The First Pinnacle of Manned Space Flight Was Reached During That Summer of 69
The first mission to land people on another world blasted off from Cape Canaveral on July 16, 1969, hurtling three men 250,000 miles atop the largest operational rocket the world has ever known, the Saturn V. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin would land on the moon several days later, while Michael Collins orbited overhead, forever cementing the event and their places in human history.
NASA is currently developing a path to land humans on Mars starting in the mid to late 2030s with the SLS and Orion system, which will rival the Saturn V in its heaviest future variant. But serious doubts overshadow the programs (which have been several years in the making already), such as budget and political concerns.
Missions back to the moon, for mining resources and/or using the moon as a base for deeper human space exploration, are being whispered about in the spaceflight industry more and more, and have been for years.
Apollo 11 launch. Photo: NASA
Meanwhile, private companies like Moon Express and SpaceX (with funding help from NASA), are developing their own vehicles and paths to Mars as well. SpaceX for example is developing the Falcon Heavy rocket and Crew Dragon space capsule; the rocket is expected to make its first launch and orbital flight demonstration by the end of this year, flying from Kennedy Space Center – the same launch pad Apollo 11 lifted off from actually, 39A.
And SpaceX is planning to use that rocket to launch a crew of two paying customers to the moon and back by 2020, similar to Apollo 8. . – Follow Mike Killian on Instagram and Facebook, @MikeKillianPhotography
Families and Friends of Two Aviation Enthusiasts are Reeling
At 1030 local time on Sunday July 16th the Warbird Heritage Foundation’s P-51D-25-NA Mustang, North American construction number 122-31945 and Army Air Forces serial number 44-72086, crashed in Atchison County, Kansas near the intersection of 234th Street and Ness Road. Killed in the mishap were the pilot, 64 year old Vlado Lenoch of Burr Ridge, Illinois, and his passenger, 34 year old Bethany Root of Atchison Kansas.
Bethany Root doing what she loved- flying. Photo courtesy of Ladies Love Taildraggers Facebook page
Pilot and Passenger Were Both Doing What They Loved
Lenoch had been flying the P-51D Mustang in the Amelia Earheart Festival along the Missouri River in the vicinity the day before. Lenoch’s passenger Root was the airport manager at Atchison County’s Amelia Earhart Airport west of Atchison from where the flights in honor of Earhart were being flown. She had been a special education teacher and ran a custom motorcycle shop in Indianapolis before learning to fly and working with McElwain crop dusters in the region. Lenoch began flying at 17 years of age and amassed more than 11,000 hours of flight time. He held a master’s degree in aeronautical engineering and worked for Boeing for many years and was still regularly flying a corporate jet. Lenoch was a licensed Airline Transport pilot with multiple flight instructor ratings and scores of type certificates including multiple warbird types, one of which was for the P-51 Mustang.
The Warbird Heritage Foundation P-51D “Baby Duck” in flight. Photo courtesy of Warbird Heritage Foundation.
Vlado Was a Founding Member of Heritage Flight
Vlado Lenoch became a member of the Heritage Flight the year it was founded in 1997 and was one of its most experienced pilots. As a warbird competency evaluator Vlado helped ensure that warbird pilots were capable of handling their classic aircraft and that safety was always at the forefront of their flight conciousness. He was also a lifetime member in the Commemorative Air Force (CAF), the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), and the Soaring Society of America (SSA). Flying was in his blood; his great uncle was a Luftwaffe Bf-109 ace in World War II. Lenoch leaves behind a wife and three children. It is believed Bethany Root was unmarried.
44-72086 in service with the Swedish Air Force. Photo courtesy of Warbird Heritage Foundation / J.L. Dienst and L. Hellmstrom.
The History of Baby Duck
Lenoch flew this particular P-51D Mustang often. The aircraft was built by North American Aviation of Inglewood in California in 1944. It was delivered to the Swedish Air Force in 1945 and flown by the Svenska Flygvapnet until May of 1953 when it was sold to the Dominican Republic Air Force. The Fuerza Aerea Dominicana flew the aircraft until 1984 when it was acquired by Johnson Aviation in Miami. From there the aircraft changed hands several times before it was completely restored between 2008 and 2011, after which it began flying in the colors of Captain Herbert G. Kolb’s 44-13157, a 353rd Fighter Squadron, 350th Fighter Group Mustang flown out of Raydon in England with the 8th Air Force.
