Flight Journal - June 2014

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FLIGHT JOURNAL | JUNE 2014

C O V E R S T O R Y

24 | Aviation Insider: F-35 Lightning IIIs it striking out?By Robert F. Dorr

FEATURES

14 | Germany’s Mystery CarrierThe Flattop That Almost Was

By Barrett Tillman

28 | Miss Pick UpA Dumbo Angel in the Atlantic

By Rachel Morris

36 | Air CraneMaking the Impossible Possible

By Roy Stafford

46 | Idiot’s LoopThe Day I Nuked Los AngelesBy Richard Lundy, Commander, USNR (Ret.), as told to and written by James P. Busha

COLUMNS

6 | Flight Journal Contributors

8 | Editorial

10 | On the Web

12 | Airdrop

44 | ClassicsThe Curtis C-46 CommandoBy Steve Pace

54 | Gallery

An Icon Aloft: John Magoffin’s Lockheed VegaBy Budd Davisson

58 | Iconic FirepowerThe 40mm BoforsBy Barrett Tillman

60 | Flight Gear

62 | One of a KindLockheed XP-49By Robert F. Dorr

66 | TailviewMilton Caniff & The Art of WarBy Rachel Morris


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AUGUST 2010 5

ON THE COVER: Jim “Hazy” Haseltine’s cameracaptures the stealthy lines of what has to be themost controversial fighter in modern times: the F-35“Lightning II.” It might as well be a lightning rod in termsof all the political and technological teething problems itis experiencing.THIS PAGE: e Sikorsky/Erickson Air Crane routinelyaccomplishes heavy lift jobs seldom assigned tohelicopters. Whether sucking up water to fight forestfires, delicately assembling power transmission towers,putting oversized air handling units on skyscrapers, theimpressively utilitarian outline of the Air Crane may beseen anywhere the impossible needs to be done (Photoby Erikson Air-Crane Incorporated)

FLIGHT JOURNAL (USPS 015-447; ISSN 1095-1075) is published bimonthly by Air Age Inc., 88 Danbury Rd., Wilton, CT 06897 USA. © Copyright 2014, all rights reserved. Periodicals postage permit paid at Wilton, CT, andadditiona l offi ces. Canadian Post Publication s Mail Agreement no. 40008153. SUBSCRIPTIO NS AND BACK ISSUES: In U.S., call (800) 442-1 871; Canada and elsewhere, call (386) 246 -3323; fax (386) 447-2321, or go toFlightJournal.com. U.S., $29 (1 yr.); Canada, $34 including GST (1 yr.); international, $39 (1 yr.). All international orders must be prepaid in U.S. funds; Visa, MC, Discover and AmEx accepted. EDITORIAL: Send correspondenceto Editors, Flight Journal, 88 Danbury Rd., Wilton, CT 06897 USA. Email: [email protected]. We welcome all editorial submissions, but assume no responsibility for the loss or damage of unsolicited material. All materialcontained herein is protected under the terms of U.S. copyright laws. Reproduction in any form, including electronic media, is expressly prohibited without the publisher’s written permission. © Copyright 2013 Air Age Inc.

All Rights Reserved. ADVERTISING: Send advertising materials to Advertising Dept., Flight Journal, 88 Danbury Rd., Wilton, CT 06897 USA; (203) 431-9000; fax (203) 529-3010. Email: [email protected]. CHANGEOF ADDRESS: To ensure that you don’t miss any issues, send your new address to Flight Journal, P.O. Box 420235, Palm Coast, FL 32142-0235 USA, six weeks before you move. Please include address label from a recentissue, or print the informa tion exactly as shown on the label. For faster service, go to FlightJourna l.com, and click on the customer service link. POSTMASTER: Ple ase send Form 3579 to Flight Journal, P.O. Box 420235,Palm Coast, FL 32142-0235 USA.


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EDITORIAL

Editor-in-Chief Budd Davisson

Executive Editor Debra Cleghorn

Editor Gerry Yarrish

Deputy Managing Editor Katherine Pierpont

Copyeditor Suzanne Saunders

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Walter Boyne, James P. Busha, Ted Carlson,

Robert S. DeGroat, John Dibbs, Robert F. Dorr,

Jim Farmer, Paul Gillcrist, Phil Haun, Randy

Jolly, Frederick Johnsen, Geoffrey P. Jones, Ron

Kaplan, Peter Lert, Rick Llinares, John Lowery,

George Marrett, Peter Mersky, Dan Patterson,

Steve Pace, Stan Piet, Alfred Price, Warren

Thompson, Barrett Tillman, David Truby, Barnaby

Wainfan

ART

Creative Director Betty K. Nero

Art Director Kevin Monahan

DIGITAL MEDIA

Web Producer Holly Hansen

PRODUCTION

Production Assistant Paul Streeto

ADVERTISING

Advertising Director Mitch Brian ›› 203.529.4609

Senior Account Executive

Ben Halladay ›› 203.529.4628

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Sales Assistant Tracey Terenzi ›› 203.529.4637

Email [email protected]

CONSUMER MARKETING

The Media Source, a division of Source Interlink

Companies, Inc.

MARKETING & EVENTS

Associate Creative Director Leslie Costa

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PUBLISHING

Group Publishers Louis DeFrancesco Jr.,

Yvonne M. DeFrancesco

88 Danbury Road, Wilton, CT 06897 USA

HOW TO REACH USEmail [email protected]

Internet FlightJournal.com

Editorial offices (203) 431-9000

Customer service (800) 442-1871

FlightJournal.com/cs

JUNE 2014 | VOLUME 20, NO. 3

Magazine Publishers of America

Printed in the U.S.A.

Barrett Tillman

Germany’s Mystery

Carrier

Aviation history buffs know

about the original Graf

Zeppelin : the magnificent

1928 airship bearing the

name of the German count

who pioneered lighter than

air transportation. But

during WW II, Germany

produced another Graf Zeppelin —the only aircraft carrier of the Third Reich. Though never

operational, what the ship might have accomplished remains an intriguing question that we address

in this issue of Flight Journal .

Roy Stafford

Air Crane

Truthfully, until I met Jack

Erickson, I wasn’t very high

on helicopters. The first oneI ever saw crashed. Later in

Vietnam, I was shot down in

a helicopter as a passenger.

As an F-4 pilot, my attitude

was I’d get in a helicopter

as a last resort or ordered

to. But after witnessing what the Erickson folks and what that helicopter could do, I was a changed

man. I’m proud to tell a little bit of the story.

Rachel Morris/John Dibbs:

Miss Pick Up

When John Dibbs and I

began working on the UK

Catalina nose art project,

we had no idea what an

amazing story we would

unearth. Truly the unsung

heroes of USAAF Search &

Rescue, the crew of OA-10A

Miss Pick Up experienced a

terrible seven-day ordeal in the North Sea. With the help of family members and museum archives,

we learned incredible details about their struggle to survive. And John says this was especially

meaningful for him because his photo career started when volunteering on a Catalina.

James P. BushaIdiot’s Loop

Like most military aviation

junkies, the thought of

early nuclear delivery

systems conjures up

thoughts of B-29s,

B-58s or B-52s. That

perspective all changed

when I spoke with retired

Navy Commander Richard

Lundy. Instead of operating at high altitudes in a multi-engine aircraft, Commander Lundy was down

in the dirt with a nuke strapped to the belly of his single-engine Skyraider. Although flying a nuke

down low took nerves of steel, actually delivering one in a crazy looping maneuver is something

impossible to imagine — until you read his firsthand account.

CONTRIBUTORS


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Die-Cast Metal Scale: 1:72Wing Span: 6.25”

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Desktop Mahogany Scale: 1:72

Wing Span: 5.25”

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Wing Span: 9.25”

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P-26A Peashooter 20th Pursuit Group,

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F-4E Phantom II - 58th Tactical

Fighter Squadron


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Spitfire MK IX


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Go big or go home! Spring into savings with our widespread collection

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CG-AA37706 Reg. $69.95ON SALE FOR $59.95

SE5a F8005, 25th Aero Sqn, USAAS, late 1918


Wing Span: 6.75”

Length: 5.25”


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EDITORIAL

AS RINGMASTER OF THIS three-ring journalistic circus, I’m not

supposed to play favorites. I’m supposed to devise a mix of sub-jects to be covered, find the right wordsmiths for those subjects,

and then browbeat everyone in our electronic Rolodex who

knows anything about photos to bring forth the right images

at the right time. I’m not supposed to favor one article over

the other. That having been said, however, every issue always

has an article that tickles my fancy more than the others. Every

issue except this one, that is. This one is unique because quite

literally every single article and department is one of my favor-

ites, in some cases, because the subject is one I knew little about,

when we started the issue. So, it’s fun learning something new.

Take the carrier, Graf Zepplin, for instance.

First, I think the concept of a German carrier is so far out in

left field for most folks that lots of us would be surprised to learn

it had even existed. I knew about it, but that was about it. So,

I, for one, really got a kick out of seeing old photos of Stukas

with their wings folded. And long-wing 109s with tailhooks.

