STOVEPIPE
by The Staff
(With help from Bruce Hinton, Dick Becker, John Moorhead, and others)
After the end of World War Two, most new Air Force aircraft were being delivered in either a natural metal finish, or in the new gloss grey paint that was thought to be beneficial at speeds approaching the Sound Barrier, it wasn't of course, and as the paint peeled rapidly, it actually cost speed at the top end. The first jets were all delivered in the new gloss grey However, by 1947, the grey paint was being removed and again the aircraft were delivered in a natural metal finish.This remained the standard for Air Force aircraft for the next eighteen years, with a few exceptions. One of those occured during the Korean War. In the summer of 1951, three F-86As made an appearance at Suwon AB with their upper surfaces painted an olive green color. Along with the three 4th Fighter Wing F-86As, several T-6 Mosquito aircraft, and a couple of RF-80A Shooting Stan, also wore the unorthodox camoflage.
Why were these aircraft camoflaged? Was it for a special mission? If so, what was it? And what effect did the camoflage paint have on the performance of the aircraft, especially the F-86s? Bruce Hinton, CO of the 336th Squadron at Suwon, Dick Becker, 2nd jet ace in Korea, and John Moorhead, another 4tb Wing pilot, plus several members of the 4th Wing ground crews, gave us some insight into an operation known as STOVE PIPE.
The three aircraft used for the STOVEPIPE were repainted during the late summer of 1951. All were -48 model F-86As, some of the oldest still flying combat with the 4th Fighter Interceptor Wing at Suwon. Each aircraft had a distinctive olive green camoflage, and each aircraft was different from the others in the exact camoflage scheme. The olive green paint came from the local Amy depot, and was originally intended for use on Amy tanks.
One bird, 48-281, had the entire upper surfaces painted over, including the black and white combat stripes found on all F-86s in Korea at the time. A second aircraft had most of the upper surfaces carmflaged, but with the stripes retained. The third aircraft, 48-260, had only the top of the fuselage and the upper wing and stabilizer surfaces camoflaged. But they all stood out like sore thumbs when flown with the other Sabres at Suwon.
But the mission of the STOVEPIPE aircraft was not normally that of MiG hunting in northwest Korea. Yes, the STOVEPIPE aircraft flew into MiG Alley (and possibly beyond) almost every day that a mission was called for by 5th Air Force, always taking off before the main fighter force. The STOVEPIPE mission was one of dual capability - it was the last minute weather recon to determine if it was feasable or necessary for the Sabres to go to MiG Alley. If the weather was lousy along the Yalu River, the STOVEPIPE pilot would radio back and often cause the mission to be scrubbed.
The second mission flown on a regular basis by the STOVEPIPE Sabres was that of radio relay aircraft. The STOVEPIPE bird would perch along the Chodo/ Pyongyang line and relay information to the inbound Sabre flights, 5th AF monitoring stations, or the rescue facilties located on Chodo Island over the combat channel about weather, MiG traffic, ongoing fights, downed aircraft and other inflight emergencies. Most of these missions came about when the MiGCAP forces were flying at the furthest point from the Chodo facilities, beyond the Suiho Dam complex about midway up the Yalu River.
The STOVEPIPE pilot was constantly in touch with US listening sites that were operating as close to Antung as was possible. One such site was on a small boat operating near the mouth of the Yalu River. It was these guys (read that CIA) who would call out the bandit traiiins' leaving Antung. They were close enough that they could identify certain aircraft and pilots, such as the legendary 'Casey Jones'. The Y-Service' people had their own radio net with the US radar site at Chodo, which then forwarded the information to the STOVEPIPE pilot. He in turn would contact the inbound Sabre flights and hand off any pertinent information.
During the weather reconnaisance flights, the STOVEPIPE pilots would fly up the west coast of Korea at very low altitudes. The olive green paint would help hide the lone Sabre from the prying eyes of airborne MiGs that might be in the area. As a radio relay aircraft, the STOVEPIPE aircraft bad to fly at combat altitudes, above 35,000 feet. At this altitude, the dark green Sabre stood out quite clearly both from above and below.
