RF-84K #52-7278

In the opening days of the Korean War, the United States sent the venerable B-29 to bomb targets in North Korea during the day.  The B-29 was not the biggest stick in our tool box, but the powers that were decided it was big enough.  It was armed with up to ten .50 caliber machine guns as defense against fighters.  It should have been enough against a small country like Korea, which had been occupied by the Japanese during WWII.

We didn’t count on the help offered to the North Koreans by the Soviets, however.  The new MiG-15, a jet of similar capabilities to our own F-86, was sent from the Soviet Union to help the North Koreans.  These jets tore our beloved B-29s to pieces in the few daylight raids they made.  The gun turrets on the B-29 were designed in WWII when aircraft MIGHT be expected to reach speeds of four or, on a good day with a tail wind, five hundred miles per hour.  The turrets could not turn fast enough to keep up with the Soviet fighters. 

So we sent fighter escorts.  We did not even have our best fighters over there at first.  Our shiny new Saber Jets were sitting on alert, waiting to shoot down Soviet Bombers we KNEW were coming, back at home.    So, the P-51 and the F-4U and the F-80 had to make do with attempting to defend the bombers.  They eventually sent the bombers at night.  That helped.

The B-36, the unheralded GIANT of the Cold War, was designed to fly great distances to another continent to deliver huge payloads.  It had six piston engines that would drive it along at high altitude at a ground speed of somewhat less than three hundred miles an hour.  As the 1950s began, it became obvious that such a slow bomber might be vulnerable to the new jets.  They had the B-29 as proof.  Many ideas were floated concerning how to protect the huge bombers. 

They ended up putting jet pods on the B-36 to give it a better dash capability.  With the extra engines came the apt phrase, “Six turning and four burning.”  The B-36s defensive armament consisted of 20 mm machine gun turrets situated around the aircraft stowed in gun wells and faired over when not in use.  When the need arose, the doors slid aside and the turrets folded out and then tracked the target.

Still, it was felt they needed something else to get them safely into and out of Soviet air space.  Jet fighters of the era could not fly the long distances that the bombers were capable of flying.  They finally hit upon taking their own fighter cover with them.  The B-36 was so big they figured it would not be very hard to put a small fighter in a bomb bay and launch the fighter when in enemy air space to defend the bomber.  When the threat was gone, it would come back and link up with its parent aircraft and head for home.  The bombers WOULD get through!  Or that was the intent.

It was called FICON, or FIghter CONveyor.  The Air Force had developed a midget fighter to do the job.  Basically the pilot was riding a jet engine with guns and stubby wings.  The XF-85 Goblin did not go into production (but you can see an example at the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio).  What really ended up happening was they ended up going with the F-84.  Since the F-84 was NOT an even match for the MiG, the Air Force decided the pair might make a successful recon duo.  (A gentleman on one of the forums mentioned also that there was a nuclear mission included in this, too.  The F-84 would deliver the weapon and/or take photos and return to the mothership)  They took the reconnaissance model of the F-84F thunderjet and modified it so it could hook up with a trapeze that was extended from the bomber.  They had to angle the horizontal stabilizers down, though, so it would fit in the bomb bay better.  The RF-84K was born. 

The mothership was designated a GRB-36, the R referring to its reconnaissance capability, the same as its jet powered offspring.  Instead of using this pair to bomb and fight, which may or may not have worked,     FICON allowed the SPEED of a fighter to collect intelligence, but with the range of a bomber.   

They became operational in 1954 and were stationed in Washington State.  There were only ten GRB-36s built and there were only 25 RF-84Ks built.  The GRB-36s were stationed at Fairchild AFB near Spokane.  The RF-84Ks were stationed at Larson AFB near Moses Lake, Washington.  The units were deactivated in 1955, so their operational life covered only a short time.  The RF-84Ks went on to operate as normal parts of the recon force.  Washington State was the only place these strange pairs were stationed (that we know of).

There were only 25 RF-84Ks built.  From three or four remain today.  Numbers #52-7256, #52-7265, and #52-7266 are in the USAF Museum, Planes of Fame Museum, and the Wings Over the Rockies Air Museum.  There is some evidence that one other has survived, but I have not been able to substantiate that information.  At least one RF-84K crashed.  It crashed AFTER FICON operations were discontinued. 

It was the Ides of March that Caesar was warned to beware of; perhaps 1^st Lieutenant William Hackett should have heeded the same warning, for it was March 15^th when he exited his RF-84K in an unusual way: via ejection seat.