44-72086 in the service of the Bolivian Air Force. Photo courtesy of Warbird Heritage Foundation / J.L. Dienst and L. Hellmstrom.
Remembering With Respect
Thanks go to the Warbird Heritage Foundation for biographical and chronological information about both Vlado Lenoch and the Mustang he was flying when he and his passenger Bethany Root died. Rather than illustrate this piece with a helicopter shot of the crash site or a story by the local evening news, we chose to link a video uploaded by AirshowStuffVideos of a Vlado Lenoch airshow performance flying Baby Duck. We hope you enjoy it. Rest in Peace Vlado and Bethany. Heartfelt condolences from us here at Avgeekery and ours to your families and friends.
With the formation of Airbus Industrie and the launch of the Airbus A300 jetliner, the different consortium partners finalized their workshare of the project- the tail section was the responsibility of the Spanish, the British were responsible for the wings, the Dutch fabricated all the moving surfaces of the wing, the Germans built the forward and aft fuselage along with the top section of the center fuselage, and the French were responsible for the nose, flight deck, control systems, the lower section of the center fuselage and final assembly of the A300. Splitting up the construction of a commercial aircraft in this manner wasn’t necessarily new to the aerospace industry- after all, Boeing had about 65% of the Boeing 747 farmed out to various subcontractors with over 20,000 companies in just about every one of the fifty US states and some foreign nations. But what was novel in what Airbus was doing was that it was the very heart of the enterprise with the partner nations assuming near-equal risk. This would be how every Airbus jet would be built and each partner nation would build their sections to as near complete as possible. For Boeing, they retained oversight and control over what their 747 subcontractors would be doing and providing. For the A300, each Airbus partner wasn’t overseeing each other- they were more or less having to trust that each partner would provide a finished product that met the specifications and could be easily integrated into final assembly in France. This required each firm to work in near-perfect harmony and coordination with the other consortium members. There was no margin for error- it has been said that if a Swiss watch were scaled up to the same diameter as the A300’s fuselage, the tolerances on the A300 were much tighter than that of the Swiss watch!
Parts were designed in such a way to facilitate this process, but other steps were necessary for proper coordination. At the Hawker Siddeley plant in the UK that built the wings, for example, they had special jigs that the wings could be “plugged” into that replicated the fuselage center section that they would join up with in the final assembly hall in Toulouse. More difficult was getting each nation to adopt the same production techniques. During the early days, engineers at Airbus joked how easy it was to tell whether a particular join in the aircraft was done by the French or Germans. But it had to work and with great perseverance, the A300 was coming to shape.
Surprisingly, in the early days of Airbus, the biggest problem they faced in getting the A300 into production was the logistics of having factories in France, Germany, Spain, Great Britain and the Netherlands all separated by significant distances. The straight line distance from Germany’s Hamburg production facility to the final assembly hall in Toulouse was 900 miles. It was originally planned that all the large sections would be transported by sea- this was why the German Airbus facilities were in Bremen and Hamburg which had easy sea access and the Hawker facility had good road links to the port at Liverpool. Toulouse, however, is about 100 miles inland with no sea access. The original plan was to transport the fuselage and wing sections up the Garonne River from Bordeaux on the Atlantic coast. Because of the depth of the river and the size of the components, they would only be able to up about 50 miles from Bordeaux at which point the components were transferred to a road convoy- to minimize disruption along the route to Toulouse, it had to be done at night and numerous telephone poles, trees and power lines would have to be relocated. Some of the transport vehicles would be near 100-feet in length and it wasn’t long before Airbus officials came to their senses and realized that this was a very inefficient and time-consuming process to get airframe components to final assembly.
Photo by Michael Gilliard (Wikipedia)
The A300 production manager was a German engineer named Felix Kracht. Before joining the nascent Airbus in 1968, Kracht had worked on harmonizing production methods and standards on the Franco-German C160 Transall military transport program. About the time that the A300 program had been launched, Kracht was familiar with Aero Spacelines and its founder, Jack Conroy. Aero Spacelines was established by Conroy to convert Boeing 377 Stratocruisers into outsize cargo transports for NASA. Not only did ASI design and convert the aircraft, they also operated the aircraft as well. The first conversion was done in 1962 using a retired Stratocruiser and was called the Pregnant Guppy which transported both Titan II stages for the Gemini program and Saturn stages for the Apollo program.
