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DR AHEAD
THE AIR FORCE NAVIGATORS OBSERVERS ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER
VOL 31, NUMBER 1
LITTLE RIVER, CALIFORNIA
JANUARY 2015
F-14 Tomcat in front of the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, Florida, photograph by Ron Barrett.
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
by Ron Barrett, James Connally 63-06
We continue to have a number of copies of our
newsletter, DR AHEAD, returned after each mailing. To
avoid delays, please provide your address, telephone
number, and e-mail address changes to Jim Faulkner so
you can get your DR AHEAD on time.
E-mail changes to: jfaulkner39@suddenlink.net
or mail changes to:
Jim Faulkner:
4109 Timberlane,
Enid, OK 73703
or call: 580-242-0526.
AFNOA Rosters are also available in Microsoft Excel by e-mail. Advise Jim Faulkner if you would like a
copy.
Jim Faulkner has also taken over the LAST
FLIGHTS task from Dick Mansfield (see page 14 of this
issue), so please address all information about our losses
to Jim at one of the addresses above.
*********
THE 2015 AFNOA ACADEMIC SCHOLARSHIPS
by Jim Bannerman, Ellington 55-06
Do you have a child, grandchild or even a great
grandchild either in college or about to enter college?
Now is the time to submit an application for a
2015 AFNOA Academic Scholarship. This year we will
be offering $1,000.00 scholarships to descendents of
Air Force Navigators. Awards will not necessarily be
based on financial need or academic excellence, but on
a subjective judgment by the awards committee of the
overall qualifications of each applicant. The application
procedure is described below.
The one thousand dollar ($1,000.00) scholarships
will be awarded in July 2015 to the persons best meeting
the following criteria. The applicant must be a direct descendent of a current or former Air Force Navigator. The
relationship may be—son or daughter, grandson or
granddaughter or great grandchild, but a direct lineage
to an Air Force Navigator must be established. If
Continued on Page 3
DR AHEAD
PAGE 2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
President's Report, by Ron Barrett . . . . . . . . 1
The 2015 AFNOA Academic Scholarships,
by Jim Bannerman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Membership Application Form
...........2
Historian's Report, by Ron Barrett
........3
From the AFNOA President, by Ron Barrett . . 3
My Chief is an Ace!, by Ray Sanchez . . . . . . 3
Just Another Weekend Warrior,
by Barry Turner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
"One of Those Left-Behind Japs", by Joe Lyons 7
Reunion Registration Form
.............8
Reunion Schedule
...................9
The World's Greatest Navigator,
by Frank Genadio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
A Few Terrifying Moments, by Charles Hinton 12
First Ride, by Joseph T. Guastella
. . . . . . . 13
Navigating the Pacific During WWII,
by Richard Mansfield
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Last Flights, by Richard Mansfield
. . . . . . . 14
AFNOA Board & Operating Committees
. . . 16
DR AHEAD
MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION
THE AIR FORCE NAVIGATORS OBSERVERS
ASSOCIATION (AFNOA)
Name
_________________________________
Spouse's Name
__________________________
Address
________________________________
________________________________________
City
___________________________________
State/ZIP
______________________________
Home Phone
___________________________
Work Phone
___________________________
Cell Phone
___________________________
Internet Address
________________________
Base Name/Class Number
________________
Send a Tax Deductible $15.00 Annual Contribution
check payable to AFNOA to:
Dennis Ehrenberger, AFNOA Treasurer
2783 Glenview Drive
Sierra Vista, AZ 85650-5734
Telephone: 520-378-1313
Tax Deductible Life Membership Contribution
payable to AFNOA
Under 55
55-60
61-65
$190.00
$165.00
$140.00
66-70
Over 70
Over 80
$90.00
$65.00
$35.00
Advise Jim Faulkner (address on page 16) of changes
in address. Please include your e-mail address with
your renewals and applications.
DR AHEAD is the official publication of the Air Force Navigators Observers Association; a non-profit, non-political organization dedicated to maintaining the peace and security of the
United States of America and a spirit of comradeship among
the navigators, observers and bombardiers of the USAAC,
USAAF, or the USAF. TENOA, the forerunner of AFNOA, was
organized by Clarke Lampard, Ellington Class 50-D, in 1985.
DR AHEAD is published by AFNOA, Inc., 6441 Avenida De
Galvez, Navarre, Florida 32566-8911. Presorted 3rd class
postage is paid at Fort Walton Beach, Florida.
MANUSCRIPTS are welcomed, especially by E-mail (address:
RNNN@mcn.org) or by submittal to the editor on data CDs,
IBM-compatible formats only please. All submissions must
be signed and must include the address of the contributor; no
anonymous material will be printed; however, names will be
withheld on request. The editor reserves the right to edit submitted articles for reasons of taste, clarity, legal liability, or
length. Originals will be returned only if a self-addressed
envelope with sufficient postage is included. The comments
and views herein represent the views of the editor and are not
necessarily those of AFNOA, Inc. Deadline for the next issue
is 15 February 2015.
ELECTRONIC SUBMISSIONS are strongly preferred. If you cannot send information through electronic mail or on CD, copy
should be typed. Photographs and drawings are also very
welcome.
CHANGE OF ADDRESS: Please report changes of address to:
AFNOA, Inc., 4109 Timberlane, Enid, OK 73703-2825;
jfaulkner39@suddenlink.net; 580-242-0526
DR AHEAD STAFF:
Owner
Editor, Richard W. Ahrens
Copy Editor, Jack Mudie
Circulation, Jim Faulkner
Distribution
AFNOA
RNNN@mcn.org
jackmudie@sbcglobal.net
jfaulkner39@suddenlink.net
afnoa.distributor@yahoo.com
*********
DR AHEAD
Continued from Page 1
the sponsoring navigator is still alive, a letter stating the
relationship of the applicant will suffice. If the sponsor is
deceased, some other affidavit of the relationship or letter
from a family member must be provided.
The applicant must be enrolled or accepted for enrollment in a regionally accredited college or institution of
higher learning. If the applicant is currently enrolled, a
copy of the current transcript should be submitted. If the
applicant has not yet attended college, he or she should
submit a copy of his or her high school transcript and a
letter from the college or institution acknowledging his or
her acceptance. The applicant must submit a paper of
five hundred (500) words or less describing his or her
educational program, extracurricular activities, and what
his or her career plans are after graduation.
A cover letter including the applicant's name, address,
telephone number and email address should accompany
the supporting documentation and paper and must be received not later than June 1, 2015. Selection will be made
at the sole discretion of a committee of
five AFNOA members. Mail the application package to:
AFNOA Scholarship Committee
% Dr. James Bannerman
761 Marina Point Drive
Daytona Beach, FL 32114
Questions? Call Jim Bannerman at 386-257-3853.
*********
HISTORIAN'S REPORT
by Ron Barrett, James Connally 63-06
Our Reunion in April, 2015, will feature a day-long
tour in the National US Naval Aviation Museum. This unique
Aviation Museum is a delight in many ways. It features
not only airplanes we mostly knew from afar, but great
displays where you can get up close.
One highlight is the NC-4 flying boat that was the first
plane to cross the North Atlantic Ocean almost 100 years
ago. That was an outstanding heroic effort. Then there is
the Cubi Bar & Grill that the Navy flyers dismantled in the
Philippines and had reconstructed here! That'll bring back
some memories—if only of Clark, Angeles, and Pauline's!
Those were the days!
Get ready for a dose of aviation history such as you
have never before experienced.
