So anyone remember this?

[Silverplate]

[The Inspector]

'you can let go of the seat cushion now Lt.....I said...'
Who's eyes are good enough to tell if that's an AD SKYRAIDER parked in front of the terminal office.

[JohnB]

I've never heard of JATO/RATO on F-86s.
Anyone here (older than me) know more?

[fotobass]

'you can let go of the seat cushion now Lt.....I said...'
Who's eyes are good enough to tell if that's an AD SKYRAIDER parked in front of the terminal office.

I was trying to figure out what that is as well.

This story must be the military version of the TWA 707 landing at Ohio State's airport by mistake.

[The Inspector]

'you can let go of the seat cushion now Lt.....I said...'
Who's eyes are good enough to tell if that's an AD SKYRAIDER parked in front of the terminal office.

I was trying to figure out what that is as well.

This story must be the military version of the TWA 707 landing at Ohio State's airport by mistake.

Or the UNITED 720 @ Troutdale ORE. instead of PDX 'flaps 15......speedbrakes armed.....set the parking brake.....'

[JDK]

Good question John, and 1 min on Google answers, plus shows what a dreadful caption we have at the top here. First clue 'Saber', not Sabre; then 'wingtip' tanks. The 'mechanics strapping' was another alarm bell...

So here's the gen (lightly cleaned up from a mechanical OCR):

The (Almost) Inaugural Flyby by R.L. "Bob" Makinney

...L.t.Col. Raebel asked the aeronautical engineers at Wright Pat (the 'experts‘ in matters like this) what options we had. Specifically, could the F—86 be modified to accept JATO (jet Assisted TakeOff) bottles to shorten the takeoff roll? Their answer — "No, not readily." They recommended the birds be hauled out on flatbed trailers after removing the wings. At that point, ownership of the airplanes would pass from our squadron to Wright Patterson, i.e. we'd just lost three Sabres.
After carefully evaluating the situation, Lt.Col. Raebel decided to test three of the Sabres at Wright-Pat to determine the best short field takeoff procedure. Several ideas were put forth including increasing the tailpipe temperature and deflecting thrust by positioning ‘mice’ in the tailpipe. This would create more thrust. And the internal fuel load was held at 600 pounds, about 100 gallons. As a bonus, the tests would be flown by the pilots who had been chosen to bring the Sabres out of the muddy strip.
For three days, various configurations were tried. Was it better to have lull flaps on takeoff roll or lower then-1 at takeoff speed? Would full flaps provide greater lift, thus reducing the weight of the bird moving through the mud?
Observers were placed along the Wright Pat runway at 100 foot intervals, to mark exactly where each test aircraft broke ground. With (100 pounds of fuel, the Sabre easily broke ground in 800 feet. Once airborne, they could easily clear a 50 foot obstacle at the 2,000 foot mark. But, the tests were measured from a concrete runway.
Based upon the tests, and after personally inspecting the muddy strip, Lt.Col. Raebel drew heavily on his own experience in the F-86 and made his decision. (I suspect there was also a silent prayer involved here.) Contrary to the advice of all the ‘experts', we'd fly the Sabres out!
The big day turned out to be cold and blustery. Typical February in Ohio — temperature about 300 wind gusts to 30 knots, and snow showers. About 150 square feet of PSP (pierced steel planking} was laid on the muddy strip. At a time coordinated with Greater Cincinnati Airport, each F86 was pulled up onto the PSP, the engine was started, and the takeoff roll commenced.
One by one, the three Sabres accelerated to liftoff speed well short of the field boundary, then cleared the trees at the far end. WHEW! Each one climbed to an altitude of several hundred feet, turned south across the Ohio River, and landed at Greater Cincinnati Airport, where they were refueled and made ready for the return to George AFB.

From here, http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j ... FbWNUwYulg

Web version: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/s ... nt=firefox

Interesting, and is so often the case, the real story's more interesting than the reported one.

Regards,

[WallyB]

'you can let go of the seat cushion now Lt.....I said...'
Who's eyes are good enough to tell if that's an AD SKYRAIDER parked in front of the terminal office.

Ya think ? T6 I'd say.

[Ken]

I don't see mud or PSP. Same story?

[JDK]

You tell me! The date, intended to/from location and op details match. Without knowing the origin of the original posted scan, I can't make any guesses as to the further reliability of that source.

It's notable though that the Sabre Jet Classics account does not include that image, nor ones that are similar, so it's possible the image is from another event, or the story grew in PSP & mud in the SJC account.

Either way, I should be doing what I'm supposed to, so I'm done on this one. The detective role is open...

Regards,

[Flagon]

The aircraft are Furies,i'd say,the one in front of the building looks like a Hellcat.

Ciao,Francesco.

[Sabremech]

I'd say they are Sabre's. The canopies, nose landing gear, intake and the dihedral of the horizontal stabilizers don't resemble a Fury. The other airplane is definitely not a Skyraider. Not big enough in comparison to the Sabre's.
David
WHF Maint

[Flagon]

Yes,Sabres,got confused for the tail band,obviously not white/red/white,but black/yellow/black,instead. The other is a Hellcat,look at the nose up stance and the narrow track undercarriage.
This,and especially the overall dimensions,rules out an Avenger,the lack of a bubble canopy,and the undercarriage rules out a Bearcat.

Ciao,Francesco.


P.S.:Sabremech,obviously i did not mean FJ4's but the much more Sabre like swept wing predecessors,Ciao.

[Dan Jones]

Just getting in and stopped on a strip like that with a sword was a heck of an acconplishment. Anybody know the length of it?

[JDK]

The article says: "The other three airplanes landed on a 2,000 foot grass strip a
few miles northwest of Cincinnati".

I have to admit I'm intrigued by the discrepancy in the accounts.

[Dan Jones]

The article says: "The other three airplanes landed on a 2,000 foot grass strip a
few miles northwest of Cincinnati".

It must have been a windy day!!