The iconic F4U Corsair

One of the most recognizable airplanes in history owing to its unique inverted gull wing design, the F4U remained in continual production from 1942 until 1952, with more than 12,500 examples of the aircraft delivered. One of the Navy and Marine Corps’ finest fighters, Corsairs shot down 2,140 Japanese aircraft during World War II and in the Korean War a Marine pilot became the first to down a MiG-15 jet while flying a propeller-driven aircraft.

On May 29, 1940, the prototype XF4U-1 Corsair first took to the air. Exceeding 400 MPH on a later test flight, the Corsair promised world class performance as the US Navy found itself gearing up for its participation in the Second World War. Unfortunately, design delays due to combat lessons from the Air War over Europe led to a redesign, and a crash of the prototype also slowed development. Redesigned with a heavier armament, and partially relocated wing fuel tanks to the fuselage leading to a lengthening of its nose and a consequent reduction in its carrier capability because of the lower pilot visibility further aft.

The Corsair’s teething troubles aboard the Boat led to its development as a carrier aircraft being a prolonged Saga which wasn’t properly solved by the US Navy until the end of 1944. Fortunately, Grumman was able to step into the breach with their magnificent F6F Hellcat, a machine far more forgiving for the vast wartime intake of inexperienced Aviators would make up the majority of Carrier pilots in the campaigns to come. The Navy solved this problem the way it always had, by giving them to the Marines.

The F4U Corsair, the primary USMC fighter

Thus, an aeronautical legend was born, as the Corsair became the primary USMC fighter during the Solomon Islands Campaign. Fast, long ranging, the Corsair would suffer during its initial combat deployment over Rabaul, as highly experienced Zeros there remained a threat into 1943. Gradually, Marine Aviators learned to fight their mounts to the best of their ability, and by doing so, began inflicting substantial casualties during the long war of Attrition between Imperial Japan and the Allies in the Solomons, a time when both sides were exhausted by the great Carrier Battles of 1942.

Thus, the Corsair found itself at the tip of the Allied Air Superiority Spear, often flying top cover for Allied Aircraft operating over the Solomons. Aces like Prewar enlisted Pilot Ken Walsh began flying it to it’s strengths, using it’s longer range and speed capabilities to expand the reach of American Fighter power during the island-hopping campaign along the chain. Though the Navy’s Fighting 17 Jolly Rogers Squadron managed to successfully operate the Corsair from the carrier Bunker Hill by mid-1943, the squadron was ordered to land based duty with the Marines in the Solomon Islands for logistical reasons, though their carrier capability did prove helpful while covering the Bouganville landings at the end of 1943.

Aces

Marine Gregory Boyington would become another legend with his Blacksheep Squadron, and despite questions about his final victory total, his impact on Marine Corps Aviation was profound, despite the man’s problems with the bottle. Marine Corsair Ace Bob Hanson would also run up an epic score which put him as the USMC’s 3rd top scoring ace in a matter of weeks Marine Fighter Squadrons would remain an integral part of Marine Aviation to this day, and the Corsair found further use as a Close Air Support Platform by the end of the war.

In the UK, the Corsair was eagerly accepted despite its carrier handling flaws, though Eric “Winkle” Brown was not a fan, and never quite became one with the aircraft, preferring the Hellcat as a fighting aeroplane. The Corsair escorted Fleet Air Arm strikes against Tirpitz in 1944, and subsequently operated off HMS Illustrious and Victorious in the Far East with the British Eastern Fleet, which morphed into the British Pacific Fleet. Royal Marine Ace Major Ronnie Hay would score multiple victories in type while leading Royal Navy Strikes against the Imperial Japanese occupied refineries at Palembang, and Canadian Robert Hampton Gray would posthumously win the FAA’s only fighter pilot Victoria Cross during the final days of the war. The Royal New Zealand Air Force also made the type their primary fighter aircraft, and their land-based Corsairs are often confused with Royal Navy Corsairs in the Pacific.

