VP-26 Aircrew duties.

Patrol Squadron 26. Their mission is to fly patrols over the oceans of the world looking for boats, ships, other aircraft, and search and rescue missions. The primary mission is Anti-submarine Warfare.  ASW means to find that submarine prowling undersea. Identify which sub it is and track its path. A game the sub commander and the aircraft commander both want to win! The submarine Captain does NOT want to be found and/or identified. That makes him the winner. If he's found, the Aircraft Commander is the winner. Fun stuff to be a part off!

In the bottom photo you can see a window in the fuselage behind the star. Those windows, one on each side of the aircraft, can be opened and being able to open them is useful in accomplishing our missions. Photographs are taken of surface ships for photo intelligence personnel to use the photos to identify characteristics of each ships. Frequently these ships are Russian trawlers. Spy ships to us. We also used the windows to toss out smoke markers and Practice Depth Charges. All used in ASW warfare practice. This is the only place in the aircraft a person can stand fully erect in. There's a two burner stove in it, an outlet to plug in an electric percolator coffee pot, and it's where the lowest rated men on the crew perform their duties. E3's Lambert and Gatch. Obviously we are the cooks and coffee makers for the entire crew plus performing our other duties. But we can stand up! Cooking for us means the crew favorite of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, canned chili and beef stew, and cookies and crackers on long flights and passing up box lunches from the chow hall on local flights.

On the front of the plane there's a plastic dome. That is the bow observer's position. You are sitting in it feeling like you're surrounded by air while watching for other aircraft flying in the area. Every crewmember occasionally takes this position. No fun running into another aircraft!

On the right wingtip there's another plastic dome. This is the one million candlepower searchlight used to locate targets of all types at night. Looking directly at it when it's fired will damage your eyes.

The top photo is of the P2V in a banked turn. That's a sissy turn in that photo. When tracking a sub 50 feet off the water the pilot will stand that 100 foot wingspan on end making you wonder if your dipshit pilot going to dip the wingtip and cartwheel us into the sea!

Occasionally we flew one of those mysterious flights. Crew LK 10 was launched for an unknown mission. Sealed orders only the aircraft commander could open after arriving at a designated point. What are we doing?! Upon arriving on station Lieutenant John L. Frederick opens our orders and tells us the mission. A passenger ocean liner has been hijacked and our job is to locate it and direct rescue efforts. Hours and hours later we are recalled. False alarm but pretty exciting for awhile. All part of the fun and we did feel good about maybe being useful to other people.