VFP-62 "Eyes of the Fleet" and the Bay of Pigs Invasion

Over the course of the Second World War, photoreconnaissance in the US Navy progressed from rudimentary handheld photography from whatever aircraft was available to reconnaissance variants of carrier fighters equipped with cameras in fuselage bays. The reconnaissance mission was carried out usually by the fighter squadrons in the carrier air wing (which were still called carrier air groups back then) and in the years after the war, small groups of combat-seasoned photo recon pilots were usually attached to carrier air groups but no standard training, syllabus or even squadron existed for the reconnaissance mission. That all began to change in 1948 when Fleet Air Service Squadron THEE formed a photographic detachment at NAS Norfolk, Virginia. On 8 January 1949, 13 officers and 88 enlisted personnel gathered to form Composite Squadron SIXTY-TWO (VC-62) at Norfolk, with a sister squadron, VC-61, formed on the West Coast at NAS Miramar, California, to serve the Pacific Fleet. The squadrons were tasked to train and perform the photo reconnaissance mission. The first aircraft of the units were photo variants of the Bearcat and Corsair- the Grumman F8F-2P (the P suffix designating a recon variant) and the Vought F4U-4P and -5P. Though specialized for the recon mission, that's a loosely used term since the aircraft carried a single camera in a fuselage bay and the pilots were still considered fighter pilots and VC-61 and VC-62's training regimen still required proficiency in gunnery, rocketry and bombing missions with extra emphasis on navigation. 

A VFP-62 F2H-2P Banshee aboard the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt
(Wikipedia)

Of the two squadrons, VC-62 would soon become famous. The unit was transferred from Norfolk to NAS Jacksonville and converted to the McDonnell F2H-2P Banshee which was a quantum leap in performance over the Bearcats and Corsairs as not only was the Banshee jet powered, but its extended nose bay housed multiple cameras that could photograph targets from over 40,000 feet. In 1953, VC-62 added the swept wing Grumman F9F-6P Cougar to its existing fleet of Banshees. Camera technology also progressed in this time to allow sharper and better quality photos from aircraft moving at much higher speeds than piston-engined aircraft. The arrival of the jets also meant that the pilots no longer had guns to shoot back- the recon variants of the jets were unarmed, requiring the use of speed, maneuverability and sharp mission planning to get home with the photos. On 2 July 1956, VC-62 was redesigned VFP-62 and VC-61 became VFP-63. Two years later, VFP-62 got one of the finest naval photo reconnaissance aircraft in the form of the Vought F8U-1P Crusader. 

A VFP-62 F9F-6P Cougar overflies the USS Essex
(Wikipedia)

The Crusader wasn't just fast, it also had the latest in state of the art camera technology in the -1P recon variant. At the speed of the Crusader, especially at low levels, the images would have been blurred, but the four cameras of the -1P Crusader had what was called IMC (Image Motion Compensation). A set of avionics boxes with controls in the cockpit coordinated the aircraft's speed and altitude with the camera equipment. During a photo run, a vacuum sucked the film frame against a moving shuttle- when the shutter opened, the shuttle would move the film frame in the opposite direction of flight at a speed that canceled out the forward speed of the Crusader for that brief moment. When the shutter closed, the vacuum released the film frame and the next frame entered the shuttle. This process took place with each of the Crusader's four cameras multiple times in a second depending upon the target, the aircraft's speed and altitude, and ambient lighting conditions. The IMC electronics also made sure the frames overlapped the ground to insure a required level of coverage of of the target. 

In 1958, the same year as the conversion to the F8U-1P Crusader, VFP-62 moved to NAS Cecil Field outside of Jacksonville as it had outgrown its Jacksonville base. It was an unusually large squadron compared to most Crusader fighter squadrons on account that it sent detachments of carrier air wings- a typical photo detachment might be three aircraft with 35 officers and enlisted men. The squadron could have multiple detachments deployed worldwide at any given moment. 

