Im
during Operation IVY, they were restricted to 0,1 roentgen exposure,
Each group of five pilots remained at Indian Springs for one week
in all and continued their studies on radiation and radiac instruments,
In addition, ten maintenance personnel accompanied the pilots, !°
After completing this training, the 8th Air Force outlined sixteen
training missions for the sampler pilots, emphasizing navigational
flights of about 2,000 miles distance, rendezvous with tanker aircraft
both by day and by nieht, weather penetration flights and flirht
formation drills. Finally, on 13 August 1952, the sampler aircraft
took off from Bergstrom Air Force Base and ran through a complete
simulated mission,
It flewto the control B-29 aircraft, then to the
B-36 sampler controller, simulated sampling missions, then returned to
the B-29,
Pilots would complete the in-flight refueling exercise
twice during a mission,
All the F-8,C samplers participated in the
drill, along with three control aircraft, and ten KB-29 tankers ./°
Training ended early in September and on 4 September, the 16
sampler aircraft took off from Bergstrom Air Force Base and flew to the
Naval Air Station at San Diego, california. Enroute they rendezvoused
with tanker aircraft and refueled.
On the West Coast, the samplers
received protective spray, were loaded aboard the aircraft carrier
USS Rendova, and sailed for the Pacific Proving Grounds, arriving at
Kwajalein on 30 September 1982,"
The Pacific Command had tumed down
proposals for flying to the test site, because it would cost too mch
to station picket ships along the route to rescue pilots should any
1
?
of the jets be forced down, i
67
AFWU/HO
SYSH-2-003h,
gl