Heinkel He 277

The Heinkel He 277 was a four-engine, long-range heavy bomber design, originating as a derivative of the He 177, intended for production and use by the German Luftwaffe during World War II. The main difference was in its engines. The He 177 used two Daimler-Benz DB 606 "power system" engines, each of which consisted of two combined Daimler-Benz DB 601 engines, each DB 606 weighed 1.5 tons. The He 177A-3 and its successors used two DB 610 "power system" engines, each of which consisted of two combined Daimler-Benz DB 605 engines, each DB 610 weighed 1.5 tons. Due to problems with both the DB 606 and the DB 610, the He 277 was intended to use four unitized BMW 801E 14-cylinder radial engines, each mounted in an individual nacelle and each turning a three-blade, four-meter diameter propeller.
The design was never produced and no prototype airframe was completed. The deteriorating condition of the German aviation industry late in the war and the competition from other long-range bomber designs from other firms, led to the design being cancelled. Although not specifically intended for it at first, partially due to the time-frame in the spring of 1942 in which its ultimate niche was requested for by the "Reichsluftfahrtministerium" (RLM), the He 277 design became Heinkel's entry in the important trans-oceanic range "Amerikabomber" competition, struggling to compete against other designs from rival firms in the competition for a truly trans-oceanic ranged bomber for the Luftwaffe.
The "He 177B" versus He 277 controversy.
For many years after the war, a substantial number of aviation history books and magazine articles that dealt with late World War II German military aviation developments consistently stated that "Reichsmarschall" Hermann Göring, early in World War II, was becoming so frustrated by the 177A's ongoing engine problems, caused by the twin DB 606 "coupled" powerplants selected for the He 177A design in the pre-war years, that he forbade Ernst Heinkel from doing any work on a separately four-engined version of the 177 airframe, or even mentioning a new "He 277" design with four separate engines – by one account, in the late autumn of 1941 – until Heinkel brought the disagreement directly to Adolf Hitler, who supposedly not only approved of calling the new, separately engined version of the 177 the "He 277", but overruled Göring's prohibition on working on the design (previously called the "He 177B" by Heinkel as a "cover designation" to hide its existence from Göring, and the RLM.)
Statements by Göring himself in August 1942 in response to "Oberst" Edgar Petersen's reports - in his capacity as the "Kommandeur der Erprobungstellen" (commander of all Luftwaffe test stations), themselves headquartered at "Erprobungsstelle Rechlin" - on solving the serious problems with the original Heinkel He 177A's powerplants, however, seem to directly contradict elements of the oft-repeated story, as those statements seem to show that Göring thought that the He 177A actually had four separate engines, and in late August 1942 Göring derisively labeled the He 177A's coupled engine arrangements, the 1.5 tonnes-apiece DB 606 and DB 610 "power systems" at that time as monstrous "zusammengeschweißte Motoren", or "welded-together engines", in his complaints about the He 177A's ongoing engine difficulties, and was anxious to see a truly four-engined version of Heinkel's heavy bomber fully developed and in production. The earliest-dated initiative to be undertaken by Ernst Heinkel himself to trial a true "four-engined" design format for the original He 177 dated back to 17 November 1938, before the construction of the He 177 V3 and V4 prototype airframes had even been started, when Heinkel had personally asked the RLM to set aside the He 177 V3 and V4 airframes for a trial installation of four separate unitized Junkers Jumo 211 powerplants to overcome the concerns that the RLM "Technischen-Amt" technical department's director Ernst Udet and Heinkel had expressed about the RLM's specific dive-bombing priority for the He 177A, but was turned down for the trial fitment.
Facts that could have fostered the origin of the post-war aviation book storyline about the "He 177B"/He 277" controversy were that the RLM, in listing the He 177 development projects that they approved of the Heinkel firm doing work on as of February 1943 — six months after Göring's recorded engine complaint statements, and 18 months after the first-ever consideration by the RLM for any He 177 proposed variant to have four "individual" powerplants, as the paper-only "He 177H" high-altitude predecessor to the later He 274 in October 1941, only included the He 177 A-5 heavy bomber, A-6 high-altitude bomber, A-7 long-range version, and the "He 277" itself, defining the February 1943 date as the earliest reliable date of any official German government mention of such an "He 277"-designated aircraft, as this date also indicates the time by which the RLM had issued the Heinkel firm the "8-277" airframe design number for the project. The RLM was also expecting, during the late spring of 1943 — about one year after the mid-Spring 1942 "Amerikabomber" proposal first arrived in Göring's offices — that a trio of He 277 V-series prototype aircraft, and construction of ten pre-production He 277A-0 series service test machines were to be completed, as well as "progressive development" of the still-unbuilt and unfinalized design, were anticipated as coming from Heinkel's Schwechat southern plant complex in Austria. The initial starting place for the He 277's fuselage design had been meant to originate with the last "coupled-engine" proposed variant of the He 177 itself, the long-range A-7, which itself was to be the basis for a four-engined variant of the "Greif" as the He 177A-10, then redesignated the He 177B-7 in the late summer of 1943, as both the A-7 and B-7 had omitted the manned rear dorsal turret of the earlier A-series versions for lighter weight. The considerable changes in the He 277's overall design philosophy evolved after the "Amerikabomber" proposal's emergence in May 1942, from the changes in the He 277's general arrangement proposal drawings during that time period. The original proposal, which was meant to use the He 177A-7's fuselage as the starting point, evolved into designing a dedicated, new and wider He 219-general pattern fuselage layout for the 277 from the Spring 1943 timeframe onward, which would be more capable of using a tricycle undercarriage then gaining favor with a few German aviation designers, even with the 277 not known to have been specifically considered by the RLM in the earlier timeframe for the "Amerikabomber" proposal.
The main factor that seemingly required the lower-drag "coupled" powerplant format for the He 177A, the diving attack mandate by the RLM, which Ernst Heinkel vehemently disagreed with since the original "Greif's" beginnings in the late 1930s, was rescinded by Göring himself some five months "before" the "He 277's" earliest-known February 1943 RLM approval date. The Heinkel firm started work on the He 177B as a straightforward, separately four-engined development of the 177A under the B-series designation at least as early as the late summer of 1943, when official Heinkel documents began referring to the He 177B, evidenced from an August 1943-dated, Heinkel factory-created general arrangement "Typenblatt" drawing of the He 177 V101 being labeled with the "8-177" RLM designation for the entire line of "Greif" airframes, and "B-5" elsewhere in the drawing's title block, as a fully RLM approved development of the original He 177 aircraft line, and not in any way directly related to the entirely separate He 277 advanced bomber design project, which by the summer of 1943 was considered to be Heinkel's "Amerikabomber" aviation contract contender. The first development of the original He 177A to fly with four "individual" engines – using a quartet of He 219-style annular radiators to cool its likely-unitized Daimler-Benz DB 603 powerplants – was the second He 177B prototype, the He 177 V102, on December 20, 1943.
Trio of separate efforts.
In total, there were three separate efforts, the movement toward which had been initiated by Ernst Heinkel as early as November 1938, to develop "true four-engined versions" of the A-series "Greif": the He 177B, which culminated in four prototype examples being built, with three getting airborne before the war's end; the He 274, of which only two prototypes were started before the end of World War II and completed and flown in France after the war's end; and the He 277, for which only a few airframe parts had been in the process of completion, with no completed prototypes at any time, before or after the end of the war.
Design features.
The general arrangement "Typenblatt" drawings that Heinkel's firm was developing for the He 277 by mid-1943 show an advanced design of heavy bomber, with a 133 square meter area (1,431.6 sq. ft.) "shoulder mount", 40 meter (131 ft 3 in) span wing design, four separate BMW 801E powerplants of 1,471 kW (2,000 PS, 1,973 hp) output each at take-off, with each engine turning a propeller of up to four meters in diameter. The undercarriage options considered for the design included either a fully retracting conventional or nosewheel landing gear, with main gear assemblies that possessed twinned main wheels on each unit, retracting forward (for the nosewheel version, rearwards for a conventional gear arrangement) into the inner engine nacelles. The Heinkel firm's previous experience with designing flightworthy, retractable tricycle undercarriage-equipped airframes extended as far back as late 1939 with the Heinkel He 280 jet fighter prototype, and further strengthened with the unexpectedly successful Heinkel He 219A night fighter, which also used a tricycle undercarriage.
The main crew accommodation of the He 277 consisted of a heavily glazed and "greenhouse"-framed clear view "stepless" cockpit, a common feature of many late-war German bomber airframes and new designs. Immediately aft of the heavily glazed nose, the cockpit glazing over the crew seating and pilot accommodation-enclosing upper section that was blended with the nose glazing's contours, protruding above the 277's forward dorsal fuselage decking level, with a rearward extension atop the fuselage that faired-in the forward upper dorsal turret's forward surface, extending rearwards to just forward of the inner engine cowls. The fuselage outlines themselves were deep, and almost slab-sided in cross-section, with its general sideview profile lines being strongly reminiscent of the smaller He 219 night fighter. This similarity with the 219 even extended to the depictions of the He 277's fuselage-mounted defensive armament emplacements as proposed by Heinkel, with one forward and two aft-facing "steps" along the slightly rounded dorsal and ventral surfaces of the fuselage, much like the smaller night fighter's earliest prototypes had, for the 277's manned aft dorsal and remote aft ventral turret defensive weapons mounts — the aft ventral emplacement being moved rearwards by roughly two meters, in comparison with the early He 219V-series prototypes, to accommodate the aft end of the He 277's bomb bay. The twin tail empennage assembly of the He 219 night fighter was also a likely inspiration for the 277's own similar unit, that added aerodynamic stability when compared to the 177A's single vertical tail — proven to be true from the first flights of the He 177B-series' four-engined He 177 V102 twin-tailed prototype from late December 1943 onwards — and made mounting a powered traversable defensive tail turret easier. Provision was shown on the Heinkel "Typenblatt" general arrangement drawing for a quartet of ETC-family underwing hardpoint racks, two per wing panel on either side of the outboard pair of BMW 801 engines, potentially allowing external ordnance loads or drop tanks to extend the bomber's capabilities or range.