Errol Hoberman and I met this month with the Museum staff and they are preparing for our visit. Errol is
our point-of-contact navigator for this grand tour.
On a side note, I will bring more than two hundred
maps and charts that members have sent to AFNOA over
the years that the various Museums do not now need.
They will be offered in exchange for donations to our scholarship program.
*********
PAGE 3
FROM THE PRESIDENT OF AFNOA
To all members of AFNOA:
At this very moment AFNOA is in good financial shape.
However, while looking into the future and planning our
progress I foresee difficulties because we are not gaining
members. Succinctly, this means less funding.
We must decide to continue on marching proudly or
we must look at closing. I choose marching on smartly.
However, you all have the real say on this. Please let me
know your desires. I will post them at the Reunion in
April 2015 and in DR AHEAD.
If you desire to march on smartly, please consider
making a donation to AFNOA now. Send your donation
and statement of support to be posted in DR AHEAD to
our Treasurer:
E. Dennis Ehrenberger
2783 Glenview Drive
Sierra Vista, AZ , 85650-5734
E-mail: edefiji@aol.com
Tel: 520-378-1313
Be sure to remember that not one of us
serving AFNOA is paid anything. All monies donated
to AFNOA go to either the scholarship program, to
publishing DR AHEAD, or to small housekeeping expenses
such as stamps and some computer software. We all use
our own personal computers, so there are no hardware
costs of any kind.
AFNOA is now almost thirty years old, and is a
501(c)(19) IRS-registered non-profit organization. As
such, all donations can be claimed on your income tax.
Your generous support of AFNOA is truly appreciated by
all. It is a grand representation of our national pride and
service to our country. Thank you for your support of our
unique organization.
Ron Barrett, President AFNOA
ronaldpbarrett@yahoo.com
*********
MY CHIEF IS AN ACE!
by Ray Sanchez, Harlingen 56-02
In November 1956, as a 2nd Lt and newly minted
Radar Observer (Radar Intercept Officer), I arrived at my
first operational assignment—the 96th Fighter Interceptor
Squadron (FIS) at New Castle, Delaware. The 96th FIS
and its sister squadron the 97th FIS, flying the F-94C allweather interceptor, were scions of the 82nd Fighter Group
of the Air Defense Command. The 96th had an established reputation of being one of the best fighter-interceptor squadrons after having won several Air Defense Command rocketry competitions. I arrived with the anticipation of a second string football player about to play in his
first varsity game. This was big time for me.
I was not surprised at the fighter jock atmosphere that
prevailed in the squadron, particularly among the pilots.
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PAGE 4
P-61 Black Widow. Photograph provided by Ray Sanchez
After all, fighter operations are the pilots’ genre.
The younger pilots, after having gone through crew training with an RIO right after pilot training, were more in
harmony with the RlOs. The older veteran pilots were more
independently minded. Most of them had flown single seat
fighters in WWII and/or the Korean War and were
transitioned involuntarily into 2-seat fighter-interceptors.
Some were openly resistant to getting directions from a
backseat non-pilot. One old captain told me "Don’t do anything, just lock on. I’ll do everything else." I said "Yes sir".
What is a 2nd Lt to do? The pilot is, after all, the aircraft
commander. As RIOs we learned the many nuances of
the term "backseater".
Although socially the squadron exuded great harmony
because of its esprit de corps, professionally the RlOs
quietly went about their tasks as dedicated crew members in the mission of the F-94C. Often between flights
the RlOs would congregate in the Chief RIO’s office. The
Chief RIO, Capt. Robert F. (Shorty) Graham, was a relatively small man in his late thirties with graying hair and
warm smile. He exuded quiet confidence and professionalism, which were contagious to the other RlOs in the
squadron. Everyone in the squadron liked "Shorty" Graham.
One day while reading an Air Force publication that
listed all the aces of WWIl, I came across the name Robert F. Graham. What a coincidence, I thought, and forgot
about it.
One Friday evening at beer call when I was having a
stein with "Shorty", I mentioned to him the coincidence of
my having seen an ace with five kills with his name among
the aces of WWII. Was I surprised when he said, "Yes,
that’s me". Wow!, I said to myself. The only ace in this
gung-ho fighter interceptor squadron is an RIO. As a relative youngster in the Air Force, I was not aware that an
RIO could even qualify as an ace.
After a few more steins of beer, he proceeded to tell
me in detail how he was credited with his five kills. In 1944
he was assigned to the 422nd Night Fighter Squadron, a
P-6l Black Widow unit stationed in France. P-61s, with a
new AI (airborne intercept) radar system and 20mm cannons, was designed specifically for night operations. Once
airborne and on patrol station, they would receive vectors
from the Ground Control Intercept station (GCI) on the
general location of the bogey; and after finding it with his
search scope, the RIO would direct the pilot to the intercept. He would direct the pilot to a quartering stern position on the blacked-out bogey, close enough to positively
identify it and fire on it if it was an enemy aircraft.
A night interception from the stem generally had the
element of surprise which made a shoot down a relatively
easy accomplishment. However, when the bogey discovered he was being attacked, the interception evolved into
a stern chase with rapid evasive action. Tracking the bogey on radar and locking on became a difficult task which
tested all the skills Bob Graham had learned in training.
DR AHEAD
Bob Graham's persona became excited as he described his "triple night"—the night he and his pilot shot
down three German aircraft. The first kill was made while
flying patrol after being steered by GCI to an unknown
aircraft appearing to be hostile. Bob picked it up on his
radar and directed the pilot to the intercept. They identified it as a hostile and shot it down with the 20mm cannon. The German pilot apparently never knew he was being attacked.
After returning to patrol station they were again vectored by GCI to another unknown aircraft. Again, Graham
detected it on his radar and directed the pilot to its quartering stern position. They identified the aircraft as an
enemy aircraft and fired on it. The aircraft exploded and
went in a steep dive into the ground. The enemy pilot
apparently was unaware that he was being attacked.
After landing, refueling and going back up on patrol,
GCI steered them toward another intruder, which was at
low altitude providing air support over the front lines. This
kill, the third of the night, turned out to be a real challenge
for pilot and RIO. Bob Graham made radar contact and
directed the pilot to descend to target altitude. They pursued the bogey just above the treetops, so low that Bob
had a difficult time tracking it and keeping lock-on due to
all the ground clutter. In spite of the ground clutter problem and both aircraft maneuvering, he managed to steer
the pilot to point blank range behind the target, enabling
him to visually identify it as a German aircraft and fire on
it. The enemy aircraft flamed, quickly struck the ground
and exploded. It wasn’t until three months later that he got
his fifth kill which made him an ace.
In 1958 my squadron was disbanded. The F-94C aircraft were flown to Davis-Monthan AFB for mothballing,
and everyone was reassigned. I was assigned as a GCI
Director and lost contact with the fighter-interceptor community. I never heard from or heard of Bob Graham again,
but I never forgot his action during WWII. His feats made
a big impression on this young RIO. My Chief RIO, this
quiet and unassuming man, was a real hero!
Night fighter operations were developed by the British in defense of the night attacks on London by German
aircraft. The British converted several types of twin-engine aircraft into two-place airborne radar-equipped interceptors. They had moderate success with these conversions. However, the American P-61 Black Widow, which
was specifically designed and produced as a night fighter,
was the most successful.
The P-61 also operated very successfully in the Pacific and China-Burma-India (CBl) Theaters of Operations, but only one crew of pilot and RIO emerged as
aces in the Pacific theater, and none in the CBI Theater.
