II
75
6 April 1998, Enroute the B-S7D's also encountered adverse winds, and
their arrival at Eniwetok was delayed until 1) April,
With few exceptions, the personnel and equipment of the Sampling
Element were in place and ready for sampling operations in midApril,.
Very High and Ultra High Altitude Tests,
The operation plan speci~
fied that tro RB~36 aircraft would be employed during Operation HARDTACK
to support certain technical projects on the very high altitude and ultra
high altitude shots,
Test requirements for these shots dictated that the two B.36's be
highly instrumented and placed under Task Group 7,]; for operational con~
trol during the operational phase of HARDTACK,
Because of the type of
instrumentation and data desired, extremely accurate aircraft position
was considered imperative.
The currently installed aircraft radar,
AN/APQ-2h, thus, was not adequate for these events, inasmcnh as the aire
craft patterns in the test arraywere spproximately 100 miles from the
closest land or radar return,
Therefore, a decision was made in mid-1957, by the directors of the
concerned scientific projects, to modify the 8-36 aircraft by installing
an upward~orlented E-l fire control radar system witch would provide the
crew with a means to position the aircraft on the radar return received
fron the balloon weapon carrier on the YUCCA event.
This radar system
had been used effectively in fighter type aircraft but had never before