In a May 1943 Heinkel factory document showing possible offensive bombload configurations and flight consumable (fuel, etc.) weights for the He 277, two differing bomb bay sizes (interior dimensions of 1.5 x 7.5 meters for the He 277's tailwheel version, and 1.75 x 7.0 meters for the tricycle undercarriage version) were considered, with the latter bomb bay configuration existing within a 1.90 meter width fuselage. The lightest warload of six 500 kg (1,100 lb) SC 500 bombs for each bomb bay configuration, gave the tricycle-geared, 1.9 meter exterior width wider-fuselage version, considering a larger load (12,200 kg/26,895 lb) of fuel, a possible stated maximum range of , equalling the potential range capability of the earlier-designed Me 261, an indicator of what could have been achieved had the 277 been in full consideration from its beginnings for the "Amerikabomber" design competition.
Defensive armament comprised, as envisioned, a five-turret complement of defensive ordnance positions, with only two of these directly manned, and the remainder all remotely operated: a forward, remotely operated "Fernbedienbare Drehlafette" FDL 151Z "chin turret" under the extreme nose with twin MG 151/20 cannon much as the 177B-series was intended to use, with a 20º "upwards"-tilted axis of traverse in the turret mount design to provide a small degree of elevated fire, twin dorsal turrets – a second remotely operated FDL 151Z forward emplacement, otherwise similar in appearance to the proposed chin turret, and a manned "Hydraulische Drehlafette" HDL 151Z rear dorsal emplacement – each armed with a pair of MG 151/20 cannon, with both dorsal turrets providing aftwards-section defensive fire upwards and to the sides and rear; an aft remotely operated FDL-family ventral turret for lower rearwards defense, just behind the bomb bay's rear edge with another pair of MG 151/20 cannon with the gunner laying prone, facing rearwards in a starboard-side offset position that possessed a slightly-protruding ventral blister-like gondola for the gunner's position to sight the rear ventral remote turret, and a manned "Hecklafette" HL 131V tail turret with a quartet of MG 131 heavy machine guns. The "Hecklafette" four-gun turret had also been planned to be used on some of the other "Amerikabomber" competing airframes for their own tail-mounted defensive armament, in addition to Heinkel's own A-6 and A-7 proposed versions of the original He 177A airframe, and the nascent He 177B-5 to be in production at "Arado Flugzeugwerke" by November 1944, and meant to be fitted onto not only the incomplete He 177 V104 B-series "finalized" prototype airframe as the B-5's production prototype, but also a projected "C-version" of the He 219 night fighter. This increasing demand for an advanced "quadmount" gun turret within the Heinkel firm's own range of late-war combat aircraft designs, that had not even been produced by the Borsig firm responsible for it, beyond a small number of test units and engineering mockups led to an alternative twin-cannon "HL 151Z" version to be planned for. This newly conceived twin-cannon adaptation was meant to use new elevation gun-mount assemblies with the HL 131V's core traverse shell, with each new elevation unit configured to take a single MG 151/20 cannon per turret side. Only a few ground test examples of the twin-cannon variant tail turret had been produced by March 1944. One of these twin-cannon experimental tail turrets was mounted on an He 177A airframe for testing, possibly any of the He 177 V32 through V34 prototypes already configured to take the original HL 131V turret. Some sideview line drawing depictions of purported "He 277" aircraft, usually in the same aviation history volumes that purveyed the erroneous "He 177B/He 277" storyline, also show what could be an early He 177A-7-based depiction of the later "Amerikabomber" competitor bearing the He 177A's "Cabin 3" standard cockpit and a quartet of the He 219-derived unitized DB 603 inverted V12 engines actually used on the four He 177B-series prototypes (He 177 V101 through V104) for power, with the abandoned "Bugstandlafette" BL 131V quadmount remote turret as a "chin turret" in place of the FDL 151Z system as depicted in the Heinkel firm's factory "Typenblatt" drawings — the BL 131V had already been abandoned in 1943 as too heavy (reducing offensive bombload by a full tonne) and slowing the earlier He 177A airframe by some 30 km/h in top airspeed due to drag, making even the chance of its proposed existence on any He 277 design proposals unlikely.
Competing bomber designs.
Throughout the time that the He 277 design was being worked on, Ernst Heinkel was facing competition from other developing heavy bomber designs, and large four-engined aircraft proposals that showed promise as heavy bombers, from Focke-Wulf (the Fw 300, and later, the Ta 400), Junkers (the Ju 390), from Messerschmitt AG (the Me 264), and from his own firm's He 274 four-engined, high-altitude development of the He 177.
The first of these designs that the He 277 was pitted against, mostly to determine the "most producible" bomber that could also be license-built, given Germany's limited aircraft production capacity to arm the Luftwaffe with, and partially to determine the best long-range bomber design to fulfill the needs of the spring 1942-issued "Amerikabomber" program documents, the Messerschmitt Me 264 ended up being the first design to challenge the He 277's chance for production. The Me 264 was a purpose-built long-range bomber, using a tricycle landing gear configuration from the start. The Me 264 prototypes were already flying their test programs with power of exactly the same choice that Heinkel had asked for on November 17, 1938, for the He 177 V3 and V4 prototypes: with four Junkers Jumo 211 engines as early as late December 1942 – a full year after Nazi Germany had declared war on the United States, five months after the Eighth Air Force had begun flying bomber missions against Nazi-occupied France, and two months before the RLM's earliest-known mention of any recorded approval for the He 277 design itself — the later fitment of a quartet of the BMW 801 radials to each example of the trio of Me 264 prototypes also potentially challenged the availability of the same engine design that the He 277 was meant to use, had the Me 264 gone into production with them.
The four-engined Me 264's development, because of the need to use scarce strategic materials in its construction, and because of the better performance estimates that the Focke-Wulf Ta 400 and He 277 possessed, was stopped in May 1943.
Because of the US involvement in the European Theater commencing in mid-August 1942, the Luftwaffe now found that it had a serious need for a well-armed, long-range bomber, which the Luftwaffe found could not be achieved with the 1,120 kW (1,500 hp) class engines it had on hand for such a four-engined bomber. Such ongoing difficulties in developing high-output aviation powerplants of over 1,500 kW apiece, that could be used in combat with proven reliability — which excluded the DB 606 engines of the earlier He 177A variants, which themselves proved to be seriously troublesome from the start of the He 177A's combat service in 1942 — meant that six engines of the under-1,500 kW (2,000 PS) power output levels that they could produce would be needed on a strategic bomber design for a successful mission from Europe to attack the US and safely return to base, with enough of an offensive bombload to be effective, and to have enough defensive firepower for protection to achieve a safe return. It was events on the date of July 3, 1943 that seemed to cement this viewpoint in the RLM's mind – no production decisions on the still-unfinalized He 277's design had emerged by that date, and the continuing problems in Dessau with the high-output Junkers Jumo 222 engine had set back its development, making its use with the He 277, first proposed on that date, even more problematic. The Blohm & Voss firm's aviation division had already settled on six engines with success, as early as 1940, on the prototypes of the BV 222 "Wiking" flying boat maritime patrol aircraft, itself possessing a substantial 46 meter wingspan, with 255 square meters of area. This emerging need for six engines for such an aircraft was also recognized by Messerschmitt AG, when that firm fielded a paper project for a six-engined "Me 264B", that had a stretched wingspan outwards to 47.5 meters (155 ft 10 in), with two additional BMW 801 radial engines outboard of the existing four powerplants and the same "Hecklafette" four-gun tail turret as the He 277. Eventually, the Heinkel firm received an order on July 23, 1943 from the Reich Air Ministry's technical department ("Technischen Amt") — for Heinkel's engineering shops to design a set of wings for the 277's unfinalized design that could accept a quartet of the troubled Jumo 222 engines, alongside the still "paper-only" concept also being ordered to be designed and buildable with the desired six-engine format the RLM was now favoring for an "Amerikabomber", intended to be upwards of a 170 square meter (1,830 sq. ft.) wing area of 45 meter (147 ft 7 in) span to possibly accommodate either four Jumo 222s or six BMW 801s.
In March 1943, Focke-Wulf came up with a six-engined version of their proposed Fw 300 bomber, originally powered with just four BMW 801E radials. Their more advanced Ta 400 design, first proposed in October 1943 with a tricycle landing gear setup and meant to be powered with a half-dozen of the same engines as the 277 was meant to use, was joined by the Ju 390, a Junkers six-engined version of the developed version of their early-war Junkers Ju 90 airliner, the operational Junkers Ju 290 maritime patrol bomber, and also using six of the same BMW radials as the 277, with both the earlier four-engined A-8 variant of the Ju 290, and the Ju 390A-1 each meant to have a pair of the He 277's "Hecklafette" quad-gun tail turrets, but with one each in the planned tail position and in a new nose-mount version.
By October 1943, Ernst Heinkel had compared the Messerschmitt and Junkers four-engined designs, and the six-engined BV 222, Ju 390 and Ta 400 designs to his own He 277 project, with the following conclusions:
Of these competing types mentioned by Dr. Heinkel — outside of the thirteen BV 222 six-engined maritime patrol flying boats actually built — only three of the Me 264 design, and a verified pair of the Ju 390 aircraft were ever built, solely as flyable prototypes, and none of these aircraft saw any action against the Allies.
The He 274, because of its own intended high-altitude role, was only a potential competitor with the He 277 for Heinkel's own company engineering and production staff, and the He 274's production had already been outsourced by the end of 1941 to the French "Societe Anonyme des Usines Farman", or "SAUF" firm in Suresnes to partially allow Heinkel to work on other projects, like the He 277 and the more advanced Heinkel He 343 jet powered medium bomber design, both of which each had a few airframe components in the process of manufacture for prototype airframes, but with both designs never able to be completed as flyable aircraft.
End of the project.
The last competing aircraft design that threatened the He 277's chance for increasingly scarce production capacity was the Junkers Ju 488, a composite of earlier developments of the Junkers Ju 88 twin-engined fast medium bomber design, with a few core components being purpose-designed solely for it, that were brought together to create a four-engined heavy bomber while using already-available components. Two prototype Ju 488s had been completed by the start of the summer of 1944, but were each sabotaged to unairworthy status by the French Resistance by mid-July 1944, before either one had ever been flown.
In April 1944, simultaneously with the four He 177B prototypes either flying (He 177 V101 to V103) or nearing completion (V104) at the "Heinkel-Süd" facility at Schwechat, the RLM ordered Heinkel to cease any further work on the He 277 project, and all components were also ordered to be scrapped, without any complete examples of the 277 ever having been completed by Heinkel, only three months before the "Jägernotprogramm" took over all German military aircraft production priorities on July 3, 1944 — with only the Heinkel He 162 "Spatz" lightweight jet fighter contract winner allowed to progress into production by the RLM from Heinkel's firm from that time forward.
Specifications (He 277 basic configuration).
From Griehl, Manfred and Dressel, Joachim. "Heinkel He 177-277-274", Airlife Publishing, Shrewsbury, England 1998, pp. 159 & 184.
not built/completed, design only