However, since the Graf Zepplin was never finished, we never

got a chance to see how she would have looked all fitted out

and operational. But, now we have that chance and that was the

real fun of this article. We called on our what-if co-conspirator

and ace artist, Roy Grinnell, to get out his brushes and let his

imagination roam. Barrett Tillman and I really enjoyed the give

and take that resulted in the opening spread for this article.

None of us will ever see a Ju 87 getting ready to hook a wire,

but now we at least know what it would have looked like. And

what the North Atlantic war would have been like with German

flattops roaming around. Barrett did us all a real favor with this

one and I loved it.

And, if you want to talk about far afield concepts, how about

toss bombing nukes from Skyraiders! Let me say that again:we’re going to lob nuclear bombs from 200mph airplanes

and make believe we never had a Kamikaze force. Right! The

delivery maneuver was rightfully called “The Idiot’s Loop.” It

was an insane concept but one that was practiced rigorously on

the West Coast with LA as the target. Jim Busha puts us in the

cockpit as we’re sneaking under the radar while avoiding USAF

interceptors and homing in on Van Nuys Boulevard.

Rachel Morris and John Dibbs team up again and give us a

multi-layered tale of a PBY crew out to rescue a Mustang pilot

that winds up having to be rescued itself. The rescue effort

mounted to save the crew of Miss Pick Up had so many aircraft

and crewmen involved, it was a saga unto itself. But, it was

successful and tested some new rescue techniques for the very

first time. The Atlantic can be terribly unforgiving, but this time

the good guys won. I love happy endings.

And then there’s the Sikorsky/Erickson Air Crane: how can

you not be attracted what has to be the ugliest flying machine

that man ever created but, thanks to one man’s vision, is so

good at what it does that it makes the impossible possible? Roy

Stafford’s personal involvement with the Air Crane has given us

a unique perspective on one of industry’s most amazing tools.

Then there’s Gallery and Scotty Germaine’s Lockheed Vega

photos: it was state of the art in 1933, but with only one still

airworthy, the eye candy on these pages really has a visceral

effect on those who make aviation history part of their lives.

The whole issue is like this: One favorite after another. It’s one

of my all-time favorite issues of Flight Journal. We hope you feel

the same way about it.

Wherever the F-35 “Lightning II” may go,controversy is sure to follow. (Photo by Jim

“Hazy” Haseltine)

Too Many Favorites BY BUDD DAVISSON


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ON THE WEB

FlightJournal.comHot off the wire from the world of flight

FREE VEGA DRAWINGS

FOR THE MASSES!It is simply amazing what we keep findingin our backroom here at Air Age Media! ecompany has been in business for an amazing85 years (1929) and, for that entire time, hasnot only been a family business with thesame family, but the central theme has alwaysbeen airplanes. Almost from the beginning,we contracted with the top artists of the dayfor detailed three-view drawings of famousairplanes. One of our favorite artists, then andnow, was the fabulous William Wylam and wefound one of his Lockheed Vega drawings to gowith the killer photos in this month’s Gallery. Goto FlightJournal.com and download a copy that

shows what “real” draftsmanship used to looklike. is one has pleasing age wrinkles aroundthe edges. We’d guess it was drawn sometimeright after WW II, but that’s a guess. Enjoy!

And don’t forget to visit FlightJournal.com and

register for our e-newsletter. Be sure to also

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WRIE O US!Email letters [email protected]

Mail your letters toFlight JournalAir Age Media

88 Danbury RoadWilton, CT 06897 USAWe welcome yourcomments andsuggestions. Lettersmay be edited forbrevity and clarity.

A Dog Face Says TanksI read on page 29 of the February issue of Flight

Journal that on August 27 2nd Lt. Hule Lamb’s first

mission in Europe was a strafing mission to Metz.

I was a rifleman in the 5th Infantry Division

behind the Ports of Metz. We had been pinneddown in a woods, the Germans were dug-in and

shooting down rabbit runs. After we got out of

there, a group of Germans ran out of the woods,

across an open field towards another woods. A

P-47 strafed them, none of them made it to the

other side. That could have been Lt. Lamb.

I don’t expect that I will ever have a chance to

personally thank Lt. Lamb for myself and bud-

dies for saving our necks. I hope someone will

thank the P-47 pilots for us.

Donald E. Siefert

Mr. Siefert, we thank you so much for your serviceand ground attack pilots like hearing that their efforts

were fruitful. —BD

P-38 in exasI read with interest your editorial in the Flight

Journal’s special issue on the P-38. I was boring

holes in the clear blue sky out in East Texas near

Paris one day and looked and saw a small airport

and decided to land. It was owned by a preacher

they called Junior. I decided to land and check

this place out. I was flying a brand-new Cessna

RG 177. I saw this P-38 next to the runway, one

wing laying almost on the runway. It sounds likeyou might have been to the same place? I really

think the P-38 was the very best fighter at the

time. Col. Robin Olds was my Squadron Com-

mander in SEA. I retired from the USAF in 1979

after twenty-four years.

Richard Cummings

Yep, that was the place. Junior Burchinal, a real char-

acter. Of course, you served with Robin Olds, who was

one of the best. I envy you that. —BD

Markings De-coded

I enjoy your magazine very much. One thing thathas interested me is the markings on the bomb-

ers that identify which squadron/group/division,

etc. They can be squares or triangles with letters in

them, plus various color schemes. Is there a book

that identifies these schemes? You might consid-

er an article or column each month identifying

who belongs to who and what they looked like.

Mike Fitzgibbons

Great idea, Mike. We’ll put that in the to-do list. BD

General Jimmy

I was thrilled to see my old friend Gen. Doolittlein the latest issue of Flight Journal. I was a pilot

with The Flying Tiger Line. I was on my way

home from Saigon, Vietnam, to Seattle, Wash-

ington after 25 days of flying food and medical

supplies into besieged Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

I deadheaded on a on a DC-863 as far as Anchor-

age, Alaska, then checked into the Captain Cook

Hotel for a little R&R before heading south. While

walking through the lobby, I noticed a group of

Senior Tiger Captains pointing at me. A man

stood and came toward me. Puzzled, I looked

behind me ... nope, I was the target. As he closed

in, I recognized him ... Jimmy Doolittle! He hadquite a grip and I had to squeeze back to save a

knuckle or two. “I want to tell you how proud we

all feel about your adventure in SE Asia”.

“Me?” I said. “What about you and Tokyo?”

“That was twenty seconds. You sat on the

bullseye over 50 times and lived to tell about it.”

The General and I were friends until he flew

west. I hope to see him again someday.

Captain Larry Partridge, Flying Tiger Line

(Ret.)

You’re both heroes, so you have a special place

reserved next to him, when you see him next. —BD

Sad End for HeroesI thoroughly enjoyed the P-38 Lightning special issue

and thought you might like the attached photo of the

boneyard in Panagar, India. e photo was taken by Lt. Fred

Poets of the 118th TRS, 23rd FG in 1945. It’s a shame that

so many airplanes ended up like this — just pushed into a

pile. What would airplane restorers give to have access to

this pile of P-38s? anks again for the excellent articles

and the best aviation magazine available today.

Robert Bourlier

Photos like that are sad. No other word fits. — BD


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Although the Graf Zepplinnever was operational

and the superstructurenever finished, if you

squint your eyes, youcan see what a Ju 87C,

hooked-Stuka would

have looked like comingon board. Note the Me

109T on deck. e project

was scuttled by internalGerman military politicsduring the war and sunk

by Russian bombs/

torpedoes after thewar. (Illustration by Roy

Grinnell/roygrinnell.com)


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JUNE 2014 15

e numbers tell the story: During World War II the U.S. Navy commissioned

112 aircraft carriers; Britain 72; and Japan 21. Germany produced one, and itwas never completed. However, the prospect of a German aircraft carrier

loose in the North Atlantic is fascinating to contemplate. How effective might

she have proven? How would she have operated her aircraft, and how would

she fit into Germany’s overall naval strategy?

MYSTERY The Flattop That Almost Was BY BARRETT TILLMAN


16/68


GERMANY'S MYSTERY CARRIER

In early 1939, just months before WW II erupt-

ed in Europe, the Kriegsmarine formulated Plan

Z, a construction program expected to be com-

pleted in 1948. It included ten battleships, three

battlecruisers, and four carriers.

The lead ship of the Flugzeugträger class was

named Graf Zeppelin, a logical connection to

Germany’s dirigible pioneer. A sister ship to benamed Peter Strasser (after the Great War Zeppelin

commander) was scrapped during construction.

Adolf Hitler pledged his support to the Kriegs-

marine, with Graf Zeppelin’s keel being laid by

Deutsche Werke at Kiel in December 1936. She

was launched two years later. Originally planned

for 18,000 tons, her 361-foot length gained an-

other 10,000 tons but she was originally rated

at more than 33 knots. By the end

of 1939, with Germany at war, she

was 85% finished.

