2011-3

L O C K H E E D

M A R T I N

A E R O N A U T I C S

ROKAF Black E agles F-35 F light T est Update HC/MC-130J Schoolhouse C elebrating 100 Years Of N aval Aviation

C O M P A N Y

V O L .

2 6

N O .

3

2 0 1 1

Code One gets BIG www.codeonemagazine.com

If you like Code One in print, you’ll really like the magazine in digital form.

Our expanded website has cargo pallets of content not found in the print version. Many of the feature articles are more in-depth and include additional photos at high-resolution. The site also contains historic images that can’t be found elsewhere online.

and Social

The site has recently implemented more social media outlets, including Facebook Like links and commenting for articles, news items, and photo galleries. You can check out Code One on Facebook (search for Code One Magazine). And you can follow the magazine on Twitter (@codeonemagazine). Visit the new site and tell us what you think.

BACKGROUND BY Caleb Kimbrough

2 EDITOR

2 F-35 FLIGHT TEST UPDATE

Eric Hehs AS SOCIATE EDITOR

Jeff Rhodes ART DIRECTOR

Stan Baggett

Lightning II Testing Highlights Through October

6 ROKAF Black Eagles Fly T-50B

6

VICE PRESIDENT, COMMUNICATIONS

Joseph LaMarca, Jr.

E XECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, LOCKHEED MARTIN CORPORATION PRESIDENT, AERONAUTIC S COMPANY

A New Mount, New Show For Korean Aerial Demonstration Team

Ralph D. Heath

12 T-50 PROGRAM IN FULL SWING

PERSONAL SUBSCRIPTIONS

Send name, address, and $20 for a one-year subscription (four issues) to PO Box 5189, Brentwood, TN 37024-5189.

Foreign subscriptions are $30 (US).

Some back issues are available.

CONTACT INFORMATION

18

The Golden Eagle Has Radically Improved Korean Fighter Pilot Training

Send correspondence to Code One Magazine, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company, PO Box 748, Mail Zone 1503, Fort Worth, TX 76101 Editorial office phone number: 817-777-5542 Email: eric.hehs@lmco.com Web address: www.codeonemagazine.com Fax: 817-777-8655 Distribution information: 888-883-3780

16 Night Classes

This publication is intended for information only.

Its contents neither replace nor revise any material in official manuals or publications.

Copyright © 2011 Lockheed Martin Corporation.

All rights reserved. Permission to reprint articles or photographs must be requested in writing from the editor.

Code One is a registered trademark of Lockheed Martin Corporation. Code One is published quarterly by Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company.

ISSN 1071-3816 A11-35460

18 Convair Kingfish

28

Back: US Marine Corps test pilot Lt. Col. Fred Schenk prepares to make a vertical landing onboard the USS Wasp (LHD-1) during F-35B sea trials in October 2011. During the eighteen-day test, pilots in two F-35B test aircraft made seventy-two vertical landings and short takeoffs under various conditions. This was the first of three scheduled sea-based developmental tests. Photo by Michael Jackson

A Look Back At Convair’s Competitor To The Lockheed A-11

22 OrionS On Station

US Customs And Border Protection Puts Upgraded P-3s In Service

26 Solo Turk

ABOUT THE COVER Front: The aerial demonstration team of the Republic of Korea Air Force, the Black Eagles, upgraded to new T-50B supersonic trainers for the 2011 show season. Flying group, synchronized, and solo maneuvers with eight aircraft, the Black Eagles have performed more than twenty shows since the first formal full demonstration with the T-50B on 1 April 2011. Photo by Katsuhiko Tokunaga

HC-130J and MC-130J Crew Training Begins At Kirtland

36

New F-16 Demo Team Marks Turkish Air Force Centennial

28 On Golden Wings: 100 Years Of Naval Aviation

A History Of Lockheed Martin Aircraft Flown By The US Sea Services

36 NEWS

F-35

FLIGHT TEST UPDATE

BY SYDNEY CARROLL

T

he F-35 Flight Test update in the Volume 26, Number 2 issue closed with carrier variant test aircraft CF-2 being flown to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, for jet blast deflector ground testing on 25 June 2011. These tests concluded 13 August 2011 shortly after the aircraft achieved another critical first — the program’s first catapult launch 27 July 2011, also at Lakehurst.

At the same time, all requirements for the F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing variant to begin ship suitability testing were completed.

These requirements included qualifying four pilots, completing electro-magnetic testing, and field carrier landing practice. With all the prerequisites complete, Marine Corps test pilot Lt. Col. Fred Schenk made history with the first vertical landing at sea in F-35B BF-2 aboard the USS Wasp (LHD-1) on 3 October 2011.

BF-2’s flight to the ship brought the 2011 flight total to more than 700, flight hours to more than 1,100, and the vertical landing count beyond 180. By the end of September, F-35B pilots had flown more than 300 short takeoffs in 2011 alone. In the F-35C, pilots had accomplished nearly twenty-five catapult launch tests at Lakehurst. At Edwards AFB, California, the required conventional takeoff and landing maturity flights were completed by the end of August. A total of twenty-seven pilots have flown the F-35. Twenty-one pilots are still flying the aircraft.

PHOTO BY LAYNE LAUGHTER

2

Code One

27 June 2011 First Eglin Training Pilot Flies

Air Force Lt. Col. Eric Smith, director of operations for the 58th Fighter Squadron at Eglin AFB, Florida, completed his first flight in F-35A test aircraft AF-4 from Edwards AFB, California. Smith is the first Air Force Air Education and Training Command F-35 instructor pilot and the twenty-fifth pilot overall to fly the F-35.

His 1.5-hour pilot familiarization mission was Flight 41 for AF-4.

6 July 2011 1,000th SDD Flight

Air Force Lt. Col. Leonard Kearl flew the 1,000th F-35 System Development and Demonstration, or SDD, flight test in F-35A AF-2 from Edwards AFB, California.

The one-hour flight was the 132nd in AF-2.

Edwards Adds A Pilot

The twenty-sixth pilot to fly the F-35, Air Force Lt. Col. Dwayne Opella, flew his first F-35 mission in F-35A AF-4. The 1.8-hour flight from Edwards AFB, California, was Flight 44 for AF-4. Photo by David Henry

7 July 2011 First F-35 Maturity Flight

Air Force Lt. Col. Eric Smith flew the F-35 program’s first maturity flight in F-35A AF-7 at Edwards AFB, California, accomplishing all test goals without control room assistance. Maturity flights tested Block 1A software that will be used for initial pilot training at Eglin AFB, Florida. The flight, which lasted 1.7 hours, was Flight 23 for AF-7. Photo by Darin Russell

9 July 2011 CF-2 To Pax

F-35C CF-2 returned to NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, from Joint Base McGuireDix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, following successful completion of single aircraft jet blast deflector ground testing. Lockheed Martin test pilot Dan Canin was at the controls for the 0.6-hour mission, Flight 22 for CF-2.

13 July 2011 First Maturity Formation Flights

F-35As AF-6 and AF-7 were flown in the first formation flight of F-35 maturity testing out of Edwards AFB, California. Air Force Lt. Col. Dwayne Opella and Lockheed Martin test pilot David Nelson flew the two-hour formation flight, Flight 18 for AF-6 and Flight 27 for AF-7.

16 July 2011 BF-5 To Pax

Lockheed Martin test pilot Bill Gigliotti flew the fifth F-35B, BF-5, to NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, from NAS Fort Worth JRB, Texas, on a 3.5-hour ferry flight, being refueled by a KC-130 tanker crew. BF-5 was the final flight test aircraft delivery in 2011. The ferry mission was Flight 11 for BF-5.

Photo by Liz Kaszynski

19 July 2011 First Wet Runway Landing

F-35A AF-2 became the first F-35 to land on a wet runway at Edwards AFB, California, with Lockheed Martin test pilot Jeff Knowles at the controls.

The 0.9-hour mission was Flight 135 for AF-2. Photo by Tom Reynolds

21 July 2011 500th Flight In 2011

On the 500th F-35 flight of 2011, F-35A AF-3 was flown for 2.5 hours out of Edwards AFB, California, Flight 43 for AF-3. Lockheed Martin test pilot Jeff Knowles flew the test mission. Photo by Darin Russell

25 July 2011 100th Vertical Landing For BF-1

F-35B BF-1 landed vertically for the 100th time with Marine Corps Lt. Col. Matt Kelly at the controls. The 0.7-hour flight out of NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, was Flight 142 for BF-1.

26 July 2011 CF-3 To Lakehurst

F-35C CF-3 departed NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, and arrived at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, for carrier variant catapult launch testing.

Navy test pilot Lt. Chris Tabert flew the 1.0-hour ferry flight, Flight 7 for CF-3.

Photo by Phaedra Loftis

Vol. 26 No. 3 2011

3

27 July 2011 First F-35 Catapult Launch

F-35C launched from a catapult for the first time with Navy test pilot Lt. Chris Tabert at the controls. F-35C CF-3 launched from a steam catapult and flew a 0.2-hour flight before returning to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey. The historic mission was Flight 8 for CF-3. Photo by Andy Wolfe

30 July 2011 Most Flights In One Month

The F-35 System Development and Demonstration program recorded 100 flights in July, the most flights achieved in one month to date for the F-35 fleet. F-35A AF-7 was flown on nineteen of those flights, the most achieved for an individual F-35 test aircraft in a single month.

2 August 2011 CF-1 To Lakehurst

F-35C CF-1 was flown to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, from NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, for jet blast deflector tests with two aircraft.

Lockheed Martin test pilot Dan Canin flew the 0.7-hour ferry mission, Flight 79 for CF-1. Photo by Phaedra Loftis

13 August 2011 Jet Blast Deflector Testing Complete

With a final side-by-side, two-ship test, F-35C CF-1 completed jet blast deflector testing at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey. These tests provided data for the Navy to ensure the F-35C is aircraft carrier compatible.

Photo by Andy Wolfe

24 August 2011 CF-1 Returns To Pax

F-35C CF-1 returned to NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, from Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, to avoid Hurricane Irene. CF-1 was at Lakehurst for jet blast deflector testing. The 0.7-hour ferry flight, piloted

by Navy Lt. Cdr. Eric Buus, was Flight 80 for CF-1. Photo by Phaedra Loftis

25 August 2011 CF-3 Returns To Pax

F-35C CF-3 was flown to NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, to avoid Hurricane Irene.

The flight occurred after several weeks of catapult launch testing at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey. Marine Corps test pilot Lt. Col. Matt Taylor flew the 0.8-hour ferry flight, Flight 12 for CF-3.

28 August 2011 Hurricane Irene Hits Pax

All personnel and aircraft were safe after Hurricane Irene hit NAS Patuxent River, Maryland. Operations halted 26 August as the F-35 Integrated Test Force secured the jets and support equipment in hangars on base. Flights resumed at Pax on 29 August 2011.

29 August 2011 CV Static Testing Complete

F-35C ground article CG-1 completed static testing at the Lockheed Martin facility in Fort Worth, Texas. With this achievement, the F-35 program accomplished its static structural testing milestone for 2011. Photo by Fred Clingerman

30 August 2011 Edwards Adds A Pilot

Air Force Lt. Col. Peter Vitt became the twenty-seventh pilot to fly the F-35 with his 1.7-hour flight in F-35A AF-2 from Edwards AFB, California. The pilot familiarization mission was Flight 146 for AF-2. Photo by Tom Reynolds

31 August 2011 150th Vertical Landing

F-35B BF-1 completed the program’s 150th vertical landing during its second sortie of the day at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland. BAE test pilot Peter Wilson was at the controls for the 1.2-hour flight, which was Flight 152 for BF-1.

Photo by Michael Jackson

4

Code One

31 August 2011 F-35A Maturity Flights Complete

F-35A AF-7 Flight 49 involved a 1.8-hour maturity flight mission. Marine Corps Maj. Joseph Bachmann was at the controls for this last conventional takeoff and landing maturity flight test of Block 1A software.

9 September 2011 CF-3 To Lakehurst

F-35C CF-3 was ferried from NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, to resume catapult launch testing.

Lockheed Martin test pilot Dan Canin flew the 0.6-hour ferry, Flight 14 for CF-3.

Photo by Phaedra Loftis

12 September 2011 100th Carrier Variant Flight In 2011

Navy Lt. Cdr. Eric Buus was at the controls of F-35C CF-3 for the F-35C carrier variant’s 100th flight in 2011. The 0.4-hour flight at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, included three sorties for catapult launch tests. The mission was Flight 17 for CF-3.

19 September 2011 Ten Flights In One Day

The F-35 Integrated Test Force flew ten test flights in one day, matching the program’s highest one-day total, set in May 2011. The record day included five F-35A CTOL flights, three F-35B STOVL flights—including six vertical landings—and two F-35C CV flights. Photo by Michael Jackson

21 September 2011 NERF Testing Complete

F-35B BF-2 completed Naval Electromagnetic Radiation Facility, or NERF, ground testing at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, achieving another step toward landing and takeoff trials aboard an amphibious assault ship. This testing simulated the electromagnetic environment on the ship to ensure the aircraft could operate successfully in a ship environment. The other F-35B ship suitability test aircraft, BF-4, completed the same testing in July.

24 September 2011 Three STOs And Three VLs On One Fuel Load

Three short takeoff/vertical landing circuits on one fuel load were accomplished for the first time. BAE test pilot Peter Wilson flew the 0.4-hour mission in BF-3 for field carrier landing practice, or FCLP, with USS Wasp (LHD-1) personnel at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, to prepare for ship suitability testing. It was Flight 141 in BF-3. Photo by Michael Jackson

26 September 2011 First Steam Ingestion Catapult Launch

Marine Corps test pilot Lt. Col. Matt Taylor flew the first F-35C steam ingestion catapult launch at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, in test aircraft CF-3. The mission was Flight 22 for CF-3. Photo by Layne Laughter

30 September 2011 700th SDD Flight Of 2011

Lockheed Martin test pilot Dan Canin flew the 700th System Development and Demonstration flight of 2011 in F-35B BF-5 at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland.

The 1.2-hour flight, Flight 16 for BF-5, was the jet’s first with Block 1 software.