Hawkins Field (airport)

Hawkins Field is a joint civil-military public airport in Jackson. It is owned by the City of Jackson and operated by the Jackson Municipal Airport Authority. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 called it a "general aviation" facility.
History.
Aviation in Jackson began in 1928 with the purchase of 151 acres of pasture land in the City of Jackson known then as Davis Stock Farm, for $53,500. Davis Field, Jackson's first airport was dedicated November 9, 1928. Delta Air Lines made its first flight that year beginning in Dallas landing in Jackson and other cities en route to Atlanta.
In 1936 the Works Progress Administration’s (WPA), Civil Conservation Corps (CCC) invested $62,150 to improve the airport with a terminal building and paving of an apron. In 1941 the airfield was named Hawkins Field after A.F. Hawkins, a city commissioner with an interest in aviation.
World War II.
In May 1941 the Dutch government-in-exile, following the occupation of the Netherlands, established the Royal Netherlands Military Flying School at Hawkins Field. The school operated Lend-Lease aircraft with civilian pilots from the Mississippi Institute of Aeronautics. Training was conducted with U.S. Army Air Corps and later with U.S. Army Air Forces units in the southeast United States; however, operation of the school and flight training were done by civilians.
In June 1941 Hawkins Field was redesignated Jackson Army Airfield. It activated on May 1, 1942 and was used by the United States Army Air Forces' Flying Training Command as a basic flying training airfield (Army Air Forces Pilot School, Miscellaneous Fields for Basic and Advanced Single and Twin-Engine training). When the U.S. Army took over Hawkins Field, a massive military construction program was initiated to expand the civil airport. Construction was rapid given the emergency wartime conditions and within three months the post was to be in full operation. The airfield had four concrete runways NNE/SSW, NNW/SSE, NW/SE, NNW/SSE; asphalt on first two runways and concrete the others. The runways were laid out on an "A" layout, with one extended length main runway, and two short secondary runways connected to the apron. Auxiliary airfields to support the training activities at the base were:
In addition to the airfield, the building of a large support base with several hundred buildings, numerous streets, and a utility network was carried out with barracks, various administrative buildings, maintenance shops and hangars. The station facility consisted of a large number of buildings based on standardized military plans and architectural drawings of the period, with the buildings designed to be the "cheapest, temporary character with structural stability only sufficient to meet the needs of the service which the structure is intended to fulfill during the period of its contemplated war use" was underway. To conserve critical materials, most facilities were constructed of wood, concrete, brick, gypsum board and concrete asbestos. Metal was sparsely used. The station and its buildings, together with complete water, sewer, electric and gas utilities, was designed to be nearly self-sufficient, with not only hangars, but barracks, warehouses, hospitals, dental clinics, dining halls, and maintenance shops were needed. There were libraries, social clubs for officers, and enlisted men, and stores to buy living necessities.
The Netherlands pilots operated from the facility as a separate entity until January 1942 when the Army Air Forces Southeast Training Center took over the base and the Dutch pilots began training under the auspices of 74th Flying Training Wing at Maxwell Field, Alabama. The 35th Base Headquarters and Air Base Squadron was responsible for the operation of the non-flying elements of the base. Operational training squadrons were:
On July 1, 1944, Jackson Army Air Base was transferred to the Third Air Force. Training was re-organized under the 2159th Army Air Force Base Unit, with three flying squadrons "A", "B" and "C" and was consolidated with units being reassigned from Laurel Army Airfield to Jackson. The Netherlands aviators left in May 1945 and flight training was closed down in October.
Third Air Force operated the airfield as an Air Force Reserve training center (2588th Air Force Reserve Training Unit) until March 31, 1949 when the United States Air Force excessed Hawkins Field and returned it to civil control.
Postwar use.
It was not until 1949 that Hawkins was again classified as a civil airfield. In 1963 the City began work to annex land in Rankin County, Mississippi to build a new airport for jets (Hawkins' longest runway was 5383 feet). Allen C. Thompson Field, Jackson Municipal Airport opened later that year, one of the first airports with parallel runways versus cross wind intersecting runways. With the opening of Jackson Municipal Airport, Hawkins Field became a general aviation airport.
The Kerry Committee report which began in the United States Senate in early 1986 contains a U.S. Customs and DEA investigation report on drug trafficking using DC-4s at Hawkins Field.
Mississippi Air National Guard.
The United States Air Force returned in the summer of 1953 when the Mississippi Air National Guard began utilizing certain facilities of Hawkins Field.
What is known today as the 172d Airlift Wing (172 AW) of the Mississippi Air National Guard began in 1953 as the Tactical Air Command's 183d Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron (Night Photo), an Air National Guard unit at Hawkins Field equipped with RB-26 Invaders for night photo reconnaissance missions. Six Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcars replaced the RB-26 in 1957 when the 183d became an Aeromedical Transport Squadron (Light) as part of the Military Air Transport Service. The C-119 widened the mission of the unit and by 1961 plans for a new airport were on the drawing board. The Department of Defense initially leased 64 acres of land in Rankin County to the City of Jackson for the new Air National Guard complex and construction of the present base began on April 15, 1961.
On July 1, 1962 the Lockheed C-121 Constellation aircraft arrived in Mississippi and the squadron was redesignated as the MATS' 172d Air Transport Squadron. These sleek, four-engine propeller-driven aircraft marked the beginning of the unit's world mission with a flight to Germany on Saturday, June 1, 1963. The C-121s continued to operate from Hawkins Field until early 1964 when the 172d moved to new facilities at Jackson International Airport in Rankin County.
Mississippi Army National Guard.
The United States Army continues to operate from Hawkins Field via the Mississippi Army National Guard's Army Aviation Support Facility #1 (AASF #1), the 1st Battalion of the 185th Aviation Regiment, and the 185th Theater Aviation Brigade. Aircraft operated at Hawkins Field include UH-60 Blackhawk and OH-58 Kiowa helicopters.
Facilities.
Hawkins Field covers 602 acres (244 ha) at an elevation of 341 feet (104 m). It has two active runways: 16/34 is 5,387 by 150 feet (1,642 x 46 m) asphalt; 11/29 is 3,431 by 150 feet (1,046 x 46 m) concrete. Two additional runways from the World War II era are closed.
In the year ending May 3, 2012 the airport had 33,846 aircraft operations, or an average 92 per day: 89% general aviation, 6% military, and 5% air taxi. 101 aircraft were then based at the airport: 45% single-engine, 32% multi-engine, 19% military, and 4% helicopter.
Incidents.
A Piper PA-32 single-engine plane went down Tuesday, November 13, 2012, killing the 3 people on board in a nearby neighborhood of single-family homes. Hinds County, Mississippi Coroner Sharon Grisham-Stewart confirmed the deaths. A hospital spokesman says one patient from the scene was in good condition at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.
In Media.
Jackson Army Air Base was the name of an abandoned military installation in the 1978 film Capricorn One, the premise of which was a government conspiracy and hoax of a manned space mission to Mars. But unlike the present day Hawkins Field, the film version of the base was located in Texas.


Advance Aviation Jet

Advance Aviation Jet (Advance Jet) is a Thai air charter operation registered in Bangkok, Thailand. Established in 2011, the company is specialized in business jet management and operation, as well as in other aviation-related activities, including consulting, flight support and ground handling. It works in partnership with three subsidiaries; Advance Aviation, SkyDance and Universal Aviation (Thailand).
An operations control center, is located at Advance Aviation Jet's headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand, Don Mueang International Airport.
History.
Starting in February 2011 by Mr. Chai Nasylvanta, four years after successful inception of Advance Aviation Company Limited. Advance Aviation Jet receives AOC (Air Operator Certificate) from the CAAT (Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand, formerly known as the DCA)
In October 2011, beginning with a registered capital of 150 million Baht (approximately 5 million US dollars) and 550 million Baht (approximately 16 million US dollars) subordinated loan from shareholders, the company operates without any external commercial debt, including aircraft acquisition in cash.
In early 2015, Advance Jet had formed a joint-venture with Universal Weather and Aviation Corporation, the Houston-based Ground Handling and Trip Support, called Universal Aviation (Thailand) Co., Ltd. , under motto where sky and safety meet, also the company policy to be a dedicated “Gulfstream” operator.
Headquarter.
Advance Aviation Jet is located at 499 Benchachinda Building Vibhavadhi-Rangsit Road, Ladyao, Jatujak, Bangkok Thailand
Based Airport.
Bangkok International Airport, Bangkok, Thailand
Office.
Bangkok International Airport
2311A, 2nd floor of Terminal 1, Vibhavadi-Rangsit Road, Sanambin Don Muang 10210, Thailand
Fleet.
Advance Aviation Jet's two Gulfstream G200


Raadi Airfield

Raadi Airfield (Tartu Air Base) is a former air base in Estonia located northeast of Tartu. The land once belonged to Raadi Manor and is now designated as the new site of the Estonian National Museum.
History.
In 1940 were requisitioned from the Raadi Manor estates to create a Russian airport. The airfield was fought over during the Second World War and the manor house was burnt during the Tartu Offensive.
The airport became a major Soviet bomber base for fifty years. The secrecy of the airfield meant that foreigners were not allowed to visit the city. Dozens of bombers were based here making it the largest Baltic airfield. The airfield is still seen as a reminder that Estonia was occupied by Soviet forces.
It was a fairly extensive base with 24 large revetments and over 30 small ones. This airfield was listed as No. 13 in USSR airfield priority, by the USA in 1956. Meaning it was the only nuclear target in the Baltics at this time. It was a Soviet base, home to 132 TBAP (132nd Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment) which flew Tupolev Tu-16 and Tupolev Tu-22M aircraft. It was also a transport base with the 192 and/or 196 VTAP (Military Transport Aviation Regiment) flying Ilyushin Il-76M cargo jets until 1990. These jets were relocated to Tver.
On 15 January 1991, a Soviet Air Force Tupolev Tu-16K "Badger" crashed near Tartu Air Base, on landing when the undercarriage failed to extend. The pilot and co-pilot ejected, but the four crew members were killed.
Today.
By 1993 it was listed as a designated emergency airfield on a Jeppesen chart for airline use although this is no longer possible as the runway has various used car lots preventing use by aircraft. On 16 January 2006 the winning works of the international architecture competition held to design the new Estonian National Museum building were revealed. In 2016, the museum was opened.
In 2020, estimated 200,000 solar panels will be built on Raadi Airfield, making it the biggest Solar Farm in Estonia.


