The Mach 3 Phantom

In the 1960s the development of high-performance reconnaissance cameras offered greater resolution, but at a price- many of these systems were large and heavy and the current high-altitude spyplane of the time, the first generation variants of the Lockheed U-2, were unable to carry them. One of the premier recon optical systems developed at this time was the General Dynamics HIAC-1- a long range, oblique camera with a focal length of 66 inches that allowed stand-off reconnaissance from high altitudes. The first examples of HIAC-1 were heavy- the prototype camera system weighed over 3,500 lbs, much more than any other camera system in use at the time (excepting the very big Boston Camera carried by the B-36 and C-97 in the 1950s that weighed 3 tons and had a focal length of 240 inches). The only aircraft in the USAF inventory that could carry the HIAC-1 was the RB-57F, a modification of the Martin B-57 Canberra. In 1962 General Dynamics in Fort Worth, Texas, had the contract to maintain the RB-57D fleet which suffered from wing spar fatigue. Since General Dynamics had acquired quite a bit of experience in working on the long-span RB-57Ds, they were asked by the Air Force for an evolved version of the D that could fly higher, carry a heavier load (like the HIAC-1) and not have the same wing spar problems that plagued the RB-57D. The RB-57F was the result- with a longer wing, more powerful TF33 turbofan engines and auxillary J60 turbojets, it was what the USAF needed until the later generation of U-2 spyplanes entered service. In fact, two RB-57Fs are still used today by NASA. 

USAF RF-4C with the large G-139 pod.

Over the course of the RB-57F's operational career, Israel had made repeated requests of obtaining the RB-57F and the HIAC-1 for its own reconnaissance needs, but the requests were always denied by the US State Department and the Defense Department on the grounds that the technology used in the RB-57F would upset the strategic balance in the Middle East. However, a compromise was reached- by 1971 the HIAC-1 had been steadily improved and lightened to the point that it weighed just under 1,500 lbs and that a pod-mounted HIAC-1 carried by the McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantom, already in the Israeli inventory, would be permissible. Also developed by General Dynamics, the pod-mounted HIAC-1 was designated G-139 and underwent an intensive flight test program with a USAF RF-4C aircraft and the first G-139 pods were delivered to Israel in October 1971. The Israelis found the G-139/HIAC-1 system useful as it allowed the Phantoms to get imagery of Egyptian defenses along the Suez Canal without having to enter the SAM umbrella. But there was a significant issue, the pod was still a heavy store and it generated a significant amount of drag- it limited the Phantoms to a maximum speed of Mach 1.5 and a maximum altitude just under 50,000 feet, not to mention the challenge of handling a G-139-laden F-4E at high altitude. As a result, the special projects division of General Dynamics began work in January 1972 on ways to improve the F-4E's performance to offset the burden of carrying the pod. 

Overview of the modifications to make the Phantom Mach 3-capable.

The first improvements came with getting the most out of the Phantom's J79 engines. Engineers found that the Phantom's intakes were limiting the performance possible from the J79. A new inlet was designed that was not only larger than the standard F-4 inlet, but it featured a new shape that better managed the airflow to the engines with series of new variable-geometry ramps. The standard Phantom inlet did have a variable geometry ramp, but it was much simpler than the General Dynamics design which also featured a large bypass door downstream from the inlet to help manage the internal shockwaves that helped slow the air down before it reached the engines. A series of vortex generators down the inlet also helped improve engine performance. The second improvement was based on 1950s research done by NASA's predecessor agency, NACA, called pre-compressor cooling (PCC). PCC was a form of water injection but used the water to cool in the inlet air before it reached the engines. By reducing the inlet air temperature, it increased the mass of the air akin to taking off on a cold day- engine air flow and thereby thrust would be increased. At high altitudes, PCC would boost engine performance starting at Mach 1.4 as the inlet air started to heat up due to friction. 