Photo by Liz Kaszynski

3 October 2011 First F-35 Landing At Sea

Marine Corps test pilot Lt. Col. Fred Schenk made Naval Aviation history when he touched down on the deck of USS Wasp (LHD-1) at 3:12 pm in F-35B BF-2.

The landing is the program’s first vertical landing at sea. Lt. Col. Schenk flew the 0.9-hour ferry flight from NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, to the Wasp near Wallops Island, Virginia. The mission was Flight 119 and the twenty-third vertical landing for BF-2. Photo by Michael Jackson

Sydney Carroll is a communications representative for the F-35 program at Lockheed Martin and is webmaster of F35.com.

Vol. 26 No. 3 2011

5

rokaf black eagles fly t-50b The aerial demonstration team of the Republic of Korea Air Force, the Black Eagles, traded its standard-issue orange and white T-50 trainers for glossy black, white, and yellow T-50Bs for its 2011 show season. By Eric Hehs Photos By Katsuhiko Tokunaga 6

Code One

he last of a total of ten T-50Bs built for the team arrived in January 2011. The Black Eagles flew their first public all T-50B f light the following March—a f lyover for an officer commissioning ceremony at the Korean Armed Forces headquarters in Gyeryong. The team flew its first formal full demonstration with the new aircraft on 1 April at Wonju AB, home base for the Black Eagles, which is about ninety miles east of Seoul.

“The crowd for our first official show at Wonju was relatively small but very significant,” recounted Lt. Col. Daeseo Park, commander of the Black Eagles. “VIPs from the Air Force and Korea Aerospace Industries, the builder of our jets, attended. About forty former members of the Black Eagles also came to see the newest aircraft perform. All were very pleased with what they saw.”

Vol. 26 No. 3 2011

7

The purpose of the demonstration team is to show the public the strength of ROKAF and the expertise of its military pilots.

That demonstration was the first of more than twenty displays already flown or planned to f ly for the 2011 season.

The pinnacle performances for the Black Eagles came in mid October when the team flew in front of large and international crowds at the 2011 Seoul Aerospace & Defense Exhibition, or ADEX. “The Black Eagle team looks forward to repre s ent i ng Kore a a nd ROK A F at ADEX,” Park said. The purpose of the demonstration team is to show the publ ic t he st reng t h of ROK A F a nd the expertise of its military pilots. The demonstration also highlights the aircraft—its maneuverability and speed.

“The T-50 represents a huge technical achievement of our aerospace industry.

Overall, we operate some beautiful jets and fly an impressive routine.”

The routine has been modified since the Black Eagles began performing with 8

Code One

the T-50 in 2009 (and since the routine was first described in Code One in 2010).

The team changed the routine for several reasons. “The new routine takes advantage of the longer duration of the T-50B’s smoke system,” explained Park, the team’s first leader after it adopted the T-50. The routine added some maneuvers that highlight the low-speed maneuverability of the aircraft. “We also made the show more dynamic because of our increased familiarity and comfort level with the aircraft,” he continued. “We do more dramatic maneuvers with the large formation, and we highlight the maximum thrust abilities of the aircraft.”

The team performs two basic routines—a high show and a low show— depending on weather conditions. The low show, designed for weather-restricted days, has most of the same maneuvers as the high show, with some of the lower

altitude maneuvers substituted for higher maneuvers. The team a lso performs weather and celebration shows, which a re sca led-back versions for poorer weather conditions and for special event f lyovers (usually from their home base at Wonju).

The high show begins with a series of takeoffs: two three-ship T-50s taking off in arrow formation followed by a twoship in side-by-side formation. The entire team rejoins and flies a loop in an eightship T-formation.

“The most impressive formation to me is the T-formation,” explained Capt.

Kwang-Hwi Cho, one of the two newest recr uits to t he Black Eag les. Cho is training to be the next No. 2 pilot. The formation involves five aircraft f lying line abreast and three trailing the team lead, who flies in the middle of the line abreast. Keeping such a formation tight

in a loop demands some real flying skills.

And these flying skills are not something a pilot can learn in a simulator. “We learn them by first performing them in wide formations and then by flying closer and closer as we gain proficiency.”

The loop in a T-formation is followed by a formation roll and a diamond pass.

The team maintains its eight-ship formation in a change turn—a large flat circle in which the formation changes from a diamond, to a wedge, to an eagle. The next pass involves an eight-ship roll in a stinger formation, which is followed by a bon ton roll and then a clover loop.

The formation goes high and then straight down, separating individually at equal angles for the rainfall maneuver.

Rainfall is the favorite maneuver of Maj. Wook-Cheon Jeon, team leader, who flies in the No. 1 position. “I think it is the most impressive maneuver when I watch videos of our routine and gauge audience reactions,” he explained. “But this was

also one of the more difficult maneuvers for the team to perfect. So I have an insider’s appreciation of it as well.”

After the rainfall, the team breaks up into three parts: a four-ship main formation consisting of No. 1, No. 2 Left Wing position, No. 3 Right Wing position, and No. 4 Slot position; a two-ship Synchro team consisting of Synchro 1 (No. 5 position) and Synchro 2 (No. 6 position); and a Solo team consisting of Solo 1 (No. 7 position) and Solo 2 (No. 8 position). The pilots refer to themselves in these terms as well, for example, as No. 7 Solo 1.

The ra infa l l maneuver is followed by a scissor pass, a double cross turn, and a goose maneuver.

The Solo and Synchro groups use Lt. Col. Daeseo Park

Vol. 26 No. 3 2011

9

their smoke generators to create a heart shape pierced with a cupid’s arrow. A single T-50 then comes by show center for a slow f light, demonstrating the low-speed handling characteristics of the T-50. “In slow flight, the aircraft’s nose blocks the forward view from the cockpit because the aircraft is flying at a twenty-five degree angle,” noted Maj. Soon-Hong Hong, who flies the maneuver as the No. 8 opposing solo. “The airspeed is just 115 knots.”

After the slow flight, a six-ship formation returns for a roll back and afterburner loop maneuver. “The afterburner loop is the most difficult maneuver we f ly,” explained Jeon, who, as No. 1, leads the formation. The maneuver starts at low speed and low thrust. All team members then push the throttles to maximum power at the same time. “Because the engines can spool up at slightly different rates, maintaining formation takes great skill and practice.”

The Solo group then returns to create a Taeguk, the yingyang symbol featured in the middle of the Korean flag. “The Taeguk is very popular with crowds because it represents our national flag,” said Cho. “The maneuver coincidentally highlights the high- and low-speed maneuverability of the T-50.

To complete the inside and outside of the image together, the aircraft making the outer circle must turn hard at a very high speed while the aircraft making the inside circle must turn hard at a very low speed.”

The high show continues with the other six aircraft returning for a downward bomb burst. This maneuver is followed by the Synchro aircraft splitting up to fly an eight-point roll and a continuous roll. The Solo group then returns for a screw roll in which No. 8 flies aileron rolls around No. 7, who flies straight and level. “The screw roll is the most dynamic maneuver performed by the Solo aircraft,” noted Hong, who gets to fly the four 360-degree rolls around No. 7. “It is much harder than it looks. It takes a lot of time and a lot of practice to get it right.”

10

Code One

The Synchro group returns for the Calypso pass. The main formation, this time as a four-ship, comes in for a snake roll and then a dizzying break and a rolling combat pitch.

The show continues—a single T-50 performs a max turn and loop. The team rejoins as an eight-ship wedge formation to perform the grand finale—a victory break. The T-50s rejoin and f ly parallel to the runway for individual pitch-up landings. Each aircraft lands individually and taxis in front of the audience.

“The best part of the job comes just after we land,” said Hong, who taxis in last. “We park the jets, turn off the engines, walk on stage, and experience the audience reaction. Once a woman in the audience grabbed my hand and told me that our demonstration made her proud to be a Korean. That was extremely gratifying for me, and something I will never forget.”

Eric Hehs is the editor of Code One.

Vol. 26 No. 3 2011

11

T-50 PROGRAM IN FULL SWING

BY ERIC HEHS PHOTOS BY KATSUHIKO TOKUNAGA

THE T-50 GOLDEN EAGLE PROGRAM HAS MUCH TO CELEBRATE. TEN YEARS AFTER THE FIRST T-50 ROLLED OUT OF THE KOREAN AEROSPACE INDUSTRIES FACTORY IN SACHEON, SOUTH KOREA, THE PROGRAM HAS RADICALLY IMPROVED THE WAY FIGHTER PILOTS ARE TRAINED IN KOREA. TWO TRAINING SQUADRONS AT GWANGJU AB OPERATE FIFTY AIRCRAFT AND GRADUATE ABOUT 140 STUDENTS PER YEAR. 12

Code One

T

he Black Eagles, the demonstration team of the Republic of Korea Air Force, are impressing crowds in shiny T-50Bs. And at Yecheon AB, where the first TA-50 lead-in fighter training course will start in 2012, aircraft are starting to populate the ramp. Furthermore, development of the FA-50 fighter/attack variant has transitioned to production. The first FA-50 is planned for delivery to ROKAF in 2013.

On top of these successes, the program celebrated its first international sale in May 2011 when Indonesia placed a $400 million order for sixteen T-50 trainers.

In the first feature article on the T-50 in Code One in 2005, appearing shortly after the first production version rolled off the line in Sacheon, Enes Park, now senior executive vice president of KAI, said, “The rollout of the first production aircraft was just a start for us. We celebrated. Now we get to work.”

That work continues today as the latest versions of the T-50 roll off the line to head to training squadrons in Korea and to training squadrons of new and future customers.

T-50 Training At Gwangju ROKAF received its last T-50 trainer from KAI in May 2010.

The delivery marked the successful completion of the introduction of the initial version of the T-50 into the ROKAF training organization. The trainer, which has a wide range of capabilities, entered full service less than five years from initial delivery, which allowed ROKAF to retire its aging T-38 advanced flight trainer fleet and to discontinue operating its BAE Hawk and Northrop Grumman F-5E aircraft for lead-in fighter pilot training.

As of September 2011, the ROKAF T-50 advanced f light training course at Gwangju AB has produced more than 350 fighter pilots and logged more than 40,000 flight hours.

The aircraft have established an aircraft availability rate exceeding eighty-five percent. The T-50 Total Training System has reduced training time by twenty percent and training costs by thirty percent, while increasing skill levels of graduates by forty percent, compared to the legacy training system.

The program has been a huge success.

As commander of one of the two training squadrons that operate T-50s at Gwangju, Lt. Col. Yung-Chae Kim is familiar with the performance of the T-50. “The aircraft and its associated training systems are exceeding our expectations,” he said. “We have eliminated ten training sorties from the previous training syllabus while graduating pilots with much improved skill levels.”

Kim has been commanding the 189th Squadron at Gwangju since 2008. The 189th and the other T-50 squadron at Gwangju, the 203rd, fall under the 1st Fighter Wing. The squadrons together operate fifty T-50s and train about 140 students per year in three classes. About two-thirds of the graduates go

Lt. Col. Yung-Chae Kim, 189th Squadron Commander

Vol. 26 No. 3 2011

13

on to f ly KF-16s in combat squadrons. The remaining graduates head to F-5E units.

The advanced f light training coursework for new pilots at Gwangju introduces students to jet-powered flight.

“Before student pi lots ca n become combat pilots, they must learn basic flight skills, basic controlling, formation f ly ing, inst r u ment f ly ing, a nd basic tact ica l f ly ing,” explained Kim. “The T-50 and its associated ground-based training systems allow us to teach the primary stages of the course much faster. We apply the time we save to teaching more advanced topics and to introducing tactical f lying.”

T he approach produces pilots who are much better prepared for the next phase, which is combat readiness training, or CRT. The g rou nd por t ions of the T-50 training at Gwangju are conducted in a silver, twos tor y i nt e g r at e d t r a i n i ng center. Lecture halls in the center are wired for computeraided instruction. Student pilots as well as student maintenance personnel work at 14

Code One

their own pace on individualized lessons on computerbased training systems. These same systems also track the t ra ining per forma nce of the students using an integrated, Web-based system.

Student pilots fly the T-50 in two types of simulators at Gwa ng ju—a n oper at iona l flight trainer and a full mission trainer. The operational flight trainer, used primarily as a procedures trainer, is a full cockpit and a large five-panel d i s pl ay. T he f u l l m i s sion trainer, used for training an entire f light, is a full-dome simu lator. Student performance is monitored on both simulators from a control room that features a desktop version of the cockpit. Without ever having to leave the ground, student pilots learn to operate the T-50 from engine startup to engine shutdown.

New students at Gwangju spend their first seven weeks in a ground training squadron. They then move to a flight education squadron. The computer-based ground training and the simulator training continue into the f light training syllabus. Even after students begin flying the T-50, they spend time in the f light simulator—about one hour in a simulator for every hour they spend in the air flying.

“The ground education has been the most challenging aspect of the course,” said 1st Lt. Yong-Deok Cho, a student in the 189th Squadron. The T-50 is highly advanced and complicated compared to the T-103 and KT-1—aircraft that students f ly for pilot screening and basic training. “The T-50 engine, electrical system, subsystems, and emergency systems, which are all completely different from the T-103 and KT-1, take some time to understand,” he explained. The trainees also have to study about a dozen additional subjects, such as normal flying procedures, aviation dynamics, and meteorology. “The coursework wou ld be much more d if f icu lt to absorb w it hout

EVEN AFTER STUDENTS BEGIN FLYING T HE T-50, T HEY SPEND T IME IN T HE FLIGHT SIMULATOR—ABOUT ONE HOUR IN A SIMULATOR FOR EVERY HOUR THEY SPEND IN THE AIR FLYING.

computer-based training, the si mu lators , a nd t he ot her modern training systems we have here.”

The similarities between t he T-50 a nd t he F-16 pay d iv idend s i n subsequent training phases. “The similarities allow pilots to adapt faster and easier,” said Capt.