However, during the late Fall of 1951, when the parts shortage in Korea caused a great many Sabres to be AOCP (Aircraft Out of Commission for Parts), the STOVEPIPE Sabres were often pressed into service with the rest of the Sabres. Any pilot flying a STOVEPIPE Sabre on a regular combat mission would be at a very distinct disadvantage. The STOVEPIPE airplanes, with their green paint, were at least twenty miles per hour slower than a standard F-86 in natural metal. It meant an entire flight had to slow their ingress speed to that of the STOVEPIPE airplane.
Normally, a combat flight wanted to enter MiG Alley with their speed at about .92 Mach or higher. But the STOVEPIPE Sabres had a top speed of only about .85 Mach. And twenty mph at combat altitudes, with a MiG on your butt, could be disastrous. Even "ratting the tailpipe" for increased thrust, could not bring the 'painted ladies' up to speed with the rest of a flight. With this in mind, 4th Wing Headquarters would endeavor to pair up a STOVEPIPE Sabre with the next slowest airplane as an element during the mission.
By late 1952, the camoflaged F 86As were gone. Or at least the paint was. Indeed, most of the remaining F86As were completely withdrawn from combat by late Fall 1952. The STOVEPIPE mission in the 4th FIW was taken over by later model F-86E and F Sabres and armed T-33A aircraft. The T-33 aircraft could also act as airborne mission director. When the 51st Wing transitioned into the F-86E during late 1951, they also had a STOVEPIPE mission similar to that of the 4th Wing. However, they used an armed T-33 for their relay aircraft from the beginning.
One of the STOVEPIPE aircraft remains today. And a very conspicuous one at that. F-86A #48-260 has been restored in the combat markings it wore with the 4th FIW at Suwon prior to the STOVEPIPE mission. The F86A is on permanent display as pact of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., and will be one of the first aircraft visitors will see when they enter the new Udvar-Hazy facility at Dulles Airport.
MEMORIES OF GREAT FIGHTER PILOTS
SAM JOHNSON
by Leo Lacey
As with most great men and women of history, stories abound which shed light on the source of their greatness. With this in mind Sabrejet Classics presents another in a Senes of anecdotes from you, our members. Mr. Leo F. Lacey of Hilo Hawaii, tells the following story. We invite other members to share their memories of the great ones" they have known.
In the summer of 1955, I reported to the Combat Instructor School at Nellis AFB, following my first assignment out of flying school, the 44th Fighter Bomber Squadron at Clark AB, P.I.. Two years flying the F-86 with the 4th Squadron had been very educational. And I thought I was ready for whatever Nellis could throw at me.The instructors at Nellis were the 'cream of the crop' of F-86 pilots. Most had taught in Korea, and included mom than one 'ace'. But right if, I thought them was something special about my instructor, who was nicknamed "Tex".
One day a few weeks after arriving, I was flying on "Tex's" wing. Our mission was to find and engage a pair of 'enemy' Sabres. When we found them, there was a terrific dogfight, with both element leaden trying to get on the tail of the other one. Me? I was hanging on for dear life. Finally, "Tex" locked into the 6 O'clock position of our adversaries and that was the end of that
No matter what they did, "Tex" stayed in perfect position on their tails. At one point, it seemed to me that we had been going straight up for a very long ti me, and I called to "Tex" that I couldn't keep up with him. About that time, I experienced smoke in the cockpit, probably caused by a hammerhead stall. "Tex" somehow wasn't affected by any of this, and was able to stay with our opponents until the 'fight' was called off.. I guess he was one of the smoothest pilots that I ever flew with.
"Tex" was also a great and outgoing friend, and he taught me a lot. Somehow I lost track of him until I read his story in Sabrejet Classics, vol. 5, no. 2, and learned that he went on to have an extraordinary life and career. He was a Thunderbird pilot (in the F-100), a Vietnam POW, and is a U.S. Representative from, where else, Texas. "Tex" is the Honorable Sam Johnson, (R) Texas, a retired USAF colonel, and a life member of the Sabre Pilots Association. I hope he reads this, because I admire him to this day and wish him well.
