Life In The 311th Fighter-Bomber Squadron
Osan AB (K55), Korea – 1956-57 ~ Part 3
Flying Jet Fighters Is Dangerous Work
During my year stationed at Osan AFB, Korea, in the 311th FBS, the 58th Fighter-Bomber Wing lost five pilots in accidental crashes. One pilot, I believe he was in the 69th, was doing a “combat take off” which meant that he had his landing gear switch in the up position. As long as there is weight on the landing gear, even with the switch in the up position, the landing gear will not retract. However, the moment during take off when the plane lifts off the runway, the landing gear retracts allowing the pilot to maneuver sooner, which might be critical in a combat situation. This pilot had his landing gear switch in the up position, and was accelerating down the runway toward lift off. But, his plane hit a rock on the runway, momentarily bouncing into air, causing the landing gear to retract long before he had enough speed to lift off. The plane came down on its belly, skidding along the runway with a full load of fuel, and burst into flames. When the rescue crew got to the plane, they could not get the canopy to jettison and had to burst through the canopy with axes. The pilot, badly burned, later died in the base hospital.
The photo below will give you a better understanding of the combat takeoff procedure. Imagine that the F-86F below is within seconds of lifting off – and immediately the landing gear will retract. But, in the accident above, the plane just bounced up, then fell, and skidded.
A pilot new to the 311th, a captain I believe, was performing a low level pass over the ocean. The tail of his F-86F clipped some waves, causing the plane to break apart and sink; with the pilot still strapped into his ejection seat. They never recovered the body.
Two other pilots were lost in crashes, but I cannot recall their names. On March 11, 1957,1/Lt. Bob Ford was the fifth to die during my year – and the only one to personally affect me strongly, the only one whom I remember vividly.
Lt. Bob Ford and Major Simon “Andy” Anderson had flown two F-86F aircraft, like the one below, to the Mitsubishi plant at Nagoya, Japan. They were supposed to pick up two other F-86F aircraft which had been refurbished at the Mitsubishi plant and fly them back to Osan. Major Anderson’s plane was not ready, so Lt. Bob Ford decided to fly back alone on that fateful March 11th day.
Lt. Ford left Komaki AFB, Japan, flew over Otau, over Itami, over Takamatsu, through the airspace of Itazuke AFB, Japan. Then he flew over Fukuoka, over Ikishima, and was handed off to Taegu (K2) Air Traffic Control. He was cleared to proceed to K8, Kunsan, Korea. At Kunsan AFB (K8), Lt. Ford contacted the Kunsan Control Tower, requesting permission to make a low level, high speed pass over Kunsan AFB. This was a normal exercise for the F-86 pilots. As he made his pass over the Kunsan base, approaching from the South, his fuel drop tank, seen below the wings in the photo above, broke off. This happening at high speed and at only 500 foot altitude caused the plane to flip and crash with no possibility of Lt. Ford regaining control.
The investigation which followed proved that the American maintenance technician at the Mitsubishi plant installed the wrong mounting hardware for the fuel drop tanks. There were two sizes of drop tanks; a 120 gallon tank and a 200 gallon tank. The maintenance technician installed mounting hardware for 120 gallon tanks; but then installed 200 gallon tanks on the wings. Neither the maintenance technician nor his maintenance supervisor noticed the mistake. When Lt. Ford made his high speed, low altitude pass over the air base at Kunsan, the gravity force pulled the over-sized fuel drop tank off the wing, causing the plane to flip over at 500 foot altitude, with no chance for Lt. Ford, a good pilot, to recover before crashing.
I would like to close this trip down memory lane, at least for now, by including photos of some or our pilots who were in the 311th Fighter-Bomber Squadron during this year. Below, the left photo is Lt. Bob Ford entering his F-86F aircraft to fly a mission. The photo on the right is Lt. Bob Ford participating in a Joint Service War Exercise. According to an Air Force newspaper clipping saved by Libby Ford, this exercise was to show how coordinated efforts by Army artillery and tanks bombarding the enemy, while the infantry slashed his flanks with automatic weapons fire, all supported by the 311th Fighter-Bomber Squadron hitting him from above with 50 caliber cannon fire, rockets, and 500 pound bombs; would devastate the enemy ground forces. This photo shows Lt. Bob Ford calling in an air strike on the target.
Below those photos are photos of the 311th Fighter-Bomber Squadron Commander Officer, Colonel John Back, and our Executive Officer, Major Virgil Sansing, during the second half of the one year period at Osan AFB (K55), Korea spanning April 1956 to April 1957. Lt. Bob Ford was killed on March 11, 1957.
The other photos are pilots who were in the 311th FBS during that period.
All of them came home – except Bob Ford. He gave all!
I/LT. ROBERT A. FORD, JR
1/Lt. Robert A. Ford’s F86F
Aircraft Number 24748
Personal Plane Nose Artwork in Red – “Libby”
I pledge allegiance to the Flag
of the United States of America
and to the Republic for which it stands,
one nation under God, indivisible,
with liberty and justice for all.
BOB FORD’S FRIENDS AND FELLOW WARRIORS
NOTE FROM BILL GRAY: I have created these memoirs of our life in the 311th Fighter-Bomber Squadron at Osan, Korea, and Tainan, Formosa (Taiwan) to the best of my recollection and with the help of several friends who were there. A number of friends have contributed photos and memories.
If you have additional comments, suggestions, memories, or photos from that place and time; please e-mail them to me. I view this web site as a dynamic, growing memorial to Lt. Bob Ford. And, in a sense, it is a memorial to all of us who served there, and who served with Bob Ford.
Also, if you see any typos or other errors; do me a favor, send me an e-mail, and tell me.
My E-Mail Address is: billdory@pacbell.net
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