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Show September 14, HILL TOP TIMES 1973 9 Page Tho Navy chocks out Air Forco modifiod roconnaissanco camera By Joseph T. Shigley The forecast was "broken and scattered" clouds at 1400 hours. That meant a good . possibility of aerial photography in the Ogden Valley, Tuesday afternoon. After an entire morning of anxious glances at the cloudy sky, the time for action had arrived. The Photo Equipment Repair Unit had their crew loading the Navy KA-5- 8 Panoramic camera in the belly of the RA5C Vigilante under the watchful eyes of 1st Class Petty Officer J.D. Ross and civilian Dick Drake of Albany Naval Air Station, Georgia. Commander Dick Thomas, Navy Liaison Officer at Ogden AMA surveyed every move in stoic silence. Welcome Sunlight Darwin Edwards, the foreman who had pushed the camera through modification, overhaul, calibration and Building 100, squinted his eyes as the welcome sunlight illuminated his sunburned countenance. The camera passed pref ilight and was hoisted into place by technicians Jerry Hurd and Jack Bean. Buttoning up ceremonies were now inorder. The pilot, Commander Les Butsch, settled into the front seat of the big bird and pulled his helmet, with the black fleur de lis on the side, on his head. Lieutenant Commander Bill Rosselle walked the wing to his rear cockpit and climbed aboard. Just a fifteen minute test flight would provide 2,000 feet of test film to prove resolution quality and functional reliability of the camera system. It may have been just the atmospheric conditions but one could feel the electricity in the air. It was charged with a build up of energy which started nearly two years ago when Max Kennedy, the then Maintenance deputy director, made the decision that the directorate would accept the KA-5- 7 and KA-5- 8 Panoramic camera systems from the Navy on a Directorate of Maintenance Interservice Support Agreement. Ogden was already supporting the Navy RF4 reconnaissance efforts with optical sensors and equipment. The first KA-5- 8 was ultimately completed and shipped last March with number two leaving for Albany the first part of May. Something Special But number three was special. We were going to fly it at Ogden with the Navy taking delivery after their flight check of the system to assure serviceability. For others it may have been just another routine flight, but to us, it was a significant first. As we watched the big bird taxi down the apron in preparation for takeoff, we thought about the men of Squadron Heavy Six who fly reconnaissance off of every flat top in the fleet. We were becoming a part of their efforts to maintain aerial surveillence over the troubled spots in the world from Vietnam to Cuba and Israel to Cambodia. We also thought about the team effort that had gone into the accomplishments of the past two years. Engineering, Plant Services, Materiel Management, Lab Division, Optronics, Quality, Planning, Photo Lab, Scheduling and Inventory to name a few. A veritable army of skilled professionals that paved the way to successful completion of the final goal. Heady to Fly We thought, too, about all of our preparations since work started on the system, last May, and the work of getting it ready to fly. It takes a couple of days just to get the big camera ready for installation. It weighs nearly 500 pounds and operates in a module on the aircraft in an environment of 110 degrees F. The final tests in the shop are conducted in a test chamber at the same temperature. One of the preparatory functions is to thermally "soak" the system in the removable module seven hours prior to flight so that all parts are thoroughly heated to the operating temperature. Since we had planned on an early takeoff, Ron Musselman sat up all night monitoring the heating and soaking process. 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How else could you write a success story? aK Here's a new offer from O COYIRS O STABILIZERS - TEST FLIGHT A Navy reconnaissance aircraft, the RA5C Vigilante, is ready to test the KA-5- 8 high altitude panoramic camera module at Hill AFB. equipment and it was ready and in place. The heavy cloud cover, at daylight, called for the postponement of the early flight. Heat soaking continued until we got the favorable weather forecast. Just a few minutes had elapsed since wheels up but the RA5C was now swinging into his final approach for landing. Although outward coolness prevailed, there was a lot of mental finger crossing going on as the film The friendly skies of your land |