General Electric, the manufacturer of the J79, was less than enthused about General Dynamics' work on PCC, but did provide some consultations. Work had already been done with PCC on another of General Dynamics' products, the Convair F-106 Delta Dart, but it never was incorporated into the design. In addition, the USAF's Arnold Engineering Development Center in Tennessee had tested PCC in engine test cells with both the J57 and J75 engines. One J75 engine was run at maximum afterburner for 40 hours with PCC! It had also been looked at by Vought for the aborted F8U-3 Crusader III design (though never flown) and McDonnell had used a rudimentary PCC system in 1962 to break several world speed records with the pre-production F-4 Phantom. Based on all this body of work, General Dynamics refined the PCC system so that the water droplets were very fine at 10 microns to cool the air without having any pooling of water in the engine. Two large water tanks were installed on external blisters along the sides of the F-4E, each blister with three tanks. Each blister could carry 2,500 lbs of demineralized water- since the interior of the Phantom was pretty packed as it was, scabbing these blisters on the fuselage eased the modification and engineering process. 

GD wind tunnel model of the RF-4X.

General Dynamics' modifications led to this version of the Phantom being unofficially designated the F-4X- at this point still carrying the large G-139/HIAC-1 pod underneath on the centerline station. With Israeli funding supplementing internal corporate, work on the F-4X continued through 1972 and refinements to the PCC system and inlets led to a calculated increase in the J79 thrust at high altitude well over 150 percent! On 12 April 1973 the company formally submitted the F-4X proposal to the USAF. Additional funding for more work then came from the USAF which was using the podded HIAC-1 system for stand-off reconnaissance in Korea and were encountering the same issues the Israelis were having in using standard Phantoms with the large camera pod. The following year the design was further refined, but with the Israelis having continued misgivings about using the HIAC-1 in a pod, the design leap was made to incorporate the HIAC-1 into F-4X's nose- with the latest HIAC-1 versions getting even lighter than the 1,500 lb version used in the G-139 pod, integrating the camera into the nose improved performance by eliminating the drag-inducing pod. Designated RF-4X, this version of the Phantom was now capable of cruising at Mach 2.4 at high altitude with burst capability to Mach 3.2. This level of performance now began to alarm the US State Department- up to this point Mach 3+ aircraft were the sole purview of the United States and Soviet Union and in some diplomatic circles there were concerns about the Israelis integrating nuclear weapons delivery with the RF-4X. To allay the State Department's concerns, General Dynamics removed the AN/APQ-120 radar from the nose which would now only house the HIAC-1 and its associated environmental control systems. Permission to sell the RF-4X to the Israelis was approved and on November 1974 an Israeli F-4E was flown to General Dynamics in Fort Worth for a mock up study. For five months engineers used the F-4E as the basis of a full-scale mock-up created with cardboard and tape- both the Mach 3 intakes and the PCC water tanks were mocked up on the Phantom on one side as well as the modified nose housing for the HIAC-1 camera. 

Israeli F-4E with the PCC and intake mock-up on one side.

By 1975 several factors were now working against the RF-4X, the biggest of which was time. The Israeli Air Force wanted the system as soon as possible but it was clear that the integration of the camera, intakes and PCC system was going to take more time than originally estimated. With the McDonnell Douglas F-15 winding up its flight test program and soon to become operational in the following year to replace the Phantom in USAF service, it was politically unpalatable to keep funding the RF-4X which offered a level of performance that exceeded that of the Eagle in some flight regimes. The USAF insisted upon further studies of the PCC system despite the fact that there were already nearly 20 years of data on pre-compressor cooling, some of which done by the USAF itself. Compounded with the engineering delays, Israel and the RF-4X proponents in the USAF lost interest and it was quietly canceled later that year.