All warships have long lead

times, but especially aircraft car-riers. Graf Zeppelin’s progress was

complicated by the fact that

Reichsmarshal Hermann Goring

Below: e Graf Zeppelin , shown

here under construction in 1939,

was never completed. ese two

photographs of Graf Zeppelin

were taken at the Deutsche

Werke shipyards in Kiel on 20June 1939 before work was

suspended.

Inset: Ferdinand Adolf Heinrich

August Graf von Zeppelin,

better known as Count Zeppelin.

Because of his fame within

Germany the Authorities

decided to name their aircraft

carrier in his honor.

owned nearly everything that flew in Nazi Ger-

many. Therefore, her air group would belong to

the Luftwaffe. Britain operated under the same

policy until almost the last minute, as the Royal

Air Force provided aircrews and planes to the

Royal Navy. Britain’s Fleet Air Arm, organic to

the RN, only gained independence in May 1939.

Realizing that it was starting far behind Brit-ain and the U.S., in 1935 the Kriegsmarine sent

a study group to Japan during the large carrier

Akagi’s modernization. From 1940 onward, the

Imperial Navy kept a large delegation in Ger-

many to offer advice and to report back on Graf

Zeppelin’s progress. We can only wonder what Ja-

pan’s accomplished aviators and sailors thought

of their ally’s approach to the esoteric art of car-

rier aviation. Surely they recognized the practical

limitations of the sled launch and compressed-air

catapults.

Prewar trials

German naval officers had observed British pre-

war carriers, and benefited somewhat from affili-

ation with Japan. Arresting gear was essential to

carrier operations, and though lightweight Japa-

nese aircraft didn’t need catapults, Germany rec-

ognized the need. Consequently, arresting gear

trials began at the Luftwaffe test facility at Trave-

munde on the Baltic in 1937.

The Kriegsmarine seemed to thrive on doing

things the hard way. Rather than allowing air-

craft to perform “deck run” takeoffs or using con-

ventional catapults, the Germans decided upon

a complex launch cradle. Aircraft were loweredonto the cradle, retractable wheels folded, and

held in a tail-up configuration. Once fitted to the

cradle on the hangar deck, planes were raised to

the flight deck on one of three elevators, guided

forward along tracks in the deck, and fitted onto

the catapults. Upon launch, the plane was flung

into the air at some 80mph, with the cradle re-

tained on deck for return to the hangar.

Catapult tests began in April 1940, but differed

from the Allies’ hydraulically powered equipment.

Graf Zeppelin had two compressed-air cats with

enough capacity for 18 launches before refilling.

Graf Zeppelin’s original air group was envi-

sioned with 20 Fieseler 167 torpedo planes, 13

Ju 87 Stukas, and 10 Bf 109 fighters. Tragergruppe

186, Graf Zeppelin’s dedicated air unit, conduct-

ed preliminary training but wartime experience

and ship construction delays forced a rethinking

of air group composition. The biplane Fieseler

passed into obsolescence, and the Stuka was con-

sidered for the role but nothing came of the plan.

In 1939, the air group was set at 30 fighters

and 12 Stukas, reversing the Kriegsmarine’s con-

cept of carrier operations. Rather than offensive

use, Graf Zeppelin was envisioned working with

surface raiders, affording greater reconnaissance

and protection against Allied aircraft. The once-

formidable Focke-Wulf 200 was unable to survive


17/68

JUNE 2014 17

against ship-based fighters, hence the appeal of

seagoing Messerschmitts.

Landing references involved a variety of col-

ored lights. The landing area was marked by

green with red deck-edge lights while a neon red

marked the ramp—the aft portion of the flightdeck. Each arresting wire was illuminated with

yellow lights.

Maritime Messerschmitts andSeagoing StukasIn 1939, there was only one choice for Germany’s

carrier-based fighter, and the Bf 109E was naval-

ized as the 109T (for Träger or carrier). The most

obvious difference was folding wings, installed

on the first seven prototypes by Fieseler and eval-

uated for operability. The folded wing-

span was reduced to 13 feet, 4 inches,

but the flaps had to be removed before

folding.

Because the “Emil” landed fairly hot,

a reduced carrier touchdown speed was

required. Therefore, the standard 32 feet,

4 inch wingspan was extended by four

feet with an 8 percent increase in wing

area—from 174 to 188 square feet. The

result was a higher aspect ratio with a re-

duction in wing loading. However, the

Graf Zeppelin’s elevators would have ac-

cepted the 11 meter (36 feet) span so the

wing fold option proved unnecessary.

Other Bf 109 carrier equipment in-

cluded a stronger landing gear plus

catapult fittings and an arresting hook

Other Navies, Other CarriersCarriers Commissioned January 1939 -December 1945*

Nation Heavy Light Escort Total tal

United States 21 9 82 112

Great Britain 6 1 65 + 72

Japan 12 4 5 21

* USN, RN and IJN had different definitions of CV, CVL, CVE.

+ Includes U.S. built

mounted forward of the tailwheel, such as on

Seafires and Sea Hurricanes.Some 77 109T models were produced—nearly

all T-2s, without the carrier equipment. Fielded in

early 1941, they went to I Gruppe JG 77, which in

January 1942 became I/JG 5, mainly based in Nor-

way. Later use included a Staffel of JG 11, which

opposed early 8th Air Force bombing missions.

For carrier-based scouting and attack missions

the Ju 87B was suitably modified. Because of its

45-foot span, the C version featured folding wings

along Grumman lines, parallel to the fuselage.

EA Ju 87 C-1, W.Nr. 0572, asprepared for aircraft carrier

operations. is particularmachine, which was allocated

the factory code GD+FC, wascompleted in April 1941 and was

sent to the E-Stelle (See) at

Travemünde in October of thatyear. Later, in May 1943, it was

transferred to the control of XI.Fliegerkorps, which specialized

in parachute and air-landingoperations, probably for use as

a glider tug. (Photos courtesy of

EN Archive Collection)

e Arado Ar 197 biplane wasintended as a carrier-borne

fighter. ree prototypes werecompleted and they took part

in catapult trials before workwas abandoned due to the

development abroad of carrier-borne monoplane fighters,

which rendered the biplane

obsolete. e cradle launchsystem shown was to be used

on all aircraft.


18/68



The fixed landing gear was jettisonable to

avoid catastrophic results in ditchings. Addition-

ally, a fuel dump was fitted and flotation bags

were installed in the wings and fuselage. Flight

testing began in early 1938, with arresting gear

trials largely completed by the end of 1939. How-

ever, production of the “Caesar” model ended in

May 1940, at the time France capitulated.

Though Tr.Gr. 186 never saw combat, many

of its aircrew did. Among the most notable was

Helmut Mahlke who led a Staffel and then aGruppe in Stuka Geschwader 1, earning a Knight’s

Cross for sinking three warships and 29 freight-

ers. He ended the war as a lieutenant colonel.

Te on-again off-again shipWhile carrier aircraft were under development,

Junkers Ju 87 C Type: Two-seat dive-bomber

Engine: Junkers Jumo 211A,12-cylinder liquid-cooled enginerated at 1,200hp for takeoff and1,100hp at 4,920 ft. (1,500m)

Armament: One 7.9mm MG 15machine gun on flexible mountingin the rear cockpit

Maximum Bomb Load: One 1,102lb. (500 kg) bomb under thefuselage

Performance:Maximum speed211mph (340 kph) at sea level,238mph (383kph) at 13,410 ft.(4,087m)

Dimensions: Span 43 ft. 3 in.(13.18m); Length 36 ft. 1 in. (11.1m);

Height 13 ft. 11 in. (4.23 m).

Close of the pilot's seat of a Bf109 T, showing the position at

the rear of the cockpit behindthe pilot's seat where the

inflatable rubber dinghy was

stored in the event of crashingin the sea.

e Ju 87 V25, W.Nr.087 0530,

coded BK+EF showing a practice

torpedo mounted under the

fuselage. is aircraft was latertransferred to E-Stelle (See)Travemünde in December 1942

and was the prototype forthe intended Ju 87 D-1/torp.

and the later Ju 87 E variant.

(Photos courtesy of EN ArchiveCollection)

Graf Zeppelin continued her patchwork career.

Displacement grew from 19,250 tons in 1935 to

28,090 as built. She had an armored flight deck

with three elevators.

The carrier had an unusually heavy antiaircraft

armament: 16 six-inch, 12 four-inch, and 22

37mm. But during her on-again, off-again con-

struction phase, many of the guns were removedfor use ashore.

The crew, nominally composed of 1,760 men,

never reached full strength because Graf Zeppelin

remained uncompleted so none of her squadrons

reported aboard. Meanwhile, the incomplete

warship was towed to various Baltic ports: from

Kiel to Gotenhafen (Gdynia) in Poland to Stettin.

Meanwhile, the Royal Navy prompted the

Kriegsmarine to reconsider a carrier’s usefulness.

In March 1942, British carrier aircraft prevented

the 52,000-ton battleship Tirpitz from intercept-

ing convoys to Murmansk, Russia. Consequently,

Graf Zeppelin’s construction resumed in May.It was increasingly apparent that the best way

to interdict British carriers was with a German

carrier.

