Beechcraft RU-8D 'SEMINOLE'

Description

Notes: U-8D modified with radar reconnaissance system (2 CREW) .
Manufacturer:	Beechcraft
Base model:	U-8
Designation:	RU-8
Version:	D
Nickname:	SEMINOLE
Designation System:	U.S. Air Force
Designation Period:	1952-Present
Basic role:	Utility
Modified Mission:	Reconnaissance
See Also:

Specifications

Propulsion

Performance

Examples of this type may be found at

Museum	City	State
United States Army Aviation Museum	Ozark	Alabama

RU-8D on display

United States Army Aviation Museum

Recent comments by our visitors

Larry E. Lewter  Maumelle, AR	I was a RU-8 pilot with the 138th September 1969-Aug 1970 in Danang and helped move the unit Phu Bai. I was assigned to the 138th after arriving in country because I had a Top Secret clearance but not rated in the RU-8. I was made supply officer, which I knew nothing about and it was a learning curve. I was finally rated in the RU-8 and flew about 700 hours. I arrived shortly after the company had moved housing from downtown to Danang Main just inside from Dog Patch. When I arrived I was told that nothing much happened around Danang. A few days later Charlie blew up the place with about 40 rockets. Before moving to Phu Bai we had a detachment there. I was making a midnight run from Danang to Phu Bai and was trapped on the taxi way while Charlie, again, blew up the place. Helpless feeling setting in the middle of an airfield and no place to take cover. When Kissinger was in the peace talks in Nov. 1972 the ADRF units were shut down. I understand it was an error and Westmoreland wanted them back up and flying. I was home in Texas on leave waiting to go to Europe when branch called and changed my orders. I was to standby until further word came and I was sent to the 146th RR in Can Tho in Dec. 1972. I stayed to the end and helped shut down the unit in Feb. 1973. Memorable events were seeing a shot up Peace Keeping Huey set down with one dead, and one badly wounded pilot if memory is right. I lived across from the Officers Club and the building near it became the compound for the NVA peace keeping folks. Strange to live openly next to "the enemy". I would love to hear from anyone in the 138th or 146th from those time periods. My flight class was fixed wing 69-9, I would love to connect with anyone in the class. Especially Jim Dent, James Conn, Bob Crow, Mac, Chavez, Pappy or anyone else. 04/20/2010 @ 16:16 [ref: 26047]
Larry E. Lewter  Maumelle, AR	I was a RU-8 pilot with the 138th September 1969-Aug 1970 in Danang and helped move the unit Phu Bai. I was assigned to the 138th after arriving in country because I had a Top Secret clearance but not rated in the RU-8. I was made supply officer, which I knew nothing about and it was a learning curve. I was finally rated in the RU-8 and flew about 700 hours. I arrived shortly after the company had moved housing from downtown to Danang Main just inside from Dog Patch. When I arrived I was told that nothing much happened around Danang. A few days later Charlie blew up the place with about 40 rockets. Before moving to Phu Bai we had a detachment there. I was making a midnight run from Danang to Phu Bai and was trapped on the taxi way while Charlie, again, blew up the place. Helpless feeling setting in the middle of an airfield and no place to take cover. When Kissinger was in the peace talks in Nov. 1972 the ADRF units were shut down. I understand it was an error and Westmoreland wanted them back up and flying. I was home in Texas on leave waiting to go to Europe when branch called and changed my orders. I was to standby until further word came and I was sent to the 146th RR in Can Tho in Dec. 1972. I stayed to the end and helped shut down the unit in Feb. 1973. Memorable events were seeing a shot up Peace Keeping Huey set down with one dead, and one badly wounded pilot if memory is right. I lived across from the Officers Club and the building near it became the compound for the NVA peace keeping folks. Strange to live openly next to "the enemy". I would love to hear from anyone in the 138th or 146th from those time periods. My flight class was fixed wing 69-9, I would love to connect with anyone in the class. Especially Jim Dent, James Conn, Bob Crow, Mac, Chavez, Pappy or anyone else. 04/20/2010 @ 15:38 [ref: 26046]
