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6021st Reconnaissance Squadron

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211:"Haymaker" photo-reconnaissance jets modified in Japan by fitting a suite of photo-reconnaissance cameras at the Tsuiki REMCO facility in Japan, in a project code-named *Haymaker*. All armament, radars, and gunsights were removed, and a camera suite installed with two K-22 and one K-17 cameras in an under-fuselage installation. The cameras were mounted vertically, which took the main body of the camera and the film magazines outside the fuselage contours in a bulge on the gun bay door. A total of eight were built (serial numbers 52-4337, 4379,4492, 4800, 4808, 4822, 4823, and 4864). They were flown over 362:"On December 11, 1955, between 1307 and 1321 o’clock, Vladivostok time, three American jet planes, type B-57, coming from... the Sea of Japan, south of Vladivostok, violated the... air space of the Soviet Union.... Good weather prevailed in the area violated, with good visibility, which precluded any possibility of the loss of orientation by the fliers during their flight.... The Government of the Soviet Union... insists that the Government of the USA, take measures to punish the guilty parties and to prevent any future violations of the national boundaries of the U.S.S.R. by American planes." 24: 302:, equipped with higher-thrust J65-W-7 engines, one T-11 vertical mapping camera, and two K-38, 36 inch focal length oblique cameras with 10 – 15% overlap. The modified aircraft was referred to as an RB-57A-1. The altitude at which the RB-57s were to operate was between 50,000 and 62,000 feet. At any height above 50,000 feet cabin decompression means death. The activation of the pressure suit would sustain life until the pilot could get down to a safe altitude. 574: 98: 237:
As equipped with sniffer gate valves and filters installed in the nose cone of the tips. A probe measuring lopsided electrons was mounted in the left gun port with a corresponding meter in the back seat. The gate valves could be operated from either cockpit. Their mission was to fly one sortie every
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far enough seaward and at an altitude of 100 feet to avoid radar detection. This profile was to continue to a point abreast the northern portion of the island where the tip tanks would be jettisoned and a climb initiated to the maximum obtainable altitude. Somewhere in the climb a 180 degree turn
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Super Sabres. Although the pilots who had comprised the 6021st detachment at Yokota had joined the project with experience of the B-57; none of them had had any reconnaissance training. The first thing they had to do over the initial weeks in Japan was to acquire this training. For two months the
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scrambled to intercept them; but the Americans were out of reach. In the exposed film returned to the intelligence community, the fighters were clearly visible, pirouetting in the thin air beneath the bombers. The resulting protest on 14 December left no doubt about the capabilities of Soviet air
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which taken off the production line during September 1954 and modified as unarmed photographic reconnaissance aircraft. Only six of these aircraft were produced, with the aircraft carrying four drop tanks rather than the usual two because the mission profile called for a lot of high-speed flight
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would be started in order to arrive over the northern tip of the island headed south at an altitude of about 55,000 feet. At this point a reconnaissance run would be flown down the entire length of the island with specific pinpoint targets and lines. The flight would then continue on to
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The secrecy which surrounded the Heartthrob operations precluded discussion between pilots about targets and mission details. Over the forty five years since the missions took place secrecy was still considered imperative. Two RB-57A-1s were sent to
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to consider the embarrassing situation and decide on a course of action. Dulles had to say, under the circumstances, that it would he difficult for the country to deny the RB-57 overflights. But President
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often passed the information gained by these reconnaissance flights along to US intelligence agencies. Again, there are few details publicly available about these missions.
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day up the coast to Chitose and back. The purpose, was of course, to sniff out lopsided electrons and "glow-in-thedark" debris from the Soviet nuclear bomb testing program.