British intelligence learned of the enemy war-

ship’s new status, and took notice. In late August

the RAF launched a mission against the nascent

threat, with nine bombers attacking Gotenhafen

with 5,500-pound antiship bombs. The Avro Lan-

casters claimed a hit but none were confirmed in

German records.

The surface war continued badly for Germany,

failing to match the success of the U-boat arm.

Therefore, Hitler ordered halt to all major war-ship construction January 1943. He believed that

the quantity of steel used in surface ships could

be more profitably used in submarines. Conse-

quently, Graf Zeppelin was moved into a dry dock

in Kiel.

In April the meandering carrier was berthed in


19/68

JUNE 2014 19

a remote site near Stettin. She remained there for

the remainder of the war with a minimal care-

taker crew. With approach of the Soviets in April

1945, the Kriegsmarine sailors scuttled the ship,

which settled in the shallow water.

Refloated after the war, Graf Zeppelin was sunkin Soviet weapons tests in 1947. The wreck was

found by Polish researchers in 2006, sitting in

250 feet of water. She remains one of the few

aircraft carriers whose flight deck never felt the

weight of an airplane.

What might have beenFlight operations from Graf Zeppelin would have

been challenging on several counts. Forward vis-

ibility was poor in the 109, and the view in a car-

rier landing would have left much to be desired.

Undoubtedly, Messerschmitt pilots would have

developed a curving approach similar to whatCorsair pilots later employed to keep the deck in

sight.

Some sources state that the 109T’s wing lead-

ing-edge slats were deactivated as unnecessary

due to the greater span and low-speed control-

lability.

Messerschmitt Bf 109 T-1

Type: Single-seat aircraft carrier-based fighter

Engine: One Daimler-Benz DB 601A,12-cylinder liquid-cooled inverted-vee engine rated at 1,050hp for takeoff and 1,100hp at 12,140 ft. (3,700 m)

Armament: Two 20mm MG FFcannon with 60rpg in the wings andtwo 7.9mm MG 17 machine gunsin the upper fuselage nose with1000rpg

Performance: Maximum speed at5,523 lb., 289mph (465kph) at sealevel, 302mph (486kph) at 13,120 ft.(4,000m).

Dimensions: Span: 38 ft., 4 in.

(11.70m); Length: 28 ft., 9 in. (8.8m);Height: 10 ft., 9 in. (3.3m).

Graf Zeppelin had a landing control officer’s

position portside aft, where the U.S. and British

navies placed LSOs or “batsmen.” The officer had

telephone contact with the “air center” in the is-

land where a light display told approaching avia-

tors whether the deck was clear and if sea state

permitted a landing. Presumably, the control of-

ficer had radio contact with pilots making land-

ings, but any transmissions might have compro-

mised the carrier’s position to Allied intelligence.

Because the German Navy regarded carriersas fleet auxiliaries, neither Graf Zeppelin nor any

sisters would have formed independent striking

units as did Japan and the Allies. Therefore, Tr.Gr.

186 would have provided improved scouting to

locate British convoys in the North Atlantic, and

to defend capital ships from air attack.

Though able to cruise with fast battleships,

Graf Zeppelin’s drawback was limited range for

raiding—perhaps as little as 200 miles from base.

The Graf Zeppelin’s offensive loadout evolved

with air group composition. As of 1937, maga-

zine storage accepted 80 torpedoes, nearly 100

tons of 250 kilogram (550 lb.) and 500 kg (1,100lb.) bombs, and over 40 tons of 1,100-pound

aerial mines. Two years later, the torpedo and

mine capacity remained unchanged but bombs

were reduced to 130 500kg weapons and several

hundred-depth bombs. Deletion of 250kg bombs

intended mainly for the Messerschmitt fighter-

To get the Me 109T down tocarrier-suitable landing speeds,

when it was given folding wingsand an arresting hook, the

wing span was also increased.

(Illustration by Tom Tullis)

Although work on the Graf

Zeppelin had been terminated

in 1939, work on Germancarrier aircraft did not stop

and this photograph, taken atthe Erprobungsstelle(See)

Travemünde on August 23, 1940,shows the aircraft types planned

for carrier operations when they

were assembled for a visit bythe Generalluftzeugmeister ,

Ernst Udet. e Bf 109 T in theforeground was the intended

fighter variant to be operatedfrom the carriers, the example

in the foreground being aconverted Bf 109 E, W.Nr. 1783,

which was equipped with an

arrester hook and was used inlanding trials. In the background

is the Ju 87 V-10, TK+HD,

which had fixed wings, but wasinstalled with an arrester hookand catapult fittings. During

Udet’s visit, this Ju 87 made

a number of demonstrationarrester hook landings.

(Photo courtesy of EN ArchiveCollection)


20/68



bombers was noteworthy. Elimination of the

Fieseler torpedo planes freed up storage space for

other ordnance, but how much is unknown.

Probably the ideal Graf Zeppelin task force

would have included the battleships Scarnhorst

and Gneisenau with one or more cruisers and adestroyer screen. (The heavy cruisers Admiral

Scheer and Lutzow were too slow, and by 1943,

Germany’s light cruisers were largely worn out.)

Furthermore, the Kriegsmarine was perennially

short of escorts after the heavy losses at Norway

in 1940. German destroyers usually lacked range

of their Allied counterparts, and German under-

way replenishment never achieved anything like

the capability of the U.S. or Royal navies.

Actually, the battleship Tirpitz’s 50,000-ton

What became of Hitler’s only aircraft carrier?

For decades, Graf Zeppelin ’s ultimate fate was the subject of mystery andspeculation. At war’s end in 1945, the still incomplete flattop was scuttled in a

backwater near Stettin on the Baltic Sea, just before the Soviets arrived. Eventually

they refloated the vessel and reserved it as a target platform. By 1947, the Cold

War was shaping up, and certainly the Russians wanted to know what it took to

sink a carrier. In August 1947, Graf Zeppelin was subjected to a variety of ordnance

tests, including a new series of bombs thought to be effective against warships.

Tree-inch gunfire also was employed, but the ship remained afloat. According

to declassified sources, eventually the Kriegsmarine ’s only carrier was sunk by

torpedo boats.

Tere the story rested for almost 60 years. Te exact location was lost, and

few people gave much thought to the carrier’s fate. But in July 2006, a Polish oil

company ship noted a large sonar target on the ocean floor 34 miles offshore.

Subsequently, the Polish Navy dispatched remote-controlled submersibles to

confirm that the wreck 260 feet down was almost certainly Graf Zeppelin .—Barrett Tillman

bulk was best suited to heavy weather in the

North Atlantic. If damaged, she could probably

return to port relatively fast — an option denied

Bismarck in May 1941. But she consumed con-

siderable fuel and was retained in Norway in late

1942 for a lengthy overhaul.No U-boats were likely to have been assigned

to our mythical “Task Force Zeppelin” because

they lacked the surface speed to keep up. How-

ever, properly positioned beforehand, they could

provide useful scouting but probably would re-

quire roundabout communication with Group

West headquarters in France.

The carrier’s air group composition changed

with aircraft availability and the overall mission.

The latest arrangement, in 1942, postulated 22

Messerschmitts and 18 Stukas. Early that year,

the Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe discussed upgrad-

ing the carrier aircraft to Bf 109Fs and Ju 87Ds

but they would have required time-consuming

development of new catapults and arresting gear.

Therefore, any hypothetical deployment would

have to retain 109Ts and 87Cs.

Germany’s maritime patrol aircraft included

types as diverse as the huge Focke Wulf 200 Con-

dor, the Junkers Ju 88, the Heinkel 115 floatplane,

and the trimotor Blohm und Voss 138 seaplane.

The latter was especially long-ranged but none

could defend themselves from determined fighter

attack.

Protecting the Arctic convoys was a crucial

goal. Naval historian Michael Walling comput-

ed that one U-boat sinking just two 6,000-ton

cargo ships and a 3,000-ton tanker deprived the

After being launched onDecember 8, 1938, the Graf

Zeppelin was far from complete.Due to other pressures of

war and continued changingrequirements, she was

eventually towed into the

Baltic Sea outside of Stettinwhere she remained until being

scuttled in March 1945 to stopher falling into Russian hands.

(Photo courtesy of EN ArchiveCollection)


21/68


22/68



Allies of 42 tanks; 24 armored cars and

50 weapons carriers; 136 artillery pieces;

5,200 tons of ammunition; 2,400 tons

of stores and supplies, and 1,000 tanks

of gasoline. Adding more attrition from

surface raiders and possibly an aircraft

carrier was more than the Allies wished

to contemplate.

“Miniature Midway” in theNorth AtlanticIt’s interesting to speculate on a possible

matchup between Graf Zeppelin and Roy-

al Navy carriers in 1942-1943. Undoubt-

edly, the British would know the enemy

was at sea, and almost certainly would

have deployed a powerful surface-air

force in response.

