FOLDED WINGS


Ralph D. "hoot" Gibson
Januay 2nd, 2009

 

On January 2nd, 2009, America and the F-86 Sabre Pilots Association lost one of its most famous and well-liked members, when Ralph D. "Hoot" Gibson suddenly passed away following a disastrous fall while selling real estate in Tucson, AZ. He was 84 and will be missed by everyone.

"Hoot" joined the Army Air Force in 1943, graduating from flight school in 1944. Following a tour in Japan flying P-51s, and Armament System School, he was assigned to the 56th FG at Selfridge flying P-80 Shooting Stars.

In 1950, the 56th Transitioned into F-86 Sabres and "Hoot" was lucky enough to be one of the pilots that delivered new F-86As to the veteran 4th Fighter Interceptor Group in November 1950 when that group was transferred to Korea to fight the MiG jets. He talked his way into joining the 4th and went with the unit to Korea.

Assigned to the 335th Squadron based at Suwon, South Korea, "Hoot" scored a `probable' on 20 May 1951. On 18 June 1951, he scored his first victory, or actually two, when he shot down a pair of MiG-15s near the Yalu River. On 9 September 1951, he scored his 5th victory, making him the third Jet Ace in Korea, after which he was sent home.

Following a good will tour, (now) Captain Gibson rejoined the 63rd FIS at Oscoda AFB, Michigan where he married Donna, his wife of 53 years. In 1954, he was assigned to the 36th Fighter Wing at Bitburg, Germany, where he transitioned into the F-100 Super Sabre. His next stop was back in the United States, at Nellis AFB.

It was at Nellis that he achieved even more fame than being an `ace'. While commanding the 21st Fighter Training Squadron at Nellis, Hoot became infatuated with the Thunderbirds Air Demonstration Team. In March 1961, he wrangled an assignment to the famous team, not just as a team pilot. Major Ralph "Hoot" Gibson was Team Leader, and remained so for two years. His comments regarding his time in the Thunderbirds, (very proudly) "Once a Thunderbird, always a Thunderbird!" The Gibson's next went to USAFE Headquarters where "Hoot" was Chief oof the Tactical Fighter Branch. In December 1967, Colonel Gibson went back to war, when he was assigned as Squadron Commander of the 433rd TFS at Ubon, flying 105 combat missions over North Vietnam. In 1974, Colonel Gibson retired from the US Air Force and moved to Tucson AZ, where he opened his own real estate company. He is survived by his wife Donna.



17th Sabre Pilots Reunion
After-Action Report

 

 

The 17th Reunion of the F-86 Sabre Pilots Association was held March 28th, 29th, and 31st at the Gold Coast Hotel/Casino. The 17th Reunion was significant for many things, not the least of which was the change of location. Because of many complaints from the members about rising costs and slipping service, our Association made the decision to move to the Gold Coast, located next door to the Rio in Las Vegas.

The decision turned out to be god one. The cost per member was down significantly, and the food quality was up. Located off the Strip about 3/4 mile, the Gold Coast offered exactly what we needed - comfortable rooms at a decent price, several classy restaurents including the renowned Cortez Room, and many large rooms to use for the banquet and hospitality rooms. These were really needed on Tuesday when the F-100 Super Sabre Society invaded and took over the hallway for their reunion.

Our reunion opened on Sunday the 28th and everything went smoothly - as usual. The hospitality room was complete with a cash bar. No `freebie' tokens this year but no one seemed to mind. The Flight Line Store was in the same room and was doing a booming business from beginning to end. Which was good as this was the final year for Flight Line Store sales. At the end of the 17th Reunion, the Store was closed forever. There were bargains galore, some things were 50% off, and there were even a few `freebies'. A cocktail party was held Sunday evening and everyone went to their rooms `happy'.

On Monday morning, the buses were waiting to take many of the members to the Red Flag briefing. Everyone that went said it was the best briefing that they'd been to. Thanks to the guys at Nellis for a great show. The Ladies Luncheon featured a talent and fashion show. It was held next to the Hospitality Room and I saw more than one male member sneaking a peek through the doors. A delicious Buffet meal finished off the evening.