On the morning of March 15, 1957, at Larson Air Force Base, near Moses Lake, Washington, Captain Edward R. Dixon and First Lieutenant William Maurice Hackett stepped out onto the tarmac from the operations shack to go to their respective aircraft.  It was cool out, but at 45 degrees not too cold.  Each went through their pre-flights and checklists.  They had filed a DD Form 175, for a flight of two RF-84Ks using Instrument Flight Rules, call sign Pony 97, for a local area flight. 

As they taxied out for a 1045 PST takeoff, Captain Dixon experienced radio difficulties and cancelled the IFR clearance.  He told Hackett to go ahead and take off.  With the intent of eventually joining Hackett, he returned for a spare aircraft.  This time, in aircraft #52-7272, Dixon rendezvoused with Hackett at 1135 PST and they continued their flight. 

They flew to the vicinity of the Spokane Low Frequency Radio and tried to contact Geiger AFB to practice a Ground Control Approach.  This would see them follow Ground Control’s instructions to approach Geiger field.   They had come around to a position East of Geiger AFB.  They were going to approach runway 25 at Geiger AFB.  This was not to be, though. 

At about 1200 PST, Hackett felt something was wrong with his aircraft.  He lost thrust.  The tachometer dropped from 86% to 0% RPM.   The engine flamed out.  Hackett began procedures to restart.  This didn’t work.  He tried it with the emergency fuel system.  It didn’t work.  He decided to attempt a dead stick landing at Felts Field, which was closer, but at a different angle.  He would have to come north to line up with the runway.  Dixon flew his wing and likely made observations in an attempt to render assistance to Hackett and aid rescuers in locating him.

He realized he was too low, though, and turned away from populated areas before he ejected.  The aircraft was on a northward track when it hit the bluffs above the Spokane River.  Hackett’s chute took him about a half mile Southwest of his aircraft.  Elvetta Phillips said it looked as though the bluff, “was exploding in a volcanic eruption.”  “Bright red flames and black smoke shot several hundred feet into the air following the crash,” says the Spokane Daily Chronicle article of March 15.  Phillips, a reporter for the Chronicle witnessed the crash with C. Wesley Cameron, a photographer for the Chronicle.  Cameron took photos, one of which ended up in the official air force report.

A view of the smoke rising from the crash site near the Riblet House.

Royal Riblet and Al Drake saw the crash.  Riblet was just outside his house.  Drake was working on a pipeline at the top of the hill.  Both men were about 500 feet from the crash site.  Drake ran to the aircraft to attempt to find the pilot.  When he found no evidence of the pilot he, “got right out of the area.”  The flaming aircraft caused fires along the hill.  Riblet described the crash: “The plane hit the bluff, bounced upward and seemed to explode into millions of pieces.”  Local fire departments were dispatched to the scene.  The explosion shook the windows of houses a mile away.

Witnesses stated that Hackett’s chute had not been open very long before he hit the ground.  Hackett was rushed to Geiger AFB.   He was listed as having major injuries in the accident report.  Among his injuries was a sprained or dislocated left humorous and abrasions or contusions.  He landed with a force estimated as similar to a drop of 16 to 20 feet.  His orientation was forward and swinging.  He left the aircraft when it was traveling at about 190 kts.  He was wearing a P-4 helmet with the visor down.  His descent was arrested by power lines.  When he tried to shake himself free, the lines swung and shorted out, burning through the canopy.  This caused a power outage in the Milwood and Opportunity areas for about 45 minutes.   

 #52-7278 was the last RF-84K built.  It was accepted by the Air Force on November 30, 1955.  Given that operations of RF-84Ks and GRB-36s were discontinued late in 1955, it seems unlikely that #7278 ever actually mated with a GRB-36 in flight.  The airframe had 231 hours on it.  The Engine, a J-65, had 216 hours on it.  It had last been installed and inspected only nine hours run time previously.  Though it had never been overhauled, it was considered a new engine.  Hackett had flown with the engine stabilized at 86% for twenty minutes before it flamed out.  The engine and other parts were recovered and sent to MAAMA (Middletown Air Material Area) for testing.  The results are unknown. 

When F-84s first became operational, the engines were overhauled at much shorter intervals.  As operations progressed so did the operational parameters of the engines.  What caused the flameout?  Was it hardware related?  Was it fuel related?  Other reports I possess have had laboratory results giving the properties of the fuel.  This report does not.  Until I find information that says one way or another, I am forced to admit I do not know.