One possible venue would be Arctic

convoys, which did not sail during sum-

mer after the disastrous Convoy PQ 17in June-July 1942, costing the Allies 24

of 35 merchant vessels. Additionally, the

long summer months afforded German

subs and aircraft good daylight hunt-

ing weather. Conversely, the short days

of winter would badly limit visual flight

operations.

In any case, we can imagine a carri-

er engagement on one of the two “JW

51” convoys of December 1942-January

1943 or the succeeding JW convoys in

January-February 1943. All departed Liv-

erpool for the Kola Inlet in northwesternRussia.

At the end of January, the Royal Navy

and Kriegsmarine were evenly matched

in the Battle of the Barents sea when

two British cruisers and six destroyers re-

pelled the pocket battleship Lutzow and

cruiser Hipper with six escorts.

Injecting Graf Zeppelin into the mix,

the Germans would have gained the in-

valuable advantage of organic aerial re-

connaissance for the task force.

In that period, the British Home

Fleet included HMS Furious , a WW I

battlecruiser converted to a carrier, and

the escort carrier Dasher . Furious nomi-

nally embarked three squadrons: nine

each Albacores, Swordfish, and Seafires.

The much smaller Dasher owned 12

Swordfish and six Sea Hurricane IIBs.

Thus, presumably the RN could field

30 Albacore-Swordfish and 15 fighters.

Though both forces possessed similar

numbers of carrier aircraft, the British

had a decided advantage in strike air-

craft—even the obsolete “Stringbag”

which proved surprisingly effective

through the war.

(The Royal Navy began deploying

Grumman Avengers from early 1943.

However, because Avengers could not

carry British torpedoes, the TBF/TBMs

would have been limited to glide bomb-

ing and, perhaps more importantly, re-

connaissance.)

The German task force would possess

both air-search and fire-control radar,affording a well-rounded electronics ca-

pability. Luftwaffe fighter controllers

aboard several ships could have directed

109s to intercept Allied snoopers or at-

tack aircraft. However, with planes ready

to launch, the carrier would rely heav-

ily upon her consorts for 360-degree flak

coverage. Concussion from Graf Zeppelin’s

AA guns on the starboard forward quarter

could damage parked aircraft, forcing the

task group to station two or more ships

within supporting gunfire range to star-

board throughout any attack.For strike missions the powerful com-

pressed-air catapults could fling a loaded

Stuka off the deck with a 500-kg bomb

on the centerline and four 50 kg weap-

ons under the wings—a total loadout of

1,540 pounds. A gross launch weight of

5,000 kg (11,000 lb.) was permissible at

about 135 km/h or 73 knots, but the 4.3

G acceleration was viewed with concern

for many aircrew.

However, Graf Zeppelin could not have

sustained the sortie rate common to Al-

lied carriers. Aside from the cumbersomeprocess of loading aircraft on the cradles

and raising them to the flight deck, the

compressed air cats were only good for 18

cycles before replenishing, which could

have taken nearly an hour. The process

called for two test shots followed by 16

“live” launches—a procedure guaranteed

to limit the number of airborne aircraft.

In short, Graf Zeppelin was never going

to be, in current terminology, “an all-up

round.” Germany began aircraft carrier

design and testing far too late to meet

wartime realities, and even the proposed

1948 fleet could not have matched the

Anglo-Americans. Yet it’s intriguing to

speculate on an Atlantic carrier duel—a

miniature North Sea version of Midway

or Philippine Sea. It would have pitted

Seafires or Sea Hurricanes against 109Ts

while Stukas dived from overhead and

Swordfish or Albacores bored in low and

extremely slow.

It’s the stuff of wargamers’ fantasies.

Thanks for the generous support of Larry

Bond, Cristoph Kluxen, Chris Carlson, and

Patrick Hreachmack. Visit Barrett Tillman

at btillman.com.


23/68


24/68


AVIATION INSIDER

W hen the 100th F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter

was delivered on December 13, it was a “big deal for

the Air Force,” said chief of staff Gen. Mark Welsh.

Welsh is the most visible face and the strongest

voice supporting the F-35. A respected fighter pilot, Welsh is

trying to steer his service at a time when funding is sparse

and other options for the future of long-range, land-based air-

power aren’t included in current policy. Welsh consistently re-

jects critics who argue that new-build or upgraded versions of

the F-15 Eagle, F-16 Fighting Falcon and F/A-18 Super Hornet

would make better economic sense than the F-35, which is the

product of the costliest military acquisition in world history.

That may put Welsh at odds with Navy Capt. Francis Morley,

program manager for the F/A-18, who told reports in Decem-

ber that the Super Hornet is a “no drama option.” Some say the

F-35 program has produced more drama than results.

Welsh told reporters, “I am certainly not willing to go to

my secretary or the secretary of defense or to the chairman [of

the Joint Chiefs of Staff] and say, ‘I would recommend that we

keep our old equipment and update it, and just accept more

losses and count on the incredible ability of our aviators to win

the fight anyway.’”

Welsh drank the Kool-Aid — Air Force talk for buying the

official line — about the notion that fighters exist in genera-

tions and that the Air Force needs a “fifth-generation” fighter

that employs stealth. Critics say the idea was a marketing tool

IS IT STRIKING OUT? BY ROBERT F. DORR


25/68

JUNE 2014 25

devised by a planemaker and is meaningless: They argue that

stealth is not important in modern warfare and that an F-35,

just because it is newer, is not necessarily going to defeat a

Gripen, a Typhoon, a Sukhoi Su-35, or an F-15SE Silent Eagle.

To the ordinary citizen, or even to an aviation insider who

grew up in the ways of Washington, it’s difficult to reconcile

the differing opinions of those who love the F-35 and those

who criticize it. The bottom line, perhaps, is the question of

how long we taxpayers ought, reasonably, to wait for the F-35

to demonstrate that it really is dual-role (air-to-air and air-to-

surface), that it really is superior to even the most advanced of

existing fighters, and that it will end up being worth the very

high price the nation is paying for it.

Doing the dumb mathHow much does the F-35 cost?

Under development are three versions, the conventional

landing and takeoff (CTOL) F-35A for the Air Force and most

overseas users, the short takeoff and landing (STOVL) F-35B

for the Marine Corps, Britain and Italy, and the carrier-based

F-35C for the Navy. The F-35B uses a lift-fan for vertical flight

not found on other models. The F-35C is larger and heavier

than the others and carries more fuel.

Forget about “then-year flyaway cost” or “net adjusted unit

cost.”

This aviation insider uses dumb math. Take the total amount

to be spent, $392 billion. Divide the total by the number of

Photo by Ted Carlson/fotodynamics.com


26/68


AVIATION INSIDERAVIATION INSIDER

planes to be bought (2,443 including 1,763 for the Air Force).

The solution is $160 million per airplane.

This is more than double the $75 million, as measured in

2013 dollars, quoted as the sticker price by Lorraine Martin,

head of the F-35 program at Lockheed in a December state-

ment. Note that both figures use calculations based on future

events. Winslow Wheeler, analyst at the Project on Govern-

ment Oversight, told Flight Journal that the planemaker’s fig-ure is “absurd” and that F-35s being purchased in fiscal year

2014 will average $185 million each, with Navy F-35Cs costing

$264 million each. “The actual cost of the F-35 in future years

will become multiples of what its advocates have been saying,”

Wheeler told this magazine.

By any measure, the F-35 costs more than any other fighter

worldwide save the F-22 Raptor, which was purchased

on a small scale (187 aircraft) over many years.

The F-35 is a straightforward, tricycle-gear,

twin-fin, single-engine fighter powered by a

28,000-pound thrust Pratt & Whitney after-

burning F135-PW-100 two-stage turbofan

engine. It has a 35-foot trapezoidal mid-wing (43 feet on the carrier-based F-35C)

with a leading edge swept back at 33 de-

grees. It uses stealth coating to make it dif-

ficult to detect on radar. It may be difficult to

see coming but it’s easy to hear: a study at Eglin

Air Force Base, Florida, where the 33rd Fighter Wing is training

F-35 pilots, found the single-engine F-35A to be twice as loudas the twin-engine F-15C Eagle.

The pilot sits on a Martin Baker UF-16B version of the Mk.

16 ejection seat, a derivative of the seat employed on the Eu-

rofighter Typhoon seat, rather than the ACES II model that is

standard elsewhere in the U.S. military. The pilot uses a sides-

tick controller, like the one on the F-16, rather than a control

stick.

The F-35A is supposed to be armed with an internal GAU-

22/A four-barrel rotary 25-mm. cannon with a skimpy 182

rounds. The gun on the F-35B and F-35C is carried in an ex-

ternal pod — undermining the stealth properties that are the

planes’ principal selling point. In a January 6 interview, Col.

Stephen “Jester” Jost of the 33rd wing told this magazine the

gun is currently “not an authorized weapon.” Developmental

work on the gun has been stalled by technical glitches. Past

attempts to develop a new cannon to replace the proven, Viet-

nam-era M61A2 Vulcan 20-mm weapon have not succeeded.

Carrying bombs or fuel tanks externally is another way to

undermine stealth, so the F-35 has an internal weapons bay,

much like a World War II bomber.

