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Recollections of an RIO

THE RADAR INTERCEPT OFFICER (RIO) in the F4H, seated in a separate cockpit directly behind the pilot, is responsible for operating the airborne intercept radar. Taking his target from the ground or ship-based air controller, the RIO in combat directs the pilot in maneuvers of the aircraft by interpreting scope data. 

To qualify for his designation as Naval Aviation Observer (Intercept), the RIO must have completed an intensive program in aerology, aerodynamics, navigation, fire control systems, and radar intercept.

On a speed run, the emphasis shifts, and the RIO assists the pilot in working out courses, speeds and distances to be flown, and in computing fuel consumption data. Radar is used for navigational mapping of terrain features along the path of flight, and more importantly, in using the intercept capability of the system to join up with tanker aircraft. 

Ltig. E. A. Cowart, RIO, who rode LANA One, with Cdr. Julian Lake as pilot, describes their record-breaking transcontinental ride.

THE PILOT and the Radar Intercept Officer acted as a team throughout the project. My first job as the RIO was the initial planning on navigation. Gathering all the charts and laying them out with distances to figure, route to follow and radio navigational aids to listen en route occupied me the first few days. Three in-flight refueling areas were designated, one over Albuquerque, about 200 miles north of Kirtland AFB, the second over the St. Louis area, and the third around Pittsburgh, Pa.

Since before plugging in for fuel we would be down to a minimum of fuel aboard, various airfields that could take the F4H were checked along the route. Facilities were verified, radio frequencies and navigational aids were listed on knee-board cards. My job would be to give my pilot a field within close range in the event of any difficulty, emergency or non-transfer of fuel. In addition, I would provide an immediate vector and handle the radio transmission prior to arrival at that field. 

McDonnell Aircraft provided us with performance data and a mission profile card for each leg which at a glance showed exactly how you were doing in terms of time, fuel, and speed at any given point in order to insure that you would not fall behind in the projected plan for that leg. The first leg was about 600 knots; the second, about 950 knots and the third, about 1000 knots. 

For a few days at Oceana before leaving for Ontario, Calif., VAH-9 provided some A3D's for practice refueling as we ran the simulated profile on the first leg. Each time we did, there was some variance because of temperature changes. Naturally, the colder it is at altitude, the better the specifics for the engine are, and you really get great speeds from the Phantom II. Finally on 19 May we left for Ontario via a stop at St. Louis and a practice refueling over Albuquerque, arriving Ontario that evening.

The first run was set for Sunday, 21 May, however, temperature and weather conditions in general were not satisfactory and the race was postponed. 

Execute was given with our take-off as the Number One plane set for 0800 Pacific time, 24 May. I had all my charts, knee-board cards and other gear laid out in the back seat.

As soon as the starting units were attacked, Cdr. Lake cranked up both engines, signaled for un-plug of the starters. He added throttle up to full power plus afterburners. Our take-off was normal, and we climbed to 50,000 feet. My job was to keep tabs on miles to go, and every 30 seconds I relayed this information to Cdr. Lake. Our first leg was shorter than the rest because of the fuel we needed to get off the deck and up to cruising altitude.

At about 100 miles to go, I concentrated on the radar set and starting checking the area ahead. I found the tankers on course and in position. Cdr. Lake also had the A4D on the homing needle, and we had a visual on the contrails just about pushover point at 30 miles from the tanker group. We eased down to 33,000 feet at Mach .8, came up to the tanker, and Cdr. Lake plugged-in without difficulty. We had a full load in 15 minutes and during that time traveled another 122 miles along our course.  

After we unplugged, Cdr. Lake accelerated and climbed back to 50,000 and continued running at full power. I was relaying info ever 30 seconds, checking the field en route, figuring the ground speed, and then getting on the radar scope to spot the tankers up ahead. Over the second leg, I was able to pick up the tankers on the radar and tracked them in until we had another visual at pushover. 

Cdr. Lake plugged in easily, but transfer was extremely slow. He then unplugged and went to another tanker. After plugging in he head the same trouble. Fuel was not transferring at the prescribed rate. We stayed on this tanker five minutes longer than scheduled and finally unplugged 2000 pounds short. We accelerated and went back up to 50,000. Cdr. Lake eased up to 55,000 to save on burning rate since we were a little shy on fuel.

We knew before reaching Number Three tanker that we had lost some 15 to 20 minutes because of our slow transfer over the second tanking area. I was able to spot the third tanker over the Fort Wayne, Indiana, area on my radar set. Cdr. Lake had the homing needle indicating the correct position, and we pushed over at the 30-mile mark. Down at 33,000 there was no trouble plugging in but we again had slow transfer problems. We had to stay plugged in again longer than anticipated and we went 50 miles past our drop-off point. The acceleration, climb to altitude and further acceleration were normal as in the first legs. About 30 miles out of New York, Cdr. Lake nosed over, reduced speed and came down to low altitude in order to pass the tower at 500 feet and slow speed for identification purposes.

JULY 1961
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