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This is one of my best shots. I was invited to attend
a media-event refueling mission involving planes of the Ohio Air National
Guard in 1984. Here, an LTV A-7D "Corsair II" of the 121st TFW/166th TFS
is gassed up by a KC-135 of another Rickenbacker unit, the 160th ARG. (Being
a life-long 'Buckeye' it naturally gave me a great sense of pride to see
'Ohio' splashed all over these planes!) It was during this time frame that
the A-7s were undergoing a cosmetic change from the Vietnam-era 'lizard'
cammo scheme to the low-visibility "European One" flavor. |
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A couple of Corsairs formed up on our tanker. I don't
know how high we were flying (I estimate about 26,000 feet), but the sky
cast a deep blue. |
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While conducting research for an article I was writing
in conjunction with my refueling flight, they took me into the flight simulator
room for a look around.It was quite impressive, beginning with the actual
aircraft cockpit (as opposed to a mock-up that only has some of the gadgetry). |
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The same view under nighttime lighting conditions. |
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A closer-in look... |
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I photographed this C-135 variant at Holloman AFB,
NM, in 1972. Since it was kept away from the normal transient aircraft
ramp I figured it had to be something really neat!
After years of not knowing what this plane did, I do now,
thanks to Chris Trott and Lanny Smith. It is an NC-135A, serial number
60-0371, one of three of this series. These planes were used by the USAF and Atomic Energy
Commission to monitor nuclear tests after the signing of the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty from 1965 through 1972. They were called
Rivet Diggers for the name of the program under which they were converted from C-135As to NC-135s. During 1972, the aircraft supported a project between NASA, Los Alamos National Lab, and the Sandia National Lab which examined
"high-altitude ionospheric injections and rocketborne experiments." This had the airplanes deployed to Eielson AFB, AK, Christchurch, NZ, American Samoa, and Hawaii.
They were also involved in experiments with a navigational system under
development called GEANS; crew members stayed at Holloman for a week at a
time. Also, it was used as a support and target aircraft for the Airborne Laser Laboratory program at Kirtland
in the '70s and '80s. All 3 aircraft were based at Kirtland AFB, NM until withdrawn from service.
The other two were scrapped but this one remains, sans engines. The
middle photo is sister aircraft 370 in a recent state of disrepair. A damned
shame after years of distinguished service, as indicated by 369 in the lower
photo.
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This is one of the strangest planes I have ever seen!
While doing my book research in DC in the late '80s, I just happened to
see this thing as I was going to my car to go get some lunch. I grabbed
my camera and took these pictures during its brief demo flight. I later
learned it was the Boeing-Bell XV-15, the predecessor to the V-22 "Osprey,"
a tiltrotor vertical/short takeoff and landing (VSTOL), multi-mission aircraft.
The Osprey will replace the current Marine Corps CH-46 and CH-53 assault
helicopters in the medium-lift category and give the Air Force a long-range,
VTOL extraction capability to supplement the Special Operations Forces
(SOF) MC-130 aircraft. The tiltrotor design combines the vertical flight
capabilities of a helicopter with the speed and range of a fixed-wing turboprop
airplane. The XV-15 pictured here is one of two built as demonstrators;
they are smaller and slower than the V-22. (And although they don't look
that large, each of those props is about 25 feet in diameter!) |
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Another angle, as the plane circled the parking lot. |
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Here are some shots from Donald E. Deidrich, MSgt.,
USAF (ret). These gate guards were photographed at Lackland AFB in 1960.
This is the Bell P-63 "King Cobra," which was an upgrade of the P-39 "Airacobra."
It is a mid-engine fighter that didn't find wide acceptance in the Army
Air Corps. |
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This is the Northrop F-89 "Scorpion," an early jet
interceptor that attacked its prey with salvos of 2.75" Folding Fin Aerial
Rockets (FFARs). As interceptors graduated to more advanced air intercept
missiles (e.g., the Sidewinder and Sparrow), the unguided 2.75" FFARs found
a niche in the ground attack role in Vietnam. Available in a wide range
of flavors (incendiary, anti-personnel, target markers, etc.), they were
launched from a variety of pods hung on fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft. |
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This elegant twin turboprop is the Japanese-designed
and -built NAMCA YS-11, that nation's ambitious attempt to break into the
lucrative post-World War II passenger market. Although not as successful
as its contemporaries (e.g., the Vickers Viscount and Lockheed
Electra),
it was a landmark plane nevertheless. The vertical antenna "growing" out
of the wing tip is (believed to be) a 1500-ft. LORAN antenna that was maintained
by the USCG. This plane was photographed at Iwo Jima. |
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These pictures were sent to me by my childhood friend,
Randy Roth (Zebra Sergeant, USAF, ret.). As kids, we played 'war' so often,
the UN convened a special commission to deal with us. He went into the
USAF a year before I did and got to work as an Air Freight Specialist on
a couple of these grand planes. Here, we have the Douglas C-124 "Globemaster
II," also known as "Old Shakey." One of its many colorful descriptions
is, "a million rivets flying in formation." He liked this one, so what
did Uncle Sugar do? Had him work on the plane in the lower photo, the Douglas
C-133 "Cargomaster," which was a nightmare with wings...seemed to take
hours to configure. |
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If the C-124 was the "Globemaster II," what was the
"Globemaster I?" It was Douglas' WWII-era C-74; it used the same wings,
tail, and engines as the C-124 but had a different-shaped fuselage and
no clamshell doors. . |
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Another Douglas cargo plane, the turboprop-powered
C-133. It looks like it could be a C-130 having a bad hair day! |