Despite the cancellation of the RF-4X, General Dynamics did continue work on just the nose-mounted HIAC-1 component of the design for Israel. Three F-4E Phantoms were modified as F-4E(S) aircraft and delivered to the Israeli Air Force from late 1975 to early 1976. It turned out that the Israelis were unable to fund the RF-4X in its entirety and were only able to afford the HIAC-1 component. As a result, the three F-4E(S) aircraft had standard J79 engines. In IDF service the HIAC-1 was code-named "Shablul", the Hebrew word for "snail". The first operational flights began in 1976 with the aircraft capable of flying at 60,000 feet at Mach 1.9. The pilot and systems officer wore full pressure suits from the David Clark Company which also made the pressure suits used by USAF U-2 and SR-71 crews as well as Space Shuttle crews. Many of the missions flown still remain classified but it is known that Iraq was a frequent target through the 1980s. One of the aircraft is now on public display at the Israeli Air Force Museum. 

Source/Photos: Israeli Phantoms- The 'Kurnass' in IDF/AF Service 1989 Until Today by Andreas Klein and Shlomo Aloni. Double Ugly Books/AirDOC, 2009, p44-70.

27 Years Before the Eagle Was the First F-15

The Northrop P-61 Black Widow, despite having a wingspan of 66 feet and being the size of most medium bombers, possessed a high speed and maneuverability that made it a candidate for further development into a very-long range day fighter. With the war in the Pacific now on the front door step of the Home Islands, there arose a need for a fighter with a very long range to escort the Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers from their bases in the Marianas and China to Japan and back. The development of the Lockheed XP-58 Chain Lightning was hobbled by troublesome powerplant issues and innumerable deficiencies uncovered in the flight test program for the Fisher XP-75 Eagle meant that the USAAF had to fall back on a long range version of the Thunderbolt, the Repubic P-47N. Not feeling that this was the optimum solution, the USAAF authorized development of twin-seat, twin-engine escort fighter designs to meet the need for a long-range B-29 escort. North American was issued a contract to develop the P-51 Mustang into the P-82 Twin Mustang while Northrop was given a contract to develop a day fighter version of the P-61 Black Widow. 

To save time given the pressing needs of the Pacific War, two P-16B Black Widow airframes were pulled from the production line (the aircraft were 42-39549 and 42-39557) to be modified into the XP-61E prototypes. The primary modification was the replacement of the center crew nacelle with a new nacelle that had only 50% of the cross-section of that of the Black Widow. Instead of housing three crew members, the new nacelle sat two pilots in tandem under what was a the time the world's largest single-piece bubble canopy. The air intercept radar in the nose of the Black Widow was replaced with four 50-caliber machine guns which would form the new fighter's main armament. The four 20mm cannon in the belly of the nacelle were retained on the XP-61E. Extra fuel tanks in the new crew nacelle aft of the cockpit gave the aircraft a 1,158-gallon fuel load, nearly double the 640-gallon capacity of the Black Widow. In addition, the XP-61E could carry four 310-gallon external fuel tanks as opposed to the just two external tanks of the Black Widow. 

By the time of the XP-61E's first flight on 20 November 1944 from Northrop's facility in Hawthorne, California, the war in the Pacific had progressed rapidly and the landings on Iwo Jima in February 1945 gave the USAAF an airfield that was halfway between its main B-29 bases in the Marianas and Japan. Basing of P-51 Mustangs on Iwo Jima now made the need for an escort fighter with the same range as the B-29 superfluous. However, with the planning underway for the Allied landings on the home island of Kyushu on October 1945 (Operation Olympic) and the landings on the main island of Honshu (Operation Coronet) set for the spring of 1946, a need arose for fast, agile reconnaissance aircraft to map the planned invasion zones and associated targets. While realizing that the reconnaissance need would ultimately be met by the Hughes XF-11 and the Republic XF-12 then under development, the USAAF wanted an interim design based on the XP-61E designated the F-15A Reporter. With an estimated eventual need for 320 F-15As, the USAAF ordered the first batch of 175 Reporters in June 1945 as Northrop's design would be ready much sooner than either Hughes or Republic's custom-tailored versions. 