In Geol Hwang, an instructor pilot at the 189th. The final classes of the advanced flight t r a i n i n g c ou r s e fo c u s on tactica l f ly ing. Unlike our prev ious t ra i n i ng system, students are now exposed to basic fighter maneuvers, or BFM, before mov ing on to CRT. “Those who finish this course have commented that they found the BFM instruction here extremely helpful in the CRT course.” “ T h e T- 3 8 w a s a f i n e training aircraft,” added Kim. But ROKAF could use the T-38 only to train analog f lying, which is basic f lying. “With the T-50, student pilots can learn digital avionics and the high-tech systems used on modern fighters, such as the head-up and multifunction displays. When they transfer to aircraf t t hat use digita l equipment, they adapt much more easily because of their experience in the T-50.”

T-50 Evolves: T-50B And TA-50 The T-50 family continues to expand as new variations of the aircraft roll out the KAI factory. In 2011, the company completed del iver y of ten T-50B aircraft to ROKAF’s demonstration squadron, the Black Eagles. This version of the T-50 carries equipment unique to the team, including smoke system, internal and external cameras, and highv isibilit y spot lights in t he dummy Sidewinder missiles on the wingtips.

The TA-50 is the latest version of the T-50 to roll out the

factory. This more advanced version will be used for leadin fighter training at Yecheon AB, about 150 miles southeast of Seou l. As of September 2011, KAI had delivered eight o f a p l a n n e d t w e nt y- t w o TA-50s to ROKAF. A r ma ments a nd rada r account for the primary difference between a T-50 and a TA-50. The TA-50 is equipped with an internally mounted 20 mm gun and with external ha rdpoi nt s for c a r r y i ng a variety of weapons. A stores management system combined with a MIL-STD-1553 databus allows these weapons to be integrated on t he aircraf t.

While the T-50 has no radar, the TA-50 features the Elta EL/M-2032 multimode radar.

“The T-50 is used in the a d v a nc e d f l i g ht t r a i n i n g course at Gwangju to teach students basic flying abilities i n j e t- p ow e r e d f l i g h t ,” explained Col. Sun Tae Yung, who is i n cha rge of f l ig ht t r a i n i ng p ol ic y a nd pi lot training for ROKAF. “Later in 2011, the TA-50 will begin operations for lead-in fighter training, or what we call LIFT. The course teaches students how to operate a fighter tactica l ly. The a rma ments a nd radar on the TA-50 are essential to LIFT. “The T-50 and TA-50 have t he sa me shape a nd f lig ht characteristics,” Yung added.

“So students coming from the a d v a nc e d f l i g ht t r a i n i n g course at Gwangju will have no problem transitioning to the TA-50 at Yecheon.”

TA-50 in the LIFT role will sig ni f ica nt ly reduce t he training loads on operational aircraft. For example, combat readiness training now condu c t e d at d e d ic at e d F -16 training units will be moved to the TA-50 training squadrons at Yecheon. The F-16 units can then function as pure combat units. Besides

freeing up combat aircraft for combat roles, the lower operating cost of the TA-50—compared to legacy trainer aircraft—will reduce the overall training cost for new pilots.

The TA-50 will further simplify training and reduce costs by replacing F-5s currently used for LIFT. The TA-50s will operate from the 115th Squadron of the 16th Fighter Wing at Yecheon. The wing, founded in 1976, currently hosts a fighter squadron and a training squadron for advanced f light. The F-5E/F CRT course there has been in operation since 2006. The TA-50 LIFT course will begin operation in mid-2012.

“We have already selected the first twenty instructor pilots who are now training in the newly delivered TA-50s at Yecheon,” said Yung. “Eventually, these instructor pilots will train about eighty pilots per year in three classes.”

FA-50 Once TA-50 production completes in 2012, KAI will begin producing a light combat version of the T-50, called the FA-50, to replace the ROKAF F-5E/F aircraf t. The FA-50 w i l l be a f u l ly combat-capable version of the T-50.

On top of the TA-50 capabilities, the FA-50 will have selfprotection systems Col. Sun Tae Yung

including a radar warning receiver and a countermeasures system to dispense chaff and flares.

The FA-50 can be armed with more sophisticated weapons that include the Wind-Corrected Munitions Dispenser, or WCMD, and Joint Direct Attack Munitions, or JDAMs. It will also have Link-16 datalink for net-centric warfare and night vision imaging system for all-weather day/night operations.

Enhancements planned for the cockpit include larger multifunction displays and other digital instruments.

The FA-50’s primary mission will be close air support and suppression of enemy a r t i l ler y using precision-g uided munitions, such as JDAM. The FA-50’s capabilities free aircraft with longer ranges for other missions. The ROKAF has committed to purchasing at least sixty FA-50s.

Eric Hehs is the editor of Code One. Vol. 26 No. 3 2011

15

NIGHT LASSES

BY JEFF RHODES

PH OTOS BY J O H N ROSS I N O

Th e count dow n cal e nd ar on t he op e rat ions d esk at Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, finally hit zero. After t wo years of intense preparations, the 415th Special Operations Squadron received its first aircraft, an HC-130J Combat King II, in ceremonies on 29 September 2011.

The US Air Force’s newest training squadron, known as the Nightstalkers, took delivery of its first MC-130J Combat Shadow II on 9 October. The lights are on at this graduate school for personnel recovery and special operations aircraft crews, and classes will begin soon.

“We’re diving in headfirst,” said SSgt. Jeremy Addie, a member of the initial cadre of forty maintainers supporting the new aircraft. “Much of the avionics and systems on the J-models are new to us. We’re looking forward to getting inside them and start working with these aircraft.” As additional aircraft are delivered, the number of maintenance section personnel will rapidly double.

After maintenance releases the new aircraft for operations, the initial aircrew cadre will get their turn. “We have a pretty aggressive schedule,” noted Lt. Col. Mike McClure, the operations officer for the 415th SOS. “Instructor training flights begin in November, and we’ll have a l l ou r i nst r uc tor crews t ra i ned by March 2012. The first group of students

16

Code One

arrives later that month to begin academics. Student training f lights begin next June. Our job is to get students fully trained as quickly as possible.”

Unlike combat delivery C-130s, in which crew position can be filled with any qualified pilot, navigator, flight engineer, or loadmaster, Airmen on legacy HC- and MC-130s f ly as a hard crew while deployed. The f light deck familiarity that comes from f lying with the same people all the time will continue on the new HC- and MC-130Js. “Our t r a i n i ng i s de sig ne d to ke ep c rews together as much as possible,” said TSgt. Michael Mueller, the lead loadmaster and course syllabus manager for the 415t h SOS. “A st udent crew w i l l go t hrough simu lator training and onaircraft flights together.”

Air Combat Command’s legacy HC130P/N aircraft operate with a crew of seven—pilot; copilot; f light engineer; navigator; Airborne Mission System Specialist, or AMSS; and two loadmasters— on rescue missions to refuel helicopters

and airdrop pararescue jumpers and equipment. Air Force Special Operations Command’s legacy MC-130Ps carry a crew of eight—the two pilots, flight engineer, two navigators, one AMSS, and two loadmasters—on clandestine low-level missions to refuel special operations forces helicopters and tiltrotor aircraft and to airdrop or resupply small commando teams in denied areas.

With the advanced electronic, electrooptical, navigation, and defensive systems on t he HC- and MC-130Js, t he crew complement for both aircraft will be reduced to five—two pilots, two loadmasters, and one Combat Systems Operator, or CSO. “The HC- and MC-130J CSO has a lot more responsibilities,” noted Capt. Jim Tuthill, a 415th instructor CSO. “We’re carrying out the traditional navigator job, and, in addition, we operate the refueling system, take on part of the engine and aircraft systems monitoring tasks, and operate all the different radios needed for these missions.”

The curricu lu m at t he new jointservice navigator training school at NAS Pensacola, Florida, does not address the additional responsibilities CSOs will have on the HC/MC-130J special mission aircraft. “The CSOs require more training,” noted Mueller.

Squadron, the HH-60 Pave Hawk training squadron, as well as the 7 1s t S O S , t h e C V-2 2 O s p r e y schoolhouse, are at Kirtland. “Part of our job is to be their tankers,” noted McClure.

The Air Force’s long-planned recapitalization of its personnel recovery and special operations f leets has now begun in earnest.

The first operational HC-130J unit, the 79th Rescue Squadron at DavisMonthan AFB, Arizona, received its first Combat King II on 24 September 2011. The first operational MC -130J u n it , t he 522nd SOS at Ca n non A FB, New Mex ico, received its first Combat Shadow literally a half hour before the first HC-130J was delivered to Kirtland.

Lt. Col. Mike McClure The 415th SOS will eventua lly operate a total of seven aircraft— “The CSOs will start thirty-to-forty three HC-130Js and four MC-130Js. training days before the pilots and A series of upgrades to both the HC-130J and the MC-130J loadmasters show up,” said Mueller. are already planned. The upgrades include a variety of items Academics a nd simu lator time ranging from additional chaff and flare dispensers to a highaccount for eighty percent of crew speed, low-level cargo delivery system for both aircraft. Dual training. “The capability of the simu- special mission processors will eventually be added to the lator is so close to the actual aircraft that we can get crews to Combat Shadow IIs. But those improvements will come later. ninety percent proficiency in there,” said McClure.” The sim The Nightstalkers have a job to do now. is available all the time, it’s very reliable, and it offers us better “Two years ago, we were a detachment with four people. efficiency and cost management.”

We now have thirty-five and are a full-up f lying squadron.

Both the HC-130J and MC-130J are equipped with unique We’ll have aircrew from legacy operational squadrons inbound features such as a universal aerial refueling receptacle to here for the next six months. There will be fifty people assigned receive fuel from boom-equipped tankers, an AN/AAS-52 to the 415th, and we’ll fill up squadron by mid 2012,” said electro-optical/infrared sensor system, and satellite commu- McClure. “Then, we’ll have the last six months of fiscal year nications gear. As delivered, the two aircraft are essentially 2012 to get nine crews trained. It’s going to be hard work, but the same, just with different mission requirements, so the it’s going to rewarding hard work.” simulator can be used to train crews for both platforms.

The Nightstalkers were officially established as a squadron Jeff Rhodes is the associate editor of Code One. only a week before the first aircraft arrived. But like many things with this new squadron, life’s moving pretty fast. The full-up weapon system simulator for the 415th is now in operation at the vendor’s facility in Florida—and cadre members have trained on it. However, in the coming months, the system will be packed up, shipped to the base in Albuquerque, and installed in a newly completed simulator facility a block away from the 415th SOS offices and briefing rooms.

“We have set up a proficiency-based syllabus versus an event-driven syllabus,” noted McClure. “The f lightline only makes up about twenty percent of our crew training.” Crews at Kirtland will only f ly six or seven sorties before graduation. Only one of those flights will come in daylight. The rest will be at night while flying on NVGs. HC-130J training crews will concentrate on low-level, single-ship missions and refueling rescue helicopters. For MC-130J crews, sortie emphasis will be on multiship employment and low level operations, as well as refueling helicopters and special operations tiltrotor aircraft. Both the 512th Rescue Vol. 26 No. 3 2011

17

Part 3: Kingfish

A more detailed version of this article appears on www.codeonemagazine.com.

The need for more and better intelligence on Soviet military activities increased for the United States as Cold War tensions in the late 1950s heightened around the world.

The resulting sense of urgency forced the CIA to take a more conventional and more practical approach for the design of a U-2 replacement. The agency, therefore, favored

Super Hustler, FISH, Kingfish, And Beyond

developed turbojet engine technology over undeveloped and riskier ramjet engines.

Conventional takeoffs were favored over what was considered riskier and less reliable

By Eric Hehs

parasitic launching from a carrier aircraft.

PAINTING BY DAVE SCHWEITZER

18

Code One

Lockheed A-11 ina l requirements issued to Convair a nd L o c k he e d , t he only two contractors compet i ng for t he highly secret contract, had three design stipulations: the aircraft had to be powered by turbojet engines only; it had to have a gross weight of approximately 100,000 pounds; and it had to be capable of taking off without a carrier aircraft. The requirements were defined, in large part, by the cancellation of the Convair B-58B and radar cross section deficiencies in the Lockheed A-11 design.

Two of t he f i n a l requirements ru led Convair FISH out the Convair FISH bec au se t he desig n relied on ramjet engines to achieve its Mach 4 cruising speed and a carrier aircraft b a s e d o n t h e B -5 8 Hu s t ler b omb er to attain the speed necessar y to ignite t he ramjets. As a result, Convair had to start from scratch to create an entirely new design in the few months allotted for submitting a final configuration.

All three requirements matched the Lockheed A-11 design, which was powered by two Pratt & Whitney J58 turbojet engines, had a gross weight of approximately 92,000 pounds, and was capable of taking off on its own power. Lockheed could spend the limited time refining its design.

The evaluation of the competing designs was broken into four parts: Analysis and Design, Models and Components, Materials Research, and Subsystems. Analysis and Design addressed the feasibility of the configuration to meet the requirements for electronic effects and performance (in other words, radar cross section); cruising speed; range; and other measures fundamental to a high-speed, high-altitude reconnaissance platform.

Models and Components evaluated small-scale electronic models for studying the Rodgers Effect, a concept of combining speed, altitude, and stealth to avoid radar detection.

Materials Research studied the material requirements specified in each design. Subsystems was tasked to look at subsystem requirements, such as electrical, fuel, and hydraulics.

The companies were given slightly more than two months to submit final proposals.

on radar cross section effects. The effects were measured on a test range with 1/8th-scale models.

As with Kingfish Lower, the other three starting configurations were categorized according to inlet placements. Smelt placed the inlets above the wing facing slightly upward and canting back. Herring placed the inlets above the wing facing slightly sideways and canting back. Kingfish Upper placed the FISH inlet on top of the fuselage. Each one of the four inlet approaches had its own issues in terms of radar cross section, design, and aerodynamics. However, Smelt and Herring showed the most promise. The final inlet configuration on the Kingfish design was a Smelt-Herring combination.

A detailed 7/10th scale model of the final configuration was built for final radar cross section testing. The scale was chosen because it was almost identical in size to an existing full-scale model of FISH. Reworking the existing structure could be done faster and more affordably than building a fullscale model from scratch. The model was tested on a radar range near Indian Springs, Nevada.

A detailed 7/10th scale model of the final configuration was built for final radar cross section testing. The scale was chosen because it was almost identical in size to an existing full-scale model of FISH.

