese adversaries, which culminated in the historic “Marianas Turkey Shoot” in June 1944 during the Battle of the Philippine Sea. The fighter proved to be an aircraft pilot’s dream, enabling both inexperienced and seasoned Naval Aviators to win large-scale aerial combat.

Lt. Elvin Lindsay, CO of VF-19, Lt. Albert Seckel, and Lt(jg) Lachlan McLaughlin came upon a Japanese fighter they could not identify on Nov. 6, 1944, during a fighter sweep over the airfields north of Manila, according to the story provided by Edward M. Young in his book F6F Hellcat Philippines 1944.

The Aircraft Action Report for VF-19 stated:

“The six who went up to Clark ran into 15 enemy planes, of which they destroyed 13 without losing themselves. They were led by Lt. Lindsay, the new squadron commanding officer, who shot down two “Tojos” and one “Oscar.” The group was attacked first by five “Oscars,” but when our planes turned into them, they climbed into the overcast, where Ens. Tatman got onto the tail of a straggler and shot it down in flames. Then singles and pairs of enemy planes came down out of the overcast, and several other enemy planes joined in from the side. All fights took place under the overcast and from 5,000ft down to the ground. A “Tojo” came in on Lt. Lindsay, firing both 7.7 and the two 20mm guns in his wings from above. He was a poor shot, missing, and Lt. Seckel pulled up a bit, centering him with a 60° deflection shot, and he burst into flames, crashing.”

Lt. Seckel says:

“We encountered 12 to 15 enemy planes, in groups of three to five planes. Lindsay’s division and my section kept weaving, covering each other, and by aggressively climbing and turning right into the enemy we kept the initiative, scaring off all but one or two of the planes in the group we attacked. Thus, all of us would gang up on a single plane or two as their pals fled, and we would take turns knocking them down. In a long chase, McLaughlin damaged a single-engine fighter of unknown type, and as he pulled out I hit him with a burst and he crashed. This plane was very fast – I was doing 290 knots indicated at 100ft and gaining only a very little. Its wing was a low mid-wing, and the plane resembled a P-47, with a heavy belly below the wing. Carried bombs or tanks under the wings.”

Lt. Lindsay added the following observations:

“We all stayed together in excellent fashion and supported each other with no strain. One “Oscar” approached Ens Sassman head-on, then suddenly whipped around and was on Sassman’s tail in amazingly short time. He began firing but broke away when he saw my tracers pass him. A few short bursts set his center section afire, and he crashed without bailing out. The “Tojos” pressed their head-on attacks to a very dangerous collision range, where we broke away. One “Tojo,” after making such a run on another F6F, tried to pull up sharply into the overcast but burst into flame from my gunfire just before entering the cloud. The sight of a burning “Tojo” spinning out of an overcast is beautiful indeed. I found another “Tojo” (or unidentified plane) in my sights soon after, and a short burst sent him flaming to the ground.”

The powerful new N1K1-J Shiden fighter, code-named “George,” of the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Force (IJNAF) matches the pilots’ description. It had been flying over the airfields of Luzon for a few weeks, but it didn’t seem to have been recognized as a new type of Japanese fighter until then.

F6F Hellcat Philippines 1944 is published by Osprey Publishing and is available to order here.

Photo by Jim Laurier and Gareth Hector via Osprey

November 22, 2023 0 comment

History

U-2 Vs SR-71: why the Blackbird was retired while the Dragon Lady still flies Spy missions

by Till Daisd November 21, 2023

written by Till Daisd

The US Air Force (USAF) retired its fleet of SR-71s on January 26, 1990, although the U-2 is still in use today

Before Gary Power’s U-2 was shot down, development on a breakthrough spy plane had already started at Lockheed’s famed Skunk Works in Burbank. This unique aircraft had to fly higher, faster, and with a minimal radar cross section (RCS) than any other aircraft.

The SR-71, also called the “Blackbird,” was developed from the Lockheed A-12 and YF-12A aircraft. It made its first flight on December 22, 1964, and the 4200th (later 9th) Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at Beale Air Force Base, California, received the first SR-71 to enter service in January 1966.