While other members were at Red Flag, the Board of Directors held their meeting. Several important topics were discussed including the naming of a new Chairman as Dan Druen had expressed his desire to step down. Dan was not present due to illness. Pat Hughes was asked and accepted the role of Director. Lloyd Ulrich and Bob Slater also stepped down from the Board. The new Board will be Glen Carus, Sam Hollenbeck, Robert Matasick, and Lon Walter, with Director Pat Hughes at the top.

Dick Geiger gave the Association financial report, which was very sound indeed, and he also stepped down. John Martin will take over as Treasurer. It was reiterated that closing the Flight Line Store was for the good of the Association and it was accepted by all. The meeting adjourned at 11am.

Tuesday was the final day of the 17th Reunion. As the members made their way up the escalator to the 9am Brunch, they were greeted by loud and boisterous voices - the F-100 Society had taken up residence in the hall. The Brunch was served promptly at 9am and was a feast to behold. A guard on the door kept the P-100 guys at bay.

A very important Membership Meeting opened promptly at 11am. Members were told of the changes in the Board of Directors, and a new slate of Association officers was voted into effect. The new President is J.R. Alley, who has over 1500 hours in the F-86 with Flight System Inc.. Jerry Johnson will remain, taking the position of Vice President. The new Treasurer is John Martin.

Details of the closing of the Flight Line Store were discussed and it was mentioned that all remaining sales items would be donated to charity once the Association logo has been removed. SabreJet Classics editor, Larry Davis, explained what the problems were that had occurred in the last 6 months, most of which were due to cold weather in Ohio.and a fiasco with the US Post Office.

Glen Carus reported that space is still available on the Sabre Pilots panels that will greet anyone visiting the Udvar-Hazy portion of the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum. He also asked that anyone wanting his name on one of the panels, contact him after the meeting, and informed Jerry Johnson that some 70 members had requested information about it. The meeting adjourned at 11:40 am.

The banquet was held beginning at 6:30 pm. Everyone agreed that it was by far, the best food that we'd had at any banquet anywhere. And there was a band playing throughout to top it all off. Our Guest Speaker was Major General Stephen L. Hoog, Commander of the Air Warfare Center at Nellis. He gave a rousing and often comical speech to the members and guests about the status of our Air Force and the men and women that are serving our country. Jerry Johnson presented Major General Hoog with a model of the F-86 bearing his name.

With that, the banquet and thus, the 17th Reunion brake up. The band played for several more hours and everyone went home happy. The last thing heard was "See you in 2011 at the 18th Reunion!"



Sq/Ldr Graham Hulse
DFC, RAF, MIA

by Houston Tuel

 

Flight Lieutenant Graham Hulse arrived at Kimpo in September 1952. He was on loan from the RAF to the USAF for two years to gain experience in the F-86 Sabre. During World War 2 Hulse was a Sgt Pilot in no. 122 and no. 81 Squadron in 1942-43, flying combat over Europe against the Luftwaffe, then transferred to no. 93 Squadron in the Far East. When he was shot down in Spring 1944, evading capture, he had 2 confirmed victories, plus a 3rd that he scored in April 1945 with no. 213 Squadron after being promoted to Flight Lieutenant. Houston Tuel - "A tall blonde, affable veteran of the Battle of Britain, he rapidly became one of our most admired and respected pilots. We listened intently to his accounts of his combat missions in defense of Britain, often told with self-deprecating humor. His skill as a story teller was legendary.

Shortly after his arrival at Kimpo, he was promoted to Squadron Leader, the RAF equivilant of major, and made commander of `C' Flight in the 336th Squadron. Members of his flight practically idolized him. He made it very clear that he was just as interested in the success of the junior members of his flight as he was in his own personal success, sharing oppurtunities with them that they might not have had with a different flight commander.

As he neared the end of his tour in Korea, he opted to forego an extension beyond the usual 100 missions because he wanted to be home in England in time for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. He almost made it.

