On
The
first Canberra B.2 was delivered to Martin in March 1951 and a second in August.
After much testing and evaluation work, Martin suggested some modifications to
the basic design. The first production B-57A rolled off the production line on
The
B-57A differed from the B.2 in having a two-man crew instead of a three. The
navigator's window was deleted from the port side of the forward fuselage and on
the starboard it was repositioned. The engine nacelles were slightly redesigned
to accommodate the Wright YJ65-W-1 jet engines and the bomb bay was shortened.
The USAF expressed disappointment in the performance of the B-57A and after
eight aircraft had come off the production line it was cancelled; and a
reconnaissance variant, the RB-57A, took
over the production line. Altogether 67 of these aircraft were to be produced
and saw service with the USAF and Air National Guard well into the 1960s.
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Over
some weeks in the early summer of 1955 ten pilots converged on the Glenn Martin
plant. Their reason for being there was classified at the highest level. They
were to be involved in an operation, the details of which would not be
declassified for another forty-six
years. Operation Heart Throb had
begun.
The
pilots were drawn from a variety of backgrounds; but all but one of them were
current on the B/RB-57. Captain
Joseph A. Guthrie was a B-57B instructor pilot at Randolph Air Force Base,
Operation Heart Throb
was to involve the deployment of specially modified RB-57A aircraft to two
bases: one in the
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At
the Glenn L. Martin Company the pilots attended ground school learning about the
configuration of the modified RB-57A. After
modification, every aircraft was flight tested with most of the tests flown by
Gafford and Guthrie. Captain Thorne had to be checked out as he came to the
project unfamiliar with the aircraft. The Heartthrob RB-57s were pulled from the
production line and placed in a hangar on their own for modification and
differed from the production aircraft in several ways. The missions were to be
single pilot reconnaissance so the navigator’s
seat was removed. Most of the modifications served to lighten the
aircraft and make it suitable fro very high altitude performance. All navigation
equipment and armour was removed. The rotating bomb door and associated
hydraulics and racks were removed and the bomb bay skinned over. An
optical viewfinder was installed and pilot intervelometer controls for the
cameras, and for
setting shutter speeds and time between picture exposures, thus producing the
necessary picture overlap for the photo interpreters. Navigation was to
be through pilotage aided by the viewfinder which looked through the nose,
making positioning the aircraft on course and over targets easier. Because of
the altitude the RB-57s were to operate at, a pressure suit ventilator system
was installed. The recce suite installed within a pressurized camera compartment
was; one T-11 vertical mapping camera, and two K-38, 36 inch focal length
oblique cameras with 10 – 15% overlap.
Time
at Martin was broken by a sojourn at Wright Patterson AFB for a refresher course
in the altitude chamber and from there to the Dave Clark factory at
It
was not until August, 1955 that pilots and aircraft were ready to
depart to their respective theatres of operation. It had originally been
intended that the Yokota aircraft would be transported by aircraft carrier to
“It
seemed such an inglorious way to send an Air Force aircraft overseas. I worked
with some Martin performance engineers to determine if the aircraft could be
flown to
Joe Guthrie did get permission to fly to
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The European contingent was destined for Rhein-Main
AFB in
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Although the pilots who had comprised the 6021st
detachment at Yokota had joined the project with experience of the B-57; none of
them had had any reconnaissance training. The first thing they had to do over
the initial weeks in
The European Heartthrob operations began in
September. Unlike the Yokota pilots, those based in
The first
“It
was to be a complete radio silence mission.
If radio silence was broken within the first 30 minutes the back up
aircraft would be launched. The mission profile was briefed to fly north from
Chitose and along the eastern side of the island of Sakhalin far enough seaward
and at an altitude of 100 feet to avoid radar detection.
This profile was to continue to a point abreast the northern portion of
the island where the tip tanks would be jettisoned and a climb initiated to the
maximum obtainable altitude. Somewhere
in the climb a 180 degree turn would be started in order to arrive over the
northern tip of the island headed south at an altitude of about 55,000 feet.
At this point a reconnaissance run would be flown down the entire length
of the island with specific pinpoint targets and lines.
The flight would then continue on to
The
day of the mission arrived and the weather was excellent.
We gathered early for the briefing. We had a controlled take-off time, so
it was imperative that I get dressed and get strapped in the aircraft in time to
get airborne right on time. I went
to the aircraft and completed the walk around inspection, then back inside to
get suited up. “Suiting Up” was quite a task. I put on a pressure suit, an
air vent suit, a padded suit, a water survival suit and a Mae West.
Looking like the Pillsbury Dough Boy and moving with the dexterity of a
robot made me wonder if I could still fly the aircraft. As a result of worrying
about the controlled take off time, I got dressed too early.
It did not take long for me to get way too hot, so I went outside into
the frigid
We
had a man in the control tower and as soon as he saw I was ready to taxi he told
the tower operator to issue taxi instructions.
Two minutes before take-off time, I was cleared on the runway and cleared
for take-off.
Exactly
on time, I rolled down the runway, lifted off and took up my first heading.
I passed over the northern part of
There
were many airports and as best as I could see plenty of MIGs on them.
