Publication: Air Power History
Publication Date: 22-MAR-02
Format: Online - approximately 11877 words
Delivery: Immediate Online Access
Author: Hun, Hsichun Mike
Article Excerpt
The government of the Republic of China (ROC) left mainland China in 1949 for Taiwan. Since then the Chinese Communists threatened the ROC in Taiwan and the offshore islands. This threat increased after the Korean War ceasefire. At the same time, former President Chiang Kaishek never gave up hope of returning to the mainland to liberate his compatriots. In the 1950s, the ROC Air Force frequently conducted photo reconnaissance flights over the coastal areas opposite the Taiwan Strait with aircraft provided by the United States.
When the Lockheed U-2 became operational in 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower favored recruiting foreign nationals to pilot the aircraft. (1) ROCAF pilots were considered the best candidates to execute these missions over Communist China, but the ROC U-2 pilot selection did not begin until 1959.
In November 1956, six Nationalist Chinese pilots arrived at Lackland Air Force Base (AFB), Texas, to learn English, followed by RB--57A flight training at Wendover AFB, Utah. Two RB--57As were sent to Taoyuan Air Base (AB), Taiwan, and a special joint ROCAF/USAF squadron was organized. Overflight missions began on December 6, 1957, but were stopped two months later when an RB--57A, piloted by Kunhua "Charles" Chao, was shot down over Shantung province. He could not fly high enough to evade an attack by MiG--19s. Afterwards the rest of the pilots returned to the U.S. for additional training on the improved RB--57D.
When the Chinese Communists (ChiComs) unleashed a massive bombardment of the offshore island of Quemoy in August 1958, Chinese fighters from both sides engaged in air battles; thirty-one MiG--17s and one F--86 were lost. The U.S. 7th Fleet dispatched ships to provide logistics support to ROC. The Taiwan Strait was on the verge of all-out war. Because ROC reconnaissance pilots were still training at Laughlin AFB, American U-2 pilots had to fly over the mainland from Okinawa. It was probably at this moment that the U.S. began to seriously consider recruiting ROC pilots to fly the U--2.
I was the operations officer of an F--86 squadron stationed at Pingtung AB. A telephone call from the wing commander's office one afternoon in March 1959, ordered me to report immediately to ROCAF headquarters in Taipei. I caught a night train to Taipei and reported to headquarters the next morning. The office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence also summoned eleven other pilots from various squadrons. We flew to Okinawa that afternoon for physical examinations, including a test in the high altitude chamber, pressurized to 40,000 feet.
Major Joe Jackson, the deputy commander of 4028th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron (SRS), came to Taiwan and brought six of us: Shihchu "Gimo" Yang, Taiyu "Tiger" Wang, Yaohua Chih, Huai Chen, Chungkuei Hsu and me, to Laughlin AFB. The following week the ground school started. To our surprise, the subjects taught were navigational aids, air traffic control, and some very basic celestial navigation. Up until this moment, we thought that we were in the U.S. for flight training to serve as backup for the other group of ROCAF RB--57D pilots trained here. We never knew there was a reconnaissance aircraft other than the RB--57D. Why had the instructors never mentioned this aircraft?
A few weeks later, we received partial pressure suits at Carswell AFB, near Fort Worth, Texas, and then went through a low-pressure chamber at an altitude of 80,000 feet. The officer there told us that without a pressurized suit a man's blood would boil and he would die instantly at above 65,000 feet. The test confused me even more, since RB--57D could never fly that high.
I remember that I had once scrambled from Pingtung AB to intercept an unidentified object over mainland China coming toward Quemoy in September 1958. Ground control interception (GCI) guided us to the intercept point, but we could not find any enemy aircraft. Finally, GCI directed us to abort the mission because the object's altitude was around 70,000 feet and interpreted it as a balloon. They had never heard of any aircraft that could fly so high.
After we got back to Laughlin, the instructors began to introduce us to the glider-like U--2, using several cockpit schematics as reference. There was no handbook or flight manual and our handwritten notes could not leave the classroom. This was the first lesson of belonging to a secret project. There was no two-seater U--2 available at that time, so every pilot's first fight was solo. The U--2 is a peculiar jet airplane. The pilot has to push the control wheel to lift the tail wheel off the ground during the takeoff roll, to avoid becoming prema turely airborne. Then the pilot holds the airplane level, while accelerating to the takeoff speed. After becoming airborne, the pilot has to pull the nose up to about 75 degrees, almost immediately, to avoid exceeding the aircraft's speed limit. Because the engine is so powerful with respect to the weight of the aircraft, all these maneuvers proceed swiftly It was quite a challenge for a new pilot to handle. Chungkuei Hsu did not handle it well on his first fight. H e pushed the control wheel too late and also too much while the aircraft was already inadvertently airborne, and crashed the aircraft on the runway He transferred to Nellis AFB, Nevada, to learn to fly the F-100.
