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Aviation History
1961
1961 - 0433.PDF
A McDonnell F-IOI Voodoo of the 78th Tactical Fighter Sqn, flown by Copt Dudley j. Foster, gets airborne from RAF Woodbridge VOODOOISM IN SUFFOLK USAF 81st Tactical Fighter Wing Training—in the UK and Africa Text by Humphrey Wynn "Flight" photographs by Ian Macdonald AROUND teatime on the narrow Suffolk roads leading toZ\ Woodbridge and thence to Ipswich you may observe the •*• fairly exotic sight (for the countryside) of a traffic-jam.British, American and German cars lie nose-to-tail, most of them with one occupant: a member of the United States Air Forcewearing some variation of basic pale-green working uniform, with either windcheater jacket or fur collar or peaked baseball-style cap,sometimes smoking a cigar. These car queues form when the working-day ends at the twoUSAF bases at RAF Bentwaters and Woodbridge. With nearly 3,000 personnel, only a proportion of whom live in quarters, thereare quite a lot of people wanting to get home. Above the slowly moving cars (the route towards the A12 and Ipswich is complicatedby a level-crossing) you may see the black exhaust trails of the Pratt & Whitney J57s in a McDonnell F-101 Voodoo coming into land at one of the two airfields. These are only three miles apart and both are used by the 81st Tactical Fighter Wing, only unit inthe United States Air Force to be equipped with the tactical fighter version of the McDonnell F-101 Voodoo. The wing's headquarters are at Bentwaters and it controls threesquadrons, the 78th (Bushmasters) at Woodbridge and the 91st (Blue Streak) and 92nd (Avenger) at the h.q. station. All the aircraftused by the squadrons are F-101 A or F-101 C fighter-bombers; the only outward difference is in the colouring of their tails: the 91stand 92nd wear blue and yellow respectively, the 78th red. In official terms the mission of the wing is "to conduct special operationsagainst aggressor forces in Europe in support of NATO, as directed by Headquarters, Third Air Force." Bentwaters airfield had a late wartime existence as a fighterstation (it was opened on December 13, 1944) and was handed over to the USAF in 1951. This date coincided with the arrival in theUnited Kingdom of the 81st Wing, then an F-84 unit; the F-lOls with which it is now equipped have been in USAF squadronservice since May 1957. Woodbridge, which has a 9,000ft runway (with two over-runs, each of 900ft), was opened in November 1943and used as a wartime emergency landing ground for British and American aircraft. By the end of June 1945 there had been 4,120emergency landings there. Construction of the airfield involved the felling of over a million and a half trees. Both the F-101A and F-101C have Pratt & Whitney J57-P-13engines with afterburner, giving a total thrust of some 30,0001b. The only difference between the two marks is that the C has been strengthened for low-level fighter-bomber operations; it carries apylon and crutch for nuclear weapons under the fuselage, between two 450 US gal external tanks. Both types have three 20mm cannon,one of the original four guns having been removed to house TACAN equipment. The Voodoo is a "one of a kind" fighter, equipped to find its wayto a target at low or high level, to destroy that target with a nuclear weapon and if necessary to defend itself against other aircraft.Training at Bentwaters and Woodbridge is therefore planned with two main purposes: locating a target, and destroying it by an over-the-shoulder bombing technique. Squadron pilots (many of whom have previously been on F-lOOs) do long cross-countries at lowaltitudes, each sortie lasting about 2hr, or longer if the Voodoo is flight-refuelled. They practise bombing on the Jurby (Isle of Man)range and also out in Libya, from Wheelus Air Base, the USAFE Weapons Centre. The training period is divided into four phases,and each pilot may have done as much as lOOhr practice flying before being considered in a state of "combat readiness." The 81st Wing is commanded by Col Eugene L. Strickland, asoft-spoken Texan who during the war served with the Chinese- American Composite Wing. His deputy is Col William C. Clarkand the three squadron commanders are Lt-Col John Burns (92nd), Maj Jack Lincoln (91st) and Lt-Col Pete Stuyvesant (78th). A visitor to Bentwaters, if he arrives by road and not by air, maybe excused if at first he fails to find the main entrance to the station. There is no gateway and guardroom in formal RAF style, rather astate of inconspicuous uniformity about the buildings. (There is a great deal more domestic accommodation at Woodbridge.) Bent-waters looks like a place geared to military effort; its wartime construction is still plainly evident. In Col Strickland's office, andother headquarters buildings, there is some compensation for the drab exterior: flowers planted in a bed raised on a low wall enhancethe entrance vestibule. In the Officers' Club the restaurant is bright with women's voices (there are 4,900 dependents of the 3,000 USAFpersonnel at these two stations and at Anglia Control, Wattisham) and the determined chink of fruit machines. In the pilots' rooms,with some doors marked "secret," there is a purposeful atmosphere of pre-flight planning; softer requirements are catered for by coffeeand armchairs. Each squadron has its separate headquarters at Bentwaters, andthe whole wing is given direct support by the field and periodic maintenance squadrons, the armament and electronics squadron,
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