A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Historic Aircraft by Norman Polmar - Author, Ships and Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet - June 2009 - Page 10-11 - Naval History, U.S. Naval Institute, Annapolis, Maryland (410) 268-6110 http://www.usni.org - Squadrons Mentioned: VP-21 , VQ-1 and VQ-2..." Forwarded by the U.S. Naval Institute/Jim Caiella http://www.usni.org/ [27MAY2009]

Historic Aircraft by Norman Polmar 410KB

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...THE MARTIN P4M MERCATOR - by Richard R. Burgess and Robert F. Dorr. Squadrons Mentioned: VC-11, VP-21, VQ-1, VQ-2, VW-1, VW-2 and VW-3..." Forwarded by Mike Yared mike_yared@hotmail.com [09MAY2006]

The way pilots remember it, the Martin P4M-1 Mercator was created to lay mines during the invasion of Japan, scheduled for 1946. But few publications of its era had much to say about the Mercator, and even a Glenn L. Martin press release was notable for its succinctness: "The Martin Mercator is a long-range naval patrol aircraft with a combined power plant of reciprocating engines and turbojets."

The Mercator flew with just one US Navy patrol squadron (VP-21) as the P4M-1 before entering the sinister world of Cold War "black cover" reconnaissance as the P4M-1Q. Today, not many remember that a P4M-1Q was shot down by Chinese MiGs near Shanghai or that a second P4M-1Q was attacked by North Korean MiGs, while several others escaped similar fates. In the 1950s, not even the fact of reconnaissance was admitted publicly. Officially the spy-in-the-sky P4M-1Q Mercator belonged first to "warning" and later to "electronic countermeasures" squadrons even though, in fact, it never performed either duty.

Contemporary with the better-known Lockheed P2V Neptune, the Martin Model 219 or P4M-1 Mercator reflected the Navy's interest, late in World War II, in combining the benefit of high performance over target with very long range. The solution, in the case of the Mercator, was a "mix" of reciprocating and jet engines. The Mercator's powerplant comprised two 2,975hp Pratt & Whitney R4360 Wasp Major radial engines (among the biggest and most complex piston engines ever put into the air) plus two 3,825lb (1,735kg) thrust Allison J33-A-17 turbojet engines, with each nacelle holding one reciprocating and one jet engine. This compound prop-jet arrangement has been compared with the Neptune, but the latter did not have jets added to its two piston engines until long after entering service, and then only as an afterthought. The Mercator was a prop-jet warplane from the beginning. Apart from its unique power, the Mercator was orthodox in appearance, a cantilever shoulder-wing monoplane with retractable landing gear. The Mercator was noteworthy for the slender, graceful shape of its fuselage and wing. There were two airfoils to each wing, the center panel offering higher lift (NACA 2417) and the outer panel offering higher speed (NACA 2412). As pilot Dean B. North recalls, "[t]he airfoils were physically so different that you could see the fairing where they met. This made for wicked stall characteristics because the outer section would stall first."

Two XP4M-1 prototypes (bureau nos. 02789/02790) were ordered on 6 July 1944. Today, few documents survive to shed light on the development of this interesting aircraft. A paper classified CONFIDENTIAL at the time and signed by William K. Ebel, Vice President of Engineering at Martin, proposes versions with and without guns to straddle both sides of the "speed vs. armament" equation. In addition to the robustly-armed Mercator which eventually emerged, Ebel proposed a "second experimental (Alternate) airplane, a stripped version of the first with external radome in the nose in lieu of the nose turret, the deck turret and side waist guns removed, and all other external protuberances held to a minimum." The second XP4M-1 Mercator (bureau no. 02790) was eventually completed in this solid-nose, "slick" configuration--but the US Navy settled upon an armed version.

In fact, the original XP4M-1 Mercator was armed to the teeth. The Emerson X250SE-2 nose turret held two .50-caliber (12.7mm) machineguns with 300 rounds each, an armament fit which was changed to two 20mm cannons on production aircraft. The Martin 250CE-24 deck turret on the Mercator's dorsal spine held .50-caliber (12.7mm) machineguns with 400 rounds each. Two flexible waist guns of the same caliber were provided with 300 rounds per gun, while the Martin X-220CH-2 tail turret held two 20mm T-31 cannons with 300 rounds per gun. Armor plate was located ahead of, and behind, the flight deck and the windscreen included sections of 2in armor glass.

