On Friday 17 August 2018 at approximately 1348 local time a US Air Force Northrop Grumman T-38C Talon jet trainer crashed near the town of Mutual, approximately 70 miles west of Vance Air Force Base (AFB) in in Northwestern Oklahoma. The pilot of the jet, who has not yet been identified but is described as an instructor pilot, ejected from the aircraft at approximately 2,000 feet altitude. The pilot, who was conscious and not seriously injured, is being evaluated by Air Force medical personnel.
71st FTW T-38. Image via USAF
The pilot of the jet, assigned to the 71st Flying Training Wing, reported engine trouble and was unable to restart either of the T-38C’s General Electric J85 jet engines. After attempting restart the pilot ejected. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol says the plane went down five to 10 miles northwest of Seiling in Oklahoma. Vance AFB emergency response personnel arrived on site by 1600 local time and have begun an accident investigation. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol brought in a helicopter to assist in the search for the ejection seat.
71st FTW T-38s. Image via USAF
The wreckage and the pasture land where it landed burned, and firefighters from Woodward, Sharon, Mutual and Mooreland responded. Until Friday, the tenant units at Vance AFB hadn’t suffered a Class A mishap since Sept. 8, 2000, which is an Air Education and Training Command (AETC) record. A Class A mishap involves loss of life or loss of an aircraft. Student pilots at Vance AFB have flown T-38s for nearly 55 years. Currently the 5th Flying Training Squadron (FTS) Spittin’ Kittens and the 25th FTS Shooters fly T-38Cs and AT-38Cs from Vance AFB. We’ll update this story as events warrant…
Aviation Day, a national day set a side to celebrate aviation in the United States, is fueling the growth of flight each year, propelling individuals into personal flying lessons while increasing the popularity of America’s air show industry.
Aviation Day is celebrated each year on August 19 and began with the signing of a proclamation by then President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939. The date was chosen to honor the birthday of Orville Wright, the first to pilot a powered aircraft. Since the early days of aviation, the growth of personal flight across the nation has proven to be safer, more affordable, and at an all time high.
1903: The birth of powered flight on the beach at Kitty Hawk as Orville Wright pilots the Wright Flyer as Wilbur watches and records nearby. (USAF)
“Aviation is more than just a mode of transportation,” said Avgeekery.com founder Jeff Gilmore, a pilot himself who has logged over 3,500 hours of flying time. “It’s the realization of a dream that every human has had which, now realized, connects societies and powers economies at a scale we’ve never seen before.”
Attendance at air shows across America continues to grow including the addition of new show sites in host towns each year. Most who attend the weekend events are drawn by the family-friendly atmosphere and the inexpensive value of an air show.
During Aviation Day weekend 2018, seven air shows will take place across the continental 48 states. They will showcase both men and women aerobatic performers, military demonstrations, and display historic maneuvers flown by the pilots of yesteryear.
Interest in aviation at an early age can carry up and coming pilots to new heights. (Charles Atkeison)
Former GEICO Skytypers Air show Team pilot Steve Kapur believes Aviation Day is great for America. “It’s a wonderful celebration of the past, and hopefully it will inspire the next generation of pilots,” he noted. “It’s a chance to look back, and it’s a chance to look forward, and start to think about ‘what will aviation become?'”
Military and civilian aerobatic pilots and teams are flying high as social media growth in users who follow their accounts are climbing. Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram users can stay up to date with pilot’s schedules and view real time images from the pilot’s flight day demonstration.
Air shows have witnessed an upswing in popularity with the growth of live streaming apps which now provides a live window for the aviation community to witness the busy flight line from miles away. Aviation enthusiasts and teams are using Periscope, the live-streaming app owned by Twitter, to both promote and give viewers an insiders view during an air show.
Larry Arken, pilot and leader of the world famous GEICO Skytypers, reflects upon the past on Aviation Day each year. “To see how far we have advanced in this short amount of time is amazing,” Arken said. “From wood and fabric aircraft to composite aircraft that fly by wire at supersonic speeds, Aviation Day gives us an opportunity to study these advancements and to realize the future of aviation has endless possibilities.”
The Navy’s F/A-18 Super Hornet Demo Team performs at air shows each year. (Charles Atkeison)
America’s military can also be found on social media, including the flight demo teams the Blue Angels, Thunderbirds, Navy Tac Demo, and F-22 Raptor. The Navy’s F/A-18 demonstration team’s Facebook account combines updates and images unique to the public eye.
“You think about the legacy of aviation over the last century or so, and the amount of work that goes into producing the kind of aircraft we get to fly and the airlines the general public get to fly on,” explained LCDR Wallace “Gump” Miller, an F/A-18 Super Hornet pilot stationed with VFA-192 World Famous Golden Dragons. “I know it gets me excited every time I get to see those planes fly.”
LCDR Miller, who performed at several air shows between 2014 and 2016 with the Navy’s TAC Demo Team, sees Aviation Day as an awareness for today’s youth. “I hope it will inspire the next generation to be involved in the aviation industry whether that’s engineers, pilots, or maintainers.”
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will use the day to promote aviation around the world with special social media events. NASA is encouraging the public to “spread your wings” and share a photograph via social media taken at an airport or aboard an aircraft to celebrate the day.
In addiaiton to the NASA centers, the aerospace agency will also be present at the Chicago Air & Water Show along with the Thunderbirds. The agency will follow #AviationDay and #SpreadYourWings on various social media outlets.
“Our heritage in aviation research goes back more than 100 years,” NASA aviation spokesperson Karen Rugg explained. “We’ve helped air travel become a safe, reliable form of transportation. But we’re not finished. We’re working to transform aviation into something even better by perfecting new technologies, including those that could lead to shape-shifting wings, electric propulsion and the return of commercial supersonic flight.”
Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola sits next door to the home of the Blue Angels. (Charles Atkeison)
Since the first untethered hot air balloon flight by two French men in November 1783; the Wright Brothers first powered aircraft flight in December 1903, and the first landing on the Moon by Armstrong and Aldrin in 1969, humankind has looked skyward to travel. Today, private, commercial and military aircraft will take to the skies around the planet while six humans continue living and working in space.
(Charles A. Atkeison reports on aerospace and technology. Follow his updates on social media via @Military_Flight.)
The 97th Bomb Group Didn’t Exactly Clobber Their Target, But They Got Off the Schneid
On 17 August 1942, the US Army Air Corps VIII Bomber Command began their assault on Fortress Europe. A dozen B-17E Flying Fortress bombers from the 97th Bomb Group (BG) raided the railroad marshalling yards at Rouen-Sotteville in occupied France. Each of the 97th BG squadrons, the 340th Bomb Squadron (BS), the 341st BS, the 342nd BS, and the 414th BS sent planes on the raid. An additional six 97th BG B-17Es flew a diversionary feint toward a different target. Considering the scale of the raids that would be flown even one year later, the Rouen mission was small but huge in other ways.
B-17Es. Image via USAF
Led By Men Who Would Become Legends
Leading the Rouen mission was none other than Major Paul Tibbetts flying the 342nd BS lead aircraft, B-17E serial 41-2578 named Butcher Shop, along with the 97th BG commanding officer, Colonel Frank Armstrong. Also flying the mission was VIII Bomber Command commanding officer Brigadier General Ira C. Eaker flying the 414th BS lead aircraft, B-17E serial 41-9023 named Yankee Doodle. The two squadrons attacked in two separate formations and dropped a total of 18.45 tons of bombs on the mission. The planned amphibious landings at Dieppe in France were one reason the raid was flown when it was. Of course Major Tibbetts went on to some other notable achievements on the other side of the planet three years later.
Yankee Doodle preparing for a mission. Image via USAF
First Mission; First Kill
The results of that first mission were mixed. The mission got started late in the day. Takeoff commenced at 1627 local time and the bombers didn’t drop their ordnance until 1739 local time. Even given the momentous nature of the mission, the bomb damage assessment (BDA) rated accuracy as poor. Two of the 97th BG B-17Es were damaged. The Royal Air Force Supermarine Spitfire escorts took a beating, losing three Spits on the mission. The long and distinguished list of B-17 and bomber gunners who scored victories over Europe also began on 17 August 1942. Staff Sergeant Kent R. West, the ball turret gunner on B-17E serial 41-9100 named Birmingham Blitzkrieg, shot down a Luftwaffe Focke-Wulf FW-190A-3 Würger (Shrike).
