Unidentified Aircraft

     I was fresh out of Boot Camp (by two months) and was serving in my first command, V-3 Division aboard the USS Kitty Hawk. I was an Airman Apprentice (E-2) and our job was to move Airplanes on the Hanger Deck.

On Sunday August 6, 1963, we were tied up at North Island Carrier Pier. We were enjoying a normal lazy weekend without any Planes aboard, as they flew off prior to us entering port. During that time, we had three section Duty, 1 section had all day off, 2nd section worked until 16:00 (4:00PM) and the 3rd remained aboard all day to take care of any issues that needed to be taken care of. Everyone had to be back on board at midnight.

I had just taken a Shower and Shave and was ready to hit the Rack (Bed) around 22:30 (10:30PM) when we got word that the Duty Section 3 had to muster in the Hanger Bay Office in ten minutes. Everyone was a little miffed and figured that someone screwed up and we would all have to pay for it. There were probably 15 guys in our crew, and we hustled down to the hanger bay office. Our Division Officer was there, and we were greatly surprised, as we never saw him unless we had an inspection or we had Flight Operations. He selected 3 Yellow Shirts (Directors who were wing walkers), a Tug Driver, and two Chock Men (men that walk next to the wheel with a chock to stop the plane from rolling), which I was. The rest of the crew he released back to the berthing space.

Five minutes later a squad of five Marines came into the Office and then a Navy Captain. The captain informed us that we were to load an Airplane aboard, there would be red lights on in the Hanger Bay (for night vision) and no lights on the Pier and ask if we thought we could do it. Sure, we all agreed and then we were told not to approach the plane as it was being loaded by crane until the Marines had secured it.

So it went, all of the lights were out on the pier, and you could hardly see much of anything. We went to the Aft Starboard (rear right) elevator and waited for the crane to load our prize. It wasn't a big plane, in fact it was low and short, but had a wingspan so wide (over 100 feet long) that we had to bring it into the Hanger Bay sideways and turn it as it came in. There were two skids on the wing tips for support. The Marines were positioned on each side, then front and back. Us two chock men walked next to the wheels and were the brakes (me in front next to the canopy).

When the directors blew their whistles, we thru the chock in front of the wheel to stop it.

The senior Marine placed a cover over the cockpit canopy so nobody could look inside but seeing that I was walking next to it most of the time, I was able to see inside. The pilot seat was almost in a prone position as the plane was not very tall, I would say maybe three and a half feet. Not much in the way of instrumentation and only an ejection seat and a stick. Real simple, and the Engine looked more like a rocket than a normal Jet Engine. Rumor had it we were launching the plane so they could test some new type of fuel. Then someone else said they were testing a new type of engine. Who knows??

Once aboard, we closed the Elevator Doors and the internal Hanger Door. The Marines took over and covered the entire plane with a tarp.

The next morning before dawn we left San Diego and cruised off the coast of California out maybe 50 miles or so. The plane was taken up to the Flight Deck and launched without a catapult. Once in the air, it disappeared, and the ship returned to port.

I remember very well what this plane looked like and have scoured all of the military photos of the Experimental, Spy, NASA, Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines planes. I have never found a picture of the one that I remember anywhere.

The following is the official release (with the picture on the left) of the incident some twenty years later   . . . .

On Aug. 5, 1963 (Monday), the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk steamed out of San Diego carrying a most unusual cargo. Under the cover of darkness the night before, a super-secret

U-2C high-flying surveillance aircraft was loaded onto the deck, tied down, and covered with tarps.

This was the commencement of the operational phase of a fascinating joint effort between the Navy and the CIA called Project Whale Tail.

And thus, on that August morning in 1963, the USS Kitty Hawk sailed out of San Diego Harbor to make history.

Famed test pilot Bob Schumacher had the stick as the insubstantial looking aircraft fired up its single jet engine and rolled to a graceful liftoff in only 321 feet without using the ship's catapults.

Following his successful launch, Schumacher made several landing approaches, proving that the U-2's slow approach speed and high excess power provided plenty of margin for error in case of a wave off. On his first attempt at an actual landing, however, one wingtip struck the deck, and Schumacher barely got the aircraft back in the air before it tumbled over the side.

I have seen pictures of all models of the U-2, and I believe what I saw and loaded aboard that day, was not a U-2. Not only that, but if you look at the picture released with the official release, the ships number is 66 (The America) and the Kitty Hawk was #63.