III Unloading the F-8LG aircraft from the USS Rendova posed further problems. Because the water in the Kwajalein lagoon was not deep enough to allow the ship to tie up to the plier, the aircraft were moved to a barge. Unloading was complicated in that the aircraft were lifted off the decks of the carrier by the ship's crane and lowered over the side, With two aircraft, the barge moved to the beach where a Grane then lifted them to the beach, yards away was the taxi strip. Two hundred After tugs parked the aircraft, maintenance crewsofthe unit began preparing the aircraft and within two days of beingset ashore, they were checked over and test 15 a flown, Sampling Operation IVY Shots The pilots of the sampling unit made familiarizatio flights and rehearsals over the Pacific Test Site while waiting. It was soon discovered that clouds and rain might cause them to land at Eniwetok, During the actual sampling mission the aircraft would have landed at Eniwetok if Kwajalein was having rain because the water destroyed the filter papers, MIKE Shot. 16 The first thermomeclear device ever fired, occurred on the morning of 1 November 1952. Two F-8hG aircraft "sniffers" climbed to 0,000 feet altitude and met the primary B-29 control aircraft about 50 miles southeast of ground zero, ten minutes before the event. They refueled and proceeded under control of the B-29 69 APWL/HC SWEH-2 -003; ut