B-17E. Image via USAF
Not In East Anglia For Long
The 97th BG would not continue their missions without losses for long. The 97th flew a total of 14 missions from Polebrook and Grafton Underwood. Over 247 sorties the Group dropped 347 tons of bombs on targets in Western Europe, but lost 14 bombers during those missions. Just a month after the Rouen mission the 97th BG was reassigned to the Twelfth and then the Fifteenth Air Force, flying missions from Algeria and Tunisia and then from Italy. The 97th BG received Distinguished Unit Citations for missions against an aircraft component factory at Steyr in Austria, on 24 February 1944 during Operation Argument or “Big Week”, and a mission against the oil refineries at Ploesti in Romania on 18 August 1944. Today the 97th Operations Group (OG) is part of the US Air Force Air education and Training Command (AETC).
If you’re the sort of inquisitive or just plain nosy Avgeek who regularly checks the US Department of Defense website for contract information, you may have missed a barely-there notification listed on 13 August 2018. The contract to which I refer was right there, in between contracts awarded to Boeing for some CFM56-7B27AE engines and some oxygen system components (both for P-8A Poseidons). The Boeing contract listed between the two for P-8 work provides a shade over $17 million ($17,002,107 to be exact) for what amounts to nine F/A-18E and two F/A-18F Super Hornets for the Blue Angels. The concept of the Blues flying Echoes and Foxtrots is not exactly news, but the contract actually being funded is news. Great news for fans of the Blue Angels.
Image via US Navy
So we finally have a target date for the Blues’ transition to the F/A-18E/F. By the end of 2021 the team is expected to receive their full complement of 11 Super Hornets. That effectively means that the 2022 show season will likely be the first for the team in the new jets. The transition will be the 10th time the team has changed aircraft over their history. Modifications to the Blue Angels’ Super Hornets will be made at Boeing in St. Louis and likely be similar to those made to the current Hornet aircraft, including the removal of the nose-mounted 20 millimeter M61A2 Vulcan rotary cannon, the addition of the show smoke system, a civilian Instrument Landing System (ILS), and the spring-loaded control column that assists the aviators with precise control. Of course somewhere along the way the Blues’ jets will probably receive a glossy new blue and gold paint job too…
Image via US Navy
Navy Hornet and Super Hornet mission availability has suffered over recent years, but the Strike Fighter community times are a-changing. The best of the available F/A-18A/B/C/D Hornets are being reassigned to Marine Corps squadrons. The Navy Strike Fighter community now flies the Super Hornet Echo and Foxtrot exclusively with the last legacy Hornet deployment now concluded. Additional airframes are going to be headed for service life extension, which all means that the Blues may just be flying something other/better than the oldest airframes in captivity when they strap into Super Hornets for the first time.
Image via US Navy
Here’s the statement about the contract from the Department of Defense website:
The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Missouri, is being awarded $17,002,107 for firm-fixed-price delivery order N0001918F2654 against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-16-G-0001). This order is for the retrofit documentation and kits to convert nine F/A-18E and two F/A-18F aircraft into a Blue Angel configuration in accordance with engineering change proposal 6480. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Missouri, and is expected to be completed in December 2021. Fiscal 2018 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $17,002,107 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.
On Monday 13 August 2018 at 0238 local time a Cessna 525 CitationJet, serial number 525-0099 and registered as N526CP, crashed into a residence located at 594 East Canyon Road located just southeast of Payson in Utah. There was only the single pilot on board the jet. Two people were in the house at the moment of impact but both survived the crash and escaped the subsequent fire. The jet belonged to a business by the name of Vancon Holdings out of Springville in Utah and was built by Cessna in 1995. There is much more to this story though.
The pilot of the jet, a man named Duane Rhedd Youd, had earlier that day spent time in the Utah County Jail after allegedly assaulting his wife after both had been drinking- both in front of witnesses. Youd was booked into the jail Sunday evening on a domestic violence charge- not his first. However, Youd made bail and was released. At approximately 0030 Youd called Payson police to request an escort to his home, where Youd grabbed some of his belongings and left without incident in his truck.
Cessna 525 CitationJet sister ship to N526CP. By Tomás Del Coro from Las Vegas, Nevada, USA (N484J 1994 Cessna 525 C/N 525-0048) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia CommonsYoud, who was employed by Vancon Holdings as a pilot and indicated he had previously worked for Endeavor Air and was currently employed by Guardian Flight Alaska, evidently went straight to Spanish Fork Airport Springville- Woodhouse Field (KSPK) approximately 15 miles from the crash site. Evidence suggests Youd had full-time access to the Cessna 525 CitationJet at KSPK. The timeline of events suggests Youd took off in N526CP at approximately 0220 and 18 minutes later he crashed the jet- into his own house. While his wife and son were inside it!
Cessna 525 CitationJet sister ship to N526CP. By Tomás Del Coro from Las Vegas, Nevada, USA (N747AC 1997 Cessna 525 C/N 525-0202) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia CommonsYoud reportedly made contact with a shed or garage structure just before hitting his house. The crash doused the house with burning jet fuel, setting it ablaze. Authorities are thankful Youd did not cause more widespread damage. Authorities are hesitant to call this another suicide by aircraft similar to the Horizon Q400 incident in Seattle, but if anything this seems like a clearer cut case than that. Stay tuned- we’ll update this story as events warrant.
Cessna 525 CitationJet sister ship to N526CP. By Alec Wilson from Khon Kaen, Thailand (N224CJ) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Navy and Marine Corps aircraft featured in the film include the Douglas F4D-1 Skyray interceptor, the Vought F8U Crusader fighter, and interestingly the Douglas A4D-1 Skyhawk attack jet. The Skyhawk was not a supersonic aircraft. Left out of the film was the other supersonic Navy fighter- the Douglas F11F Tiger fighter. The Air Force continued sonic boom research for many more years. Operation Bongo Mark 2 was a series of supersonic flights over Oklahoma City during 1964 to gauge the effects of regular sonic booms on a population and its infrastructure.
Private A-4 Skyhawk aircraft are becoming more and more common these days. Several companies have stockpiled former boneyard resident jets and they’ve slowly been coming on the open market after meticulous restorations. The jet in these videos, registered as N518TA, is (at least in part) Douglas TA-4J Skyhawk Bureau Number (BuNo) 158486 (CN 14291). Skyhawk 518 is a perfect example of a veteran jet that’s been effectively zero-timed and upgraded/updated with partial electronic flight instrumentation system (EFIS) cockpit displays and modern communications. These two videos were uploaded to YouTube by Skyhawk518
The second video is a backseat fisheye view of a demo flight. Makes you want to throw down the cash for your very own Scooter, no? Below the video are the fascinating facts about the sum of Skyhawk 518’s parts.
Skyhawk 518 actually began life as not one, not even two, but three separate jets. TA-4J BuNo 158486 was accepted by the Navy in 1972 assigned to Navy Training Squadrons VT-24 Bobcats and VT-25 Cougars with Training Air Wing THREE (TW-3) at Naval Air Station (NAS) Chase Field in Texas. The jet went to VT-4 Warbucks with TW-6 at NAS Pensacola in Florida in 1974 and remained there for 9 years. The jet was stricken and stored in 1983 before lending its forward fuselage and data plate to N518TA.
VA-76 A4D-2N. US Navy photograph
A4D-2N Skyhawk BuNo 149540, which contributed its aft fuselage to Skyhawk 518, was accepted by the Navy in 1962. The jet served first with VA-113 Stingers, then with VA-144 Roadrunners, VA-22 Fighting Redcocks, VA-113 again, VA-76 Spirits, VA-36 Road Runners, and VA-304 Firebirds. In 1970 the jet was converted to an A-4L. From there the jet went to VMA-124 Checkerboards and then VC-12 Fighting Omars before going into storage in 1976. The aircraft also spent time with the Malaysian Air Force before coming back to the states in 1986 and gave up its aft fuselage and empennage to a good cause.
