Category Archives: USAF

Good Luck and Godspeed, Gen. Anders

Posted on by Leave a comment

Rest in peace, Maj. Gen. (ret.) William “Bill” Anders (USNA 1955), who passed away last Friday in San Juan Islands, Washington state, at the age of 90.

Apollo 8 was the first manned Saturn V mission, and the first to orbit the moon

(27 Dec. 1968) — “The Apollo 8 crew stands in the doorway of a recovery helicopter after arriving aboard the carrier USS Yorktown, the prime recovery ship for the historic Apollo 8 lunar orbit mission. Left to right, are astronauts Frank Borman, commander; James A. Lovell Jr., command module pilot; and William A. Anders, lunar module pilot. Apollo 8 splashed down at 10:51 a.m. (EST), Dec. 27, 1968, in the central Pacific approximately 1,000 miles south-southwest of Hawaii.” (NASA Photo S69-15737 )

Of the Apollo 8 Astronauts, only Jim Lovell now remains.

Born in 1933, Bill began his career as an Air Force pilot and, earning a master’s degree in Nuclear Engineering in 1962, Major Anders was selected two years later to join NASA’s astronaut corps, serving as backup pilot for the Gemini XI and Apollo 11 flights, and lunar module pilot for Apollo 8– among the first man to orbit the moon, which he accomplished as a “space rookie” at age 35.

He later served as chair of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ambassador to Norway, and served on the board of General Dynamics.

Of the Apollo Astronauts who only flew to the moon, Biloxi’s Fred Haise, and Lovell are the last two among us. Only four moonwalkers are left, David Scott, Charles Duke, Harrison Schmitt, and Buzz Aldrin.

Ad Astra.

Hornet at 50

Posted on by Leave a comment

Some 50 years ago today: The first Northrop YF-17 Cobra prototype made its first flight on 9 June 1974, with Northrop’s Chief Test Pilot, Henry “Hank” Chouteau, at the controls. The flight ran 61 minutes, reaching an altitude of 18,000 feet, and clocked a maximum speed of 610 miles per hour in the clear skies above Edwards AFB.

Photo: National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution

YF-17 chief test pilot Hank Chouteau, left, shakes hands with the Northrop CEO, T.V. Jones. Chouteau logged more than 7,300 flight hours in more than 80 models of aircraft and, having flown F-51s in Korea and F-5s in Vietnam, called the YF-17 a fighter pilot’s plane. (Photo credit: Northrop Grumman)

The aircraft, a single-seat all-weather interceptor powered by a pair of General Electric YJ-101s, was Northrop’s initial entry into the US Air Force’s Lightweight Fighter (LWF) technology evaluation program but would lose out when compared to the YF-16.

Via the March 1974 issue of Air Enthusiast International, click to big up

However, it would later morph into the carrier-capable Navy Air Combat Fighter (NACF), the GE F-404 powered F/A-18 Hornet multirole fighter and attack aircraft, which would be adopted in 1978 with the first production aircraft delivered on 12 April 1980.

The same aircraft, now in Navy colors, was operated by NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center in May-July 1976 for a series of drag studies. NASA Photo Collection

The above aircraft, 72-01569 (MSN 1), had been rolled out on 4 April 1974 and passed on to the Navy as Bu. No 201569.

It was later retired and is currently in the collection of the Western Museum of Flight at the old Torrance, California airport.

It currently wears a now proudly displays a rather fictitious paint scheme as well as the emblem of the Navy Fighter Weapons School.

Its only Cobra sister, 72-01570 (MSN 2), flew in August 1974 and was exhibited for a couple of years marked as the “F-18 Prototype.” In the collection of the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola since at least 1989, it has been on exhibit at the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park since 1996.

YF-17(F/A-18) Prototype 72-01570 (MSN 2), Bu.No 201570 at USS Alabama Memorial Park, beside the USS Drum in the background. Note the Bicentennial flash on the tail, the Cobra program emblem on the nose, the GE logo on the body, and “Hank Chouteau” under the cockpit. The aircraft to the left is a Vietnam-era F-105B-1-RE 54-0102, an early Thunderchief test bird that spent most of her life at Edwards and in NASA’s hands before retiring to Brookley AFB and then the Alabama park. Photo by Chris Eger

Just in case: Aircrew Bail Out Handguns

Posted on by Leave a comment

One peculiar thing that has endured from the ages of the Red Baron through today is the custom of pilots and aircrews carrying so-called “bail-out guns” to be used on the ground should they lose their main ride. 