From its inception as a technology demonstrator program in

1989, the F-35 has always been intended to carry both conven-

tional and nuclear munitions. In January, Welsh’s predecessor,

retired Gen. Norton Schwartz said the Pentagon should aban-

don its $350 million program to make the B61 hydrogen bomb

compatible with the F-35. Funding to make the F-35 nuclear-

capable should be diverted to a new bomber, Schwartz said.

Alone among fighters worldwide, the F-35 does not have a

head-up display to enable the pilot to look out from the air-

craft instead of down at the instrument panel. Instead, the air-

craft relies on a helmet-mounted display system. In addition to

allowing the pilot to keep his head up and see around the air-

craft through external cameras, the binocular helmet display

is designed to dispense with a need for separate night-vision

goggles. Two years ago, Lockheed reported it was making prog-ress fixing three problems with the display — impeded night-

vision, latency, and jitter problems. More recently, plans for an

alternate helmet display were dropped. An eventual improve-

ment to the current helmet display will include new liquid

crystal displays and software enhancements.

Really restrictedThe F-35 program is moving ahead under an

arrangement called “concurrency,” in which

the aircraft begins flight operations while

undergoing tests. The 33rd wing at Eglin

has begun training F-35 pilots, about four

years later than planned. The 56th FighterWing at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona,

was scheduled to receive its first F-35 in

March 2014, to begin its role as the second

Air Force Lightning II training base. But

a Pentagon report released January 23 said

that concurrency isn’t working, that F-35 software is not yet

mature enough for operations. In the report, the Pentagon’schief weapons tester, Michael Gilmore, called performance of

the plane’s software “unacceptable.” The report said the F-35

is proving less reliable and harder to maintain than expected,

and remains vulnerable to propellant fires sparked by missile

strikes.

When I talked to F-35 pilots, they said the troubles dogging

the program are exaggerated. Said Lockheed Martin test plot

Bill “Gigs” Gigliotti: “The F-35 has a lot of power, handles well,

is crisp in all axes, and is well behaved.” There is “no doubt

that this aircraft can overcome obstacles to becoming the pre-

mier dual-role fighter in the world,” said Col. David Hlatky, a

former 33rd wing commander. “I’ve never seen a pilot come

back from his first sortie without a huge smile on his face.”

said Lt. Col. Matt Renbarger, a squadron commander in the

33rd wing.

So many alternatives have been sacrificed on the altar of the

F-35 that we need to hope this isn’t just the Kool-Aid. We need

to hope this long-delayed, costly new fighter will succeed.

But let’s not kid ourselves. As of now, the F-35 is limited to

day flying under visual flight rules. The software isn’t ready for

an operational environment. The cannon doesn’t work. The

helmet display still has problems. The tailhook on the Navy

version still has problems. And no matter how you finesse it,

a single F-35 costs at least twice as much as an advanced F-15,

F-16 or F/A-18.

My opinion is that the F-35 has had its chance and we need

to explore other options.

The report said the F-35 is proving less reliable and harder to maintain than expected ...

When I talked to F-35 pilots, they said the troubles dogging the program are exaggerated


27/68


28/68


A Dumbo Angel in the Atlantic BY RACHEL MORRIS

Miss


29/68

In the cold, crisp spring air at18,000 feet on March 30, 1945, First Lt.

Dan Meyers suddenly found himself

flying in a cloud, in an otherwise blue

and completely cloudless sky. The mys-terious fog was generated by the engine

failure of his P-51D Mustang 44-72328.

With the shore of Northern Germany

behind, and the Frisian Islands beneath

his port wing, Meyers was forced to

bail out and take his chances with the

uninviting mass of the North Sea. After

checking his dinghy and Mae West

were in position, he pushed himself

out into the biting slipstream, narrowlyavoiding his Mustang’s tail. From under

his ’chute, he watched his aircraft spiral

down and crash into the heavy swell of

the rough sea. When he too hit the wa-

ter, the chilling waves swept over him

in stark contrast to the smooth, crystal

air moments before.

Plane Sailing's PBY-5A Catalina G-PBYA Miss Pick Up flown byPaul Mulcahy and Derek Head. (Photo by John Dibbs/

planepicture.com)


30/68


MISS PICK UP

Returning from an uneventful bomber escort

over Hamburg, his 42nd mission, Meyers’ sur-

vival was now at stake. Removing his parachute’s

harness, he moved fast to deploy his dinghy. It

inflated perfectly, but upside down. Hindered by

his heavy, wet flying gear, with the cold clawing at

him, he soon abandoned his exhausted attempts

to right it. Clambering aboard the upturned din-ghy, the lieutenant was concerned that his “Little

Friends,” his fellow pilots from the 357th Fighter

Group at Leiston, would no longer be able to see

him. Keeping a watchful eye over him and their

own fuel tanks, the P-51s had alerted the rescu-

ers, but while an aircrew dinghy the right way up

was bright yellow to aid in location, the under-

side was dark blue. Now a small indistinct speck

in a large dark sea, Meyers later recounted, “Cold

and alone, there wasn’t anything to do but watch

the sky darken and wait to be rescued.”

TeamworkWith their regular aircraft Consolidated OA-10A44-39923 Sophisticat in for maintenance, First

A still of OA-10A 44-33915 Miss

Pick Up from 8th AF production

Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!

Te search and rescue work of

the 5th ERS was showcased in

the film.

Lt. Meyers’ dinghy, dusk was falling fast. The

comforting sound of the two Pratt & Whitney

radials thrummed above the crashing waves and

soon, Meyers spotted the great white bird appear-

ing out of the gloom, flying low while its crew

searched hard from the observation blisters. The

darkness and poor visibility prevented them lo-

cating Meyers until he started shooting flares.Despite the dangerous seas, they opted not to

leave a lone man to perish despite the great per-

sonal risk to themselves and their aircraft. Well

in range of German shore batteries, Lapenas stall-

landed the Cat heavily in to the swell. Having

lost sight of the dinghy twice during the landing,

they spotted Meyers 100 feet off their starboard

side. When Lapenas tried to maneuver towards

him he realized their starboard engine was dead.

The hard landing had torn a line, and black oil

was pouring from the engine and coating the

murky sea. Every effort they made to get closer

to Meyers was foiled by the strong winds. He be-gan to disappear from view, hidden by the waves.

They soon lost sight of him completely.

Unsure of Meyers’ fate, the Mustangs provid-

ing top cover were forced to return to base. Alone

in the twilight, Meyers later said he “figured that

a pilot on a dark dinghy in a rough sea would

be very hard to see … since there was nothing I

could do, I did what I do best, and fell asleep.”

Meanwhile, Miss Pick Up’s crew started the re-

maining engine and taxied northwest for 1 1/2

hours, putting vital distance between themselves

and the Nazi-occupied shore. Assessing the dam-

age to their airframe, they diagnosed that thestarboard engine was now bereft of oil, but were

relieved to find the hull was sound except for

one small leak in the navigator’s compartment.

The sea calmed slightly, but the respite was short-

lived. During the night, the storm raged again

with full fury. The waves pitched them about

inside the freezing flying boat, causing terrible

seasickness for all the crew except Lapenas. Fear-

ing capture, they kept radio silence throughout

the night. Saving Meyers had failed, and now the

rescuers needed rescuing.

Shepherds of the sea Miss Pick Up was an OA-10A of the 5th Emer-gency Rescue Squadron. From its official incep-

tion at Halesworth, Suffolk, in January 1945,

previously Detachment B of the 65th Fighter

Wing based at Boxted, Essex, the brave and vi-

tal squadron fought a different war to most, as it

was not in the business of killing. Its sole purpose

was the preservation of life, friend or foe. Using

“war-weary” P-47 Thunderbolts, modified SB-17

Flying Fortresses, and their OA-10As, the Fifth’s

crews scoured the seas daily to help locate and

save downed pilots. In just one year from May 8,

1944 to April 30, 1945, they completed 11,100

operational hours, with 3,541 ASR sorties flown,

rescuing 461 people (410 alive, 51 already dead).

Lt. John V Lapenas and Second Lt. Theodore J

Langan were flying 44-33915 Miss Pick Up, call

sign “Teamwork 75.” When Meyers hit the water,

Miss Pick Up was involved in the rescue of a sister

ship. OA-10A 44-33917 was down and in trouble

after landing in a 10-12 foot swell to pick up two

survivors from a ditched B-24 Liberator. Eventu-

ally, ’917’s crew was rescued by an RAF launch

and ’917 was abandoned, engulfed by the waves

and sunk.

Unable to land in the rough sea, Miss Pick Up

had spent several hours circling the scene. When

the fast and agile 357th fighters arrived to guide

the larger, slower-flying boat to the location of


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JUNE 2014 31

Luscious Legacy To commemorate the brave wartime crews operating in dire conditions over theEnglish Channel, UK-based PBY-5A Catalina G-PBYA was repainted as USAAF5th Emergency Rescue Squadron OA-10A 44-33915. While the majority of the

scheme was easy to reproduce, the wartime aircraft’s nose art, or in this case,hull art, remained unknown for six years. When photographic evidence surfacedin 2011, aircraft operators Plane Sailing realized the Miss Pick Up artwork on ‘915was closely based on the luscious Miss Lace — a character created by legendarycartoonist Milton Caniff (see this issue's Tailview). Aviation photographer JohnDibbs volunteered his creative services to painstakingly reproduce a Miss PickUp artwork. e culmination of months of hard work came together on a blusteryevening at Duxford when the art, on large vinyl stickers, was applied to G-PBYA.

