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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 0220.PDF
218 FLIGHT, 24 February 1956 Tfi« doughty team of pilots who mode possible the air-to-air pictures overleaf. They were (I. to r.) Lt. D. A Vogt, Lt. A. H Uhalt, Lt. H. A. Chapman and Capt. R. Palumbo, pilot of the photographic T-33. The Black Knights of Keflavik Icelandic Government and the United States, civil airlines, bothAmerican and European, use it as a refuelling stop. The long headland on which Keflavik stands is, in contrast withthe rest of the island, a rather bleak locality. There are no trees, few roads, little grass and almost constant rain accompanied by abiting wind. Here, in a lonely "Little America", United States servicemen serve a one-year tour of duty. Building restrictions,established to maintain the stability of the Icelandic economy, limit construction work. However, the Quonset huts and barrackblocks which line the pitted, muddy, lava-gravel roads, are all comfortably heated and most recreation centres are served by thelocal American radio and television stations. The American pilots at Keflavik have decided views on localweather—views which we would not go so far as to repeat word for word in these columns. Col. S. E. Manzo, CommanderIceland Air Defence Force, defined it as hazardous, particularly in view of the fact that the F-89 Scorpions of the 57th FighterIntercepter Squadron, at any rate, have no usable diversions. Three of the strips on the island are considered possibly justlong enough for a belly landing and it was thought that an F-89 might just get into Reykjavik. Due to sudden changes in theweather it is not unknown for Scorpion pilots to have to land in "zero zero" conditions. Their only comfort is in the ex-tremely efficient G.C.A., but I.L.S. is being added. Flight recently visited the 57th Squadron. In the chilly twi-light of the morning after our arrival, photographer L. W. McLaren and I were driven across the muddy mile of lava whichseparated the oasis of the 57th's alert area from the urban civilization of the airport terminal. To the average Englishman the installations of the alert areamight seem over-elaborate; but they are vital if aircraft are to be instantly ready for take-off at all hours of the day or night inan intemperate climate. In special hangars the "alert" aircraft are sheltered in heated and insulated chambers between two ofwhich nestles what is called the "hot room". When the scramble is called, the "alert" crew, already dressed and briefed,rush from the "hot room" to the aircraft waiting in the hangar. Engines are started, and at the same time the walls before andbehind the aircraft swing up into the roof on enormous counter- balanced supports, so that the pilot can immediately taxi out ontoa short stretch of taxi-way leading straight to the runway. In the "hot room" itself there are full cooking facilities andaccommodation to lodge the air- and ground-crews of the alert aircraft for 24 hours. Personnel spend 24 hr on alert, 24 hrresting and 24 hr on continuation training. In the forward face of the block is a small glazed balcony from which the wholearea is visible. Landline and F.M./V.H.F. communications are available between the room and the local radar G.C.I, station,the hangars downstairs and the squadron apron less than 100 yd away. In addition, the aircraft control channels can be selectedon a U.H.F. radio in the room, so that during an interception those on the ground can listen to events in the air. When thescramble order comes through, the duty controller presses a switch; hooters and warblers sound all over the building, everylight is automatically turned on and everything is prepared for the rapid get-away. It is the squadron's duty to intercept every unidentified aircraftentering the area, and this includes all scheduled aircraft which stray more than 20 miles or ten minutes from their stated flight-plans. Navigation over sea in the Iceland Area being what it is, numbers of aircraft do stray and have to be intercepted; the Inside one of the "alert" hangars, a Scorpion is ready to go of a moment's notice. In cold weather or at night the two end-doors are swung down and the interior heated. The crews come from the "hot room" next door where they spend their 24-hour period of readiness. 57th Squadron averages 40 scrambles a month. And these areall serious identification flights with loaded guns, in case a "Pearl Harbour" stroke should be at hand. The task of positive identifi-cation continues day and night. In pitch darkness the Scorpion pilot must close right in with the aid of radar and, while heflies close formation on the strange aircraft, the radar operator shines a torch at its fin so that he can read and report theregistration number. Almost as soon as McLaren and I reached the "hot room"rhe scramble hooters sounded their querulous squeal and the air was filled with the rustle and thump of poopy-suited aircrewmoving fast. (Poopy-suit is the American nickname for survival suit. A ditching or a bale-out over the local area would bechilly, to say the least, and this monstrous suit, a porous canvas one-piece garment, with integral boots, which seals up whenimmersed in water, is a necessity.) Thus attired, the crew of the first alert aircraft heaved themselves up to the high cockpit oftheir Scorpion and blasted off down to the runway. We, for our part, stayed in the warmth of the "hot room" (hot refers to alert-ness rather than temperature, but it was nevertheless very well heated) and listened to the radio conversation as the Scorpionclimbed out to sea. We felt a little uneasy, wondering for a moment whether this might not really be something. Everyonelistened carefully, though with no outward sign of undue in- terest, as the moment of interception drew near. Soon the pilot called "I've got a Judy" which, I was told,meant that he had a firm radar contact; and we listened intently for the next call. When it came it was, to my untutored ears,enigmatic in the extreme. It was simply "It's a Baker two bits", and while everybody said "Oh him!" I puzzled this seemingcode message. But the tension had eased and it was soon ex- plained that "two bits" meant 25, Baker thus identifying thestranger as a B-25. This was apparently a hack aircraft operated from Keflavik, and we saw it land some time later. It carriedno armament, and its smooth plain metal contours were broken only by the plastic dome which, situated between the fins, had inwartime housed a tail-gunner. Since it was McLaren's purpose to obtain the air-to-air pic-tures reproduced with this article, we were offered Baker two-bits as a photographic aircraft; but we chose a T-33 instead, sincethe B-25 is a little slow-moving and gives a rather limited field of view for our purposes. While the photographic flight was being planned we talkedwith the squadron's commander, Lt-Col. F. B. Whitlow; but before long the hooters went again and once more the alert crewmade their dash for the stairs. This time a fault developed in the alert aircraft and the stand-by machine and crew were rushedinto action. Despite the delay they were airborne within six minutes of the first call. This must be something of a dog's life, for the whole operationis essentially aimed at one remote eventuality—the arrival of a true "hostile"; yet so often the tension must be raised and thefull hustle of operational flying built up when the chances of real trouble are obviously remote. But the crews take this intheir stride. All day they wait in the assorted and colourful flying clothing which has become so much a part of Americanaviation. Morale is high and skill and experience are not lack- ing. Almost every one of the crews has previous experience inall-weather F-86s or F-94s, and for many the return to the early F-89 with its "steam radar" is a distinct step down from collision-course interception, which is used by almost every other U.S.A.F. squadron. But soon after our visit the 57th expected to receiveits first F-89D with rocket armament and collision course fire- control. Then they would face the initial difficulties of servicingthe new complicated electronic gear, and Capt. Raymond Waski, their flying engineer officer (he had some thousand hours onF-89s already) was already preparing for his new charges. To minister to our photographic requirements, the squadron
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