Throughout its nearly 24-year career, the SR-71 maintained its position as the fastest and highest-flying operational aircraft in the world, reaching a maximum speed of Mach 3+. It could cover 100,000 square miles of the Earth’s surface per hour from 80,000 feet. The U-2 Dragon Lady, on the other hand, can reach a top speed of 410 mph and fly above 70,000 feet. Nevertheless, the US Air Force (USAF) retired its fleet of SR-71 aircraft on January 26, 1990, but the U-2 is still in use today.

Why is that? What is so special about the U-2?

‘Mostly expense,’ Damien Leimbach, former USAF Avionics Technician, says on Quora.

‘The SR-71 was insanely expensive to fly.

‘For a mission over a target in the Middle East with the planes based in England, it needed to have multiple airliner-size aircraft in the air to support it. ‘It was not capable of taking off with a full load of fuel (or rather, not advisable for many reasons), so in order to take off, there had to be a tanker waiting in the air to top it off once it got airborne. It would then make a high-speed run to the target zone, where it would meet up with another tanker before doing its Mach 3 run over the target. It would then need to tank up again once the recon run was done for the trip home, and then there would still be a tanker in the air on standby in case it needed gas before landing or in case it needed to divert for weather or something. So that’s a minimum of four airliner-sized support aircraft, including all of their parts, fuel use, and crew, flying out of a minimum of two different bases just to make a single SR-71 operational mission happen. And that’s on top of all the crew, fuel, parts, and mechanics just to operate the SR-71.

‘This is true for operational missions and usually true just for training runs back home as well. The planes were stationed at Beale AFB in California, and there was an entire squadron of tankers stationed there just to support the SR-71.

‘(Notice all the tankers in the back? They were there just for the SR-71)

‘They also had a squadron of T-38s there so the pilots could get their minimum training hours (night, instrument, supersonic, cross-country) in each month without having to fly the more expensive SR-71.’

Leimbach continues;

‘So that’s TWO ADDITIONAL squadrons of aircraft that have to exist just to support SR-71 training operations back at home station, complete with all the parts, fuel, mechanics, housing, etc., etc. for those extra planes. And that’s not even taking into account the specially formulated radioactive jet fuel it used. The list of special oils, lubricants, and tires the SR-71 needed to be able to operate in those flight regimes (Mach3.2 at 80K feet) alone made the SR-71 ruinously expensive to fly per hour.

‘(Aluminum mixed with latex so the tires could take the 400 °F temperatures in the wheel wells.)

‘Contrast that with the U-2, which only needs a crew of one, could easily be forward-based, and could take off on a single load of fuel good enough to keep it in the air for 14 hours. For training missions back home, just put less gas in it and let the pilot take it for a spin. A refueling plane does not need to be up just for the thing to take off. A U-2 would use less fuel on a 14-hour mission than the SR-71 did just taking off.

‘There really was no technology gap between the SR-71 and other planes like the U-2 as far as cameras, sensors, or EW suppression. The U-2 has been upgraded many, many times since the 1990s, when the SR-71 was retired. Cockpit, sensors, cameras, and anti-missile systems have all been upgraded. But they would have been upgraded in the SR-71 if it had been kept in service as well.

‘The SR-71 never directly overflew Soviet territory, and the MiG would have had to come out into international airspace to take a shot at the Blackbird.

‘The Russian SAM threat is not an issue. The SR-71 was fired on over 800 times by Warsaw Pact SAMs and was never downed. And that was when our ECM was in its infancy.

‘Speaking as a U-2 electronics guy, we fly in warzones covered by all of Russia’s latest and greatest, including the S-200, -300, and -400. The SR would have been upgraded with the same EWS suite the U-2 has.’

Leimbach concludes;

‘Satellites and drones aren’t the answer either. Drones didn’t exist then (when the SR-71 was retired) the way they do now, although the satellites are much better. However, we still fly the U-2 around the clock, despite SAMs, satellites, and drones, because it can do stuff on call in a way drones and satellites just can’t. But the SR-71 would have been useful for the same reason.

‘Like I said, it was mostly cost.’