VSF-1 A-4C. US Navy photograph
A4D-2N Skyhawk BuNo 148602, which contributed its wings to Skyhawk 518, was accepted by the Navy in 1961. The jet served with VA-192 Golden Dragons, VA-144 Road Runners, VSF-1 Warhawks, VA-216 Black Diamonds, VA-44 Hornets, VA-36 Road Runners, and VMA-131 Diamondbacks. In 1970 the aircraft was converted to an A-4L. After conversion the jet served with VMA-124 Checkerboards until 1976 when it was put into storage. Sold to the Malaysian Air Force in 1983, the jet boomeranged back to the desert in 1986. From there the jet became the supporting cast for N518TA. The jet was purchased so it’s no longer for sale, but most of the time you can find a Scooter of your very own online.
An Alaska Airlines Horizon Q400 (tail number N449QX) was stolen this evening from Seattle’s SEATAC International Airport by a 29 year-old individual named “Rich”. The aircraft departed SEATAC International and was spotted flying erratic maneuvers around the Seattle area.
Two F-15s from the Oregon Air National Guard were directed to intercept the aircraft. In a video shot by an eyewitness, you can see the Q400 flying low and fast with a F-15 tracking the rogue aircraft from above. The Q400 later crashed on Ketron Island in the southern part of Puget Sound. Alaska Airlines confirmed the crash in a tweet (see below).
We’ve confirmed a Horizon Air Q400 that had an unauthorized takeoff from SeaTac around 8pm has gone down near Ketron Island in Pierce County, WA. We’re working to confirm who was on board, we believe there were no guests or crew on board other than the person operating the plane.
At Avgeekery, we’re more than just a news/hobby blog. We also are a community of people who love aviation and want to share that passion with others. Stories like this are tragic and heartbreaking. Earlier today, we posted this on our Facebook page. We think it is also appropriate to share.
Here’s what we know so far…
Update four 12:15am 8/11/2018
The FBI is taking lead on the investigation with the NTSB to support.
The FBI continues to work with our state, local, and federal partners to gather a complete picture of what transpired with tonight’s unauthorized Horizon aircraft takeoff and crash. We don’t anticipate that further details will be available tonight.
Alaska Airlines posted the following information on their blog:
Update: 11:54 p.m. on Aug. 10, 2018 Alaska Airlines believes a ground service agent employed by Horizon Air was the individual responsible for flying the Horizon Q400 without clearance from Sea-Tac International Airport around 8 p.m. tonight.
The plane, which was taken from a maintenance position and was not scheduled for passenger flight, crashed about an hour later in a wooded area on Ketron Island in rural Pierce County. No ground structures were involved at the crash site.
Military jets were scrambled from Portland, but it does not appear that these jets were involved in the crash of the Horizon aircraft.
This individual who took the aircraft, who has not yet been positively identified until remains are examined, is believed to have been the only person on the plane when the plane was taken from a maintenance position at Sea-Tac.
First responders are at the crash site. Appropriate government agencies, including NTSB, FAA and FBI, have been notified.
Update three 11:27pm 8/10/2018
Video was posted by John Waldron on Facebook of the Q400’s flight. In one of the clips you can clearly see the aircraft performing dangerous aerobatics. The turboprop pulled out of a loop just 100 feet above the sound. Click on the link to view the video. https://www.facebook.com/JohnJWaldron/videos/10217237711963918
Update two 11:06pm 8/10/2018
Horizon Air’s Chief Operating Officer Constance von Muehlen posted a video statement on YouTube. In her statement she said that the hijacker was believed to be a Horizon employee. She also said they think he was the only person onboard the aircraft.
Update one 10:52pm 8/10/2018
Here is a compilation with most of the audio from the stolen aircraft.
Original post:
“Ive got alot of people that care about me. It’s going to disappoint them to hear that I did this.”
It is believed that the hijacker was the only person onboard the aircraft. In a series of captured audio by Twitter user @jwsthomson, a man named Rich speaks with the controller multiple times regarding his predicament. He appeared to be very emotional at times while also acknowledging that his behavior was far from acceptable.
I’m listening through the archive of the radio chatter on the #seatac hijacking. Below are some of the clips. pic.twitter.com/ziBAYv7cgn
The person who stole the aircraft asked if Alaska would make him a pilot if he landed it.
Air Traffic Control Audio from the stolen Q400 flight: “Hey, do you think if I land this successfully Alaska will give me a job as a pilot?” pic.twitter.com/17sScC6PFh
Some dude stole a plane from #Seatac (Allegedly), did a loop-the-loop, ALMOST crashed into #ChambersBay, then crossed in front of our party, chased by fighter jets and subsequently crashed. Weird times. pic.twitter.com/Ra4LcIhwfU
Jet Warbird Day at EAA AirVenture 2018 was a feast for fans of jet-propelled classics. Several types participated in the show, including North American F-86 Sabre fighters, the world’s only operational North American FJ-4 Fury carrier-based fighter, Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star trainers and their Canadair CT-133 cousins, a bevy of Aero L-39 Albatros jet trainers, a Gloster Meteor T.7 jet trainer, and one of the world’s few privately-owned Northrop F-5A Freedom Fighters. The videos (both parts) were uploaded to YouTube by AirshowStuffVideos.
That F-5A is a former 1968-vintage Norwegian Air Force jet. It made its way back to the States in 1988 and was purchased by Chick Thornton of Thornton Aircraft Company (TAC). TAC restores and sells Northrop T-38 and F-5 jets. They also do aviation motion picture and television work among other things. You may notice in Part 2 of the video that the F-5A is quite capable of stealing the show.
Part 2 features pyro effect and a missing man formation flown in remembrance of the late Marty Tibbitts, who died in the crash of the World Heritage Air Museum DF-112 Venom FB54 at Sheboygan the week before EAA AirVenture 2018. RIP Marty.
The US Navy Flight Demonstration Team, the Blue Angels, made a huge change in 1969. Having flown the Grumman F11F-1 (later F-11) Tiger for the previous 11 seasons, the Blues transitioned to the McDonnell Douglas F-4J Phantom II for the 1969 show season. The shift to the Phantom II required changes to the maneuvers flown during the performance as well as to the jets themselves. This awesome promotional film entitled “Blue Angels Tradition” was produced in 1969 and uploaded to YouTube by sdasmarchives.
The Blue Angels Phantoms were some of the first F-4Js delivered to the Navy. They had lead ballast in their noses instead of the AWG-10 radar system. The aircraft flown by the Blues were powered by the General Electric J79-GE-8 engines instead of the J79-GE-10 power plants. They were modified with the Air Force non-skid braking system from the F-4C variant, modified navigation avionics, modified radios, the show smoke system, and modified oxygen systems. Blues F-4Js had tweaked flight control and throttle systems capable higher precision than the stock controls.
Blue Angels F-4Js. Image via Boeing
The Blues accepted their first of seven ballasted nose F-4Js on 23 December 1968. Eventually the team flew 12 of them at one time or another. Ten of those 12 F-4J jets flown by the team were destroyed along with another replacement Phantom. During 1973, three F-4Js were destroyed without fatalities during training at Naval Air Station (NAS) El Centro. Then two jets collided during an arrival ceremony at NAS Lakehurst killing four. The team’s 1973 season was cut short and in large part these disasters drove the move to the McDonnell Douglas A-4F Skyhawk.
The Last Mission to Nagasaki Was In Jeopardy Before It Even Got Off the Ground
Perhaps the second most famous Boeing B–29 Superfortress bomber ever, B-29-36-MO Air Force serial number 44-27927, nickname Bockscar, flew a mission that up until three days earlier had never been flown. 44-27927 was a specially modified block 35 B-29. The aircraft was built, not by Boeing, but by the Glenn L. Martin Aircraft Plant in Bellevue, Nebraska.
Martin built a total of 536 B-29s for the US Army Air Forces (USAAF), the first of them being accepted by the USAAF in mid-1944. 44-27927, modified to Block 36 Silverplate standards, was named Bockscar. Bockscar dropped the second and last wartime atomic bomb on 9 August 1945.
