Coldwar RAF U-2 Pilots
Joe Hyde @ RAAF Laverton
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Cold War U2 pilots
I have just joined and seen your post. Basil Dodd was a great friend of mine. We trained together at at Heany in S. Rhodesia in 1951 and kept in touch thereafter although our R.A.F. paths didn't cross. Happily we both worked together in the Civil Aviation Authority later on. Sadly he died a few years ago after an operation for cancer of the oesophagus, and his wife Elizabeth followed a couple of years later after a stroke. He was a very modest character and rarely spoke about his U2 days even after the security ban was lifted.
Alec
Alec
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Judging by this link, it was rather sporting close to the ground...
The Lucky Puppy :: View topic - U2's Are Hard to Land
The Lucky Puppy :: View topic - U2's Are Hard to Land
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FREE KINDLE DOWNLOAD 30/04/12
Free Download - Currently (30 April 2012) available on the UK version of that SA river
Remembering the Dragon Lady: The U-2 Spy Plane: Memoirs of the Men Who Made the Legend
PZU - Out of Africa (Retired)
Remembering the Dragon Lady: The U-2 Spy Plane: Memoirs of the Men Who Made the Legend
PZU - Out of Africa (Retired)
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Unlucky timing
Doh, if they'd have taxi'd a little bit faster, Google Earth would have missed it.
Last edited by Surplus; 22nd Jun 2012 at 04:48.
I've only just found this thread. I used to fly with Martin Bee when he joined Laker Airways. I once asked him if he had flown the SR-71. The answer was in the negative but he did say he had flown the YF-12A.
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U2s at Akrotiri
Hi, there were U2s based at Akrotiri when I was there in the early 70s and one did crash on the airfield and took out station ops as I recall, but it was before I arrived in 71.
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I served as the Flt Cdr on 84 Sqn (local SAR helo unit) at RAF Akrotiri in the late 70's.
In that period the U2s made daily flights from Akrotiri - and I would guess still are - taking off at 6am and landing at 3pm, usually on time. I regularly walked to 84 in the cool of the early morning and never grew tired of watching a rather unstable, vehicle and outrigger assisted take off develop into an impressive climb, even fully laden with JP5 fuel. Viewing the later approach from the beach had additional and distracting attractions.....
The operating unit - Olive Harvest Det 7 - were very cooperative when I asked for our winchmen to have a hands-on experience of the U2 cockpit and aircrew safety equipment, a learning process that we all gained from, though I'm not sure that all the security restrictions were observed fully. I found the staff and pilots to be friendly and sociable (but very focussed, professionally) and I enjoyed the company, especially the bbqs that produced the largest steaks I had ever seen!
Incidentally, as a result of the fatal U2 crash Flt Lt Bernie Limm, a most engaging Herc Nav serving in Akrotiri Ops, saved the lives of several persons who had been trapped in a burning building, and was awarded subsequently the Queen's Gallantry Medal.
In that period the U2s made daily flights from Akrotiri - and I would guess still are - taking off at 6am and landing at 3pm, usually on time. I regularly walked to 84 in the cool of the early morning and never grew tired of watching a rather unstable, vehicle and outrigger assisted take off develop into an impressive climb, even fully laden with JP5 fuel. Viewing the later approach from the beach had additional and distracting attractions.....
The operating unit - Olive Harvest Det 7 - were very cooperative when I asked for our winchmen to have a hands-on experience of the U2 cockpit and aircrew safety equipment, a learning process that we all gained from, though I'm not sure that all the security restrictions were observed fully. I found the staff and pilots to be friendly and sociable (but very focussed, professionally) and I enjoyed the company, especially the bbqs that produced the largest steaks I had ever seen!
Incidentally, as a result of the fatal U2 crash Flt Lt Bernie Limm, a most engaging Herc Nav serving in Akrotiri Ops, saved the lives of several persons who had been trapped in a burning building, and was awarded subsequently the Queen's Gallantry Medal.
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Sqd.Ldr. John MacArthur
I am searching for information on Sqd.Ldr. John McArthur. I am Australian and at the age of 21 I met him in London while on a working holiday. We became engaged for a short time.
As I am Australian John came to Sydney but his health was not good and I did not wish to live away from Australia so we parted.
At the age of 73 I often look back and think what a brave man he was to have been part of that amazing time and realise that so little information was really understood as to what was involved for those pilots.
I would like to know if he is still alive and hopefully has had a happy life.
beachessun
As I am Australian John came to Sydney but his health was not good and I did not wish to live away from Australia so we parted.
At the age of 73 I often look back and think what a brave man he was to have been part of that amazing time and realise that so little information was really understood as to what was involved for those pilots.
I would like to know if he is still alive and hopefully has had a happy life.
beachessun
Beachessun,
See posts from 2007 and 2009. Apparently a Reverend in Australia.
http://www.pprune.org/military-aircr...ml#post3688865
http://www.pprune.org/military-aircr...ml#post5040974
John and Julie MacArthur have a mention in the Roadrunners 2008 newsletter.
http://roadrunnersinternationale.com...newsletter.pdf
Contact page.