On March 1953, he took off on his 95th mission. Nearing the Yalu River, Hulse saw a MiG and attacked it, closing on him rapidly from behind. He fired, scoring numerous hits. The MiG began smoking profusely and decelerated, probably because of engine damage. Apparently believing the MiG had been rendered harmless, Hulse passed him on the right then made a sharp left turn, crossing directly in front of the MiG at a very close range. With what had to be a very lucky deflection shot, the MiG pilot fired his 37mm cannon, blowing several feet off of Hulse's left wing.

Hulse's wingman, Major Eugene Sommerich, had started firing at the MiG after Hulse broke off. His gun camera film dramatically recorded what happened subsequently.

The intelligence people were not overly generous in sharing what they knew with those of us at squadron level. So much of what we heard later had the credibility of rumors. That said, Hulse was seen to eject over the peninsula code-named `Long Dong', and was reportedly seen on the ground alive both that day and the next.

The following day, the weather was non-operational and remained so for the next two weeks, at the end of which a massive but futile rescue operation was attempted. To the best of my knowledge, Sq/Ldr Graham Hulse, DFC, RAF, is still listed as Missing In Action."

Sq/Ldr Hulse was officially credited with 3 air to air victories over MiG-15 jet fighters, including a .5 credit for the MiG that eventually also shot him down.



This `n That
ODE TO THE 45TH FIGHTER & SIDI SLIMANJE

 


The 86 flies o'er the field and says I'm on the break,
My fuel is down to minimum, the strip I might not make.
The tower says to 47s, "Please stand by, you see,
For any time those bastards land it's an emergency!"

A Tiger is a little man who tools a Sabre-Jet
His scarf is long, his gas is short, and he's not grown up yet.
He flies around as fast as sound and makes a lot of noise,
But so does Junior in his crib when playing with his toys.

We've been your guests for 6 long weeks and loved your BOQ
Your steaks are thick, so are the flies, we say "Marci Bo Koo.
The days are hot, the nights are cold, your pilots are the same,
How long can SAC stay over here and play this awful game?

Now please don't get the wrong idea, we like the Tigers fine,
We knew that when the whistle blows, you boys will hold the line.
If you can do as well as we and keep our strip intact,
We'll buy a drink when we get home and slap you on the back.

We hate to leave your sacred base you think so much about,
But yle will part without a tear but not without a shout.
We've had our fill of desert sands and fighter pilots guff,
Our plea to Uncle Curt Lemay is we have had enough.

For we're the boys of 2nd Wing you've heard so much about,
The mothers take their daughters in whenever we go out.
We're always full of whiskey and we're full of booze,
For we're the boys of 2nd Wing, now who the hell are youse?

author unknown



The 120th FIS,"Tigers"
COLORADO AIR GUARD

by Stephen Pahs

 

During World War 2, Buckley Field, near Aurora, CO, was an auxilliary field for Lowry Army Air Field. It was named for Lt. John Buckley, a Colorado National Guard pilot killed in France on 17 September 1918. In August 1946, the Colorado ANG acquired space thereon as tenants. It was the first dedicated ANG base in the United States.
Early in 1956, the squadron replaced their ageing F-80Cs (flown 1953 to 1956), with F-86Es, then to F-86Ds in 1958. These rejects were soon appropriately called "Dogs". We soon realized the new mission signalled the end of `fun flying' - no more dog fights, acrobatics, uncoordinated flights, etc.

The F-86D Tech Order said that it was capable of super-sonic flight. I tried it with burner in level flight - NO GO! It took an afterburner climb from Takeoff to as high as it would climb, a roll over into a Split-S, and straight down in full burner. BANG! It worked! But a short time later the Dog would back out of supersonic.

Apparently, the powers-that-be sensed our feeling about the F-86D. One Sunday during our weekend training, Bob Hoover just happened to drop by. He picked a Dog from the flight line for a demo flight. As is his usual demo, after Take-off and gear-up, he did a perfect and very smooth roll!!!. Showing us that the D was indeed an good airplane.

The D had an interesting innovation for a fighter air-craft - an Auto-pilot. But upon engaging same, there was a 50-50 chance it would decide that straight and level was really upside down!

We went on Alert status with Air Defense Command. Pilots stood 5 minute Runway Alert for 14 hours a day, in conjunction with Early Warning GCI sites, Pairs of pilots were scheduled for `alert' 5-10 days each month. Active duty was on a voluntary schedule.