A visit to the Halesworth Airfield Museum archive on the site of OA-10A MissPick Up ’s original home base yielded specific information on the artwork’s origin.'915’s regular radar operator, S/Sgt. Francis Glasser, donated a personal accountof his training and service with the 5th ERS. At Keesler Field, Glasser was assignedto the crew of '915 in late 1944. He described how “York [Cpl. William H. York,'915’s engineer] and I found an artist who painted a blonde … on both sides of thehull and I named her ‘Miss Pick Up.’ She really drew a crowd wherever we went.”Seventy years later, Plane Sailing’s PBYMiss Pick Up continues the legacy, provingimmensely popular at airshow appearances.—Rachel Morris

Friday, March 30, 1945, was a dark day in the

squadron’s history. Having suffered its first op-

erational loss with the sinking of OA-10A 44-

33917, now 44-33915 was drifting dangerously.

’915’s radio operator, Sgt. Dan Hochstatter, later

remembered, “We never knew what happened to

Meyers. At one time he was between our pontoon

and the hull, but because of the lousy weather wewere unable to land him.”

Meyers, having fallen asleep, awoke early the

next morning to a strange bumping sound: the

noise of his dinghy hitting the muddy beach of

Borkum Island. He recalled how he climbed out

into “ankle-deep ooze, and pulled my dinghy up

on shore just as if I were going to use it again!”

Knowing capture was inevitable, he threw his pis-

tol into the sea. Approaching the nearest lights,

he entered the island’s electrical generating plant.

Sodden and dirty, he made his way down a clean,

bright corridor leaving a trail of muddy water in

his path. Upon arriving in an immaculate room,he sat his exhausted body down against a wall,

saying later that he felt “bad about tracking all

the dirt into it. I had hardly gotten seated when

an elderly man … appeared and took me through

the foyer to a small room where we waited for the

police to arrive.” Meyers joined other POWs at

Stalag Luft I. Luckily for him, peace was soon de-

clared, and he would be back at his Leiston base

just two months later.

Signs of sudden deathUnaware of Meyers’ imprisonment, efforts to

save him and the drifting crew of ‘915 restarted

with the morning light of March 31. Another

5th ERS OA-10A piloted by First Lt. John A Car-

roll, was dispatched from Halesworth to search

for Meyers. Major Leonard “Kit” Carson of the

357th arrived in the area with two other P-51s

to discover two RAF Vickers Warwicks circling

’915, one of which had dropped a lifeboat for the

flying boat’s crew. Lapenas described the drop as

excellent, but the “sea was rough and the lines

kept breaking in our attempt to get it along side

... The lifeboat began to break up due to contact

with our plane.”

At midday, the ever-present threat of enemy

interference was realized. Gus Platte, the tailgun-

ner in one of the No. 280 Sqn Warwicks, recount-

TWO ME 262S CAMESTORMING OUT FROM

THE MAINLAND AT AMUCH LOWER ALTITUDETHAN OURS ... ON THEFIRST ATTACK, THEYSHOT OFF THE PBY’STAIL ASSEMBLY ANDTHE PONTOON ON ITSLEFT WING.

Duxford-based G-PBYA Miss Pick Up runs up her Pratt & Whitneyengines for an evening shoot. (Photo by John D ibbs/planepicture.com)


32/68


MISS PICK UP

ed the dramatic development: “I was dividing

my time between searching the sea for any signs

of life and the air for any sign of sudden death,when suddenly the intercom erupted, ‘Christ! An

aeroplane, coming like the clappers of Hell!’ The

voice was Vince Keeley’s, the mid-upper gunner.

‘Where? Call it out,’ retorted the skipper, Tommy

[Dykes]. ‘It’s coming like the clappers!’ came the

reply. ‘Call it out, where is it? Who is that?’” The

three P-51s circling at 4,000 feet also saw the en-

emy approach, Kit Carson described their arrival:

“Two Me 262s came storming out from the main-

land at a much lower altitude than ours, possibly

a thousand feet off the water ... Their course was

dead into the Catalina ... On the first attack, they

shot off the PBY’s tail assembly and the pontoon

on its left wing. I sent one Mustang up to alti-

tude to contact “Colgate” [call sign of the 65th

FW HQ] and give him the dope … so there were

only two of us when the 262s started strafing. Wedropped our tanks and closed on them as they

began their second pass. They discontinued it

quickly though, when we began to get strikes on

them from long range. The 262s peeled off to the

right and made a wide high-speed circle back to

the mainland. Certainly not wishing our troops

in the Catalina any bad luck, I was hoping that

bastard in the lead 262 would tighten up his turn

and try to come back, because if he had I was go-

ing to nail his ass.”

Enemy action

In the Warwick, Gus Platte was also firing his tailgun furiously at the departing 262: “His black

silhouette sliced away towards his homeland

without returning for a second attack. Whether

he had a problem, or was hit by our bullets, we

would never know. The skipper was very upset

that he hadn’t been able to take evasive action,

saying that any advice to weave port or starboard

would have been preferable to ‘like the clappers

of hell!’ At debriefing I drew the shape of a Mess-

Taken from their dinghies, one of

the crew recorded the final mo-ments of 44-33915 Miss Pick Up

after the Me 262s had done theirdamage. Stricken and sinking,

the aircraft's tail fin has been

completely shot away. (Photocourtesy of Halesworth Airfield

Museum via John Dibbs)

In three two-man dinghies lashed together with ropes,

the crew wait to be rescued, with no idea just how longthat will take. (Photo courtesy of Halesworth Airfield

Museum via John Dibbs)


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JUNE 2014 33

erschmitt 262. “They are flying their jets,” said

the debriefing officer as he shook his head. “Now

we are for it!”

Based at Wittmundshafen, the Luftwaffe’s I./

JG7 was approximately 100 miles east of ‘915’s

position, and Lieutenant Hadi Weihs remem-

bered the event. “I was flying the lead Me 262

on that day ... I strafed the Catalina and we gotaway from the Mustangs without being hit.” Mi-

raculously, the crew of ’915 escaped injury from

the hail of enemy bullets but the aircraft suffered

badly. Lapenas reported: “Numerous holes were

in the plane and it started to leak profusely and

settle in the water. The left float gave way and the

plane listed to port.” After securing three emer-

gency dinghies together with ropes, each one

seating two men, they “proceeded to abandon

ship, taking with us all emergency equipment

and supplies possible.” Another lifeboat dropped

by an RAF Warwick was too damaged for the men

to use but they salvaged a message giving coordi-

nates and advice to steer 264 degrees 130 miles

– for the time being, an impossible task.

Life saver

That afternoon, Generals Carl Spaatz and James

Doolittle were visiting Halesworth to inspect a

Higgins Airborne Lifeboat rigged for suspension

beneath a modified B-17. As the generals depart-ed, news arrived that the six crew had abandoned

Miss Pick Up, and were now drifting in dinghies

on the inhospitable North Sea. B-17 crewmem-

ber Captain Pete Dabarn described their reaction:

“We immediately went to work like fiends, cut-

ting holes in the bomb-bay doors for the support

cables, fuelling the boat’s tanks, deflating the

self-righting chambers etc. In a little more than

an hour, we were on our way to the call site. Two

hours later, we spotted the men in a raft. There

was a 35mph wind blowing with whitecaps all

over the area. It’s hard to describe how help-

Letter to Loved Ones44-33915 co-pilot Second Lt. eodore J. Langan was just 21 years old when he and his crew were lost

at sea. After their dramatic rescue, Ted wrote a letter home to his brother describing their experiences:" … the next day (Sunday, April 1) we had the worst storm of the year. e waves were at least 20 feethigh … e boat is only 27 feet long. For two days (Sunday, April 1 and Monday, April 2) we headed intothe waves, but as we later found out, the wind was so strong we weren't making a damn foot, insteadwe drifted about 30 miles north. Monday morning, the engine died on us and before we knew it, we'dturned broadside to the waves and tipped over. I was thrown about 10 feet away. Right then we fig-ured we'd had it. e only reason I swam back was to die with the other boys." Ted ended the letteradmitting he was "plenty scared" during their ordeal. He left the USAAF after the war, but remainedforever upset that Dan Meyers had fallen into the enemy's hands, despite their best efforts to rescue

him. He passed away in 1976, leaving his loving family behind.