AN UNTOLD TALE
by Bill McCollum
I completed the 'Tiger' program at Nellis in April 1954. We had a group of Korea veterans as our instructors. They taught us how to'really fly the F-86'. My next stop was Clovis AFB, New Mexico in the 561st FBS, 388thFBW.
There were only twelve of us 2nd lieutenants in the squadron. And only four of those were going to get to fly an F-86F during the move to Etain AB, France later that month. We had a coin toss and I was one of the lucky ones (or unlucky - your choice!). We left Clovis on Thanksgiving Day 1954, and arrived at Hahn All, Germany on the 4th of January 1955. Etain wasn't ready for us yet, so the three squadrons of the 388th Wing went to Hahn, Bitburg, and Spangdahlem. A year later the wing and I moved to Frain.Sometime in 1956, Herb Kochman was sent to England to ferry some F-86Es (actually, ex-RAF Sabre Mk.4s) to Italy and Yugoslavia. (Sabrejet Classics carried a similar story from member Gary Sparks in vol. 7-1, Spring 1999.) This was supposed to be a 'punishment' by the squadron CO for some infraction that my "CRS" mind can't dredge up at the moment. But Herb always said it was one of his favorite assignments.
During one of his early trips, Herb came into Etain to spend the night and brag at the bar. I talked him into letting me fly the 'E' model that he brought in the next morning before he left. He said sure and I immediately was looking forward to flying a different model of the '86. I took off early, immediately went low level to Marville (an RCAF Sabre base) and proceeded to beat up the base. Then I went to Gros Tenclum, another RCAF base, and did the same thing. Then back down low for the return to Frain and landed.
Herb refueled the airplane and departed, not having a clue about what I had been up to in 'his' airplane. Now, you realize that alI the Air Force F models that we had were natural metal finish,with big numbers and markings that plainly said "US Air Force". And we carried the big 200 gallon drop tanks. The E model that Herb had brought in was camouflaged, had small 120 gallon drop tanks, and had no markings other than some tiny number on the side of the fuselage or tail. (The Canadair serial number)
In any case, we heard rumors the next few days that the two Canadian wing commanders were giving each other fits about who had done the job on their base. I trust that the statute of limitations has expired on the event, so I cannot be charged at this time. But it sure was a lot of fun!
STORIES I PROBABLY SHOULDN'T TELL
PART 2
Aerial Combat - Finally
by Richard F. Merian
After about a month at Taegu, we returned to Japan. I guess there was some concern that the Chinese might attempt to bomb Japan so we deployed to Niigata with six Sabres for air defense. One of the fun things to do was J.O. Roberts and I flew formation acrobatics over the strip. We never did see any Chinese, but we sure scared a lot of Japanese fishermen.
I made friends with a local Japanese engineer who was Chief Engineer of the Niigata Engineering Works. They built diesel engines for ships. The friendship started at a bar when he slid over a paper napkin which had the inscription "1/0-?". I responded with the 'infinity' sign and our friendship blossomed. It was a maturing experience to find this fellow who was very bright and held a very responsible position, yet his greatest asset was a three-wheeled motorcycle. While we couldn't communicate verbally, I spent many delightful evenings in his home and at his factory.During Spring 1951, after the Chinese were pushed back across the 38th Parallel, my squadron (the 335th) was sent to K-13, Suwon AB, about 30 miles south of Seoul. I flew the rest of my missions from there. We lived in tents and mud, and ate some very bad food. (Life Magazine even made some derogatory comments about the food.) I still cannot eat Spam, Vienna Sausages, powtiered eggs, powdered milk, etc. It was so bad at times that I used to barter with the GIs for their C rations.
After several missions I finally saw my first MiG. A very large battle developed into what appeared to me to be a swirling drove of bees. Everyone was trying to cue up on everyone else. The leader of my flight was a guy from 4th Wing Headquarters. A guy that I had not flown with before. He just kind of cruised through the entire fight, not doing much of anything.