The first instance of opposing aircraft encountering each other while over the battlefield is thought to have occurred when high-flying American soldiers of fortune Dean Ivan Lamb and Phil Rader, each at the controls of early fabric-covered biplanes, fired pistols at each other in the first “dogfight.” The action while flying for rival sides during the Mexican Revolution in November 1913 was bloodless, but the habit of Yankee flying birdmen carrying hog legs with them aloft persisted.

During the Great War, while Americans flew more advanced British- and French-made fighters against the Germans, the pilots often carried their M1917 Colt and S&W .45 ACP revolvers and M1911 pistols with them, even while Vickers and Lewis machine guns were their primary weapons. 

Not just a preux chevalier throwback, the handguns became mandatory to a degree, part of the survival kit with the plane – often for good reason. 

In 1924, during the famed “First Around the World Flight,” Army pilot Maj. Frederick Martin and his mechanic, Sgt. Alva Harvey, were forced to walk for 10 days across Alaska to civilization after their plane crashed into the side of a mountain in the fog. 

Note the pistol belt on Harvey’s hip, complete with a revolver. (Photo: National Archives 342-FH-3B-7971-11517AS)

More in my column at Guns.com.

 

Cold War Bruisers– IN COLOR!

Posted on by One comment

How about this great original color image of brand new frontline RAF and USAF strategic bombers, right out of the Cuban Missile Crisis era.

A Royal Air Force Avro Vulcan B.2 (s/n XH535) in flight with a U.S. Air Force Boeing B-52H-135-BW Stratofortress (s/n 60-0006)–the first B-52H to fly– over the Mojave desert near Edwards Air Force Base on 10 July 1961. 

U.S. Air Force photo 342-C-KE-14932. National Archives Identifier 176246788

It is notable to compare the two frames, as most people forget just how big the Vulcan was. For reference, the B.2 Vulcan, which entered service in 1960, had a 111-foot wingspan and was 105 feet in length while the B-52H, which entered service the same year, spanned 185 feet and taped out at 159 feet in length. 

Both of these beautiful aircraft went on to meet tragic ends early in their career.

XH535 crashed during a test flight under A&AEE control near Chute, Wiltshire, on 11 May 1964 after entering a spin and then belly-flopping. Four of six crewmembers died, with the pilots saved (albeit the co-pilot with a broken back) as they were able to eject at low altitude.

SN 60-0006, while part of the 34th Bombardment Squadron, 17th Bombardment Wing, crashed while making a ground-controlled approach to Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio on 30 May 1974– 50 years ago today– because the aircraft’s rudder and elevators failed. Luckily, there were no fatalities.

Freedom is never free.

Yippee!

Posted on by Leave a comment

Some 80 years ago this month, May 1944, we see a great period Kodachrome of Lockheed P-38J-20-LO SN 44-23296, carrying a special vermillion red paint scheme and the moniker “Yippee” as she was the 5,000th P-38 produced.

She even made the cover of the August 1944 edition of Flying Magazine, for good reason. 

While the P-51 and P-47 get lots of love when it comes to USAAF fighters in WWII, and I think the P-40 is tragically unloved, people forget the twin-engine P-38 and how much of a bruiser it was in all the theatres it flew in.

Among the pages of aces that it produced were Col. Charles MacDonald (27 kills), Maj. Tom McGuire (38) and Maj. Dick Bong, who holds the title of the most proflic American ace of the war with 40 kills. It was the P-38 that was given the task of splashing Yamamoto, after all.

Sadly, Yippee was a working girl and, with her red and white scheme covered under standard military markings, shipped out to the Pacific in late 1944 to join the 475th Fighter Group’s 431st FS and was lost in a ground accident in the Philippines on 20 January 1945.

Old Crow Flies Onward

Posted on by One comment

The last American “Triple Ace,” Brig. Gen Clarence Emil “Bud” Anderson passed away yesterday at the ripe old age of 102.

Born in Oakland in 1922, he enlisted as an aviation cadet with the USAAF right after Pearl Harbor and earned both his butter bar and lead wings by September 1942.

After cutting teeth on the P-39, he joined the 363rd FS, in England flying early model P-51Bs in January 1944 and bagged his first (of six) Messerschmitt Fb 109s on 3 March and, upgraded to a bubble canopy P-51D, by the end of the war would add a He 111 bomber and five Fw 190s to his scorecard, ending the war with 16.25 aerial victories spanning 116 sorties.