No. 39 Squadron RAF

Number 39 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the General Atomics MQ-9A Reaper from Creech AFB, Nevada, since reforming in January 2007. It had previously been operating English Electric Canberra PR.7s, PR.9s and T.4s from RAF Marham, Norfolk, as No. 39 (1 Photographic Reconnaissance Unit) Squadron between July 1992 and July 2006.
History.
First World War.
No. 39 Squadron was founded at Hounslow Heath Aerodrome on 15 April 1916 with Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2s and B.E.12s in an attempt to defend against German Zeppelin raids on London. It achieved its first success on the night of 2/3 September 1916, when Lieutenant William Leefe Robinson shot down the German Airship Schütte-Lanz "SL11", being awarded the Victoria Cross for this action. On 23 September 1916, the German Navy launched another Zeppelin raid against London. Responding to this raid, 2nd Lieutenant Frederick Sowrey of No. 39 Squadron shot down Zeppelin "L.32", while another No. 39 Squadron B.E.2 engaged Zeppelin "L.33", already damaged by anti-aircraft fire, with L.33 force landing at Little Wigborough, Essex, and being destroyed by its crew. On the night of 1/2 October 1916, 2nd Lieutenant W. L. Tempest of 39 Squadron, flying a B.E.2c, spotted Zeppelin "L.31" illuminated by searchlights over southwest London and shot it down with the loss of the entire airship crew.
The squadron continued in the defence of London, supplementing its B.E.2s and B.E.12s with three Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5s to help deal with daylight attacks by German Gotha bombers, with at least one Armstrong Whitworth F.K.8 also operated by the unit. The squadron re-equipped with Bristol F.2 Fighters in September 1917, but had no more success against German raiders until the night of 19/20 May 1918, when a No. 39 Squadron Bristol Fighter shot down a Gotha bomber. In October 1918, it was re-equipped with Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.2b aircraft and sent to France for night bombing, but was disbanded five days after the Armistice.
Between the wars.
It was reformed on 1 July 1919, when No. 37 Squadron based at Biggin Hill was renumbered. The squadron was reduced to a cadre in December 1919, but did not disband, and in April 1921 it was decided to return the Squadron to operations. By May that year, the squadron was fully manned and received a number of Avro 504 to train aircrew in preparation for operating more warlike aircraft. These arrived in February 1923 when the squadron, now based at RAF Spitalgate in Lincolnshire received 18 Airco DH.9As. As well as training for its role as a day bomber, the squadron also was chosen to perform a formation flying display at the RAF Air Pageant at Hendon in 1923, repeating its appearance in 1926 and 1927, when it flew joint formation flying and bombing displays with 207 Squadron. In January 1928, the squadron moved from Spitalgate to RAF Bircham Newton in Norfolk, where it began to prepare to a prospective move to British India.
In December 1929 it left the United Kingdom, leaving behind its DH.9As to equip No. 101 Squadron. It arrived at Risalpur, North-West Frontier Province India (now part of Pakistan) at the end of January 1929, receiving its complement of twelve Westland Wapitis (which had been shipped out separately) in March that year. It was used for Air Policing in the North West Frontier, carrying out bombing missions against rebelling tribesmen and their villages, and support for the army. In December 1931, it was re-equipped with Hawker Harts, operations continuing as before, also being used as part of the relief effort following the 1935 Quetta earthquake, flying supplies to devastated Quetta and carrying out medical evacuations. Major military operations included support of the Second Mohmand Campaign of 1935 against hostile tribesmen in Mohmand Territory, and operations against supporters of the Faqir of Ipi in 1938.
Second World War.
In 1939, the squadron re-equipped with more modern Bristol Blenheim I twin-engined monoplane bombers. As the threat of war increased, it was decided to strengthen British defences in the Far East by moving No. 39 Squadron to Singapore, with the squadron setting off with nine Blenheims on 6 August. The ferry trip was a disaster, with six aircraft wrecked, and three men killed, including Wing Commander Burton Ankers, commander of the 2nd Indian Wing Station at Risalpur, whose Blenheim caught fire and crashed after being struck by lightning. In April 1940, the squadron was ordered back to India, arriving at Lahore on 25 April, and then to strengthen defences in the Middle East, being ordered to reinforce Aden, setting out on 5 May, with the air component reaching Aden on 13 May and the groundcrew arriving by ship on 10 June 1940.
On that day, Italy declared war on Great Britain and France, and No. 39 Squadron was quickly committed to action against Italian East Africa, carrying out its first combat mission of the war on 12 June when a force of Blenheims attacked Dire Dawa airfield in Ethiopia, causing little damage. The squadron continued operations against Italian forces until 24 November, when it was ordered to transfer to Egypt to support the planned offensive in the Western Desert (Operation Compass), with the first aircraft leaving Aden for Helwan on 29 November.
A detachment of three Blenheims operated with No. 45 Squadron over the Western Desert from 10 December, flying harassment raids against Italian-held airfields, while the remainder of the Squadron remained at Helwan while it recovered from the operations in East Africa, and started to replace its Blenheim Is with Blenheim IVs. In January, however, the squadron was ordered to recall the three aircraft detachment and hand over the squadron's Blenheims to 11 Squadron, which was to deploy to Greece. To replace its Blenheim IVs, 39 Squadron received Martin Maryland bombers, originally built for the French Air Force, becoming the first RAF squadron to operate the Maryland. Owing to the long-range of the Maryland, No. 39 Squadron used it mainly for reconnaissance. The squadron was heavily deployed during the Battle of Crete, claiming at least two Junkers Ju 52 transport aircraft shot down in the course of its operations during the battle.
In August–September 1941, the squadron partly converted to the Bristol Beaufort torpedo bomber for anti-shipping operations, although it retained a flight of Marylands until January 1942. At first the Squadron's Beauforts were armed with bombs but from January 1942 it added torpedo attack to its roles. In late 1941 the unit was split up. One flight moved to Luqa, Malta in December 1941: six months later this flight was combined with others from Nos. 86 and 217 Squadrons to eventually form a new No. 39 Squadron. In 1943 the unit re-equipped with Bristol Beaufighter aircraft in the ground attack role and moved back to Egypt then on to Italy. During the Greek Civil War, it sent rocket-armed aircraft to participate in RAF operations. In December 1944, it re-equipped with Martin Marauders, flying medium bombing missions in support of Tito's Partisans. It re-equipped with de Havilland Mosquitos in 1946, disbanding later in the year.
Cold War.
It reformed as a fighter squadron equipped with the Hawker Tempest at Nairobi on 1 April 1948, disbanding on 28 February 1949, but reforming the next day at RAF Fayid in Egypt, flying de Havilland Mosquito NF Mk 36 night fighters. The squadron moved to nearby RAF Kabrit on 21 February 1951. As 1951 continued, tensions between the British forces in the Suez Canal Zone and the Egyptians, who wanted Britain to pull out of Egypt, and following anti-British riots in Cairo in January 1952, the squadron was put on standby to support plans for a British attack on Cairo if the situation further deteriorated, until the Egyptian army intervened and stopped the rioting, easing tensions a little. It re-equipped with Gloster Meteor NF.13 night fighters in March 1953, but following the Egyptian revolution of 1952, the situation for the British gradually became untenable, and in October 1954, the Anglo-Egyptian Agreement was signed, in which Britain agreed that its forces would leave Egypt by June 1956. As part of this agreement, No. 39 Squadron moved to RAF Luqa in Malta on 10 January 1955.
The squadron moved to RAF Akrotiri on Cyprus in August 1956 as Britain and France prepared a military response to the Egyptian Nationalisation of the Suez Canal. On 31 October, the British and French launched Operation Musketeer, a series of heavy air attacks against Egyptian targets followed by landings on 6 November. No. 39 Squadron's role was to protect the vital airfields on Cyprus from any potential Egyptian retaliation. Pressure from the UN forced a ceasefire in Egypt and a withdrawal of the Anglo-French forces by the end of December, but the squadron remained in Cyprus after the British forces dispersed, flying patrols to deter aircraft that were suspected of dropping supplies to EOKA forces fighting against the British rule of Cyprus. The main body of the squadron returned to Malta in March 1957, but a detachment was maintained on Cyprus. Tensions in Lebanon (which eventually culminated in the Lebanon Crisis of July–October 1958) caused the whole squadron to move to Cyprus in May 1958, but it soon returned to Malta and disbanded on 30 June 1958.
No. 39 Squadron reformed the next day at RAF Luqa by renumbering No. 69 Squadron, flying reconnaissance English Electric Canberra PR.3s in the high altitude reconnaissance role and assigned to the NATO Sixth Allied Tactical Air Force. It moved to RAF Wyton in September 1970, disbanding on 1 June 1982.
No. 1 Photographic Reconnaissance Unit.
The squadron was reformed on 1 July 1992 when No. 1 Photographic Reconnaissance Unit (1 PRU) at RAF Wyton, equipped with Canberra PR.9 and T.4 aircraft was re-numbered No. 39 (1 PRU) Squadron. The unit moved to RAF Marham in December 1993, where it also received Canberra PR.7s. In December 1996, the squadron deployed to Uganda in order to search for Rwandan refugees in eastern Zaire after the Rwandan genocide. Between 1996 and 2001, No. 39 (1 PRU) Squadron deployed six times to Kenya and Zimbabwe to carry out photo-mapping. Between October 2001 and January 2002, the squadron deployed two Canberra PR.9s to Seeb International Airport, Oman, from where it undertook sorties over Afghanistan as part of Op VERITAS and Op ORACLE. In 2003, the unit deployed to Azraq Air Base, Jordan, in support of Operation Telic. On 8 September 2003, Canberra PR.9 "XH168" was written off after bursting its main landing gear tyres upon touching down at RAF Marham, with the crew suffering no injuries. In November 2003, two Canberra PR.9s departed to RAF Mount Pleasant, Falkland Islands, to carry out survey work.
On 2 September 2004, Canberra T.4 "WJ866" crashed at RAF Marham while carrying out a touch and go at night time, killing both pilots and injuring the navigator, this was the last operational Canberra loss for the RAF. No. 39 (1 PRU) Squadron carried out the last RAF flight of a Canberra T.4 ("WJ874") on 1 September 2005, marking an end to 45 years of service, flying over locations associated with the type such as RAF Wyton, former RAF Bassingbourn and the former English Electric factory at Samlesbury Aerodrome.
In January 2006, No. 39 (1 PRU) Squadron deployed for the last time to Afghanistan in support of Operation Herrick, with the two Canberra PR.9s arriving back to RAF Marham on 23 June 2006 – marking an end to operational service for the Canberra. The squadron disbanded on 28 July 2006 at RAF Marham, with the occasion marked by a flypast and parade. The last three Canberras ("XH131", "XH134" and "XH135") undertook their last flight from Marham to Kemble Airfield, Gloustershire, on 31 July 2006.
RPAS.
In January 2005, a new unit, No. 1115 Flight, was formed at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada to operate the RAF's first Remotely-piloted Air System (RPAS). Operating the General Atomics MQ-1 Predator, the unit began training personnel in the operation of UAVs, prior to the stand up of a new squadron. No. 39 Squadron was reformed on 1 January 2007, with the former No. 1115 Flight becoming 'A' Flight, while 'B' Flight received the General Atomics MQ-9A Reaper. The squadron relocated to RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire. On 9 November 2007, the Ministry of Defence announced that the squadron's MQ-9 Reapers had begun operations in Afghanistan against the Taliban. On 9 April 2008, MQ-9A Reaper "ZZ200" was destroyed after it made a forced landing in southern Afghanistan in order stop it from falling into insurgents hands.
As of March 2009, the squadron operated 12 three-man teams to pilot its Reaper aircraft. Supporting intelligence specialists, Information Communications Technicians, signallers, and meteorologists bring the total number of squadron personnel to around 90. The squadron operated two aircraft but planned to have a total of six by the end of 2009. As of April 2011, five Reaper aircraft were in operation, with a further five on order and as of September 2016, the squadron, still based in Nevada, had ten operational Reaper aircraft and missions were being undertaken in Syria as part of Operation Shader.
No. 39 Squadron was awarded the battle honour 'Afghanistan 2001–2014' (without the right to emblazon) by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on 24 March 2020 due to their participation in Operation Herrick.
Aircraft operated.
"From except where stated"