Bockscar at USAFM. Image via SUAF
Silverplate Specials
Silverplate B-29s were modified to enable them to carry the atomic bombs of their day. Revisions to these special Superforts included pneumatically operated bomb bay doors, dual redundant British bomb attachment and release systems, improved Wright R-3350-41 Duplex-Cyclone turbo-supercharged radial engines with revised fuel injection and cooling systems turning reversible propellers, and the removal of the dorsal and ventral remote-controlled gun turrets. A weaponeer crew position was added in the cockpit area.
Silverplate B-29s. Image via USAF
Bockscar Working Her Way West to Tinian
B-29 44-27927 was accepted by the USAAF on 19 March 1945 and assigned to Captain Frederick C. Bock and crew C-13 of the 393rd Bombardment Squadron (BS) of the 509th Composite Group. However, like all 509th bombers the name of the B-29 was not painted on it until after its 9 August mission. Bockscar was flown to Wendover Army Airfield (AAF) in Utah, arriving in April of 1945.
The aircraft was used for crew training at Wendover until 11 June 1945, when it departed for points west. After arrival in the Marianas Islands after stops in California and Hawaii a few days later, Bockscar received final modifications at Guam and arrived at North Field on Tinian, at the time the world’s largest airport, on 16 June.
B-29. Image via USAF
Spurious Markings to Confuse Enemy Spies
After arrival at North Field, the USAAF painted the bomber to resemble an aircraft assigned to another Bombardment Group (BG) to confuse any potential spies. Once declared operational, Bockscar flew 10 training missions.
The bomber also flew three combat practice missions, dropping 10,000 pound “pumpkin” bombs on the Japanese cities of Niihama, Musashino, and Koromo. As with all 509th Composite Group Silverplate bombers, several different crews flew missions in Bockscar during these practice missions.
North Field Tinian. Image via USAF
The Great Artiste and a Big Stink
Bockscar had been flown by 393rd BS commander Major Charles W. Sweeney on three dress rehearsal practice flights leading up to the 9 August mission. For the 9 August mission, Bockscar was flown again by Sweeny and not by Captain Bock. Bockscar was accompanied by two other Silverplate B-29s: The Great Artiste, normally flown by Sweeney but flown by Bock on 9 August and designated as the observation and instrumentation aircraft that day.
The Great Artiste had already been fitted with the instrumentation equipment for the 6 August mission. Also flying with Bockscar on 9 August was The Big Stink, designated the mission photography aircraft and flown by Major James I. Hopkins. Or at least that was the plan…
Silverplate B-29s. Image via USAF
5,000 Pounds of Unusable Fuel for Bockscar?
After loading the now-live Fat Man atomic bomb aboard Bockscar, routine pre-flight inspection revealed that an inoperative fuel transfer pump made it impossible to use the 640 gallons of fuel carried in a reserve tank. Replacing the pump was not an option; moving the Fat Man bomb to another aircraft wasn’t either.
The fuel would add two and a half tons of dead weight to the already overloaded bomber. Even with the risks, Group Commander Colonel Paul Tibbets and Sweeney decided to fly the mission in Bockscar.
Bockscar cockpit. Image via USAF
Improvising, Adapting, and Overcoming
When Bockscar departed runway A North Field at 0349 on 9 August the bomber was bound first for a rendezvous with The Great Artiste and The Big Stink at Yakushima Island. The primary target for the mission was Kokura. The mission’s secondary target was Nagasaki.
The mission was also originally scheduled for 11 August but weather forecasts over Japan were unfavorable so the schedule was moved up. But there they were. Weather reconnaissance bombers Enola Gay and Laggin’ Dragon reported acceptable weather over both primary and secondary targets at that time. Then The Big Stink didn’t show up at the rendezvous.
509th Composite Group on Tinian. Image via USAF
This Is Why We Have Backup Plans
Mission commander CDR Frederick Ashworth USN urged Sweeney to wait for The Big Stink, thereby burning precious fuel and delaying the mission. After 45 minutes Bockscar and The Great Artiste set course for Kokura without The Big Stink. But Kokura was by then 70% obscured by a combination of cloud cover and smoke from a raid on nearby Yawata the night before.
Bockscar flew three bomb runs with increasing Japanese anti-aircraft fire over Kokura. Concern about the flak over Kokoura and activity on the radio frequencies used by Japanese fighter directors pushed Bockscar to the secondary target: Nagasaki.
Bockscar after 9 August mission. Image via USAF
By Twist of Fate Nagasaki Becomes the Target
The weather over Nagasaki wasn’t much better but it was free of flak and threats from Japanese fighters. Fuel was becoming a critical consideration too. The decision was made to bomb the secondary target using radar but at the last minute a hole in the clouds opened up.
Bombardier Captain Kermit Beahan dropped the Mark III Fat Man bomb visually at 1058 local time. It exploded 43 seconds later approximately a mile and a half northwest of the aiming point.
Mark III Fat Man atomic bomb. Image via USAF
That 5,000 Pounds of Unusable Fuel Again
Thanks to the delays at the rendezvous and the three bomb runs at Kokura, Bockscar was unable to make it back to North Field or even to usual alternate Iwo Jima. The aircraft landed at Yontan Airfield on Okinawa on fumes with one engine out from fuel starvation and lost a second engine on the runway.
Even using reverse pitch on the two running engines, the aircraft nearly came to grief at the end of the runway but a last-second 90 degree turn kept Bockscar from the overrun. Remaining fuel was calculated to be less than 5 minutes-worth.
Bockscar stored at D-M with a B-32. .Image via USAF
Confusion and Mixed-Up Nose Art
Some confusion ensued after the mission due to the spurious markings on the bombers and the lack of nose art. Bockscar was flown back to Tinian but flew no more combat missions. The bomber flew back to the States and took up residence at Roswell AAF with the remaining 393rd BS and 509th Composite Group B-29s.
Not selected for use during Operation Crossroads, Bockscar was instead transferred to the 4105th Army Air Force Unit at Davis-Monthan AAF for storage in August of 1946. For some reason at Davis-Monthan, Bockscar was displayed, but wearing the nose art from The Great Artiste. After a month, 44-27927 was removed from Air Force inventory and transferred to the US Air Force Museum.
Bockscar. Image via USAF
Bockscar Beautifully Restored and Honored at the USAFM
Bockscar remained in storage, but with the correct nose art applied, at Davis Monthan until 26 September 1961, when the bomber was flown to Wright Patterson Air Force Base (AFB) in Dayton.
As displayed today at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, Bockscar wears the proper nose art applied after the 9 August 1945 mission to Nagasaki. Bockscar is often referred to as the aircraft that ended World War II.
Bockscar crew minus Navy personnel and 2nd LT Jacob Beser. Image via USAF
The Bockscar Crew on That Fateful August Mission in 1945
On 9 August 1945, Bockscar’s crew was pilot Major Sharles W. Sweeney, co-pilot Captain Charles Donald Albury, regular crew co-pilot Second Lieutenant Frederick J. Olivi, Weaponeer and Mission Commander CDR Frederick Ashworth USN, Assistant Weaponeer LT Philip M. Barnes, USN, Navigator Captain James F. Van Pelt, Jr., Bombardier Captain Kermit K. Beahan, Radar Countermeasures officer Second Lieutenant Jacob Beser, Flight Engineer Master Sergeant John D. Kuharek, Assistant Flight Engineer Staff Sergeant Raymond C. Gallagher, Radar Operator Staff Sergeant Edward K. Buckley, Radio Operator Sergeant Abe M. Spitzer, and Tail Gunner Sergeant Albert T. DeHart. Beser was the only crew member to fly on both Enola Gay and Bockscar during their respective atomic bomb missions.
Author’s Note: Delta Dart trivia certainly doesn’t tell the whole F-106 story. Good thing we did an in-depth Six story appearing right here.
Let’s start with the need for speed. The F-106A Delta Dart interceptor was the world’s fastest single engine jet fighter aircraft. Bar none. Full stop. People tend to forget that in 1959 an F-106A topped out at 1,595 miles per hour flying at 40,000 feet. That’s Mach 2.31 (at that altitude) to you and me.