The first XP4M-1 (bureau no. 02789) flew on 20 September 1946. This aircraft apparently had three-bladed propellers rather than the four-blade type used on the second prototype and on production machines.

After a protracted development program, a further nineteen P4M-1 production aircraft were built (bureau nos. 121451/121454, 122207/122209, and 124362/124373), with production concluding in September 1950. The P4M-1 had R4360-20 piston engines with power increased to 3,250hp instead of the R4360-4s on the prototype, and J33-A-23 turbojets replacing J33-A-17s.

Among other changes, production P4M-1s had a redesigned tail turret shape, a pair of nose 20mm cannons in lieu of .50-caliber (12.7mm) machineguns, and no waist guns. The production P4M-1 made its first flight in September 1949. Patrol Squadron 21 (VP-21), located at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland and at the time equipped with Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateers, took delivery of its first P4M-1 (bureau no. 122208) on 28 June 1950.

Soon afterward, VP-21 deployed to NAF Port Lyautey, Morocco. No competition for Neptunes performing antisubmarine patrols in the Mediterranean, VP-21's Mercators were assigned minelaying duties, although crewmen recall actually carrying mines only rarely. "Mainly our job was to get up to speed in learning how to fly what was still a new aircraft type in the Navy," recalls pilot Jim Rex. "What was a typical mission like? In VP-21, all I can say is, we flew around a lot."

When pilot Sam Linder arrived at NAF Port Lyautey, Morocco, "the squadron was experiencing what seemed to be a lot of aircraft maintenance problems. In particular, the jet engine had had blade failures in other applications in the Navy, so their use was restricted in the P4M. They were started and kept on idle for takeoffs and landings (emergency use only) and the aircraft had to do all flying with the recips only. There was a feeling that the squadron could not operate effectively away from its support base at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland." A series of highly successful and very public long-range flights helped to improve squadron confidence and morale. Later in the Mercator's career, jet engines were employed without restrictions.

VP-21 occasionally practiced with the wide range of ordnance which could be accommodated in the Mercator's bomb bay (and directed by the bombardier's AN/APA-5A radar bomb sight). Possible bombloads included twelve 325lb (147kg) depth bombs, twelve 100lb (45kg) or 1,000lb (454kg) conventional bombs, up to six 2,000lb (907kg) bombs, twelve Mk. 26-1 aerial mines, or two 2,222lb (1,008kg) aerial torpedoes. These disparate ordnance loads were accommodated in a "horizontal" bay which made it unnecessary to stack bombs one above the other: the horizontal arrangement became a trademark on Martin's XB-51 and B-57 Canberra bombers.

For all its lethality, the Mercator sometimes functioned with VP-21 as nothing more than a fancy transport. Recalls Linder: "Our wing commander discovered that we had the only comfortable aircraft in his air wing. The other squadrons had P2V-4/5 Neptunes, which were having engine problems then, and besides you couldn't stand up straight in a P2V. So he called on us for all sorts of trips to carry him around his domain."

VP-21 had ten P4M-1s on strength until it began giving up these aircraft for P2V-6 Neptunes in February 1953.

In 1950, the Navy began modifying the Mercator to the electronic reconnaissance role as the P4M-1Q. The new mission of the Martin aircraft was to intercept and collect radar emissions from the air defense networks of the Soviet Union and its allies. This work was performed at the Overhaul and Repair Facility at NAS Norfolk, Virginia, and the first P4M-1Q made its maiden flight in February 1951.