The RF-84K was a relic of a time when jet aircraft had short ranges that needed to be extended to become successful in combat operations.  The F-84 was used in Korea, but Korea was a small country.  What if you want to bomb targets in Soviet Russia?  Or take photos?  You need the extra range.  The FICON project was an ingenuous solution to this problem.  It was not the only solution, though.  Eventually, in-flight refueling became an everyday occurrence; extending aircraft ranges the world over.  The Lockheed U-2 had a tremendous unrefueled range, due in part to its phenomenal design and ability to fly at the edge of the atmosphere where the air does not cause as much drag. 

The FICON project has a unique place in the History of Flight.  The fact that the operational units involved were based in Washington State is something that is worthy of note!

Curious about the RF-84K?  Or other things mentioned here?  Checkout some of my sources:

Wings Over The Rockies Museum

http://www.wingsmuseum.org/exhibit_thunderflash.asp

Air Force Museum

http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=4659

Short mention of recon use

http://www.rb-29.net/HTML/77ColdWarStory/04.01auaun.htm

A nice article on FICON

http://airlandseaweapons.devhub.com/blog/2009/09/21/flying-aircraft-carriers-of-the-usaf-project-ficon-1

Planes of Fame Photos of 7265

http://www.warbird-photos.com/coldwarrecon-1-8-05/index.html

Spokane Daily Chronicle

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-JISAAAAIBAJ&sjid=7_YDAAAAIBAJ&dq=air%20force%20fighter%20pilot%20spokane&pg=5838%2C3584292

USAF Accident Report for #52-7278.

B-52D #55-098 and KC-135 #59-1523 Meet Over Montana

During the Cold War, the men of the Strategic Air Command manned two of the three parts of the Nuclear Triad (SAC Bombers and ICBM Crews). Aircraft and crews spent a certain amount of time on Alert, that is, waiting for the klaxon to sound so they could run to their aircraft and go drop warshots on the Soviet Union. After their stint on alert, they would have some time off for crew rest, then they would be called upon to practice parts of their missions a few times a month. These would be things expected of them if they were ever called to war. If they had ever been called upon to fly to the Soviet Union, they could expect to do long range navigation, air refueling, and radar bombing, among other things. Their training, likewise, included such things.

A normal training mission might include a take off from the home base, a high altitude navigation leg, air refueling, a mock-radar bombing run, sometimes on our own cities, then a low altitude navigation leg, followed by a few pilot proficiency touch and goes. Larson AFB, just on the edge of Moses Lake, Washington, became a SAC base toward the last part of its time as an active military base. B-52s of the 327th Squadron of the 4170th Strategic Wing of the 18th Division of the 15th Air Force were stationed there. Men at Larson had the same missions as B-52 men everywhere.

In the early morning hours of December 15th, 1960, pilot Captain Thomas J. Campbell and his crew began preflight briefings which ended with a ride to the flight line and final preflight of B-52D #55-098. the ground crew would likely have been working on it since sometime around midnight. With the successful start of all eight J-57 turbojets, the bird, call sign Smite 15, taxied to the end of the runway for take off.

Departure was at 0850 PST for what was described as a "Combat Crew Training Mission." This included a rendevous with a KC-135 for inflight refueling in the "Bart's Rock High Altitude Refueling Area." This area would appear to be near the Canadian Border over North Western Montana. Refueling, in this case, would probably have been a few practice hook-ups and transfer of a minimum amount of fuel, since the B-52 had 194,000 lbs of fuel aboard at takeoff, enough for 16 hours of flight. The planned mission was for only about 8 and 1/2 hours.

Using the onboard radar suite, the Electronic Warfare Officer or the Radar Navigator made contact with KC-135 #59-1523 at a range of 60 miles. The KC-135 had flown out of McChord AFB, Washington, having departed at 0820PST. The KC-135, call sign Shore 11, had a fuel load of 126,000 lbs aboard, and, according to the DD Form 175, could have remained airborne for 10 hours.

When the range between the two aircraft was 6 miles, Smite 15 was directly behind the Shore 11. Altitude was 31,000 feet ASL. When the range had closed to 1/4 mile closure rate was determined to be excessive. Captain Campbell closed the throttles to prevent an overrun. He was not successful. The B-52 collided with the KC-135 from behind. It would appear, after examining the report photos, that the B-52 hit the flying boom and possibly the lower rear fuselage of the KC-135 with its right wing.

On board Shore 11, the boom operator established visual contact with Smite 15 at 1/2 mile. At 1/4 mile Smite 15 climbed out of the boom operator's field of vision. He cautioned Smite 15 to slow closure rate. The next visual contact the boom operator had was immediately pior to impact.

