PORTLAND, Ore. -- On this day after the 72nd anniversary of the Armistice of the Korean War (July 27, 1953), also known as Korean War Veterans Day, we look back to the “hot rod summer” of 1953, when the “Forgotten War” was still underway.
You may have noticed the pattern overhead was a splendid busy for two weeks at Portland Air National Guard Base with the recent visit earlier this month by the 194th Fighter Squadron of the California Air National Guard (ANG). The Griffin tails from Fresno mixed things up with the hometown 123rd Fighter Squadron Redhawks and added some variety with the F-15Cs they brought along. These included some former 18th Wing/Kadena Air Base Eagles with their distinctive ZZ on the tails, and some clean birds without any unit markings as the F-15 fleet changes composition with the arrival of the F-15EX Eagle II. It was like a hot rod summer with all this Eagle power soaring from the base.
Summertime is the time for other hot rods too, as there are many car shows in the fair weather. People like to showcase their vintage hot rods, muscle cars and other classic motor vehicles, a popular community event for many to go and see. Many wish they had a chance to drive such cars in their youth. Some Oregon Redhawk pilots had a chance to do that with some propeller-driven hot rods back in 1953.
Looking back these 72 years we find another California ANG connection with the Oregon ANG. For a brief two-week period in the summer of 1953, the Redhawks of the 123rd Fighter-Interceptor Squadron (123rd FIS) had a chance to fly a hot rod prop in aerial gunnery training, the North American F-51H Mustang. The H-model could be called the ultimate version of the famous P-51 Mustang, provided by courtesy of the 195th Fighter-Bomber Squadron (195th FBS) of the California ANG, a sister-unit of the 194th Fighter Squadron back in the 1950s.
H-Model Origin
Origins of the F-51H go back to 1943, when North American Aviation’s chief designer Edgar O. Schmued visited the Supermarine and Rolls Royce factories, and to talk with the Royal Air Force in England, to see how the British made and operated the famous Spitfire fighter, a lighter aircraft than the P-51. Drawing on impressions from the visit, with an aim to save weight and boost performance, an entirely new design for the P-51 Mustang emerged (Note, the P designation for Pursuit aircraft changed to F for Fighter in 1948).
The design process began with the XP-51F, built to British rather than American specifications and which only resembled earlier Mustangs. It was followed by the XP-51G and XP-51J. The lessons learned with these experimental P-51s led directly to design and production of the P-51H without any additional experimental or prototype variants required.
North American signed a government contract for 2,400 P-51Hs (factory charge number NA-126) on April 26, 1944. After other design work based on results with the experimental Mustangs, tooling up for production and gathering of materials, this ultimate version of the P-51 went into series production at North American’s Inglewood, California aircraft factory. The first P-51H flight took place on February 3, 1945; the first USAAF pilot H-model flight was on April 4 and service testing examples began evaluation at Eglin Field, Florida in June 1945. The similar P-51L (NA-129) was planned for production at North American’s Dallas, Texas factory.
H-Model Design
The H-model was visually distinguishable from a D-model Mustang with its straight leading edge on its wings as compared to the D’s wider wing root, thanks to smaller, lighter main landing gear wheels. The H used a National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) 66 series wing, a low-drag airfoil design used by some other aircraft of that era like the Bell P-63 Kingcobra and North American P-82 Twin Mustang.
Using various weight saving measures, engineers managed to lighten the H-model some 600 pounds over the D-model. A lighter engine mount structure, lighter, smaller wheels, a narrower, slightly longer fuselage, relocated oil cooler, use of a new, thinner alloy aluminum, gave the P-51H a weight of 6,551 pounds, empty. (Another source shows the empty weight as 6,585 pounds whilst another shows a “basic” weight of 7,148 pounds, which is about the empty weight of a P-51D).
For a powerplant, the H-model was powered by a Packard-built Rolls Royce Merlin V-1650-9 of 1,380 horsepower at takeoff. It featured upgrades over earlier Mustangs, among which was water methanol injection, something the earlier Mustangs did not have. The water injection system was for use in a limited duration, flight critical and/or combat situation.
Using water injection, the P-51H could run up to 90 inches manifold pressure at 2,220 hp for war emergency power. With a 10-gallon capacity, this was good to boost engine performance for up to seven minutes, after which a regulator activated and pulled manifold pressure back down to safe levels. From sea level to 10,000 feet altitude the engine could reach more than 2,200 hp, and one source indicated even as high as 2,270 at some airspeeds/altitudes. Up at 25,000 feet the engine could produce 1,700 hp, enough for the H to reach a speedy 487 mph according to some sources.