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as its standard tactical reconnaissance aircraft, these aircraft were eventually sold to Japan in 1956 and replaced with F-84Fs. The Sabres were operated by the Japanese
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in December 1958 along with two additional aircraft from West Germany. It is generally believed that these aircraft flew operational reconnaissance missions over the
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Another flight on 11 December used three RB-57s was approved in which the aircraft entered Soviet airspace simultaneously from three different locations near
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The 6021st played host to detachments of specialized reconnaissance aircraft, designed for penetration of un-friendly airspace:
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The Heartthrob project was high-altitude reconnaissance program to obtain photographic imagery over non-friendly areas of the
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Brugioni, Dino A (2010), Eyes in the Sky: Eisenhower, the CIA and Cold War Aerial Espionage, Naval Institute Press,
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and overflew three different targets. Contrary to Air Force hopes, the bombers were picked up on Soviet radar, and
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in September 1955. The Heartthrob detachment became part of the 6021st Reconnaissance Squadron. The 6021st flew R
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in late 1957 as a budgetary and consolidation of forces decisions. The squadron was inactivated, its R
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The first Far East overflight took place on 26 November 1955. The flight was to be staged from
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The 6021st Reconnaissance Squadron participated in overt and covert reconnaissance throughout
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in West Germany, they flew a number of successful missions over non-friendly territory in
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adding, at approximately the same time as the RB-57As arrived; the unit received three R
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under afterburner and there was no provision for midair refuelling. Initially sent to
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Four days after the Soviet note was delivered, an exasperated president met with
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Designated as the 6021st Photo Mapping Flight and organized on 1 December 1953
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pilots learned how to take pictures. Come mid November they were ready to go.
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The length of service for the RF-86s was not long, as the Air Force chose the
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would not consent to such an admission. Instead, he instructed Colonel
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pilots in the art of high altitude recce. From Okinawa they moved to
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Redesignated as 6021st Reconnaissance Squadron on 20 December 1954
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6007th Reconnaissance Wing (Composite), 9 August-8 December 1957
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on clandestine reconnaissance missions after the war ended.
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Reconnaissance squadrons of the United States Air Force
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The squadron also had a flight of seven specialized R
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and Taoyuan Air Base. On the third mission over the
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mainland in 1955. The aircraft used was a modified
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where they remained in service until 25 March 1977.
135: 125: 115: 107: 90: 164:, Japan. It was discontinued on 8 December 1957. 609:Military units and formations established in 1953 274:. from which they were eventually transferred to 45:but its sources remain unclear because it lacks 619:MAJCOM squadrons of the United States Air Force 527:(Project Orchid, ELINT/Radar Recon), 1953–1956 8: 545:(Project Cottonseed, Air sampling) 1954-1957 305:A flight of four RB-57A-1s were deployed to 102:Emblem of the 6021st Reconnaissance Squadron 514:, Japan, 20 December 1954 – 8 December 1957 418:one of the aircraft was shot down over the 390:, and Central Intelligence Agency director 382:to relay an order to Secretary of Defense 358:defenses to detect and identify aircraft: 249:The RF-100A was a modification program of 76:Learn how and when to remove this message 224:501st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron 207:and equipped with some North American 87: 7: 583:Air Force Historical Research Agency 156:unit. Its last was assigned to the 446:were transferred to its sister the 194:U.S.