EVERY MAN A TIGER:

Squadron Calendar

15 SEPTEMBER 1950 - 25 NOVEMBER 1950

SEPTEMBER 1950

"As the scheduled date for the Inchon operation approached, the Far East Air Forces responded to the challenge. In the several weeks in late August and early September, FEAF photographic reconnaissance units flew aerial photographic cover of the Inchon-Seoul area, and photo interpreters studied the photographs to note signs of enemy activity. A few days before the landing, however, FEAF discovered that the Navy sorely needed to know the exact high- and low-tide heights of the sea walls which would have to be scaled at Inchon. Four precisely timed photo missions were assigned to the 8th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron and within two days the needed photography was delivered to the Navy. These oblique photographs, taken by low-flying RF-80 photo-jet pilots not only provided the basic information that the Navy wanted to know but they proved to be just what the Navy needed to orient its landing crews. In less than a day 2,100 prints of oblique photos were delivered to the naval task force at Kobe."

-- Futrell, Robert F., The United States Air Force in Korea, Office of Air Force History, United States Air Force, Washington, D.C., 1983

16 September - While participating in an aerial reconnaissance mission over Korea in an RF-80A "Shooting Star", First Lieutenant Donald J. Drama of the 8th TRS is shot down by antiaircraft fire and listed as Missing in Action.

26 September - The 5th U.S. Air Force activates the 543rd Tactical Support Group at Itazuke Airfield, Japan, as a headquarters for 8th, 45th, and 162nd Reconnaissance Squadrons. The 543rd Group Commander is ________.

OCTOBER 1950

October - The 8th TRS moves from Itazuke Airfield, Japan to K-2 Airfield in the vicinity of Taegu, Korea.

NOVEMBER 1950

Pre-strike and post-strike photos proved or disproved bombing results. Pre-strike photos frequently required close up oblique approach photos for fighter-bomber precision attacks.

The RF-80 had in the nose a photo configuration that normally included a 6" vertical K22 camera in forward bay — a 12" vertical or oblique camera mid bay and a 24" vertical K18 in the aft bay which produced a 9" X 18" photo negative. The other cameras were 9" X 9" formats.

These camera configurations gave great flexibility to the pilots’ ability to produce photo coverage under varying weather and cloud conditions. For example, to determine the operational status of an airfield target, it could be covered at 1:10,000 scale from 20,000 feet with a 24" K18 camera, or at 1:10,000 scale at 10,000 feet with a 12" K22 camera, or at 1:10,000 scale at 5,000 feet with a 6" K2 camera.

At lower altitudes, oblique photos could provide intelligence info, but vertical photos with 60% overlap gave photo interpreters stereo 3 dimensional data.

Clear vertical photos could be taken at as low as 2,000 feet by slowing the aircraft to 200-250 mph. An A18 image motion compensation magazine allowed clear photos at (for example) 200 and 400 mph. The timing controls were in the cockpit. This was used effectively to determine soil (mud) status prior to the Inchon amphibious landing by MacArthur’s forces in September 1950.

In 8th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron we took a 24" camera, added a 6" lens (a total of 36") and then mounted the camera in a forward oblique position in the RF-80 (looking out the nose of the aircraft). Forward oblique photos were very useful for fighters attacking targets like the Suiho reservoir dam and power plant on the North Korean/China border, which was bombed out. Adding the forward oblique camera required removal of the radio compass antenna.

Returning on a mission out of North Korea to K-2 with no radio compass, I let down through heavy clouds and broke at 1,000’ in rain and fog over a body of water and as usual low on fuel. If I turned left and was over the Sea of Japan, I’m down in the water. If I turned right and was over the Yellow Sea I was going down in China. I guessed right — found K-2.

A damaged B-29 from a bombing mission in N. Korea crashed at K-2 in an emergency landing. A radio maintenance man and I foraged out of the wreckage a teardrop external radio compass antenna. About a week later it tested OK mounted under the nose of the RF-80 in which we had the 36" forward oblique camera. End of that problem.

In MiG alley there were several key targets — old Sinuiju airfield, a new 6,000 foot runway under construction to the north, a big multi-span bridge across the Yalu River and prime supply route from China, several supply dumps, and the Suiho reservoir with its huge dam and power plant. Another target — by flying down the Yalu River and banking the aircraft away from China, the Chinese airfield at Antung could be photographed obliquely with the vertically mounted 36" K18 camera [see diagram below]. You could count MiG-15’s on the airfield. First try the photos were out of focus. On the 2nd mission, I banked right but pushed the stick forward — the negative G forces held the film against the camera platen — very good photos. Since we did not violate Chinese airspace, the Headquarters "wheels" were delighted and reordered this target repeatedly along with other targets.

During the late 1940’s the radar system called Ground Controlled Approach (GCA) became operational first at military air bases. Under instrument conditions, this system brought many aircraft safely down final approach to safe landing. The F/RF-80 aircraft presented a problem. Radar operators frequently lost contact and it was determined that this was caused by the small head-on radar reflective surface — 6.5 sq. feet.

During the Korean War single RF-80s flew in and out of MiG alley and were rarely intercepted which suggests low radar reflectivity was an advantage. Ray Schrecengost, John D. Monaghan and I were the only single guys in the squadron and we took a major part of the MiG alley missions in 1950-51 because of the potential hazards. On a VHF radio frequency channel #8 going into MiG alley you could pick up a harmonic of the sweep on the Antung airfield radar doing its thing — they were looking! We were successful in getting one or two escort fighters several times for MiG alley missions. After two of them got shot up with AA fire there was no more escort.