US Navy Corsairs

In 1945, the Kamikaze threat found the US Navy accepting the Corsair’s carrier foibles and bringing USMC units aboard ship to operate as an Anti-Kamikaze interceptor. By this time the Kamikaze threat was such that Navy Carrier Air Groups were composed of two large 36 plane squadrons, one of Pure Fighters (VF) and another split off as a Fighter Bomber Squadron (VBF) to alleviate the organizational nightmare of a single 72 plane squadron, with a single vestigial Bombing or Torpedo unit remaining. Numerous Naval Aviators flew Corsairs in these new units, as experienced USMC Corsair units were joined by new Navy squadrons Over Tokyo, Iwo Jima and Okinawa, Corsairs would score many victories against the Kamikaze menace from bases afloat and ashore, and were flying sustained missions over the Japanese home islands in the War’s final days as fighters and strike aircraft.

Postwar, the Corsair soldiered on, flying over Korea, where they engaged in endless sorties from initial strikes flown from the USS Valley Forge, to the end of the war. Flying from USS Leyte, Navy Corsair pilot Thomas Hudner would win a Medal of Honor for his attempted rescue of his colleague Jesse Brown, the Navy’s first black Naval Aviator. In many ways the Corsair was a backbone of Navy and Marine Corps Aviation at a time jets were short ranged and not yet night capable.

F4Us shoot down multiple North Korean fighters

The Corsair on the other hand were available for missions around the clock with Day and Nightfighter units operating throughout the Korean Peninsula during the seesawing conflict which saw Seoul change hands FOUR times in less than a year. Corsairs typically made up 2 out of 5 squadrons aboard a Carrier Air Group, with 2 being Jets, 2 Corsairs, and a single AD Skyraider squadron completing the typical air group of the period.

Along the way Corsairs managed to be an important close Air Support Asset for ground forces, and an important part of the defense against night hecklers, which Air Force Jet Nightfighters took casualties to attempt to intercept such low and slow targets. Corsairs were also able to shoot down multiple North Korean Yak-9s and Marine Jesse Folmer managed to shoot down a MiG-15, though losing his aircraft to another. The Navy’s only Korean War Ace, Guy “Lucky Pierre” Bordelon, scored all 5 of his victories while flying the Nightfighter patrol on protection duties for the vast USAF base complexes at Kimpo, Suwon and Taegu.

The longest production run of ANY Propeller Driven American Fighter Aircraft

In French hands, Corsairs would fly combat over French Indochina, Algeria and the Suez, as the French Navy became the final customer of the type, purchasing factory fresh F4U-7s in 1952, and getting a supplemental gift of former USMC AU-1s in 1954. The French Aeronavale operated them until their purchase of F-8E Crusaders from the same firm in 1964. Thus, the Corsair would possess the unique distinction of having the longest production run of ANY Propeller Driven American Fighter Aircraft, at over a Decade.

Corsairs would also serve at sea in Argentina’s Navy, giving Argentinian Naval Aviation a Cadre of Aviatiors experienced in South Atlantic Carrier Operations, whose successors would fight the British over the Falkalnds. Finally, the Corsair saw the end of its War Service fighting against its own kind, as the 1969 “Soccer” War between El Salvador and Honduras resulted in the final air to air victories of this long serving type, and indeed the final air combat engagements where both sides flew piston engined aircraft.

As a form of video tribute, we offer the introduction to Baa Baa Blacksheep, which showcased the Corsair’s aeronautical pulchritude to a new generation of Airplane fans in the 1970s.

Be sure to check out William Cobb’s Facebook Page Pensacola Aerospace Museum for awesome aviation’s photos and stories.

Photo credit: U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps

An unlikely candidate for a career as a country songwriter

In some ways, Kris Kristofferson was an unlikely candidate for a career as a country songwriter and recording artist. Considering his family background and his education, he seemed destined to become a military officer or a college professor.

The story of how Kris Kristofferson made it into the Music Business is an epic 20th century tale. Thanks to a post made by the Giant Killer, we became aware of this unbelievable story, one which has various versions, yet still part of a tale involving two of America’s greatest musicians, both of whom have unique ties with aviation.