F-106 Delta Darts served primarily in the continental United States, Alaska, and in Canada. F-106 Fighter Interceptor Squadrons (FIS) did deploy to such garden spots as Osan Air Base (AB) in Korea, Hahn AB in Germany, Keflavik AB in Iceland and Howard AFB in the Panama Canal Zone.
F-106B flying chase on a B-1B. Image via USAF
F-106As and F-106Bs were used as chase aircraft for test flights of aircraft like the Rockwell B-1B Lancer bomber and for other aircraft in development-especially during the 1980s.
F-106Bs did receive the majority of upgrades the F-106A received, but the two-seater never got the 20 millimeter Vulcan cannon mod.
F-106A. Image via USAF
The closest an F-106 came to firing a shot in anger was when a Martin MGM-1 Matador cruise missile stopped responding to remote control during a test on 14 May 1960. An F-106A fired a pair of unarmed Falcon missiles at the Matador, bringing the dumb cruise missile down. Delta Dart combat record: F-106A- 1. Enemy- 0. Unless you count the QF-106A drones!
Pilots flying the Dart often cavorted high in the sky, but some of them, involved in the development of high-altitude interception tactics, flew the F-106 at altitudes above 75,000 feet while wearing full pressure suits.
F-106B. Image via USAF
The two prototype F-106s were equipped with the first side-stick controllers used in American aircraft. Found to be too newfangled for old-school stick-and-rudder men at the time, the production Six was equipped with that awesome dual-grip stick in the real world. Many don’t know the F-16 wasn’t really the first implementation of the side stick controller.
Sixes often rode herd on Soviet Tupolev Tu-95 Bear bombers as they trolled along the east coast while transiting from the USSR to Cuba or back to the USSR from Cuba. Interceptions were usually pretty casual but occasionally they became a little tense. Delta Dart jockeys were treated to all manner of antics from the tail gunners in Soviet Bear bombers too. Sometimes they replied in kind…
F-106A riding herd on a Bear. Image via USAF
Delta Darts were sometimes used as aggressor simulators for dissimilar air combat training (DACT). The Sixes would usually simulate Soviet Mikoyan MiG-21 Fishbed fighters when used in this manner- which wasn’t very often. On their own merit, F-106s were often able to dogfight as well or better than the other tactical aircraft they went up against, thanks in part to those lightly-loaded delta wings.
There were no foreign operators of the F-106, although efforts were made to sell multi-purpose versions of the Dart to both Japan and Canada. The JASDF chose the McDonnell Douglas F-4EJ Phantom II instead. Canada was interested because of the demise of the Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow but the Canada deal went south.
Mercury 7 astronauts in front of an F-106B. Image via NASA
The National Aerospace and Space Administration (NASA) used several F-106 aircraft for testing between 1966 and 1998.The last NASA Dart retired was also the last F-106 flown. NASA also used F-106Bs for Astronaut transport for a time before their T-38s.
F-106 oddities include the F-106C/F-106D which would have had an extended nose housing an advanced radar and several other one-off design studies and concepts. One such concept was a General Electric J93-powered Mach 3-capable Six. Another was an F-106 with forward mounted canards.
F-106A in a cornfield. Image via USAF
The Cornfield Bomber was actually a cornfield interceptor, but the story goes that a F-106 pilot got himself into a flat spin at altitude. After trying to right the jet, the pilot ejected. Rather than auger in and create a smoking hole in the ground, the Dart righted itself and ended up belly landing in a snow-covered fallow field somewhere in Montana. The aircraft was recovered, repaired, and put back in service- and later flown again by the same pilot who ejected from it. The jet now resides at the US Air Force Museum.
F-106A with weaponry. Image via USAF
F-106 pilots were fond of telling anyone who would listen that Soviet bomber crews were terrified of the Genie nuclear-tipped missile carried by the Dart. In private moments the F-106 pilots might also admit they were definitely scared of it themselves- the blast radius of the nuclear-tipped weapon probably meant that to fire the missile was to be eliminated by its detonation.
Operation Highspeed was a flyoff between the F-106A and the McDonnell Douglas F4H-1 Phantom II. The obvious conclusion: The F-4 was a capable interceptor (especially with a RIO in it) but could also tote bombs and other things that went boom. The Six went on doing the ADC mission. The Phantom went off to fight in Vietnam- where hundreds of them were lost.
F-106A. Image via USAF
The first midair refueling of the F-106 was done during emergency deployments of several FIS squadrons to Osan AB in South Korea as part of responses to the 1968 Pueblo Incident and the 1969 VQ-1 World Watchers EC-121M Warning Star shootdown. The 318th FIS Green Dragons was the first squadron to arrive at Osan, but eventually the 95th FIS Mister Bones, 48th FIS Tazlanglian Devils, 71st FIS Ironmen, and 94th FIS Hat in the Ring would all deploy to South Korea.
To sum it all up, The Dart was the fastest of the production Century Series fighters, the last of them to enter service, and the last of them to be retired. Because when you’re out of Sixes, you’re out of interceptors.
Learn anything? Bet you did. Head on over to Part One of our Delta Dart Extravaganza right here.
Born to hunt Soviet submarines, Grumman’s S-2 Tracker or Stoof has been adapted to do several jobs over the years. From the C-1A Trader COD to the Stoof with a Roof E-1 Tracer AEW platform and the ubiquitous US-2 utility transport, the aircraft has done everything asked of it. Nowadays a few Stoofs and CODs fly in civilian hands as warbirds. Over the years Trackers were also adapted for use as aerial firefighting tankers. Today, the California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection or Cal Fire operates 23 turbine-powered S-2T aerial firefighting, or fire-hunting, tankers.
By thomas hays from Stillwater, US (crown fire leona valleyUploaded by Matthewedwards) [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia CommonsDuring and since the 1970s Cal Fire and others operated Firecats, which were Trackers powered by the original Wright R-1820-82WA radial engines but modified with a raised cabin floor to fit a retardant tank in the bomb bay. Today’s S-2Ts are relatives of those first Tracker Tankers. All Tracker conversions removed the anti-submarine warfare (ASW) mission equipment and faired over the ventral radar housing (radome) and the tail-mounted magnetic anomaly detector (MAD) sensor and extending boom located under the rudder aft. The plumbing for hot loading the retardant tank is connects there now. These modifications removed about 3,300 pounds from the Tracker. There are no more radial engine-powered Trackers in firefighting service.
Old school S-2 Tracker Tanker. Image via Cal Fire
Built by Grumman Aerospace at their Bethpage plant on New York’s Long Island at least one generation ago, the S-2Ts were mostly S-2E or S-2G variants while operated by the US Navy. Cal Fire acquired the S-2 airframes in 1996 and Marsh Aviation in Arizona converted them to aerial firefighting tankers. The Turbine Trackers are faster than stock S-2s but their Garrett TPE331-14GR turbine engines only put out about 100 more horsepower each than the original Wright R-1820-82WA radial engines did. The S-2Ts are also usually crewed by a single pilot and can haul up to 1,200 gallons of retardant or water.
By Alan Radecki Akradecki [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], from Wikimedia CommonsOn 7 October 2014 at 1630 local time, 13-year veteran S-2T pilot Geoffrey “Craig” Hunt was killed when the aircraft he was flying, Tanker 81, struck trees and crashed while flying a retardant drop on the Dog Rock Fire near Yosemite National Park in California. The loss of the S-2T, Navy Bureau Number (BuNo) 152838 and registered as N449DF, left Cal Fire’s fleet of S-2Ts at 22 aircraft. A replacement S-2T, Tanker 79, has now entered service. The tanker tail number 81 was retired by Cal Fire in memory of Hunt, a former Navy P-3 Orion pilot and 20-plus year Reservist.
By thomas hays from Stillwater, US (crown fire leona valleyUploaded by Matthewedwards) [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia CommonsThe video Load and Return was uploaded to YouTube by Alan Simmons.