Photo by Lockheed Martin and U.S. Air Force

November 21, 2023 0 comment

History

The story of FedEx Flight 705

by Till Daisd November 21, 2023

written by Till Daisd

‘To keep the bad guy off his feet, the first officer threw the FedEx DC-10 cargo aircraft into all sorts of maneuvers, including inverted flight,’ Keith Shergold, former airline transport pilot

Auburn R. Calloway attempted to hijack Federal Express Flight 705 (FedEx Flight 705) on April 7, 1994, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 cargo jet transporting electronic equipment from Memphis, Tennessee, to San Jose, California. The prosecution claimed Calloway was attempting suicide.

Three members of the flight crew were present in the cockpit during this flight, according to Wikipedia: 49-year-old Captain David G. “Dave” Sanders, who had worked for FedEx for 20 years and previously served with the US Navy for nine years during the Vietnam War; 42-year-old First Officer James M. “Jim” Tucker Jr., who had worked for FedEx for 10 years and previously served with the US Navy for 12 years during the Vietnam War and People Express Airlines for three years; and 39-year-old Flight Engineer Andrew H. “Andy” Peterson, who had worked for FedEx for 5 years.

In the aircraft was Calloway, a 42-year-old FedEx Flight Engineer, Stanford University alumnus, former Navy pilot, and expert in martial arts who was in danger of losing his job due to fabricating his flight log.

Arriving on time, he was a deadhead traveler with a guitar case that included a speargun and multiple hammers. He attempted to turn off the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) of the airplane before takeoff and then, after it was in the air, killed the crew members with hammers so that their wounds would seem more like those of an accident than a hijacking. However, the flight engineer realized he had forgotten to turn on the CVR and turned it back on.

Former airline transport pilot Keith Shergold recalls on Quora;

‘Basically, a deranged flight engineer who was traveling as a passenger on a FedEx cargo DC-10 was suicidal and had brought a hammer, spear gun, and other crap with him. His intention was to kill the crew and die in the crash. Because he was an employee and it was a cargo plane, he was able to smuggle his weapons aboard.

‘Once in the air, he came into the cockpit and used his hammer to bash in the heads of the pilots and the flight engineer. Despite receiving terrible brain injuries, the Captain and the Flight Engineer went into the back to fight the bad guy, while the third tried to control the plane. To keep the bad guy off his feet, the first officer threw the plane into all sorts of maneuvers, including inverted flight. His brain injury made it impossible to control half of his body, but he used his remaining one arm and leg to do aerobatics in this enormous jetliner until his mates in the back managed to subdue the bad guy. Despite their horrifying injuries, the three crewmates then landed the plane. None of them were ever able to fly again. The bad guy is in jail for two consecutive life sentences, obviously.’

The tale of Federal Express Flight 705 and its heroic crew is presented in the video that follows.

Photo by X Pilot

November 21, 2023 0 comment

History

The Blackbird engines were started by the SR-71 crew using controlled explosions caused by triethyl-borane

by Till Daisd November 20, 2023

written by Till Daisd

‘The NTSB lists Triethylborane [TEB] as the following most dangerous material, one step below fissionable nuclear material,’ Former SR-71 Blackbird pilot David Peters

The amazing photo in this post, taken at RAF Mildenhall in 1986 by Stuart Freer, shows an SR-71 Blackbird Mach 3 spy aircraft performing at the Air Fete Air Show and creating amazing fireballs.

According to Lt. Col. Doug Soifer, a former Blackbird RSO, this is mentioned in Richard H. Graham’s book SR-71 Revealed The Inside Story.

‘During that pass we [Soifer and Mike Smith, the pilot] had “13 fireballs” come out of the plane’s exhaust. It looked beautiful, and people wanted to know if it could be done again. They used the picture of us with the flames coming out for the next year’s Air Fete poster. Mike and I became known as the “Fireball Twins.” The maintenance people figured it was the TEB [triethylborane] shooting out of its container and igniting the JP-7. With that start, we had an exciting six weeks in England.’

JP-7 fuel was used by the SR-71, a unique fuel that retains its integrity at very high temperatures by adding an additive that increases its flash point.