Dwight Adams  Henrico, NC	Hello to the ARDF community. I came up on the Avn Museum website to upload pix of the JU-21A in flight. I previously spoke with CMH winner Novosel at Mother Rucker who encouraged me to share my pix. It was a pleasant surprise to find this Enthusiast Corner and some names I recognize.// I was one of the Mission IPs for a U8 platoon at Phubai in 71-72, Left in Mar 72 right after Westmoreland hung us out to dry with our squad of infantry for security, come back 101st! Well, it worked out OK. Either the Paris peace talks or the USAF seeding the clouds over the mountains kept that 50,000 indians within 10 miles that Westmoreland was talking about from roasting our goose ! I arrived in Mar 71 with orders to Can Tho. At siagon I was diverted to the 138th to replace Harold Algaard who went down on the U-21. What a break. Beautiful blonde wife and a 6 mo old baby. And we say "PhuBai's Alright ! Well it was an experience. I remember an eng. sucked a valve right after I got there, then if I remember correctly, it was Roger Brown(if not you Roger, I appologize) who stretched and pushed the newly made cover into the main bus panel. Thought for sure we took a 51 Cal., Later a wire got pinched unter the bombsight and a short started a small fire. I once had to straightwire one eng. with a failed solonoid in a remote, unlit area of DaNang AB using a coathangar we rummaged up. Then replaced all the plugs in one eng while at the far end of the Pleiku airfield.//After the USAF left, if we made a missed approach because the runway lights went out plus the approach lights went out and no one to fix 'em. , we went to DaNang which had emer fuel aircraft stacked to the max, then on to Thialand. Well myself and Steve Crouch put a stop to that. We repaired the lighting and calibrated the approach lights by pointing them at an approaching aircraft on a GCA.// One of my most memoriable flights was from Long Thanh to Chu Lai and on to Phubai. On a wet, bumpy, monsoon night with no radar contact because of the WX and screening angle We dead reakoned a course taking us across the Pleiku , 10K ft mountains to Chu Lai with no altimeter corrections, no wind update and a set of ADFs with a 40 degree spread. 40 mi. out of Long Thanh it was dead reaconing until Chu Lai locked on. Let me tell you that last hour tested all the rules we learned in flight school. Next stop was Hanan Island China...Now you know we did not want to call for a DF steer ! Knowing the reputation of those old lead sleds well I admit I did get a touch of flight religion. // Comments about the U-8, yea, heavy, slow, temperamental, untrustworthy- but they made Aviators and Mechanics of us.// After 7 years with Special Forces, I flew the Guardrail RU-21H out of Ramstein. That was a promotion. God Speed Guys. 02/25/2010 @ 15:32 [ref: 25785]
Dwight Adams  Henrico, NC	Hello to the ARDF community. I came up on the Avn Museum website to upload pix of the JU-21A in flight. I previously spoke with CMH winner Novosel at Mother Rucker who encouraged me to share my pix. It was a pleasant surprise to find this Enthusiast Corner and some names I recognize.// I was one of the Mission IPs for a U8 platoon at Phubai in 71-72, Left in Mar 72 right after Westmoreland hung us out to dry with our squad of infantry for security, come back 101st! Well, it worked out OK. Either the Paris peace talks or the USAF seeding the clouds over the mountains kept that 50,000 indians within 10 miles that Westmoreland was talking about from roasting our goose ! I arrived in Mar 71 with orders to Can Tho. At siagon I was diverted to the 138th to replace Harold Algaard who went down on the U-21. What a break. Beautiful blonde wife and a 6 mo old baby. And we say "PhuBai's Alright ! Well it was an experience. I remember an eng. sucked a valve right after I got there, then if I remember correctly, it was Roger Brown(if not you Roger, I appologize) who stretched and pushed the newly made cover into the main bus panel. Thought for sure we took a 51 Cal., Later a wire got pinched unter the bombsight and a short started a small fire. I once had to straightwire one eng. with a failed solonoid in a remote, unlit area of DaNang AB using a coathangar we rummaged up. Then replaced all the plugs in one eng while at the far end of the Pleiku airfield.