Given that all that was needed was removal of the four 20mm cannon in the belly of the central crew nacelle and replacement of the 50-caliber machine guns in the nose with camera equipment, Northrop had the first XF-15 Reporter ready in only five weeks. The six camera stations in the nose could accommodate 17 different types of cameras in 24 combinations. With the armament removed, the F-15A would have a range of over 4,000 miles with 1,330 gallons (increased over that of the XP-61E thanks to the removal of the underbelly cannons) internally and another 1,240 gallons in the four external tanks. Despite such promising performance, the second XF-15A prototype was not completed until 10 August 1945 due to the need to fit turbosuperchargers to the Pratt & Whitney R-2800 radial engines, the day after the second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. 

With the Japanese unconditional surrender on 15 August 1945, the need for reconnaissance coverage for the invasion of Japan evaporated, but the USAAF recognized the need for detailed mapping of Japan and its occupied territories to support the postwar occupation and reconstruction of the country. As a result, the original purchase contract for 175 F-15A Reporters escaped the wholesale cancellations that swept the US aircraft industry following the end of the war. However, the contract was amended from 175 examples to just 36 aircraft on 21 May 1946. The first production F-15A Reporter was delivered to the USAAF on 4 September 1946. The planned penultimate reconnaissance aircraft of the war, the Hughes XF-11 and the Republic XF-12 Rainbow, made their first flights in 1946 on 7 July and 7 February, respectively. Tail number 45-59302 was the first operational F-15A accepted into service and was named "Klondike Kodak" and photomapping operations were started in July 1946 with the 8th Photo Reconnaissance Squadron based at Johnson AB in Japan. Over the next 30 months the 8th PRS's fleet of Reporters mapped Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines. Only two aircraft were lost in those 30 months, an impressively low-loss rate given the long range nature of the photomapping missions. In addition, the 7th PRS and the 63rd PRS operated clandestine reconnaissance missions from Yokota and Johnson AB in Japan, presumably over Communist-held areas in China, Korea, and possibly over the Soviet Union. 

In June 1948, following the establishment of the US Air Force as independent branch of the military the year prior, the F-for-foto designation was changed to the R-for-reconnaissance prefix and the F-15A become the RF-61C (with F now standing for fighter). The 8th PRS, the main unit that operated the small group of Reporters, was redesignated the 8th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron as a result of the designation change, but by this point Reporter operations were being drawn down with the first aircraft going into storage. The last RF-61C Reporter was stricken from active duty on 14 March 1950, only three months before the Korean War broke out. 

The non-operational history of the F-15A/RF-61C Reporter included the use of a single aircraft (45-59318) in Operation Thunderstorm from 1946 to 1947 along with several other P-61B Black Widows. This particular Reporter was disposed of by the USAF in November 1949. The first Reporter prototype (45-95300) was used for another 17 months by the USAF and Northrop on a variety of test programs before it was passed onto the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA, the predecessor organization of NASA), where it was operated from Moffett Field, California between 1948 and 1950 to carry aloft various test shapes and scale flying models to be dropped from high altitudes. By 1951 when all other Reporters had been scrapped, this first Reporter went on the US civil register as N5093V and even did a short stint in Mexico as XB-FUJ, both times in an aerial spray role. In returned to the United States in the operation of the US Forestry Service as N9768Z where it was modified with a large fire retardant tank under the central crew nacelle. Operated by Aero Enterprises of Fresno, California, on behalf of the USFS, it was nicknamed the "Pregnant Widow" and was lost when it crashed near Hollister, California during a retardant drop on 6 September 1968. 

Source: Air Fan International, September 1996, Volume 1, Number 6. "Northrop Reporter- The first F-15 was no Eagle" by Alain Pelletier, p54-62. 

The First USAF Recon Missions in SE Asia

Following the partition of Vietnam in 1954, North Vietnam increased its support of not just the Viet Cong insurgency in the south but also provided support to the Pathet Lao insurgency in Laos. With the increase in activity of the Pathet Lao in the latter half of the 1950s, the Laotian government in Vientiane needed more information on the disposition and activities of the insurgents but the air arm of the nation lacked any sort of reconnaissance capability. As a result, the Vientiane government turned to the United States for assistance. At the time, the international commission (the ICC) that was overseeing the partition and planned reunification of Vietnam had strict rules about the activity of combat aircraft over Laos. So the first efforts consisted of a camera-equipped Douglas C-47 that was "assigned" to the US air attache in Saigon and Vientiane. As the C-47 flew between the two cities it was "assigned" to, it would fly over suspect Pathet Lao enclaves. This continued until February 1961 when the aircraft got shot down in the highlands in the northern part of Laos. 