Graham recalls;

‘The high flashpoint brings up another problem. Most jet engines use igniter plugs—nothing more than a very hot spark plug if you will. Using these igniter plugs they used with the JP-7 and just drowns it out, it won’t ignite. Kelly [Johnson] put his engineers to work, and he said, ‘OK, gentlemen, how are we going to start this?’ They came up with a very unique way. Triethylborane (TEB for short) Each engine has a one-and-a-quarter pint. If I had it in a squirt gun and I squirted it into the atmosphere, it would go Kaboom!—it explodes with contact with the atmosphere. And that’s how we started the engines. As the engines rotate, at the right time, it sprays this amount of TEB into the turbine section, which goes kaboom, which in turn lights the engine. When you take the throttles up into the afterburner, it puts this metered amount of TEB in that lights up the JP-7. You get 16 shots for each engine.’

Every engine had a sealed tank installed on it, inerted with nitrogen gas, that was filled with 600 cc of TEB by maintenance before each flight.

Former SR-71 Blackbird pilot David Peters explains: ‘An interesting note to this is the transport of it. If we landed away, servicing had to be hauled to our location. The NTSB lists TEB as the next most dangerous material, one step below fissionable nuclear material. The folks that handled this stuff were highly trained and good.’

Check out the Habubrats Facebook page for further Blackbird photos and stories.

Photo by Stuart Freer

November 20, 2023 0 comment

History

The naval officer who created TOPGUN, retired captain Dan Pedersen, flies a Blue Angels F/A-18 Super Hornet

by Till Daisd November 19, 2023

written by Till Daisd

Capt. Brian Kesselring, a former TOPGUN instructor himself and now flight leader and commanding officer of the Blue Angels, had the honor of taking TOPGUN1, retired Navy Captain Dan Pedersen, up for a ride

Led by former Navy Captain Dan Pedersen, in 60 days, nine individuals founded an educational institution in 1969, that is now firmly ingrained in the history of American naval aviation. The Navy Fighter Weapons School, or TOPGUN, is the current name of such institution. Although the school’s existence was only known to a select few elite fighter pilots in 1969, by the time the 1986 film Top Gun debuted, nobody would be able to forget it.

A young Pedersen joined the US Navy in 1955, and according to the US Navy Blue Angels Facebook Page, he started his Naval Aviation adventure while stationed at NAS Los Alamitos, California, by riding in the backseat of a naval aircraft. In September 2021, he flew over NAS Los Alamitos once more, but this time he was riding in the backseat of a Blue Angels aircraft.

“During our air show in Huntington Beach, where we had the privilege to fly Capt. Pedersen, the first commanding officer for TOPGUN.”

The distinction of taking TOPGUN1 for a ride belonged to Capt. Brian Kesselring, a former TOPGUN instructor who is currently a flight leader and commanding officer of the Blue Angels. On that particular day, Cmdr. Mike Patterson, the TOPGUN commanding officer at the time, joined them while piloting a fleet F/A-18 Super Hornet.

The Blue Angels felt that honoring the original TOPGUN was appropriate in light of the recent release of Top Gun: Maverick.“While many are fascinated by the actors in the films, for me, the true celebrities are people like Capt. Pedersen, the ones who paved the way and used their abilities to make us a more capable military,” said Capt. Brian Kesselring. “Flying this legendary naval aviator was a true honor and a terrific way to thank him for his contributions to our country.”

The Navy’s Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor Course – better known as TOPGUN – has a reputation for producing the best fighter pilots in the world.

Although TOPGUN’s fame now precedes it, its beginnings were far more modest. The school was first established in a trailer in the parking lot of what was then Naval Air Station Miramar in California, as reported by Katie Lange of DOD News in the article “It Started in a Parking Lot: TOPGUN’s History Revealed.” This was done in order to improve the training of Navy fighter pilots during Vietnam.

In Vietnam, the Navy was suffering intolerable combat casualties in spite of having a technological advantage. As a result, the service ordered an inquiry, which Navy Capt. Frank Ault was given the command to oversee. The Ault Report, which was produced as a result, identified numerous performance issues and their underlying causes, including the requirement for sophisticated training on fighter tactics. The outcome was the Navy Fighter Weapons School, which was founded in 1969 in Miramar.

The school, known by the moniker TOPGUN, was founded with the goal of providing aircrew with the highest level of professionalism in all facets of aerial combat training. When it first started, its students received four weeks of training aboard F-4 Phantom II aircraft to improve their skills in dogfighting, or one-on-one aerial combat.