Final Design The final Kingfish configuration was a single-seat, full delta wing with slightly curved and highly swept leading edges.

Two vertical tails were mounted on top of the wings and f lush with the trailing edge. The aircraft weighed 103,200 pounds (gross weight) and carried 62,750 pounds of fuel, giving it a dry weight of 40,450 pounds. The aircraft measured

Kingfish Evolution Convair engineers borrowed heavily from the FISH design to create the initial configuration for Kingfish, though the borrowed features were difficult to discern in the illustrations submitted in their proposal. The starting design, designated Kingfish Lower, used the basic FISH planform and lower inlet.

Configuration changes from this point were based primarily Vol. 26 No. 3 2011

19

sevent y-three feet seven inches long and eighteen feet four inches high. The wingspan measured sixty feet. The wing area measured 1,815 square feet.

Wing trailing and leading edges were constructed of notched steel panels with graphite-loaded pyroceram inserts to lower the radar reflection. Materials were much the same as used on the B-58. Steel The wing edges consisted of honeycomb sa ndw ich triangular panels of pyroceram panels formed the fuselage held in place with steel ribs, with the flat edges of the pyroceram structure, which was supinserts forming the leading edge. ported by bulkheads and longerons . T he le ad i ng edges were approached similarly to those used for FISH since they would be exposed to temperatures up to 800 degrees Fahrenheit. The wing edges consisted of triangular panels of pyroceram held in place with steel ribs, with the f lat edges of the pyroceram inserts forming the leading edge.

Kingfish was powered by two Pratt & Whitney JT11 afterburning turbojets located in the sides of the fuselage. A B-58 style escape capsule eliminated the need for the pilot to wear a pressure suit. In-f light refueling was provided by means of a receptacle on the upper surface of the nose. The landing gear was a conventional tricycle arrangement.

Performance And Standard Mission Profile Design cruising speed and cruise altitude for Kingfish was Mach 3.2 at 85,000 feet. Maximum altitude was 98,300 feet.

The mission profile was broken into three parts: an initial leg, a tactical leg, and a final leg. The aircraft was to be aerial refueled by a KC-135 tanker before and after the tactical leg.

The initial leg began with a launch from bases in the continental United States. Takeoff speed was 138 knots. Kingfish required approximately 200 nautical miles to climb and accelerate to a speed of Mach 3.2. The Mach 3.2 speed was held constant to an altitude of 74,000 feet to optimize A-12 KEY range. At 320 nautical miles from the f irst rendezvous point for the first refueling, the pilot would set the aircra f t eng i nes to id le a nd allow the aircraft to descend to 35,000 feet and decelerate to Mach 0.8. The mission prof ile a l lotted for t y-f ive minutes of loiter time for the first aerial refueling.

Customer requirements designated an initial altitude of 85,000 feet and a ma xi mu m a lt itude consistent 20

Code One

with a 4,000 nautical mile range for the tactical leg of the mission prof ile. The Kingfish pilot would reach t he i n it ia l a lt it ude a nd cruise there for 820 nautical miles and then initiate a cruise climb to the operational tactical altitude of 8 7, 7 0 0 f e e t w h e r e t h e pilot would perform two ninety-degree turns to collect intelligence informat ion a nd t hen head to a second rendezvous point for aerial refueling.

At 320 naut ica l mi les from the second rendezvous point, the pilot would once again set the engines to idle and allow the aircraft to descend to 35,000 feet and decelerate to Mach 0.8 for the second aerial refueling before continuing on the final leg.

The pilot would accelerate to a speed of Mach 3.2 and climb to an altitude of 74,000 feet to complete the final leg. The aircraft would cruise at altitudes for best range to a point 375 nautical miles from the landing base. In preparation for landing, the aircraft would descend to 35,000 feet and decelerate to Mach 0.8. Loiter time at 35,000 feet on the return leg was set at thirty minutes. Landing speed was ninety-seven knots with fuel reserve equating to fifteen minutes of f lying time at sea level.

A single engine failure was addressed as an emergency condition in the Convair report. In this condition, the thrust of the operating engine was increased to 108 percent of maximum power. Cruise range after an engine failure was 1,360 nautical miles, calculated at the halfway point of the tactical leg of the mission.

A lt it ude a nd f uel reser ve ef fec ts were a lso st ud ied .

Increasing the ma ximum a ltitude to 96,800 feet on the tact ica l leg wou ld reduce ra nge by 290 naut ica l mi les.

A l t e r n a t e l y, r e d u c i n g t h e a l t i t u d e t o 8 7, 1 0 0 f e e t would increase the range by 190 nautical miles (for a total mission range of 4,190 naut ica l mi les). Operat i ng at FEATURES maximum altitude (98,300 feet) decreased the overall range of Kingfish to 3,300 nautical miles.

Lockheed Takes A-11 To A-12 While Convair engineers worked hurriedly to design K ing f ish, L ock heed eng ineers concentrated on re f i n i ng t hei r A rc h a ngel design, taking A-11 to A-12.

Their primary focus was to reduce t he desig n’s rad a r

cross section, which would come at the expense of maximum cruise altitude.

Lockheed replaced the single vertical tail with twin tails, each located above an engine. The tails were canted inward fifteen degrees to reduce radar reflections from the side angle.

For the same reason, sloping surfaces called chines were added to the sides of the fuselage, and serrated edges incorporating radar treatment were added to the wings and to the chines.

The engines were moved from under the wing to the middle of the wing.

The empty weight increased twenty-two percent to 43,645 pounds. The A-12 could carry 64,600 pounds of fuel. Takeoff gross weight was 110,000 pounds. The engines were fed by a xisy mmetric inlets instead of rectang u lar or two-dimensional inlets as used on the A-11 design. The axisymmetric inlets reduced radar cross section (namely ref lections created by corners), which could be blended in with the wing more easily. The inlet spikes that were used to control airf low also blocked the engine face from radar ref lections. To reduce weight, the A-12 was constructed mostly of titanium alloy.

Lockheed Wins Convair and Lockheed submitted their proposals on 20 August 1959. While Kingfish offered better performance and a lower radar cross section, the A-12 was lower cost and lower risk and offered a greater operat iona l ra nge. Lock heed won t he compet it ion on 29 August with one stipulation—it had to prove its concept for reducing the A-12’s radar cross section, which Lockheed did by m id-Ja nu a r y 196 0.

A contract for t welve A-12 aircraf t was signed o n 11 F e b r u a r y 19 6 0 .

The first unofficial f light of the first A-12 occurred on 25 Apr i l 19 62 w it h L ock heed test pi lot L ou S c h a l k a t t h e c o nt r o l s .

Schalk also piloted the first official flight five days later.

October 1960. Three years later, Convair used FISH as a starting point for proposed designs of an A-12 replacement.

These design studies, which dealt with a wide range of parasitic and self-launching aircraft with operational speeds up to Mach 9, lasted through 1965. They are subjects of the next and final article in this series.

Eric Hehs is the editor of Code One. Credits: Most information for this article was derived from the Convair final report for the Kingfish program that was released and made public in the late 1980s to support the National Aerospace Plane project. Details on the Lockheed Archangel designs came from a public presentation on the history of the Archangel program by John R. Whittenbury, who contributed several illustrations. Code One sends a special thanks to Paul Suhler, author of From Rainbow to Gusto: Stealth and the Design of the Lockheed Blackbird, for reviewing the article and for background information on the competition between Lockheed and Convair. Mr. Suhler’s book was published by AIAA in 2009 and is available on Amazon.com and AIAA.org. Code One also thanks Kevin Renshaw and Jay Miller for their technical reviews of this article.

The first unofficial flight of the first A-12 occurred on 25 April 1962 with Lockheed test pilot Lou Schalk at the controls.

FISH Returns Convair ended its efforts on the program in February 1960 after completing some addit iona l studies a nd tests on two-dimensional exhaust nozzles. The compa ny submit ted its f ina l repor t on Kingf ish in Vol. 26 No. 3 2011

21

ORIONS o n s Tat i o n WHAT DO DRUGS AND VOLKSWAGEN BEETLES HAVE TO DO WITH THE P-3 ORION? TONS, LITERALLY SPEAKING.

BY STEPHANIE STINN PHOTOS BY JOHN ROSSINO

F

rom October 2010 to September 2011, P-3 Orion crews from US Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Air and Marine, or CBP OAM, stopped more than 150,000 pounds of drugs with a value equal to more than $1.8 billion—and with a weight equal to seventy-five Volkswagen Beetles— from entering the United States.

In May 2011, CBP P-3 crews assisted in a record-setting disruption of more than $30 million worth of cocaine in one day. The P-3 crews observed approximately forty bales of cocaine on board a vessel northeast of Nicaragua. The crews alerted a nearby US Coast Guard cutter and Honduran law enforcement to the inf latable boat and its contraband cargo. CBP P-3 crews observed the vessel dump six bales of cocaine before it was intercepted by a Honduran vessel.

In the end, thirty-six bales containing 2,420 pounds of cocaine were apprehended on that one day.

Nicarag ua a nd drug traf f ick ing may seem li ke dista nt situations for many, but these seizures have a larger translation that applies directly to everyday life.

22

Code One

If these drugs hadn’t been stopped off the coast of Central America, the cargo would have been systematically smuggled into the US. From there, the drugs would have been broken down in quantity and sold. These are the same drugs that led to the arrest of 1.6 million people in 2010 as reported by the FBI. These are the same drugs that prompted the US government to spend more than $15 billion in 2010 on the war on drugs—or roughly $500 per second—according to the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Drugs are a very real and expensive problem in the United States. And they are a problem that isn’t going away.

W hi le t he d r ug wa r isn’t a n easy one to fight, the CBP’s P-3 crews are doing what they can to break this process at the source—literally. The crews rely on what is ca lled a defense and depth strateg y that interdicts largescale drug loads at their countries of or i g i n, w h ic h a re l a r ge ly i n S out h America. Once a drug load successfully leaves its point of origin, a drug runner delivers it to Central America and Mexico, where it is broken down into sma l ler loads t hat are easier to smuggle into the US. “We start hitting the drugs at the source zone and keep hitting them in the transit zone. Hopefully, by the time t he y re a c h t he a r r i v a l z one , we ’ve picked up a good percentage of them,” said Lot har Eckardt, director of t he CBP OAM P-3 Operations Center in Corpus Christi, Texas.

“In many ways, drug trafficking is still a rudimentary operation with some smugglers opting to transport the contraband on such basic vessels as inflatable boats.

Other smugglers are extremely progressive—investing large sums of money into covert, sophisticated semi-submersibles,

“WE WANT OLD RELIABLE TO TAKE US OUT THERE TO DO OUR MISSION AND BRING US BACK HOME AGAIN. TIME AND TIME AGAIN, THE P-3 HAS PROVEN TO BE THAT OLD RELIABLE.” – LOTHAR ECKARDT “The great thing about the P-3 is that some of those f lights take us out into very remote parts of the ocean where there’s nobody around. We want Old Reliable to take us out there to do our mission and bring us back home again,” Eckardt said. “Time and time again, the P-3 has proven to be that Old Reliable.”

and even moving toward submarines to traffic drugs,” Eckardt noted.

Transportation methods may vary, but there is one constant in the equation: the CBP P-3 Orion crews remain the biggest obstacles in a drug smuggler’s path. “They know we a re t here. They see us,” Eckardt added. “We have footage of them pointing at us and dumping their load, trying to get away.”

When a CBP P-3 crew deploys on a drug interdiction mission—or on any of its missions, actually—it is usually of long duration.

Typical missions range anywhere f rom eight to ten hours, with some lasting as long as sixteen hours. Crews are flying at varying levels, tracking numerous vessels a nd c ombat i ng v a r iou s

natural conditions. A controlled and predictable situation is rare. Missions are difficult and time consuming. For CBP, the P-3 offers f lexibility and the ability to stay on station for long periods of time.

Keeping Old Reliable, Reliable Eckardt has f lown CBP P-3s for the past decade. Prior to that, he logged seventeen years as a US Navy P-3 pilot and almost nine years as a P-3 acoustic operator prior to flight school.

Together, Eckardt and the P-3 have done pret t y much e ver y t h i ng f rom chasing Russian attack subs, to interdicting drug smugglers, to providing reconnaissance for US security.

“I’ve wanted to fly since I was a little kid. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do,” Eckardt said. “This job allows me to do that. And this plane allows me to do that.” When he retired from the Navy, Eckardt said it was a logical step to stay in P-3s in CBP. He is, after all, a selfdescribed “P-3 guy.”

CBP operates sixteen P-3 Orions at two locations, Corpus Christi, Texas, and Jacksonville, Florida, giving t he f leet s covera ge a nd access to distinct geographic regions for ideal mission operability. The first P-3 was acquired in 1984, a former US Navy P-3A. The CBP operates two types of P-3s: eight P-3 Airborne Early Warning, or AEW, and eight P-3 Long Range Tracker, or LRT, aircraft. The AEWs provide w ide area search and increased command, control, and communications capabilities. These P-3s are designed to intercept and track airborne smuggling Vol. 26 No. 3 2011

23

threats. They are differentiated from the LRTs by their distinctive radomes. Called Domes, the AEW crews detect and track air and sea surface targets. When a target is located, the AEW aircraft serves as the command and control platform. The LRT aircraft, often referred to as Slicks, are used to intercept, identify, and track suspect targets. When both an AEW and LRT are f lown together, it is known as a Double Eagle.

A majority of CBP missions are f lown in support of the Joint Interagency Task Force-South, or JIATF-South, a multiservice, multiagency task force based at NAS Key West, Florida, that focuses on anti-drug, anti-terrorism, and trafficking efforts.

While drug interdictions account for a large portion of the fleet’s missions, these Orions support an array of other operations. The CBP P-3 crews have cleared domestic airspace for the president or vice president during travel; monitored airspace during such events as the Olympics and the Super Bowl to track any possible terrorist threats; acted as communications hubs during such pivotal events as 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, and the Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster; guarded nuclear power stations; hunted pirates; and intercepted illegal immigration trafficking activities.