Kris Kristofferson grew up a military brat, with a tradition of military service in his family dating back to his grandfather’s service as an officer in the Royal Swedish Army. Son of an officer who would become a Major General in the USAF, with a brother who would become a Naval Aviator, Kristofferson would become a Rhodes Scholar, join the US Army himself where he earned his Ranger tab, and earn his wings as an Army Aviator, flying helicopters in Germany. At that time the US Army was experimenting with the doctrine of “Air Cavalry” a concept which would come to fruition with the 11th Air Assault Division testing the concept and being re-designated into the 1st Air Cavalry Division, which would test the concept in action when deployed to Vietnam in 1965.

Helicopter pilot Kris Kristofferson

By then Kristofferson would resign his commission, in spite of being offered a position as a Literature instructor at West Point. Despite being estranged from his family as a result, Kristofferson persisted in his new path to become a Musician. Few people at the time realized the influence of Music upon culture, an influence which can oft times condense an entire book into a single song. With this new Medium, Kristofferson would take his literature background into an entirely new direction. Moving to Nashville to pursue his dream, he put his Ranger training to good use and found a creative way to infiltrate the Nashville Music Business.

According to Kris Kristofferson’s Wikipedia page;

He got a job sweeping floors at Columbia Recording Studios in Nashville. He met June Carter there and asked her to give Johnny Cash a tape of his. She did, but Cash put it on a large pile with others. He also worked as a commercial helicopter pilot for south Louisiana firm Petroleum Helicopters International (PHI), based in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Kristofferson recalled of his days as a pilot, “That was about the last three years before I started performing, before people started cutting my songs. I would work a week down here [in south Louisiana] for PHI, sitting on an oil platform and flying helicopters. Then I’d go back to Nashville at the end of the week and spend a week up there trying to pitch the songs, then come back down and write songs for another week. I can remember “Help Me Make It Through the Night” I wrote sitting on top of an oil platform. I wrote “Bobby McGee” down here, and a lot of them [in south Louisiana].

“Help Me Make It Through the Night.”

“Kris Kristofferson’s Bobby McGee”

Kris Kristofferson stealing an Army helicopter and landing it in Johnny Cash’s yard

Thus did a pair of songs which have influenced the National Consciousness come to being. Kristofferson would have an influence on Janice Joplin herself, being romantically involved with her as she turned his song into a bigger hit with her classic rendition, which is far better known than his.

Kristofferson’s Wikipedia page does modify the tale of his stealing a helicopter and landing it in Johnny Cash’s yard a bit;

Weeks after giving Carter his tapes, Kristofferson landed a helicopter in Cash’s front yard, gaining his full attention. A story about Kristofferson having a beer in one hand and some songs in the other upon arrival was reputed, but has been disproven, with Kristofferson saying, “It was still kind of an invasion of privacy that I wouldn’t recommend. To be honest, I don’t think he was there. John had a pretty creative memory.” But upon hearing “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down”, Cash decided to record it, and in 1970 Kristofferson won Songwriter of the Year for the song at the Country Music Association Awards.

Ordered to fly away

David Thayer commented on Pensacola Aerospace Museum’s Facebook page;

‘The Kristofferson story is basically correct although it is not exactly the same as the story, he PERSONALLY told me over a few beers back in 1977. Kris said he had been fired from his Drilling Rig Helicopter job for flying drunk. So, wanting to be a songwriter he got a job as a janitor at Columbia Records in Nashville……….one day in the studio he handed Johnny Cash a tape, which Johnny Promptly threw in the trash……….he didn’t give up……….he did in fact take the US Army helo and land in Johnny’s yard.

‘June Carter came out and yelled “Sweet Jesus, they come to us up the road and now they are coming to us out of the sky”………Cash, not amused, ordered Kris to fly away and Kris refused to go until Cash hear ONE song…….finally Cash gave in and agreed to listen to one song…. Kris Played him “Sunday Morning Coming Down”……..Cash melted and wanted to cut it immediately and it later became song of the year.’

Mr. Thayer also added;

‘That is the story Kris actually told me…….we had been drinking, ………did he add any yeast to the story?…….I have no idea, when he told me the story, I thought it was too much to believe then over the last 20 years the story has resurfaced and is fairly close to what he told me.’