As a result, President John F. Kennedy asked for more effective measures to be put in place to keep an eye on Pathet Lao activities. In April of that year, the Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) asked for volunteers from the two McDonnell F-101 Voodoo squadrons in the area, the 15th TRS at Kadena AB and the 45th TRS at Misawa AB. The recon pilots had to have recent Lockheed T-33 experience. Two pilots, Captain Bob Caudry and Lieutenant Fred Muesegaes, volunteered and were flown to Clark AB, Philippines, the headquarters of PACAF, to begin briefings of their top secret mission code named "Operation Field Goal". 

Operation Field Goal was made up initially of the two Voodoo pilots, five enlisted men, a crew chielf, and an additional officer to command the operation. A single Lockheed RT-33 was assigned to the project. The RT-33 was a hybrid of the T-33 trainer with the camera nose of the RF-80 Shooting Star. With an uprated jet engine and an additional fuel tank in place of the rear seat, Operation Field Goal was then moved from Clark AB to RTAFB (Royal Thai Air Force Base) Udorn in the northern part of Thailand, a short hop from the Laotian capital of Vientiane. Udorn would later in the Vietnam War become and important USAF base that would become home to several F-4 Phantom squadrons, but in 1961, Udorn hadn't changed much from its days as a Japanese Army Air Force base in World War 2. The only navaid at Udorn was a low-powered radio beacon with a range of about 25 miles, and on arrival, the RT-33 had to buzz the main runway to drive water buffalo away. 

A Marine detachment provided fuel and also built a tent city at Udorn (the first US presence at this base aside from the irregular operations of CIA-run Air America). Both Caudry and Muesegaes developed their own procedures for operating the RT-33 from the primitive base, right down to their own approach procedures for use in bad weather. A US Military Advisory Group in Vientiane tasked the RT-33 missions and at the end of each flight, the film was flown by an Air America helicopter to Vientiane for development and analysis. The pilot on that mission often accompanied to film to assist the photo-interpreters. 

Captain Bob Caudry flew the first Operation Field Goal mission on 24 April 1961, first overflying the Plain of Jars at 20,000 feet before making a low level run at 200 feet of a major road in an insurgent-held area of Laos. A total of sixteen missions with good intelligence were flown until 10 May 1961 when the ICC demanded the flights over Laos stop. Given the primitive nature of the RTAFB Udorn at the time and the grueling nature of the recon missions, Operation Field Goal moved to Don Muang Airport in Bangkok with plans of resuming the missions from there once the ICC lifted its ban. The ban did get lifted finally on 9 October 1961 and the Field Goal missions resumed, this time flying from Bangkok northward to Laos. Upon return to Bangkok, the RT-33 was then flown by non-recon pilots to deliver the aircraft and its film to the photo-analysts who were no longer in Vientiane but moved to RTAFB Udorn. On 5 November 1961 the last Field Goal recon mission was flown and all subsequent reconnaissance missions were now assigned to a detachment of four McDonnell RF-101C Voodoos that were assigned to Tan Son Nhut Airport in Saigon under Operation Pipe Stem. 

Subsequent reconnaissance efforts were now flown by regular USAF units, but the work done with that RT-33 resulted in the RT-33 being marketed by Lockheed to foreign air forces needing an inexpensive jet reconnaissance capability. 

Source: Voodoo Warriors: The Story of the McDonnell Voodoo Fast Jets by Nigel Walpole. Pen and Sword, 2007, p159-165.

