A Meeting in the Stars
May 17, 2023 12:00AM ● By By Thomas J. Sullivan
A Lockheed EC-121 Constellation Warning Star was a radar equipped aircraft once flown by US Air Force Major Don Stroup of Roseville and US Air Force Captain Mel Savery as part of the nation's early warning system during the Cold War with the USSR. Photo credit USAF
CITRUS HEIGHTS, CA (MPG) - Two former U.S. Air Force officers enjoyed an unexpected reunion after more than 40 years at the front door entrance to Celtic Cross Presbyterian Church in Citrus Heights recently where they shared memories of a 1963 flight near the North Pole which unexpectedly challenged their navigation skills.
Retired Air Force major Don Stroup of Roseville, and his wife Janelle, are long-time members of Celtic Cross. Stroup who stood at the church door to welcome members to the 9 am Sunday service noticed a tall fellow and his wife walking towards him who looked especially familiar.
“Mel, is that you?” he asked.
“Sure is,” said Mel Savery, who with his wife Marley had only recently started attending the 9 am Sunday Service at Celtic Cross. The couple live in Citrus Heights and have since become church members.
Between hearty smiles and handshakes, shared memories of their 1963 Air Force flight quickly returned, as two old friends were back in the navigator’s seats of the Lockheed EC-121 Constellation airplane they once flew as young USAF officers together. The EC-121 was a radar-picket version of the U.S. Air Force’s C-121 passenger airplane, which was part of the nation’s early warning system.
Their mission in October 1963 was to help track the flight of a USAF Convair B-58 Hustler supersonic bomber which took off from Tokyo, Japan and headed to London, to attempt what would become the longest continuous supersonic flight in history, and also set a new world record.
Eight hours, 35 minutes and 20.4 seconds later, the B-58 Hustler landed in London, unaware that the USAF RC-121 which helped track their flight got lost for a time over the North Pole.
“Over the North Pole the gyroscope-based navigation doesn’t work,” Stroup recalled. “While clear skies and visible land were predicted during the flight, clouds moved in and the radar plane in which we flew became lost.”
Stroup, who entered service in the USAF in 1954, retired as a major with well over 9,000 flight hours behind him.
Recognizing the imminent danger, the pair urged the pilot to fly their plane higher than it had ever been tested. The aircrew circled up from 15,000 to 19,000 feet before breaking clear, relying on celestial navigation in daytime sky, to help them safely find their heading back to base in Seattle. At that high altitude the pilot and co-pilot were navigating by the visible stars during daylight.
A sister U.S Air Force radar picket plane also squawked an emergency “mayday” with a similar navigational problem. A British air controller somewhere in the Aleutians gave the second plane the correct heading to get home warning that they were within two minutes of Russian air space, Savery remembered.
“It was quite a mission,” Stroup recalled with a smile. The pair, who had served on different 12-hour shifts as navigators during the flight, said they trusted their navigational training as they made their recommendation to the pilot to climb to a higher latitude to find their way home.
Savery, a graduate of Iowa State University in mechanical engineering, signed up for the U.S. Air Force’s officer training school (OTS) in 1960 to fulfill his military obligation. He earned his wings as a navigator and first served as a radar intercept officer (RIO) on a Northrop F-89 Scorpion night fighter.
He later crewed RC-121 aircraft out of the former McClellan Air Force Base, and also served a tour of duty in Vietnam. Savery served six years in the U.S. Air Force, leaving as a captain in 1967, before starting a new professional career with the California State Printing Office.
The idea of record-breaking supersonic flight was born earlier in the summer of 1963 at the Strategic Air Command (SAC). There was a need to prove the B-58A-20-CF Hustler, which was then a fully operational nuclear strike aircraft, was worth all the money spent on its development.
SAC also wanted to show its capabilities to both the general public and potential adversaries, that if needed, the SAC aircraft and their weapon could travel half of the world in just a few hours.
President John F. Kennedy announced the record flight from Washington, D.C. after the Hustler touched down on the airfield at Greenham Common, England, at 10:34 p.m. Japan time.
“I congratulate the Air Force crew which flew this operation and the men who supported it on the ground,” Kennedy said in an issued statement. “I know that the success of this flight is due to the high competence and dedication of all involved.”
After the flight, the “Greased Lightning” nickname was assigned to the record-breaking Convair B-58A. Today, the aircraft is preserved at the Strategic Air Command and Aerospace Museum in Nebraska.
“Looking back, we were honored to be a special part of history,” Savery said. “Most important, it’s great to reconnect with an old friend here at Celtic Cross with whom I proudly served with.”