Johnny Cash ties to Aviation

Johnny Cash himself has some pretty unique ties to Aviation, serving the US Air Force as an enlisted Signal’s Intelligence specialist, and having the unique distinction of being what was likely one of the first people in NATO to hear of the death of Soviet Dictator Joseph Stalin. His nephew Roy “Outlaw” Cash would be the first Radar Intercept Officer to transition into the front seat of an F-4 Phantom as a Naval Aviator, and would score the first East Cost Mig Kill while flying with VF-33, known then as the Tarsiers.

Captain Roy Cash Tribute to his uncle Johnny’s song “That Ragged Old Flag.”

Johnny Cash himself would become a form of spiritual mentor to Randy “Duke” Cunningham as America’s first Vietnam War Naval Aviator Ace experienced the pitfalls of celebrity status in the wake of his worldwide fame, as related in his autobiography “Fox Two.” Thus did a Country Music Legend help a Former Army Aviator become a Music Legend of his own, and another Aviation Legend find his spiritual way, while his nephew shot down a MiG during the troubled first deployment of the F-4J.

Be sure to check out William Cobb’s Facebook Page Pensacola Aerospace Museum for awesome aviation’s photos and stories.

Photo credit: U.S. Army, Morten Jensen and CBS Television via Wikipedia

The Iraqi Falcon 50 that almost sank USS Stark

At the high point of the ‘Tanker War’, in late 1986, the Iraqis had a Dassault Falcon 50, operated on behalf of their General Military Intelligence Directorate (GMID), flown to Villaroche in France, where it was subjected to an unusual conversion. The jet received the weapons system of the Mirage F.1EQ-5 R fighter-bomber – including the Cyrano IVQ-C5 radar and two hardpoints for AM.39 Exocet anti-ship missiles. Back in Iraq in in February 1987, it was subjected to a series of comprehensive tests before it was deployed in combat for the first — and only — time. This is the story of her only combat sortie.

On May 17, 1987, the guided missile frigate USS Stark was hit by a pair of French Made Exocet Missiles fired from a French made Dassault 50 Business jet (code-named Suzanna) modified with the nose radar of a Mirage F1 and guidance systems for those combat proven anti-ship weapons. Initially thought to be a Mirage F1EQ, this experimental missile firing platform was modified to provide a rapid anti shipping capability for the IrAF during the latter stages of its war with Iran. During this attack 37 US Navy sailors were killed, while the Stark’s anti-aircraft radar systems and anti-air Standard Missile Battery was unable to respond.

Damage to Stark’s Bridge structure and Combat Information Center

The Stark apparently did hail the unknown incoming aircraft as it was inbound, but the aircraft did not respond. Stark was in international waters off Saudi Arabia, though her actual location has been subsequently shown to be elsewhere, and a bit closer to Iranian waters. In an echo on the attack on HMS Sheffield, the first missile which struck Stark did not detonate, while the second managed to cause severe damage to the Stark’s Bridge structure and Combat Information Center.

Stark was saved due to the damage control efforts of her crew, with the ship’s captain, Glen Brindel, ordering counter flooding to avoid the ship capsizing. The ship’s radars were unable to lock on and engage the aircraft with her Standard Missile Battery. It can clearly be seen that while operating in the murky twilight between War and Peace, the ship was certainly in Harm’s way.

Tanker War

Yet the ongoing Tanker War continued, as the United States along with its Gulf State Allies continued to support Iraq in its effort to “contain” the Iranian Revolution. The United States Navy Court Martialed Captain Brindel, and he and his senior Anti Air officer accepted the findings of their Courts Martial. Brindel retired as a Commander (O-5) one grade below the rank of Captain (O-6) which he held during his command, while his fire control officer subsequently resigned from the Navy.

The politics of why the Stark was operating in hostile waters can be endlessly debated, but at the time the United States was supporting Iraq in its war against Iran, while also secretly providing just enough spare parts for Iran to keep its American made weapons systems functional. In a way, as Kissinger was said to have uttered in the video link below, “the best outcome would be for BOTH sides to lose.”