Back to the RF-80 — the small frontal area provided a very low amount of drag while flying. I was on a photo mission covering several military cemeteries in Kentucky and Tennessee and was cutting reserve fuel pretty close when one of the wing tank pump motors failed. Best and closest airfield was Scott Air Base in Illinois. With remaining usable fuel I climbed to 18,000 feet and shut down the jet engine with only ten spare gallons of fuel. I glided about 30 miles to Scott, landed and cranked the engine up on the ground and barely taxied to the ramp. At low altitude (below 20,000’) jet aircraft burn fuel very rapidly compared to higher altitudes.

On a visual recon mission out of Itazuke, Japan, I was sweeping south and west out of Seoul, Korea, when I spotted three T-34 North Korean tanks. They had started across a small stream and one bogged down in the middle. I called 5th Air Force operations for fighters and was promised them in 20 minutes. After 45 minutes and several calls, I knew that a landing had to be made at a U.S. operated airfield in South Korea. I called each of the three airfields available; all reported weather below landing minimums with low clouds and rain. Fortunately I had climbed to 35,000 feet and passing Pusan radio beacon on the Korean coast, I shut down the jet engine with 20 gallons on the fuel gauge. I glided 90 miles at 220 mph across the Straits of Japan. Periodically, with the radio compass on battery, I checked my position descending through 28,000 feet of cloud and broke out over the Itazuke radio beacon at 3,000 feet just off the end of the runway. The T-34 tanks got away but the glide ratio on the RF-80 was fully proven. I was not the only person to do this. Later I talked to Chuck Yeager — he had done it more than once in a T-33.

Flying RF-80s out of K-2—Taegu—Korea gave us the capability to cover most any target in Korea. At FEAF, Far East Air Force Headquarters in Tokyo efforts were under way to extend our radius of action to cover targets in China. As we know now, Gen. MacArthur was considering air attacks on the Chinese mainland should circumstances dictate.

With the first range extension effort in May of 1951, we mounted two 230 gallon tanks on the wing tips of two RF-80s and a 130-gallon tank under each wing. Lt. Ray Schrecengost and I ran tests using rocket assisted take off at Yakota Air Base in Japan. The center of gravity on the aircraft was moved aft and takeoffs required guts and above average pilot skill. Climb, with the extra weight, was slow and operating at maximum power until external tanks were empty minimized the gain in range that was expected.

The second range extension effort in July 1951 involved use of B-29 equipped with a reel-in-reel-out fuel hose with a funnel-like drogue on the end. It was the forerunner of the probe and drogue refueling system still in use by the U.S. Navy and foreign countries. The three RF-80s had probes on the front of each wing tip 230-gallon fuel tank. As a child if you ever played "drop the clothes pin in the bottle," you would have a feel for the problem. The RF-80 pilot had to insert a probe 20 feet out on his wing tip into 2-foot funnel-like drogue that was dancing in the wind. Once locked into the drogue, close formation flying was maintained while the fuel tank began to fill. At about 120 gallons (720 pounds) the asymmetric load on the heavy wing caused a loss of positive aileron control. The sequence was: plug in probe on right wing tank till 1/2 full — break off — plug in left wing tank probe and receive full fuel — break off and re-plug in right wing tank for full fuel. This was not only time consuming but with asymmetric wing loading it took max formation flying skill and hard work involving several tries at plugging into the drogue. After practicing a few times, Clyde East, Hank Ezell and I flew the first "combat air refueling" mission in Air Force history on 6 July 1951 about 20 miles out from Wonsan Harbor, North Korea. Radio silence was broken only once on the mission when Clyde said, "shit" after missing the drogue 3 or 4 times.

Living conditions were not too bad at K-2. We had tar paper shacks and some Quonset huts. The most outstanding facility we had was the latrine. Some genius invented an automatic flushing device. There were about 12 seats mounted over a galvanized metal trough. Outside a 55-gallon drum was mounted high up with a continuous stream of water flowing in. It had an automatic release valve so when the barrel became full, it would dump all 55 gallons at once. After a loud BANG at the release, the water would come rushing down the trough and whisk away the unmentionables. It could be a terrifying experience if you didn't know about this engineering marvel. Bob Hope was a victim when he came for his show and made a big deal out of it in his monologue.

Operations intensified as we moved into the Fall and early Winter of 1950. The first combat loss was Rojo Williams, Bruce Shawe's West Point classmate and very good friend. No trace was ever found of him. Not long after Williams we had another loss; I don't remember his name--something like Duncan I think.

Things were getting pretty tense and opinions were voiced that we should have a fighter escort or some similar protection. December rolled around with no operational changes. The old Recce motto, "Alone, Unarmed, and Unafraid" just didn't cut it anymore. I was devastated when Bruce went down. The squadron did everything to discover some trace. We had a pretty good idea of the general area he should have been in. Eventually a pile of wreckage was located on the mud flats on the West Coast north of Seoul which we thought could be Bruce's RF-80. I and Stan Sebring stared at the photos with our stereoscopes for many hours but could not be sure.

As a result of the loss of Bruce Shawe we did get a small operational change. The addition of a chase plane, another unarmed RF-80 was made. Bruce went down I think in mid-December or pretty close to Christmas 1950. My turn was coming!