The Naval Air Test Center at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland lost a Mercator (bureau no. 121452) when it crashed into the Chesapeake Bay on 8 March 1951, killing all four crewmen aboard. The aircraft literally flew into the water with its right wing down. It's unclear whether this aircraft had been converted to P4M-1Q standard before the mishap. Despite the mishap, the big, powerful Mercator was ideal for Cold War snooping duties, since it could carry a heavy payload of equipment and a large number of radar intercept operators over long distances. The P4M-1Q is credited with an operational range of 2,000mi (3,219km). Company documents give its service ceiling as 34,600ft (10,545m), although a fully-loaded -1Q model actually could attain only about half that, peaking at 16,900ft (7,666m). While far from invulnerable to communist MiG-15 and MiG-17 fighters (as events were to prove), the P4M-1Q routinely cruised at 180 knots monitoring radar emissions but, if threatened, could bring its two jet engines on line and accelerate to 340 knots.

In October 1951, after six months of training with composite squadron VC-11 at NAS Miramar, California, four P4M-1Qs began operations from NS Sangley Point, Philippines, in a unit which underwent several name changes over the years. Known at first as the Special Products Division of the Air Operations Department, this P4M-1Q reconnaissance outfit became Detachment A of Airborne Early Warning Squadron One (VW-1) on 13 May 1953 and was re-named Detachment A of VW-3 in June 1954.

All of these names were cover for the P4M-1Q covert reconnaissance missions. "The connection with VW-3 was fiction," remembers pilot Don Angier. "In fact, during a visit the VW-3 skipper dragged us aside and wanted to know what we were doing. We wouldn't tell him." Painted a flat blue-gray, with no markings except national insignia and bureau numbers which were often bogus (194873 was one), these Mercators collected electronic emanations from Vietnam, China, North Korea and the U.S.S.R. for analysis by the National Security Agency. "14 hour patrols were not unusual," remembers Angier, "starting from NS Sangley Point, Philippines and ending at Atsugi [in Japan] with lots of coast lines in between." More typical missions, however, were eight to nine hours. Nearly all missions were carried out at night and in the dark of the moon, without lights. "At certain times of the month, we sat on the ground because the moon was too bright."

There is little to add to Angier's description of a mission which meant very long sorties, inside a very loud aircraft, prowling the frontiers of the communist nations. This cloak-and-dagger work along the electromagnetic spectrum consisted of gathering and analyzing communist radar emanations. The P4M-1Q can be readily distinguished from the P4M-1 by a chin-mounted "beard" fairing which contains a radar-intercept device.

For the reconnaissance role, the 14-man crew of a P4M-1Q consisted of pilot, co-pilot, navigator (who was trained as an aviator), electronics officer, six intercept operators, a plane captain (who doubled as "relief" on the gun turrets) and three gunners.

On 1 June 1955, the NS Sangley Point, Philippines-based unit became Electronic Countermeasures Squadron One (VQ-1) with a PR tail code. The squadron had no countermeasures mission, but its new title came closer to identifying its reconnaissance role. (As the Mercator era neared its end, on 1 January 1960, the more accurate term Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron was applied to VQ-1 and similar units). The squadron had been using, and continued to use, the static callsign DEEP SEA though it often usurped callsigns belonging to other units on ferret flights. VQ-1's first commander was Lt. Comdr. E. R. Hall. In 1955, its strength rose from four Mercators to six. In October of that year, the squadron relocated to NAS Iwakuni, Japan.

Halfway around the world, a second Mercator reconnaissance unit was formed at NAF Port Lyautey, Morocco in mid-1950, originally designated the NAF Patrol Unit. Four P4M-1Q Mercators were on strength, plus a stripped Lockheed P2V-2 Neptune for crew training. Research by Captain Don East, USN, indicates that one of this unit's Mercators, piloted by a Lieutenant Huddleston, was fired upon by communist fighters in 1951 or 1952, but details are hazy; reportedly, one crewman was killed. This could be a garbled version of a 7 February 1952 incident when the NAF Patrol Unit (the future VQ-2) lost a P4M-1Q (bureau no. 124371) piloted by LT Robert B. Rager which ditched at sea following failure of the port reciprocating engine. All 18 crew members were rescued but an RAF airman was killed when his Sea Otter from Nicosia, Cyprus, crashed during the rescue effort.

This P4M-1Q outfit became Detachment A of Airborne Early Warning Squadron Two (VW-2) by May 1953 although, in the manner of its Far East counterpart, it had no actual connection with VW-2. The unit became Electronic Countermeasures Squadron Two (VQ-2) with a JQ tail code on 1 September 1955.