Also there was no doubt that they knew I was there.
We had a warning device that told us when we were being tracked by radar.
We could discriminate between airborne and ground radars by the tone of
the oral warning—a high piercing tone meant airborne radar.
I looked around a lot and changed headings when I could, but I never saw
anything. When I changed headings I
would lose the airborne tone, but then it would come back.
There wasn’t much I could do but head south.
In frustration, I turned the warning device off and kept heading south.
It
was good to see the
The
next day we had a debriefing with Colonel Avery.
The colonel asked Joe Bitz how I did and Joe said I got it all but that I
had made a 360. Colonel Avery turned
to me and asked me if this was true. I said that it was.
I then got a lecture about all the bad things that can happen if you make
360’s and was told that it is “one pass and haul ass,” period.
So it was back to Reccy school for a week.”
Captain
Joe Bitz was an officer in the
548th Reconnaissance Technical Squadron.
The
operating procedures were different for the two Heartthrob detachments. The
For
the pilots of Heart Throb secrecy was of the utmost importance. Missions were
not discussed with one another or anyone except those who needed to know. The
chain of command in the European theatre of operations was from Lt. General
Tunner, Commander of USAFE, through staff officer, Col. Bob Holbury to the
individual pilot. From HqUSAFE the
chain upward led to the White House and Colonel Andrew Goodpaster, President
Eisenhower’s aide. In
The
European missions were planned in the security of HqUSAFE. Gerry Cooke:
“Col.
Holbury assigned the targets and oversaw the route planning, including turning
points, entry points and times into the block country, altitudes, photo runs,
camera operations, exit points and times, in short the complete and detailed
flight plan. As I remember it each
flight plan included approximately six targets, I don’t remember it being
more, and it seems that one flight plan included only 4 or 5 targets.
I don’t believe film supply limited target numbers.
I seem to remember times when the cameras were left running to cover a
target strip of some length.”
The
number of missions flown by each pilot varied; but the typical European mission
began with the codeword ‘Pronto!’ Preflight preparation included fitting of
the pressure suit and the pilot doing his pre-breathing of 100% oxygen. The
purpose of this was to purge the blood of nitrogen; the presence of which at the
very high altitudes the RB-57 was to fly could have been fatal. Meanwhile the
ground crew would be getting the aircraft and camera systems ready and another
pilot would check the aircraft. After climbing in to his aircraft the pilot
would radio Pronto to the control tower and after that remain ‘radio
silent,’ taxi and take off. This would be the last
radio transmission connected with the ‘Pronto’ flight until returning
for let down. The tower would clear the taxiways and runways and Air Traffic
Control would clear the departure quadrant. Gerry Cooke describes the typical
mission profile:
“Applying
full power to the engines; they produce a little over 7220 lbs of thrust each;
he lifts off at about 100 knots after a roll of 2400 feet.
The climb is established at .74 mach achieving 6500 ft per minute
initially. About 25 minutes later he
is at 45,000 feet, continuing to cruise-climb to penetration altitude.
According to plan he is ready to penetrate the mission area and seek out
his target by pilotage, a technique little different than that used by Lindberg
and Doolittle in the 1930s. One
reads a map and looks at the ground knowing where he is by recognizing things
that look like symbols on the map. Steering
by compass computing speed by the clock over the desired ground track.
The pilot is still at full throttle where the power will remain until
exit point of the overflight. The engines have been rated to exceed normal power
and temperature limits, so the power is only reduced when the exhaust
temperatures become dangerous. He
will continue this cruise climb method trading burned-off fuel for altitude
throughout the overflight part of the mission.
Now
he turns his attention to targets. He
finds his identification point for a run on the target and places the airplane
over that point on the ground-- putting the target in the cross hairs of the
viewfinder. Calculating his ground
speed and drift, he sets the aircraft on course and sets up
the intervelometer as he makes his photo run over the target.
He takes anywhere from 6 to 12 photos per target depending on the target
and his confidence in getting the required coverage.
In some target areas the cameras may run continuous along a desired path
of coverage.
My
best recall tells me that the viewfinder looked forward 30 degrees from the
vertical, and 15 degrees to the rear. I
believe it rotated 15 degrees left and right of the aircraft centerline.
These numbers may be off a bit, but serve to explain how the viewfinder
was used in the operation. At 55,000
plus feet the pilot will see a 12,000-foot runway in the middle of his
viewfinder at the apparent size of his thumbnail.
At this altitude the viewfinder presents 12 miles of geography in the
lens from left to right. It’s very
hard to distinguish things this small if the faceplate has fogged up.
The
pilot now repeats this on each target run in his mission plan. The nature of
these missions usually called for a triangular rout to be flown within the
overflight area. Two reasons for
this; first banking the aircraft at these altitudes was a matter of delicate
control due to the instability that comes with a lack of atmosphere; turns could
cause loss of some altitude. So 10
to 15 degrees was the maximum bank for turns.
The shallow bank produced a very slow rate of turn, which resulted in a
wide circle track over the ground. This
made it necessary to plot the turns on the map in order to achieve the correct
tracking on the ensuing flight leg. One
amusing serendipity emerged from this; our desired radius of turn could be
plotted on the map with a 50 cent piece.