In a sense both sides did. World oil prices were low in spite of the instability in the Gulf, as both Iran and Iraq scrambled to use their oil revenue to finance their respective War efforts. This drove the price of oil down despite fact both nations actively attacked the oil supplies of the other. Iraq itself obtained billions in loans from Gulf States worried at the possibility of Iran exporting their revolution to their territories. The United States “accepted” Iraq’s apology though they did find the Iraqi Government responsible for the attack.

Iran-Contra scandal

Iraq’s position as adversary to Iran was too critical to allow a rift to form between the US and Iraq, and the US Navy directly intervened in Persian Gulf operations the following year in 1988. In July of that year the Aegis Guided Missile Cruiser Vincennes went what Naval wags termed “Robocruiser” and engaged an Iranian Airbus they mistook for an Iranian F-14 Tomcat, shooting it down with all its passenger and crew being lost.

At the time as a teenager and military brat, we speculated as to just how Iran had managed to keep their Tomcats flying. At that time a series of arrests were made against individuals supplying Tomcat spares to Iran. The Iran-Contra scandal also offered a glimpse into the secret spare parts pipeline established to keep Iran’s Air Force fighting. Later on, after subsequently reading Tom Cooper’s excellent research on the subject, we have the answer to questions related above as to just how this happened.

When Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, we remember thinking back to the Stark incident, and upon seeing the press coverage demonizing a dictator who had been slapped on the wrist for an attack which killed 37 U.S. Sailors, we thought to Orwell’s 1984, and recalled the words which make up the masthead of this post. “Oceana Is At War with Eastasia….Oceana has always been at War with Eastasia.” For the crew and families of those lost in Stark, we offer our condolences and hope they may Rest in Peace, knowing the damage control efforts of their shipmates helped save the ship, and offers relevant lessons which may save lives in future conflicts.

Suzanna, USS Stark and Moskva

It is interesting to compare and contrast the successful saving of the Stark through the excellent Damage control efforts of her crew with the fate of the Russian Guided Missile Cruiser Moskva, which was also hit by a pair of similarly sized missiles on Apr. 13, 2022 during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. During the 1980s we can clearly remember Defense “experts” lauding the heavy armament of Soviet Warships and contrasting them to the relatively light armament of USN designs. The HMS Sheffield suffered from a similar design flaw, with budget cuts forcing the design to carry a heavy armament on a hull shorter than later Batches of Type 22 Frigates.

As Moskva’s fate clearly shows, stuffing a warship with an ultra-heavy battery of explosive missiles isn’t necessarily conducive to a ship’s survival in combat. Stark was a mere Frigate, yet had enough built-in resiliency to survive an attack by a pair of missiles, while HMS Sheffield and RNS Moskva both were sunk by same. As many commentators have pointed out, Russian Damage control techniques are clearly a weakness of both the Soviet and Post-Soviet Russian Navy.

The link below is a brief documentary about the Dassault Falcon 50 used in the attack.

To end this, we also offer a final musical tribute, sang by the crew of Sheffield as they departed their former vessel aboard HMS Arrow.

We believe this is a song the world needs to hear more of right now.

Photo credit: U.S. Navy and PA via Wikipedia

Not the F-14 Tomcat, but the Grumman F7F

Once upon a time, Grumman and the US Navy developed a fighter aircraft which could have been a world beater, a twin engine, and sometimes two-crewed machine, which possessed a heavy and versatile armament of guns, and was capable of hauling the heaviest ordnance available to carrier based aircraft. This machine was a development of an original joint service twin engine design, one which did not enter production due to developmental difficulties.

Of course the aircraft we are speaking of wasn’t the F-14 Tomcat of the 1970s, but the Grumman F7F, a machine which was originally to be named the Tomcat, in keeping with Grumman’s fighter line being named after various cats.

The F7F, which was derived from Grumman’s first twin-engine fighter, the XF5F-1 Skyrocket, appeared as the result of a Navy request in June 1941 for development of a larger, twin-engine fighter for use on board the planned large aircraft carriers (Midway-class).

