VigilanteVigilanteRVAH NAVY NewsletterRVAH NAVY Newsletter October, 2021

This month’s issue features an articlewritten for us by Stan Gudmundson,AZ-3, Colonel, USAF (Ret)Stan said:

“Would you be interested in a short article aboutthe 'other' recce bird, the SR-71? Two BlackbirdRSOs had an association with the Vigilantecommunity. One was an Air Force exchange officerby the name of Gino Quist who flew with theViggies in the mid-70s. And Me. I was an AZ-3attached to RVAH-6 from Sep 69 through Jul71. Not sure if it is something you would beinterested in but I thought I'd throw the idea outto you. ”

Thanks Stan!!

The following was submitted by:Stan Gudmundson

Seabat

Twice a year, during the late 70s and early 80s, an FB-111Aunit from either Pease AFB, NH or Plattsburgh AFB, NY wouldlaunch every available aircraft to ‘attack’ a carrier battlegroup off the east coast. Called Seabat it was an operationdesigned to exercise the Navy’s air defense systems. Two111s would fly supersonic to and across the fleet twice eachand the rest would ‘attack’ at subsonic speeds.These sorties weren’t the kinds of interesting flights thatmany Vigi crews can recount I’ll bet, but for us flying 111s,they were pretty exciting especially for those of us who had achance to fly the supersonic sorties. It was even more so forme as I had spent two years in the Navy that included a touron the USS Kitty Hawk in the Tonkin Gulf with RVAH-6.I had a chance to fly on one of those sorties on a day withmarginal weather against a USS Enterprise Carrier BattleGroup. After taking off from Plattsburgh we would refuelwith one of our unit’s KC-135 tankers. Those of us on thesupersonic runs would accelerate and climb to 40,000feet. Short of the battle group we would engage our autoterrain following radar (TFR) and make a supersonic descentin afterburner, then fly over the ships at 200 feet at 900+/-knots. Not directly over any though. Against the rules.My pilot and I were number two in our formation. Lead filled

Next, we were watching for an indication that the flightcontrol system was going to level us off at our initialclearance plane setting of 1,000 feet. We began to leveloff. As the system was working properly, we reset theclearance plane to 200 feet. We finally broke out of theclouds at about 1,400 feet and were in a kinda hazy clear atabout 1,000 feet with the battle group ahead of us.900 knots at 200 feet doesn’t give much of an opportunity todo much sight-seeing but it was a thrill nevertheless. We didthis twice, and as we exited the area the second time, wemade a 270 degree turn around an enormous whitewaterspout.In 1971, as the Kitty Hawk passed by Taiwan on our way toR&R in Sasebo Japan, Taiwanese fighters made runs on atarget we were towing behind the ship. I was on fantailwatching that, never for minute thinking that I would havethe opportunity be involved in something similar.Considered to be a Mach 2.2 aircraft, an empty FB-111Aweighed 50,000 pounds +/-. However, we could sustainMach 2.2 with the afterburners in stage 1 of the 5 -stageafterburner. It could easily fly much faster than that butburning fuel at a rate over 100,000 pounds an hour with only32.5K pounds of internal fuel doesn’t make much sense.The unrefueled weight of an SR-71 was 60,000 pounds, giveor take. At Mach 3 above 70,000 feet, the SR-71 burned fuelat a rate of around 30,000 pounds an hour. Plus, we had80,000 pounds of fuel to play with. What’s 80,000pounds? Unless they have special permits, that is theMy pilot and I were number two in our formation. Lead filled

their tanks and proceeded on their way. After we refueledand tried to start our run, only one afterburner wouldlight. Looked like we were out of luck, but I suggested to mypilot buddy that we ought to stay in burner and begin ashallow descent to get through the Mach. What good willthat do, he wondered. He also had many bad words tosay. I said we had nothing to lose so we might as well try it.We began a shallow descent, got through the Mach and triedto ignite the non-functioning afterburner. It lit. The reason Isuggested we do what we did was because I understandsophisticated aerodynamics and knew it would light whenwe were supersonic.Ya think? Nah, I didn’t have a clue that it might work andstill don’t know why it did. Except that I knew that strangeand weird things go on in the transonic zone betweensubsonic and supersonic. Had to do the same thing on thesecond run too.We climbed up to 40,000 feet and accelerated to Mach2.2. At our planned point we engaged the terrain followingradar system and began our descent. In the weather. At 2.2and with the nose pitched down 10 degrees our initial rate ofdescent was well over 20,000 feet a minute.At 5,000, the radar altimeter would ring-in and pitch the nosefurther down to 12 degrees nose low. Two degrees doesn’tsound like much but when your windscreen is already full ofdirt or water, and you get more of it, it is verynoticeable. We were still in the weather when that occurredhowever, but we knew then that part of the system wasworking fine.

pounds? Unless they have special permits, that is themaximum gross weight permitted for the semi-trucks we allencounter every day on our roads.Like many other military aircraft, there were a number of‘Aardvark’ 111 variations. There were the Tactical AirCommand’s A, D, E, F, and EF versions, the Strategic AirCommand’s FB-111As, and Australia’s F111Cs andRF111Cs. The ‘Sparkvark’ EFs were modified A-models. When the Air Force retired the FB-111As, somewere converted to F111Gs for the Australian Air Force.And there was the Navy’s F111B. The Navy wanted a 50,000-pound gross weight aircraft and contractors built them anairplane that weighed 46,000 pounds empty and up to88,000 pounds fully loaded. Common F111B parts with theother 111s? Only about 15 percent. Besides beingunderpowered along with its other shortcomings, it weighedtoo much for carrier operations. Needless to say, the Navydidn’t want it.Except for the EF111s, which were in a unique category oftheir own, differences among the others were mainly inengines and avionics except for the FB111, F111C andF111G. Because of higher gross weights, these three typesalso had longer wings and more substantial landing gear likethat of the Navy model.