The P-38M, a two-place radar equipped night fighter conversion also saw action late in the Pacific war but it had
few engagements and produced no kills. Eventually the
PAGE 5
night fighter mode of operation evolved into the all-weather
fighter-interceptor concept with specific jet aircraft designed for the air defense mission.
Over seven hundred P-61 Black Widows were produced and the vast majority of them were employed very
succesfully as night fighters in the three theaters. A few
were assigned ground support when there was no threat
of aerial intruders. Because of the nature of its mission,
the Black Widow did not acquire a large number of kills
as in day fighter operations, and its exploits are understated in WWlI history. However, the night fighters engaged in aerial combat and logged 127 confirmed kills.
Every one of these night kills was directed by a
"backseater". Besides the aces listed below, several RlOs
had multiple kills, as many as four, which did not qualify
them as aces, but certainly made them worthy of acclaim.
NAVIGATORS OF NOTE
There were four RIO night fighter aces during WWII:
1/Lt P.B. Porter, 5 kills in a P-61 Black Widow in the Pacific Area of Operations.
1/Lt Robert F. Graham, 5 kills in a P-61 Black Widow in
the European Theater of Operations.
1/Lt R.E.Tierney, 5 kills in a P-61 Black Widow in
the European Theater of Operations.
1/Lt E.H. Kopsel, 5 kills in a P-61 Black Widow in the
European Theater of Operations.
WSO aces of the Vietnam War;
Capt Charles De Bellevue, 6 kills in an F-4
Capt Jeff Feinstein, 5 kills in an F-4
MISCELLANY
The last enemy aircraft shot down in the Pacific war
was credited to the P-61 crew of 1/Lt Robert Clyde, pilot,
and 1/Lt Bruce K. LeFord, RIO.
Although there were no RIO aces during the Korean
War, the first enemy aircraft shot down during that conflict was accomplished by Air Force pilot 1/Lt William
Hudson and 1/Lt Carl Fraiser, RIO in an F-82G Twin Mustang night fighter.
The RIO/WSO’s work encompasses the tasks of three
crew positions: navigator, co-pilot, and radar weapons
officer. The position demands complete awareness of all
the components of the aerial mission. The snap judgments
a fighter crew must make demand close coordination between the pilot and RIO or WSO for a successful aerial
engagement to detect, intercept, identify, and destroy an
enemy target. I can only imagine Bob Graham’s difficult
task of tracking and engaging a hostile aircraft with a first
generation radar set, at tree top level, and in a night environment. That was quite an achievement, considering his
fatigue after having been on patrol most of the night and
engaging in two previous successful combat engagements.
*********
DR AHEAD
PAGE 6
JUST ANOTHER WEEKEND WARRIOR
by Barry Turner, James Connally 65-18
"Neil Armstrong! You’re Neil Armstrong!" His reply was,
"Yea, I get that a lot". He was planning a T-38 training
flight at the NASA base at Ellington AFB. At the same table
I was planning a C-130 Reserves flight to Panama to deliver Reservist flyers to Howard AFB for jungle survival
school. I thought that would be the most exciting moment
of my navigator career. I was wrong.
My excitement could have come as a B-52G EWO,
but I left active duty just before the G-model crews were
cross-trained to go to Southeast Asia, adding additional
capability to the B-52Ds getting ready for LInebacker II,
the so-called Christmas Bombing Campaign. Having been
advised by trusted mentors not to stay in the Reserves, I
left the military and started dental school the following fall.
A classmate invited me to visit his Air Force Reserve unit,
saying that the unit was getting C-130Bs very soon. All
the mentor advice disappeared. A C-130B was the exact
aircraft that I had always wanted. This was an air evacuation/cargo and troop delivery unit, and the time commitments were mostly compatible with my dental school
schedule. Nobody quite believed the story about meeting
Neil Armstrong (his moon-walker fame was just three years
old at the time), but everyone at school was still very curious about this second life.
Returning from our honeymoon just before my senior
school year, Sharyn (a flight nurse from Reserves) and I
agreed that I could fit in a three-week trip to deliver an old
C-130A to Thailand (part of President Nixon’s
Vietnamization Plan). The school gave its blessing, and I
was gone a week later. Thus, the adventure began.
The flight from the Willow Grove NAS (Philadelphia)
to McClellan AFB (Sacramento) was uneventful. I thought
there was an error in my fuel calculations for the next leg
to Hickam AFB in Honolulu. It showed that I had a
negative reserve fuel number. The "old heads" said that
the fuel graph line included the reserve fuel and that they
had made the same flight dozens of times. The only reason that I felt comfortable with that explanation was that
our aircraft was scheduled to be just about in the middle
of the pack of thirty aircraft, giving me fourteen aircraft
who would have called in at the point of no-return—a solid
scientific study in anyone’s book. It seemed weird that I
had flown for nine years as a navigator (also have Commercial Pilot’s license) and had never had to calculate a
real point of no return. No matter. All was well. The point
of no return was a non-issue. The "old heads" were right.
The next mileage of significance was mileage to destination = 185 miles. One of my jobs was to back up the flight
engineer’s fuel management. The fuel quantity was fine,
but the fuel tanks were way out of balance. Each of the
four engines can run on fuel from the adjacent fuel tank.
It was obvious that the inboard fuel tanks had much less
fuel than the outboard tanks. Our flight engineer had a
few thousand hours in SEA in C-130s, and he calmly
announced he was working on it. When I pointed out that
there was a "fuel low warning" light on the number 3 engine, he said, "That is not as accurate as the ‘fuel low
pressure’ light". Ten seconds later, the pressure light illuminated. Very few minutes later came the sound of the
number 3 engine slowing down and stopping. The pilot
feathered the #3 prop. The C-130 flies fine on three engines. Normally, it would not be panic time. That would
change. The next mileage recollection was 85 miles out
from Hickam AFB. Then the same sequence happened to
the #2 engine. The pilot feathered #2 prop. Something in
my memory banks reminded me that C-130s have a bad
water landing history.
Curiously, the number 1 fuel tank was full. Numbers 2
and 3 were empty. Number 4 was low, but no lights had
come on yet. The flight engineer had done everything
(on/off switches, circuit breakers, cut wires to cross-feed
fuel pumps). Nothing was working to solve the problem.
We assessed the situation:
1) We had lost two engines and likely would not be able to
restart them.
2) The number 1 engine was running and had a full fuel
tank.
3) The number 4 engine was running and had "low" but
unknown quantity of fuel.
4) We had lost all navigation equipment (including radar)
and communications.
5) We could not start the auxiliary generator (later it
started).
6) We were above a solid cloud deck.
7) We had a DR position 85 miles to go (turned out to be
10 miles off)
While the pilot and co-pilot were discussing the wisdom of descending "blind" through the cloud deck, copilot Captain Bill Hood saw a hole in the clouds and did an
aerobatic maneuver so as to be able to keep the water in
sight while spiraling down. Below the cloud deck, we resumed our southwest heading. There was Oahu about 20
miles out. My DR (dead reckoning) position was 30 miles
out. The reality was that making the blind descent 5 or 6
minutes later would have put us into ridge (Ko’olau Cliffs)
between windward and leeward side of Oahu. In ten more
minutes we might have flown beyond the island. Both bad
options.
Life is sometimes surprising in a very positive way,
as I knew a shortcut to a closer airport. I had worked (and
went to school) for a semester in Honolulu and knew Oahu
well. I knew that Kaneohe Marine Air Base is about ten
minutes closer than Hickam AFB. It was a leap of faith
that the pilot and co-pilot took my directions because the
runway was behind a ridge and not visible from our 2,000
feet altitude. We landed unannounced, against the active
DR AHEAD
runway in use, and in the middle of an IG inspection.