From the F4F on, Grumman had developed the Wildcat and Hellcat, names far more evocative than its original FF-1 Carrier Biplane fighter, which was known as the Fifi thanks to its designation. Their F2F and F3Fs were portly enough to be named the Flying Barrel, while the Wildcat was coined that name after Britain’s Royal Navy originally named the type Martlet.

Though the types original nocturnal night fighter mission led it being dubbed “Tomcat” by Grumman employees, in keeping with traditional mores, the Navy’s WW2 era Bureau of Aeronautics apparently refused to accept the name Tomcat as the name connotated “feline promiscuity” and the phrase Tomcatting around described behavior contrary to that expected of Officers and Gentlemen. Thus the original Tomcat became the Tigercat, in keeping with Grumman’s Wartime Flying Fighter Cat Theme.

The F7F Tigercat deficiencies

Grumman Test Pilot “Corky” Meyer was instrumental in developing the type, serving as Grumman’s Project Pilot through its development. His efforts were praised in a backhanded fashion by Navy Chief Test Pilot Captain Fred Trapnell as Meyer notes below;

‘At the end of his evaluation, as we walked out to his F7F-4N Tigercat for his return trip to the Naval Air Test Center, I proudly told him that I was the Tigercat project pilot from 1943 to 1946. He immediately burst into a diatribe about the Tigercats’s many deficiencies: the over-cooling of the engines; a lack of longitudinal stability; excessively high dihedral rolling effect with rudder input; the high minimum single engine control speed, etc. He ended his oration with: “If I had been the chief of the Test Center at that time, I would have had you fired!” Each criticism of the Tigercat was absolutely correct. I was devastated and fervently wished that I hadn’t gotten out of bed that day.

‘The best damn fighter I’ve ever flown’

‘Just as we reached his Tigercat, I blurted, “If you dislike the Tigercat so much, why do you always fly it?” He explained: “The excess power of its two engines is wonderful for aerobatics; the cockpit planning and the forward visibility in the carrier approach is the best in any fighter ever built; the tricycle landing gear allows much faster pilot checkouts; the roll with the power boost rudder is faster than the ailerons; and it has a greater range than any fighter in inventory.”

‘Again, he was absolutely right.

‘As he climbed into the cockpit, he turned around, grinned and told me, “It’s the best damn fighter I’ve ever flown.” I realized he had thrown the entire test-pilot schoolbook at me with his succinct tirade and that we were probably pretty close in opinions regarding the handling characteristics that define a really good fighter. I went home happy that night. (Corky Meyer, Flight Journal, August 2002. end)’

Thus did 364 Tigercats come into being, although the type’s carrier suitability issues were hampered by structural issues and the types’s tricycle landing gears requiring a different Barrier Arrangement as the traditional steel cabled crash barrier designed to prevent aircraft crashing into the deck park forward was at risk of sliding over the type’s smooth nose and decapitating it’s pilot. Only the 13 specially strengthened F7F-4’s were qualified for regular carrier operations. Thus, once again, the Navy solved the problem of the type’s carrier suitability by its tried and true method of issuing them to the Marines, which operated them primarily as ground based Night Fighters, though a few Dash-3 Tigercats were converted to F7F-3N Photo Recon ships.

The Tigercat as a firefighter

Marine Tigercats barely missed action at the very end of World War II, only arriving in Okinawa in August 1945. They did see action in support of Marine forces deployed to China postwar, participating in various “skirmishes” against Communist Chinese forces during China’s Civil War. Later deployed to Korea in support of Marine forces after the North Korean invasion of the South, Tigercats flew a variety of combat missions, operating as a night interdiction platform, a close air support machine, on photo reconnaissance sorties, and even as an interceptor. In that final role, Marine Tigercats were responsible for downing a pair of Night Heckling Po-2 biplanes to score the only combat victories of the type.

After military service, the Tigercat continued to earn its flight pay as a firefighter, flying that hazardous mission in civilian hands dropping chemical fire retardant on wildfires. The type’s power and maneuverability made it invaluable as a kind of precision fire bomber, as it could drop its cargo of fire retardant in areas inaccessible for larger types performing the same role. Thus did the final surviving Tigercats live out their days. In spite of the highly corrosive nature of its fire retardant cargo, several Tigercats survive on the Warbird Circuit today, where they are highly prized collectors items rather than hard working firefighters.