In addition, the engine featured a Simmonds control unit, which managed the air-fuel ratio, manifold pressure and water injection. It also had automatic manifold control to maintain manifold pressure with altitude changes through a greater range than earlier Mustangs, making the workload on the pilot easier.
The propeller used was a new Aeroproducts Unimatic constant-speed four-bladed prop, called an “H-prop,” even lighter than earlier versions such as that used on the P-51K. The blades were 11-feet, one-inch long and wider along most of the length of the blade, with rounded tips.
An integrated fuselage fuel tank included in the design was helpful, unlike the retrofitted addition of a fuselage tank in earlier Mustangs which caused center of gravity issues affecting handling and performance. Although the H’s capacity was 50 gallons, compared to the retrofitted tank’s 85 gallons, there was no center of gravity issue to contend with and negligible impact on the combat radius.
With regard to the cockpit, it was placed higher up than in the preceding D-model, the seat moved a little forward and the stick a little aft for pilot comfort. The vertical and forward movements under a redesigned canopy gave the pilot a better view forward over the nose and through the K-14 gunsight.
H-Model Performance
Due to the end of the war, the P-51H didn’t undergo extensive performance testing as earlier combat aircraft. As a result, finding reliable performance data is challenging. But the P-51H could likely outrun, outclimb and outrange some late-war propeller-driven fighters like the US Navy F8F Bearcat, Royal Navy Seafire Mk 47 and others.
For example, the early 1945 pilot’s manual showed the aircraft operating at up to 80 inches of manifold pressure with 130 octane fuel. A 1949 Air Materiel Command speed performance chart shows the aircraft could generate 2,220 hp using 145 octane fuel, running at probably 90 inches of manifold pressure which was unstated in the chart.
Top speed of the aircraft at maximum power (wet) was charted as 409 knots (471 mph) at about 22,500 feet. One can find other figures for maximum speed which state 490 mph, or 487 mph at 25,000 feet.
H-model climb rates were better than other late war propeller-driven aircraft, reflecting the H’s lower parasitic drag on its airfoil, lower wing loading (40 pounds per square foot) and better power to weight ratio. At 67-inches of manifold pressure and 3,000 rpm, a P-51H could reach 30,000 feet three minutes and 20 seconds faster than a P-51D with the same engine settings.
With a lower stall speed and lower wing loading, the H-model could likely beat other late-war prop fighters in turn/sustained turn performance.
(Hat tip to Greg’s Cars and Airplanes for the overview of technical and performance characteristics and comparison with other late-war Allied fighters)
The end of the war in August, 1945 resulted in many government cancellations of armaments contracts. North American’s Inglewood factory produced 555 P-51Hs by November, 1945, with orders for 1,845 canceled. Orders for 1,445 P-51Ls which were to have a newer version of the Merlin engine, the V-1650-11, planned for manufacture in Dallas were likewise canceled, before any of those were built.
Postwar, many of the H-model Mustangs found their way into Air National Guard service in units across the country. Although it had generally superior performance, the H-model remained in the US while the more abundant D-model Mustang went to war (again) in Korea in 1950.
Summer Training Plans, 1953
The aftermath of the ANG’s Korean War mobilization found the 123rd FIS in a rebuilding mode. When the squadron was demobilized at Portland on December 1, 1952, the USAF kept the F-86F Sabre jets the squadron had been flying and many of the personnel as well. Some Airmen chose to stay on active duty and others eligible wanted to conclude their ANG commitment. As the unit’s two-week summer training approached in June, 1953, the squadron found itself with many fresh new faces, with over 40% of personnel being Airman 3rd Class (A3C/E-2, one stripe) or Airman Basic (AB/E-1, no insignia) in rank.
This summer training at Gowen Field in Idaho was an important event in the Air National Guard. Shortly after the USAF’s F-51Ds completed their combat service in Korea on January 26, 1953 and gave way to newer jets, an ANG scheduling conference was held in Boise, Idaho in February. Some 4,000 ANG personnel from eight western states belonging to three Air Guard fighter wings were scheduled for training at Gowen Field.
These early ANG fighter wings were not the same as a wing-level unit today, as they were composed of ANG units from multiple states. Washington State’s Cold War era 142th Fighter-Interceptor Wing (142nd FIW), of which Oregon’s 142nd Fighter Group (142nd FG) and 123rd FIS were then a part, should not be confused with the modern, all-Oregon 142nd Wing.
