Airdrop

Flight Journal, Dec 2004

"... I HAVE a clear recollection THAT WHEN Corsairs and Skyraiders WEEE TOGETHER en route TO TARGETS AND ALL carrying bombs, THE ADS HAD TO SLOW DOWN TO ALOOW THE F4Us tO keep up."

October cover info

In 1948, as a flight-test engineer at the Naval Air Test Center, Patuxent River, Maryland, I conducted the preliminary evaluation of the performance and handling of the XBT2D-1N (AD night-attack prototype). I can therefore tell you that the caption on the October 2004 issue contents page that identifies the cover and that page's subject as a single-seat Douglas Skyraider isn't correct. This particular airplane carries a crew of three: a pilot and two crew members.

Note the door with a window on the side of the fuselage (behind the wing; there is a similar door on the other side). It indicates that this airplane is a night-attack (N) version. In addition to the pilot in the cockpit, two crew members seated in the fuselage compartment operated the electronics equipment required for night-attack missions.

The N and W versions (airborne early warning with a belly radome) have this fuselage crew compartment; it required the elimination of the side fuselage speed brakes shown in the side-view drawing on page 34.

MARTIN A. SNYDER

DUBLIN, CA

Thanks for your informative letter, Mr. Snyder. That certainly must have been an exciting time in your life. -RP

AAC vs. AAF

This is in reference to the "Hell's Angels" sidebar "Biography of a Gunner" (October 2004, page 25) where readers learn of the young man who "enlisted in the Army Air Force in January 1943." Some clarification is needed.

Just as I did, the subject gunner enlisted in the Army Air Corps and was posted to one of 21 numbered Air Forces, all of which made up the U.S. Army Air Force. I was trained in the 2nd Air Force, commissioned a 2nd lieutenant. (Air Corps) and then posted to the 9th Air Force for combat, and I subsequently left the service as an Army Air Corps officer.

Because veterans and aviation writers are often confused (many hold that the Army Air Corps was abolished in favor of the Army Air Force), the Air Force Association published the following in the May 2003 issue of its magazine:

"The Army Air Corps became a subordinate element of the Army Air Forces on June 20, 1941. Since the Army Air Corps had been established by statute in 1926, its disestablishment required an act of Congress, which did not take place until 1947. Between March 9, 1942, and September 18, 1947, the Army Air Corps continued to exist as a combatant arm, and personnel of the Army Air Forces were still assigned to the Army Air Corps."

ROBERT HUDOLESTON

CHAPEL HlLL, NC

Bridges at Toko-Ri

Warren Thompson's story about the real bridges at "Toko-Ri" in the October 2004 issue was excellent. There is one minor point I must comment on. I was a junior naval aviator who flew ADs in VA-35 in the Korean War, starting in October 12, 1950. In advanced training, I had flown F4U-4s. On page 33, the article says:

"With all aircraft loaded, the slowest type (the AD) launched first. With timing matched with optimum airspeed and distance to the target, the Corsairs took off next. The final launch involved the Panthers or the Banshees or both. The timing was figured out so that when the jets arrived, the propeller types would be circling at altitude and ready to dive. This was critical because the jets had 'short legs.' They didn't have time to orbit, and when they had to make two passes, having enough fuel to get back to the carriers was always a consideration."

It is true that an unloaded F4U-4 could outrun an unloaded AD. But I have a clear recollection that when Corsairs and Skyraiders were together en route to targets and all carrying bombs, the ADs had to slow down to allow the F4Us to keep up. Although I was not involved in the raids on those particular bridges, based on my strong recollection, I am confident that the first aircraft to be launched would have been the Corsairs, and the ADs would have followed them.

My logbook shows that I took part in a strike on the bridge at Yongdae-Ri on October 17, 1950, a strike on a highway bridge at Chongjin on November 6, and strikes on bridges on the YaIu River on November 11 and 12. We encountered AA on the last three of the four strikes.

ENSIGN RICHARD A. CANTRELL, USN (RET.)

[EMAIL)

B-24 atomic backup mission

I'm looking for information on the WW II atomic backup mission that used sprayerequipped B-24s. I would also like to find the person I talked to at AirVenture 2004 and to anyone else who knows about this.

Here's what I know: the guy I spoke with said he was based in the Aleutians (and therefore probably had experience flying to Japan). He was called to Arizona to train for the backup mission. There, they taught him to fly sprayer-equipped B-24s "like cropdusters." He knew that he and the other crews were the backup to the atomic-bomb mission. As soon as word of the Japanese surrender came, he and the others were immediately ordered to fly the B-24s to Lufkin, Texas, where they were cut up within hours of landing so that nobody would find out about them. He said that the U.S. was completely committed and ready to end the War before an invasion and that because of that, the spraying was considered a necessary evil. If anyone has any information, please email me at: ifitsoldillflyit@msn.com.