The U-2 is also a most difficult aircraft to land. The excellent glide ratio, in addition to the ground effect, makes the aircraft float over the runway for a very long distance. The aircraft will glide 1,000 feet down the runway, while descending one foot. The approach altitude over the threshold is critical. A standard procedure was already in effect when we arrived. An experienced pilot positioned himself at the end of the runway. As the U-2 approached the threshold, the pilot on the ground told the pilot in the cockpit the exact altitude of the aircraft above the runway to avoid an overshoot. In this respect, I was lucky when I made a midnight deadstick landing at a small airport, without another pilot's support.
That was my seventh training flight. I had left Laughlin AFB around 8:30 PM on August 3 and planned to fly to Ogden, Utah, and back, practicing celestial navigation. When I reached Ogden, I was gratified that my first night flight over the U.S. covered more than 1,100 miles and I did not get lost. Shortly after passing Delta, Utah, on the way back to Laughlin, the engine flamed out. The clock showed 10:28 PM local time. The engine cannot restart above 35,000 feet and the aircraft cannot tolerate a fast descent from above 70,000 feet. The only action I could take was to maintain the aircraft gliding on course.
It was cloudy over the Rocky Mountains. Upon reaching 35,000 feet, I tried to relight the engine three times, using different procedures, but all failed. I knew the mountain peaks were around 13,000 feet in that area, but clouds blocked my view. The aircraft continued losing altitude. It could hit the mountain at any time. Suddenly, I saw lights at the eleven o'clock position. I had come out of the clouds to find that I was gliding along a narrow valley between tall mountains. The lights on the ground meant there must be an inhabited area. I might be able to find a flat field for a forced landing. As I drew nearer to the lights, I saw an airport and made a smooth touchdown on the runway The landing gear did not extend fully The belly scratched the pavement. The left wing tip struck the shoulder of the runway The aircraft went into a ground loop and came to rest in one piece. I went to the only lighted building at the airport. An Asian, wearing a strange pressure suit, walked up to the door at midnight. It too k me a little while, using my Chinese-accented English, to fully explain the situation to the two people in the building, who doubtless thought a UFO had landed. They had never heard of a U-2. As for me, I had never heard of Cortez, Colorado. Neither the town, much less its airport, appeared on my map. The next morning, the 4080th SRW sent in a team headed by Maj. Julian P. Anderson. He found a broken fuel tubing that drained all the fuel on board and caused the engine to flame out. They loaded the U-2 on a C-124 and shipped it back to Laughlin. Months later, I received a USAF Distinguished Flying Cross.
We five ROCAF pilots completed the training in September 1959, and returned to Taiwan shortly thereafter. A U-2, forced-landing in Japan, caused a lot of publicity at just about the time we arrived in Taiwan. An SA-2 had shot down Gary Powers over the USSR in May 1960. These incidents made the U-2 a world-renowned spy aircraft. We were ordered to report to our old squadrons. It was not until almost a year later, in the fall of 1960, that we returned to Laughlin for further proficiency training.
Two U-2Cs arrived in Taoyuan in January 1961. The cover story was that the ROCAF had purchased the aircraft, that bore the Chinese national insignia. The organization, under the command of ROCAF headquarters, was the "Weather Reconnaissance Research Section." To avoid being confused with other air force organizations stationed in the Taoyuan AB, the section became the 35th Squadron with the Black Cat as its insignia. On the American side, there was Detachment H. All U.S. personnel were ostensibly employees of the Lockheed Aircraft Company. The Chinese participants consisted of five pilots, a few support people and the squadron commander, a ROCAF colonel. ROCAF and U.S. representatives in Taipei, signed a joint agreement, codenamed "Razor."
The U-2C had a more powerful engine, the J75, than the U-2A. Pilots and the whole newly organized team needed time to become familiar with the new equipment. The operational training started right after the aircraft was reassembled and checked out. To avoid detection, we always flew eastward under 40,000 feet, exceeding the ChiCom's radar coverage.
On March 19, Yaohua Chih flew back after a four-hour night flight and continued to practice touch and go before landing. The weather was good with glittering stars and no moon. Bob Ericson, a U.S. pilot, and Tiger Wong were at the end of the runway in the "mobile"--an automobile equipped with ultra high-frequency (UHF) or very high frequency (VHF) radios, that are operated by a pilot to assist the pilot in the aircraft to make safe takeoffs and landings. The U-2 accelerated to lift up after touching the runway They saw the red collision light on the aircraft's tail suddenly deviate to left of the runway. Without any emergency message being transmitted by the pilot, the aircraft dropped to the ground. An explosion was followed with...
NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.
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