Saber Dog (Read 526 times)

January didn't seem like the best time to go to Duluth for gunnery. However, some bright "leader" at ADC headquarters thought it was a good idea. Seems the E3 fire control system hadn't been adequately tested in the middle of winter. This was before the equally unreliable E4 fire control system from Hughes was installed. I may be wrong, but it seems to me that the Saber Dogs of the 14th FIS were getting plenty of testing every time they flew at Sioux City Air Base, Iowa on those cold winter days. Besides, at intercept altitudes it is always cold.

So, one fine morning, we loaded in to transports, C119s and a Gooney Bird to head for Duluth. The Box Cars went home and we kept the Gooney Bird, in case we needed it. That meant putting heater shrouds around the engines and keeping heaters going all the time, just in case it needed to go someplace.

Lake Superior is a fine, very large lake, that in winter has no traffic on it. There have been winters that it froze over, and 1954-55 may have been one of them. Even so, the Coast Guard flew over the gunnery area every morning to make sure there were no ice fishermen out on the lake. Snow was built up, at an angle, on the street corners of downtown Duluth, so cars could steer for the snow if they couldn't stop. Ice was built up along the waterfront from the wind blowing the water until the whole port was frozen over. Sounds like an ideal place to be for gunnery.

Right!

The base had a steam plant and there were hot water pipes, enclosed in massive heat shields. Probably filled with asbestos. You had to be careful walking at night, as there were areas that were not clear of snow and it was built up pretty high and didn't always leave much head room.

The target planes were B26s that had been converted to carry targets. The targets were long fabric banners. They were reeled out and in by a crew member in the aft fuselage. They opened the bomb bay doors, dropped the banner and then closed the doors, keeping the cable in a slot that was in the doors.

Targets went up. Saber Dogs went up. E3 turned on. Targets on the scope. Pilot selects number of rockets to fire and squeezes the trigger. Rocket pod drops. Rockets fire. Pod retracts. Mickey Mouse FFRs head toward the rag. Maybe even hit it. Then do it all over again, until ground control, this was pre-SAGE, told the pilot to head for the runway. Sounds simple enough. However, sub zero weather and the continual wind at Duluth Air Base, made things a bit more complex. Well, a whole lot more complex.

Things went pretty well until the day we were to head back to the SCAB. The bird I was crewing didn't want to cooperate.Everyone was ready to head home and engines were starting, planes taxiing and the Gooney Bird on standby for stragglers. That would be me and some others waiting for the last bird to be airborne. My machine wouldn't start. Yeah, I know, a J47 was supposed to start every time, unless you over-temped it. That meant an engine change and a complete inspection. Our engine guy started trouble shooting and got the spark chaser to help us. Not a problem, the jet guy told us. The Compressor Discharge Pressure Sensor was dead. The only problem was that it normally meant pulling the engine part way out in order to get to the little piece of equipment. It is about the size of a short pop can and has two bolts, with nuts and safety wire to hold it in place. One very small line from the compressor and a wire to the engine control. The last thing I wanted was to have to spend more time at Duluth. Found out that morning that my 3 month-old daughter was in the hospital in Sioux City with a respiratory problem. So, I wanted to get home. I told the line chief that I thought I could replace the sensor, but wouldn't be able to put safety wire on it. He asked the pilot if he would be willing to fly the plane on a one-time flight. He was willing and I went to work. Took a canopy cover and had people holding it down, windy morning, got a couple of heaters to blow hot air where I was. Opened the panel where you checked the oil and began taking the sensor out. The first thing I had to do was cut two safety wires. Then it was taking the bolts off. Another guy was able to reach in over me to hold the nut while I put a socket on the bolt. The nut was under a bracket and if you were careful, real careful, it wouldn't fall. If it did, you could take the dishpan out of the right wheel well and find it. The sensor was up and back a bit, so you had to reach pretty far to get to it. The panel opened up and had to be held up to keep it from falling down. Not the easiest way to work. I was being handed cups of hot coffee and stopping to warm my hands on a regular basis. There was one heater blowing through one of the engine hole dishpans that helped a little, but it was still cold.

Finally the CDP sensor was out and the new one installed. The engine guy who was helping me took a look with a mirror and said it looked good to him. Then the final examination. The pilot strapped in, we closed all the panels and put the dishpans back in and got a start cart hooked up. We all waited with bated breath as the pilot turned on the proper switches, took the throttle forward and then....it actually started. Start cart disconnected, chocks pulled, and away she went to the end of the runway. We all stood and watched as the pilot took the throttle to military power and held it for a few seconds. Then a bang, and off she went down the runway and airborne headed for the SCAB. Once she was gone we all piled in to the Gooney Bird, after a quick run to the latrine and to make sure the thermoses were full of hot coffee for the trip home.

We got home a few hours behind schedule, but on the same day. I was able to get to the hospital and spend time with my daughter and be sure she was getting better. She is now 54, so she must have.

The Saber Dog was an interesting Interceptor. I worked on them at the SCAB from 1953 until 1959 and saw lots of interesting things during those years. But the mid-winter CDP Sensor is one of my most memorable.













In GOD we Trust.