Apollo 4 Saturn V (AS-501) on the launch pad at sunset, the evening before launch, 8 November 1967. (NASA)
9 November 1967: The first flight of a Saturn V took place when the unmanned Apollo 4/Saturn V (AS-501) was launched from Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida. The rocket lifted off at 12:00:01.263 UTC.
AS-501 consisted of the first Saturn V launch vehicle, SA-501, with Apollo Spacecraft 017 (a Block I vehicle with Block II upgrades), and included the Launch Escape Tower, Command Module, Service Module, Lunar Module Adapter, and Lunar Module Test Article LTA-10R).
The Saturn V rocket was a three-stage, liquid-fueled heavy launch vehicle. Fully assembled with the Apollo Command and Service Module, it stood 363 feet, 0.15 inches (110.64621 meters) tall, from the tip of the escape tower to the bottom of the F-1 engines. The first and second stages were 33 feet, 1.2 inches (10.089 meters) in diameter. Fully loaded and fueled the rocket weighed 6,200,000 pounds (2,948,350 kilograms).¹ It could lift a payload of 260,000 pounds (117,934 kilograms) to Low Earth Orbit.
The first stage was designated S-IC. It was designed to lift the entire rocket to an altitude of 220,000 feet (67,056 meters) and accelerate to a speed of more than 5,100 miles per hour (8,280 kilometers per hour). The S-IC stage was built by Boeing at the Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans, Louisiana. It was 138 feet (42.062 meters) tall and had an empty weight of 290,000 pounds (131,542 kilograms). Fully fueled with 203,400 gallons (770,000 liters) of RP-1 and 318,065 gallons (1,204,000 liters) of liquid oxygen, the stage weighed 5,100,000 pounds (2,131,322 kilograms). It was propelled by five Rocketdyne F-1 engines, producing 1,522,000 pounds of thrust, each, for a total of 7,610,000 pounds of thrust at Sea Level.² These engines were ignited seven seconds prior to lift off and the outer four burned for 168 seconds. The center engine was shut down after 142 seconds to reduce the rate of acceleration. The F-1 engines were built by the Rocketdyne Division of North American Aviation at Canoga Park, California.
A Rocketdyne F-1 engine is being installed on a Saturn S-IC first stage. (NASA)
The S-II second stage was built by North American Aviation at Seal Beach, California. It was 81 feet, 7 inches (24.87 meters) tall and had the same diameter as the first stage. The second stage weighed 80,000 pounds (36,000 kilograms) empty and 1,060,000 pounds loaded. The propellant for the S-II was liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. The stage was powered by five Rocketdyne J-2 engines, also built at Canoga Park. Each engine produced 232,250 pounds of thrust, and combined, 1,161,250 pounds of thrust.³
The Saturn V third stage was designated S-IVB. It was built by Douglas Aircraft Company at Huntington Beach, California. The S-IVB was 58 feet, 7 inches (17.86 meters) tall with a diameter of 21 feet, 8 inches (6.604 meters). It had a dry weight of 23,000 pounds (10,000 kilograms) and fully fueled weighed 262,000 pounds. The third stage had one J-2 engine and also used liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen for propellant.⁴ The S-IVB would place the Command and Service Module into Low Earth Orbit, then, when all was ready, the J-2 would be restarted for the Trans Lunar Injection.
Eighteen Saturn V rockets were built. They were the most powerful machines ever built by man.
Apollo 4 Saturn V (AS-501) lifts off at 12:00:01 UTC, 9 November 1967. (NASA)
¹ The AS-501 total vehicle mass at First Motion was 6,137,868 pounds (2,784,090 kilograms).
² Post-flight analysis gave the total thrust of AS-501’s S-IC stage as 7,728,734.5 pounds of thrust (34,379.1 kilonewtons).
³ Post-flight analysis gave the total thrust of AS-501’s S-II stage as 1,086,396 pounds of thrust (4,832.5 kilonewtons).
⁴ Post-flight analysis gave the total thrust of AS-501’s S-IVB stage as 222,384 pounds of thrust (989.2 kilonewtons) during the first burn; 224,001 pounds (996.4 kilonewtons) during the second burn.