Air Force and Navy Squadrons Got There Fast and Stayed Until the Job Was Done
Operation Desert Shield began on 7 August 1990 when United States military personnel began arriving in Saudi Arabia at the request of King Fahd. From the beginning there was a palpable feel that if Iraq moved on Saudi Arabia the US forces in Saudi would not be able to stop the Iraqis. Slow them down perhaps. Shoot them down, sure; put a hurt on their ground forces, absolutely. But it would take time, and one of the largest mass-movements of American military might ever, before more than a few believed Iraq could be kept out of Saudi Arabia.
F-15s on the ground in Saudi. Image via USAF
Eagles Out in Front
The first Air Force combat units to arrive in Saudi for Desert Shield were the 27th Tactical Fighter Squadron (TFS) Fighting Eagles and 71st TFS Ironmen from the 1st Tactical Fighter Wing (TFW) out of Langley Air Force Base (AFB) in Virginia. Eventually the 1st TFW deployed 48 aircraft to the Persian Gulf. Beginning that first day in the Saudi desert, the 1st TFW flew some 4,207 sorties over the Saudi borders with Kuwait and Iraq by the time Desert Shield became Desert Storm on 16 January 1991.
Bitburg-based F-15s. Image via USAF
Eagles and Vipers and More Hit the Sandbox
Also flying out of Saudi within days were the 22nd TFS Stingers and the 53rd FS Tigers of the 36th TFW, which had moved to Saudi from Bitburg Air Base in Germany. The 525th TFS Bulldogs flew their F-15s to Incirlik Air Base in Turkey as part of the Proven Force Joint Task Force. The Air National Guard (ANG) sent the 157th TFS Swamp Foxes of the 169th TFW South Carolina ANG and the 138th TFS Cobras of the 174th TFW New York ANG to Saudi as well.
VF-143 F-14s. Image via US Navy
Ready and Able to Take the Fight to Saddam
The US Navy immediately sent Battle Groups built around the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) with Carrier Air Wing SEVEN (CVW-7) embarked, and the Forrestal-class aircraft carrier USS Independence (CVA-62) with CVW-14 embarked to the Persian Gulf, where they were operationally ready to fly missions against Iraqi forces the next day: 8 August 1991. Also sent to the Persian Gulf were two Iowa-class cruise missile-armed battleships: USS Missouri (BB-63) and USS Wisconsin (BB-64).
CVW-7 jets. Image via US Navy
The Ike and CVW-7
The Eisenhower’s deployment began on 8 March 1990 and concluded on 12 September 1990 when Ike was relieved by the Forrestal-class aircraft carrier USS Saratoga (CV-60) with CVW-17 embarked. During Ike’s Desert Shield deployment, CVW-7 consisted of VF-142 Ghostriders and VF-143 Pukin’ Dogs flying the Grumman F-14B Tomcat,VFA-131 Wildcats and VFA-136 Knighthawks flying the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18A Hornet, VA-34 Blue Blasters flying the Grumman A-6E and KA-6D Intruder, VAW-121 Blue Tails flying the Grumman E-2C Hawkeye, VAQ-140 Patriots flying the Grumman EA-6B Prowler, VS-31 Topcats flying the Lockheed S-3B Viking, and HS-5 Night Dippers flying the Sikorsky SH-3H Sea King.
VFA-25 F/A-18s. Image via US Navy
Indy With CVW-15 Embarked
The Independence’s deployment began 23 June 1990 and concluded on 1 December 1990 when Indy was relieved by the aircraft carrier USS Midway (CVA-41) with CVW-5 embarked. During Indy’s initial Desert Shield deployment, CVW-14 consisted of VF-21 Freelancers and VF-154 Black Knights flying the Grumman F-14A Tomcat, VFA-25 Fist of the Fleet and VFA-113 Stingers flying the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18A Hornet, VA-196 Main Battery flying the Grumman A-6E and KA-6D Intruder, VAQ-139 Cougars flying the Grumman EA-6B Prowler, VAW-113 Black Eagles flying the Grumman E-2C Hawkeye, VS-37 Sawbucks flying the Lockheed S-3B Viking, and HS-8 Eightballers flying the Sikorsky SH-3H Sea King.
VF-21 F-14 on Indy. Image via US Navy
Speedy Responses Demonstrated Resolve
Of course hundreds of thousands would follow. When Shield turned to Storm, the US military performed brilliantly. But if it weren’t for those first jets and ships to show one country’s resolve, the outcome certainly could have been different.
The film “F-14 Tomcat Air Combat Maneuvering” was a promotional film made during the mid-1970s by Grumman and Aerolog Productions. The Grumman F-14A Tomcat is of course heavily featured and its capabilities explained in detail, but another great thing about the film is the look it gives us of Naval Air Station (NAS) Miramar back in the heyday of West Coast fighter squadron activity. Of course Miramar would go on to become the home of TOP GUN, but this film was shot after TOP GUN had begun and during the fleet’s transition to the new jet. It was uploaded to YouTube by PeriscopeFilm.
The film makes a point of explaining three particular engagements. The first engagement is a VF-124 F-14A going against a VF-126 T-38 Talon. The second engagement is a VF-124 F-14A going against a VF-126 TA-4J Skyhawk. The third engagement is a VF-124 F-14A going against a VF-51 F-4N Phantom II. The VF-124 F-14As are crewed by students; the adversary jets by instructors. So the film gives us a nice overview of what fighter tactics doctrine looked like at the time, as well as how it was likely to be profoundly changed in the not so distant future by the incredible F-14.
VF-126 TA-4Js. US Navy photograph
The film includes great footage of NAS Miramar during the mid-1970s. Aircraft appearing in the film include VF-124 Gunfighters Grumman F-14A Tomcats, VF-1 Wolfpack F-14As, VF-2 Bounty Hunters F-14As, VF-154 Black Knights McDonnell Douglas F-4J Phantom IIs, VF-96 Fighting Falcons F-4Js, VF-51 Screaming Eagles F-4Bs, VF-21 Freelancers F-4Bs, VF-302 Stallions F-4Bs, VF-24 Red Checkertails Vought F-8J Crusaders, VF-301 Devil’s Disciples F-8Js, VFP-63 Eyes of the Fleet RF-8As, VC-5 Checkertails Douglas A-4E Skyhawks, VC-7 Tallyhoers A-4Es, and VF-126 Bandits Northrop T-38 Talons, Northrop F-5E Tigers, Douglas TA-4J Skyhawks, and A-4Fs. Also included is footage of VF-1 and VF-2 operating from the carrier USS Enterprise (CVN-65) during the first Tomcat Cruise with Carrier Air Wing ONE FOUR (CVW-14) back in 1974-1975.
Dick Bong Got the Very Most Out of Both His P-38 Lightning and Himself. He became the Ace of Aces
In the history of aerial combat, the highest scoring American pilot, Richard Ira Bong, who scored a total of 40 victories, doesn’t even crack the top several hundred. Five Romanians, six Finns, ten Russians, five Japanese, 373 Germans, and a Croatian outscored him. So why was he called the ace of aces?
Seven other pilots tied Bong with 40 victories, including the top Royal Air Force/Commonwealth ace, Marmaduke “Pat” Pattle, a South African. But he was not at constant war for several years as most of the aces who outscored him were. He was out of combat for months at a time. Between 27 December 1942 and 17 December 1944, Dick Bong shot down 40 Japanese aircraft- the majority of them fighters. He was the American Ace of Aces.
Dick Bong. Image via USAF
Your Typical American Youth
Richard Ira Bong was born on 24 September 1920 in Superior, Wisconsin, the eldest of nine children. His parents were Carl Bong, a Swedish immigrant, and Dora Bryce, an American of Scots-English descent. He grew up on a typical Wisconsin dairy farm near Poplar, a small town in the far northwestern corner of the state.
Bong’s interest in aviation began when he observed biplanes flying near the family farm. Richard learned marksmanship at an early age. Bong attended Poplar High School beginning in 1934 and graduated from Central High in Superior in 1938. While in high school Bong built airplane models, played the clarinet in the marching band, and played hockey, basketball, and baseball.
