HU2K Seasprite Book - Wayne Mutza

I just received my copy. "Comprehensive" does not adequately describe the content. Wayne has done a heroic job of researching and documenting the development and service life of the HU2K/H-2.

Also superlative: I ordered it from David Doyle Books (https://daviddoylebooks.com/), free shipping to U.S. addresses on orders of $15 or more. I was particularly impressed by the very clever and sturdy cardboard packaging that was all but bullet-proof.

Now Available: https://youtu.be/N69WLni7KQQ?si=govOhHV64PsLZCJy

 https://schifferbooks.com/products/kaman-h-2-seasprite

 Also see: https://thanlont.blogspot.com/2017/02/carrier-plane-guard-by-helicopter.html

 

F4H Phantom Project High Jump

 

BuNo 148423: note what appears to be a high-visibility rectangle above the Project High Jump marking.

All of the F4H Phantom II's speed and altitude records were set by F4H-1Fs, which were originally designated F4H-1 and then redesignated F-4A. The time-to-climb records were set in early 1962 in Project High Jump with F4H-1 (subsequently F-4B) BuNo 148423, the 108th Phantom II. These were timed from a standing start to the following altitudes in meters above the takeoff point: 
    Altitude                Time (seconds)    Pilot
    3,000                     34.123                LCDR John W. Young, USN        
    6,000                     48.797                CDR David M.Longton, USN
    9,000                     61.688                LtCol W.C. McGraw, USMC
    12,000                   77.143                LtCol W.C. McGraw, USMC
    15,000                 114.148                LCDR D. W. Nordberg, USN
    20,000                 178.5                    LCDR Francis T. Brown, USN
    25,000                 230.44                  LCDR John W. Young, USN
    30,000                 371.43                  LCDR D. W. Nordberg, USN

On the 30,000 meter record flight, the F4H coasted past 100,000 feet, unofficially breaking the altitude record.

The time-to-climb records were accomplished at two different locations with a separate flight (and usually more than one attempt) for each altitude using the flight profile that minimized the time and fuel required. The climbs up to 15,000 meters were flown out of NAS Brunswick, Maine to take advantage of cooler air; the 20,000 meter and above flights were accomplished beginning at sea level from NAS Point Mugu, California. 

The takeoff from Point Mugu was initiated using the catapult holdback to restrain the aircraft while burning down to the minimum fuel required and then releasing the holdback electrically. The profile was to accelerate to 400 knots, climb to 40,000 feet, accelerate to 2.1 Mach, and then pull up to the optimum attitude to achieve the target altitude in minimum time.

There has been some confusion about there being a second Phantom used, BuNo 149449, because it was marked with the Project High Jump logo, apparently for PR photos. However, it had only made its first flight at St. Louis while the last record flights were being accomplished at Point Mugu with 148423. As near as I can tell, however, the markings are virtually identical in font and location to the ones on 148423, which leads me to believe that they were both applied by McDonnell since it appears to be flying over Missouri.

 

 The pilots at Brunswick, left to right, LCDR Young, CDR Longton, LtCol McGraw, and LCDR Nordberg:

 

The pilots at Pt Mugu (note the full-pressure suits required): 

 Thanks to my F4H subject-matter expert, Peter Greengrass, for photos and corrections.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ginter Books

 Steve Ginter no longer has his own website but he is still creating and publishing books. You can contact him directly for availability and pricing (nfbooks@sbcglobal.net ) or look for them here: https://daviddoylebooks.com/ginter-books-covers?rq=Ginter

Kaman Synchropter History

 Hot off the press:

81 pages: A detailed and well-illustrated history (if I do say so myself) of Kaman's development of the synchropter and successful marketing of it for U.S. Navy, USMC, and USAF helicopter requirements.

Available directly from Steve Ginter:  1754 Warfield Circle, Simi Valley CA 930063 for $34.95, media mail shipping, U.S. only,

The Chance Vought F7U-3 Cutlass

 

Now available to order from:

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Vought-F7U-3-Cutlass-Tommy-Thomason/dp/1800352948

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vought-F7U-3-Cutlass-Tommy-Thomason/dp/1800352948

Modex Number

 I meant to post this in this blog but it wound up HERE.

Operation Eldorado Canyon

 In case you’re wondering why I reviewing a book with a USAF F-111 profile on the cover in a Naval Aviation blog:

  1. I’ve spent almost three decades, with limited success, trying to establish that its USN counterpart, the F-111B was not a failure so anything about the program is of interest to me. I am pleased in that regard that while the author’s summary of the Navy variant’s failure to enter service is brief, it is respectful.

2. The content includes a description of the participation of carrier-based US Navy aircraft, which played a significant role in Operation Eldorado Canyon as well as involvement in events leading up to it (e.g., Operation Prairie Fire) and a subsequent encounter with Libyan fighters.

This is an authoritative and detailed account of a major bombing mission, well-written and impressively illustrated (many, most large, and almost all in color), printed on high quality paper with a soft cover and “perfect binding”. The author was not only a F-111 Weapon System Officer, but he was also involved in the mission planning and personally knows many of the pilots and fellow WSOs who flew it.

One result of the author’s experience is the detailed description of the F-111’s mission capability at that time: the aircraft itself, the weapon system, and armament options. Jim provides a particularly lucid description of the weapons, tactics, radar/FLIR navigation, and laser targeting required for a precision strike at a predetermined moment (literally) with minimal collateral damage.

Context provided for the need for the bombing raid begins with the independence of the American colonies, segueing smoothly into a year-by-year account of the early 1980s as Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi became more and more involved in sponsoring international terrorism. As tensions heightened, the narrative rapidly increases in detail until during the raid itself, it is minute to minute.

The planning process, including the mission constraints, the rationale for decisions made, selection of targets, is particularly well described, although if anything, Jim sugarcoats the refusal of the French and Spanish leadership’s refusal to allow the F-111s to fly over their countries, significantly increasing the distance and degree of difficulty involved. As Jim succinctly describes it, “(The) 5,000-mile (9,012km) round trip was like taking off from Washington DC at dusk and flying high level to Las Vegas, then letting down to low level to bomb Los Angeles in the middle of the night with lots of angry people trying you shoot you down once you cross the mountains into the Los Angeles basin. After that, you fly back to Las Vegas, arriving nearly out of fuel and needing to find your tanker in the pitch-black darkness.” “Oh, and you’re doing all this in a space about the size of a sports car interior, strapped into your seat the whole time: about 13 to 14 hours.”

Execution of the resulting strike plan requiring a large number of USAF and USN assets is described in detail and clearly delineated in a series of color maps, both large scale (depicting the entire route of the bombers and tankers to and from England) and small (the detail of each ingress to and egress from each target). The order of battle of all the participants, including the supporting cast, is remarkably complete, the result of Jim’s years of research.

Like all plans, particularly one involving as many moving parts as this one, there were successes and failures relative to the desired outcome, including collateral damage and the loss of one of the strike F-111s. Jim pulls no punches in that regard and provides a particularly cogent Lessons Learned conclusion.

Note that in my opinion, the above does not begin to do Jim’s book justice. It is not only an excellent description of a seminal event in America’s history, but also an excellent read.