The P-3 crew utilizes a full motion video feed called BigPipe to relay information in real time to other federal, state, and local agencies, providing decision makers the capability to make damage assessments and fiscally sound decisions during disaster relief efforts.

The mission flexibility of the P-3 Orion is a hallmark. Built by the then-Lockheed California Company in Burbank, California, the Orion first entered US Navy service beginning in 1962. A total of 755 Orions were produced, which includes 107 examples built in Japan by Kawasaki Heavy Industries. Today, 435 P-3s are flown by twenty-one operators in seventeen nations.

The P-3 earned its stripes supporting such historical milestones as the Cuban Missi le Crisis in 1962 a nd subma rine hu nt ing t hroug hout t he Cold Wa r.

As customer needs shifted, Orion operators began to utilize the aircraft for other missions, such as peacekeeping and surveillance roles—in large part the result of continuously updated electronic surveillance suites.

While the Orion has adapted well to its current role, it isn’t immune to the impacts of time. The CBP P-3 fleet is more than forty years old. It has logged more than 200,000 flight hours, all without a mishap. And the CBP P-3 fleet was starting to show signs of age.

Same P-3, Only Better Rather than replace its aircraft, CBP decided to keep it s P-3 f leet f ly i ng through the P-3 Mid-Life Upgrade, or MLU, program. Lockheed Martin began this program in 2008 with the Royal Nor weg ia n A i r Force as t he lau nch customer. CBP is the second customer and is currently on contract to have twelve of its P-3s go through the MLU program. MLU provides replacement structural parts that will keep the aircraft flying for up to another twenty-five years of service.

The P-3 MLU program consists of a life extension kit replacing the aircraft outer wings, center wing lower section, a nd hor i z ont a l st abi l i z er w it h new produc t ion component s . T he M LU removes all current P-3 airframe f light 24

Code One

A MA JORIT Y OF CBP MISSIONS ARE FLOWN IN SUPPORT OF THE JOINT INTER AGENCY TASK FORCE-SOUTH, OR JIATF-SOUTH, A MULTISERVICE, MULT IAGENC Y TASK F ORCE BASED AT NAS K E Y WE S T, F L OR IDA , T HAT FOCUSES ON ANTI-DRUG, ANTI-TERRORISM, AND TRAFFICKING EFFORTS. restrictions and provides 15,000 additional f light hours, enhancing capability through cost-effectiveness.

The design replaces all fatigue life-limiting structures on t h e a i rc r a f t w i t h e n h a nc e d d e s i g n c o mp on e nt s a nd new, improved corrosion-resistant materials that greatly reduce the cost of ownership over the aircraft’s extended service life.

P-3 wings are assembled at the Lockheed Martin facility in Marietta, Georgia, and installed on CBP aircraft at the company’s facility in Greenville, South Carolina. In addition to Norway and CBP, Lockheed Martin is on contract to provide thirty-one MLU kits to the US Navy, ten for Canada’s CP-140 Aurora fleet, and twelve to Taiwan.

To date, MLU kits have been installed on three CBP P-3s.

The third aircraft is having its electronic systems repopulated

and going through scheduled phased maintenance prior to returning to the fleet by late 2011. Typically, P-3s undergoing the MLU process are out of the CBP fleet for twelve months.

When the aircraft are returned, CBP crews put them right to work. “The whole idea of the MLU is to keep it f lying like a P-3. What you first notice is that it f lies like a new airplane. Let’s face it; some of these airplanes are forty years old with thousands of hours on them. Now, with new wings on them, they f ly like a new airplane, straight and level,” Eckardt said. “ T he P-3 i s a n a i r pl a ne w it h a ne w l i fe ,” E c k a rdt added. “CBP is very happy to be f lying it and to be a part of this renovation.”

Stephanie Stinn is a program communicator for Lockheed Martin.

Vol. 26 No. 3 2011

25

ARTICLE AND PHOTOS BY KATSUHIKO TOKUNAGA 26

Code One

he Türk Hava Kuvvetleri Turkish Air Force, or TurAF, celebrated the centennial of its air force this year with the creation of an F-16 demonstration team called Solo Turk. The single-ship team with three demo pilots f lies an F-16C Block 40 from 141 Filo, or Squadron (also known as the Anatolian Wolves), which is based at 4th Main Jet Base at Akinci near Ankara. In its centennia l news release, TurAF officials said that, “The aim of our 100th year recognition is not just to celebrate our age, but to generate trust and interest in the Turkish Air Force from our citizens, especially from the youth of our country.”

The specially painted black, gold, and silver F-16 flown by the demo team was unveiled on 15 April at Akinci, where the first public demonstration flight was performed in front of Abdullah Gül, the president of Turkey; military officials; and a large contingent of invited guests.

Af ter t he per forma nce, Gü l commented, “The Turkish Air Force shines like a star in our skies. It is a foundational element to the deterrent capability of our defense power. Wit h its equipment, training, discipline, and operational capability, our air force is without doubt among the most powerful elements of our armed forces. It fills our citizens with pr ide. Ma ny of ou r yout h desi re to become fighter pilots. Solo Turk will kindle their excitement.”

The demonstration program consists of eighteen breathtaking maneuvers, including a series of nine-g turns and a negative three-g push-up. The three team

The Solo Turk F-16 demonstration team received the King Hussein Memorial Sword for the Best Overall Flying Demonstration at Royal International Air Tattoo.

pi lot s a re M aj. Mu r at Kele ş , C apt .

Yalın Ahbab, and Capt. Fatih Batmaz.

The pilots and aircraft are supported with a handpicked maintenance team of twelve.

Solo Turk made one additional appearance in Samsun, Turkey, on 19 May 2011 after its debut. The team f lew demonst rat ions i n Fra nce i n ea rly Ju ly. It appeared at the Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford in the United

Kingdom on 17 July 2011. The R IAT demonstration so impressed the crowds at Fairford that the team received the K i ng Hu s s ei n Memor i a l Sword for the Best Overall Flying Demonstration.

The team rounded out the 2011 show season with two additional demonstration f lights in Turkey as well as with appearances at airshows in Belgium and the Netherlands in mid-September.

In addition to t he creation of t he demonstration team, the centennial also consisted of international conferences, ex hibitions, training, exercises, and artistic and cultural projects.

The TurAF is the second largest air force in NATO with more than 1,000 aircraft in its inventory, including 240 F-16 Fighting Falcons, the most of any non-US operator. The TurAF, one of the oldest military aviation organizations in the world, traces is history to 1 June 1911 when its military formed an aircraft committee to establish a flying force. On 28 June of the same year, two volunteers were sent to France for pilot training.

Katsuhiko Tokunaga, a frequent contributor to Code One, is a freelance aviation photographer and writer based in Japan.

Vol. 26 No. 3 2011

27

ON GOLDEN WINGS: 100 Years Of Naval Aviation

From Eugene Ely’s first tentative landing on a makeshift wooden deck on the fantail of the heavy cruiser USS Pennsylvania (Armored Cruiser #4) in a Curtiss pusher biplane on 18 January 1911 to the first vertical landing of the F-35B Lightning II on the asphalt deck of the USS Wasp by Marine Corps test pilot Lt. Col. Fred Schenk on 3 October 2011, Naval Aviation has made astounding technological leaps over its first century. BY JEFF RHODES

T

he many companies that have come to be Lock heed Ma r t i n today have been a major part of those historic 100 years. The first legacy Lockheed Martin aircraft to be purchased by the Navy’s Bureau of Aeronautics was the Glenn L. Martin Aircraft Company Model TT trainer. The Navy bought four of these dual-control aircraft in 1914 and followed that purchase with an order for three Model R reconnaissance floatplanes and a pair of Model S scout floatplane trainers.

The lead designer for both the Model R and Model S was a young engineer named Donald Douglas, who went on to start his own company that built aircraft for the Navy.

Navy officials evaluated the Loughead (pronounced Lockheed) F-1 in early 1918, but decided not to purchase that seaplane. The Navy was, however, sufficiently impressed with Allan and Malcolm Loughead’s team—which included designers Jack Northrop and Gerard Vultee, who both later started their own aircraft companies— to award the Loughhead Aircraft Manufacturing Company a contract to build two Curtiss-designed HS-2L seaplanes near the end of World War I. I n 1917, fou r t e e n e x a mpl e s of t he S- 4 B/C, the sta nda rd A r my tra i ner at the time, were diverted to the Navy for 28

Code One

operations. Those aircraft were built by Thomas-Morse, one of several companies that were brought under one roof when Consolidated Aircraft Corporation was esta bl ished in 1923. The f irst a ircraf t developed for the Navy under the Consolidated name was the NY-1 Husky trainer in 1924. Vultee Aircraft bought out Consolidated in 1943—although the common perception was that the purchase was the other way around. The company was later known as Convair. The lone Vultee design to see Navy service was the SNV Valiant basic trainer flown during World War II. Over the years, these four companies have designed and built more than sixtyfive aircraft types totaling thousands of aircraft for the US Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. The Lockheed Martin Navy legacy extends from trainers; to shipborne scouts; to transports and tankers; to such utilitarian aircraft as the carrier-based S-3 Viking, which was used to do a little bit of everything; to today’s carrier- and a mph i biou s a s s au lt s h ip -b a s e d F-3 5 Lightning II multirole, multivariant fighter.

Spanning the entire Lockheed Martin history with the US Navy, though, has been the company’s maritime patrol aircraft. Crews f lying these aircraft have hunted submarines and ships belonging

to the German Kriegsmarine, the Imperial Japanese Navy, and the Soviet Red Banner Fleet. A lthough the Navy’s P-3 Orions today a re used for mu lt iple m issions, including overland and littoral surveillance, antisubmarine warfare is still an important mission.

But one Lockheed Martin aircraft has served longer than any other aircraft by any other manufacturer in the history of the sea services. The Coast Guard received its first R8V-1G transport in late 1959. The US Marine Corps received its first GV-1 aerial tanker in March 1960. The US Navy received its first UV-1L ski-equipped transport in July that same year. Redesignated in 1962—and much better known as the HC-130, KC-130, and the LC-130—the Hercules is now in its sixth decade of operation, surpassing such other legendary aircraft as the Gooney Bird, Hellcat, Corsair, Skyhawk, Phantom II, Intruder, and Tomcat.

Aircraft designations were simplified midway through Naval Aviation’s history.

In 1962, the US Navy adopted the Department of Defense standard designation system used today (C for Ca rgo, F for Fighter, P for Patrol, etc.). But for the forty years prior, the Bureau of Aeronautics used a designation system that included a status or class prefix; the aircraft type (the basics, plus specific iterations, including Patrol Bomber, General Utility, Scout Observation, etc.); the type sequence number (the second and subsequent aircraft designs from the same manufacturer); the manufacturer’s letter code; followed by a configuration sequence number.

What follows are images of many of the legacy Lockheed Martin aircraft—with all their detailed designations —f lown by Navy, Marine, and Coast Guard Aviators over the past ninety-seven years. A more complete history can be found at www. codeonemagazine.com.

Model TT In February 1914, the US Army Signal Corps asks Martin to configure one of its Model T trainers with dual controls, which is then called the Model TT. It is Martin’s first US government sale. Of the twenty-five Model TTs built, the Navy accepted four of them for evaluation and basic pilot training.

Model S Martin built seventeen Model S two-place reconnaissance/training aircraft from 1915 to 1917 that could be equipped with either floats or wheels.

Two of these aircraft fitted with floats were flown by the Navy.

Model R Martin built twenty-seven Model R reconnaissance/general utility aircraft of which three were delivered to the Navy. The Model R had a wingspan of fifty-one feet, almost exactly the length of the current F-35. After the delivery of the last Model R in 1917, Martin closed its Los Angeles, California, facility and, at the invitation of local industrialists, moved to Cleveland, Ohio.

S-4 Scout Ten examples of the Thomas-Morse S-4B, the standard Army trainer at the time, were

Model TT

diverted to the Navy in 1917 for what would be called lead-in fighter pilot training today. The Navy later received four S-4Cs, which used a more reliable motor. Both aircraft could be equipped with floats or wheels. Thomas-Morse was one of several companies that were brought under one roof when Consolidated Aircraft Corporation came into being in 1923.

F-1 Allan and Malcolm Loughead, along with engineer Carl Christofferson and a newspaper reporter, fly the ten-seat F-1 flying boat the 211 miles between the company’s factory in Santa Barbara, California, to NAS North Island in San Diego in three hours and one minute for a Navy evaluation in mid 1918.

Even though the Navy’s evaluation was generally favorable, it opted not to purchase the aircraft. The F-1 was the second aircraft designed by the Loughead brothers. It ended its career as a motion picture camera platform.

HS-2L After opting not to purchase the F-1 flying boat, the Navy gives Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing a $90,000 contract to build two Curtiss-designed HS-2L scout seaplanes under license as a manufacturing

capabilities test in 1918. It was the first government contract for what would become Lockheed.

MBT/MT The Navy purchased ten Martin-built, land-based, long-range bombers in 1920. The Navy operated the two MT aircraft, which were identical to the Army’s MB-1, while the Marine Corps flew the eight MBT aircraft, which were similar to the Army’s MB-2. The large wooden frame aircraft, which featured an internal bomb bay, came to prominence in 1920 when A ir Corps Gen. Billy Mitchell proved the concept of strategic bombing b y s i n k i ng t he c a p t u re d G e r m a n b at t l e s h ip Ostfriesland off the Virginia Capes.

M O -1 Designed as a catapult-launched, gunspotting observation monoplane, thirty-six Martin MO-1 floatplanes were delivered to the Navy between 1923 and 1924. The combination of early-generation catapults on cruisers and battleships and insufficient lift and power relegated the aircraft to conventional operations from shore stations for much of its twelve-year career. The three-place aircraft were one of the first all-metal aircraft—airframe and external skin—to serve in the Navy.