Four F-4s were ready for takeoff at the opposite end.
Stopping with the left wingtip just missing the runway, we
hastily exited the aircraft, and all five of us kissed the
ground. The Marine colonel in charge of the IG performance calmed down after seeing the pathetic posture of
our aircraft on the runway.
The number 4 fuel tank "sticked" at 15 minutes worth
of fuel. We would have had five minutes of extra fuel had
we continued to land at Hickam AFB.
An Air Force team came from Hickam AFB and disassembled and reassembled the fuel system several times
but could not duplicate the malfunction. They then installed
a completely new fuel system.
During the test flight, I volunteered to stay on the
ground in order to have a witness (just in case). The pilot
agreed. It was the only time in my Air Force career that I
was happy to be a navigator instead of a pilot. We flew
this same C-130A to Midway Island, then to Wake Island,
and then to Guam.
The Vietnamization commander of the project turned
us around in Guam. Our main cargo door was being held
closed by two "come-alongs" purchased at a Guam hardware store, the radar was inoperable, and a sizable storm
had stalled between us and Thailand.
The story we heard was that ours was the fifth such
C-130A fuel incident. Some of the other flyers were not
as lucky as we were.
Epilogue to the story: when I returned to dental school
a week later, my laboratory partner informed me that his
weekends were getting so boring that he had taken up a
hobby: model ship building. He asked me, "Where have
you been the last three weeks?"
Not part of the story, but important disclaimers: this is
being written 42 years after the trip. I have tried to verify
the numbers of aircraft that have experienced this same
fuel cross-feed phenomenon but have found no meaningful information. I graduated from dental school six months
after the trip and heard that our crew received an "Air
Force Reserves Crew of the Year" award. I have never
been able to verify that. I would welcome any corrections
or elaborations.
The biggest hero of the crew was co-pilot Bill Hood.
At that very moment his action was closer to mutiny than
to discussion. The aircraft commander was a by-the-book
pilot and was taking too long to realize this was not a
situation that had a "book" answer, but it doesn’t make
any sense to name the pilot or call it a "mutiny." This
definitely qualified as an "any landing that you walk away
from is a good landing" situation. We obviously had enough
confidence in the aircraft commander to watch Captain
Hood relinquish whatever command he had taken away
for that short time. I think that the aircraft commander
would have refused an order to continue the flight without
PAGE 7
the radar to safely negotiate a path through the weather.
He seemed to grow from the experience enough to do it.
I spent one more year in a C-130 unit at Hamilton
AFB in California while I completed a one-year General
Dental Residency program at the Martinez VA Hospital. I
changed from flying status to the Dental Corps at Beale
AFB when I moved to Grass Valley. I flew for ten years
and was a USAFRes dentist for fourteen years, retiring
as a Lieutenant Colonel. The only truly inspiring day I had
in 14 years as a dentist was the day I met the radar
navigator who ejected from a B-52F from Mather AFB on
the very first Arc Light bombing mission just before eight
other crew members in the B-52Fs were killed in a headon collision (See http://shar.es/1XgU77). I had always
wanted to meet the flyer who had that much confidence in
his radar interpretation and had the courage to pull the
eject handle.
Having attended only one navigator school reunion to
date, I have heard stories that have prompted me to count
my blessings. I look forward to my second reunion in
April of 2015 in Pensacola, Florida.
*********
"ONE OF THOSE LEFT-BEHIND JAPS!"
by Joe Lyons, Ellington 50-D
The sound of a .45 slide being pulled back and released is certain to get your attention, but sometimes your
absolute total attention and then some. Ask Alfred Tsang,
Class 44-07.
When we captured the islands in the Pacific they
were secure, well kind of. Usually there were a few Japanese left behind, and most were downright unfriendly.
Some were caught on base in GI uniforms, some in the
chow line, but others were up to mischief, like sniper fire
in the remote areas.
Alfred flew B-29s off Guam and knew all about this.
Late one afternoon he headed for the showers wearing
only an undershirt above his trousers.
Imagine his pure stark terror when he heard a .45
slide and "Look! That’s one of them left-behind Japs!"
Then the relief when his pilot said "Hey! Leave him
alone! That’s Tsang, my navigator!"
*********
This is the fifty-eighth of the eighty-six "Mickey
Mouse Mission" short tales left to DR AHEAD by the
late Joe Lyons, Ellington 50-D, who was the very efficient and very helpful Recording Secretary
of AFNOA when I started editing DR AHEAD. -Ed.
*********
2015
AIR FORCE NAVIGATORS OBSERVERS REUNION
APRIL 14-17, 2015
PENSACOLA, FLORIDA
Name___________________________________________ Preferred name on badge ______________________
Current address _______________________________________________________________________________
Telephone ____________________________ E-mail _______________________________________________
School _______________________________ Class __________ Home town ____________________________
Name of guest _________________________________ Preferred name on badge ________________________
In case of emergency, please notify _______________________________________________________________
REGISTRATION FEES
Number of persons attending _____ x $150.00 = $ ______
Banquet meals selection: Beef ______ Salmon ______ Vegetarian ______
OPTIONAL TOURS
Tours 1 & 2 are on the same day. Please select which tour you wish to go on.
TOUR 1: April 15 National Naval Aviation Museum & Lunch. Number ______ x $34.00 = $ ______
Lunch sandwich choice = Roast Beef _____ Ham ______ Chicken Salad ______
TOUR 2: April 15 Dolphin Cruise Boat Tour. Number ______ x $50.00 = $______
TOUR 3: April 16
Historic Pensacola Village. Number ______ x $18.00 = $______
Total enclosed $______
Payment is due no later than March 14, 2015
Please send payments to the following address, made payable to:
The Reunion Brat
16817 Mountainside Drive East
Greenwater, WA 98022
360-663-2521
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Questions? Call the Reunion Brat at 360-663-2521, or call Ron Barrett at 305-797-0745.
Confirmation of registration and tours will be sent out by March 14, 2015.
A $20.00 per person cancellation fee will apply to all cancellations received within 30 days of the event.
Cancellations received within 10 days of the event will be non-refundable.
Call the Crowne Plaza Pensacola Grand Hotel at 850-433-3336 no later than March 14, 2015 to make your hotel reservations;
be sure to mention that you are with the AFNOA Reunion to receive your group rate of $102.00 plus tax per night.
These hotel prices are available 3 days prior to and 3 days after the event should you choose to extend your stay.
We’ll see you in Pensacola, Florida!
2015
AIR FORCE NAVIGATORS OBSERVERS REUNION
APRIL 14-17, 2015
PENSACOLA, FLORIDA
To be held at the Crowne Plaza Pensacola Grand Hotel, located at 200 East Gregory Street, Pensacola,
Florida. Room rates are $102.00 plus tax per night, for single or double occupancy. The hotel provides
complimentary airport shuttle and parking.
Call the Crowne Plaza at 850-433-3336 no later than March 14,2015 to make your hotel reservations. Be sure
to mention the group code AFN to receive the group room rate.