A VFP-62 F8U-1P Crusader tanks from an A4D-2 Skyhawk
(Wikipedia)

On 1 January 1959, the revolutionary forces of Fidel Castro defeated Fulgencio Batista's regime in Cuba, putting the island nation square in the communist sphere of influence. Needless to say, having a Soviet client state just 90 miles from American shores would greatly influence the foreign and defense policy of both the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations. John F. Kennedy won the 1960 presidential elections against Richard Nixon on a strong anti-Castro platform, campaigning that Nixon, as Eisenhower's vice-president, was weak on Cuba. Unfortunately for Kennedy, this put him in a position after entering office of accepting the plan for the invasion of Cuba by US-trained Cuban exiles at a location called the Bay of Pigs. On 18 April 1961, a force of 1,400 Cuban exiles landed ashore at the Bay of Pigs as the Cuban Expeditionary Force (CEF) with plans to start a counter-revolution against Castro. Kennedy was keen to limit the appearance and extent of American involvement and the CIA-trained CEF force had its fleet of Douglas B-26 Invader aircraft cut in half as part of that effort. The young president wanted the CEF to look like a home grown force than a US-backed force to prevent a superpower confrontation. The operation was doomed from the start and when it became clear that the CEF was in over its head against Castro's forces the following day, Kennedy ordered a secret photo assessment of the situation on the ground at the Bay of Pigs. 

VFP-62 had three F8U-1Ps as part of Detachment 41 assigned to the USS Independence which was in the area for contingency operations should US air support be needed (which it was but was never authorized). Det 41's commander was ordered to paint over any military markings and even the maintenance stencils were overpainted in gray. Roman numerals I, II, and III, were painted inside the wheel wells to tell the aircraft apart as they were completely sanitized of any exterior markings. The Crusaders were identified as "Gray Ghost" and then "One", "Two", or "Three" during flight operations. They conducted a series of flights over the Bay of Pigs which confirmed that the CEF was about to be overrun by Castro's forces. It was hoped that the low level overflights of the area might give Castro's forces pause that the CEF might be defended by US airstrikes and give the beleaguered exiles time to regroup, but this wasn't to be the case and the CEF was roundly defeated with those not killed taken prisoner. 

A VFP-62 F8U-1P Crusader prepares to launch from the USS Independence
(Wikipedia)

The USS Independence and its carrier air wing were awarded the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal for its clandestine operation, but even after the disaster at the Bay of Pigs had passed, VFP-62 was requested to remain in the area to keep an eye on Cuba. Up until the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, the squadron would make periodic flights to Cuba, mostly staging out of NAS Cecil Field. Flights of two aircraft would then "pretend" to making practice approaches to NAS Key West and dash to Cuba at low level. Other missions had two Crusaders appear as a flight transiting to Guantanamo Bay and then dash down at low level before recovering at Homestead AFB in Florida. 

VFP-62's missions would soon take on added urgency as October 1962 approached. But that's a subject for a future article here at Tails Through Time! 

Further reading: 

Vought's Not-So-Fearsome F6U Pirate

The First American Covert Overflights of the Soviet Union

The U-2's Antecedent: The Martin RB-57D Canberra

Taiwan's Secret Recon Voodoos

Project Palladium: Testing Soviet Radars

Source: Blue Moon Over Cuba: Aerial Reconnaissance during the Cuban Missile Crisis by Capt. William B. Ecker USN and Kenneth V. Jack. Osprey Publishing, 2012, pp 33-50.