Both of Bud Anderson’s Mustangs were dubbed “Old Crow” after the rock gut whisky, the later, P-51D-10-NA Mustang, AAF Ser. No. 44-14450 B6-S, seen here.

Post-war, Anderson continued on active service with the USAF as a test pilot, squadron, and wing commander, ultimately logging over 7,000 hours in over 100 types and retired in 1972 as a full bird colonel, later upgraded to a star in 2022.

He earned two Legion of Merits, five Distinguished Flying Crosses, the Bronze Star, 16 Air Medals, the French Legion of Honor, and the French Croix de Guerre, among other decorations.

He passed in his sleep at his home in Auburn, California last Friday.

Via the CAF

ROKAF Pharewell

Posted on by Leave a comment

South Korea recently held a ceremonial final flight for their F-4E Phantom IIs, and it is just beautiful imagery of the big beast.

The last 19 equipped the 153rd Fighter Squadron of the 10th Fighter Wing, based at Suwon, and included birds in special livery.

The lead jet, 80-735 was built as F-4E-67-MC No. 78-0735 and was the 5059th Phantom constructed in the U.S.. Of note, the last run of U.S.-built F-4s went to South Korea under the “Peace Pheasant II” program with 78-0744 being the 5068th and last Phantom to be built in America.

The F-4s recently took part in a 33-aircraft elephant walk, leading F-35s and FA-50s.

And graced the ROKAF’s beautiful poster marking the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Korean independence movement.

“I will remember your noble patriotic spirit”

The Phinal formation was escorted by KF-21 Boramae (Northern Goshawk) South Korea’s very F-22-like domestically-developed multi-role 4.5 gen fighter aircraft.

While the KF-21 is still in its teething phase, the ROKAF has no fighter shortage with the F-4 leaving as the country still has 170 F-16C/Ds, 39 F-35s (with more on order), 59 F-15Es, 60 locally built FA-60s, and 80 legacy 1970s era F-5 Tigers, which will be the next type to retire.

Korea first fielded the F-4D model in 1969 and over the years has had some 222 Phantoms of assorted types in service.

With over 5,000 F-4s built between 1958 and 1981, the type used to be flown by every branch of the U.S. military save for the Coast Guard as well as over a dozen key American allies. Now, with the Japanese retiring the Phantom in 2021 and Egypt putting it to bed in 2020, there are only the Greeks, Turks, and Iranians that still fly the type with, ironically, the latter being the most numerous with an estimated 60 D and E model birds still in service.

Happy Mother’s Day from Kwajalein

Posted on by One comment

Here we see a group of hardy USAAF men clustered in front of B-24J-1-CO Liberator Come Closer (S/N 42-72973) of the 38th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 30th Bomb Group, 7th Air Force, sending Mother’s Day wishes, likely in 1944, where it was stationed from March to August of that year.

For an, um, closer look at the Sad Sack nose art of Come Closer III check out this image of an ordnance crew prepping a bomb load on Kwajalein on 9 April 1944.

The USAAF Nose Art Project details about Come Closer:

Assigned to the crew of John A Runge, this Liberator flew numerous missions to the Japanese bases at Truk and later several missions softening up Iwo Jima prior to the Marines’ amphibious landing.

As noted by a page on Fold3, which lists Come Closer as completing 100 missions successfully:

The new “J” Models first appeared on the line at San Diego in August 1943. They would be equipped with a nose turret as well as other improvements on the D Models which are discontinued—Of the 51 aircraft in this 1st block of J Models, 35 of them were assigned to the newly forming 30th Bombardment Group, the 27th, 38th and 392nd Bomb Squadrons. Another 14 were sent to replace losses in the 11th B.G. which had already been deployed in Central & South Pacific areas. Those squadrons were the 26th, 42nd, 98th and 431st.

According to Joe Baugher, Come Closer III survived the war, is currently owned by Paul Peters, and is under restoration to fly in Chino, California.

Mosel Weasle Stack

Posted on by Leave a comment

How about this great Cold War (circa late summer 1985) image showing two F-4E Phantoms flanking an F-4G Advanced Wild Weasel aircraft (center) from the 52nd Tactical Fighter Wing, Spangdahlem Air Base (hence the SP tail flash(, West Germany.

330-CFD-DF-ST-85-11181

And another one of the same group over the Mosel River in a banked formation.