The F7F Tigercat only airshow routine with the F-14 Tomcat

Personally, were money unlimited, the Tigercat to us would be the best Warbird for modern pilots to fly, as its twin engine tricycle landing gear configuration and second potential seat would make the type an unbeatable cross country machine. On Memorial Day 1996, the Tigercat flew its only airshow routine with its more modern descendant, the F-14 Tomcat, with Captain Dale “Snort” Snodgrass flying the Tomcat… Thus did the saga of Grumman’s original Big Fighter go full circle.

Tigercat-Tomcat Airshow:

Be sure to check out William Cobb’s Facebook Page Pensacola Aerospace Museum for awesome aviation’s photos and stories.

Photo credit: US Navy and RuthAS Own work via Wikipedia

The F-104 Starfighter

Designed as a supersonic superiority fighter, the F-104 was produced in two major versions. Armed with a six-barrel M-61 20mm Vulcan cannon, it served as a tactical fighter, and when equipped additionally with heat-seeking Sidewinder missiles, as a day-night interceptor. Development of the F-104 began in 1952, and the first XF-104 made its initial flight in 1954. On May 18, 1958, an F-104A set a world speed record of 1,404.19 mph, and on Dec. 14, 1959, an F-104C set a world altitude record of 103,395 feet. The Starfighter was the first aircraft to hold simultaneous official world records for speed, altitude and time-to-climb.

The USAF procured about 300 Starfighters in one- and two-seat versions.

A rather checkered record in USAF service

The USAF’s Vietnam Air War is best known on the fixed wing side for the endless sorties flown by Air Force F-105s and F-4 Phantoms. During Operation Rolling Thunder, another type operated there, but one whose service over Vietnam was virtually forgotten. Operating an “orphan” airplane type, the pilots who flew the F-104 Starfighter in Vietnam performed a variety of missions, yet their operations were vastly overshadowed by the Air Force’s more numerous Thuds and Phantoms.

The Starfighter itself had a rather checkered record in USAF service. First deployed to Taiwan as a potent deterrent against China during the 1958 Quemoy and Matsu incident, the Starfighter’s performance was likely a factor in the war not expanding to Taiwan itself. Operated by Air Defense Command as a high-speed interceptor, the aircraft’s incompatibility with ADC’s SAGE Network caused it to be sent to Air National Guard service before the Guard’s 1961 Berlin Crisis Callup resulted in the Guard Starfighter force being deployed to Europe and once again absorbed by the Active-Duty Air Force.

The Starfighter was deployed to Key West during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis and would have played an important role in any air conflict there. Furthermore, Tactical Air Command operated an improved version capable of Aerial Refueling, the F-104C, and it was that aircraft which saw the swan song of the Starfighter’s service in the Active-Duty Air Force.

The F-104 during the Vietnam War

The F-104C deployed to Vietnam in 1965, initially operating from Da Nang. The primary mission of the type was “Big Eye” Escort, for EC-121 Constellation Airborne Early Warning aircraft operating off the Coast of North Vietnam. The Connie community had discovered a unique trick to expand their radar range during the Cuban Missile Crisis, by flying low over the water they were able to vastly expand their radar range by “bouncing” signals off the water, thus seeing further into North Vietnamese airspace than they would have had they flown at altitude. Starfighters regularly escorted these machines, as they had to operate relatively close to the North Vietnamese Coast during such missions.

Starfighters were also used in ground attack missions, though their limited payload resulted in the type being far from ideal as a close air support type. As a fighter, the Starfighter was seen as the potent performer it was, though the USAF rarely used its under fuselage Sidewinder Launch rails, preferring instead to fly with either wingtip Sidewinders and Wing Tanks, or clean with tip tanks while relying on the type’s 20 mm Vulcan cannon as their primary armament.