One of the key issues planners wrestled with was how to accomplish training with the available number of aircraft. The Korean War had taken away many of the F-51D Mustangs units had operated. And units like the 123rd FIS which had converted to the F-86 when the F-51D inventory ran low, lost those newer aircraft when they came off active duty status. The 142nd FIW commander, Col. Frank Frost, suggested that units which were adequately equipped could loan some of their aircraft to squadrons in need of aircraft.
At the time of the scheduling conference in Boise, the 123rd FIS actually had a pair of H-models in its inventory, as well as some D-models as the Redhawks worked to reestablish themselves, getting what personnel they could recruit and aircraft they could obtain. F-51H-5-NA serial number (S/N) 44-64350 and F-51H-10-NA S/N 44-64582 were on hand in the 123rd FIS from November 7, 1952 to April 26, 1953.
Summer Training, 1953
In that rebuilding mode, the Redhawk squadron deployed by bus and by plane to Gowen Field where it joined the other elements of the 142nd FIW (WA ANG), under which came the 142nd FG (OR ANG) which ran air operations for the wing and its four fighter squadrons, which included the 123rd FIS (OR ANG), 116th FIS (WA ANG), 186th FIS (MT ANG) and 190th FIS (ID ANG). Other Oregon ANG squadrons provided service and support functions for the 142nd FIW. Short of a Mobilization Day (M-Day) recall, summer training was the only real time when a whole ANG wing assembled back in those days.
To work with at summer training, the Redhawk squadron had but two F-51D Mustang aircraft, a handful of T-6G trainers and a single VC-47A to round out the Oregon ANG’s aircraft fleet. The squadron, commanded by World War II veteran Capt. Richard J. Schmidt, had five pilots on the roster, and aimed to qualify them in aerial gunnery with the Mustang during summer training, so needed more fighter planes to accomplish training objectives in the two weeks of summer training.
Enter the 195th FBS of the 146th Fighter-Bomber Wing (146th FBW), based at San Fernando Valley Airport (now named Van Nuys Airport) in Southern California. The 195th loaned the 123rd six of its F-51H Mustangs for summer training, and flew them up to Gowen Field just prior to the Redhawk squadron’s arrival. “The F-51Hs made the flying training program a success because of their dependability throughout the training period. This was due in large part to the excellent condition of the aircraft when received from the 195th Ftr-Bomb Sq.” said the 123rd FIS summer training report composed by 2nd Lt. Ralph B. May (Historical Officer) and M/Sgt Marion A. Wilbourn.
The main flying objective was to qualify five of six pilots in aerial gunnery by June 19. One pilot was new and not yet checked out enough in fighters for the gunnery phase of training which was held over the Saylor Creek Range south of Boise. Between June 15 and 18, the squadron’s pilots got transition check outs in the F-51H, as well as formation, aerobatics and simulated gunnery.
With four fighter squadrons of the wing conducting gunnery training, Gowen Field was a busy place. But the first day was only simulated missions over the range, with firing for some squadrons to start on Tuesday after warnings were issued to ensure people were aware of the gunnery training and not to enter the range. Both sides of the range were to be active at the same time, with flights operating in both the north and south brackets of the 450-square mile range.
Air Defense Command
In the afternoon of the first day, all the pilots gathered for academics on the role of the Air Defense Command’s fighter-interceptor units. It covered three main points:
1. Importance of a ready reserve force to bolster northwest air defenses when needed.
2. Methods of interception during hours of darkness, bad weather, or daylight.
3. Identification of unfriendly aircraft.
Other briefings on other days also included ADC organization and associated units, Ground Control Intercept procedures and techniques, the world situation (the Korean War was still underway at the time) and VHF radio operations and procedures.
Said Col. Frank Fost, the 142nd FIW Commander, “The fighter pilot of the Air Defense Command has but one mission. That is the task of preparing himself technically and professionally for the destruction of an enemy aircraft in his territory,” in a statement recorded by the Idaho Daily Statesman newspaper. He continued, “…might sound simple” but it involved a “multitude” of things. “Not only must the fighter pilot be an expert gunner but in most cases he must be his own navigator, radio operator and airplane commander. On an interception he is likely to go alone, and in one of these young men training with us in Boise there might be the sole power some day between a city in the northwest and a sneak bomber.”
Preparations for Gunnery Training
On Tuesday, June 16, Capt. Merle M. Jarboe flew a familiarization flight in F-51H S/N 44-64582, one of the H-models the Redhawk squadron briefly operated months before. During his flight he accomplished three simulated gunnery passes and was turning in on his fourth pass when the right rudder pedal suddenly broke beneath his foot.
