Vietnam era F-4s Q

(Smartace11) wrote:



Only used Combat Skyspot on the Koon-Ni range and then mostly during ORIs.
Never used it in SEA. The antenna seemed to be mostly a good thing for the
boomer to try to knock off on a bad day.

Steve

A bit of confusion here, I suspect. The "towel rack" antenna on D's
that was a target for errant boomers related to LORAN. The Skyspot
beacon was initially a little hand held gadget about the size of a
pack of cigarettes.

When we did Skyspot (ptuiii!) in 105D's we were deemed incapable of
holding the little gizmo for the length of the run, and always had to
rendezvous with a "pathfinder" (ptuiiii!) such as a F-100F, B-66, or
(R)F-4.

Later, the tiny gadget was put in the R/C/P of the F-4--right console
forward. Had a toggle switch to turn it on or off.

Nomenclature is beyond my recollection.


Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (ret)
***"When Thunder Rolled:
*** An F-105 Pilot Over N. Vietnam"
*** from Smithsonian Books
ISBN: 1588341038

No Ed, he was right about the antenna on the F-4. It was a round cylinder
about 11/4 inch dia. and about 3 1/2 tall on the spine near the refueling
receptacle. I never lost one, but have heard of them being smacked.

Better that than having the boom in your lap in the back seat. Happened to
a friend of mine, halfway between Korea and Alaska, the boomer popped the
boom right into his lap in the backseat. Had to ride the rest of the way
home below 10K and reeking of fuel that dripped on him.
--
Les
F-4C(WW),D,E,G(WW)/AC-130A/MC-130E EWO (ret)


"Ed Rasimus" wrote in message
...
(Smartace11) wrote:



Only used Combat Skyspot on the Koon-Ni range and then mostly during
ORIs.
Never used it in SEA. The antenna seemed to be mostly a good thing for
the
boomer to try to knock off on a bad day.

Steve

A bit of confusion here, I suspect. The "towel rack" antenna on D's
that was a target for errant boomers related to LORAN. The Skyspot
beacon was initially a little hand held gadget about the size of a
pack of cigarettes.

When we did Skyspot (ptuiii!) in 105D's we were deemed incapable of
holding the little gizmo for the length of the run, and always had to
rendezvous with a "pathfinder" (ptuiiii!) such as a F-100F, B-66, or
(R)F-4.

Later, the tiny gadget was put in the R/C/P of the F-4--right console
forward. Had a toggle switch to turn it on or off.

Nomenclature is beyond my recollection.


Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (ret)
***"When Thunder Rolled:
*** An F-105 Pilot Over N. Vietnam"
*** from Smithsonian Books
ISBN: 1588341038

On Wed, 3 Sep 2003 13:19:38 -0500, "Les Matheson"
wrote:

Had to ride the rest of the way
home below 10K and reeking of fuel that dripped on him.


Surprised he wasnt reeking of something else lol.



greg

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