After separation and damage assessment, Smite 15 was considered to be airworthy and the crew immediately set course for Larson (Bad enough that the pilot suffered a mid-air collision, but having to land at another base surely seems like it would have lowered the pilot's chances of flying again...though this is only conjecture. It is possible, given SAC's standards, that the pilot would have suffered that fate anyway, there is no record of that in this accident report, however.). Descent, approach, and landing were normal. Near the end of the landing roll, at a speed of about 20 knots, however, disaster struck. The right wing separated from the aircraft in the vicinity of the damaged area. This separation provided fuel and ignition sources for the fire that subsequently destroyed the aircraft. All personell successfully evacuated the aircraft, though some injuries were suffered.

Shore 11 had begun its return to McChord AFB when the crew was instructed to land at Fairchild AFB. A T-33 was scrambled to do an inflight damaged assessment. Approach and landing were made without incident. All men aboard Shore 11 were uninjured by the escapade.

Here is the crew list for this mission:

B-52D #55-098

Captain Thomas J. Campbell, Instructor Pilot. (He is listed as sustaining minor injury.)
Captain Clifford L. Fonsess, Co-pilot. (Minor injury.)
Major Wayne D. Waller, Aircraft Commander. (He is listed as sustaining minor injury.)
Major David Kisong Eum, Electronic Warfre Officer. (Spelling is in question as the report is difficult to read. He is listed as sustaining major injury.)
Major Leonard Carmell, Radar Navigator.
Captain Glen M. Bird, Navigator.
Captain Robert W. Covarrubias, Navigator
First Lieutenant Basil Ciriello, Instructr Navigator (I-N is what is listed, and usually stands for Instructor Navigator, yet, given this man's rank, it would appear he was either from one of the "NEW" SAC crews or in some other way different. If someone knows for sure, I would appreciate an e-mail.)
Captain William C. Lane, Navigator. (It seems there were a lot of navigators on this ship, though the R-N was also probably the bombadier. Still if anyone has some clarification for this drop me an e-mail.)
Master Sergeant Henry W. Olschner, Gunner. (The tail gunner was physically separated from the rest of the crew on all B-52 models until the advent of the B-52G. In case of bail out, he would have jettisoned the tail turret and stepped out into space pulling his ripcord. He is listed as having sustained major injuries)

KC-135A #59-1523

Captain Warren H. Williams, Instructor Pilot.
Captain Charles L. Buechele, Pilot.
First Lieutenant Eugene A. Hendricks, Copilot.
Captain Jack W. R. Peters, Instructor Navigator.
First Lieutenant John C. Hall, Navigator.
Technical Sergeant Charles E. Cade, Instructor Boom Operator.
Staff Sergeant Martin W. Gunder, Boom Operator.

Larson AFB

Larson AFB was home to several things over the years. In the last years of its service, it was a SAC Base. But just before that it was home to a few squadrons of interceptors. A specimen of which is pictured below. Pictured is an F-86L Sabre, also called the Dog model by some...I assume due to its snout like apearance. I have other photos, but photoshopped this one to look old...and/or just artsy...

Exercise Coulee Crest

This is a request to the vast numbers of blog readers: Please ask your friends, grandparents, uncles, and anyone else: “What do you know about Exercise Coulee Crest?”

This is what I know: It was a large exercise concerning USSTRICOM, or United States Strike Command. It happened in Washington State, and involved the transport of military personnel from other parts of the United States. Douglass C-133 Cargomasters and C-124 Globemaster IIs were used in the transport of troops and equipment. It happened during April and May of 1963. I also know there was an army aircraft, which I assume was a helicopter, that crashed about 8 miles North of Ellensburg Washington after striking a power line while it was conducting reconnaissance for Exercise Coulee Crest.

I also know that a few first hand witnesses have described to me personally a large exercise that involved the military “capturing” the city of Moxee. They recall large movements of men and material. They usually date it to the late 1950s or early 1960s. Descriptions usually involve army jeeps armed with machine guns sitting on the corners of the town of Moxee. Yet Another witness described camps on the south side of the ridge, and noted that 2 1/2 ton trucks would pull up to the store and buy all the beer on hand. One of the witnesses also stated that Air Force aircraft also made a showing. His description seemed to indicate a Douglas A-1 Skyraider. There is a picture of an EB-66 at Larson AFB supposedly participating in the exercise, see below.

Here are my questions: Did the C-133s land in Yakima, at Larson, or McChord? What about the C-124s? How many troops were involved? Where are the photos of this operation? Where is the helicopter that went down? I am sure there are others questions that I might think of later. Does anyone out there know about this operation?