9 November 1962: Flight 74 of the X-15 Program was the Number Two aircraft’s 31st flight. X-15 56-6671 was carried aloft by Balls 8, the Boeing NB-52B Stratofortress, 53-008, for launch over Mud Lake, Nevada. NASA test pilot John Barron (“Jack”) McKay was to take the rocketplane to 125,000 feet at Mach 5.5 to investigate the stability and handling of the X-15 with the lower half of the ventral fin removed, and to investigate aerodynamic boundary layer phenomena.
North American Aviation X-15 56-6671 under the right wing of a B-52 Stratofortress at 45,000 feet. (NASA)
The B-52 mothership dropped Jack McKay and the X-15 right on schedule at 10:23:07.0 a.m., local time, from an altitude of 45,000 feet (13,716 meters) and speed of approximately 450 knots (833 kilometers per hour). McKay advanced the throttle to ignite the Reaction Motors XLR99-RM-1 rocket engine. It fired immediately but when McKay advanced the throttle for the full 57,000 pounds of thrust, the engine remained at just 30%.
The X-15 could have flown back to Edwards Air Force Base, about 200 miles (320 kilometers) to the south, but with the engine not responding to the throttle, it was uncertain that it would continue running. The decision was made to make an emergency landing at Mud Lake.
Having reached a peak altitude of 53,950 feet (16,444 meters) and Mach 1.49 (1,109 miles per hour/1,785 kilometers per hour), Jack McKay continued to circle the lake burning off propellants as he lost altitude. The engine was shut down at 70.5 seconds. McKay positioned the aircraft for landing as he continued to dump unused propellant and liquid oxygen, but a considerable amount remained on board.
As he neared touchdown, he tried to lower the flaps but they did not deploy. The X-15 touched down on the dry lake bed at 296 miles per hour (476.4 kilometers per hour), 66 miles per hour (106 kilometers per hour) faster than normal.
Duration of the flight from air launch to touchdown was 6 minutes, 31.1 seconds.
The high speed and extra weight caused the X-15’s rear skids to hit harder than normal. When the nose wheels hit, a rebound effect placed even higher loads on the rear struts. At the same time, with the elevators in an extreme nose-up position, the higher aerodynamic loads pushed the skids deeper into the lake bed. This higher loading caused the left rear strut to collapse. The X-15 rolled to the left and the left elevator dug into the lake bed. This caused the aircraft to start sliding to the left. Jack McKay jettisoned the canopy and as the right wing tip dug into the surface, the X-15 flipped over and came to rest upside down.
A Piasecki H-21 rescue helicopter lands near the overturned X-15 at Mud Lake, 9 November 1961. (NASA)The X-15 rolled over when the left landing skid collapsed because of the high-speed, overweight emergency landing at Mud Lake, Nevada. Jack McKay was trapped in the cockpit and suffered serious spinal injuries. (NASA)The Number Two X-15, 56-6671, lies upside down and severely damaged at Mud Lake, Nevada, 9 November 1962. (NASA)
McKay was seriously injured. He was trapped in the upside down X-15 and was in danger from the vapors of the ammonia propellants and liquid oxygen. An H-21 rescue helicopter hovered overhead to blow the vapor away.
Prior to the flight, an Air Force C-130 had brought a fire engine and crew to standby at Mud Lake, returned to Edwards and picked up a second fire engine and its crew, then remained airborne should an emergency landing be made at another intermediate dry lake.
These propositioned emergency assets were able to rescue McKay and to transport him to the hospital back at Edwards.
McKay eventually recovered sufficiently to return to flight status, but ultimately his injuries forced him to retire.
The Number Two X-15 was severely damaged. It was taken back to North American and was rebuilt into the X-15A-2, intended to reach speeds up to Mach 8. It would be more than a year and a half before it flew again.
North American Aviation X-15A-2 56-6671, after a 19-month repair, redesign and modification program. The fuselage was lengthened, additional propellant and reaction control tanks installed internally, the nose wheel and rear landing skid struts lengthened, and external tanks installed. (NASA)
Major Robert M. White was the first pilot to exceed Mach 4, Mach 5, and on 9 November 1961, he flew to Mach 6.04. (U.S. Air Force)
9 November 1961: Major Robert M. White, U.S. Air Force, became the first pilot to fly faster than Mach 6 when he flew the number two North American Aviation X-15 hypersonic research rocketplane, 56-6671, to Mach 6.04.