Contact Information for Roadrunners Internationale
Home Page - Roadrunners Internationale Declassified U-2 A-12 Projects Aquatone OXCART Area 51
See posts from 2007 and 2009. Apparently a Reverend in Australia.
http://www.pprune.org/military-aircr...ml#post3688865
http://www.pprune.org/military-aircr...ml#post5040974
John and Julie MacArthur have a mention in the Roadrunners 2008 newsletter.
http://roadrunnersinternationale.com...newsletter.pdf
Contact page.
Contact Information for Roadrunners Internationale
Home Page - Roadrunners Internationale Declassified U-2 A-12 Projects Aquatone OXCART Area 51
Last edited by TEEEJ; 17th Jul 2012 at 10:19.
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TeeJ
Thank you for information on John MacArthur pleased that he is living in Australia and suprised he is a reverend perhaps flying so high opens up a door to the meaning of life.
beachessun
beachessun
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Cold War U-2 pilots
Hello Alec,
I note with great interest that Basil W. Dodd was a friend of yours. I think he might well be the same Basil Dodd who was a fellow student with me at The de Havilland Aeronautical Technical School, Hatfield, Herts., in 1945-49. I know from the Empire Test Pilots School that the Basil Dodd I knew attended their Course No.15 in 1956, and he died in 2001.
Can you tell me more about what he told you, in case it confirms he is the same Basil Dodd I knew? I have no record of his middle initial being 'W', nor of his being in the RAF.
I remember him well, as he gave me my unforgettable looping, spinning first flight around 1948, in a Tiger Moth from Panshanger aerodrome, Hertfordshire. He is remembered by ex-de Havilland people for his Panshanger aerobatics. He was particularly fond of inverted flying and, on one occasion, he did so for a longish time and, on landing, he learned that the dirty windscreen was due to practically all the oil having drained from the engine - that Tiger had not been adapted for prolonged inverted flights!
I look forward to your reply.
Regards,
Ken Watkins, CEng, MRAeS,
(DHAeTS 1945-49)
I note with great interest that Basil W. Dodd was a friend of yours. I think he might well be the same Basil Dodd who was a fellow student with me at The de Havilland Aeronautical Technical School, Hatfield, Herts., in 1945-49. I know from the Empire Test Pilots School that the Basil Dodd I knew attended their Course No.15 in 1956, and he died in 2001.
Can you tell me more about what he told you, in case it confirms he is the same Basil Dodd I knew? I have no record of his middle initial being 'W', nor of his being in the RAF.
I remember him well, as he gave me my unforgettable looping, spinning first flight around 1948, in a Tiger Moth from Panshanger aerodrome, Hertfordshire. He is remembered by ex-de Havilland people for his Panshanger aerobatics. He was particularly fond of inverted flying and, on one occasion, he did so for a longish time and, on landing, he learned that the dirty windscreen was due to practically all the oil having drained from the engine - that Tiger had not been adapted for prolonged inverted flights!
I look forward to your reply.
Regards,
Ken Watkins, CEng, MRAeS,
(DHAeTS 1945-49)
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Sqn Ldr Basil W Dodd RAF AFC etps
For Alec & KenWW ...
Basil Dodd was indeed a graduate of ETPS.
He started an RAF exchange tour in 1964 flying the CIA operated Lockheed U-2 (80' wing span J-75 powered C, F, G (carrier), & H models).
On his return to the UK he went back to RAF test flying and thence to the UK CAA.
A quiet gentleman.
The two pictures show him (1) in the Mojave Desert near Edwards AFB & (2) undergoing a test at Los Alamos, NM. This test was a small part of the week long medical then given each year to all U-2 pilots
Basil Dodd was indeed a graduate of ETPS.
He started an RAF exchange tour in 1964 flying the CIA operated Lockheed U-2 (80' wing span J-75 powered C, F, G (carrier), & H models).
On his return to the UK he went back to RAF test flying and thence to the UK CAA.
A quiet gentleman.
The two pictures show him (1) in the Mojave Desert near Edwards AFB & (2) undergoing a test at Los Alamos, NM. This test was a small part of the week long medical then given each year to all U-2 pilots
Last edited by curvedsky; 1st Sep 2014 at 20:56. Reason: Web picture added
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For Alec & KenWW ... U-2G carrier trials circa 1964
Here are some pix of the U-2 from the Basil Dodd era. There were no modern navaids then such as doppler, INS, star-trackers, or ring-lasers.
Navigation depended on meticulous pre-flight planning by a specialist navigator plus an on time U-2 launch.
The pilot used his eyes, pencil, paper, stop-watch, ADF and drift sight.
Pre-calculated manual sun and star shots were also employed. Each shot took a couple of minutes twiddling a knob to keep the celestial body centred & produced a single position line.
The downward looking drift sight - the circular prism in the top centre of the instrument display - could also be made to look upwards to the sky. (All done by mirrors!)
Navigation depended on meticulous pre-flight planning by a specialist navigator plus an on time U-2 launch.
The pilot used his eyes, pencil, paper, stop-watch, ADF and drift sight.
Pre-calculated manual sun and star shots were also employed. Each shot took a couple of minutes twiddling a knob to keep the celestial body centred & produced a single position line.
The downward looking drift sight - the circular prism in the top centre of the instrument display - could also be made to look upwards to the sky. (All done by mirrors!)
An updated cockpit now it appears....
