Hi guys! For Part One of the Cold War series On the Edge, I am looking for (photo)material of RB-17s and RB-26s that operated out of Fürth and later Fürstenfeldbruck in Germany. For the same book, I am searching photographs of (R)B-29 at Tempelhof AB, Berlin. During Operation Vittles (1948/1949) several B-29s have been flying the corridors and most likely also visited Tempelhof. Hope to hear.
RB-17s, RB26's (R)B-29's 1946-1950 - Anybody?
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Snautzer01
Honourably banned
- 42,324
- Mar 26, 2007
Hi Cees, I will keep a look out.
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hawkeye2an
Staff Sergeant
I assume you are aware of the R designation being used for old worn out airframes (retired). The F designation was used for recon up until 1948. B-17 was the F-9. B-24 F-7, B-25 F-10 and B-29 F-13.
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Great! Will do. --Cees
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Absolutely. This link provides quite some info: Systems of Designation The 'R' designation for 'retired' is new to me. Retirement seems to be a status, not a mission (like F- photographic reconnaissance or "R" for reconnaissance). Status suffixes are e.g., "J" for special test or "X" for experimental. According to the list (in the link) the code for Obsolete (Retirement?) is "Z".
hawkeye2an
Staff Sergeant
I will have to search my books for further confirmation. The designation WW - War Weary was also used in the field, painted on the aircraft, but never officially.
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I sent you an e-mail. --Cees
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MIflyer
1st Lieutenant
I recall reading where a B-47 on a recon mission was intercepted by Migs and, running low on fuel, was calling for help. A KC-97 pilot heard the B-47's calls and asked the tower at the base if they heard them. They had not received the signals, so he took off and headed for the B-47. I'll have to see if I can figure out where I read that.
A friend of mine was stationed in Germany right after the war and vectored two P-80's to intercept a target that had been violating West German airspace at night and proved to be too fast for P-51's and P-47's.
A friend of mine was stationed in Germany right after the war and vectored two P-80's to intercept a target that had been violating West German airspace at night and proved to be too fast for P-51's and P-47's.
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Hi! That B-47 story might refer to an incident on May 8th, 1954, when a RB-47E from 91th SRW based at RAF Fairford was attacked by MiG-17s during a photo reconnaissance (spy) flight over Russia's Kola Peninsula. It is nicely described in Col. Wolfgang Samuel's book 'I always wanted to fly'. For a quick read: https://b-47.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Austin.pdf
I am very interested in the P-80 story. Right after the war (in 1946), there were 32 P-80s from the 31st FG stationed in Germany for a while; first at Giebelstadt Air Base, but they had to make room for B-29s there. So they moved to Kitzingen Air Base before they were withdrawn from the European theatre in the spring of 1947 because of heavy losses due to severe corrosion and other technical (engine) problems. The Shooting Star returned to Germany in 1948 when some 80 F-80s of the 36th Fighter Group were based at Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base I am very interested to learn more about your friend's stay in Germany, more detail of the interception (date? where?) and perhaps your friend has photographs to share? Perhaps you can reply to [email protected]
MIflyer
1st Lieutenant
I don't have any more details, other than that he was contacted by some Intelligence types who told him what was going on and that they would come get him to handle the intercept on the nights when they knew the aircraft was coming. I lost contact with my friend after he went into a rest home over 20 years ago and I am sure he has long since passed away.
Col Campbell
Airman
While assigned to the 191st MI Company, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, TX, in the mid 1970s, our image interpreters had access to aerial imagery taken along the southern-most air corridor from West Germany into Berlin. One roll they examined was taken while crossing one of the Soviet airfields and showed a MiG actually taking off. You could see the shadow of the fighter on the runway underneath it. The imagery was of very good quality. I was told that this imagery was taken from specially equipped C-130 cargo planes on their normal flights into and out of Berlin.
Jim
Jim
special ed
2nd Lieutenant
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- May 13, 2018
A fellow USAF member back in 1960 told of experiences while in air sea rescue SA-16s. As a curtesy, the flew the people they picked up at sea back to their home base rather than to the air sea unit base. He told of delivering a recon pilot out of Korea (about 1954) back to his base and the SA-16 crew was rewarded with movies made of trailers after missions which the recon pilots flew over the North Korean bases to film the MiGs taking off.