Online reservations can be made by going to the hotel's website: http://pensacolagrandhotel.com
Be sure to enter the group code AFN. You can make your hotel room reservations by e-mail to the
hotel if you wish. Reservations e-mail is: reservations@pensacolagrandhotel.com
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
10:00am - 10:00pm ~ Hospitality Room Open for Registration, Mini-Reunions and Snacks
6:00pm - 10:00pm ~ Welcome Party with Hors d'oeuvres and Cash Bar
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
9:00am - 9:00pm ~ Hospitality Room Open for Registration, Mini-Reunions and Snacks
8:30am - 5:00pm ~ Optional Tour, US Naval Aviation Museum, Lunch, and USAF CSO School
8:30am - 3:30pm ~ Optional Tour: Dolphin Cruise, with Time for Lunch on Your Own and Shopping
6:00pm - 9:00pm ~ Hospitality Room ~ Cash Bar & Light Snacks
Thursday, April 16, 2015
8:00am - 12:00pm ~ General Membership Meeting with Board Elections
9:00am - 12:00pm ~ Hospitality Room Open for Mini-Reunions Noontime ~ Open Lunch Time on Your Own
1:00pm - 4:00pm ~ Optional Tour of Historic Pensacola Village
5:00pm ~ Pre Banquet Cash Bar
6:00pm - 9:00pm ~ Pledge Of Allegiance, Invocation and Banquet
Friday, April 17, 2015
9:00am - 11:00am ~ Hospitality Room Open for Good-Byes. Have a Safe Trip Home.
Optional Tours
There are two tours scheduled for Wednesday ~ Choose which one you want to go on.
Wednesday, April 15th
8:30am - 5:00pm ~ Naval Aviation Museum & Lunch/AF Combat Systems Officer's School ~ Price $34.00
The National Naval Aviation Museum is the world's largest Naval Aviation Museum. Share the excitement
of Naval Aviation's rich history and see more than 150 beautifully restored aircraft representing Navy,
Marine Corps, and Coast Guard Aviation. Lunch will be provided on the tour at the Cubi Bar. After lunch
we will tour the Air Force Combat Systems Officer's School.
Wednesday, April 15th
8:30am - 3:30pm ~ Dolphin Cruise/Shopping and Lunch on your own on the Boardwalk ~ Price $50.00
Pensacola's Dolphin Cruise offers the best cruising experience on Northwest Florida's Gulf Coast. You
will step aboard the Portofino I, a 63' open-air, covered catamaran for a two-hour cruise, guided by the
experienced and entertaining captain, and spy dolphins, birds and the other marine life playing in their
natural habitat along the protected Gulf Islands National Seashore. Be sure to bring a camera, suntan
lotion and sun glasses.
Continued on the next page.
Thursday, April 16th
1:00pm - 4:00pm ~ Historic Pensacola Village ~ Price $18.00
Historic Pensacola Village is a museum and house museum complex that displays Colonial Pensacola
t
through the Roaring Twenties. This tour will take you through the Charles Lavalle House: This French
Creole House was built in 1805 while Pensacola was still a Spanish colony. The interior of the house
reflects the Creole influence and tradition of the Gulf Coast region. Next we will tour The Clara
Barkley Dorr House. Built in 1871, this home represents an affluent Victorian family of post-Civil War
Pensacola. The final stop will be a tour of the Old Christ Church: This symbol of historic preservation
and Pensacola heritage is one of the oldest church buildings in Florida, built in 1832. Gothic wood beams
and inspiring stained-glass windows take visitors back to the 1879 appearance of the church. Not all
of the buildings on the tour are wheelchair accessible.
For more information contact:
Ronald Barrett
305-797-0745
ronaldpbarrett@yahoo.com
or
The Reunion BRAT
360-663-2521
thereunionbrat@hotmail.com
Come join us as we share old memories and make new ones!
Reprinted with permission of the Pensacola News Journal.
The Crowne Plaza Pensacola Grand Hotel pool
DR AHEAD
THE WORLD’S GREATEST NAVIGATOR
by Frank Genadio, Ellington 54-11
After some enlisted service followed by twenty-one
months as an aviation cadet (due to medical problems,
not denseness; original class listed above), I started flying C-118 passenger aircraft for the 38th Air Transport
Squadron at McGuire AFB, New Jersey, in 1955. Having
been #1 in my class in Primary, and having more maturity
than my fellow "brown bars", since I was already 22, I
knew that I was well on the way to becoming a premier
navigator. After several months of mostly Atlantic crossings and a flawless check ride leg from Lajes AB in the
Azores to McGuire, I had no doubt that, with over 600
flying hours, none of those older guys had anything left to
teach me. So it was with supreme confidence that I embarked on a mission on 1 February 1956 to Rhein-Main
AB, Germany.
It was the usual routing: airways to Harmon AFB, Newfoundland; over water to Prestwick, Scotland; airways to
RON at Rhein-Main; airways to the coast of France and
then over water to Lajes; and the last leg to McGuire. Our
aircraft commander (A/C) was an old major (and in those
days, majors could be old) known (under our breath) as
"Mumbles" because nobody ever heard what he said the
first time. The co-pilot also was a brown bar and also
named Frank. The other navigator was AFNOA’s esteemed
Clarke Lampard. By now, with my wealth of experience,
the flight was to be strictly routine—I thought.
As for routine, I followed mine on the airways leg.
Since dependents were almost always along on our flights,
it was important to check the manifest for young, single,
females of appropriate weight (e.g., Miss Susie Smith,
110 pounds). Finding a suitable entry, the passenger cabin
was then explored for Miss Smith, her (usually accompanying) parents were asked if they were enjoying the flight,
and a casual invitation was made to the (hopefully, comely)
daughter to visit the flight deck—where I could explain
why the navigator was the most important member of the
crew. Although nothing further ever resulted from these
"explorations," they were pleasant diversions during the
long hours required by piston engine aircraft to cross an
ocean.
Out of Harmon for the overwater, overnight leg, we
encountered the usual winter weather. With no celestial
between cloud decks, and quickly out of useful LORAN
range, I relied on DR and pressure pattern for the crossing—no major concern for the "World’s Greatest Navigator." Our illustrious A/C followed his usual routine, take-off
and climb to altitude, put it on autopilot, and head for
about six hours sleep in one of the crew compartment’s
three bunks. Lt. Lampard also took a bunk and the engineer grabbed the last one about the same time, leaving
the two Franks in charge of the bird for the next several
hours.
PAGE 11
Although we had no Air Defense Identification Zone
to worry about on the eastbound flight, we had standing
orders to avoid Irish airspace, except for the use of Shannon airport in an emergency. As the night wore on, my
expert measurements indicated we were a little south of
our planned route. An hour or so from approaching the
Irish coast, I gave co-pilot Frank a heading change of
several degrees left to ensure passing well north of the
Emerald Isle on our way into Scotland. I received a
"Roger—as soon as I finish an HF transmission." While
confident in my course through use of pressure pattern, I
started checking on when dawn would commence and
allow me to take a celestial shot as we flew directly toward
the rising sun. This would give me an excellent speed line
and as close to a fix as one could get after "DR-ing" all
night.
As it happened, the World’s Greatest Navigator’s usual
meticulous attention to detail was somewhat distracted
during the next hour when one of the "Susie Smiths" on
board couldn’t sleep and decided to visit the flight deck.
After I spent some time explaining all the mysteries of
aerial flight, she finally got bored and left, allowing me to
"precomp" and take some sun shots. When I checked the
instruments (not looked at in quite some time) to plot my
LOP, I realized that Frank had forgotten to make the heading
change given to him much earlier. At the same time, Frank
came on intercom to ask me what that beautiful bay was
directly ahead of our aircraft. My response, cleaned up
somewhat for our distinguished readers, was "It’s Donegal
Bay, you (bleeping) idiot; turn left immediately."