330-CFD-DF-ST-85-11177

The aircraft are armed with an AGM-78 Standard anti-radiation missile (F-4G), AGM-45 Shrike air-to-surface missiles, AIM-7 Sparrow III, and AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles. The aircraft are also equipped with ALQ-119 or ALQ-141 electronic countermeasures (ECM) jammer pods in the left forward slot while the Weasel is “hairy” with 52 interferometer antennae studded all along the bird. The F-4E in the top foreground is also toting at least four MK 82 500-pound general-purpose bombs.

The only frame I can figure a number for is the Weasel, 69-0248.

Built as a Block 42-MC F-4E in late 1969, she was first assigned to the 353rd TFS (401st TFW) in 1970 then assorted 50th, 36th, and 35th TFW units until converted to F-4G standard in 1979. She then went to Germany with the 52nd TFW until 1992, at which point she was one of the last Weasels in Europe, which included a combat deployment to Desert Storm. She finished her career stateside with the 57th FWW and was sent to AMARC in 1996. Converted to a drone, 69-0248 was expended in a test of Patriot SAM near Holloman AFB in 2002.

Jamming out with your Westinghouse out…

Posted on by Leave a comment

Saw this great image passed around the interwebs without much detailed explanation and had to nerd out on it.

After some digging, I am fairly certain it is a USAF F-4E-44-M Phantom II, SN 69-7298, with its nose cone pivoted and Westinghouse AN/APQ-120 X-band fire control radar showing. The Phantom’s “ZF” tail flash would put it as the 31st TFW (307th and 308th TFS) out of Udorn AB, Thailand, circa April 1972 to June 1973.

Note the full-color 31st TFW’s flying sea horse shield on her intake. 

Founded in 1940 as the old 31st Pursuit Group– which, flying Spitfires, had been the first American unit to engage in combat in Europe– when it came to Vietnam the 31st TFW more than paid their dues, earning the Presidential Unit Citation and ten campaign streamers flying over 100,000 close air support sorties between 1965 and 1970 out of Bien Hoa and Tuy Hoa in the venerable F-100 Super Sabre.

Finally rotated back home to Homestead AFB, Florida in 1970, where they transitioned to new 1969-model 44/45 block F-4Es, they were tapped to return to Southeast Asia two years later, hence the above image.

As noted in the unit’s history:

From April to 13 August 1972, the 308 TFS deployed to Udorn Royal Thai Air Base, Thailand to augment tactical air forces already deployed to that country. It was followed in July by the 307 TFS. In June 1972, Captains John Cerak and David B. Dingee of the 308 TFS were shot down and captured by the North Vietnamese and confirmed as prisoners of war. In March 1973 both were released and returned to the United States. On 15 October 1972, Captains James L. Hendrickson and Gary M. Rubus of the 307 TFS, who replaced the 308 TFS at Udorn, Thailand, shot down a MiG-21 northeast of Hanoi. This marked the first and only aerial victory for the 31 TFW. The 308 TFS completed the wing’s final deployment to Southeast Asia from December 1972 to June 1973.

The particular bird shown above, as detailed by Baugher, originally flew with the 4th TFW before switching to the 31st TFW. By 1977 it was with the 68th TFS (347th TFW). 

Converted at the Ogden Air Logistics Center along with 115 of her circa 1969 sisters to the F-4G Wild Weasel SEAD standard in 1979 (with the same Westinghouse radar but with digital processor added), she flew with various squadrons of the 37th TFW until 1991 and then for a few years with the 35th TFW before being shipped off to the Idaho Air Guard’s 190th FS/124th FW in 1993. 

F-4G SN 69-7298 was then sent to the boneyard at AMARC as FP1004 in December 1995, converted by Tracor Flight Systems to QF-4G drone AF183 three years later, and expended in missile test in 2002. 

As for the 31st TFW? They transitioned from F-4s to F-16s in the 1980s and moved out of Homestead after it was all but destroyed by Hurricane Andrew in 1992.

Since then, they have been pushing their Vipers out of Aviano, which is surely an upgrade. Over the past two decades, they have been the “tip of the spear,” so to speak, in operations in the Balkans, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya.

A U.S. Air Force F-16CM Fighting Falcon (SN 89-2047, Block 40E) from the 31st TFW’s 510th Fighter Squadron soars above Aviano Air Base, Italy, March 16, 2020. “The 31st Fighter Wing is dedicated to remaining lethal and rapidly ready” (U.S. Air Force photo 200316-F-ZX177-1037 by Airman 1st Class Ericka A. Woolever)

« Older Entries Recent Entries »