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

In the early 1950s the Strategic Air Command asked Martin, the American license builder of the English Electric Canberra as the B-57, if a modified version of the B-57 could be built that would operate at altitudes in excess of 60,000 as a reconnaissance aircraft. Though not as radically modified as the better-known RB-57F (which were stock B-57s modified by General Dynamics), the RB-57D was unique in its own right and set the stage for high-altitude reconnaissance operations by its successor, the Lockheed U-2. To operate in the rarefied air of the stratosphere, the most noticeable change in the RB-57D was its enlarged wing which resulted in an increase in wingspan from 64 feet in the standard B-57 Canberra to 106 feet. Special lightening measures were taken from skinning over the bomb bay doors to reduce weight and the bomb bay was used to house the reconnaissance equipment. In addition, enlarged nacelles replaced the B-57's Wright J65 engines with Pratt & Whitney J57s (as were used on the KC-135) which offered a 6,000 lb thrust increase and better high altitude performance. 

Despite the massively enlarged wing, an empty RB-57D weight not much more than an empty B-57 due to the lightening measures taken. The most extreme measures were taken with the wings which were thin metal honeycomb sections that formed a full wet wing (even in the leading edges). To avoid the weight of rivets, the wings were assembled with a special glue and the wing skin was waxed for aerodynamic smoothness. With a surface skin of only 0.010 inch thick, even dropping a small tool on the wing could damage the skin. Even deicing fluid used on the aircraft could potentially cause the glue used to lose strength!

Only twenty RB-57Ds were built, but they were built in four groups, each group had a unique set of mission equipment and capabilities that were practically custom-made for missions in specific parts of the world. The first group of RB-57Ds were called "Group A" and "Group B" and only differed in the Group A aircraft being capable of inflight refueling. Four optical cameras were carried in the forward fuselage and a large optical viewfinder was installed in the cockpit for the pilot to use for both navigation and as a viewsight for the cameras. Thirteen aircraft (seven and six respectively) were built to Group A and Group B standards.

The next version was the single Group D RB-57D built which was also single seat and designed for electronic reconnaissance with a nose mounted radar and SLAR built into the lower sides of the fuselage. Capable of inflight refueling, the sole Group C aircraft flew most of its missions over Europe, using its powerful SLAR to peek deep into the Soviet bloc. 

The final variant were the six Group C RB-57Ds which were two seaters with a pilot and electronic warfare officer. These RB-57D were designed as electronic ferrets to collect enemy radar emissions for later analysis in the development of electronic countermeasures. These aircraft were also capable of inflight refueling. 

In 1956 the newly-formed 4028th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron was assigned to the 4080th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing to operate the unique RB-57Ds. In the space of a year the 4028th SRS would be moved from Lockbourne AFB in Ohio, to Turner AFB in Georgia, and finally settled down at Laughlin AFB in Del Rio, Texas. Despite being moved three times, the squadron would become fully operational with its first six RB-57Ds only 120 days from the delivery of its first RB-57D. Those first six aircraft, all Group A RB-57Ds, deployed to Japan in late 1956 for reconnaissance missions over what is presumed to be China, North Korea and the Soviet Union. A year after the Japan deployment, three of the Group A RB-57Ds were sent to Taiwan wearing Republic of China markings for further missions over China during the Taiwan Straits Crisis. Flown by USAF pilots, two Taiwanese pilots were preparing to fly RB-57D missions after only 30 days of training, but the plans came to end when both the People's Republic of China and Taiwan began dogfighting each other over the Taiwan Straits. 

In  1958 the first atmospheric samplings missions were flown by RB-57Ds in support of nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands, the high flying capability of the RB-57Ds allowed them to get particle samples from high in the atmosphere as part of the post-detonation analysis. At the same time, Several Group B and the sole Group D aircraft were deployed to Europe for missions over Eastern Europe. 