One of the problems with being a 'professional wingman' (me) was that you have flown with the guys from your squadron and you knew what to expect of them. But with Wing pilots, you didn't know what to expect. Fortunately, I also was able to fly wing with some really great pilots - Col. John C. Meyer, Capt. Billy Hovde, Lt. Col. Glenn Eagleston, and Col. "Gabby" Gabreski to name just a few. I was flying wing for Capt. Sandy Hesse when he shot down his first MiG. But there were some guys who just shouldn't have been up there in the first place. They put my butt at risk as well as their own.
One of the smaller problems at Suwon was the lack of refrigeration. Our troops were cooling their beer by digging a pit and hosing down the hole with a CO2 fire extinguisher. This worked very well until there were no more fire extinguishers left for fire fighting and our commander made it a court-marshall offense to wrongly discharge an extinguisher. But we got around that. One sure way to be popular with the troops was to volunteer for an engine change test hop. First you would remove all the ammo from the ammo cans, then refill the cans with cases of beer. After flying the test hop at high altitude then doing a 'split S' back down into the pattern - Voila, cold beer for the troops!
One June night I was awakened by a very loud "whump". I recall wondering why I could see the stars through the tent above my head, before I realized that we were being bombed. A large piece of shrapnel with Russian writing on it was embedded in a broken 2x4 just over my head. And the tent was shredded.
Jim Heckman always hung his clothes very neatly on a homemade rack near his bunk. A piece of shrapnel went in one end and came out the other, completely destroying his wardrobe. Several Sabres were badly damaged and one was completely destroyed. I witnessed one crew chief perform heroically as he tried to disarm a burning F-86 before someone ordered him away from the airplane. The next day we all dug foxholes just outside the tent. Mine was right beside my tent so I could pick up the side of the tent and simply roll right into the open hole.
The enemy bomber, "Bedcheck Charlie" is what we called him, was a little open cockpit biplane similar to those that I'd flown as a youngster. The guy in the back seat carried small anti-personnel bombs and dropped them over the side. His intelligence was excellent. He knew exactly where the pilots lived. "Ol' Bedcheck" caused all sorts of frustration to the air defense guys. One night I watched as an F-94 Starfire night interceptor tried to get him. But he just couldn't slow down enough to get him in his sights. One beautiful moonlit night, a Marine allweather F4U Corsair came looking for "Charlie" shortly after he'd made his nightly visit. When he was directly over the field, and beautifully silhouetted with the gull wings, a lone anti-aircraft gun (ours!) opened up on him. Then they all opened up. The Corsair pilot was able to make a tight 360 and land on our runway. But boy, he was stare one mad Marine.
I remember one mission when I was flying on Col. Eagleston's wing. We were all alone, and had about 10 MiGs' cornered' between Suwon and us. We fought our way out but not before Col. Eagleston had relaxed me by calmly saying, "Two - if you are scared, so am I!"
The first MiG I shot at was only out of range by about a mile. I remember how surprised I was when I put the pipper on him, pulled the trigger for about four seconds, and he didn't light up with hits. Nor did he go down in flames. I figure that overall the score was pretty even between the MiGs and I. They shot at me about as much as I shot at them.
I have been close enough to see the MiG pilot's black leather helmet, and see where the Russian red star had been removed from the side of the airplane and replaced with a Chinese insignia. The MiG had a very bad tendency toward accelerated overshoot. At high speed and high Gs, the aft end of the MiG swept wing bent up causing the center of lift to move forward and tuck the plane into a turn or snap roll. On more than one occasion, I witnessed a MiG snapping into a spin. Whether it was deliberate or not, I do not know. Our Sabres had a similar trait but it wasn't as serious. In a high speed, 6 G turn, one had to hold forward pressure to keep the Sabre from snap-rolling.
Our intelligence would tell us that a new group of MiGs had been training up at Mukden, and they would be moving down to Antung to engage us over the Yalu. Sure enough, on a subsequent mission, where you had been fighting guys that had a red circle painted around the nose, a new group of MiGs would have lightning flashes painted on the side of their fuselages. It always made for an interesting day.