Ethiopian Airlines Eshet


St. Clair Streett

St. Clair Streett (October 6, 1893 – September 28, 1970), known as "Bill", was a United States Air Force (USAF) major general and writer who first organized and led the Strategic Air Command (SAC). Streett served as aide to air power advocate General Billy Mitchell, and was viewed by General of the Air Force Henry H. Arnold as his own personal "troubleshooter".
Earlier in his career, Streett served in France during the last stages of World War I. In 1920, he was awarded the Mackay Trophy and the Distinguished Flying Cross for leading a squadron of U.S. airmen on a pioneering air voyage from New York City to Nome, Alaska and back. Streett wrote of his squadron's difficulties in an article for "National Geographic". Streett assisted Mitchell during the famous bombing demonstration against battleships. After participating in several air races, he made an exploratory flight to extreme altitude during which he experienced frozen flight controls, and then wrote a story about the adventure for "Popular Science".
During World War II, Streett commanded various training units in Hawaii, Florida and Colorado, solving logistical, training, and personnel problems. In Washington, D.C., he led the Theater Group of the Operations Division in the Office of the Chief of Staff where he expressed grave misgivings about the role of General Douglas MacArthur in the Pacific War—some two years later Streett was sent to the South West Pacific Area to work under MacArthur commanding the Thirteenth Air Force during its first offensive drive.
With victory certain, Streett returned to the United States to organize for Arnold the Continental Air Forces (CAF), and then to expand its operation across the country. Streett retained command when the CAF turned into the SAC, and continued to experience friction with MacArthur. After retiring from the United States Air Force in 1952, Streett was named to the Sarnoff Commission, a presidential formation tasked with trimming unnecessary military spending.
Early career.
St. Clair Streett was born on October 6, 1893 in Washington, D.C., the first child of Shadrach Watkins Streett and his wife, the former Lydia Ann Coggins. Streett was named for his grandfather, Dr. St. Clair Streett of Maryland. St. Clair is a family name originating from the mid-18th century when a Martha St. Clair married a John Streett in Maryland.
St. Clair Streett joined the United States Army after high school. By 1916, he was a sergeant in the Signal Corps, Enlisted Reserve., This is after the start of the World War I in Europe 1914-1918 and before America's entry into the war. In December 1916, Streett signed up as an aviation cadet and was trained at the Curtis School at Newport News, Virginia and at Wright Field in Ohio. America entered the world war in April 1917. On September 27, 1917, St. Clair Streett was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Signal Officers' Reserve Corps.
In December 1917, Streett was posted to Issoudun, France, as an air training instructor. The majority of the United States Army troops and pilots would arrive later, in 1918. He was then assigned to the 5th Pursuit Group operating out of Lay-Saint-Remy Aerodrome, France. Later, after the Allied victory in November 1918, he served in Germany with the American occupation forces, and returned to the United States in August 1919. On July 1, 1920, Streett was commissioned a first lieutenant in the Regular Army Officers' Reserve Corps, Air Service.
Pioneering flights.
The Alaska Flying Expedition.
In early 1920, Streett made a five-week, survey flight to assess field conditions in eleven states. Then, at the suggestion of General Billy Mitchell who wished to strengthen the American air presence in Alaska Territory, Streett commanded The Alaska Flying Expedition, an exploratory flight made by the Air Service between 15 July and 20 Oct. 1920, from Mitchel Field on Long Island to Nome, Alaska. Dubbed the Black Wolf Squadron for the logo painted on the fuselage sides of their four De Havilland DH-4B biplanes, the eight men flew round trip in 112 hours of flying time, dividing the route into 18 legs across the northern United States and the western provinces of Canada, then north to Fairbanks, Alaska via Dawson City, Yukon. The flight reached Nome on 23 Aug. 1920 and returned to Mitchel Field on 20 Oct. 1920. An advance party prepared landing fields, stocked fuel and provisions to replenish the flyers and their aircraft.
Afterward, Streett speculated, "Some day this trip may be made overnight—who knows?" For this pioneering effort demonstrating that Alaska could be linked by air to the United States, Streett was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Mackay Trophy, the later given to the "most meritorious flight of the year" made by a U.S. military airman.
General Billy Mitchell.
Following this successful publicity flight, Streett was appointed assistant to General Billy Mitchell, the deputy chief of the Air Service. When Mitchell formed the 1st Provisional Air Brigade in May 1921 for the purpose of demonstrating that a bomber could sink a battleship, Streett was closely connected. Mitchell sent Streett to Air Corps headquarters to inform his superior Charles T. Menoher that the battleships could not be sunk as planned, with the bombers flying at . Streett informed Menoher that Mitchell intended to break the rules and fly much lower to ensure a newsworthy sinking, but that the Navy should not know of this change. During the June and July bombing demonstrations, Streett flew in the back seat as navigator in "Osprey", Mitchell's personal DH-4B heavy bomber as they bombed from heights of about . Mitchell also planned to sink the target ship with several very close near-miss explosions that would cause severe damage to the ship's hull below the waterline. The US Navy's rules for the bombing limited the actual number of direct hits allowed on the target ship. The US Navy had intended to inspect the damage to these ships after the bombings, and US Navy gunfire to learn as much as possible about the effects of shell & bomb hits on battleship armor and structure. The target ship, the former German World War I battleship "Ostfriesland" was sunk with only a few direct hits, and several intentional very near-misses. The US Navy leadership was shocked and angry over the target's sinking. In late July after the battleship "Ostfriesland" had been sunk, Mitchell carried out a 19-bomber mock raid against Manhattan. About the stunt, Streett wrote an article entitled "14th Heavy Bombardment Squadron Attacks New York City" for the Army and Navy aviation magazine "U.S. Air Service".
During this time, Streett wrote an article about the Alaskan venture entitled "The First Alaskan Air Expedition" for the "National Geographic" magazine, with the issue appearing in May 1922. In July, he became commanding officer of the headquarters detachment at Bolling Field.
Air races.
Flying an Army Orenco D on November 27, 1920, Streett finished in fourth place in the first Pulitzer Trophy Air Race, held at Mitchel Field on Long Island. On October 14, 1922, Streett participated in the third Pulitzer race flown out of Selfridge Field near Detroit but an oil line burst in his Verville-Sperry R-3 and forced him to abandon the race on the fifth and final lap.
In January 1924, Streett was named assistant chief of the Airways Section in the Office of the Chief of Air Corps. In this role he helped gather prevailing weather data, airfield locations, maps and reports of flying conditions for the Air Corps men undertaking the first aerial circumnavigation during March–September 1924. He planned for and ordered caches of oil and fuel to be kept at likely locations during the multistage voyage. Streett's preparations were praised as "very complete and of greatest assistance" in carrying out the feat. In September 1925, he entered the Air Corps Tactical School at Langley Field, Virginia, graduating the following June.
Altitude.
Streett was transferred to Selfridge Field, Michigan, in August 1926, and appointed commanding officer of the First Pursuit Group Headquarters. He was assigned to Wright Field, Ohio in March 1928 as test pilot and chief of the Flying Branch. Flying the XCO-5 on October 10, 1928, Streett and Albert William Stevens achieved an unofficial altitude record for aircraft carrying more than one person: ; less than short of the official single-person altitude record. At that height they measured a temperature of , cold enough to freeze the aircraft controls. With frozen controls, Streett was unable to reduce altitude or to turn off the engine until some twenty minutes later when it ran out of fuel, after which he piloted the fragile experimental biplane down in a gentle glide and made a deadstick landing. An article about the feat appeared in "Popular Science" in May 1929, entitled "Stranded—Seven Miles Up!" During July 1932, he was on special assignment as assistant in the preparation of data on performance tests of aircraft.
Streett spent the following three years at service schools. He entered the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, In August 1932. After graduation In June 1934, he began a course at the Chemical Warfare School at Edgewood Arsenal, Maryland, which he completed in August. He was then transferred to the Army War College, from which he graduated in June 1935.
Streett's next assignment was with the War Department General Staff where he served as a member of the Miscellaneous and Operations Section of the War Plans Division. He became a student at the Naval War College at Newport, Rhode Island, in June 1939, and in July 1940 reported to Hickam Field, Hawaii, for duty as commanding officer of the 11th Bombardment Group, where the group operated B-18 Bolo medium bombers. On December 1, the 11th was redesignated a heavy bombardment group, and Streett prepared them to receive B-17 Flying Fortress heavies, the first ones arriving in April 1941 with Lieutenant Colonel Albert Francis Hegenberger to command them. Streett shifted to become plans and training officer for the Hawaiian Department at Fort Shafter, and then was attached to the Army Air Forces division of the War Department as deputy chief of operations.
World War II.
In March 1942, Streett became chief of the Theater Group of the Operations Division in the Office of the Chief of Staff. When United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) Chief of Staff Henry H. "Hap" Arnold proposed to George Marshall in October 1942 that an Army man be named supreme commander for the whole Allied effort in the Pacific, suggesting Douglas MacArthur, Lesley McNair or airman Joseph T. McNarney for the position, Marshall without comment passed the request to his staff for analysis. There, Albert Wedemeyer and Streett examined the problem. Wedemeyer, an Army officer, thought the supreme commander should be an airman; either Arnold or McNarney. Streett, too, was in favor of one supreme commander but he recognized the political challenges—he projected that the president would have to make the appointment, not a committee of military men prone to interservice rivalry. For supreme commander in the Pacific, Streett suggested McNarney or Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, depending on whether an air or a naval strategy was considered most important. About MacArthur, Streett wrote that "[a]t the risk of being considered naive and just plain country-boy dumb," he thought that MacArthur would have to be removed from the Pacific in order for there to be any sound cooperation in the theater. Streett suggested MacArthur be appointed ambassador to "Russia" or some similar position of high stature but low military influence. Of this analysis work, nothing was enacted; Marshall did not bring the problem and its suggested solutions to either the Navy or the president.
Tampa.
In November 1942, Arnold assigned Streett to take charge of the Third Air Force, a medium bomber training command based at Tampa, Florida. The unit had seen enough B-26 Marauder training accidents that grim-humored airmen coined the phrase "one a day in Tampa Bay." (The oft-repeated line was an exaggeration; ignoring crashes into land, 13 Marauders ditched in Tampa Bay in the 14 months between the first one on August 5, 1942 and the final one on October 8, 1943.) Streett implemented a tightening of training policy to reduce losses through human error, and he initiated research into solutions for the technical problems the bomber was having.
At the time, Tampa was rated the worst U.S. city for syphilis infections among USAAF personnel, and the city with the most rampant prostitution. USAAF Captain Robert Dyer, charged with protecting the country's airmen from venereal disease (VD), had no success getting Tampa authorities to address the problem. When Streett arrived at his command and saw the extent of the VD crisis at MacDill Field, he threatened to close certain areas of Tampa to all military personnel if the city's police were unable to curb prostitution. This action would have ruined a number of legitimate local businesses, and a campaign was initiated to arrest prostitutes and to bar unmarried couples from renting a room together. Police arrests, however, were limited to misdemeanor charges of vagrancy or loitering—there were no state or local laws specific to prostitution. In response to complaints from Streett and other military leaders, in January 1943 Florida's Department of Health mounted a statewide media blitz encouraging testing and treatment for VD. Later that year, the state passed a law giving police wide latitude to arrest prostitutes for hire and also unmarried persons participating in "licentious sexual intercourse without hire."
Heavy bombers.
In September 1943, Streett assumed command of the Second Air Force at Peterson Field, Colorado Springs, Colorado, training heavy bomber crews to fly the B-24 Liberator.
In January 1944, he was assigned to the Southwest Pacific Area and assumed command of the Thirteenth Air Force when it was consolidated into an offensive stance in June. Streett served under George Kenney, who was the USAAF theater commander subordinate to MacArthur. At the end of September and in early October, Streett mounted a series of round trip air raids by heavy bombers flying from Hollandia, New Guinea to attack Balikpapan, a major center of Japanese petroleum processing and storage. In U.S. media reports, the raids were compared to the Ploesti raids of 1943, with strong Japanese resistance on the second raid said to be responsible for downing seven B-24s—a loss of 70 aircrew. Streett guided the Thirteenth through their part of the initial phases of the Philippines Campaign, in concert with the Fifth Air Force as part of United States Far East Air Forces.
Postwar career.
When Arnold needed to solve a thorny problem, he was known to demand "Where is Bill Streett?" In January 1945 as victory in the war appeared certain, Arnold was faced with postwar reorganization of the Army Air Forces. Arnold ordered Streett to return stateside to form for him the Continental Air Forces (CAF) at Bolling Field. Streett served under Arnold as deputy commander of the CAF, but Arnold held at that time two major commands: Air Staff and CAF, with Air Staff taking his full attention. In effect, Streett was left in charge of CAF. In November 1945, Streett proposed a reorganization of United States air power into separate commands: Eastern and Western air defense commands, a tactical air support command and a training command. His proposal placed strategic bombers in a task force under the commander of the Army Air Forces. When the Continental Air Forces became Strategic Air Command (SAC) in March 1946, he retained his nominal position as deputy commander, and actually commanded the new organization until October when Kenney's prior obligations to the United Nations came to an end and he could finally take the reins of the SAC as originally intended by General Carl Andrew Spaatz.
On October 22, 1946, Streett delivered a lecture entitled "The Strategic Air Command" to the Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama. He revealed to the students that the SAC was not yet very powerful—only two strike groups were fully operational and that three months in the future after a rush of preparation, there still would be only four B-29 Superfortress groups and two long-range fighter aircraft groups. This was in contrast to the then-current public relations statements by the SAC which proclaimed "quick retaliation will be our answer [to any future aggressor] in the form of an aerial knockout..." Streett described how General MacArthur, Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Far East Command, refused to release to SAC the control of one very heavy bombardment group and one very long-range reconnaissance group of the Twentieth Air Force. Streett offered his opinion that the SAC should stage into the Far East and take operational control of those units.
In January 1947, Streett was assigned to the adjutant general's office as chief of the Military Personnel Procurement Service. He was appointed the air inspector in the newly established Office of the Inspector General in January 1948, and two months later became deputy inspector general. Streett was named deputy commander of Air Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, in October 1949. In December 1951, he became special assistant to the commanding general of Air Materiel Command. Streett retired from the USAF in February 1952 with the rank of Major General, having flown numerous aircraft from early biplanes to the early jets.
In October 1952, Streett was named to the Citizens Advisory Commission on Manpower Utilization in the Armed Services, popularly known as the Sarnoff Commission for its chairman Brigadier General David Sarnoff, the long-serving chairman of RCA. Defense Secretary Robert A. Lovett established the commission for the purpose of identifying and eliminating excess military spending without reducing combat effectiveness. Robert Wood Johnson II, chairman of Johnson & Johnson, resigned from the commission because of the strain it took on his health, but he noted that the USAF represented by Commissioner Streett was "cooperative and open to greater progress" with the commission, directly contrasting with the U.S. Navy which he rated as "militantly resistant." The Sarnoff Commission's 85-page report was delivered to the United States Senate Committee on Armed Services and Charles Erwin Wilson, President Dwight D. Eisenhower's new defense secretary, on February 17, 1953. It called for a ten percent reduction in military spending, amounting to the elimination of 500,000 civilian and military personnel and the cutting of $5B from the military's annual budget. After studying the report, Wilson appointed a commission to heed its main points and streamline the Defense Department so that it could more efficiently wage a war. Instead of Streett, Wilson selected retired General Spaatz to represent the USAF.
Personal life.
In 1922, Streett married Mary Lois Williams (1895–1999), a personal friend of "Hap" Arnold and his wife "Bee". The Streetts had one child, a son in 1927, St. Clair Streett Jr., also nicknamed "Bill", who graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point with the Class of 1949 and took part in the infantry Battle of Old Baldy during the Korean War. General Streett's son, St. Clair Streett Jr. married Edith Peake Boatner (youngest daughter of USAF Lt. Gen. Bryant L. Boatner) in 1954 and had four children: St. Clair "Dan" Streett III, born in California in 1955, who graduated from Virginia Military Institute in 1977, USAF Colonel Bryant Boatner Streett (VMI 1978) born at Fort Belvoir, Virginia in 1956, Monica Page Streett born in 1959 in Nurnberg, Germany, and Emily Williams Streett born in 1961 at West Point, New York. General Streett's son retired from the US Army after 21 years of service in the Infantry and the Engineers. Besides serving in combat in Korea, and in South Vietnam as an advisor, St. Clair Jr. had participated in the US Army Corps of Engineer construction projects for NASA (in the race to put a man on the moon before the end of the decade) at Cape Caniveral, Florida and Huntsville, Alabama. "Bill" Streett Jr. married again in 1980 to Anitra Mae "Sue" Rustmeyer—the two had a daughter, Sarah Mae Streett, born the next year.
Major General Streett died on September 28, 1970 at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. His wife (at age 104 years) died on October 17, 1999 and was buried with him at Arlington National Cemetery.