By 1970 a bigger and more capable Guppy had made its first flight- longer and more capacious than any of Conroy’s other designs, the new Super Guppy Turbine (377SGT) was turboprop-powered. The first 377SGT made its first flight after conversion on 24 August 1970 and the second 377SGT first flew on 24 August 1972. By this point, however, ASI was in financial trouble and that’s where Felix Kracht and Airbus stepped into the picture. He astutely realized its capacious fuselage and swing-nose loading were the perfect solution to the logistical problem of getting large airframe sections to Toulouse for final assembly. In 1970, Kracht had arranged for Airbus to purchase the first 377SGT with delivery in 1971. The purchase deal included a contractual commitment from ASI to build a second 377SGT as a back up for Airbus to serve as a back up for the first 377SGT. With ASI in dire financial straits in 1973 as the Apollo program was winding down, Airbus purchased the second 377SGT built. Plans then evolved once A300 production had been launched for a third and fourth 377SGT to be built for Airbus. By this point ASI was in no position to complete construction of two more aircraft, but they did complete sub-assemblies which were then completed in France. The third 377SGT first flew in 1979 and the fourth and final 377SGT first flew in 1980.
Photo taken by Staro1 (Wikipedia)
Operating the Super Guppy fleet wasn’t cheap, but in terms of time savings and efficiency, the cost was worthwhile compared to any sea/ground-based transport option. As the battle with Boeing heated up in the late 1970s, Boeing criticized what was called the Airbus Skylink program but Airbus responded by overlying a map of Boeing’s subcontractors over a map of the Airbus partners to show the distances flown by the Super Guppies was shorter than the distances from Boeing’s subcontractors to final assembly in Seattle. By the 1980s, though, the age of the Super Guppy fleet was becoming a significant cost center for Airbus. In 1991, the French company Aerospatiale and the German company DASA formed a joint enterprise to develop and build a replacement for the venerable Super Guppy fleet, ironically based on the A300. Construction of the Airbus Beluga began in September 1992 with the first flight taking place in 1994. A total of five Belugas have been built with the last one completed in 1999 which allowed for the retirement of the Super Guppy fleet.
Super Guppy No. 1 was retired in 1996 and resides at the British Aviation Heritage Museum at Bruntingthorpe awaiting proper restoration. Super Guppy No. 2 was also retired in 1996 and is on display at the Airbus facility at Toulouse and is under the care of the group Ailes Anciennes Toulouse (“Toulouse Old Wings”). The Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace at Le Bourget was offered Super Guppy No. 2 initially, but they had to decline on account of space considerations. Super Guppy No. 3 was retired in 1997 and is on display at the Deutsche Airbus facility at Hamburg Finkenwerder, Germany. Super Guppy No. 4, however, continues to earn its keep, but no longer for Airbus. In an International Space Station barter agreement, Super Guppy No. 4 was transferred to NASA in exchange for delivery to the ISS by the Space Shuttle components from the European Space Agency. Now with tail number N941NA, the NASA Super Guppy transported ISS modules destined for in-orbit assembly and currently transports launch payloads.
As an interesting note on Super Guppy No. 4/N941NA- when Aero Spacelines was building the sub-sections for Airbus, the company found that there were no more spare Boeing 377 Stratocruisers that could be cannibalized to form the lower aft fuselage. The dismantled original Pregnant Guppy that first flew in 1962 was still available and was purchased for its lower aft fuselage which was incorporated into Super Guppy No. 4/N941NA. Now here’s what’s interesting- the Pregnant Guppy was converted from the third Boeing Stratocruiser prototype that made its first flight in 1948! That means that not just a significant portion of Airbus jets produced made their “first flight” on the third Stratocruiser prototype (so to speak), but so did some of the modules of the ISS.
The McDonnell TA-4J Skyhawk began service for the United States Navy in 1956 as light attack aircraft. The Skyhawk was produced to serve as a flexible mission aircraft with both one and two-seat variants. The two-seat model was most commonly used for training. The combination of the aircraft’s small lightweight airframe and 9,300-pound thrust Pratt & Whitney J52-P-8 turbojet engine, lead to its most popular nickname “Heinemann’s Hot Rod.”
The aircraft featured in the video was given construction #13590 by Douglas Aircraft Company. When the aircraft was delivered to the U.S Navy on July 24, 1967, the Navy assigned a Bureau Number 153524. (Note, in the video you can see the number 3524 marked on the vertical stabilizer.) Production ended in 1979, with a total of over 3,000 Skyhawks manufactured.