VQ-1 and VQ-2 crews were very much at the vanguard of a "secret war" in the 1950s, when spy planes gathered signals intelligence (a term which encompasses radar, electronic, and communications intelligence), tested the frontiers of the communist world, and "tickled" air defense networks, in order to gauge the reaction. While reconnaissance is carried out more or less openly today, these men lived in a world where their duties could not be admitted in public. Until August 1956, their aircraft did not wear standard markings. The bureau numbers painted on the P4M-1Qs were not merely bogus; they were nonsensical. And, as a pilot remembers, "we changed them once a month"--though it is difficult to know why, since the communists certainly knew what the Mercators were doing and could have cared less about bureau numbers.

During a typical mission while heading toward hostile borders, crews frequently checked their guns, particularly after the 1956 shootdown. Pilot Captain Norman S. Bull recalls: "We test-fired before going on track. The flight deck received a lot of smoke and made breathing less than wonderful inside." In a sense, it was downhill after that. Much of a typical mission consisted of boredom. Rarely did Mercators make headlines.

The Mercator was well regarded by those who flew it, but the huge R4360 engine was complex, difficult to learn, a maintenance nightmare. VQ-1's move to NAS Iwakuni, Japan almost certainly was made, in part, to co-locate the unit with two squadrons of Marine Corps Fairchild R4Q-1 Flying Boxcars, employing the same powerplant. This way, as Bull puts it, "the Navy could lump all of its R4360 problems together in one place." Pilot Dean B. North is less pessimistic. The R4360 "may have been heavy," North recalls, "but it just kept on turning under difficult circumstances. It wouldn't come apart or otherwise turn on you like the Wright R3350" used on the P2V Neptune. "For the 28 cylinders (seven in each radial, four radials) it had the normal two magnetos, but had seven distributors, one for each row (front to back) of four cylinders. Once, I had a distributor rotate 180 degrees, yet the engine kept running. It backfired enough to tear all the exhaust stacks off and blow the carburetor inlet housing off, but it kept on running, which was extremely important considering we were over Haiphong at the time." Bull speaks of the reciprocating engines with less enthusiasm than North, however, and notes that "they failed terribly" and often. A little-noted fact about the Mercator is that its vertical stabilizer was slightly offset from the fuselage centerline to counter torque from the powerful piston engines--what North calls "built-in right rudder."

North remembers a problem with the gross weight of the P4M-1Q. "It was designed for 82,500lb [37,421kg]" before the conversion to -1Q standard. For its reconnaissance duties, "the P4M-1Q had so much equipment, it couldn't be installed and stay under this figure. The `fix' was a pen and ink change to the aircraft manuals which altered gross weight to 92,500lb [41,957kg]. Fully loaded at the latter weight, the plane was sluggish to say the least. After climbing to 5,000ft [1,548m] to cruise, when the jet engines were secured, it took climb power on the 4360s to barely maintain altitude. The center of gravity almost went off the rear limits when all the ECM equipment was installed, all aft of the wing. Handling the aircraft became more difficult as the bomb bay fuel tanks were expended of fuel. If you flew on autopilot for an hour and then disengaged autopilot, the nose would head skyward."

Worse, there were instances when improper maintenance to the Mercator's quirky, 15ft 1in (4.67m) four-bladed Aero Products A-644FN propellers nearly caused an engine to tear from its mount. This came to a head during a reconnaissance mission along the Chinese coast on 15 June 1955 when, in one moment of catastrophe, the port reciprocating engine fell completely from a P4M-1Q (bureau no. 124362), throwing the heavy Mercator into a flat spin. "The prop was out of balance and it tore the engine off," remembers Lieutenant Jim Edixon, the pilot at the time. "It sounded like a 20mm [cannon shell] going off inside the airplane." Edixon remembers that because of propeller torque, "had it been the right side, it would have torn the airplane apart."