Grumman TB3F


Major General West

Major General West, is a fictional character in the Stargate SG-1 universe, played by Leon Rippy. West headed the USAF's Project Giza (also known as the Stargate Project), the forerunner of the SGC. He oversaw Dr. Catherine Langford's experiments with the Stargate until selecting, recalling, and delegating Colonel Jack O'Neil as military commander when Dr. Daniel Jackson joined the team. Upon the successful connection of the Earth Stargate to Abydos, West immediately militarized the program and locked out most of the civilian team previously under Dr. Langford. He then authorized the initial excursion to Abydos (in the original movie).
History.
A United States Air Force officer with experience in the Vietnam War and Southeast Asia (Gulf War I), Major General West wears the wings of a senior pilot and a rather uninformative rack of ribbons. He is a qualified expert with small arms and has served at least six months in Viet Nam.
He has prior experience with Colonel Jack O'Neil, both trusting his judgment and his military expertise while having enough emotional distance from the man to select him for a suicide mission. He also knew Jack well enough to ask about his wife by name.
The book describes him as a "stern soldier about fifty years old" (putting his birthday around 1940) and states the following:
"Respected and feared by all who served under him, West was famous for three things: for always making the right decisions under pressure, for erupting into superhuman fits of rage when his orders were not executed exactly as he wished, and for being the best damn poker player in any branch of the armed forces." (Stargate novelization p. 56)
Trivia.
Leon Rippy, who played General West, is a character actor who appears in many movies by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich.


List of airlines of the Bahamas

This is a list of airlines which have an air operator's certificate issued by the Civil Aviation Authority of Bahamas.


Ian Roy MacLennan

Ian Roy MacLennan DFM, FRAIC, MTPIC, RCAF (4 April 1919 – 6 November 2013), was a Canadian fighter pilot and flying ace during the Second World War who later became a successful architect.
Early life.
Born in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, with six siblings, Ian MacLennan was schooled in Gull Lake, Saskatchewan. He studied engineering at Saskatchewan University.
Second World War.
MacLennan was enlisted into the RCAF in October 1940. Following training, he graduated from training school in June 1941, arriving in England during that Summer.
Malta.
After service in Britain, flying sorties over France, in 1942 the RAF asked for desperately-needed volunteers (and their even more needed aircraft) to fight against Axis forces during the Siege of Malta. After damaging two Spitfires in an accident, MacLennan had fallen out of favor with his commanding officer and was asked to volunteer to go. On 9 June 1942, 32 pilots, MacLennan among them, headed towards Malta on board the aircraft carrier HMS "Eagle". Roughly 1000 km (621 miles) from the island, the Spitfires were launched, attempting to fly through a hotbed of Axis aircraft and warships. After a four-hour flight, they landed, with little fuel left. Immediately, Malta-based pilots took over the aircraft, defending against a Luftwaffe attack.
MacLennan flew with No. 1435 Squadron, based at RAF Luqa and formed a good relationship with Canadian aces Squadron Leader Tony Lovell and Flight Lieutenant Henry Wallace McLeod; Lovell witnessed his first victory. MacLennan impressed his superiors with his gunnery skills and was promoted directly from flight sergeant to flight lieutenant and given command of "A" flight. During his time on Malta, MacLennan shot down seven enemy aircraft, becoming an ace.
On Malta, he also met George Beurling, the highest-scoring Canadian pilot of the Second World War, whom he highly regarded. However, the two never flew together.
Capture and escape.
After the siege ended, MacLennan returned home for a period of rest. During D-Day, on 7 June 1944, his Spitfire crash-landed in enemy territory whilst supporting the allied landings. Captured, he was sent to Stalag Luft III, where he subsequently escaped in 1945, as the war was drawing to a close.
Postwar career.
In 1945 MacLennan returned to Canada, studying at University of Toronto, where he was mentored by renowned Canadian architect Eric Arthur. A primary focus of his career in architecture was on producing affordable housing. His role took him to Venezuela, the United States and eventually back to his homeland of Canada. In 1961, he was made a Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, one of the youngest to be elected. <br>
Moshe Safdie, famed designer of Habitat 67 said of him:
MacLennan appeared in two television documentaries, chronicling the Siege of Malta and the role played by Canadian Air Aces during the War.
Death.
Ian MacLennan's wife of 67 years, London-born Nina Olive MacLennan (née Barry) who was "familiar with the Bible as with Shakespeare" died on 17 May 2013, aged 97. He himself died on 6 November 2013, survived by his two children.