This was the 45th flight of the X-15 program, and Bob White’s 11th flight. The purpose of this test flight was to accelerate 56-6671 to its maximum velocity, to gather data about aerodynamic heating at hypersonic speeds, and to evaluate the rocketplane’s stability and handling.
Boeing NB-52A Stratofortress 52-003 carries a North American Aviation X-15 piloted by Major Bob White. (NASA)
The X-15 was carried to approximately 45,000 feet (13,716 meters) while mounted to a pylon under the right wing of the “mothership,” a Boeing NB-52B Stratofortress, 52-008, nicknamed Balls 8. White was dropped over Mud Lake, Nevada, approximately 200 miles (322 kilometers) north of Edwards Air Force Base. Once clear of the B-52, he ignited the Reaction Motors XLR99-RM-1 rocket engine, and with it producing 57,000 pounds of thrust (253.549 kilonewtons) at full throttle, the X-15 accelerated for 86.9 seconds. The rocketplane reached a peak altitude of 101,600 feet (30,968 meters). Its speed was Mach 6.04 (4,094 miles per hour/6,589 kilometers per hour).
White stated in his post-flight report, “When I leveled off at about 101,000 feet, I made a little downward pressure [on the control stick], because I didn’t want to be climbing. I remember . . . going along watching that [Mach] meter reading roughly 6,000 feet per second,[and] saying to myself, ‘Go, go, go, go!’ We did just crack it, because we knew that bringing all the proper things together, we could or should get just about Mach 6.”
In order to achieve the goal, the flight plan called for pushing the LR-99 to the point of exhaustion instead of manually shutting down the engine at an arbitrary point. White said, “The shutdown seemed to be a little bit different this time, compared with a shutdown by closing the throttle. It seemed to occur over a longer time interval.”
— The X-15 Rocket Plane: Flying the First Wings into Space, by Michelle Evans, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln and London, 2013, Chapter 3 at Page 87.
The number two North American Aviation X-15, 56-6671, is dropped from the Boeing NB-52A Stratofortress, 52-003. The XLR99 rocket engine is just igniting. Frost from the cryogenic fuels coats the fuselage. (NASA)
“The airplane really did get hot on those flights. Temperatures in excess of 1,300 °F. were recorded. Parts of the airplane glowed cherry red and softened up a bit during those flights. The airplane got so damned hot that it popped and banged like an old iron stove. It spewed smoke out of its bowels and it twitched like frog legs in a skillet. But it survived.”
— At the Edge of Space: The X-15 Flight Program, by Milton O. Thompson, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, 1992, at Page 98.
North American Aviation X-15 56-6671 accelerates after the XLR99 engine is ignited. (NASA)
As the X-15 decelerated through Mach 2.4, the right side windshield shattered, leaving it completely opaque. On Bob White’s previous flight, the left windshield had also broken. Fortunately, in both cases, only the outer layer of the dual pane glass broke. The reduced visibility made the approach difficult to judge, but White made a successful landing, touching down on Rogers Dry Lake after a flight of 9 minutes, 31.2 seconds duration.
The number three North American Aviation X-15 rocketplane, 56-6672, just before touchdown on Rogers Dry Lake. A Lockheed F-104 Starfighter chase plane escorts it. The green smoke helps the pilots judge wind direction and speed. Frost on the X-15’s belly shows residual propellants in the tanks. (NASA)The shattered windshield of X-15 56-6671, 9 November 1961. (NASA)
A P-51 Mustang fighter pilot in World War II, Robert M. White was shot down on his 52nd combat mission in February 1945 and captured. He was held as a prisoner of war until the war in Europe came to an end in April 1945. White was recalled to active duty during the Korean War. He was a graduate of the Air Force Experimental Test Pilot School and flew tests of many aircraft at Edwards before entering the X-15 program.
Major White had been the first pilot to fly faster than Mach 4, Mach 5 and Mach 6. He was the first to fly over 200,000 feet, then over 300,000 feet. He made at total of sixteen X-15 flights.