The broken pedal was a materiel failure which caused a sudden though temporary loss of control. Considering bailing out, Jarboe’s flight leader asked him if he still had trim control. He did, and eased the aircraft into a straight and level attitude. His flight leader then ordered him to return to base where Capt. Jarboe accomplished a safe, wheels-up belly landing.
As the Redhawk pilots got familiar with the F-51H, the squadron’s armament section prepared for the gunnery training. Their work wasn’t just cleaning and loading the six .50-caliber machine guns of each F-51H. Sure, they checked and cleaned the weapons but they also tested armament electrical circuits, checked and inspected the gunsights. They ensured the guns and gunsights were boresighted and harmonized on the airfield range, and fired them with the planes on the ground to confirm everything was aligned properly.
The gun plumbers also prepared the tow target by fabricating a 600-foot tow cable, painted a target on canvas and attached safety webbing to it. Then they dipped the tips of .50-caliber machine gun ammunition in different colors, each color to be used by a different pilot, to facilitate the individual scoring against the target. An F-51H could have up to between 1,700 and 1820 rounds of .50-caliber ammunition loaded, depending on whether the aircraft had a four (1,700) or six-gun (1,820) configuration. The squadron decided to use its two F-51Ds as tow target aircraft, and the hot rod F-51Hs for the pilots’ gunnery training.
Gunnery Training and Results
Three pilots fired for score on Friday, June 19 and two more did so on Saturday. Sunday, June 21 was the first day of summer and Father’s Day too.
The air-to-air gunnery training continued the next week until mid-afternoon Thursday, June 25. Results of 46 gunnery sorties were as follows:
- Total rounds expended: 11,255
- Total rounds fired at 10,000 feet: 9,068
- Total hits: 1,630
- Percentage of hits: 17.98%
- Total rounds fired at 20,000 feet: 2,160
- Total hits: 357
- Percentage of hits: 16.5%
- Individual high average: 23.88%
- Individual high score: 30%
Captain Wallace L. Parks took individual high average honors, while Lt. Philip Dean Janney attained the highest individual score for a single mission.
The flying portion of summer training finished by the afternoon of June 25, with 171:45 hours of time flown by pilots in the F-51D/H Mustangs. 142nd FIW’s summer training wrapped up on Friday, June 26. Pay call was held from 0900 and within an hour all personnel were paid. Return to home base was the next day, with buses carrying Oregon personnel leaving early, just past midnight, to arrive at Portland by 11:00 am on June 27. Oregon pilots brought the five flyable F-51Hs back to the 195th FBS at the San Fernando Valley Airport and were flown back to Portland aboard a transport aircraft by early evening. F-51H 44-64582 remained behind at Gowen Field for repairs.
Other Summer Training at Gowen Field
Later that summer, the California Air National Guard’s 146th FBW, which included the 195th FBS, went to Gowen Field with their F-51H Mustangs for their two weeks of summer training. The wing recorded highlights of its training, similar to what the Redhawks flew weeks earlier, which you can view in this short 14-minute film, Mission of the Day, 146th Fighter Bomber Wing, 1-15 August 1953. Some of the F-51Hs in the film were likely flown by Oregon pilots earlier that summer.
Click here
Following the 146th FBW, the California ANG’s 144th FBW trained at Gowen Field from August 22 to September 5, thus completing the ANG’s three western wings’ rotations for summer training, 1953. The last summer training with propeller-driven fighters was over.
Beyond the Summer
Of note, an Oregonian associated with the WW II-era formations of both the 146th Fighter-Bomber Group (previously designated the 373rd Fighter Group) and 195th FBS (previously designated the 410th Fighter Squadron) would join the Oregon ANG in 1953. Staryl C. Austin, Jr. from Condon, Oregon flew 58 combat missions in the P-47 Thunderbolt with the 410th Fighter Squadron in the European Theater of Operations during the war. He returned to the Beaver State after command of the 125th Fighter Squadron, Oklahoma ANG where he flew the F-84 Thunderjet and deployed with his squadron to Europe during the Korean War. Austin returned to Oregon just in time for the transition from prop to jet fighters and later rose to command of the 142nd Fighter Group and later became assistant, and then deputy adjutant general for Oregon, attaining the rank of brigadier general.
By September of 1953, as Oregon gained some additional F-51D Mustangs to rebuild, the first jet, a Lockheed T-33A trainer, joined the unit. The Redhawks and the 195th FBS in California soon received the North American F-86A Sabre and fully entered the fighter jet era, leaving the days of the propeller-driven fighter behind by the time of summer training, 1954. But ohhh, those hot rod prop days of summer, 1953!