The Spyplane Codenamed "Pie Face": The Birth of the Big Safari Program

The Big Safari emblem
(Big Safari Association)

At the end of the Second World War, Germany was divided into four occupation zones administered by the victorious Allied powers. The capital, Berlin, was in turn also divided into four zones. When The Soviet Union established East Germany from its occupation zone, West Germany was formed from the American, British and French occupation zones. Berlin was also divided into East Berlin and West Berlin with the western part of the capital surrounded on all sides by East Germany. By agreement, there were travel corridors to allow surface and air connections to West Berlin from West Germany. The air corridors were only 20 miles wide at a maximum altitude of 10,000 feet. The northern air corridor followed a Hamburg-West Berlin line, the central air corridor followed a Hannover-West Berlin line and the southern air corridor followed a Frankfurt-West Berlin air corridor. In the summer of 1952, the head of United States Air Forces Europe, General Lauris Norstad, made a special request to the USAF Chief of Staff, General Hoyt Vandenberg, for reconnaissance aircraft to use in Europe that in particular, could fly unnoticed in the West Berlin air corridors as a routine courier flight. Vandenberg convened a group of specially selected officers and civilians who would develop not just the aircraft needed for the requested USAFE mission but also a set of rule and procedures in order to field such an aircraft quickly and in secrecy. Lieutenant General Thomas Rhodes worked with a reconnaissance systems specialist, Furman E. O'Rear, to develop the procedures that would get the specialized aircraft into service. 

Rhodes and O'Rear laid down the "ground rules" for the project: 

1. Only the minimum amount of documentation was needed. Personal contact and direct communication was preferred. 
2. Strict security clearances would be issued on a need to know basis with a minimum of personnel. 
3. No limit on funds for the project. Special capabilities needed in the field shouldn't worry about funding. 
4. Primary responsibility for the program lay with the Director of Air Force Maintenance and Engineering (this later became Air Force Systems Command) who would direct the Air Force Materiel Command (this later become the Air Force Logistics Command in 1961).
5. Coordination was the utmost importance between the different commands of the USAF and the intelligence community. A single project head would act as the point of contact for all the diverse interests involved. 
6. Aircraft contractors selected would also issue strict security clearances to a closed off work area for any aircraft modifications. 
7. The contractor selected would be responsible for yearly upgrades to any aircraft system. 
8. It was agreed upon ahead of time that any modifications or changes needed to the aircraft systems would be approved to expedite the fielding and subsequent upgrades to any special capability aircraft. 

In addition to these ground rules, it was also agreed that any project would make use of an existing aircraft rather than develop a new aircraft. The project office was authorized initially with a five year commitment on the reconnaissance aircraft that would be fielded by the USAFE for use in the Berlin air corridors. When it was realized in 1953 that the program's set up lent itself well to other special projects, it was given its own code name by which it is still known today: BIG SAFARI.

The Boston Camera the USAF Museum
(USAF Museum)

The year before General Norstad's 1952 special request for a reconnaissance aircraft, a very large special optical camera had been flight tested on a Convair B-36. The camera, developed by optical scientists and engineers at Boston University in 1947-1949, was designated the K-42 but was known as the Boston Camera as well as the code names BIG BERTHA and DAISY MAE. With a 240 inch focal length (6096mm), it weighed nearly three tons and used very large 18x36 inch frame film. It would be the largest aerial camera ever built. The lens was fixed at f/8 with an electrically tripped shutter speed of 1/400 second. Allegedly it had the resolution to image a golf ball on the ground from 45,000 feet. During the flight test program it was decided that a bomber carrying the Boston Camera would have been conspicuous if not downright provocative and it would be better used mounted in a transport aircraft. The aircraft had to be large so as not to have any external modifications that would give away its carriage of the large camera. PIE FACE was the code name assigned to the effort to mount the camera in a transport aircraft. The first PIE FACE contractor was actually Boeing who had offered a YC-97 Stratofreighter- one YC-97 in fact had flown a handful of Berlin Airlift missions. Boeing at the time was preoccupied with other programs and afforded the PIE FACE program little attention to the point that security was constantly being compromised with the aircraft frequently parked in the open at the property perimeter fence line in Seattle. 

As a result, the PIE FACE contractor was changed from Boeing to Convair Fort Worth. This would become Detachment 1 of the Big Safari program. The general manager of Convair, August Esenwein, took a personal stake in the project and made sure the USAF had the necessary secure hangar space as well as any engineering personnel needed make sure PIE FACE was fielded quickly. Esenwein's personal involvement pleased the USAF and the working relationship between the USAF and Convair at Detachment 1 set the standard for future contractor relationships in the Big Safari program. In fact, Detachment 1 would run for twenty years with 87 different aircraft passing through Convair Fort Worth over that time span. 