Lion Air Group

PT Lion Group is a privately owned, airline holding company, based in Indonesia. The group consists of several airlines from Southeast Asia, currently Lion Air, Wings Air, Batik Air, Malindo Air and Thai Lion Air. The Lion Air Group primarily competes with the Malaysian-based low-cost carrier, AirAsia and domestic competitor and national airline Garuda Indonesia.
History.
The airline group is founded on the success of Lion Air, which was founded in 1999. With the growth of aviation and travel within Indonesia, Lion Air founded Wings Air in 2003, a regional carrier wholly owned by Lion Air.
Regional Expansion.
With the expansion of regional rival AirAsia into the Indonesian aviation market, the Lion Group established Malindo Air in 2012, to compete with AirAsia in the Malaysian aviation market. The airline's name derived from a combination of the countries Malaysia and Indonesia.
Local competition from national airline Garuda Indonesia also arose in 2012, as Garuda announced intentions to form an off-shoot of its Citilink brand into its own low-cost carrier. Further intentions to expand Citilink were announced, such that it could compete with Lion Air in the domestic low-cost travel market. In response, Lion Group announced a full-service competitor to Garuda Indonesia in the form of Batik Air.
To further expand into the region, Lion Air announced its intention to launch Thai Lion Air, based in Bangkok, Thailand. This would allow the group to further encroach on AirAsia's market share, as well as compete with local low-cost carrier Nok Air.
In 2017, the Lion Air Group managed to surpass 50% market share domestically for the first time.
Operations.
The Lion Air Group are based in three different countries in Southeast Asia and have several operations, most of which are airlines.


James Madison Lee

James Madison Lee (October 15, 1926 – September 11, 2017) was a lieutenant general in the United States Army who served as commander of United States Army Pacific (Western Command) from 1983 until his retirement in 1985. Enlisting in the Army Air Corps Reserve in 1944, Lee served during World War II. After his return, he graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1950. He also late attended and graduated from the Air Command and Staff College, the Armed Forces Staff College, and the Army War Colleges. Lee also served in the Vietnam War and Korean War, commanding infantry in each. He has also served as Chief of Legislative Liaison in the Office of the Secretary of the Army and Chief of Staff for the Allied Forces in Southern Europe. He retired in 1985 and died on September 11, 2017.


Pelican Seaplane Base

Pelican Seaplane Base is a public-use seaplane base located in and owned by the City of Pelican, on Chichagof Island in the Hoonah-Angoon Census Area of the U.S. state of Alaska. Scheduled airline service is subsidized by the Essential Air Service program.
The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2015-2019 categorized it as a "general aviation" airport based on 859 enplanements (passenger boardings) in 2012 (the "commercial service" category requires at least 2,500 enplanements per year). As per the Federal Aviation Administration, this airport had 744 enplanements in calendar year 2008, 550 in 2009, and 652 in 2010.
Facilities and aircraft.
Pelican Seaplane Base has one runway designated NW/SE which measures 10,000 by 2,000 feet (3,048 x 610 m). For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2006, the airport had 350 aircraft operations, an average of 29 per month: 86% air taxi and 14% general aviation.


506th Air Refueling Squadron

The 506th Air Refueling Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 42d Air Division at Bergstrom Air Force Base, Texas where it was inactivated on 1 July 1957 and its personnel and equipment transferred to the 92d Air Refueling Squadron.
The Squadron was first activated as the 406th Fighter Squadron in 1943, one of the original squadrons of the 371st Fighter Group. The squadron saw combat in the European theater of World War II before being inactivated in 1945, earning a Distinguished Unit Citation for its attacks in March 1945 that led to the defeat of Axis forces in southern Germany.
The 506th Air Refueling Squadron was established in 1953 by Strategic Air Command (SAC) at Dow Air Force Base, Maine and equipped with rigid flying boom KB-29P Superfortress tankers. The squadron mission was to provide in-flight refueling for its parent wing and other USAF units. It moved to Bergstrom in 1955 and was inactivated there when SAC transferred its fighter force to Tactical Air Command.
History.
World War II.
The 406th Fighter Squadron was activated ar Richmond Army Air Base, Virginia in the summer of 1943 as one of the three original squadrons of the 371st Fighter Group. The squadron trained in the northeastern United States with Republic P-47 Thunderbolts under First Air Force before moving overseas in the spring of 1944.
Upon arriving in England, the squadron became an element of Ninth Air Force at Bisterne Close, England. The squadron's first combat operation was a fighter sweep over Occupied France. Prior to Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy, the 406th flew fighter sweeps, dive bombing and escort missions.
On D-Day the 406th patrolled the beachhead. attacking railroads, trains, vehicles. gun emplacements and other targets. Soon after the invasion, the squadron moved to France and participated in the air interdiction that preceded the Allied breakout at St Lo in late July and supported the following drive across northern France. It continued to operate in northeastern France and southwestern Germany through the winter of 1945, attacking storage dumps, marshalling yard, factories, bridges, roads, and vehicles. In December 1944 it provided close air support for ground forces engaged in the Battle of the Bulge.
The squadron was awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation for its attacks between 15 and 21 March 1945 that contributed to the defeat of Axis forces in southern Germany. It continued combat operations until the Surrender of Germany in May. The squadron remained with the occupation forces in Germany until October 1945 when it returned to the United States and was inactivated.
Cold War.
The 506th Air Refueling Squadron was established on 25 September 1953 by Strategic Air Command (SAC) at Dow AFB and initially equipped with rigid flying boom KB-29P Superfortress tankers. Its mission was to provide in-flight refueling to the Republic F-84 Thunderjet strategic fighters of its parent wing. The squadron also supported other USAF units as directed. In 1954 the squadron deployed to Kindley Air Force Base, Bermuda to support SAC fighters of the 508th Strategic Fighter Wing.
In 1955 SAC concentrated its strategic fighter units, and the 506th's parent 506th Strategic Fighter Wing moved to Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma in March. The squadron remained at Dow and was reassigned to the 4060th Air Refueling Wing until August, when it moved to Bergstrom Air Force Base, Texas, where it was assigned to the 42d Air Division, the parent of the 12th Strategic Fighter Wing, to which the squadron was attached.
The 506th was inactivated at Bergstrom on 1 July 1957 and its mission, personnel, and equipment were transferred to the 92d Air Refueling Squadron, which was activated that same day to assume SAC resources at Bergstrom as the 42d Air Division and SAC fighter organizations were transferred to Tactical Air Command.
The 406th Fighter Squadron and the 506th Air Refueling Squadron were consolidated in 1985, but the consolidated unit has not been active.
Lineage.
406th Fighter Squadron
506th Air Refueling Squadron


