250

UNITED STATES NAVAL AVIATION 1910-1995

1962-Contin ued

8 October To strengthen the air defense of the

southeastern United States, VF-4l, equipped with F-4B

Phantoms, was transferred from NAS Oceana, Va., to

NAS Key West, Fla., for duty with the U.S. Air Force in

the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD).

16 October The Chief of Naval Operations directed

that a few helicopters be converted to aerial

minesweepers for use in a mine countermeasures

development and training program and eventual

assignment to fleet squadrons. The RH-46A (HRB-l)

was initially designated for this conversion but the RH-

3A (HSS-2) was later substituted.

17 October VMA-225 completed a two-way crossing

of the Atlantic between MCAS Cherry Point, N.C., and NS

Rota, Spain. Lieutenant Colonel Edwin A. Harper, USMC,

led the flight of 16 A-4C Skyhawks (MD) which left

Cherry Point on the 8th, flew to Bermuda and directly to

Rota. After a brief layover, the flight returned to Cherry

Point by way of Lajes in the Azores and Bermuda.

Refueling on both east and west flights was provided by

10 Marine KC-130F Hercules tankers of YMGR-252.

19 October As operational units began moving to

patrol stations in Florida to counter the threat posed

by missiles and bombers in Cuba, all aircraft and

squadrons not required for air defense, reconnaissance

and antisubmarine patrol were relocated to prevent

overcrowding.

23 October VFP-62, which had been flying photo

reconnaissance over the missile sites in Cuba since the

15th, flew the first low-level photo mission over

Cuban territory. For its outstanding accomplishment

during this crisis, in the period 15 October-26

November 1962, this squadron was awarded the Navy

Unit Commendation which was presented personally

by the president on 26 November 1962.

24 October As the president imposed a blockade of

Cuba which he had announced in his TV broadcast

two days earlier, ships of the blockading force were in

position at sea, Enterprise, Independence, Essex and

Randolph, and shore-based aircraft were in the air,

patrolling their assigned sectors. On the same day the

service tours of all officers and enlisted men were

extended indefinitely.

31 October The geodetic satellite Anna, developed

for the Department of Defense under Bureau of Naval

Weapons management, was placed into orbit from

Cape Canaveral, Fla. The Anna satellite contained

three independent sets of instrumentation to validate

geodetic measurements taken by several organizations

participating in the Anna worldwide geodetic research

and mapping program.

5 November Two Marine Corps helicopter

squadrons began, as additional duty, a transition train-

ing program in which some 500 Marine aviators quali-

fied in fixed-wing aircraft would be trained to operate

helicopters. The need for the special program arose

from the increased proportion of helicopters in the

Marine Corps, coupled with an overall shortage of

pilots and the inability of the Naval Air Training

Command to absorb the additional training load with-

in the time schedule allotted.

20 November As agreement was reached over the

removal of missiles and bombers from Cuba, the naval

blockade was discontinued and the ships at sea

resumed their normal operations. Next day, the exten-

sions of service ordered in October were cancelled.

30 November The Bureau of Naval Weapons

issued a contract to the Bell Aerosystems Co., for con-

struction and flight test of two VTOL research aircraft

with dual tandem-ducted propellers. Thereby the tri-

service VTOL program was expanded to include a tilt-

ing duct craft to be developed under Navy administra-

tion in addition to the tilting wing XC-142 and the

tilting engine X-19A both of which were administered

by the Air Force.

1 December Two new commands, Fleet Air

Caribbean and Naval Air Bases, Tenth Naval District,

were established and assigned as additional duty to

Commander, Caribbean Sea Frontier.

14 December

Lakehurst, N.J.,

Center.

The Naval Air Material Center at NAS

was renamed Naval Air Engineering

18 December Transit SA, a prototype of the Navy's

operational navigation satellite, was launched into a

polar orbit by a four-stage Blue Scout rocket fired at

the Naval Missile Facility, Point Arguello, Calif. The

satellite's radio failed after 20 hours in orbit and pre-

vented its utilization for navigation purposes. However,

certain secondary experiments were successful.

19 December An E-2A piloted by Lieutenant

Commander Lee M. Ramsey was catapulted off

Enterprise in the first shipboard test of nose-tow gear

designed to replace the catapult bridle and reduce

launching intervals. Minutes later the second nose-tow

launch was made by an A-6A.