PIE FACE would have looked just like this KC-97
(Wikipedia)

While the Boston Camera did fly in Europe for six weeks on the YC-97, it was clear that as an early variant of the Stratofreighter it was less capable than the later KC-97 variants already in service. With less powerful engines, the YC-97 with the Boston Camera onboard was significantly altitude restricted. Given that the camera was used for stand-off oblique photography, a higher altitude meant that more of East Germany could be photographed from the air corridors. From 19 December 1952 to 23 February 1953, the Boston Camera was moved from the YC-97 to a KC-97 that had its boom removed, 49-2592. Both aircraft were literally cut in half behind the cockpit to move the camera from one aircraft to the other. The manual controls of the camera were upgraded with electrical and electromechanical controls as it was installed on the KC-97. Covert sliding doors were used to cover the camera ports when it wasn't in use. In addition to the installation of the Boston Camera, a 100-inch K-30 camera and a trimetrogon system of three K-17 cameras were also installed, all synchronized with the Boston Camera to give wider angle photographic coverage of the target areas and assist with mapping. A camera operator's station was installed in the cockpit with a special slaved sight to trigger the camera system. 

West Berlin air corridors
(German History in Documents and Images,
 http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org)

After flight testing with specially selected USAF crews, the PIE FACE KC-97 was assigned to 7499th Support Squadron (later renumbered to the 7405th) at Rhein-Main AB, the main USAFE transport hub in Europe. With each of the three air corridors to West Berlin being 20 miles wide, that was already 1/6th of East Germany that lay underneath any aircraft within the corridors. The addition of oblique photography added tremendously to the area surveilled- at the 10,000 foot maximum imposed by the Soviets, the majority of East Germany could be photographed by the PIE FACE aircraft. In addition to flying in the air corridors, perimeter flights along the border were also flown at altitudes as high at 32,000 feet. Just in the last six months of 1953 when it was first fielded, the specially-equipped aircraft had flown 13 missions (quite remarkable given the complexity of maintaining the camera system). The aircraft also stood alert for short notice missions and flew as far as the Arctic and the Middle East. Intelligence requirements soon outpaced the abilities of the aircraft and eleven other aircraft were added to supplement PIE FACE starting in 1954. Those aircraft will be the subject of a future article here at Tails Through Time, so stay tuned!

PIE FACE was scheduled to end in 1962 and 49-2592 was flown back to Convair Fort Worth for demodification. By that point the aircraft had already rotated through Fort Worth eight times for upgrades and further modifications. Engineers there had developed a pneumatic shutter system for the cameras in only 28 days that became the standard for any Big Safari photoreconnaissance system. But PIE FACE wasn't over just yet as the Cuban Missile Crisis erupted just as the aircraft was about to be demodified. Approximately 17 missions were flown from MacDill AFB in Tampa around the periphery of Cuba, PIE FACE's imagery supplementing that taken by the Lockheed U-2 overflight missions. In March 1965, 49-2592 returned to Convair Fort Worth for good as the airframe was worn out and given over for salvage. The Boston Camera ended up at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, where it can be seen today displayed with a Convair B-36 Peacemaker. 

Source: The History of Big Safari by Col. Bill Grimes, USAF (Ret). Archway Publishing in cooperation with the Big Safari Association, 2014, pp 1-16. 