In fact, only skillful piloting by Edixon saved the crew and 124362 which (as we shall see) was a jinxed airplane. Only through quick thinking and skilled airmanship, Edixon was able to recover from the spin at 3,000ft (928m) with the aid of the jet engines. Incredibly, after he nursed the P4M-1Q to a safe landing at NAF Naha, Okinawa, Japan 100 miles (161km) away, Edixon became the only casualty of the mishap when he sprained an ankle stepping down from the aircraft.

In the same location a year later, another Mercator was in danger of losing a reciprocating engine but the crew was able to feather the propeller before the engine could tear from its mount.

On 22 August 1956 (16:25Z, or 00:25 local time, 23 August) one of many hot flashes of the Cold War occurred when a P4M-1Q Mercator of VQ-1 (the ill-fated bureau no. 124362, but wearing the bogus bureau no. 187642) was shot down by Chinese fighters. The Mercator, flying a radar intelligence mission, was 32mi (51km) east of Wenchow on the China coast and 180mi (290km) north of Formosa in the general region of Shanghai, flying a southerly course at 6,000ft (1,858m) and 180 knots airspeed. The weather was scattered clouds with moderate winds and the very full moon that Mercator crews usually avoided. The Mercator crew of four officers and 12 enlisted men was under instruction to remain at least 20mi (32km) off the Chinese coastline.

A report, once TOP SECRET but since declassified, explains, "[a]t the time of the attack the aircraft sent one code group message and repeated it once. Transmission was then abruptly stopped." The message from pilot Lt. Comdr. Milton Hutchinson, when decoded, said, "Under attack by enemy aircraft."

At 1817Z on 23 August 1956 (2:17 a.m. local time) two destroyers were directed to proceed to the scene to search for survivors. P2V Neptunes from NAF Naha, Okinawa, Japan-based VP-4 joined in the search. Aircraft from Task Force 77 carriers USS Lexington (CV-16) and USS Essex (CV-9) provided cover for the search effort.

The search on 23 August 1956 yielded no results. The next day, however, proved fruitful when the search was moved to the vicinity of the Chusan archipelago and four AD Skyraiders from Lexington sighted wreckage seven miles (11km) east-southeast of Lang Kang Shan Island, 20mi (32km) from the initial search datum point. Under cover of two Skyraiders, the radar picket destroyer USS Dennis J. Buckley (DDR-808) recovered the body of one crewman, Petty Officer 1/c Albert P. Mattin, two empty life rafts, a main wheel and tire, and two bomb bay fuel tanks, one of which was marked "P4M." Three more bodies eventually were recovered, with the other 12 crewmen listed as missing. A MiG gun projectile was later removed from one of the bomb bay tanks at NAS Iwakuni, Japan. Though the circumstances are not known and hostile action was not involved, US Navy records show that a P4M-1Q Mercator of VQ-2 (bureau no. 124372) was stricken on 27 July 1958 as a result of an unspecified mishap that occurred on 19 November 1957.

On 6 January 1958, a NAF Port Lyautey, Morocco-based P4M-1Q belonging to VQ-2 (bureau no. 124373) crashed at Ocean View, Virginia. Four crewmen were killed and two injured. The fuselage of the aircraft opened up directly in front of radioman Tom York and he walked out, unfazed and unscathed. Another P4M-1Q belonging to VQ-1 (bureau no. 122209) barely survived an encounter with hostile aircraft on 16 June 1959 when it was shot up by North Korean MiG-17 interceptors. The previous day. the Mercator flew a routine track over the Sea of Japan from NAS Iwakuni, Japan to NAF Misawa, Japan identical in reverse to the track it was to fly on the date of the incident.

According to the official report, the Mercator departed Misawa at 8:08 a.m. local time, proceeding on "a northwesterly course at altitudes between 6,000ft [1,858m] and 7,500ft [2,322m] to a point over the Sea of Japan approximately one hundred miles [161km] off the Coast of Siberia." The Mercator flew its planned track in "westerly and southerly directions, roughly parallel to the coast, to the point at which the attack occurred." For 25 minutes immediately prior to the attack, "the P4M had been on a heading which would have taken it to a point on the Korean coast south of the United Nations Truce Line. Coincident with the beginning of the attack, the P4M was 78mi [126km] east of Wonsan, North Korea, and commencing a left turn to a southeasterly course away from land."