P-38 Lightning. Image via USAF
Learning to Fly
After graduation Bong began studying at Superior State Teachers College. While enrolled there he enrolled in the Civilian Pilot Training Program and also took private flying lessons.
Bong enlisted in the US Army Air Corps Aviation Cadet Program on 29 May 1941. One of his primary flight instructors was Captain Barry Goldwater. His instructors agreed that Second Lieutenant Bong was a natural pilot.
He earned his wings and was commissioned on 19 January 1942. Bong was assigned to Luke Field in Arizona as an instructor pilot to teach gunnery until 6 May 1942, when he was assigned to the 49th Fighter Squadron (FS) of the 14th Fighter Group (FG) at Hamilton Field in California. There Bong learned to fly the aircraft with which his name would become synonymous- the Lockheed P-38 Lightning.
P-38s. Image via USAF
Bong the Infamous and Kenney’s Rebuke
After a little more than a month at Hamilton, Bong buzzed the house of a fellow pilot who had just been married. He, along with three other pilots who were allegedly flying loops around the center span of the Golden Gate Bridge, was grounded.
Bong was reprimanded by none other than General George C. Kenney, the area commander at the time, for the low level flying, looping the bridge, and blowing laundry off clotheslines in Oakland.. As Kenney himself recalls it he told Bong, “Monday morning you check this address out in Oakland and if the woman has any washing to be hung out on the line, you do it for her.
Then you hang around being useful – mowing the lawn or something – and when the clothes are dry, take them off the line and bring them into the house. And don’t drop any of them on the ground or you will have to wash them all over again. I want this woman to think we are good for something else besides annoying people. Now get out of here before I get mad and change my mind. That’s all!”
Richard Bong. Image via USAF
Initial Combat and Initial Victories
Kenney was impressed with Bong but grounded him anyway. As a result, he did not ship out to the UK with the 49th FS. Instead Bong was reassigned to the 84th FS of the 78th FG and shipped out to the Pacific.
General Kenney might have had a hand in that. Temporarily assigned to the 9th FS flying Curtiss P-40 Warhawks, Bong was flying out of Darwin in Australia beginning in September of 1942. While there waiting on delivery of the squadron’s P-38s, Bong flew missions with the 39th FS of the 35th FG out of Port Moresby in New Guinea. Bong’s first aerial victory occurred on 27 December 1942.
He soon rejoined the 9th FS and began flying the P-38 Lightning. He scored many of his aerial victories in bunches. Promoted to First Lieutenant in April of 1943 and to Captain in August, Bong was shipped home on leave at the end of 1943 with 16 aerial victories.
P-38J. Image via USAF
Memorable Marge and Passing Eddie
While on leave back home in Wisconsin attending his former college homecoming event, Bong met homecoming queen Marjorie Vattendahl. The two hit it off and began dating.
When Captain Bong returned to the southwest Pacific, He was issued one of the first bare-metal finish Lightnings. He named his P-38J Marge and had her photo affixed to his aircraft. Now a staff officer unattached to a squadron and able to choose his missions, Bong often flew with fellow P-38 ace Tommy Lynch and continued to score kills.
After another short furlough during which he met General Douglas MacArthur, Bong racked up numbers 26 and 27 on 12 April 1944, thereby surpassing the score of World War I ace Eddie Rickenbacker. General Kenney sent Bong home again on leave, during which time he got engaged to Marge.
Richard Bong showing his kills. Image via USAF
Defending Himself with Panache and Home for Good
When Major Bong returned to the southwest Pacific, he was made an advanced gunnery instructor with orders to defend himself if attacked but not to seek combat. He continued to score aerial victories anyway. Two victories here, one there; pretty soon Bong was pushing 40.
General Kenney had recommended him for the Medal of Honor and MacArthur concurred. Bong was presented with the Medal on 12 December 1944 with a score of 38. He scored two more victories before being sent home for good after flying 500 combat hours over 200 combat missions. Bong’s war was over. He continued to support the War Bond effort, and he managed to find time to marry Marge. The newlyweds honeymooned in California.
Richard Bong wearing the Medal of Honor
Working on the First Lockheed Jets
The war was not won quite yet. Development of new weapons continued in the knowledge that the war could certainly drag on. One such weapon was the Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star, the first operational American jet-powered fighter. Getting the P-80 into production was a herculean effort, and like most aircraft development efforts in those days, there were accidents and setbacks.
The P-80 finally went into production in April of 1945. Major Bong, now back at work, was assigned to the Flight Test Section at Wright Field in Ohio to help work out the bugs in the P-80. In June of 1945, Bong began work at Lockheed’s Burbank plant.
Richard and Marge Bong. Image via USAF
Tragedy That Was Overshadowed by Other Events a World Away
Lockheed P-80A serial number 44-85048 took off from Palmdale runway 15 at 1450 hours. The jet was seen to emit some puffs of smoke while being unable to climb to more than 400 feet. The canopy separated and the pilot bailed out but was unable to deploy his parachute- he was too close to the ground.
Bong – Ace of Aces, perished in a crash
The jet pitched down and was destroyed on impact with the ground. The pilot, found not far from the wreck still wrapped in his parachute risers, was Major Dick Bong. He had accumulated about four hours of jet flight time over 12 flights before that 6 August 1945- a date which is often remembered for entirely different reasons. America’s Ace of Aces died the same day the first atomic bomb was dropped on Japan.
P-80A Shooting Star. Image via USAF
Bong: Ace of Aces Remembered
Fittingly, over the years since his death Bong has been commemorated by bridges in Wisconsin and in Australia, airports in Wisconsin, streets and theaters named after him on Air Force bases the world over, and enshrinement in the National Aviation Hall of Fame and the Wisconsin Aviation Hall of Fame.
The Air Force named a an Air Force Base in Wisconsin after him but it was never completed. Today it is the Richard Bong State Recreation Area in Wisconsin. The Richard I. Bong Veterans Historical Center in Superior, Wisconsin is housed in a structure resembling an aircraft hangar and contains a small museum, a film screening room, and a restored P-38J Lightning painted to look just like Marge.
ROME, Ga. — The combined power of the Air Force F-22 Raptor and the A-10 Thunderbolt II will headline the Wings Over North Georgia Air Show in October and include the additions of many new key performers in the air and on the ground, JLC Airshow Management announced on Monday.
Top military and civilian aircraft will scream across the north Georgia runway as fighter jets and aerobatic performers demonstrate gravity defying maneuvers. While on the ground, guests will receive an up close look and go aboard a few of the popular planes and helicopters on display.
“We will feature a few new performers while hosting many favorite acts from previous years,” JLC AirShow Management President John Cowman said. “Our line-up of world-class aviators positions our show to be the largest in the state for the 2018 air show season.”
Tickets are now available for the seventh annual autumn air show at Rome’s Richard B. Russell Airport on October 13 and 14. The popular northwest Georgia event will combine aviation, popular music, and great food into one family-fun weekend.
The Langley-based F-22 Raptor Demo Team returns to Rome in October. Major Paul “Loco” Lopez II is in the midst of his first season as the F-22 Raptor demo pilot. Major Lopez is the team’s first African-American pilot and will fly a nearly 30-minute performance at the air show site demonstrating the handling of the most advanced fighter aircraft in the world.
The Air Force A-10C Thunderbolt II will perform over north Georgia in October. (Atkeison)
The Air Force is also sending two A-10C Warthogs to Russell Airport to demonstrate the crowd favorite warbird. Based at Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson, Arizona, pilot Capt Cody “ShIV” Wilton will perform both low and high level maneuvers to showcase the Warthog’s combat capabilities.
Just added to the performers list is the explosive recreation of the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor as the Commemorative Air Force’s Tora Tora Tora‘s multi-aircraft performs each day. Their demonstration, using nine World War II-era aircraft dressed as Japanese Zeroes, will keep your attention as they present a historical account of the infamous attack using fireball explosions mixed with the audio of actual radio accounts of that day.
“This years show will be so awesome with the modern day military fighter jet presence and special effect pyrotechnics,” JLC AirShow Management Organizer Tina Talton said on Thursday. “There will be lots of boom, boom, boom and fireballs as these pilots demonstrate their aircraft capabilities”.