Even though production had ended, the aircraft continues to actively serve in air forces around the globe today. #524 was retired from the Navy on August 5, 1994 completing a total of 6496.6 flight hours. The Collings Foundation acquired the Douglas TA-4J Skyhawk featured in the video through Congressional action in October 2000. In 2004, Number 524 was transported by truck to AvCraft in Myrtle Beach, SC for a restoration.
The video was shot in amazing 4k and 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound. Thanks to our friends at uniquephotoandvideo.com for sharing the footage.
The Royal International Air Tattoo is a yearly event held at Royal Air Force (RAF) station Fairford in the UK. Each year the aircraft in attendance for the show are a cross-section of everything from civilian aircraft through warbirds and the latest military hardware. Arrivals for the show are often a good time for spotters and avgeeks to get a good look at which aircraft will be attending the show.
This video documents the arrivals for the 2017 version of RIAT ahead of the show that runs from July 14-16. There was a significant crosswind component on the active runway so some of the approaches and landings are “interesting.”
Aircraft included in the video are a USAF Boeing B-52H Stratofortress, two USAF Lockheed U-2S Dragon Ladies, a RAF Embraer 500 Phenom 100E, a Textron Airland Scorpion Jet, a Gulfstream G550, a USAF Rockwell Boeing B-1B Lancer, a pair of French Dassault Rafales, several Lockheed C-130 Hercules airlifters, Saab J-39 Gripen jets, Aero L-39 Albatros jets, an EADS CASA C-295 airlifter, a couple of KC-135R tankers, a pair of Spanish Air Force Boeing EF-18A Hornets, and the Extra EZ-300Ls of the Royal Jordanian Air Force Falcons aerobatic team, one of whom experiences one of those interesting landings.
A Raytheon T-6A Texan II trainer makes an appearance, as do Alenia G.222 airlifters, the RAF King Air Display Team, French Mirage jets, Turkish F-16 Vipers, an RAF Tornado GR4, an Alenia Aermacchi M-346 Master trainer, and two of the few remaining operational F-4E Phantoms IIs from the Greek Air Force. That’s all the clues I’m willing to hand out. There are some very cool surprises in this video. Many of the aircraft are wearing special commemorative paint schemes too.
The Boeing B-17G Madras Maiden, 44-8543 CN 7943-DL and registered as N3701G, was built by Lockheed-Vega and accepted by the United States Army Air Force at Lockheed-Vega’s plant in Burbank California on October 17, 1944. She was one of 2,750 B-17s built by Lockheed-Vega in partnership with Boeing. 44-8543 was first assigned to the Flight Test Branch at Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio. She was modified to be a Pathfinder aircraft and as such was equipped with the H2X Mickey (AN/APS-15) bomb-through-overcast radar system in place of the ventral ball turret. Between 1944 and 1959 44-8543 spent its entire military career as a research and development aircraft. She is the sole remaining Pathfinder B-17. Posted by Ed Whisenant, enjoy the video of his flight aboard Madras Maiden.
As a military aircraft 44-8543 spent most of her time based in Ohio doing weather research and testing as well as being loaned out for other long-term test programs. Flown to the boneyard at Davis Monthan Air Force Base (AFB) in 1959, she was declared surplus the same year.
Purchased for the value price of $5,026 from the Air Force in August 1959, 44-8543 was registered as N3701G in 1960 (a value of about $42,000 in today’s dollars). She began a career unremarkable for B-17s flying during the 1960s, hauling produce between Florida and the Caribbean and doing what she could to eradicate fire ants as an aerial sprayer in Alabama. She was damaged in 1976 and sold three years later. Restored by the Vintage Flying Museum in Dallas and the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach to her original military configuration and perfected by the Tillamook Air Museum in Oregon. Previously flown as Chuckie for several years, 44-8543 now wears the colors of the 381st Bomb Group.
Rare L-1011 flight makes emergency return on what was supposed to be its last flight.
Update #1 7/15/2017: We received updated information that the jet made a precautionary return yesterday due to an oil pressure issue and a few other problems. After a few hours of maintenance, the jet was ready to go. The jet took off today again enroute from Tucson to Kansas City International. The planned flight takes it across New Mexico, the Panhnadle of Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. Planned flight level is FL270. You can follow the flight here.
A Lockheed L-1011 TriStar on its first flight in over 15 years landed safely today in Tucson, Arizona after experiencing an “engine out” failure in the air over New Mexico shortly after takeoff from Tucson International Airport this afternoon.