Mihir K. Roy

Vice Admiral Mihir Kumar 'Micky' Roy, PVSM, AVSM was a flag officer in the Indian Navy. He last served as the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command (FOC-in-C ENC).
Born in a zamindari Bengali family, he joined the Royal Indian Navy in 1946. After four years of training, he transferred to the Indian Navy and was among the first officers to be sent to the United Kingdom to train as a naval aviator. From 1955 to 1957, he commanded the Fleet requirement unit, the first naval air unit. In 1961, he became the first commanding officer of the Indian Navy's first air-ASW naval air squadron INAS 310, a squadron formed to be embarked on India's first aircraft carrier - . Promoted to the rank of commander, he commanded the Hunt-class destroyer and the 22nd destroyer squadron. He subsequently commanded the naval air station INS Garuda and the Leopard-class frigate and the 16th frigate squadron.
During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, he was the Director Naval Intelligence (DNI). As DNI, he was the architect of the successful naval commando operations, for which he was awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal. After attending the Royal College of Defence Studies, he served as the commanding officer of "INS Vikrant" and later the chief of staff of the Western Naval Command. Promoted to flag rank in 1976, he served as the Assistant Chief of Personnel at naval HQ before taking over command of the Eastern Fleet. From 1977 to 1979, he was the senior directing staff at the National Defence College. Promoted to Vice Admiral, he took over as the FOC-in-C ENC. He led the ENC for four years, from 1980 to 1984. On retirement from the Navy, he was appointed the first Director-General of the Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV) project. The project was aimed at acquiring India's first nuclear submarine.
Regarded as a scholar, he was the first officer from the Indian Armed Forces to be selected as a "Jawaharlal Nehru Fellow". He also wrote a well-researched book "War in the Indian Ocean" in 1995 and served as the editor of the Journal of the Society for Indian Ocean Studies, which he co-founded.
Early life and education.
Roy was born on 22 June 1926 in an aristocratic zamindari Bengali family in Bogura, Bengal Presidency. His father Bijoy Kumar Roy was an officer in the Imperial Forest Service, who retired as the Deputy conservator of forests in the Madras Presidency. He grew up in Vellore, where he was schooled at the Voorhees College. He then attended the Presidency College, Chennai where he obtained a Master of Arts honours degree in Economics and Political science. Growing up in Tamil Nadu, he spoke Tamil fluently. He planned to study accountancy in the United Kingdom, but changed his mind and sat for the armed services exam. He stood first among those from Madras Presidency and joined the Royal Indian Navy (RIN) in 1946.
Naval career.
Early career.
Joining the RIN as a cadet, he attended the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth. He trained on board the Hawkins-class cruiser which was converted into a training ship. He subsequently served on the King George V-class battleship and was on board during the Home Fleet review on the River Clyde. He the transferred to the Algerine-class minesweeper where he participated in operations clearing mines laid between Iceland and the USSR.
Post-Independence.
After the Independence of India, Roy transferred to the Indian Navy. He earned his watchkeeping ticket on board the R-class destroyer . In 1951, he was among the first batch of five officers to be sent to the United Kingdom to train as naval aviators. A part of the No. 8 RN observer course, he stood first in flying and ground subjects and was awarded his "wings" on 12 May 1952 at RNAS St Merryn (HMS Vulture). He also received letters of commendation from the First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral of the Fleet Rhoderick McGrigor. He attended the long photography course at RNAS Ford and the operational intelligence course at RAF Wyton before being sent on attachment to RNAS Eglinton (HMS Gannet). After his training, he returned to India and was part of the fledgling naval air arm. On 10 October 1953, the first Presidential fleet review took place at Bombay. A Short Sealand aircraft carried out a successful water landing after saluting the President Dr. Rajendra Prasad. The aircraft was piloted by Lieutenant Commander Y. N. Singh with Roy as crew.
On 1 February 1955, Roy took command of the Fleet Requirement Unit (FRU) as its fourth commanding officer. The FRU was the first unit of the Indian Naval Air Arm which in 1959 was commissioned as INAS 550. He was in command of the FRU for two years, until February 1957. In early 1961, India's first aircraft carrier was being acquired from the UK. was commissioned on 4 March 1961 at 1000 hours by Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, the High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom. The "Vikrant" sailed from Belfast for Portsmouth in March 1961 and then to Portland for sea trials. Two aircraft squadrons were to be formed to embark on the carrier - the INAS 300 formed in the UK consisting of Hawker Sea Hawk jet fighters and the INAS 310 formed in France consisting of the Bréguet 1050 Alizé Anti-submarine warfare aircraft.
Roy was selected to be the commissioning commanding officer of INAS 310, nicknamed the "Cobras". The squadron was commissioned on 21 March 1961 by the Indian Ambassador to France, Ali Yavar Jung in Hyères, France onboard the French aircraft carrier Arromanches. After the commissioning, Roy led the squadron in work-up and trials with the French Navy. In May, under him, the squadron embarked on the "Vikrant" in Toulon, France. In August, INAS 300 also embarked in the English Channel. The squadrons were embarked on the carrier on its way home to India. "Vikrant" called on multiple ports on the way like Alexandria, Port Said and Aden, with "" as escort. On 3 November, "Vikrant" reached home waters, off Bombay, where the two squadrons disembarked. Roy then took the squadron to INS Garuda in Cochin. He was in command till March 1962.
In April 1964, Roy was selected to attend the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington. After completing the course, he was appointed Captain 22nd Destroyer squadron as well as the commanding officer of the lead destroyer of the squadron, . Apart from the "Godavari", the squadron consisted of and . On 8 August 1966, Roy took command of the Naval air station INS Garuda. He commanded the station for three years, until August 1969. He was promoted to the substantive rank of Captain during this tenure, on 30 June 1969. Roy was then appointed Captain 16th Frigate squadron and the commanding officer of the lead frigate of the squadron, INS Brahmaputra. The squadron consisted of her sister ships and . In March 1970, Admiral Sardarilal Mathradas Nanda took over as the eighth Chief of the Naval Staff. Shortly thereafter, he picked Roy to be the next Director Naval Intelligence (DNI) at Naval HQ. The naval intelligence directorate he headed had four wings and around 120 officers and men.
Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.
The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was sparked by the Bangladesh Liberation war, a conflict between the traditionally dominant West Pakistanis and the majority East Pakistanis. In 1970, East Pakistanis demanded autonomy for the state, but the Pakistani government failed to satisfy these demands and, in early 1971, a demand for secession took root in East Pakistan. In March, the Pakistan Armed Forces launched a fierce campaign to curb the secessionists, the latter including soldiers and police from East Pakistan. Thousands of East Pakistanis died, and nearly ten million refugees fled to West Bengal, an adjacent Indian state. In April, India decided to assist in the formation of the new nation of Bangladesh.
In April 1971, Roy started building an underwater guerrilla force manned by "raw but physically strong and mentally stubborn Bangla Desh personnel to launch surface and sub surface raids on ports, shipping and inland waterways." He planned to set up a force of about 600 commandos and would complement the Indian Army's covert training of the Mukti Bahini. This force would have the Bengali sailors who escaped from the Pakistani submarine as the nucleus, trained by Indian naval officers and divers.
Roy's staff officer was Commander M. N. R. Samant who ran the operation on the ground. Two camps were set up at Plassey and Haldia - Camp 2 Plassey (C2P) and Camp 2 Haldia (C2H). The frogmen were trained rigorously. They were required to swim 12 miles in complete darkness, breathing through a reed while manoeuvring neutrally buoyant limpet mines, attach the mines and swim away before the mines exploded. They concentrated on attacking ports, inland harbours, ferries, pontoons, and all types of vessels.
As Roy wrote later in his book, their aims were:
The naval commando operations were extremely successful. Overall, about 400 naval commandos and frogmen were trained. Along with a Mukti Bahini gunboat, they captured, sank or damaged about 15 Pakistani ships, 11 coasters, 7 gunboats, 11 barges, 2 tankers and 19 river craft. The frogmen sank or crippled over one lakh tons of shipping, immobilised jetties and wharves and blocked navigable channels. For these operations, Roy was awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal on 26 January 1972. Commander M.N.R. Samant, Lieutenant Commander J.P.A. Noronha and Leading Seaman Chiman Singh were awarded the Maha Vir Chakra.
Post-war career.
In September 1972, he was one of two officers from the armed forces to be selected to attend the Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS), London. He attended the course starting January 1973. On his return to India after graduating from RCDS, he was appointed the ninth commanding officer of . He took command of the carrier on 3 January 1974, the first naval aviator to do so. He served as the flag captain to three fleet commanders of the Western Fleet - Rear Admirals Swaraj Parkash, N. P. Datta and Rustom K. S. Ghandhi. In late 1975, Roy led "Vikrant" which, accompanied by frigates , and , called on ports in the Persian Gulf. As the flagship, "Vikrant" flew the flag of the Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet Rear Admiral R. K. S. Ghandhi. After two years in command of the carrier, he relinquished command in February 1976, handing over to another naval aviator Captain R. H. Tahiliani. He was then appointed Chief of Staff (COS) to the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command Vice Admiral Ronald Lynsdale Pereira in the rank of Commodore.
Flag rank.
After a short stint as COS of the Western Naval Command, Roy was promoted to the acting rank of rear admiral and appointed Assistant Chief of Personnel (ACOP). This appointment was that of an assistant Principal Staff Officer at Naval HQ. He served as the ACOP for a year before being appointed the sixth Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet (FOCEF). He took over from Rear Admiral D. S. Paintal on 10 June 1977. In early 1978, he was appointed Senior Directing Staff (SDS) at the prestigious National Defence College (NDC), New Delhi. In February of that year, he relinquished command of the Eastern Fleet, handing over to Rear Admiral Oscar Stanley Dawson. He served as the SDS at NDC for a year and a half, till December 1979.
On 24 March 1980, Roy was appointed Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command (FOC-in-C ENC) at Visakhapatnam. He assumed command from Vice Admiral M. R. Schunker. In September of that year, the Vamsadhara River flooded and caused a lot of destruction around Srikakulam. Roy led the ENC's efforts towards flood rescue and evacuation. The ENC set up an advance operational base in Srikakulam and dispatched naval doctors, divers and sailors towards rescue operations. In 1981, he initiated the development of naval air stations in the Eastern Naval Command's area of responsibility. There existed just one helicopter flight in Visakhapatnam. Roy's efforts led to the construction of the naval air station in Arakkonam. INS Rajali was commissioned in March 1992 and has the longest military runway in Asia.
In the same year, Roy was a part of a high-level technical team consisting of Director General Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) Dr. Raja Ramanna, Dr. P.R. Dastidar of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Vice Admiral B.R. Chowdhury and Commodore Vijai Singh Shekhawat. The team visited the USSR to study an offer from the Soviet Union to design and build a nuclear submarine. In March 1982, Roy led the command in naval and joint exercises "Operation Eastwind" off the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. He instituted the FOC-in-C East Rolling Trophy to be awarded to the pilot standing first in overall merit. On 26 January 1984, he was awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal for distinguished service of the most exceptional order. Roy had a long tenure as the FOC-in-C East, serving for a little over four years. After close to four decades in service, in April 1984, he retired from the Indian Navy after relinquishing command of the Eastern Naval Command, handing over to Vice Admiral Jayant Ganpat Nadkarni.
Advanced Technology Vessel.
On retiring from the Navy, Roy was appointed the first Director General of the Advanced Technology Vessel project. The project was aimed at building India's first nuclear submarine. He held the rank of Secretary to the Government of India and reported into the Chairman of DRDO. The project operated under the direct supervision of the Prime Minister. During his tenure, the Charlie-class submarine Soviet submarine K-43 was leased to the Indian Navy. The submarine was rechristened INS Chakra and served in the Indian Navy from 1988 to 1991. As the DG, he also chaired the Joint Indo-Soviet Working Group (JISWOG). The ATV project delivered the first indigenous nuclear submarine when the lead-ship of the Arihant-class submarine INS Arihant was launched on 26 July 2009 and commissioned in August 2016.
Later life.
After retiring from the Navy, Roy was active in multiple projects and societies. He was a member of the Aeronautical Society, the Eastern Ghat Development Board and President of Andhra Pradesh Natural History Society. On 1 July 1984, he was appointed Captain Commandant of the executive branch, succeeding Vice Admiral R. K. S. Ghandhi. In 1987, he also co-founded the Society for Indian Ocean Studies (SIOS) with historians Saiyid Nurul Hasan and Satish Chandra. He also served as associate editor and later editor of the Journal of Indian Ocean Studies. He edited the journal for around twenty years, until his demise. In 1989, he became the first from the Indian Armed Forces to be selected for the prestigious "Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship". He was also a Ford Foundation visiting fellow at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. In 1995, he wrote a book 'War in the Indian Ocean' which is regarded as well-researched, well-documented and informative.
Roy died on 20 May 2013 at his home in Gurgaon, aged 87.
Legacy.
Roy has many firsts to his credit. He was the first observer of the Indian Navy and the first observer to rise to flag rank. He was the first to fly the Alizé on the deck of the aircraft carrier "INS Vikrant" and later the first naval aviator to command the carrier. He pioneered air-ASW in India as the first commanding officer of INAS 310. He was also regarded as the father of the Indian nuclear submarine program as he was the first Director-General of the ATV project. He was also the first services officer to be selected as a Jawaharlal Nehru Fellow.
Roy is credited with seizing the initiative and planning underwater guerrilla operations behind enemy lines. The naval commando operations (X) is considered to be among the best planned and executed military operations in the world. The Observer school building at INS Garuda in Kochi is named "Mihir Hall" after Roy.