44-92060 had, by today’s standards, a brief life. Delivered in 1949, and assigned to the 92nd Bomb Wing at Fairchild AFB in 1951, it did its part for five years until it was scrapped in 1956. Made for a lot of pots and pans.

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The patch of the 92nd during the B-36 days at Fairchild. B-52s arrived in 1957, and, alas, this patch design was done away with.

With its tail number of 47-084, this B-45A was a natural choice for assignment to Langley AFB’s 47th Bomb Group, 84th Bomb Squadron. The unit later moved to RAF Sculthorpe in the UK.

The B-45 was, of course, America’s first jet bomber, and like many of those early jets it had a checkered career (of the 143 B-45s built, almost one-third of them were destroyed in crashes and other mishaps). There are very few survivors, and 47-084 is not one of them: it ended its days in 1958 at Ramstein Air Base as an instructional airframe for training firemen.  In other words, a charred and smashed wreck.

Insignia of the 84th

Here are 1960s flight suits from two of the USAF’s F-106 units: The 95th and 5th Fighter Interceptor Squadrons. Based, respectively, at Dover and Minot AFB, these squadrons were both long-time operators of the “Six”.

 

Five feet is the length of this photo, and given that I had to scan it in segments then stitch it all together, I would not have minded had the 18th FIS done its job with fewer men. That being said, it is a great shot of the entire squadron at Ladd AFB, Alaska, on July 18 1955, Major John “Buck” Rogers commanding. The following summer they moved to the somewhat less frigid Wurtsmith AFB in Michigan. F-89D Scorpions were the weapons of choice for the 18th in Alaska. One can be identified: 52-1839.

The “D” model of the famed F-86 Sabre was, of course, labeled the “Dog” model. However, this was not just for the phonetically proper D-for-Dog but for what that model’s radome did to alter the aircraft’s appearance. Compared to the previous Sabre models whose front end was an intake (comparisons were made between it and a fish with its mouth open), the addition of the black radome did indeed give the D model the look of some sort of canine.

The 15th Fighter Interceptor Squadron flew the F-86D from 1954-1957. The latter date coincides with that of this photo. Well, photo yes, but it is actually a postcard used by “Tex and Paky”.

PS. Get it?: Hot “Dog”…D Model…”Sunny Tucson”…(?) Yeah…

An F-86 pilot, Barrett was commander of the 49th Fighter Bomber Group at Misawa Air Base, Japan, in 1957. His next stop was commander of the 329th Fighter Group (Air Defense) at Stewart AFB, NY, 1958-59.

As part of the 21st Fighter Bomber Wing, the Base Flight mainly consisted of T-33’s and other utility aircraft in support of the Wing’s operations. Patch dates from the mid-1950’s.

During the Vietnam War, crazy flightsuit-like garments were made by local tailors for wearing at the club. These “party suits” were usually in squadron colors, festooned with patches, and completely outlandish. Well, that was for the men, but what about the nurses? It seems they had their own after hours attire as seen here: A mini-skirt with emphasis on “mini.” The patch is the 11th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron from Udorn Air Base, Thailand. Nurse Miller would not have been assigned to the 11th (their’s was man’s work), but this dress would have been made with their blessing. Year: about 1969.

From Clark Air Base in the 1950s Philippines, comes one of the more odd-looking patches in my collection. A Viking perhaps? Some forgotten cartoon character? Whatever the case, the squadron went out of the interceptor business in 1959 so it’s likely the inspiration for this patch will remain a mystery. BTW: They were fixing cameras on F-86’s.

Based at Geiger Field, WA, in the mid-1950’s, the 9th Air Division controlled the fighter interceptor squadrons of Larson AFB, WA that guarded the skies of Eastern Washington & Oregon, and all of Idaho. They were also in charge of the various radar squadrons in the region.

Of note on this big patch is the Ground Observer Corps watchtower superimposed over the radome. Even in the mid-1950’s, the radar coverage of North America had gaps that still required eyes, and not electronics.

From my closet. L-1B flightsuit with 85th FIS patch. The same type baseball cap is worn by the pilots in photo #1.

Based at Van Nuys California, the 195th flew various models of the F-86 Sabre from 1953-61. Sometimes you’ll see this patch with the pilot’s name on a bottom tab, sometimes you won’t. Either way, it’s not a common patch.

Story goes that in the late 50’s the new sport of scuba diving was so popular in the 146th that they formed a club and took to calling themselves the “Flying Frogmen.”

The title “Ftr/Recon” refers to the fact the 432nd had more fighter squadrons than they did reconnaissance. Udorn Air Base, Thailand.

The most obvious difference between the F-4E and its predecessors was the gun in the nose that radically altered the front end of the Phantom. It is only fitting that when the 469th TFS got the E model they designed a patch that illustrated that they were now armed to the teeth.

Early 1950’s patch when the 514th flew the F-84 Thunderjet & F-86 Sabre at RAF Manston.

With its ray gun-toting martian/spaceman receiving earthly transmissions via his magical emerald helmet all while zooming through the heavens on his zippy jet, this patch is total 1950’s. The 147th flew F-84 Thunderstreaks when this patch was worn. The unit lost their air defense role in 1961, and with it, this fantastic patch.

 The “Martian” is a character known as “Ovacron”, the creation of a Pittsburgh disc jockey in the 1950’s. Given that the 147th was based at Pittsburgh AP, the pieces start falling in place. This info also dovetails with my thoughts: it looks like a cartoon character, and not just something thrown together in the squadron.

Jim Van Scyoc (pronounced “sock”) was to achieve unsought notoriety when, in 1961, while flying F-100’s in the New Mexico Air Guard, he accidentally shot down a B-52 while on a practice intercept. That tragic story is all over the internet, and Van Scyoc was not to blame; an electronic glitch was the culprit. Given the circumstances, it is unfortunate that this aerial “victory” represents the only air-to-air “kill” for an F-100. Suchlike, that has been the only B-52 air-to-air shootdown. In Vietnam, it was all SAM’s.

The 336th patch dates from earlier days when Van Scyoc flew F-86’s in Korea.

These patches represent the era when the 331st flew the F-102, and then the F-104.

Stationed in the less than salubrious clime of Libya, the 431st buzzed the North African skies in the mighty F-86 Sabre. 51-13168 was an F model in this squadron. Humorous anecdote: A day or so after I got this patch, I came home to find it in the mouth of my dog who was busily gnawing away. Luckily, he had only succeeded in getting it soaking wet with dog slobber – no holes or damage. Nonetheless, I aged ten years on the spot.

Massive patch; belonged to an F-102 pilot of the 509th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, 405th Fighter Wing.

In 1962, the term “Fighter Wing” was rather unusual; that was the age of “Fighter Interceptor” and “Tactical Fighter” Wings (squadrons, groups, etc.) that oversaw a particular fighter with a particular mission. However, the 405th at Clark Air Base was somewhat different in that it oversaw both interceptor and tactical fighters (along with a host of other aircraft) and the generic name of the Wing reflected that fact.

We usually see the ubiquitous “Spook” figure on such a Phantom patch.  When this patch was worn, the Phixers were phixing the F-4D.