The following was submitted by:Stan Gudmundson

All Air Force 111s, with the exception of EF111s, wereequipped with dual flight controls. There were goodoperational reasons for those, but they also were a way ofmaking the pilots nervous when we were flying the airplane.Partly as a result of trying to field an inadequate Navyairplane and sending 111s to Vietnam before they wereoperationally ready, there were many misconceptions aboutthe ‘controversial’ 111. When SECDEF McNamara first sentthem to SE Asia in March 1968 to prematurely ‘prove’ howgood the airplane was, they didn’t know that there was aserious flaw in the flight control system. In a little over threeweeks, three were lost and were quickly taken out of combatand brought home.Once fixed and operationally ready in 1971 and back inVietnam in September 72 they terrified the NorthVietnamese. They called it ‘whispering death.’ Operationallosses then were very low in spite of attacking the mostheavily defended targets. Carrying a payload equivalent tothat of four F4s, they flew more than 4,000 sorties, mostlysingle-ship at night. Three were lost in combat in 72 and73. In comparison, almost 40 percent of the Air Force’s F105fleet and 1 out of 8 F4 Phantoms built were lost in SoutheastAsia. If Wikipedia can be believed.During Operation Desert Storm, 111s destroyed the majorityof targets taken out by air. They would attack in twowaves in mid-teen altitudes, just after sundown and onewave just a little later. Tanks, artillery, and other substantialwave just a little later. Tanks, artillery, and other substantialmilitary equipment retained the day’s heat and were veryeasy to identify with the 111s infrared sensor. One hot spot,one precision bomb, one destroyed target.Just to make things a little more ‘interesting’ for Iraqi troops,before the 111s would strike, our BS bombers would droppamphlets telling them that tonight it’s your turn. We aretaking you out. And tomorrow night, it’s your neighboringunit’s turn. Consequently, when the 111s attacked, it didn’ttake many strikes before 111 right seaters could see hotspots of people located well away from any militaryequipment. The US military, together with help from the111s, completely destroyed the Iraqi Army’s capability andwill to fight as a result.My Navy experience helped enormously when I wasstationed at NATO’s AFSOUTH in Naples, Italy, where I wroteand maintained the four-star U.S. Navy Admiral’s commandbriefing. This was the Admiral’s view of his area ofresponsibility (AOR) that we presented to visitors thatincluded senators, representatives, ministers of defense, flagofficers, etc. I understood and could speak and writeNavy. Well, kind of anyway.In the chain of command, between the Admiral and me, wasArmy Brigadier General Creighton Abrams III. Hecommanded an artillery corps during Desert Storm and madesome sort of classic end-run maneuver now taught about atthe Army’s Command and Staff and War Colleges. BGAbrams, by the way, was the first executive director in thebuilding of the new Army Museum at Ft. Belvoir nearWashington DC.

William J. BelayCdr., U.S.N. (Retired)June 9, 1931 - March 8, 2001Passed away at his home in Pensacola, Florida.Survived by two sons, James (Carol) of Atlanta, GAand Glenn of Tallahassee, FL; and one belovedgranddaughter, Claire Marie of Atlanta, GA.Preceded in death by his wife, Lorraine (Mutz) Belay(1999).Commander Belay graduated from Joliet CatholicHigh School class of 1949 and was a graduate of theU.S. Naval Postgraduate School and a career NavalAviator. He was awarded the Distinguished FlyingCross and sixteen Air Medals for his actions duringsix tours of duty in Vietnam, including over 320combat missions in service to his country.

Cdr William J. Belay, USNRetired, Former CO of RVAH-6

Trillions of Dollars?Ok... I admit it... I’m not a real financial genius... I canunderstand that if I have $20 in my wallet andsomething costs $23, I’m going to be short...

I can understand that I put my money in my bankaccount and by using checks, paying bills and e-payments, the money in my account goes away... and Ihave to add some more money to my account for it towork.And I understand that if I use my credit card to buysomething, somebody somewhere is going to expectme to give them some of my money to cover thecharges... and maybe a little extra if I decide to makepayments....And that if I spend more than I have, then I’ll be goinginto debt.I understand all that…

Biden to Propose $7 Trillion Budget to Make U.S.More Competitive – This is in addition the 28

trillion national debt that already exists.

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And finally...

Here’s one TRILLION dollars in $1000 bills...

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Now, multiply this times 7….

Oh, I understand that it’s a million million (or athousand billion... same thing) I understand that it’s a 1followed by 12 zeros...But let’s make it more graphic...Below is a picture of a stack of $1000 bills... with a guystanding next to it for perspective...

And here’s 1 billion dollars in $1000 bills...

WOW… Makes my car loan seem kind ofpuny!

The Picture Page!Then VAH-5 Skipper, Commander Roy E.Farmer, 300th landing in the A-3 on USS

Forrestal (CVA-59)

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Thornton catching a wink or two in theline shack. WestPac 65/66 USS KittyHawk - Posted by Carl (Bub) Wilkins

Posted by Richard Fitch

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