At 12:12 p.m. local time (0815Z), two "silver-colored MiG type fighter aircraft, bearing red star markings on the fuselage abaft the cockpit, appeared high astern of the P4M, already in their attacking runs. One MiG passed overhead without firing but the other opened fire on his initial pass, hitting the P4M on the port side. Employing standard fighter tactics, the MiGs made at least five passes, three of which were firing runs. On the second firing run, the P4M tail gunner [Petty Officer Second Class Eugene Corder] was ready but the MiG fired first, seriously wounding him and knocking his turret out of action." Radioman James A. Dendy, who was in the squadron but not aboard, remembers that Corder never fired a round. According to Dendy, Corder was an electrician, not a gunner, who was sitting in the aft position while the tail gunner, named Nelson, was elsewhere in the aircraft. The failure to return fire caused President Eisenhower to question publicly "why his boys were not armed," claims Dendy. Getting shot at was also part of the job, Dendy opines: "If these people will tell you the truth, they've seen the street lights in Vladivostok, Russia more than once." (Radioman Joe Price remembers, "We used to go up north when the Russian fleet came out of Vladivostok in the spring.")

Upon sighting the MiGs, the Mercator pilot, Lt. Comdr. Donald Mayer, sent out a distress call, gave orders to open fire, and dived the aircraft to fifty feet, or fifteen meters, above the water. The MiGs followed and "pressed home their attacks for approximately five minutes. After breaking off the last attack, the MiGs pulled straight up to a high altitude and disappeared to the north." Four USAF fighters based at Itazuke, Japan launched to cover the Mercator as it headed for Japan and four South Korean fighters established a patrol over the Korean coast to intercept any attempts to finish off the P4M-1Q.

"Fighting damaged controls and two dead engines at altitudes varying from fifty to two thousand feet, the pilot and co-pilot, in a masterful display of airmanship, nursed their crippled P4M-1Q to the Japanese airbase at Miho, on the where a successful landing was made." According to Captain East's research, the extraordinary physical strength of the co-pilot, Lt. Comdr. Vincent Anania, a former All-American football player at the Naval Academy, helped keep the crippled plane airborne. The pilot and copilot were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the rest of the crew received Air Medals, and Corder, wounded, received a Purple Heart award.

As reconnaissance missions continued, halfway around the world a P4M-1Q Mercator belonging to VQ-2 (bureau no. 124365) crashed on 16 January 1960 [other sources say 19 January] while operating out of Incirlik, Turkey, killing 16 crewmen on board.

VQ-2 withdrew its last remaining P4M-1Qs from service in April 1960, scrapping them at Rota, Spain. VQ-1 retired its last P4M-1Q in a ceremony at NAS Atsugi, Japan on 2 July 1960. The Mercator's missions were assumed by A3D-1Q/2Q Skywarriors and WV-2Q Warning Stars in both squadrons. Pilot North remembers that the last time he saw a P4M-1Q Mercator, it was derelict at Atsugi, devoid of engines and rotting in the out-of-doors, "a sad way to look at a fine aircraft that served us so well." No examples of the Mercator survive today.

The authors would like to thank P4M crew members Angier, Bull, Dendy, Edixon, Linder, North and Rex, the Operational Archives and the Naval Aviation History Office of the Naval Historical Center and the Glenn L. Martin Museum, for assistance with this article.

Circa Unknown
Can you identify the Month and or Year?

A BIT OF HISTORY: VQ-1 Patch Contributed by Tom Grannis grannis1@earthlink.net [11JUL2004]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "The Flying Elvises" [17SEP99]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "VQ-1 DET ECHO Desert Storm" [17OCT99]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "VQ-1 DET ECHO Shield/Desert Storm" [17OCT99]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "VQ-1 DET ECHO Desert Storm" [17OCT99]

A BIT OF HISTORY: VQ-1 Aircrew Logo [19FEB2000]

A BIT OF HISTORY: VQ-1 Det Patch [15DEC99]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "VQ-1 DET ECHO Desert Storm" [24DEC99]

A BIT OF HISTORY: [11MAY99]

A BIT OF HISTORY: [27APR99]

