Early in my air crew days we were off the coast of Vietnam flying overnight radar coverage for the 7th fleet below. I was off radar watch for a few hours so I turned up the ECM (electronic countermeasures) equipment. I had learned about it and practiced it in school. Part of the training was recognizing the different sounds different radars made. One very distinct sound was a fire-control radar. It was and is a very high-pitched sound due to the rapid pulsing of the equipment. As I dialed through the different frequency bands I heard that sound and we were close enough to shore for it to be trained on us. I immediately called the pilot over the internal communication system and told him what I had. I was in a minor panic. The pilot assured me that the carriers further out and below had a similar frequency for the air traffic control systems. I was somewhat calmed by that because we had not been told that in school.
Later we were in the same area and I was on radar watch at the short range console. The internal communication came on and the pilot (in a panic of his own) asked, "what the hell was that?" I had nothing but the ships below on the radar and told him that. The pilot claimed something had just screamed past the cockpit at an extremely high-speed with a fiery trail behind it, either a rocket of a missile. He then decided he needed a new course to get further away from the shore and hopefully be out of range. It sounded good to me so I directed him on a new course the stay above the fleet but be further out from shore.
I loved flying in those big slow planes. It was fun standing the radar watches and the plane had a full galley like a commercial airliner, so we could have full meals and coffee all the time we were off watch. During long trips across the Pacific we could sit at the table and play chess. Cal had taught me how to play and eventually I became close to his skill level, and made a decent opponent for him. There was a navigator on the crew, a lieutenant junior grade, who liked to play chess, so he would join in on the game during his free time. Cal and I both wanted to beat him at the game, but never did as far as I can remember.
Copyright Bill Weber 2006-2019 and beyond.
Later we were in the same area and I was on radar watch at the short range console. The internal communication came on and the pilot (in a panic of his own) asked, "what the hell was that?" I had nothing but the ships below on the radar and told him that. The pilot claimed something had just screamed past the cockpit at an extremely high-speed with a fiery trail behind it, either a rocket of a missile. He then decided he needed a new course to get further away from the shore and hopefully be out of range. It sounded good to me so I directed him on a new course the stay above the fleet but be further out from shore.
I loved flying in those big slow planes. It was fun standing the radar watches and the plane had a full galley like a commercial airliner, so we could have full meals and coffee all the time we were off watch. During long trips across the Pacific we could sit at the table and play chess. Cal had taught me how to play and eventually I became close to his skill level, and made a decent opponent for him. There was a navigator on the crew, a lieutenant junior grade, who liked to play chess, so he would join in on the game during his free time. Cal and I both wanted to beat him at the game, but never did as far as I can remember.
Copyright Bill Weber 2006-2019 and beyond.
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