Talton acknowledged that last year’s air show hosted record breaking crowds exceeding 80,000 attendees over the weekend.
One performer proud of his team’s excellent safety rating is the industry’s first ground act. “Our team is enjoying our 39th year touring this great nation,” Smoke-n-Thunder Jet Car driver and team owner Bill Braack exclaimed with a smile. “We have more accident free years than all other ground acts combined. Our team is excited and honored to be returning to the North Georgia Airshow this October.”
The explosive performance of Smoke-n-Thunder’s Jet Truck and Jet Car will return to Rome. (Atkeison)
Aerobatic pilot Scott Farnsworth, 2016 world Air Race Champion and Reno National Air Race performer, will take to the skies each day to demonstrate his own style of aerobatics. A multi-aircraft rated pilot, Scott will perform in the Aero L-39 Albatros.
The power of this air show will also be created by the civilian performers who will take to the autumn sky to pump up the aviation fans. National champion Patty Wagstaff aboard her German-built EXTRA 300XL monoplane and Mike Goulian piloting his EXTRA 330SC will perform hardcore, low-level aerobatics before the crowds.
Wagstaff, a three time national champion who was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame, said she is very focused to make every flight meaningful. “Every low-level performance and every maneuver is styled and executed to demonstrate the precision, artistry, and heart-stopping excitement of a perfectly executed aerobatic maneuver,” Wagstaff states with a nod and a smile.
(Charles Atkeison reports on aerospace and technology. Follow his updates via social media @Military_Flight.)
Like a time machine, this footage of Carrier Air Wing ONE (CVW-1) operating from the aircraft carrier USS Franklin D Roosevelt (CVA-42) during the carrier’s 1964 Mediterranean Sea deployment takes anyone who has ever served on a carrier deck back to the days of Phantoms, Crusaders, Scooters, Stoofs with Roofs, and Whales. The film is called “Flight Deck” and is split into three parts. The films are narrated and real world events take place. An F-4B blows a tire after recovering. Catapults are temperamental. The first clip is the deployment preparation portion of the Roosevelt’s Med Cruise. If you were in a similar situation this will certainly take you back!
The second clip is the launch portion of the ship’s cyclic operations. Watch for those ABMs (Aviation Boatswain’s Mates) who are shown in constant action.
The third clip is the recovery. This is definitely period stuff. Note the outfit the Landing Signals Officer (LSO) is wearing- it fairly screams 1964! Arresting gear procedures are described in detail along with some excellent shots of the recovery process.
During this deployment on board the Swanky Franky, CVW-1 consisted of VF-14 Tophatters flying the McDonnell Douglas F-4B Phantom II, VF-11 Red Rippers flying the Vought F-8E Crusader, VA-172 Blue Bolts flying the Douglas A-4C Skyhawk, VA-12 Flying Ubangis flying the A-4E variant of the Skyhawk, VA-15 Valions flying the Douglas A-1H Skyraider, VAH-11 Checkerboards flying the Douglas A-3B Skywarrior, a detachment from VAW-12 Bats flying the Grumman E-1B Tracer, a detachment from VFP-62 Fighting Photos flying the Vought RF-8A Crusader, and a detachment from HU-2 Fleet Angels flying the Kaman UH-2A Seasprite. These films were all uploaded to YouTube by CriticalPast.
USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CVA-42). US Navy photograph
The first prototype of what would become a national symbol, the English Electric Lightning interceptor, flew for the first time on 4 August 1954. Five years later the Lightning began a 29 year service career with the Royal Air Force (RAF) that included a number of firsts. Perhaps most compelling is the fact that the Lightning housed two Roll-Royce Avon turbojet engines in a vertically stacked configuration inside its fuselage. The resultant shape of the fuselage didn’t keep the Lightning from becoming the first and only British designed and built Mach 2 fighter aircraft. This video, entitled “Streaked Lightning” was uploaded to YouTube by Italianboy UK.
The Lightning’s performance, especially rate of climb, service ceiling, and speed, impressed pilots and made them believers in its capabilities. The Lightning prototypes were the first interceptors capable of supercruise- level supersonic flight without the aid of afterburners. Lightnings were designed and built specifically as interceptors; Soviet Tupelov Tu-16 Badger, Tu-22 Blinder and Tu-95 Bear bombers would have found them formidable opponents. Armed with a pair of 30 millimeter ADEN cannons, 48 unguided 2 inch air-to-air rockets, and/or de Havilland Firestreak or Hawker Siddeley Red Top missiles, Lightnings were as dangerous as they were quick. This video, entitled “Taffy Holden, The Accidental Lightning Pilot” was uploaded to YouTube by The History Guy.
Other unusual aspects of the Lightning’s design include the configuration of the wings and horizontal tail. Referred to as a notched delta planform, the wings were also almost entirely “wet” meaning they held every drop of the 700 gallons (later 716 gallons) that could be carried, unless the unusual over wing-mounted auxiliary tanks were fitted. The main landing gear had to be designed to be as skinny as possible for complete stowage in those thin wings. The Avon engines were so powerful that one of them was usually shut down after landing to save wear on the brakes; both engines at idle speed would push the jet to 80 miles per hour running at idle.
Image via BAe Systems
As the Lightning continued development, the jets gained additional fuel storage thanks to ventral fuel tank (which gave the jet its distinctive belly bulge), uprated Avon engines, added and improved avionics and communications gear, upgraded fire control radars, revised vertical stabilizers, aerial refueling probes, ventral strakes mounted under the aft fuselage, and a couple of two seat trainer versions were developed. The trainer versions were fully combat capable and the crew was seated side by side in a widened cockpit containing full dual controls. The video, entitled “1970 Lightning Aircraft” (silent but nice footage) was uploaded to YouTube by British Pathe.
RAF Lightnings equipped 14 Squadrons, four Flights, and two RAF display teams- the Tigers (74 Squadron) and the Firebirds (56 Squadron). Lightnings were based at a total of ten RAF stations. In addition to the RAF, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia operated Lightnings. Kuwait operated Lightnings for a short time, replacing them with Dassault Mirage F1s and storing them. Those in storage were largely destroyed when Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990. Saudi Lightnings were replaced by McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagles in 1986. The video “John Nichols flies the EE Lightning” was uploaded to YouTube by George Pollen.
Carrier Airborne Early Warning squadron ONE TWO FOUR (VAW-124) Bear Aces deployed with the rest of Carrier Air Wing EIGHT (CVW-8) aboard the Nimitz-class carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) between 21 January 2017 and 21 August 2017. The Bear Aces put together a cruise video from footage shot during their 2017 deployment. It’s a great look at not only the VAW community but carrier aviation in general. The images are crisp and super-sharp. Great slow-motion effects too. The video was uploaded to YouTube by A.J. N. Enjoy!
VAW-124 was originally named the Bullseye Hummers. The squadron, equipped with Grumman E-2 Hawkeyes of one variant or another since their establishment in 1967, picked up the nickname Bear Aces when VAW-124 deployed to Naval Air Station (NAS) Keflavik in Iceland for Christmas 1980. Oh joy! But the Bullseye Hummers ran so many intercepts of Soviet Tu-95 Bear bombers while enjoying the Holidays at Kef that the Bear Aces moniker just stuck to them. That’s the way to get a call sign! The Bear Aces are shore based at NAS Norfolk when not deployed.
VAW-124 Hawkeye. Image via USN
During their deployment aboard the Bush in 2017, CVW-8 consisted of VFA-37 Bulls flying what might be their last deployment in McDonnell Douglas (Boeing) F/A-18C Hornets, VFA-31 Tomcatters and VFA-87 Golden Warriors flying the single seat Boeing F/A-18E Super Hornet, VFA-213 Fighting Blacklions flying the Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet, VAW-124 Bear Aces flying the Grumman E-2C Hawkeye, VAQ-131 Lancers flying the Boeing EA-18G Growler, HSC-9 Tridents flying the Sikorsky MH-60S Seahawk, HSM-70 Spartans flying the Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk, and VRC-40 Rawhides Detachment 2 flying the Grumman C-2A Greyhound COD.