Second Lt. eodore J Langan

completed search & rescue

training at Keesler Field,Mississippi, before joining the

5th ERS. Postwar, he madea scrapbook of his service

adventures which his familywere welcome to browse. Ted

could not bear to look himself as

the memories were too painful.(Photo courtesy of Lessie Jo

Langan via John Dibbs)

Original 5th Emergency RescueSquadron insignia, designed by

underbolt pilot and resident

artist Frank Fong. (Photocourtesy of Rachel Morris)

less and pathetic they were under

those circumstances. The raft was

bobbing like a cork in those rough

seas and the temperature was about

40°F. We made one dry run after drop-

ping smoke flares then, at 1,200 feet

dropped the boat. The ’chutes opened

and in a few seconds, the boat was inthe water about 100 feet from them. In

a couple of minutes, the men were in the

boat and within 12 minutes from the time we

had dropped it, they had it under way. By the

time we got back to the field, storm warning gales

went up the coast. A torpedo boat sent out to re-

trieve the men reported winds of 60mph with sea

waves over 20-feet high which, reportedly, was

the worst North Sea storm of the year.” That boat

was forced to return to shore.

The lifeboat drop by the B-17 had been so ac-

curate, that one of the tethering lines had landed

across the men’s dinghies. Captain Dabarn re-

called, “As the storm came up, they headed right

into it with both engines at full throttle and as

they rode over each wave, the engines raced as

the stern lifted out of the water.” Steering 270

degrees, they pushed on through another long,

cold, exposed night at sea. The following day,

April 1, brought no hope of salvation. Lapenas

condensed his subsequent report into a few shortsentences: “The weather was terrible. Estimated

wind was 40E [40 knots easterly] with very low

ceiling and rain. The sea was running very high

and I estimated the waves at 20 to 25 feet high.

No aircraft sighted, fired a couple of flares just as

a possibility. Position unknown, estimated head-

way at 2 knots.”

The following morning at 0600 the lifeboat

engine quit. After running for 32 hours straight,

both fuel tanks were empty. Unable to restart it,

the men were drifting again in the rough seas.

Suddenly, the boat swung abeam and they were

THE BOAT’S CENTERBOARD SNAPPED OFF AND ICY-COLDWATER FLOODED IN. WITHIN SECONDS, ONLY THE SELF-RIGHTINGCHAMBERS AND ONE GUNWALE REMAINED ABOVE THE WAVES


34/68


hit hard by a tremendous wave, tossing Ted Lan-

gan and Dan Hochstatter into the freezing water.

Lapenas reported, “My copilot swam back but the

radio man had to be hauled back in. He was at-

tempting to get the Gibson Girl (emergency ra-

dio) rigged up at the time and it was strapped tohis knees.” The boat’s centerboard snapped off

and icy-cold water flooded in. Within seconds,

Posing with Miss Pick Up at Debden in 1945. One of the photographs that enabled Plane Sailing to recreatethe artwork to complete the historic paintsche me worn by their Catali na G-PBYA. (Photo courtesy of the

John Dibbs Collection)

A sideview recreation of Vickers-built OA-10A 44-33915,

Halesworth 1945. (Ilustration by Mark Styling)

MISS PICK UP

American efforts to provide the war theaters with an airborne lifeboat platform to augment patrol flying

boats began in 1943 but were not theatre deployed until February 1945. Near 130 SB-17Gs were modified tocarry the Higgins A-1, 3300 lb. mahogany boat with two air-cooled engines and provisions for 12 survivors.

Te type continued in service with the USCG till the early 1960s. (Photo courtesy of Stan Piet)

only the self-righting chambers and one gunwale

remained above the waves.

Using their last reserves of grit and determina-

tion, the airmen fought for their lives and suc-

ceeded in bailing out the boat. Lapenas described

their dire situation, “Everyone and everythingwas soaking wet and it was impossible to keep

dry. It was bitter cold and some of the men started

to worry about their feet. They were numb.” With

nothing left in their stomachs, there was no more

seasickness. To their great relief, the sea began

to calm at around midday, the winds lessening

enough for them to get the Gibson Girl’s anten-

nae kite up and running. After another demoral-

izing day alone on the waves, a glimmer of hope

arrived in the early evening when they spotted

two Warwicks and three P-51s passing three miles

to their north. Despite desperately firing flares,

the aircraft did not see them. The men hunkereddown for their fourth freezing night.

Salvation

With the dawn on April 3, came a great improve-

ment in the weather. The exhausted men set up

the Gibson Girl, doggedly sending signals every

half hour. At 1050 they used flares to alert two

nearby Warwicks with a fighter escort to their

position. The Warwicks dropped more lifeboats

and supplies. Too weak to row to the lifeboats,

the men were only able to salvage the supplies

including two containers of gas. Regardless, they

could not get their Higgins lifeboat engine start-

ed again; saltwater had leaked into the tanks, ru-

ining the engine.

On the British coast, the calmer seas enabled

the dispatch of Royal Navy Rescue Motor Launch-

es 514 and 498. The senior officer on 514, Patrick

Troughton (subsequent star of British television

drama Doctor Who), gave the following account:

“We were told to rendezvous with a Warwick who

would drop flares to guide us to the Americans

in their lifeboats. About midnight, we sighted a

flare and made contact with the Warwick.” Now

in dangerous waters, the darkness and high sea

convinced Troughton to cut his engines and drift

until daybreak. The weak and frozen crew of ’915

had no idea salvation was now so close at hand.


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JUNE 2014 35

Above: Catalina G-PBYA's cockpit. With the obvious exception of modern GPSs, the cockpit configuration has changedlittle since the war. Below: Interior view looking back towards tail. G-PBYA was refitted for safari flying in the early 1990s

and its original blisters replaced with one-piece perspex bubbles. Although not authentic, they afford an incredible view.(Photos by John Dibbs/planepicture.com)

“At first light on

April 4, we sighted

the lifeboat about

a quarter of a mile

off our port beam

and I signaled RML

498 to make the

pick-up,” reportedTroughton. Suffer-

ing from exposure,

four of the men

were bodily lifted

into the rescue

launch. Unable to

tow the Higgins

boat, they sank it with gunfire. Nearly

27 hours later, on the morning of April

5, 1945, they reached the safety of Yar-

mouth. The men were immediately

transferred to hospital, with all except

Lapenas suffering frostbite to their feet.

Their harrowing tale was published all

over the world, not least because this

was the first operational use of the Hig-

gins Airborne Lifeboat. The men had

nothing but praise for this boat that

saved their lives — it went on to save

many more.

Unsung heroesLasting seven days in total, group re-

cords show this tremendous rescue in-

volved at least two OA-10As, 93 P-51s,

38 P-47s, three B-17s, 25 Warwicks, six

de Havilland Mosquitoes, and eight Bris-

tol Beaufighters. The crew of ’915 had

risked their lives by refusing to abandon

a young Mustang pilot. Their tight-knit

camaraderie kept them going and the

gargantuan effort of many different

units, groups and services ensured their

survival. After making a full recovery,

Miss Pick Up’s valiant and dedicated men

returned to active air sea rescue duty,

equipped with a deep understanding of

the hardships faced by desperate souls

lost at sea.

The author and photographer would like

to thank the Halesworth Airfield Museum,

Lessie Jo Langan, & Plane Sailing — see

catalina.org.uk for more information. Tim

Ellison & Will Gray flew the cameraship.

John Foreman & Sid Harvey’s Me 262 Com-

bat Diary and the writings of Tony Overill

& Merle Olmsted were invaluable resources.

i

i


36/68

Air Crane Making the Impossible PossibleBY ROY STAFFORD PHOTOS BY ERICKSON AIRCRANE INCORPORATED


37/68

JUNE 2014 37

On the job in Italy, these

two Erickson Air Cranes

show the versatility

of the design. e

foreground machine is

configured for heavy

lift with Erickson’s

anti-sway device to

stabilize external loads.

e second is configured

in fire fighting mode with

all the latest features

including a water cannon

shown retracted. e

cannon’s range is over

160 feet. e helicopter

is also equipped witha "retractable" rigid

snorkel.

Standing on a promontory just north of the Trask River between Portland

and Tillamook, Oregon, you look across the river at the mountainside that

towers over the river and valley below. It is a typical, cool, wet spring day

in western Oregon. e cloud bases cover the top of the mountain and

scattered wisps of lower clouds come down even further, snaking around

the hills, smaller valleys and ridges. You look close and you can see there are already

hundreds of logs on the ground, and moving among them are the helmets of the loggers,

looking for the world like ants on a hill.

en you hear the whine of a small helicopter as it swoops in and drops off bundles of

steel wire “chokers” to the men on the ground. You can see the workers but they’re almostsilent: motioning to each other by hand signals and the occasional burp of a little horn. And

like the ants they appear to be, they are busy and constantly moving, attaching chokers

and lines to fallen logs. ey work steadily and with purpose.

en with a couple of horn blasts you see most of the men scurrying up the mountain

to clear the immediate area. From the west, you hear it before it appears … suddenly from

behind a ridge, there appears this monster machine, trailing a 150-foot line beneath it with

what resembles a stinger attached to it. In appearance it is otherworldly! Almost like some

giant prehistoric insect … like a mythic

Flight Journal - June 2014

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Transcript of Flight Journal - June 2014