-Korean-allied coalition forces 450:and inactivated in December 1957. 14: 495:, attached 1 July-8 December 1957 493:67th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing 436:67th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing 158:67th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing 577: This article incorporates 572: 368:United States Secretary of State 96: 22: 467:Discontinued on 8 December 1957 422:and the project was abandoned. 448:6091st Reconnaissance Squadron 150:6021st Reconnaissance Squadron 91:6021st Reconnaissance Squadron 1: 313:F Sabre Haymaker aircraft, R 184:. The establishment of the 484:6007th Reconnaissance Group 432:6007th Reconnaissance Group 284:Republic of China Air Force 635: 416:People's Republic of China 280:People's Republic of China 486:(Composite), 1 March 1955 186:Korean Demilitarized Zone 95: 563:(Slick Chick), 1957-1957 508:, Japan, 1 December 1953 182:1953 Cease-Fire in Korea 31:This article includes a 551:(Heartthrob), 1955–1957 260:7407th Support Squadron 199:Formed in late 1953 at 154:United States Air Force 130:United States Air Force 60:more precise citations. 579:public domain material 533:(Haymaker), 1953–1956 555:RF-84F Thunderstreak 543:RT-33A Shooting Star 537:RF-80C Shooting Star 525:RB-50G Superfortress 434:was absorbed by the 386:, JCS chairman Gen. 376:Dwight D. Eisenhower 282:. The (Nationalist) 561:RF-100A Super Sabre 251:F-100A Super Sabres 245:RF-100A Slick Chick 220:RF-84F Thunderflash 192:, commander of the 420:Shantung Peninsula 371:John Foster Dulles 290:Heartthrob Project 33:list of references 549:RB-57A-1 Canberra 480:, 1 December 1953 380:Andrew Goodpaster 143: 142: 86: 85: 78: 626: 576: 575: 506:Johnson Air Base 331:Chitose Air Base 100: 88: 81: 74: 70: 67: 61: 56:this article by 47:inline citations 26: 25: 18: 634: 633: 629: 628: 627: 625: 624: 623: 599: 598: 573: 570: 521: 512:Yokota Air Base 502: 478:Fifth Air Force 474: 456: 428: 292: 258:in 1955 to the 247: 205:Fifth Air Force 201:Yokota Air Base 170: 162:Yokota Air Base 160:, stationed at 152:is an inactive 146: 103: 82: 71: 65: 62: 51: 37:related reading 27: 23: 12: 11: 5: 632: 630: 622: 621: 616: 611: 601: 600: 597: 596: 569: 566: 565: 564: 558: 552: 546: 540: 534: 528: 520: 517: 516: 515: 509: 501: 498: 497: 496: 490: 487: 481: 473: 470: 469: 468: 465: 461: 460: 455: 452: 427: 424: 406:to train four 388:Nathan Twining 384:Charles Wilson 364: 363: 300:RB-57 Canberra 291: 288: 264:Eastern Europe 246: 243: 228:Iruma Air Base 203:, Japan under 169: 166: 144: 141: 140: 139:Reconnaissance 137: 133: 132: 127: 123: 122: 117: 113: 112: 109: 105: 104: 101: 93: 92: 84: 83: 41:external links 30: 28: 21: 13: 10: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 631: 620: 617: 615: 612: 610: 607: 606: 604: 595: 591: 587: 586: 585: 584: 581:from the 580: 567: 562: 559: 556: 553: 550: 547: 544: 541: 538: 535: 532: 529: 526: 523: 522: 518: 513: 510: 507: 504: 503: 499: 494: 491: 488: 485: 482: 479: 476: 475: 471: 466: 463: 462: 458: 457: 453: 451: 449: 445: 441: 437: 433: 425: 423: 421: 417: 413: 409: 405: 399: 397: 393: 389: 385: 381: 377: 372: 369: 361: 360: 359: 356: 352: 347: 345: 341: 336: 332: 327: 324: 320: 316: 312: 308: 303: 301: 297: 289: 287: 285: 281: 277: 273: 269: 265: 261: 257: 252: 244: 242: 239: 236: 231: 229: 225: 221: 216: 214: 210: 206: 202: 197: 195: 191: 190:Mark W. Clark 187: 183: 179: 175: 167: 165: 163: 159: 155: 151: 145:Military unit 138: 134: 131: 128: 124: 121: 120:United States 118: 114: 110: 106: 99: 94: 89: 80: 77: 69: 59: 55: 49: 48: 42: 38: 34: 29: 20: 19: 16: 571: 531:RF-86F Sabre 429: 426:Inactivation 400: 398:countries." 396:Iron Curtain 392:Allen Dulles 365: 348: 328: 304: 293: 248: 240: 232: 217: 198: 171: 149: 147: 72: 66:January 2013 63: 52:Please help 44: 15: 557:, 1956–1957 539:, 1954–1955 472:Assignments 430:The parent 351:Vladivostok 213:North Korea 176:during the 58:introducing 603:Categories 594:159114082X 568:References 272:Johnson AB 408:Taiwanese 404:Kadena AB 344:Yokota AB 307:Yokota AB 174:East Asia 111:1953-1957 519:Aircraft 500:Stations 442:Fs and R 340:Hokkaido 335:Sakhalin 178:Cold War 454:Lineage 355:MiG-17s 168:History 116:Country 54:improve 592:  444:B-57As 412:Taipei 323:F-100A 276:Taiwan 209:RF-86F 126:Branch 108:Active 319:T-33s 315:B-45s 296:Asian 268:PACAF 256:USAFE 39:, or 590:ISBN 440:F-84 317:and 311:F-86 235:T-33 148:The 136:Type 226:at 605:: 43:, 35:, 79:) 73:( 68:) 64:( 50:.

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United States
United States Air Force
United States Air Force
67th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing
Yokota Air Base
East Asia
Cold War
1953 Cease-Fire in Korea
Korean Demilitarized Zone
Mark W. Clark
U.S.-Korean-allied coalition forces
Yokota Air Base
Fifth Air Force
RF-86F
North Korea
RF-84F Thunderflash
501st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron
Iruma Air Base
T-33
F-100A Super Sabres
USAFE
7407th Support Squadron

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