Major Robert M. White, U.S. Air Force, with one of the three North American Aviation X-15s on Rogers Dry Lake, 1961. (NASA)
After leaving the X-15 program, Bob White returned to operational duties. Later, he flew 70 combat missions over North Vietnam in the Republic F-105 Thunderchief supersonic fighter bomber, including leading the attack against the Paul Doumer Bridge at Hanoi, 11 August 1967, for which he was awarded the Air Force Cross. He next went to Wright-Patterson AFB where he was director of the F-15 Eagle systems program. He returned to Edwards AFB as commander of the Air Force Flight Test Center. White was promoted to Major General in 1975.
General White retired from the U.S. Air Force in 1981. He died 10 March 2010.
A North American Aviation support crew deactivates X-15 56-6671 on Rogers Dry Lake after a flight, while the mothership, NB-52A Stratofortress 52-003 flies overhead. (NASA)
Major Roy Lee Anderson, USMC (left), and Sikorsky test pilot Robert Stewart Decker. (FAI)
9–11 November 1956: Over a three-day period at Windsor Locks, Connecticut, a Sikorsky HR2S-1 heavy-lift helicopter, flown by Major Roy Lee Anderson, United States Marine Corps, and Sikorsky test pilot Robert Stewart Decker, set three Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) world records for payload and speed.
On 9 November 1956, the HR2S-1 carried a payload of 5,000 kilograms (11,023 pounds) payload to an altitude of 3,722 meters (12,211 feet). ¹
The following day, 10 November, it set a record for the Greatest Mass Carried to a Height of 2,000 Meters (6562 feet), with a payload of 6,010 kilograms (13,250 pounds). ²
On 11 November, the third day, Anderson and Decker flew the helicopter to a speed of 261,91 kilometers per hour (162.74 miles per hour) over a 3-kilometer (1.86 statute miles) course .³
For these flights, Major Anderson was awarded a third gold star in lieu of a fourth award of the Distinguished Flying Cross.
The world-record-setting Sikorsky HR2S-1. (Fédération Aéronautique Internationale)
United Press reported:
US Helicopter Sets Altitude, Speed Records
STRATFORD, Conn.—UP—A twin-engine Marine helicopter has established two international records for speed and altitude.
The Sikorsky division of United Aircraft Corporation said one of its S56 helicopters reached 162.7 miles per hour during a recent trial. The old record, set two years ago by another Sikorsky model, was 156 miles per hour.
Tops Russian Craft
The S56 flew more than 12,000 feet high while carrying 11,050 pounds. With the payload increased to 13,250 pounds it reached 7,000 feet, far outstripping the previous mark set by a Russian craft of 8,820 pounds to 6,560 feet.
The altitude trials were conducted from Sikorsky’s field in Stratford. Major Roy L. Anderson was pilot and Robert S. Decker copilot.
The records are subject to confirmation by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale. The trials were conducted under the auspices of the National Aeronautics [sic] Association.
The Sikorsky HR2S-1 was an assault and heavy-lift helicopter produced for the United States Navy and Marine Corps. It was later adopted by the U.S. Army as the H-37 Mohave.
The S-56 was a large twin-engine helicopter, following the single main rotor/tail (anti-torque) rotor configuration pioneered by Sikorsky with the Vought-Sikorsky VS-300 in 1939. The helicopter was designed to be flown by two pilots in a cockpit located above the main cabin. The two engines were placed in nacelles outboard of the stub wings which also housed the helicopter’s retractable main landing gear. Two large clam shell cargo doors and loading ramp were placed in the nose. The HR2S-1 incorporated a stability system and an automatic torque compensating tail rotor.
The S-56 series was the largest and fastest helicopter built up to that time, and remains the largest reciprocating engine helicopter ever built.
The S-56 was equipped with a five blade articulated main rotor. This allowed increased lift and higher forward air speed before encountering retreating blade stall than earlier three and four blade systems. A six blade rotor system was tested, which showed further improvements, but was not adopted. The main rotor diameter was initially 68 feet (20.726 meters), but later increased to 72 feet (21.946 meters). The main rotor blades had a chord of 1 foot, 9.5 inches (0.546 meters) and used the symmetrical NACA 0012 airfoil, which was standard with American helicopters up to that time. Later in the program, the blades were lengthened and the chord increased to 1 foot, 11.65 inches (0.601 meters). The airfoil was changed to the NACA 0010.9 airfoil. These changes resulted in increased lift and higher speed. The four blade tail rotor had a diameter of 15 feet (4.572 meters). The individual blades had a chord of 1 foot, 1.5 inches (0.343 meters). As is common with American helicopters, the main rotor system turned counter-clockwise as seen from above. (The advancing blade is on the right.) The tail rotor turned counter-clockwise when viewed from the helicopter’s left side. (The advancing blade is above the axis of rotation.)