John Springer Walmsley Junior was born on January 7th 1920 in Baltimore Maryland. He graduated from High School in Silver Springs in 1936 and attended the University of Maryland. In September of 1942 Walmsley enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF). He was assigned to pilot training first at Maxwell Field in Alabama, then at Orangeburg in South Carolina, followed by Bush Field in Georgia, and finally Turner Field in Georgia where he received his wings and commission during November of 1943.
Official US Air Force Photograph
First Overseas Assignment
Walmsley remained stationed at Turner Field as a flying instructor until the end of the war. During 1946 he transferred to Japan and spent the next three years as a bomber pilot in Douglas A-26 Invader medium bombers. Now an officer in the United States Air Force (USAF), Walmsley returned stateside from the Far East to attend the Air Tactical School at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida, graduating in July of 1949. As a newly minted captain John became a specialist and worked with a series of air control and warning squadrons. He was also loaned to the Army at Fort Bragg in North Carolina for its training exercises, including Operation Swarmer, the 1950 mock invasion of the Eastern United States.
52nd FS P-82 Twin Mustang. Official US Air Force Photograph
Twin Mustang Pilot
Captain Walmsley was assigned to the 52nd Fighter Wing Fighting Hawks to fly all-weather North American F-82 Twin Mustangs from McGuire AFB in New Jersey in February of 1951. In June of the same year John shipped out to Korea for duty with the 8th Bomb Squadron Blackbirds of the 3rd Bomb Group Grim Reapers Fifth Air Force flying Douglas B-26 Night Invaders. On June 27th 1950 8th Bomb Squadron B-26s flew the first Air Force bombing mission of the war from Yokota Air Base and staging from Iwakuni Air Base in western Japan.
When Routine Was Anything But
When Walmsley returned to the Far East he joined the 8th Bomb Squadron, then based at Kunsan Air Base (K-8) on the west coast of South Korea. Early on missions flown by the 8th were generally routine bombing runs dropping 260 pound fragmentation bombs and shooting at targets of opportunity with the B-26’s wing-mounted .50 caliber machine guns. During the summer of 1951, the United Nations (UN) and North Korea seemed to be nearing a truce. However, as the negotiations continued, North Korean and Chinese troops began moving supplies to the front lines while negotiations were taking place- especially at night.
Strangling Enemy Supply Lines
The UN countered with Operation Strangle. This was a new interdiction campaign designed to attack supply lines using arc lights attached to the undersides of the B-26s. These super-bright lamps (80 million candlepower worth) would enable the B-26s to spot movement of trucks, personnel, and trains at night but would also draw fire from every Communist weapon on the ground that could be brought to bear. The North Korean and Chinese trains were heavily fortified as were the valleys through which the train tracks were laid and the roads snaked.
Getting Theirs at Night
Captain John Walmsley was one of the first pilots to volunteer for the dangerous mission. And so it began. The Night Invader pilot and crew flew 20 arc light missions and only three others. At this point in the war it would have taken about 60 missions to earn rotation out of the war zone and back the States. Emboldened by a successful 24th mission during which he attacked a convoy with 500 pound bombs and destroyed or damaged 16 trucks, John decided to fly his B-26 “Skillful 13” (tail number 44-34314) on a mission into North Korea alone on September 12th 1951.
Working on the Railroad
Walmsley’s September 14th mission, his 25th, began as they usually did. Along with him in Skillful 13 that night were bombardier/navigator Second Lieutenant William D. Mulkins, photomapper Captain Philip W. Browning, and air gunner Master Sergeant George Morar. Nearly 100 miles behind enemy lines, they spotted an armed train moving supplies. Skillful 13 expended all available ordnance but only managed to damage the train. Walmsley called in a second Night Invader from Kunsan to finish the train off. When the second B-26 arrived Walmsley turned on his arc lights to illuminate the target for the newly arrived bomber.
Heroic Deeds Cost More Than One Hero’s Life
Walmsley flew over the armed locomotive no less than three times, illuminating it but receiving heavy and accurate antiaircraft fire from both the train and enemy emplacements along the rail line. Walmsley not only illuminated the train but also allowed his aircraft to absorb most of the antiaircraft fire. This allowed the other B-26 to finish off the train. But Walmsley’s aircraft was severely damaged. He was able to make it only about two miles from the now-destroyed train before hitting the ground. The only survivor of the crew was the gunner Morar, who was severely burned but survived the crash itself and was taken prisoner. He survived the war. Four weeks later the arc lights were removed from all UN aircraft and not used again during the Korean War.