Model S

Model R

S-4 Scout

F-1

HS-2L

MO-1

MBT/MT

Vol. 26 No. 3 2011

29

NY Husky

T3M/T4M

PM/P3M XRO-1

BM N4Y N2Y

P2Y Ranger

NY Husky The Navy eventually bought more than 300 NY biplane primary trainers, a slightly modified version of the Army’s PT-1 Trusty (as shown here). First delivered in 1924, a few examples of these very reliable, fabric-covered metal-framed aircraft, known as Husky in Navy service, were still in Navy service as late as 1939. The Trusty/ Husky family is the first aircraft procured by the US in quantity after World War I. The N Y-1 was also the first design Consolidated Aircraft built for the Navy. On 24 September 1929, while seated under a hooded front cockpit, Army Air Corps Lt. James H. Doolittle first demonstrated blind flying— using instruments only—with Lt. Ben Kelsey as safety pilot. The Navy’s NY-2 was selected for the test because of its stable handling qualities.

T3M/ T4M The Martin T3M and T4M were the result of a major redesign of a Curtiss torpedobomber-scout aircraft. Operated both from battlesh ips u si ng f loats a nd f rom la nd ba ses u si ng wheels, the 124 T3Ms and 103 T4Ms were delivered between 1924 and 1930 and became the Navy’s frontline torpedo aircraft. By mid 1927, a squadron of T3M-2s were operational on the carriers Langley (CV-1) and Lexington (CV-2). The T3M/T4M fleet saw service well into the 1930s.

PM/P3M The Navy put out a contract for additional Naval Aircraft Factory PN-type patrol bomber seaplanes in May 1929. Four firms received contracts, including Martin for thirty PM-1s. Later that same year, Martin underbid Consolidated to build that company’s PY design, which then became the P3M.

30

Code One

PBY Catalina

A total of nine P3Ms were built. Two of those aircraft were used in a training role at NAS Pensacola, Florida, as late as 1939.

XRO-1 The lone XRO-1, a wood and metal version of the Lockheed Altair, was completed in 1931. It was the first Navy aircraft to have fully retractable landing gear. The XRO-1 was f lown out of NAS Anacostia, Washington, DC, for two years as a transport for the Assistant Secretary of the Navy and flag officers before being placed in storage and eventually scrapped.

B M The first Martin BM-1, the first Navy dive bomber capable of attacking with a heavy (1,000pound) bomb or torpedo and also the first to be procured in enough numbers to equip a squadron, was delivered to Scout Torpedo Squadron 1 (VT-1S) aboard the USS Lexington (CV-2) in 1932. It served on carriers until 1937. The last BM-2, a slightly different version, was scrapped in 1940. A total of thirty-seven aircraft were built, including prototypes.

N2Y The Navy ordered six Fleet 2 tandem seat trainers from Consolidated in 1929 to be used as “sky hook” trainers. On 3 May 1932, hook-on training operations began with the Navy’s newest rigid airship, the USS Akron (ZRS-4). Flying N2Y-1 trainers equipped with top wing-mounted hook apparatus, Aviators would catch the airship’s trapeze gear in flight and were then brought into the airship’s hangar bay.

P2Y Ranger The P2Y Ranger, developed from the Consolidated Model 16 Commodore commercial

flying boat, was flown on several record-setting long distance missions in the early 1930s. The first of twenty-three P2Y-1s entered service in mid 1933 and were redesignated P2Y-2 when they were re-eng ined. T he f irst P2Y-3s, wh ich had more powerful engines, entered service with VP-7F in 1935. The aircraft were withdrawn from service in 1941. Several countries, including Japan, also flew P2Ys. N4Y The last of the successively improved versions of t he P T-1 T r u s t y t ra i ner wa s t he compa nydeveloped Consolidated PT-11. The Coast Guard received one example from the Army in 1932 and used it for pilot training at Biloxi, Mississippi, and later at Cape May, New Jersey. The Navy later bought three aircraft powered by a different engine.

All the aircraft were then designated N4Y. PBY Catalina Designed to replace the P2Y, the Consolidated PBY Catalina was the most successful flying boat operated by US forces and numerous allies in World War II. It was the most produced military seaplane of all time. More than 3,281 Catalinas were built and subsequently served in every com bat t heater a rou nd t he world. L is t i ngs of Catalina operations have filled several books. One operational highlight came on 3 June 1942 when Ens. Jewell (Jack) Reid with his crew decides, on a hunch, to extend the day’s patrol by thirty miles and finds the Imperial Japanese fleet. The battle for Midway begins the next day. After 14.3 hours aloft, Reid’s PBY-5A amphibian runs out of fuel in Midway’s lagoon just minutes after landing.

XR2O -1/XR3O -1 A pair of Lockheed Electra transports was delivered to the Navy and the Coast Guard in 1936. The Navy XR2O-1 was a Model 10-A with Pratt & Whitney R-985-48 engines. It was used as a personal transport for the Secretary of the Navy.

The XR3O-1 was a Model 10-B with Wright R-975E-3 engines that served as the personal transport for the Secretary of the Treasury.

of a twin-engined aircraft with tricycle gear aboard the USS Lexington (CV-2) in 1939.

PH In one of the first cases where the Coast Guard got new aircraft rather than hand-me-downs from the Navy, the service placed an order for seven Hall Aluminum Company (a legacy Consolidated Aircraft firm) PH-2s for air-sea rescue duties in 1936. The new aircraft extended the service’s regular patrol radius out to 750 miles. Some of the seven Coast Guard PH-3s, which featured longer chord wings, were used for antisubmarine patrols after Pearl Harbor. The Navy f lew nine of the earlier opencockpit PH-1s. The PH was the last biplane patrol aircraft flown by the sea services.

XP4Y Corregidor The Model 31 prototype seaplane, begun as a Consolidated company-funded effort in 1938, was the first aircraft to use the Davis wing, a high aspect ratio airfoil designed to maximize lift and minimize induced drag. This design was later used on the B-24 Liberator bomber, the most produced US military aircraft of all time. The Navy acquired the prototype in 1942 and designated it XP4Y-1. A contract for 200 production aircraft was authorized but was cancelled because of the unavailability of Wright R-3350 engines which were needed for B-29 Superfortress bomber production.

JO-1/JO-2/XJO-3 The Navy ordered the lone seven-seat JO-1, the military version of the Lockheed Model 12-A Electra Junior transport, in August 1937 for use by the US Naval attachĂŠ to Brazil. Later that year, the Navy ordered five JO-2s, which could seat six passengers, for Navy and Marine Corps staff use. The lone XJO-3 had nonretractable landing gear and was used to test carrier deck performance

PB2Y Coronado Within three months of the first flight of the PBY, the Navy started development of a much larger flying boat with better performance than the Catalina. The first of 207 Consolidated PB2Y Coronado flying boats was delivered to the Navy at the end of 1940. The Coronado only saw limited combat over its career, but on 30 January 1944, Navy crews flying PB2Y-2s made a 2,000-mile

XR2O-1/XR3O-1

XR4O-1 The lone XR4O-1, the military version of t he Lock heed Model 14 Super Elec t ra, was delivered to the Navy in October 1938 as a staff transport. It was stricken from the Naval register in 1944.

roundtrip from Midway to Wake Island to carry out a night bombing raid against Japanese airfields.

Most PB2Ys were used for executive transport or carrying cargo. The Coronado was also flown in limited numbers by the Coast Guard and the Royal Air Force.

PBM Mariner A competitor to the PBY, the Martin PBM Mariner long-range patrol bomber, with its crew of up to thirteen and weapons enclosed in underwing bays behind the engines, offered better performance than the Catalina but served in smaller quantities in World War II. The PBM entered Navy service in late 1940. In mid 1941, VP-55 and VP-56 combined to form VP-74 and began flying antisubmarine patrols from Iceland. A total of 1,366 Mariners were built, and the type served with the Coast Guard into the early 1950s.

SNV Valiant The Vultee Valiant was the most produced basic, or intermediate, US trainer of World War II. Almost every pilot candidate in both the Army Air Corps and the Navy spent time f lying some of the 11,538 Valiants built. Between aircraft transferred from the Army Air Corps (850) and direct purchases, the Navy eventually operated 2,000 SN V-1 and SN V-2 aircraft at four air stations in Florida and Texas. The main differences between the two SNV-1 and SNV-2 were their engines and electrical systems.

PH

PBM Mariner

XR4O-1 XJO-3 PB2Y Coronado

XP4Y Corregidor

SNV Valiant

Vol. 26 No. 3 2011

31

PBO-1 Hudson

R5O

PV-1 Ventura

OY Sentinel PB4Y-1 Liberator

PB4Y-2 Privateer TBY SeaWolf

JM-1/-2 Marauder

M-130 Clipper

PBO-1 Hudson The Navy received twenty Hudson patrol bombers diverted from Royal Air Force contracts in 1941. Redesignated PBO-1 and retaining their RAF camouflage, these aircraft were flown from Argentia, Newfoundland, Canada, and from N A S Q uon s et P oi nt , R ho de I s l a nd , by P at rol Squadron 82 (VP-82). On 1 March 1942, a VP-82 crew sank a German U-boat in the North Atlantic, the first submarine claimed by US aircraft during World War II. OY Sentinel One of the most widely used Allied utility aircraft, 306 Consolidated L-5 Sentinel aircraft were transferred to the Marine Corps and designated OY-1. A later batch of 153 L-5s was transferred to the Navy. On 3 April 1945, Marine aviators, flying OY-1s, land at Yontan airfield on Okinawa—the first American aircraft to land on the island since its recapture. The aircraft are immediately put to use serving as spotting platforms for artillery and naval gunfire. The Marines later mounted a bazooka on the wing struts of some of the aircraft. The Coast Guard used a number of OY-1s to spot illicit liquor stills from the air after World War II. R5O Nearly 100 of the R5O, the military variant of the Lock heed Model 18 Lodesta r tra nspor t, reached the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard between 1940 and 1943. Many of those aircraft were impressed into Navy service during construction. A few examples were still in operation as late as 1953. The first twenty aircraft delivered were used for V I P transport, while the rest featured twelve or fourteen passenger seats or bench seating for eighteen paratroops.

32

Code One

M-130 Clipper Two of the three Martin M-130 Clippers—passenger-carrying luxury flying boats built for Pan American Airlines—were impressed into Navy service in 1942 to help meet a requirement for overseas air transport. The Clippers were given Bureau of Aeronautics serial numbers (48230 and 48231), but not designations. Philippine Clipper managed to survive the Japanese attack on Wake Island, but was destroyed when it crashed into a mountain in 1943. China Clipper survived the war and was returned to Pan Am, but was destroyed in a landing accident in 1945 after having been flown for more than three million miles.

PB4Y-1 Liberator While flying boats had some advantages, there were also limitations. Early in World War II, the Navy began pressing the Army for a force of B-24 land-based, long-range bombers to fly patrols against ships and submarines. The Navy received the first of 977 Consolidated PB4Y-1 Liberator patrol bombers, which were essentially B-24Ds, in August 1942, and an Iceland-based crew sank a German U-Boat that November. The Coast Guard flew five PB4Y-1s until 1951 for search and rescue.

The RY-1 and RY-2 were the Navy variants of the C-87 Liberator Express cargo transport.

PB4Y-2 Privateer Development of a B-24 bomber variant better-suited to Navy requirements began in 1943. The Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer retained the B-24’s wing and landing gear, but featured a lengthened fuselage and a single tail. On 23 April 1945, PB4Y-2 crews from VPB-109 launched a Bat self-guided weapon against Japanese ships off the coast of Borneo.

This was the first combat use of the only radar-guided

homing glide bomb to be used in World War II. The Coast Guard also flew a small number of PB4Y-2s until 1952. Thirty-four RY-3 aircraft, the transport version of the Privateer, were built.

TBY SeaWolf Vought Aircraft was awarded a Navy contract in 1940 for its XTBU-1 design to supplement the Grumman TBM Avenger torpedo bomber. However, with Vought tied up with Corsair fighter production, the new torpedo bomber design was sent to Consolidated for production. A slow production ramp rate prevented the TBY-2 from becoming operational. Most of the 180 aircraft built were used as crew trainers.

PV-1 Ventura As the vulnerability of large, slow flying boats to Japanese fighters became apparent, the Nav y bega n pu rchasing la nd-based patrol bombers. The Lockheed PV-1 Ventura, first delivered in December 1942, was the follow-on design to the Hudson. Nearly 2,500 PV-1s were built. On 2 August 1945, a PV-1 crew found the survivors of the cruiser USS Indianapolis (CA-35), which had been sunk after delivering components for the first atomic bomb to Tinian Island in the Pacific. The men had been floating in the water for four days.

JM-1/-2 Marauder The Navy operated 282 Martin Marauder medium bombers during World War II primarily as brightly painted target tugs. A total of 225 of these aircraft were designated JM-1 and were ex-Army Air Forces B-26Cs that had been converted into trainers. The fifty-seven JM-2s were similar to the Army’s TB-26G trainers. The Navy later used a few JM-1Ps for reconnaissance missions.

JRM Mars The Navy’s largest flying boat was the Martin JRM Mars. The five JRM-1 (later upgraded to JRM-3) and lone JRM-2 cargo seaplanes entered service late in World War II and were operated by VR-2 at NAS Alameda, California. In 1948, the Marshall Mars—all of these aircraft were named for Pacific islands—was flown from Alameda to San Diego, California, with 301 people on board, breaking the record for passengers carried on a single flight.

After a number of record flights, the Navy retired the last Mars in 1956. In 2011, Hawaii Mars and Philippine Mars are still flown as water bombers in Canada.

PV-2 Harpoon The Lockheed PV-2 Harpoon patrol bomber was an improved version of the Ventura that did not see combat action until late 1945. More than 500 PV-2s were built, and the type saw ser v ice w ith eleven Nava l Reser ve w ings until 1948. Portugal used Harpoons as bombers in contingencies in Africa as late as the 1960s.

AM-1 Mauler The Martin AM-1 carrier-based ground attack aircraft entered Navy service in 1948 after some teething problems during development.

The Mauler had four 20 mm cannons and fifteen underwing and fuselage hardpoints for weapons.

In 1950, the 151 aircraft built were reassigned to Naval Reserve squadrons, as the Navy had chosen the A D Sk y ra ider as its pr imar y carr ier attack aircraft. Fifteen Maulers designated AM-1Q were

later modified for electronic warfare. The Mauler was retired in 1953.