The pace of missions put a strain on the delicate wings of the RB-57D and the first aircraft were put into storage by SAC following two incidents when the wings outboard of the engine nacelles cracked and fell off during landing. Martin had designed the wings for only 500 flight hours and many of them had already exceeded that limit but strategic necessity resulted in the RB-57Ds still flying missions. At this point the USAF was planning for the arrival of the Lockheed U-2 and the Air Defense Command took over the remaining RB-57Ds to act as high altitude targets for the supersonic interceptor force. Fitted out with electronic countermeasures, the 4677th Defense Systems Evaluation Squadron at Hill AFB, Utah, was formed to operate 12 of the 20 RB-57Ds. Martin modified the wings to extend their surface life. However, the high flying capabilities of the RB-57Ds meant that the 4677th DSES was always asked to send aircraft in support of nuclear testing. 

By 1963 wing structural problems cropped up again when one of the RB-57Ds lost its wing at 50,000 feet. But the ADC still needed a high altitude target aircraft and since the last US atmospheric nuclear test had taken place in 1962, Martin agreed to modify the remaining RB-57Ds for another 3,000 flight hours. Upgrades to the electronic countermeasures to challenge the ADC interceptor crews resulted in these aircraft being designated EB-57Ds and they served in this role along with other testing roles until the mid-1970s. 

The big wing and engine power of the RB-57Ds in many ways prepared pilots for what it would be like to fly the Lockheed U-2. On takeoff, only 50% engine power was necessary for takeoff which only needed a ground roll of about 2,000 feet. Climbing at 25-30 degrees, the RB-57Ds could reach 50,000 feet in only 15 minutes. Maximum cruise altitude was 65,000 feet and the pilots wore full pressure suits that were improved for the U-2 and SR-71 programs. With over 200 gallons less than a stock B-57, the RB-57D could fly twice the duration, approximately seven hours compared to four hours for a B-57. Landing was challenging as the big wing didn't lose lift easily. Even with the engines at idle, it was still too much power for landing. Even with the spoilers out and landing gear extended, the plane still had a very low sink rate and pilots resorted to actually holding the RB-57Ds into a series of slight stalls to get the aircraft down to the runway!

Source: Martin B-57 Canberra: The Complete Record by Robert C. Mikesh. Schiffer Military History Press, 1995, p132-141.

 

In an earlier entry I had featured the RB-69 spyplane conversion of the Lockheed P2V Neptune that was the Skunk Work's first CIA contract. That CIA program to operate low-altitude overflights of the People's Republic of China starting in 1957 was codenamed ST/POLLY by the CIA. The program had generated much useful intelligence on the military activities of the the PRC that the CIA contracted with E-Systems of Greenville, Texas, to convert three Lockheed P-3A Orions to a similar configuration but with more intelligence-gathering systems under the codename ST/SPIN, starting with the arrival of the first P-3A to the naval aviation depot in Alameda, California where E-Systems began the conversion work.

The most obvious modification (apart from its all black color and abbreviated tail sting as the MAD sensor wasn't needed on the clandestine overflights) was a widening of the crew entry door on the aft fuselage with a duplicate door right next to the existing door- this gave a just over six foot wide entry with two inward-opening doors- like the earlier RB-69 Neptunes, this was to allow the infiltration of field agents, special equipment, arms and ammunition and on occasion, propaganda leaflets by the boxload.

The ELINT receivers from the RB-69 Neptunes were taken out, upgraded, and installed on the ST/SPIN Orions. Additional sensors were added thanks to the increased performance of the Orion over the Neptune- a SLAR was added for peripheral reconnaissance missions along the Chinese border, communications intercept equipment, an infrared detector and allegedly even a sensitive acoustic detector. Slant-range and oblique photography cameras were also installed and to also perform intelligence on the Chinese nuclear program, air-sampling equipment was also installed connected to ram air scoops near the cockpit.

The first ST/SPIN operational mission took place in 1964. All the personnel aboard the aircraft were Taiwanese trained and led by the CIA. Missions ranged from gathering radar ELINT data for the Strategic Air Command to even flights into Tibet to gather information on the PRC's suppression of Tibetan nationalists.

However, the Taiwanese general running the program would staff each plane with as many as 27 crew when only 13 to 14 were needed. Taiwanese personnel got a bonus for flying on ST/SPIN missions and he was taking a kickback to assign extra crew to each mission. Operatives of the PRC were able to penetrate the ST/SPIN program to the point that during an ST/SPIN mission, PRC radio operators would call out the aircraft and ask to speak to specific crewman by name.