Unique Recipients of The Medal
Walmsley’s crew each received a Distinguished Flying Cross for extraordinary heroism. Walmsley however, was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously on June 12th 1954. Walmsley’s widow, Flora Katherine, was presented with the Medal of Honor on that date at Bolling AFB in Washington, D.C. Walmsley was one of four USAF personnel awarded the Medal of Honor in the Korean War. All four were pilots who were killed in action. They were the only members of the USAF to receive the Army version of the medal because the USAF version was created later and not awarded until the Vietnam War. In recognition of the Wing’s distinguished service, the 3rd Bomb Wing was assigned to fly the very last bombing mission over North Korea an entire war after they flew the first bombing mission and only minutes before implementation of the ceasefire of July 27th 1953. John Walmsley would have approved.
Medal of Honor Citation
Capt. Walmsley, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. While flying a B-26 aircraft on a night combat mission with the objective of developing new tactics, Capt. Walmsley sighted an enemy supply train which had been assigned top priority as a target of opportunity. He immediately attacked, producing a strike which disabled the train, and, when his ammunition was expended, radioed for friendly aircraft in the area to complete destruction of the target. Employing the searchlight mounted on his aircraft, he guided another B-26 aircraft to the target area, meanwhile constantly exposing himself to enemy fire. Directing an incoming B-26 pilot, he twice boldly aligned himself with the target, his searchlight illuminating the area, in a determined effort to give the attacking aircraft full visibility. As the friendly aircraft prepared for the attack, Capt. Walmsley descended into the valley in a low level run over the target with searchlight blazing, selflessly exposing himself to vicious enemy antiaircraft fire. In his determination to inflict maximum damage on the enemy, he refused to employ evasive tactics and valiantly pressed forward straight through an intense barrage, thus insuring complete destruction of the enemy’s vitally needed war cargo. While he courageously pressed his attack Capt. Walmsley’s plane was hit and crashed into the surrounding mountains, exploding upon impact. His heroic initiative and daring aggressiveness in completing this important mission in the face of overwhelming opposition and at the risk of his life, reflects the highest credit upon himself and the U.S. Air Force.
Here’s some nice video footage of an operational B-26 Invader produced in 2016.
The Navy’s EA-18G GrowlerElectronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 132, the “Scorpions” from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Washington, are currently at Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Base Amberley in Queensland, Australia to participate in Exercise Talisman Saber 2017.
A 57-year old woman from New Zealand was killed on Maho Beach late Wednesday afternoon (July 12), after being blown off her feet by a jet blast from an aircraft taking off.
When one travels this great country the unexpected can be expected to be found almost anywhere- around the corner or roadside. Many of the Veteran of Foreign Wars (VFW) and American Legion posts around the country display military hardware to be appreciated by anyone who is compelled to stop and take a gander. One such American Legion post is Post 533 in Bastrop, Texas. Located along Highway 21 just outside of town, adjacent to highway 150 and Bastrop State Park, Post 533 has an M115 8 inch howitzer sitting out in front. That monster could throw a 200 pound shell almost ten and a half miles. Impressive enough, but that wasn’t why I stopped.
F-4D 66-8768 out in front of American Legion Post 533 in Bastrop Texas
Also outside the post is McDonnell Douglas F-4D-31-MC Phantom II 66-8768 (CN 2620). The jet’s paint is faded and it has seen better days, but it’s identified as a Phabulous Phantom easily enough. This particular F-4 was a gate guard at the former Bergstrom Air Force Base (AFB) near Austin in Texas, where it last served with the 704th Tactical Fighter Squadron Outlaws of the 924th Tactical Fighter Group (TFG). The jet actually belongs to the National Museum of the United States Air Force and is on loan to Post 533.
Another Outlaws F-4D showing off the striking camouflage scheme worn to Gunsmoke competitions in the mid to late 1980s. Official US Air Force Photo
66-8768 was built at the McDonnell Douglas plant in St. Louis Missouri in 1966. The jet was first assigned to the 25th TFS Assam Dragons of the famed 8th Tactical Fighter Wing (TFW) Wolf Pack. From there the jet was flown by the 492nd TFS Blue Bolars of the 48th TFW Statue of Liberty Wing. Between 1976 and 1979 the 23rd TFS Fighting Hawks of the 52nd TFW had 66-8768 on charge. Then 66-8768 was flown by the 307th TFS Stingers of the 401st TFW. Up to this point after return from Vietnam the jet had been flown primarily in Europe. When the Outlaws began flying 66-8768 they rotated to Korea several times and attended Gunsmoke competitions at Nellis AFB in Nevada. The paint scheme last worn by the Phantom was applied for the 1987 version of Gunsmoke, where it was a huge hit at the meet.