PO-1W Constellation The Lockheed PO-1W Constellation was designed to meet the Navy’s requirement for airborne early warning aircraft, or AEW aircraft, that could carry a large heavy radar and function as an airborne controller. Based on the Model 749 Constellation airliner, the PO-1W carried a crew of ten plus a relief crew. First flown in 1949, the two PO-1Ws were redesignated WV-1 in 1951.

They were flown in NATO maneuvers in 1951-52, but ended up serving as the prototype for the WV-2 Super Constellation.

TO-1 Shooting Star The Navy obtained three Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star fighters from the Air Force, fitted them with arrester hooks, and carried out carrier suitability trials in 1948. Fifty additional aircraft (similar to the one shown here) were used as operational fighter trainers by Navy and Marine Aviators. The aircraft was redesignated TV-1 in 1952 when the Navy changed the manufacturer letter identifier for Lockheed from O to V. P2V Neptune The Lockheed P2V Neptune, which began as a company-funded effort to develop a maritime patrol aircraft with good performance, long endurance, and a large armament load, was produced for nearly twenty years. More than 1,050 aircraft

were built, and the Neptune was flown by ten nations around the world well into the 1980s. During Operation Turtle in 1946, a Navy crew—with a kangaroo as a passenger—flew a P2V-1, nicknamed Truculent Turtle, direct from Perth, Australia, to Columbus, Ohio, setting a nonstop, unrefueled distance record.

The fifty-five hour and sixteen minute trip covered 11,236 statute miles.

P4M Mercator The Navy ordered the Lockheed P2V Neptune and the Martin P4M Mercator at the same time to fill a requirement for a new land-based, long-range maritime patrol aircraft. The P4M was one-third larger than the Neptune and was 100 mph faster when both its radial engines and jet engines were in operation. In 1951, all but one of the twentyone Mercators built were modified for electronic reconnaissance. They were redesignated P4M-1Q and were flown on clandestine missions to monitor radio and radar signals off the Russian and Chinese coasts. The P4M was retired in 1960.

XR6O Constitution The Lockheed XR6O-1 Constitution was a post-World War II effort to produce a large cargo and passenger transport. With a wingspan of nearly 190 feet and length of 156 feet, the Constitution could carry up to 204 passengers on its two decks. Delivered to VR-44 at NAS Alameda, California, in 1949, the two Constitutions served until 1953. Both were eventually scrapped.

PV-2 Harpoon

JRM Mars PO-1W Constellation

AM-1 Mauler

TO-1 Shooting Star

XR6O Constitution P4M Mercator

P2V Neptune

Vol. 26 No. 3 2011

33

TO-2 Shooting Star

R3Y Tradewind R7V-1 Super Constellation

P6M SeaMaster XF2Y/YF2Y SeaDart

WV-2 Warning Star R4Y Samaritan

P5M Marlin

TO-2 Shooting Star The Navy adopted the Air Force’s Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star jet trainer in 1949. A total of 699 aircraft were built and served as advanced and instrument trainers. The aircraft were redesignated as TV-2 in 1952 when the Navy changed the manufacturer letter identifier for Lockheed from O to V. The Shooting Star was used to train Navy and Marine Corps Aviators into the late 1960s.

R3Y Tradewind The Convair R3Y Tradewind was the only turboprop-powered flying boat to enter Navy service. The five R3Y-1s were flown by VR-2 at NAS Alameda, California, to f ly cargo in the Pacific. They replaced the squadron’s JRM Mars transports. The six R3Y-2s incorporated a noseloading cargo door to unload vehicles directly onto a beach. These aircraft were later modified for limited use as aerial tankers. The aircraft were grounded in 1958 and later scrapped.

P5M Marlin The larger Martin P5M-1, developed from the World War II PBM Mariner patrol seaplane, entered Navy service in late 1952, just missing service in the Korean War. The P5M-2, which featured upgraded antisubmarine warfare equipment and a new T-tail, entered service in 1954. Eventually, ten Navy squadrons flew the Marlin. All aircraft were redesignated as P-5 in 1962. In July 1968, the very last Navy flying boat, a Marlin, was officially retired.

A total of 287 aircraft were built, including four for the Coast Guard.

R7V-1 Super Constellation Fifty Lockheed R7 V-1 Super Constel lat ions were bu i lt for the Navy as cargo/personnel transports. The first aircraft was delivered in 1952, and many of these aircraft were later transferred to the US Air Force.

One R7 V served as the support aircraft for the

34

Code One

T2V SeaStar

RM-1

Navy Air Demonstration Squadron, the Blue Angels, before being replaced by the C-130. All remaining R7Vs were redesignated C-121 in 1962.

the Air Force as an interim aircraft between the retirement of the HU-16 Albatross and the delivery of the HU-25 in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

RM-1 The Coast Guard received two Martin 4-0-4 airliners for VIP transport in 1952. Designated RM-1G (later redesignated RM-1Z and then finally VC-3A in 1962), the aircraft were stationed with the Coast Guard detachment at National Airport outside of Washington, DC, and flown on support missions for Coast Guard headquarters and the Treasury Department. The aircraft, along with two VC-3As assigned to the Navy, were retired in 1969.

P6M SeaMaster The Martin P6M SeaMaster was a jet-powered seaplane patrol bomber designed primarily for nuclear attack. The SeaMaster was first flown in 1955. The aircraft program was cancelled in 1959 after the emergence of the supercarrier and sea-launched ballistic missiles. Including prototypes, a total of sixteen P6M aircraft were built. The SeaMaster project is also notable as the last Martin production aircraft—the experimental X-24 was the very last Martin aircraft—as the company shifted its focus to electronics and missiles in 1960.

XF2Y/ YF2Y SeaDart The idea of a mobile force with sea-based fighters that could be operated from sheltered waters attracted the Navy’s attention in the late 1940s. Development of what wou ld become the superson ic Conva ir X F2Y-1 Sea Dar t began in 1948. P ilots f ly ing this most unusual Navy fighter prototype landed and took off on retractable water skis. From 1953 to 1956, nearly 300 flights were made in the world’s only s up er s on ic s e apl a ne. T wo X F Y-1 prot ot y p e s were built—with one attrition—along with three YF2Y-1 development test aircraft, although two of the XF2Ys were never flown. Four SeaDarts that survived are now in museums.

R4Y Samaritan The Navy acquired thirty-six Convair R4Y transports, essentially the same as the Air Force’s C-131D Samaritan, starting in 1955. All but one aircraft were used for staff transport duties.

One aircraft was modified for use as an electronic countermeasures training aircraft at the Pacific Missile Test Center at Point Mugu, California. The Navy Samaritans were redesignated C-131Fs in 1962.

The Coast Guard used HC-131As transferred from

WV-2 Warning Star A total of 142 Lockheed W V-2 Warning Star a irborne early warning, or AEW, aircraft were delivered to the Navy beginning in 1955. Warning Stars equipped four squadrons, two on each coast of the US, until August 1965 when the AEW mission was transferred to land-based radars. The Warning Star f leet was cont i nua l ly upg raded over its ser v ice ca reer.

The aircraft were redesignated EC-121 in 1962.

O ne s p e c i a l ly mo d i f ie d a i rc ra f t rem a i ne d i n Navy service until 1982.

T2V SeaStar The Lockheed T2V-1, begun as a company-funded design effort to improve the T-33/ TO-2 jet trainer, featured a raised instructor cockpit and a boundary layer control system to help reduce takeoff and landing speeds. Intended as jet-powered carr ier deck tra iner, the SeaStar entered Nav y service at NAS Pensacola, Florida, in late 1957, and had only a very short operational service career.

The aircraft was redesignated T-1A in 1962. A total of 150 SeaStars were built.

XFV-1/XFY-1 ‘Pogo’ Lockheed and Convair were chosen to build competing prototypes for a Navy vertical takeoff and landing fighter in 1947.

Although both aircraft made vertical takeoffs and landings, only the Convair XFY-1 was able to make a full transition from vertical takeoff to horizontal flight to vertical landing. As the result of the later company mergers, both entrants in this Navy competition are now Lockheed Martin legacy products.

F-104 Starfighter Around 1960, a single example of the Lockheed F-104, the world’s first operational Mach 2 fighter, was evaluated by the Navy at the Naval Ordnance Test Station at China Lake, California, for jet aircraft performance and handling and AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missile test firings.

Landplanes On Deck The Navy has conducted several carrier operation tests with landplanes over the years. In 1949, a Lockheed P2V-3 Neptune was launched from the deck of the USS Midway (CV-41) using Jet-Assisted Takeoff, or JATO, bottles. The test was designed to show that a Navy land-based patrol aircraft could be launched from a carrier and u se d a s a p os s i ble nuclea r weap on s del iver y platform. In 1963, a Navy test crew flying a Marine Corps KC-130F tanker made twenty-one full-stop l a nd i ngs a nd t a keof fs f rom t he US S Forre stal (C VA-59) as a test of the Hercules as a carrier onboard delivery aircraft. In three separate sets of tests (1963, 1969, and 1972–73), a Lockheed U-2 was flown to and from a carrier. This photo shows a U-2R being readied for launch onboard the USS America (CV-66) in 1969.

P-3 Orion/EP-3 Aries The P-3 Orion, developed f rom t he Lock heed L-18 8 Elec t ra a i rl i ner a nd originally designated P3V-1, has served as the Navy’s frontline maritime patrol aircraft for nearly f if ty yea rs. F rom its in itia l com bat operations during the Cuban Missile Crisis tracking Russian freighters to overland targeting and reconnaissance in Afghanistan, the Orion has been used for a large number of missions, but primarily antisubmarine warfare during the Cold War. A number of P-3s were modified for a variety of electronic reconnaissance and electronic warfare missions. The first EP-3B entered service in 1969. A total of 550 P-3s were built for the Navy, and today there are twenty-one P-3 operators in sixteen countries.

S-3 Viking/ES-3A Shadow The Lockheed S-3 Viking was described as the Swiss Army Knife of Naval Aviation for good reason. From first flight in 1972 to frontline fleet retirement in 2009, the S-3 took on many roles with the Navy ranging from ca r r ier-ba sed a nt isu bma r i ne a nd a nt isu r face warfare; to carrier onboard delivery; to tanking; to electronic warfare; and, finally, to an intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance asset. The S-3 was only the second Lockheed aircraft designed to operate from a carrier. A major modification in the early 1990s led to the ES-3A Shadow, a carrier-based signals, communications, electronic surveillance, and electronic warfare platform. A total of 187 aircraft were built.

F-16 Fighting Falcon The Navy flew twentysix specially configured F-16N fighters from 1987

Landplanes On Deck: P2V-3

through 1995 as adversary aircraft to train fighter pilots in dissimilar aerial combat at several air stations. I n 20 02, the Nav y bega n f ly ing fourteen low flight hour Block 15 F-16As taken from desert storage in the same combat role at NAS Fallon, Nevada.

F-35 Lightning II The multiservice, multivariant, multirole F-35 Lightning II is a supersonic fighter designed to replace a variety of aging fighter and attack aircraft. It represents the first aircraft incorporating stealth technology to operate from the decks of the Navy’s carriers and amphibious assault ships. Current plans call for the Marine Corps to operate 340 F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing variants and eighty of the carrier-based F-35Cs, while the Navy will operate 260 F-35Cs. C-130 Hercules Over the course of its five decades of operation from Coast Guard, Marine Corps, and Naval Air Stations, the C-130 Hercules has been used for a wide variety of missions ranging from basic airlift to communicating with submerged submarines, to launching drones, to serving as the support aircraft for the Blue Angels, the US Navy’s F l ight Demonstrat ion Sq uad ron. But the roles the Hercules—and now the HC-130J and KC-130J Super Hercules—are probably best known for with the sea services are serving as a rescue platform with the Coast Guard, as a tanker for the Marine Corps, and for Antarctic resupply from the 1960s through the late 1990s with the Navy.

Jeff Rhodes is the associate editor of Code One.

Landplanes On Deck: KC-130F

Landplanes On Deck: U-2R F-16 Fighting Falcon XFV-1

XFY-1 ‘Pogo’

EP-3 ARIES

KC-130 Hercules and KC-130J Super Hercules

S-3 Viking

PHOTO BY TED CARLSON

PHOTO BY LCPL. KRISTOFER ATKINSON

F-104 Starfighter

LC-130 Ski-Herk

F-35 Lightning II PHOTO BY ROBERT O’DELL PHOTO BY MCS2 MEAGAN E. KLEIN

P-3 Orion ES-3A Shadow

PHOTO BY ANDY WOLFE

F-35 Lightning II

PHOTO BY ANDY WOLFE

HC-130 Hercules and HC-130J Super Hercules

PHOTO BY DAVE SILVA

Vol. 26 No. 3 2011

35

Bayonet Resolve The 37th Airlift Squadron at Ramstein AB, Germany, launched ten C-130J Super Hercules transports at one time during Exercise Bayonet Resolve on 5 October 2011. The C-130J crews took off from Ramstein after midnight and flew to Vicenza Army Base, Italy, to pick up nearly 800 Army Soldiers, thirty Polish Air Force jumpers, and a US Air Force Joint Terminal Air Control team. The C-130J crews then flew the 372 miles to the drop zone at Hohenfels AAF, Germany, in formation. Bayonet Resolve combined forces from several units at Ramstein with the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team from Vicenza Army Base, Italy, to exercise the interoperability, war readiness, and combat delivery capability of the US Air Force and the US Army.

PHOTO BY SRA STEPHEN J. OTERO

Super Galaxy 3.5 Testing of the first upgraded C-5M Super Galaxy transport began at the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB, California, in mid October. The aircraf t (Air Force serial number 85-0002) features the new Block 3.5 software, which introduces an enhanced Identification Friend or Foe Mode S enhanced surveillance capaPHOTO BY KENJI THULOWELL bility and thrust reverser modifications. The upgrade also introduces hardware changes. The C-5M already had Mode S elementary surveillance capability, but needed an upgrade to continue to operate in the crowded European theater. The upgrade increases the number of downlink airborne parameters available to air traffic control facilities. The C-5M, assigned to Dover AFB, Delaware, will be at Edwards for approximately two months. The test program will include approximately 100 flying hours.