Project Palladium: Testing Soviet Radars

The A-12 Cygnus flew mostly in bare titanium with few markings

When the Lockheed U-2 made its first overflight of the Soviet Union on 4 July 1956, it was common knowledge that its apparent invulnerability was time-limited as advances in Soviet air defense systems were sure to eventually bring one down. In fact, USAF analysts were in the planning stages of a replacement to the U-2 long before it even made its first flight. The first such study was for an exotic liquid hydrogen powered aircraft called Suntan from Lockheed which ended up getting canceled in 1959 at the urgings of its designer, the legendary Kelly Johnson. Running parallel to the Suntan which was an Air Force project, the CIA had two studies going for a U-2 replacement- one was a subsonic design code named Gusto and the other was a supersonic design that ultimately became Oxcart. That program's flying hardware was the Lockheed A-12 Cygnus, a single-seat predecessor to the two-seat SR-71 Blackbird. The A-12 made its maiden flight at Groom Lake/Area 51 on 26 April 1962, two years after Francis Gary Powers had been shot down over the Soviet Union in his U-2. 

A-12 landing at Groom Lake; note the single seat cockpit

The design of the A-12 was the first to take into consideration a reduction in radar cross section (RCS) to limit the detection range by an adversary's radar systems. On the Lockheed A-12, the leading edges of the wings and chines had pie-shaped wedges that were filled with a composite material that would theoretically reduce the RCS of the aircraft. With three A-12s in flight testing by October 1962 at Groom Lake/Area 51, the Cuban Missile Crisis took place- with the shoot-down of Major Rudolph Anderson and his U-2 by an SA-2 missile on 27 October 1962 in the midst of the crisis, the Oxcart project took added urgency and the need for operational Mach 3 strategic reconnaissance capability as soon as possible was deemed an urgent national priority. While the intensity of flight testing at Groom Lake picked up, a program was established to determine the A-12's detectability to Soviet radar systems. Two radar systems in particular were of interest to the CIA, the P-12 "Spoon Rest" radar which was used as a search radar for the SA-2 surface-to-air missile batteries and had a range of 100 miles, and the even more powerful P-14 "Tall King" radar which had double the power and range of the P-12 system. 

Soviet P-12 "Spoon Rest" radar

As part of a broad reaching program of electronic intelligence to support the A-12 Cygnus, a highly-classified program called Palladium was established to test the sensitivity of Soviet radars. Palladium was a special electronic transmitter that could project a false target into the "Tall King" and "Spoon Rest" radar systems. Technicians could adjust the Palladium signal to present varying targets of RCS values and with National Security Agency (NSA) technicians eavesdropping on communications channels, it became possible to find out what size RCS target the Soviet radar systems could acquire. During the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, nineteen SA-2 missile sites were constructed on the island supported by P-14 "Tall King" radars. Oxcart planners realized they had a unique opportunity to test the sensitivity of the latest in Soviet defense radars during the Crisis. 

Soviet P-12 "Tall King" radar

One night during the crisis a US Navy destroyer carrying the Palladium transmitter positioned itself north of Havana and used the CIA's special transmitter to project the signal of an aircraft racing south from NAS Key West towards the Cuban capital. At a predetermined time with a P-14 radar tracking the Palladium ghost target, a US Navy submarine surfaced just offshore of Havana and released a series of balloons, each carrying a radar reflector corresponding to a specific RCS value. The sudden appearance of multiple targets offshore then triggered the SA-2 operators to activate their fire control radars as well. With the NSA listening to Cuban and Soviet communications, it was possible to determine the smallest size RCS reflector that could be detected by both the P-14 search radar and the SA-2 batteries' fire control radars. Cuban MiGs were scrambled that night and it must have made for an interesting post-flight debrief when CIA technicians aboard the destroyer switched off the Palladium set, causing the targets to suddenly disappear. As a result of this unique test, it was determined that the RCS-reducing features of the A-12 Cygnus still made it detectable by not only the long range search radars, but also the fire control radars of the SA-2 missile batteries. Despite the findings of this unique and risky test given the tensions present during the crisis, the flight testing and operational deployment of the A-12 Cygnus continued. Its first operational recon missions over hostile territory took place in 1967 over North Vietnam. 

Source: Lockheed Blackbird: Beyond the Secret Missions by Paul Crickmore. Osprey Publishing, 2010, p16-45.