66-8768 landing in Korea for Team Spirit 1985. Note the Texas colors on the baggage pod. Official US Air Force Photograph.
When the Outlaws jets were switched from F-4Ds to slightly younger F-4E models in 1989, 66-8768 became a candidate for gate guard duty. Many of the 704th TFS F-4Ds were transferred to South Korea. Host to several Phantom-phlying fighter and reconnaissance squadrons at one point, the AFB portion of Bergstrom closed down in 1993 leaving the fourth busiest commercial airport in Texas to enjoy only hum-drum airliner flights. 66-8768 sat outside a gate at Bergstrom for roughly six years until 1996. It was then that she was partially disassembled and trucked about 31 miles to her present location. The jet shows no signs of vandalism due at least in part to the stout fence that completely surrounds it. She needs some fresh paint and a cover to protect her from the relentless Texas sun and heat wouldn’t hurt either. But she’s all Phantom and still beautiful in a difficult to define way.
Close-up of the dedication plaque. Note the exclusion of a digit in the serial number. When the jet was brought to Bastrop all they saw was the 66-768 on the tail so that’s what’s on the plaque.
Fortunately the jet is free of graffiti and other human-caused negative effects so often found on displayed military hardware. The data block is visible in this shot, as is the faded 924th TFW insignia and unit award ribbon insignia.
The F-4D was equipped with GE J79-GE-15 engines. These look like they would still push this monster along pretty well. Note the heavily faded paint scheme and deployed air brakes.
Note that this F-4D does not have slatted stabilators but the “thick” wing is evident. Also note that the jet is not sitting on its tires…always a good thing.
A rear view of the aircraft reveals that the engine exhausts are not covered. I don’t know if I have ever photographed a Phantom without capturing this view. Unique!
The 704th TFS insignia is faded and cracked like the rest of the finish but the airplane is still attractive in that Phantom sort sort of way.
Look aft at the F-15-type center line drop tank. The plane has three tanks mounted. Also note the engine inlet cover protecting the innards of the jet.
No missing seats or obvious equipment removed from this jet. The cockpit probably still contains most of what was in there when the jet was retired and de-milled almost thirty years ago.
Closeup of the lumps and bumps associated with the AN/ALR-69 (v)-2 RHAW antennae (Herpes mod) and TACAN aft of the radome. That was once a Texas flag on the nosegear door.
All the probes and stuff modelers always break off are still there. Even the Remove Before Flight streamers are still in place. Remarkable.
The F-4Es that replaced the F-4Ds at the 704th retained the striking paint scheme first worn on their F-4Ds. To the best of my knowledge this was a unique paint scheme on US Phantoms. Official US Air Force Photograph
When the General Dynamics / Air Force film “Champion of Champions” was produced in the early 1960s, the United States Air Force (USAF) was flying several manned bomber types. Brigadier General James M Stewart, USAF (ret) did the narration and makes several appearances in the film. In fact, he climbs out of the pilot’s seat of a Convair B-58 Hustler, appearing in the film’s opening scene. We’re told that Stewart joined the Mach 2 club when he flew a Hustler. Of course, Stewart was still in The Air Force Reserve when the film was made and there is plenty of documentation of his flights aboard Convair B-36 Peacemakers, Boeing B-47 Stratojets, and Boeing B-52 Stratofortress bombers. He may actually have flown the B-58 before he retired from the Air Force in 1968. Either way, the film is entertaining in a what-if sort of way.
B-58s entered service in 1960 and served for a tumultuous ten years before they were retired. The film makes mention of the B-58’s low-level flight performance, which is ironic because the B-58 was originally designed for high altitude penetration missions.
Of course, when in 1960 the capabilities of Soviet surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) became apparent, Strategic Air Command (SAC) was forced to change their mission parameters to low-level penetration sorties. The B-58 could not use its greatest asset (its speed) as effectively at low altitude. The change to low-level work spelled the end of the B-58 in SAC front-line service.