Sikorsky S-56 three-view illustration with dimensions. (Sikorsky Historical Archives)
With the longer blades installed, the helicopter’s length with rotors turning was 88 feet (26.822 meters). The fuselage had a length of 64 feet, 10.69 inches (19.779 meters), and the height was 17 feet, 2 inches (5.232 meters). The HR2S-1 had an empty weight of 21,502 pounds (9,753 kilograms), and maximum weight (overload) of 31,000 pounds (14,061 kilograms). Its fuel capacity was 1,000 U.S. gallons (3,785 liters) carried in 6 tanks located in the nacelles, wings and fuselage. It could carry 20 fully-equipped troops, or 16 litters. Its maximum cargo capacity was 10,000 pounds (4,536 kilograms).
The HR2S-1 had an automatic main rotor blade folding system, and its tail rotor pylon could be folded alongside the fuselage, reducing the length to 55 feet, 8 inches (16.967 meters) and width to 27 feet, 4 inches (8.331 meters). This allowed the helicopter to use aircraft carrier elevators and reduced storage space on the hangar deck.
Early S-56 models were powered by two air-cooled, supercharged 2,804.461 cubic inch displacement (45.957 liters) Pratt & Whitney Double Wasp R-2800-50 two-row, 18-cylinder radial engines rated at 1,900 horsepower at 2,500 r.p.m. These were upgraded in later models to R-2800-54s. These were direct drive engines with a compression ratio of 6.75:1. The R-2800-54 was rated at 2,100 horsepower at 2,700 r.p.m. to 5,000 feet (1,524 meters) for takeoff; with a normal power rating of 1,900 horsepower at 2,600 r.p.m. to 7,000 feet (2,134 meters). It required 115/145 octane aviation gasoline. Each engine was supplied with 13.3 gallons (50.35 liters) of lubricating oil. The R-2800-54 was 6 feet, 9.00 inches long (2.057 meters), 4 feet, 5.00 inches (1.346 meters) in diameter, and weighed 2,300 pounds (1,043 kilograms).
The helicopter’s engines were installed at an 80° angle to the aircraft center line, with a 12.5° upward angle to align with the main transmission input. The front of the engines faced inboard. According to Sikorsky, this unusual installation resulted in high oil consumption, and because the engines were operated at continuous high r.p.m., the time interval between engine overhauls was reduced from the normal 2,000 hours to just 350 hours.
Two U.S. Marine Corps HR2S-1 Mohave assault helicopters of Marine Helicopter Transport Squadron (HMR) 462 at Camp Pendelton, California, late 1950s. (Naval History and Heritage Command)
The production HR2S-1 had a cruise speed of 100 knots (115 miles per hour/185 kilometers per hour), and a maximum speed of 121 knots (139 miles per hour/224 kilometers per hour) at Sea Level. The helicopter’s service ceiling was 13,800 feet (4,206 meters), and its absolute hover ceiling was 5,400 feet (1,646 meters). It had a maximum rate of climb of 1,580 feet per minute (8.03 meters per second) at Sea Level, and a vertical rate of climb 950 feet per minute (4.83 meters per second), also at Sea Level. The combat radius of the HR2S-1 was 100 nautical miles (115 statute miles/185 kilometers) at 100 knots (115 miles per hour/185 kilometers per hour.)
55 HR2S-1s were delivered to the U.S. Marine Corps. The U.S. Army purchased 94 S-56s in the H-37A Mohave configuration. 90 of these were later returned to Sikorsky to be upgraded to H-37Bs. This added the automatic stabilization system of the HR2S-1, changed the variable incidence horizontal stabilizers on both side of the fuselage to a single stabilizer on top of the tail rotor pylon. Engine oil capacity was increased to 30 gallons (113.6 liters) per engine.
A total of 154 S-56s were built between 1953 and 1960.