A BIT OF HISTORY: VQ-1 Patch Contributed by Tom Grannis grannis1@earthlink.net [20MAY2002]

A BIT OF HISTORY: VQ-1 Patch Contributed by Tom Grannis grannis1@earthlink.net [20JAN2004]

A BIT OF HISTORY: VQ-1 Patch Contributed by Tom Grannis grannis1@earthlink.net [17MAY20004]

A BIT OF HISTORY: VQ-1 Patch Contributed by Tom Grannis grannis1@earthlink.net [27APR2004]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...Pinning ceremony. The group show as taken in the VQ-1 hangar in NAS Misawa, Japan..." Contributed by MARTIN, AEC Garry E. garry11mm@yahoo.com [15APR2001]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...LETTER OF APPRECIATION - Republic of Korea..." Contributed by CARPENTER, CTOCS(AW) Ed ecarp@iserv.net [21MAY2001]

REPUBLIC OF KOREA
Letter of Appreciation

(Translation)

TO: Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron One Detachment ATSUGI
BOX 43
FPO Seattle 98767

It gives me great pleasure to express my appreciation to the Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron One Detachment ATSUGI for outstanding meritorious service while engaged in operations following the tragic shooting down of Korean Air Lines Flight 007. During this period, the members of Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron One Detachment ATSUGI demonstrated strong resolve and selfless dedication to duty by persistent execution of the task at hand. Your extraordinary accomplishfller1t in this humanitarian operation resulted in outstanding support toward the prosecution of the mission.

In recognition of and with appreciation for your outstanding service to the Republic of Korea, I present this letter of appreciation with my personal good wishes for continued success in the future.

YOON SUNG MIN
Minister of National Defense

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...A tale for VQ-1...While a Combat Talon MC130E Chariot of Armageddon crew was on a layover at Agana some time back, they came upon the VQ-1 flag, one each, unsecured. The details have since become hazy but it is remembered that the crew, in the spirit of airmanship, found it disturbing that such a prized and honored Naval relic should be left where it could be pilfered by less honorable persons. The crew secured the flag in a most professional means and manner and then went on to celebrate this interservice task. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end and the crew found themselves about to depart Guam. They were recalled to parking and found themselves surrounded by a band of shotgun armed contract Naval security personnel...aka Marines...the aircraft commander heroically placed himself between the armed mob and his crew and politely asked what the problem was. After much gesturing and pointee-talkee and hand signals, it was determined that the guards wanted to inspect the MC130E for contraband, specifically the VQ-1 flag that had once again, been misplaced, and unfortunately, left the Talon crew blamed for its disappearance. The aircraft commander knew immediately that the militia wanted to inspect his crew and aircraft for the classified equipment that was onboard. After quieting the guards down, they were shouting 'you attack us' 'you steal our stuff' 'you apologize', and giving them Hershey's bars and a written promise never to land on Guam again, the crew took off. As for the flag...that's another story...Jim McClain USAF Ret BanzaiSGI@aol.com..." [15APR2001]