Well, just as Frank banked hard to port, Mumbles
decided to get up. Since the bunks were on the starboard
side, our A/C flew about five feet and crashed to the flight
deck on hands and knees while uttering a string of obscenities at a level many decibels above his usual speaking voice. Ignoring any explanations from either of his two
chagrined junior officers, Mumbles took over the controls
for the flight over Prestwick and on to Rhein-Main. About
the only response from him for the next day or so... we
spent the night in Frankfurt... was a suspicious look at
me every now and then—as if he were thinking about
whether or not I could find Lajes in the middle of the ocean
on the way home (or, perhaps in his thoughts, my "you
know what" with both hands). I, of course, knew myself to
be mostly blameless for (what turned out to be) "Disaster
#1," but decided to pay more attention to detail on the
way to Lajes, completely unaware that "Disaster #2" was
about to occur.
In base operations to clear for the leg to Lajes, which
Clarke had assigned to me, the weatherman pointed out a
pretty tight low pressure center across our route south of
the British Isles. This was just prior to the period in which
Atlantic-crossing transport aircraft would be allowed to
use minimal flight techniques and deviate from great circle
DR AHEAD
PAGE 12
or rhumb line courses to take advantage of the winds,
I flight-planned for fairly strong head winds along the
south side of the "low" for our prescribed route. Having
decided that it would not be smart to be nonchalant for
the return home, I carefully watched the aircraft’s progress
between Rhein-Main and Brest, France, on the airways
leg, noting that the forecast wind direction and velocity
were accurate.
Departing airways at Brest (I think it was the Ploneis
beacon in those days; does that sound familiar to any
readers of this tortured account?), I took over navigation
in the usual overcast and undercast conditions. Since the
weather was actually expected to clear on the western
side of the pressure system, the World’s Greatest Navigator knew that the course could be kept with pressure
pattern—while carefully watching all of the instruments—
until a celestial three-star fix could be obtained later for
an on-ETA arrival into Lajes. Mumbles, I noticed, stayed
in the left seat rather than head for the bunk after we
reached Ploneis; this, I knew, would allow me to regain
his confidence in my unquestioned ability.
Pressure pattern readings heading southwest from
Ploneis indicated drift within one degree right or left of
track, in line with the forecast winds. All seemed normal
for about two hours (here, memory fails me on precisely
how long we were on the westward leg from Brest), and
then everything changed. Despite the glowing weather
forecast, we were notified that both Lajes and its alternate, Santa Maria, were closed indefinitely. All of a sudden, Mumbles was asking me for a heading and ETA for
Land’s End, England, because we were heading for
Prestwick. Having kept my DR current—in line with my
"newfound" attention to detail—I was able to quickly calculate and relay the needed information.
I started searching for Land’s End on radar when
(according to my ETA) within about 125 nautical miles.
Not only did I have no return but the pilots were unable to
pick up the expected radio signal. With mumbling coming
from the A/C’s seat, I rechecked my figures and could
find no reason why we weren’t picking up Land’s End—
other than the possibility than the head winds expected
on the southwest track were instead tail winds. I can’t
recall exactly how long it was before we finally found Land’s
End on radar and radio, or exactly how badly I "busted"
my ETA; I’m guessing I was off by at least an hour. Arriving at Prestwick, I raced into the weather desk, and found
the flattest low pressure system I had ever seen—before
or since—and it was placed south of where Rhein-Main
had it (i.e., we had progressed southwest and then back
northeast on the north side of the system’s center). Attempted explanations were rebuffed by Mumbles, whose
thought patterns probably centered on certain words preceding "brown bar navigators." As for my thoughts, they
no longer included the phrase "World’s Greatest Naviga-
tor."
To put a merciful end to this tale of woe, "Disaster #3"
never occurred as Clarke took the leg from Prestwick-toHarmon, where we had to RON after running out of crew
duty time. Mumbles probably got some sleep en route to
Harmon; he undoubtedly would have stayed in the left seat
if I were at the navigator’s table. And it was years before I
felt confident enough to reclaim my "title"—although I’m
guessing there are many pretenders among AFNOA’s
members. Finally, I would like to add that the late Clarke
Lampard was an excellent instructor and person, and never
gave me any "grief" over that mission—one that I never
forgot.
*********
A FEW TERRIFYING MOMENTS
by Charles Hinton, Ellington 51-27
Sunday, May 4th. The weather finally clears, and I
am on the schedule with Austin Ayotte and Navigator Bill
Moyna in a glass-nosed airplane to Purple 11 for mission
#38. Moyna is crewed up with Ayotte, so I ride in the nose
where the view of the action is superb. Moyna keeps the
log, so I sit on my little platform in the nose behind the
bombsight and enjoy the view across North Korea on the
way to the route. We have some moonlight and the visibility is OK.
When we get to the route Ayotte reccys up the road
and railroad beyond Quaksan and Namsi-dong with no
action and eventually we are in an area some 8 or 10
miles south of Sinuiju and see some searchlights pop up.
In a short time there are several—maybe 6 or 8—and
they are evidently sweeping the sky in random motion.
One technique used by the "Commies" was to catch a B26 in the searchlights so the anti-aircraft gunners could
see it. A few missions later I would learn that when the
searchlights are on, it frequently meant there are night
fighters in the area.
I need to set the stage for the rest of this story. A
navigator or bombardier enters a glass-nosed B-26 through
a trapdoor under the nose that has built in steps. You
climb into the nose and reach down and pull up the trap
door with a leather strap, latch the door, and then lay a
hinged, flat sheet of aluminum down over the trap door to
smooth out the floor. In the front of the nose is a Norden
bombsight sitting out on a platform surrounded by the
Plexiglas nose. Terrific visibility, huh? Although configurations vary, this B-26 had a sheet metal shelf on the left
side of the nose, about elbow high, with some navigational
instruments, and on the right side an APN-9 LORAN set
that was supposed to provide us with some electronic navigation assistance. Behind the trap door was a 6"-thick
platform that you sat on for takeoff and landings—usually
on a lead-filled flak protector. Throughout most of the mis-
DR AHEAD
sion you kneeled on the aluminum sheet over the trap door,
maybe leaning over the bombsight, so you could have a
good view of the action, and with your microphone switch
in your left hand so you can talk to the rest of the crew
while you help the pilot find good targets.
A searchlight had locked on us for quite some time,
and Ayotte was making a dive for a valley to escape the
lights. As we were scrambling to get out of this situation we
are being severely hosed by some anti-aircraft fire. I watch
glowing bullets come up at us, starting out slowly and seeming to speed up as they got closer. You get used to them—
well no, you don’t get used to them but you tolerate them—
because mostly they didn’t seem very accurate... except
when they hit you.
This gunner was doing pretty well. Ayotte has some
throttle on the airplane while in this gentle dive, and we are
going at a good clip. The shells seem right on us.
Then BLAMM, and I have a steady blast of air through my
compartment.
I announce, "Pilot—we’re hit"!
Ayotte comes back very calmly and says; "I don’t think
so. The airplane seems to be flying normally."
I have a hurricane of air through my compartment, so
something is wrong! I try to think this problem through.
Where is that air coming from?
Ooohh Boy! Oooohhhh Boy! A jolt of adrenaline goes
through my body. My trap door is gone and I am kneeling
on a flimsy piece of aluminum and that is all that’s between
me and a hike across North Korea. I stick one elbow on
top of the LORAN set on my right and the other elbow on
the aluminum shelf to my left and squeeze the mike and tell
Ayotte, "Don’t pull any Gs! My trap door is gone!"
Hanging by your elbows over North Korea while you
try to inch back to something solid is hard. Try hanging by
your elbows some time.