U.S. Marines exit the front cargo doors of a Sikorsky XHR2S-1 helicopter during a training exercise. (NAID 74241875
Lieutenant Commander William T. Amen, U.S. Navy, Commanding Officer of Fighter Squadron VF-111, is congratulated on his air to air victory after returning to the aircraft carrier USS Philippine Sea (CV-47). (U.S. Navy)
9 November 1950: The first jet vs. jet air-to-air victory which can be confirmed from both sides occurred when Lieutenant Commander William T. Amen, United States Navy, flying a Grumman F9F-2B Panther, Bu. No. 127184, shot down a Soviet Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 over Korea.
Captain Mikhail Fedorovich Grachev, 139th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, led a squadron of MiG-15 fighters from their base at Antung, China to intercept U.S. Navy Douglas AD Skyraiders which were attacking bridges across the Yalu River, which marked the border between China and Korea.
Russian technicians service a MiG-15bis of the 351st Fighter Aviation Regiment at Antung Air Base, China, mid-1952. (Unattributed)
An escorting group of Grumman F9F-2B Panther fighters, assigned to Fighter Squadron 111 (VMF-111, “Sundowners”) aboard the Essex-class aircraft carrier, USS Philippine Sea (CV-47) went after the MiGs as they dove on the Skyraiders. The Soviet flight broke up into single aircraft, or pairs, and did not counterattack with any organization. Visibility was poor, and airplanes would disappear then reappear in the clouds.
Captain Grachev made a quick left turn, then reversed and rolled over into a dive. His two wingmen could not stay with him and visual contact was lost.
Bill Amen saw Grachev’s diving MiG-15 and, following him down, fired his four 20 mm cannon. Amen’s wingman saw the MiG crash into a wooded slope and burn. Grachev did not return from his mission and is presumed to have been killed in the crash.
USS Philippine Sea (CV-47) with Douglas AD Skyraiders and Grumman F9F Panthers on the flight deck, off the coast of Korea. Philippine Sea was a “long-hull” Essex-class ship, sometimes called the Ticonderoga-class. (U.S. Navy)
The Grumman F9F-2 Panther was a single-seat, single-engine turbojet powered fighter designed for operation from the U.S. Navy’s aircraft carriers. It was 38 feet, 5⅜ inches (11.719 meters) long, with a wingspan of 38 feet, 0 inches (11.528 meters)— not including wing tanks. Its overall height was 11 feet, 4 inches (3.454 meters). The wings could be hydraulically folded to reduce the span for storage aboard ship. The Panther weighed 9,303 pounds (4,220 kilograms) empty, and had a gross weight of 19,494 pounds (8,842 kilograms).
The F9F-2 was powered by a Pratt & Whitney Turbo Wasp JT6 (J42-P-8) turbojet engine which produced 5,000 pounds of thrust (22.241 kilonewtons) at Sea Level. The J42 was a license-built version of the Rolls-Royce Nene. The engine used a single-stage centrifugal-flow compressor, 9 combustion chambers and a single-stage axial-flow turbine. The engine weighed 1,715 pounds (778 kilograms).
Interestingly, the MiG-15 was powered by an un-licensed, reverse-engineered version of the Nene, the Klimov VK-1.
The Panther had a maximum speed of 575 miles per hour (925 kilometers per hour) at Sea Level. Its service ceiling was 44,600 feet (13,594 meters), and the range was 1,353 miles (2,177 kilometers).
The Panther was armed with four M3 20 mm autocannon placed in the nose, with 760 rounds of ammunition. It could carry up to 3,000 pounds (1,361 kilograms) of bombs or eight 5-inch (12.7 centimeters) rockets on four hardpoints under each wing.
The XF9F-2 prototype first flew 21 November 1947. 1,382 were produced and remained in service with the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps until 1958. A swept wing version, the F9F-6 through F9F-9J Cougar, was also produced.
For his service with VF-111 in combat from 5 August 1950 to 1 February 1951, Lieutenant Commander Amen was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.
F9F-2 Bu. No. 127184 was part of a group of 28 Grumman F9F panthers that were sold to the Argentine Navy. It was transferred in April 1963.
A Grumman F9F-2 Panther of Fighter Squadron 111 drops bombs over Korea, circa 1952. It is painted overall Glossy Sea Blue with red accents at the nose and tail. This is similar in appearance to the Panther flown by Lieutenant Commander William T. Amen, 9 November 1950. (U.S. Navy)
