RC-121D "Triple Nickle" at National Air Force Museum Dayton Ohio

In the interest of many Airmen from the 1960s I bring you one of the Aircraft which performed the Early Warning Radar duties for our Country during the cold war and were even repurposed to serve in the Vietnam War after their job was done protecting both the East and West Coasts of the United States... These were the RC-121 Early Warning Radar Planes that I had the distinct honor of working on back in 1963-1965 at Otis AFB, Bourne, MA...

I worked on the equipment on this particular plane and supported their Airborne Long Range Input equipment (ALRI), which included the Navigation complement of equipment, including Doppler Radar, Inertial Reference Systems, Tactical Air Navigation System, LORAN, Instrument Landing System, Aircraft Search Radar, and a host of other Navigation equipment...

When one was aboard these aircraft, and looked down the center aisle, there was a plethora of Early Warning equipment... Here is a short write up on the RC-121D "Triple Nickle" at National Air Force Museum Dayton Ohio... I am not sure who wrote this, but it is excellent!

"I visited the National Air Force Museum on Apr 28, 2018 to specifically see and record this RC-121D (known later in its life as an EC-121D) with the nickname "triple nickle" because of its "555" tail number. It is my understanding that this is one of several RC-121D aircraft my father piloted between 1958 and 1960 at Otis AFB MA. He was assigned to the 960th AEWCS, under the 551 AEWC Wing at the time. I recall his stories of long flights on a rigid course that could not deviate over the Atlantic Ocean for up to 10 -12 hours at a time. Their mission was to enhance the "Distant Early Warning (DEW)" line formed by the former Texas Towers and coastal radar systems looking toward the east.

His stories included flying through vicious thunderstorms that they could not go around, engine fires, and one flight that involved the loss of over half of the lower radar dome underneath the plane. For two years, he flew nearly constantly with his 16 member crew without any mishaps. I remember his flight suit being bright orange in case they had to "ditch" at sea-- fortunately, they never had to ditch. Dad (and many others) always loved the "Connie" and still speaks fondly of his thousands of hours and memories flying her. His last flight at Otis occurred sometime in mid-1960--near 58 years ago. He retired from active duty in Nov 1964 as a Lt Colonel, and will turn a still sprite, young 98 years old on May 28th 2018... happy birthday, Dad!"

I am proud to say, that I was one lucky Airmen to have been a part of this planes history...
Enjoy!
Kerry
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