Finally I get back to my platform and off the sheet of
aluminum. I lifted the sheet of aluminum over the hatch just
a bit and the door is closed. Hmmmmmm. I still have a
300mph gale of wind through the compartment. I traced
the blast of air forward and find there is a hole in the
Plexiglas in front of the bomb sight, but it is not really a
hole but a hinged sheet of plate glass to provide an optically perfect view for the bomb sight optics.
Somehow the air pressure on the nose from our high
speed dive to get out of the searchlights caused the catch
to release and let the plate glass cover open up. I reached
down, closed and latched the plate glass cover and all was
quiet again.
On nights that I wasn’t already "thrilled out" the rest of
the mission would itself have been an exciting time. In the
diary for the day I noted that we caught a train and worked
it over. I don’t remember the details, but the diary says we
damaged the locomotive and destroyed five cars and got a
bullet through the fin. On the facing page at the bottom I
PAGE 13
noted "Thought I was going to walk home from Purple
11."
The preceding is an excerpt from the book KOREA:
A SHORT TIME IN A SMALL WAR by Charles Hinton.
The author writes that in Korea the B-26s performed
interdiction of supplies carried by truck and trains from
Manchuria to the front lines. "We did it at night at low
level in the mountains of North Korea. The tactics we
used were never used before, and with new technology
will never be done again. Stars and Stripes told the stories of the air battles over MiG alley and the exploits of
the fighter bombers and the naval activities. At the bottom of the article it usually said, "The B-26s also flew."
I waited 60 years for some professional writer to tell
the story of the B-26s in Korea. No one ever did. This is
my contribution to the record."
*********
FIRST RIDE
by Joseph T. Guastella, Carlsbad 45-xx
While I was a navigator in the 305th Bomb Wing at
Bunker Hill AFB, Indiana, our wing was selected to transition from B-47s to B-58s. At that time I had over 2,000
hours in the B-47.
There was a quantum increase in technology between the B-47 and the B-58. As a stanboard navigator
in both aircraft, I experienced a number of major differences: a stanboard check could only be given in a navigator simulator in the B-58, in which each crew member
sat in a capsule and your log was printed on a roll of
paper; the B-58 had an astrotracker which the navigator
programmed to provide heading information to the computer; the primary navigation table was the top of a large
gyro with accelerometers that gave speed and drift to the
computers; a Doppler also was used to send velocities to
a Doppler inertia mixer (DIM) counters; the DIM drove
the navigation longitude and latitude counters; and the
radar crosshairs reached out 200 nautical miles to provide for a precision fix or a tanker's beacon code. Like
the B-47, the navigator could fly the B-58 with his tracking handle—if the pilot gave him second station.
For the transition, navigators took ground school at
Mather AFB, and pilots went to Perrin AFB to fly the F102. We later gathered at Carswell AFB for crew training. The pilots and defense system operators (DSOs)
first flew the TB-58, a two-pilot version. When this training was complete, combat crews were ready for their
first mission.
My first ride in a B-58 Hustler was a short one, but
we landed safely. My pilot was Wes Lindley, and my
DSO was Clifford Youngblood. On the runway at Carswell,
we waited permission to take off. It soon came. Wes
brought the four J-79s to afterburner and released brakes.
DR AHEAD
PAGE 14
The plane shot forward and in 25 seconds we were at 225
knots. Wes rotated the nose—the B-58 was airborne!
As we climbed out, the tower advised us to check engines, as they saw a cloud of smoke as we rotated. I gave
Wes a heading to Shreveport. Our engines seemed OK,
but soon Wes saw the primary hydraulic system start to
fail. We declared an emergency and returned to Carswell,
requesting permission to dump fuel. It was approved.
Wes lowered the gear for more drag and brought the
power up. We needed to get down to the maximum landing weight. Wes noted both hydraulic systems going down
and decided to land. The flapless B-58 flew the pattern at
230 knots—the final was at 210 knots with a 12-degree
nose high attitude, so he raised the nose and increased
rate of sink. We touched down at 190 knots, Wes pulled
the brake chute handle. With limited hydraulics affecting
brakes and steering, Wes pulled the yellow handle at his
left knee that allowed nitrogen in the left strut to give us
three applications of the brakes. We slowed up, went
through the end of the runway and stopped on the overrun.
The cloud of smoke had come from the utility hydraulic system that failed as we rotated. Happily, with the gear
up the system did not leak fluid.
*********
NAVIGATING THE PACIFIC DURING WWII
by Richard H. Mansfield, Selman 44-10
First of all, I do not presume to be an expert on WWII
Pacific navigation, and I can only relate what our navigational practices were and what conditions we had on our
long flights over water. I was attached to the 26th Squadron of the 11th BG of the 7th AF. My first missions were
from Guam bombing Iwo, Marcus, and Truk at different
times. Later the flights over Japan were 8 to10 hours to
Japan and back. The flights bombing Shanghai were a bit
longer. In the Pacific, there were B-24 groups from the
5th, 7th (11th BG, 494th BG, 30th BG) and 13th Air Forces.
The 20th AF had mainly B-29s. There were also a few
smaller associated B-25 and A-26 groups.
One had to be proficient at celestial navigation because—other than DR & pilotage—that is what was necessary and what we all used. Near the end of the war
Loran stations, master & slave, were erected behind us,
but after 400-500 nm on a long flight westerly we ran out
of signal and range. We did have APN-4 units and later
APN-9s aboard a few planes. Noonday celestial shots on
the sun were frequently used and gave very accurate
fixes.
Bombing from Guam toward Truk to the south-southeast in early 1945 was sometimes a hassle, as we ran
into many thunderstorms, both en route to the target and
returning to base. Bombing from Guam to Iwo, straight
north, was not bad, as there were many small identifiable
islands enroute. Bombing from Okinawa to Kyushu Island
of Japan was mostly pilotage, as there was a string of
islands enroute.
Conventional DR & pilotage were primary and practiced on all missions. Going westward to Shanghai from
Okinawa, once you approached the China coast the DR
position was confirmed by pilotage. Our lead B-24 in the
group usually had an APQ-13 radar aboard, and we would
toggle on the lead plane. A group effort usually had 12
planes in a box formation. Several missions had maximum effort, especially over Japan. That was in the waning days of the war in July and August 1945. Most of the
missions were at 12,000 feet, as the Japanese ack ack
was proven to be inaccurate above 10,000 feet. The only
navigational aids I had were an A-10 sextant, an
astrocompass, a driftmeter, and an APN-4 Loran.
My crew of ten—, the Joe Fabel crew—was together
throughout. We crewed up in September of 1944 at
Muroc, California, and flew ten combat missions plus many
recons to adjoining islands in the Central Pacific. This
report is a small summary of what I was involved in. Today,
my tail gunner and I are the only ones still alive. We broke
up when the war was over, and most of us returned to our
homes of record after getting back to the States.. Since I
was also the squadron adjutant of the 26th Bomb Squadron, I was selected to close up the squadron. That was a
sad day for my crew, as another navigator took my crew
home and got them temporarily lost en route!
*********
LAST FLIGHTS
by Richard Mansfield, Selman 44-10
Regretfully, I must announce that this will be my final
submission of "Last Flights" for the quarterly DR AHEAD.
Jim Faulkner has volunteered to continue it as an additional duty. Please support him. He was a most dedicated
and worthy associate.