When the type began its drawdown, another mission was added to the Starfighter ‘s mission set, Iron Hand Escort. As a high-performance aircraft, the Starfighter was well suited to keep up with F-105F Wild Weasels, and the type began operations in this role in the latter half of 1966.

Two USAF F-104 pilots Shot Down on the Same Day

It was on just such a mission on Aug. 1, 1966, that the type saw some of its worst losses in the Vietnam War, with a pair of 435th Fighter Squadron F-104Cs being lost to North Vietnamese Surface to Air Missiles on that fateful day.

The first to be lost was flown by Captain John Charles Kwortnik, during an Iron Hand escort mission in support of a strike against the Thai Nguyen Steel Works. The following accounts are taken from the book Vietnam Air Losses, which is a compendium of US Fixed wing aircraft losses throughout that long conflict.

Kwortnik; flying F-104C 56-0928

A flight of four Starfighters were orbiting near a SAM site, 30 miles northwest of Thai Nguyen at 4000 feet as an iron hand flight made an attack. A SAM was launched at the aircraft and Capt. Kwortnik’s aircraft was seen to be hit by the missile. The aircraft immediately burst into flames and broke up. It was reported that a parachute had been seen but intense ground fire precluded any further investigation. If Capt Kwortnik did eject safely than he did not survive as he never appeared in the North Vietnamese POW system although a Hanoi newspaper is said to have reported the capture of a pilot on this date. (Vietnam Air Losses, p69.)

I received the following comment and photo from USAF Veteran Pilot Ed Skowron.

‘One of those 104’s may have been Kwortnik’s bird. I was in the pop at the steel mill and saw a 104, I imagine it was him right in front of me. All I saw was his boom and tips outside of the blast. Ron Johnson was in the Iron Hand flight he was escorting.

‘I reported that I doubted he survived.’

Another F-104 shot down by a SA-2 SAM

A few hours later the 435th lost another pilot, the unit’s Operations Officer Lt. Col Finney.

Finney was flying F-104C 57-0925 , with Smoke II Nose Art.

His entry in Vietnam War losses stated;

When the Wild Weasels and their Starfighter escorts were about 10 miles southwest of the city one of the Starfighters suddenly turned into a ball of flame. The aircraft was assumed to have been yet another SA-2 SAM victim, and like Capt. Kowrtnik earlier in the day, Lt. Col Finney was posted missing, later changed to killed in Action. (Vietnam Air Losses, P69.)

Kwortnik was relatively inexperienced in type, he was previously a Lockheed C-140 Jetstar pilot. Finney was more experienced as a fighter pilot, having flown 100 missions in an F-86 Sabre during the Korean War. Both were relative newcomers to the Starfighter Community. The Starfighter certainly demanded the best from its fliers, and yet the Bureaucratic Nature of the Air Force at the time resulted in the unique situation of Lockheed C-130 fliers being transitioned to the Starfighter and sent into combat over Vietnam the day after their arrival there.

Sadly one of Finney’s colleagues related the following tale of his departure on his fateful deployment. On a tribute page for Lt. Col Finney, USAF veteran Mike Monti, who served under Finney related the following poignant tale.

A small bit to honor the pilots of the Starfighters shot down during the Vietnam War

‘My memory of Col Finney. When we were leaving George AFB…the planes and a select group of pilots had to fly them over to Thailand. The rest of us were to go in C-141’s and some of us went early but the majority of us went after the F-104’s departed. I can still see Colonel Finney’s son…probably around 6 or 7 years old…saluting his dad before his dad left…to never return! The son had a little uniform complete with flight cap and that picture… along with that of “John John” saluting good-bye to JFK will forever be engraved in my mind!’

Both Kwortnik and Finney are memorialized at the National Military Cemetery of the Pacific, a place I know well as my Grandfather Col. William Ballenger Cobb rests there as well. Both remained Missing in Action until officially reclassified by KIA in 1985.

For men such as these, who fell in War and took nearly two decades to finally “come home” we hope this post may do some small bit to honor their memories to their families.

Be sure to check out William Cobb’s Facebook Page Pensacola Aerospace Museum for awesome aviation’s photos and stories.

Photo credit: U.S. Air Force