By coincidence the circumference of a 50-cent piece laid on a World
Aeronautical Chart defined the correct circular track over the ground. The
second advantage from the shallow bank we were told was that the steeper banks
were easier to detect on radar.
At
the end of about one hour in the target area the pilot is now anywhere from
62-66 thousand feet and nearing the point of exit and maybe as much as 400 NM
from base. He reduces the power
control to idle setting, only the power will not reduce to idle power.
He has been running the engines at 103.5% power and above the tail pipe
temperature “redline” [maximum thrust] throughout the target area, in a
constant cruise climb configuration trading off the fuel consumed for altitude.
The full back idle setting will not reduce power below 98% engine thrust
at this altitude. This is
characteristic of most axial flow jet engines with the power control technology
extant in the early ‘50s. At lower
altitudes the power control in idle setting will produce lower idle power, but
not at ultra-high altitudes.
Because
of this characteristic the pilot must plan and maneuver through his descent
carefully. There is no drag
mechanism on the Heart Throb aircraft to counter the power produced at altitude
in full-back power control position. There
are finger like spoilers that can be activated on the top of each wing but they
are totally ineffective in rarified air. The
nose cannot be lowered too much or you will exceed the airframes mach
limitation. So high thrust slows
descent and lowering the nose increases speed and exceeding mach limitation.
Old “hands” have named this situation “coffin corner,” out here
in
After
the aircraft is in friendly airspace the pilot now gets on the radio and checks
the weather to be sure he is going home or to an alternate.
Going to an alternate can be a real problem, since the pilot needs
assistance with the T-1 suit and cockpit equipment, and any base other than home
or another pre-planned destination would expose the security of your mission,
and perhaps risk confiscation of the mission film.
About 200 NM from base you are down to 45,000 feet or lower, and aircraft
and engine control return to near normal, and you are now in communications with
air traffic control and base approach control.
At
this point in time the air traffic control system and Rhein-Main approach
control was still in the hands of USAF military personnel.
In the coming year it would turn over to the German government.
The pilot reports in his descent with his PRONTO call sign.
Approach control identifies him and clears him to the “high cone” for
a teardrop let down and hand off to GCA. This
is the procedure whether visual flight rules or instrument flight rules are in
effect. The GCA final is flown at
70-80 knots speed, over the fence and touch down, the landing roll can be as
little as 1000 feet according to the pilot technique.
Taxiing
to the ramp the aircrew, photo technicians and personal equipment crews meet the
aircraft and do their respective post flight jobs.
The film goes under guard to the photo laboratory at
It
is difficult to be accurate about the number of missions flown. The secrecy
which surrounded the Heartthrob operations precluded discussion between pilots
about targets and mission details. Over the forty five years since the missions
took place secrecy was still considered imperative. Before the declassification
of the operations in 1998; many of those who had taken part had died. For those
who have survived last year was the first opportunity they had had to compare
notes. Undoubtedly the passing of the years and the prolonged enforced silence
has stolen many of the memories.
The
project was over in
One
of the aborted missions was flown by Captain Jim Bryant. It was a deep
penetration mission which required the use of the tip tanks. When the tip tanks
ran dry they were jettisoned. In this particular the left tank of Jim’s
aircraft jettisoned, but the right did not. It hung up on the rear. Lou Picciano:
“The
tank spun and lodged against the fuel vent T mast. The other tank was in the
An
armourer was called to secure the ejector system before the aircraft was taxied
to a hardstanding and Jim could safely get out. On the following morning he
received a case of Scotch for the
Martin company for a job well done.
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The
six aircraft and pilots in
My
flight planning was in the middle area of the block countries; i.e.,
To
the best of my memory I flew two of these missions and a part of the third,
possibly in January, March and August ‘56 time frame [cumulus clouds covered
some of the targets.] I can’t be
sure if this occurred on mission number two or three.
I planned and attempted a fourth that was aborted due to contrails.
I have a strong feeling this 4th flight was in the summer
before the Hungarian revolt. It was
the last Heart Throb mission for me.
On
this fourth mission Capt. Thorne was flying wing to check the contrailing.
If negative contrails, he was to return to base, and I would proceed.
The entry point for this mission was a peninsula on the Yugoslavian
[Croatian] coast of the Adriatic just south of
The
first mission planned for targets in and around the cities of Brataslava and
The
Heartthrob operations in
In
In
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How
do we gauge the success of the Heart Throb missions. They must be seen in the
context of the military politics of the time. The belligerence of the
When
the
Operation
Heart Throb took place at a point in the
Cold War when tensions were running high. The excursions over enemy territory
were not confined to the Canberras. At the time of Heart Throb the USAF
Strategic Air Command was involved in regular overflights using RB-47 Stratojets
while the RAF was using De Havilland Comets and Canberras. The Heart Throb
aircraft were, in the main not used for deep penetration flights. Their role was
to survey the areas close to the borders where a possible
Contributed
by the author, Doug Gordon
as
published in Flypast magazine.
For
a full set of back issue photos and article contact