A BIT OF HISTORY: "...The P4M-1 Martin Mercator was designed primarily for antisubmarine warfare, and competed with the Lockheed P2V Neptune for Navy procurement in the mid-to-late 1940s. The aircraft first flew on 20 September 1946; the last of 21 aircraft bought by the Navy was delivered in September 1950. VP-21 got the first aircraft. The P4M originally was designed for a nine-man crew. Its propulsion was provided by two Pratt and Whitney R-4360s, producing 3,200 horsepower, and two Allison J-33s, 4,6000-pound-thrust engines. It had an operating range of 2,000 smiles and a ceiling of 17,000 feet. It could cruise at 150 knots or dash up to 340 knots with all four engines on line. The Q-configuration was installed in the P4M-1 that was delivered to the Patrol Unit/NavComUnit 32G in February/March 1951. The back-end installation was unsatisfactory, so work to modify the configuration commenced immediately. Four APR-4s and four APR-9s were installed - each with its own tuning unit and panoramic adaptor. An improved intercom system isolated the cockpit and forward stations from the operators and the supervising evaluator. The evaluator could talk to each or all of his operators and the pilot; the pilot could override and be heard by all crew members for flight safety. Each operator position also had a direction-finding capability and wire recorder. The evaluator had an SLA-1 pulse analyzer that could be switched to receive video and audio signals from any operator position. A camera mounted on the SLA-1 camera harness was solenoid-actuated by the first video signal pulse so that the visual record of an intercept could be achieved. This was an exceptionally useful tool in cases where the signals were of very short duration because it permitted later analysis. Frequency coverage was from 50 to 10,750. This configuration was incorporated in three additional P4M-1Qs, which arrived to replace all of the PB4Y-2s by June 1951. Lieutenant Robert L. Ashford, U. S. Naval Reserve, was the original designer. The configuration eventually served as the basis for the modification of the WV-2 and A-3B aircraft to a Q-configuration (WV-2Q/EC-121M/and EA-3B). These aircraft became operational in the Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadrons, VQ-1 and VQ-2, a few years later..." "Cold War Snooper" by R. C. M. Ottensmeyer, NAVAL HISTORY, United States Naval Institute April 1997, Page 40 Contributed by George Winter pbycat@bellsouth.net

A BIT OF HISTORY: "..."If These Planes Could Talk" from the November-December 2000 edition of Naval Historical Center - Naval Aviation News..." Contributed by Mahlon K. Miller mkwsmiller@cox.net [07MAR2001]

IF THESE PLANES COULD TALK

VQ-1 P-3 BUNO: 153433

The “Boneyard” is a place of antiques and historic symbolism, a burial ground for aircraft. On 6 December 1999, P-3 Orion side number PR-44 (buno 153433), inset, one of many aircraft used by Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron (VQ) 1, brought to a close its life as a logistics support aircraft.

When VQ-1 received PR-44 on 20 August 1991, the aircraft had already accumulated 15,614.8 flight hours, and served well in VQ-1’s tactical reconnaissance mission.

The Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center (AMARC) aboard Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., is the location of the “Boneyard” and PR-44’s final resting place after logging 3,532 flight hours and 9,426 landings at VQ-1. The facility was created in 1946 for storage purposes, and the Air Force used it first to preserve its B-29 bombers. It wasn’t until 18 years later that the Navy began using the facility for aircraft storage.

After an aging or retired aircraft is inducted into the inventory at AMARC, it goes through a complete system check. This involves removing or setting safeties for all explosive devices and removal of all classified gear, which is stored in a vault on site. AMARC personnel eventually put in 10/10 oil, give it a power turn and spray preservative on the exterior.

“The aircraft is like a person in the military. It lives and works for 20 years or longer and when it gets too old, it retires," said AMARC’s Senior Chief Brooks. But to some, the place is more than a retirement community for aircraft. It holds sentimental value. “There are many things one remembers by just looking at an old airplane,” Brook’s added, “such as a squadron you were in or people you knew. There are many memories attached to just one bird.”

Now PR-44 waits with 5,000 other aircraft to be used again, either for war reserves, foreign military sales or government agency purposes. About 25 percent of such aircraft actually return to the fleet.

When the last crew members of PR-44 said goodbye, they left their signatures for posterity, demonstrating that wherever the aircraft ends up they are grateful for the part it played in accomplishing the mission.

Naval Historical Center - Naval Aviation News November-December 2000. Story by AA Jennifer Lewis.

A BIT OF HISTORY: Coming Out of the Shadows Shadows - Back in the old days, O-club bars around the world were populated with fighter pilots who shared many a story about their exploits in car-rier aviation. In those same bars, there was another group of aviators who would not and could not talk about their mission or where their travels had taken them. If a fighter pilot engaged them in 6G hand maneuvers, these aviators could only wonder if the fighter guy knew anything about what their EA-3B or EP-3 had been doing behind the scenes for the battle group. The reconnaissance community avoided attention because it might compromise its mission, possibly endangering the aircraft and the aircrew..."
Naval Historical Center, Department Of The Navy, Washington, D. C http://www.history.navy.mil/branches/ [10MAY2001]

1998 Aviation News January/February - VQ-1 Coming Out Of The Shodows 180KB

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