Rewinged Norwegian P-3 Flown

PHOTO BY THOR STROMSNES

36

Code One

The first rewinged P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft for the Royal Norwegian Air Force was flown for the first time at the Halifax International Airport, Nova Scotia, Canada, on 1 August 2011. A Norwegian flight crew carried out the 3.7-hour flight and accomplished nearly all planned test objectives. The aircraft was returned to 333 Squadron at Andøya AS, Andenes, Norway, after two additional test flights.

This particular aircraft, a P-3N, is scheduled to deploy to Djibouti for Operation Atalanta, the European Union antipiracy mission in Somalia, by the end of 2011.

Plans call for the four Norwegian P-3Cs and two P-3Ns to receive the Mid-Life Upgrade kits, which are installed by IMP Aerospace in Halifax.

Dyess Departures . . .

. . . And Dyess Arrivals The sixth C-130J Super Hercules was delivered to Dyess AFB, Texas, on 8 September. Lt. Gen. Robert Allardice, 18th Air Force commander, flew the aircraft (Air Force serial number 08-3175) to its new home. The 317th Airlift Group at Dyess continues to transition to the C-130J with nine aircraft delivered as of mid October. By 2013, when Dyess is scheduled to receive its twenty-eighth C-130J, the base near Abilene will have the largest Super Hercules fleet in the Air Force. Officials at Dyess accepted the base’s first C-130A and C-130D models in 1961. The unit currently flies both C-130H and C-130J models.

PHOTO BY MSGT. JEFFREY ALLEN

The 317th Airlift Group at Dyess AFB, Texas, started the unit’s first overseas operational deployment with its C-130J Super Hercules transports on 6 September 2011. More than 150 Airmen also deployed to support the aircraft during operations in Southwest Asia. In theater, the C-130Js are being used for combat airlift, which includes high-altitude, low-opening Army parachute drops, equipment drops, and transportation of troops throughout the region. Airmen from the 317th AG have now been continuously deployed for nearly 2,900 days.

PHOTO BY TODD R. MCQUEEN

C-5M No. 3 Delivered

PHOTO BY DaVID KEY

The third production C-5M Super Galaxy was delivered to the US Air force on 24 August 2011 at the Lockheed Martin facility in Marietta, Georgia. This aircraft (Air Force serial number 85-0005) was flown to Stewart ANGB, New York, for internal paint restoration before being returned to its assigned base at Dover AFB, Delaware. This is the sixth C-5 to have undergone the Reliability Enhancement and Re-engining Program, or RERP, modifications. The first three aircraft were flown in the C-5M flight test program before entering the Air Force’s operational fleet. An additional three aircraft are currently on the RERP modification line. Current plans call for a total of fifty-two fully modernized C-5Ms by 2016.

Moroccan Delivery

Four Of A Kind

The first four of twenty-four F-16 Block 52 fighters produced for the Royal Moroccan Air Force were unveiled in ceremonies at Ben Guerrir AB, near Marrakech, Morocco, on 4 August 2011. Senior representatives from the governments of Morocco and the United States and from both air forces were present. The aircraft were flown from the Lockheed Martin facility in Fort Worth, Texas, on 1 August. The Kingdom of Morocco purchased the aircraft in 2009. The sale includes the aircraft, mission equipment, support equipment, alternate mission equipment, and a spares and technical support package. Morocco is the twenty-fifth nation to operate the F-16.

PHOTO BY THINH D. NGUYEN

Four C-130J Super Hercules airlifters were formally delivered to the State of Qatar in ceremonies at the Lockheed Martin facility in Marietta, Georgia, on 28 September 2011. The new aircraft, the longer fuselage variant of the C-130J, will be used for both military and humanitarian relief missions. The airlift fleet are scheduled to be ferried to Qatar, the first Middle East country to operate the C-130J, in October. The Qatar Emiri Air Force will also receive aircrew and maintenance training, spares, ground support and test equipment, and technical support specialists.

PHOTO BY DAVID DRAIS

Vol. 26 No. 3 2011

37

ROKAF Refuel Five US F-16 Fighting Falcon instructor pilots, including three from the US 35th Fighter Squadron at Kunsan AB, Korea, trained eight KF-16 pilots from the Republic of Korea Air Force, or ROKAF, in aerial refueling in September 2011. Over a two week period, the US instructor pilots flew thirty-eight sorties supported by KC-135 tanker crews from Kadena AB, Japan. Many ROKAF pilots have never flown any appreciable distance from the peninsula because South Korea does not operate any missionextending aerial tankers. By training ROKAF pilots in aerial refueling, Korea gains the ability to deploy as well as remain on station for a longer period of time using allied tankers. The ROKAF instructors trained in this bilateral operation will train future KF-16 pilots.

First Georgia-Built Center Wing T he f ir st F-35 center wing assembled at the Lockheed Martin facility in Marietta, Georgia, was shipped to the Lightning II final assembly line in Fort Worth, Texas, on 15 September 2011. The component is destined for the twentyfifth production aircraft, an F-35B for the US Marine Corps. The center wing, which weighs more than a ton, is approximately thirteen feet long and nineteen feet wide at its widest point. Center wing production occupies approximately 280,000 square feet of the Marietta facility’s 3.8 million square foot assembly building. When the currently planned peak production rate is reached in late 2015, the Marietta facility will employ more than 600 people and is scheduled to complete one center wing assembly per working day.

Misawa Air Fest

Final Student Flight

Two Japan Air Self-Defense Force, or JASDF, F-2 pilots take off during the thirty-second annual air fest at Misawa AB, Japan, on 4 September 2011. Approximately 100,000 attendees at the two-day show saw eight aerial demonstrations along with nineteen static displays of JASDF, US Air Force, US Navy, and privately owned aircraft.

PHOTO BY SRA CALEB PIERCE

A US Air Force C-130E Hercules passes under a water cannon arch after the crew completed the final student flight in the aircraft at the C-130 schoolhouse at Little Rock AFB, Arkansas, on 13 September 2011. The aircraft (Air Force serial number 62-1855) is the last C-130E in the 314th Airlift Wing inventory. The nearly fifty-year-old aircraft was retired to the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, on 20 September after its final flight.

38

Code One

PHOTO BY TSGT. MARIE BROWN

Water Treatment Royal New Zealand Air Force C-130H Hercules crews delivered a desalinization plant to the tiny Pacific island of Tuvalu on 10 October 2010 to help alleviate a severe fresh water shortage. A Royal Australian Air Force C-17 crew in New Zealand for training flew the water treatment equipment from Auckland to Apia, Samoa, where the equipment was broken down into smaller pieces.

The RNZAF C-130 crews then flew the sections to the short runway at the Tuvalu capital of Funafuti.

The New Zealand Army set up the desalinization units and began testing the cleanliness of the island’s water sources.

PHOTO BY AC MARIA OOSTERBAAN

Raptor Rollout

PHOTO BY JOHN ROSSINO

HARM Will Come To You

The last production Lot 9 F-22 Raptor was rolled off the production line at the Lockheed Martin facility in Marietta, Georgia, on 15 September 2011. This aircraft (Air Force serial number 09-4191) is scheduled for delivery to the 1st Fighter Wing at Langley AFB, Virginia. Two active duty squadrons, the 27th and 94th Fighter Squadrons, along with an Air National Guard associate unit, the 194th FS, fly the Raptors at Langley.

The final F-22—Raptor 195—is scheduled to come off the production line in late 2011.

Flag-Ship

In this image taken from high-speed recorders, an F-16 Fighting Falcon pilot launches an AGM-88 HARM at a ground target during a weapons system evaluation program, or WSEP, mission at Hill AFB, Utah, on 22 August 2011. The WSEP air-to-ground missions, called Combat Hammer, and air-to-air sorties, called Combat Archer, were part of an annual month-long weapons evaluation exercise held at Hill by the deployed 53rd Weapons Evaluation Group, which is based at Eglin AFB, Florida.

PHOTO BY SSGT. PHIL FOUNTAIN

The flagship for the 149th Fighter Wing, the Texas Air National Guard unit at Lackland AFB in San Antonio, was unveiled with a special livery on 1 October 2011. Known as the Lone Star Gunfighters, the 149th FW’s specialty scheme graphically shows the unit’s connection to the state of Texas and is part of a year-long celebration leading to the unit’s sixty-fifth anniversary in October 2012. Members of the 149th Aircraft Maintenance Group painted the aircraft at Homestead ARB, Florida, which is a regional aircraft painting facility. This F-16, called the Heritage Jet, will continue to be employed for pilot training. It will also become the aircraft of choice when the unit is requested to participate in airshows and flyovers.

Vol. 26 No. 3 2011

39

CBP No. 3 Delivered The third US Customs and Border Protection P-3 Orion to go through the Mid-Life Upgrade, or MLU, program was delivered on 23 August 2011 from the Lockheed Martin facility in Greenville, South Carolina.

The MLU kit, which includes new wings, replaces all fatigue-life-limiting structures with new components and incorporates a new corrosionresistant metal alloy. The MLU kit removes current aircraft flight restrictions and extends the structural service life of the P-3 up to 15,000 hours, adding more than twenty years of operational service. Currently, fourteen of the sixteen Customs P-3s are scheduled to receive the MLU kit. Deliveries will run through 2015. To date, six operators from four nations have ordered seventy-one MLU kits.

Air Mobility Rodeo 2011

Lug A Bug

PHOTO BY TSGT. CHAD CHISHOLM

PHOTO BY SRA DAVID CARBAJAL

The 314th Airlift Wing, the C-130 unit at Little Rock AFB, Arkansas, claimed top prize at Air Mobility Rodeo 2011, the worldwide airlift competition held at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, on 25–29 July 2011.

The Knucklebuster Award, which recognizes the maintenance team with the highest standards of professionalism, dedication, and mutual respect for competitors, went to the 439th Airlift Wing, the C-5 unit at Westover ARB, Massachusetts. The team from Dover AFB, Delaware, claimed eight awards, including Best C-5 Wing and Best Airland Wing. The Little Rock C-130 team (shown here) took top honors in six categories, including Best Overall Wing, Best Airdrop Wing, and Best C-130 Wing. The C-130 team from Belgium won the Best International Team award.

A C-5B Galaxy crew from the 60th Air Mobility Wing at Travis AFB, California, loaded a damaged US Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, on 18 August 2011 to fly the fighter to the Fleet Readiness Center Southwest at NAS North Island, San Diego, California.

While supporting Operation Enduring Freedom in March, the Super Hornet experienced malfunctions that caused the pilot to divert to Kandahar Airfield. The aircraft experienced hot brakes on landing and subsequently caught fire. The fire was extinguished, but the fighter’s right fuselage was severely damaged. Navy officials noted that having the F/A-18 transported back to the United States and repaired will cost considerably less than replacing the aircraft.

Operation Slipper Milestone

PHOTO BY LT. COL. MICHAEL HARRIS

40

Code One

The Royal Australian Air Force’s AP-3C Orion detachment at Al Minhad AB in the United Arab Emirates reached 20,000 operational hours in support of operations in the Middle East on 15 August 2011 during an overland mission in search of insurgents in southern Afghanistan. The AP-3C aircraft are deployed from RAAF Edinburgh, near Adelaide, South Australia. Approximately 2,800 RAAF personnel have deployed in support of AP-3C operations in the Middle East since 2003. In addition to Operation Slipper, Australian Defence Force operations in Afghanistan, the deployed P-3 crews are also supporting the International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF, mission to the Indian Ocean off East Africa in support of maritime security and counterpiracy operations.

Historic Hercules Retired

Photo By MICHELLE GIGANTE

A C-130E Hercules that saw one of the greatest feats of airmanship during the Vietnam War was retired at the National Museum of the US Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, on 18 August 2011. During an ammunition delivery mission to An Loc, South Vietnam, on 15 April 1972, the aircraft (Air Force serial number 62-1787) was severely damaged by ground fire. The loadmaster, SSgt. Charlie Shaub, jettisoned the burning cargo and extinguished the fire. The pilot, Capt. William Caldwell, flew the aircraft and landed on two engines. Both crewmembers were awarded the Air Force Cross for their actions. The C-130 was last assigned to the 189th Airlift Wing, the Arkansas Air National Guard unit at Little Rock AFB.

Historic Herk To Robins A US Air Force C-130E Hercules that was flown during Operation Red Dragon, the rescue of civilian hostages in Stanleyville, Republic of Congo, in 1964, was retired to the Museum of Aviation at Robins AFB, Georgia, on 6 September 2011. On 23 November 1964, seven months after this aircraft (Air Force serial number 63-7868) was delivered, it and several other C-130s were used to drop more than 300 UN paratroopers who then over-powered Simba rebels at the Victoria Hotel in Stanleyville and freed the hostages. In later flights, more than 2,000 civilians were flown to safe haven in Leopoldville.

The aircraft, which took small arms fire during its first rescue flight out of Stanleyville, went on display in October.

In Memoriam – Dave Ferguson

Lightning And Lightning II

Lockheed test pilot Dave Ferguson passed away on 10 August 2011 after a long battle with cancer. He was seventy-two. Ferguson flew the first flight and carried out initial airworthiness tests on the YF-22, the F-22 Raptor prototype, in 1990. Previously, he flew as test pilot on the F-117 program and was the second company pilot to fly the Nighthawk. After flying combat missions in Vietnam and an eight-year stint as an Air Force test pilot, Ferguson joined the company in 1979. He retired as director of flight test in 1999. He was a two-time recipient of the Iven C. Kincheloe Award, the highest honor given by the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, for his work with the F-117 and YF-22.

Photo By PAUL WEATHERMAN

With a backdrop of both a P-38 Lightning and an F-35A Lightning II, four World War II pilots spoke about their flying experiences before a crowd gathered at the F-35 test force hangar at Edwards AFB, California, on 3 October 2011. Bill Behrns, Frank Hurlbut, Bert Torrey, and Sandy Willford, all P-38 pilots during World War II, shared their stories and feelings about the first Lockheed Lightning. Willford noted that a 1939 newsreel of a P-38 convinced him to become an aviation cadet and fly that particular aircraft type. Lt. Col. George Griffiths, the commander of 461st Flight Test Squadron, welcomed the veterans and spoke about the significance of this event.

Photo By DENNY LOMBARD