By 1965 the Taiwanese general was arrested and sent to prison for his staffing scheme and the CIA and NRO (National Reconnaissance Office) withdrew funding from the ST/SPIN program before the third P-3A Orion could be completed. The aircraft were returned to the United States.

Source: Wizards of Langley: Inside the CIA's Directorate of Science and Technology by Jeffrey Richelson. Westview Press, 2002, p96-98.

The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird's first operational mission took place on 21 March 1968 out of what was designated OL-8 (Operating Location 8) which was Kadena AB on the Japanese island of Okinawa. The 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing of Beale AFB, California, had just been formed two years prior to bring the two-seat Mach 3 spyplane into service. For several years prior to the Blackbird's entry into service, the CIA had been operating its single seat predecessor, the A-12, which had the code name "Oxcart" and this particular variant was retired in the same year that the SR-71 became operational.

Though the A-12 in CIA hands had made several overflights of North Vietnam in support of the war effort in Southeast Asia (the first flight having been made to see if North Vietnam did have any surface to surface short range ballistic missiles, which they didn't), the first SR-71 operational mission would fly over North Vietnam on a similar routing as the CIA flights just 10 months earlier. With Major Jerry O'Malley flying and Captain Ed Payne as his RSO (Recon Systems Operator), the Blackbird's first mission not only carried a battery of optical cameras but also a side-looking radar (SLAR) in the nose bay. After making their first run across North Vietnam, the SR-71 crew conducted an airborne refueling over the South China Sea before accelerating back to Mach 3 for a second run, this time over the DMZ area. On this second run, the SLAR would be the primary instrument.

Although the flight had to abort landing at Kadena due to weather and instead diverted to Taiwan, the high-definition SLAR imagery around the Marine Corps base at Khe Sanh which was under siege at the time revealed numerous artillery emplacements and a large supporting truck park that had eluded the optical sensors of other reconnaissance aircraft. Within a few days of that first operational mission, US aircraft targeted the artillery emplacements and staging areas uncovered by the SR-71 SLAR run and effectively broke the 77-day siege of Khe Sanh. Both Major O'Malley and Captain Payne were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for their flight that was instrumental in saving Khe Sanh.

Source: Wings of Fame, Volume 8. "Lockheed's Blackbirds: A-12, YF-12 and SR-71" by Paul Crickmore. Aerospace Publishing, 1997, p61-64.

The McDonnell F2H Banshee introduced several new capabilites for tactical fighters in US Navy despite the presence of the Grumman F9F Cougar/Panther which was in service in larger numbers.

The high altitude performance of the Banshee was put to good use in reconnaissance versions that made high altitude photo runs of Chinese and Russian targets in the Far East during the 1950s, all done with no losses on any of the Banshee missions flown.

The long legs of the Banshee also made it the Navy's first nuclear-capable tactical aircraft- a single Mk7 (1650 lbs in weight) or a single Mk8 (3200 lbs) could be carried under the starboard wing. The aircraft also had an inflight refueling probe as well. In a demonstration of the capability, Navy squadron VX-3 flew three Banshees from the USS Midway which was 100 miles east of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Refueling from AJ Savage tankers, the three Banshees went "feet dry" near St. Augustine, Florida at tree top height on their way to strike practice targets near Lake Erie. Despite all of the USAF Air Defense Command units on the entire Eastern seaboard being alerted ahead of time, the Banshees successfully hit their targets and returned to the USS Midway after a second refueling over the Atlantic from AJ Savage tankers.

The F2H Banshee was also the first Navy fighter to have a space-stabilized radar antenna in the APG-37 intercept radar. This allowed the radar to maintain a lock on target even if the aircraft maneuvered.

Source: Combat Aircraft, August/September 2009. "Screaming Banshees" by LCDR Rick Burgess USN (Ret) p68-72.