It has been a lot of fun keeping track of classmates,
our crews, and all those navigator escapades. Unfortunately, some have gone on to the great hereafter and we
wish them all well. It has been the greatest group of people
that I have ever known or served with. Thank you, People,
for your warm responses, as you also have helped us
considerably over the years in assembling our graduation
records. Together, we have kept it all going, especially for
our AFNOA, Selman Field and other school groups. Various Bomb Group Association records were established
also, as were other crew relationships. Your help has
brought many of the early days back so we could add
important data to some of our previous documentation.
After graduating from Selman Field with class 44-10
DR AHEAD
in August 1944, I joined a 7th AF B-24 crew and flew 10
bombing missions over Japan and several other adjoining
island targets. They were Marcus, Truk, Shanghai (2),
Kure, Sasebo, Omuta, Kumamoto and Matsuyama. My
bombardier, Monroe A. Ashworth (AFNOA, deceased),
hit the Japanese battleship Haruna in a mission (7-28-45)
just prior to Hiroshima being bombed (8-06-45) by the
20th AF Enola Gay B-29 crew!
We also did several search missions in attempts to
find lost crews. One in particular was the one searching
for General Millard Harmon in March, 1945. Ten days of
extensive searching by a full squadron failed to locate the
remains of the General's C-87 (cargo B-24) plane. The
square searches were westward from Johnston Island and
eastward from Kwajalein.
Thanks so much for your friendship over the years. A
special thanks to the Selman Field Historical Association
for their initial aid. About 600 of us from Selman
joined AFNOA in 1991. I will miss them tremendously and
all of you.
Dick Mansfield SE 44-10
AFNOA Last Flights Coordinator
Selman Field Past President
FNOA Past Vice President & Membership Chair
HOULIHAN
BOMBARDIERS - BIG SPRINGS
CHARLES J. SPRINGFIELD
VA
44-11
COLEMAN
BOMBARDIERS - MIDLAND
JOSEPH W.
SAN ANTONIO
UNK
WILLIAMS
BOMBARDIERS - SAN ANGELO
PARKS E.
ARLINGTON
TX
TROMBLEY
DOUGLAS
JOHNSTON
BOMBARDIERS - UNKNOWN
WILLIAM J.
DALLAS
LEWIS W.
DENVER
KINGSLEY
ORLANDO
NAVIGATORS - ELLINGTON
GALLIETT, JR. HAROLD H. OROVILLE
GLENN
BARNEY L.
RESCUE
LAVENDER GERALD J.
MICO
KING
DWAYNE E.
MAULDIN
ANTHONY
DONALD J.
LOUDONVILLE
CROCKER JACK J.
PORTLAND
ROSSI
FRANCES V. TORRINGTON
DINSMOOR JOHN W.
AURORA
JOHNSON
RAYMOND D. TAVERNIER
PONGRACE DON
RYE
DIETRICH
THOMAS A.
SAN ANTONIO
PAUL
FREDERICK CULPEPER
SCHNUCKER, PAUL
ROSWELL
FLAGG
DICK
UNK
NAVIGATORS - HARLINGEN
DUKE, III
OSCAR C. WINTER SPRINGS
THUERWACHTER, JAMES T. WINDCREST
FELDEN
ROBERT J.
ORLANDO
HONNOLD
JOHN K.
TACOMA
HINTERTHAN WINIFIED W. LAS VEGAS
JASINSKI
JOHN M.
CHELMSFORD
TX
44-09
TX UNK
CO UNK
FL UNK
CA
CA
TX
SC
NY
OR
CT
CO
FL
NH
TX
VA
NM
44-01
44-01
44-05
44-09
44-11
45-04
45-04
50-D
50-D
50-D
54-00
55-13
56-08
56-18
FL
TX
FL
WA
NV
MA
53-00
53-07
53-19
54-00
55-13
55-13
PAGE 15
NICHOLS
DAVID L.
CHARLOTTE
NC
RAINEY
CHARLES A. BOUNTIFUL
UT
ROGERS
EDWARD K. ROSEVILLE
CA
MATHERS
DONALD E.
TOPEKA
KS
PROCHASKA RICHARD C. SPEIGHT
OH
DUBE
FRANCIS P.
BLUFFTON
SC
BALISH
DONALD G.
LITTLETON
CO
QUACKENBUSH, DONALD C.NEWPORT NEWS VA
SHEAR
JAMES F.
HOUSTON
TX
MELLON, JR. WILLIAM L.
PATASKALA
OH
SQUIRES
ROBERT W. SAN ANTONIO
TX
BOLTON
DEWAYNE P. COLLIERVILLE TN
SCHAEFER ROBERT W. SHALMA
FL
JUSTICE
NEAL E.
HORTON
AL
KELLEHER GERALD G.
MINOT
ND
KELLY
JAMES J.
OFALLON
IL
DONNELL
ROBERT D.
CONROE
TX
55-13
55-13
55-13
55-16
55-16
55-18
56-09
56-09
56-09
57-06
57-16
58-08
58-08
60-19
60-20
61-07
61-09
LANGHOFER
LUKINGBEAL
WALBORN
ALKEMA
JOHNSON
CRAWLEY
WHITMORE
DIDLAKE
PARSONS
CRAWFORD
NAVARRO
CHAPMAN
YOUEL
ATAMIAN
STUART
ROBERTS
ALEXIS
ESTES
HEFTY
NAVIGATORS - JAMES CONNALLY
BILLY G.
NAPAQ
CA
MARK W.
AUROA
OH
CHESTER A. MOUNTAIN HOME ID
JOHN P.
WAYNESVILLE NC
ROBERT E.
NASHVILLE
TN
DRURY B.
COLLIERVILLE TN
DAVID C.
LAS VEGAS
NV
WILLIAM W.
AUSTIN
TX
DOUGLAS E. MELNA
ID
THOMAS J.
SACRAMENTO CA
DANIEL L.
HUMBLE
TX
DAVID L.
PHOENIX
AZ
JAMES
NORTHFIELD
OH
GARY J.
ROCHESTER
MN
ADRIAN C.
JACKSONVILLE AR
FLOYD N.
SPRINGFIELD
VT
JOSEPH
MODESTO
CA
JERRY A.
JACKSON
LA
RAYMOND S. CARMICHAEL
CA
52-02
53-08
53-08
54-09
54-19
54-YN
60-09
60-11
63-03
63-08
63-14
63-16
64-13
64-14
65-07
65-15
65-16
65-20
66-17
STUTES
NAVIGATORS - MATHER
WAYNE S.
GRIFFIN
GA
71-08
FL
OH
SD
MI
LA
MA
TX
MD
44-10
44-10
44-10
44-11
45-03
45-03
45-155
45-415
45-725
FL
IL
MI
MD
43-14
44-02
44-07
44-43
NAVIGATORS - SELMAN
CRISPIN, JR. FLOYD A.
OCALA
NICASTRO JOHN
INDEPENDANCE
SNYDER
LESTER W.
RAPID CITY
DVORAK
JOHN A.
WASHINGTON
ALSTON, SR. MAURICE E. SHREVEPORT
JONES
FRANK E.
UNK
SCHMALTZ ROBERT E.
WESTFORD
CARRELL
ALBERT R.
DALLAS
JAGOE
LOUIS
KENSINGTON
GROSS
GROBAN
SCHEIMAN
KARAS
BALLARD
CAPUCO
MARINARO
NAVIGATORS - SAN MARCOS
JOHN G.
CLEARWATER
RAYMOND
`CHICAGO
MARCUS
ANN ARBOR
FRANK W.
KENSINGTON
NAVIGATORS - UNKNOWN SCHOOL
WILLIAM T.
UNK
UNK
VITO
ANNAPOLIS
MD UNK
FRANK J.
LEESBURG
VA UNK
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