Photo by U.S. Navy

November 19, 2023 0 comment

History

After this RAF Phantom made an emergency landing at Tonopah AFB, it was stenciled with the words “F-117 DON’T ASK” zap

by Till Daisd November 18, 2023

written by Till Daisd

During RED FLAG 90-1, an RAF Phantom FGR.2 (known as F-4M in the US) diverted there and returned to Nellis bearing an F-117 sticker and legend. DON’T ASK

As one of the most capable strike fighters in the world, the Phantom played a significant role in the Royal Air Force’s combat aircraft arsenal for more than two decades.

The Royal Air Force began using two models of the Rolls-Royce Spey-powered Phantom: FG1 (the version also in service by the Royal Navy) for interceptor roles and FGR2 for ground attack and tactical reconnaissance in Germany. Every Royal Air Force Phantom was converted into an interceptor fighter aircraft starting in 1977 and operated only over the United Kingdom airspace.

Great Britain bought fifty-two Phantom FG1s and 118 Phantom FGR2s.

The story of the RAF Phantom that made an emergency landing at Tonopah AFB and was stenciled with an “F-117 DON’T ASK” zap

Following the 1982 South Atlantic deployment of Phantoms, a further order for 15 Phantoms was issued. These were second-hand Navy F-4Js from the United States Navy that were powered by General Electric J-79 engines. Following a comprehensive renovation and the installation of certain British equipment, they were assigned the designation F-4J (UK).

The Phantom fleet’s decommissioning occurred at the end of September 1992 as a result of an expedited run-down brought on by the collapse of the Eastern European threat.

The top-secret F-117 Nighthawk was then housed at Tonopah Air Force Base (AFB), where an RAF Tornado GR1 taking part in a Red Flag exercise in the US made an emergency landing on April 9, 1990.

The Tonka’s fin was adorned with a Nighthawk silhouette as a result of the emergency landing. “The guys at Tonopah had a sense of humor after all, for the silhouette of an F-117 had been stenciled on each side of our tail fin,” Squadron Leader Wally Grout, a former RAF Tornado navigator, said in Ian Hall’s book Tornado Boys.

However, as noted by military aviation writer Mike Crutch in that article, a few months before the Tornado, another RAF aircraft made an emergency landing at Tonopah.

“A RAF Phantom FGR.2 (F-4M in US speak) diverted there during RED FLAG 90-1, arriving back at Nellis with an F-117 sticker and legend DON’T ASK. The diversion took place on Nov. 9, 1989, and the aircraft was Phantom FGR.2 serial XV476 (coded ‘S’ with No.56 Squadron, based at RAF Wattisham, UK but was part of a mix of airframes from UK and RAF Germany bases). So it was 56 Squadron-owned aircraft based at RAF Wattisham, UK, flown at that stage by a 92 Squadron crew based at RAF Wildenrath, West Germany. The zap was applied to the starboard engine intake,” Crutch said.

Keith Hillsmith, who was a former RAF Phantom crew member and wingman of an XV476 during the mission that resulted in the aircraft being diverted to Tonopah, provided more information. “The F-4 crew that diverted to Tonopah were from 94 Squadron RAFG. I was the wingman. Single hydraulic PC failure. Which was a land ASAP.”

Sadly, we were unable to locate any pictures of this aircraft at the time. However, Peter Rolt showed images of a Phantom equipped with an F-117 zap, which proved to be the precise images of the aircraft we were looking for.

As Rolt explained, the photos were taken on June 9–10, 1990, at A&AEE Boscombe Down, during the IAT 1990 airshow (officially titled the Battle of Britain Airshow). “56 Squadron had several jets at IAT at MoD Boscombe Down, they conducted a ‘scramble’ as it was the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Britain-themed airshow.

“The pictures have been sitting in my study since then, recently I have been submitting photographs to a Facebook group for British Phantoms and I have been going through my images, having a little bit of a tidy up there were these strips of transparencies that I had not looked at for thirty years, obviously I noticed it on the day but with so many images from such a large event, they were forgotten until now.

“I asked the Phantom group and it was mentioned one diverted to Tonopah so I Google the specifics and your webpage came up, isn’t technology great.”

Photo by Peter Rolt

November 18, 2023 0 comment

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