I checked out in the D in 1958 and transitioned to the F-86L in 1960. The time in Ls was short however as we changed airplanes and missions, to a tactical mission in F-100Cs.. Now that was a fighter!

Interesting sidelights. One of the pilots was delagated to bring an F-86D back from IRAN. Several miles west of Denver, over one of the huge national forests, i.e. no cities or even farms, he decided to do some acrobatics. No one would see him, right? WRONG! The Wing CO and Ops Officer were bow-hunting for deer in that very same area. A call to Base Operations quickly gave our hero a name.

Meanwhile back at the air patch. During an early morning practice intercept mission out of Wendover, Utah, a T-Bird was towing the DELMAR (radar target) on a low level course across the sunrise. The lead interceptor reported a target blip on his radar screen. His wingman, the Safety Observer, verified he was tracking the `drone' and signaled - "Cleared to fire!" The T-33 crew immediately saw 24 inert 2.75 inch rockets coming directly at them! Unable to evade the attack, they flew straight and level, assuming the fetal position and prayed. The rockets all missed.

We did have one fatality. Lt Chuck Foster was on a night low-level practice intercept over Eastern Colorado. Af-ter radar `Lock-on' to the bogie, he put his face into the scope hood, flying the aircraft using the gyro horizon on the scope. But apparently the gyro was failing. In following it, he rolled the bird over and flew into the ground. His wingman was yelling at him but to no avail.

History has proven that no communst aircraft were ever allowed to penetrate Colorado airspace!



PERRIN PILOTS AT FOSTER

by Harold Wade

 

During the late 1950s, Perrin AFB had a rocket detachment at Foster AFB, TX. The instructors in both training squadrons went down there for a week during summer to requalify for air-to-air rocketry in the D.
We used the Matagordo Range, out over the Gulf. The notoriously short flight duration of the Dawg was even shorter as our birds had no drop tanks installed. Re-turning to base we got in a lot of practice coasting into parking spots and checking the accuracy of the fuel guages. The engine always died when the indicator read 0.

Those of us that flew the Dawg didn't get to shoot at any MiGs but we sometimes had a little excitement. One afternoon at Foster, I pulled into the arming area with a full load of 24 rockets in the pod, pointed the aircraft away from the ramp and runway and the armament guy disappeared under the bird.

The canopy was open and my hands were out of the cockpit while he made stray voltage checks and snapped the igniter arms onto the rocket motors. This was a very tense time because if a rocket was going to fire accidently, this was the time for it. We were al-ready slightly less than welcome at Foster since some-one in our detachment had let a rocket loose on the ramp.

A very loud BOOM! shook me and the bird. For a moment I figured something on my bird had exploded. But there was no smoke or fire and the engine was running just fine. Then, BOOM! - it happened again. I looked around and saw a flight of F-100s had passed behind me and taken the runway. Lead and his wingman had created the first BOOM! as they started their takeoff roll. Then nos. 3 and 4 rolled a few seconds behind them. If anyone doesn't think the F-100 had a hard lighting burner, try sitting a few feet be-hind them when they light up!

I got my heart back in my chest where it belonged and headed for the range where a T-Bird with a 6x20 rag was to rendevous with four of us. I was #2 in the string. About the time I turned on the final attack vector, the guy in front of me shot the rag off the tow cable. So with nothing to shoot at, I turned back toward Foster. While crossing over Matagordo, I was still pulling circuit breakers and resetting armament switches since I still had a full load of rockets.

WHAM! I felt the pod slam down and at first thought it had parted company with the aircraft over an inhabited area. Wow! two coronaries in one day! What if that thing hit somebody? Who'd believe I hadn't hit the jettison switch?

Then I realized the aircraft was acting as if it had a little extra drag. Hmmmmm, maybe I still had the pod attached. But at that point I was afraid to touch any controls that might affect the pod. I'd never lost one but I knew guys that had for no apparent reason. I got up enough courage to hit the manual "Up" switch. The sweat factor decreased considerably when I felt the `clunk' of the pod come up and lock into the proper position.

That was one of the few times I got back on the ground with fuel to spare and didn't have to coast into a parking spot.