In 1980 Lt. Colonel Thomas Albee became Commander of the legendary 9 Tactical Fighter Squadron, the unit being descended from the original WWII Squadron, activated as 9 Pursuit Squadron (Interceptor) on November 20, 1940.
The unit flew an impressive lineage of aircraft including: P-35 (1941); P-40 (1941-1943); P-47 (1943-1944); P-38 (1943, 1944-1946); P-51 (1946-1948, 1949-1950); F-80 (1948-1951); F-84 (1951-1957); F-100 (1957-1962); F-105 (1962-1967); F-4 (1967-1978, 1992-1998); F-15 (1978-1992); F-117 (1998-).
Tom Allbee – Caterpillar Story
F-100D Ejection, 1 March 1965, 1000 GMT, F-100D, 56-3212, near RAF Syerston, UK
I was a 1/Lt in the 492th TFS at RAF Lakenheath, UK, flying #2 on a 2v2 ACT training mission. The flight had just completed the first engagement, and we were re-positioning for a second engagement.
At about 30,000 ft. while turning back for the second engagement (which was to be a non-afterburner engagement) there was a huge compressor stall/explosion. The cockpit filled with fog, our feet were kicked off the rudder pedals, the tachometer was unwinding and the EGT was climbing. I deployed the RAT and turned on the standby inverter to maintain control of the aircraft, and reduced the power to idle. The RPM was zero, so I moved the throttle to cutoff to reduce the EGT.
I had good control of the aircraft and established a 220 knot rate of descent. Each time I tried an air-start, the EGT would peg at “hot” if I put the throttle in the idle position. Number Four had joined up with me and told me that each time I tried to restart the engine smoke, flames and debris were coming out of the tailpipe. After a couple of air-start attempts, it was obvious I was going to have to eject over central England. I re-entered the clouds at about 15,000 and started the preparations to eject.
I tried one more air-start at 10,000 feet with no luck, and punched out at 6,000 feet. All of the ejection systems worked fine and I broke out of an undercast at about 500 ft and landed in a field with no injuries.
I didn’t know then and have never found out what caused the compressor stall/explosion that blew up the engine.