//After the USAF left, if we made a missed approach because the runway lights went out plus the approach lights went out and no one to fix 'em. , we went to DaNang which had emer fuel aircraft stacked to the max, then on to Thialand. Well myself and Steve Crouch put a stop to that. We repaired the lighting and calibrated the approach lights by pointing them at an approaching aircraft on a GCA.// One of my most memoriable flights was from Long Thanh to Chu Lai and on to Phubai. On a wet, bumpy, monsoon night with no radar contact because of the WX and screening angle We dead reakoned a course taking us across the Pleiku , 10K ft mountains to Chu Lai with no altimeter corrections, no wind update and a set of ADFs with a 40 degree spread. 40 mi. out of Long Thanh it was dead reaconing until Chu Lai locked on. Let me tell you that last hour tested all the rules we learned in flight school. Next stop was Hanan Island China...Now you know we did not want to call for a DF steer ! Knowing the reputation of those old lead sleds well I admit I did get a touch of flight religion. // Comments about the U-8, yea, heavy, slow, temperamental, untrustworthy- but they made Aviators and Mechanics of us.// After 7 years with Special Forces, I flew the Guardrail RU-21H out of Ramstein. That was a promotion. God Speed Guys. 02/25/2010 @ 15:31 [ref: 25784]
Michael Orcutt  , MA	I was an O5H at Phu Bai, Camp Eagle, then with the 146th Av Co from Dec.'69 until the end of June '70. After 3 months state-side, it was off to the 7th RRFS and back into the air. I have fond memories of the RU8D. Sweating on the ground and the cool AC over the Plain 'O Jars. On one slow mission, I sat left seat for a few minutes. It handled well and pleased me greatly. It was a great platform and I get all nostalgic when I see pictures of them. 06/28/2009 @ 06:53 [ref: 24270]
Roger Brown  Wasilla, AK	In response to Jim Sessions’s post of 11/17/2008 - Jim is correct in everything he stated, and I guess I must qualify my earlier statement regarding calling in Arc Lights. I can state for a fact that it was done on a number of occasions in I corps by the 138th, and that I have done it on at least one occasion that vividly come to mind. Of course, it was done by others as well. It was not routinely done, but was accomplished a number of times when the stars seemed to align correctly (having been briefed on a high priority target, finding and identifying them on frequency, obtaining a satisfactory fix, getting subsequent permission over secure means from the ground, and then being able to contact MILKY (call sign) who was apparently the tasking go-between for the B-52's). My recollection is that MILKY was an airborne unit, however, I could be wrong on that. We would pass the MGRS fix coordinates and they would advise us to get out of the way. I can remember one instance of not being able to get the OK from our ground folks due to KY-28 keying problems. We were really bummed by that. Jim is correct, however, in that the average mission produced nothing more than intelligence date that was recorded and returned to operations. That was the meat and potatoes of our mission, but on the rare occasion - we got to help serve up desert! 01/26/2009 @ 16:28 [ref: 23558]
Gary S. Grabe  , FL	The first modifications of the RU-8D ( RL-23D) were radar modifications as you have described. There were two versions. The first was with an AN/APS-85 low resolution side-looking radar and the second was with an AN/APQ-86 high resolution side- looking radar. The crew was 2...pilot and radar operator. I flew both types ( aircraft I.D. 581357 and 594992 in Germany from 1961 to 1963). 11/20/2008 @ 11:23 [ref: 23113]
Paul Preston  San Juan, OTH	1971-1972 was my tour at 7th Radio Research Field Station, Thailand. Quite a pleasant surprise after all these years to see one of the planes you flew up into the Plain of Jars, Laos. Great memories, great people. The aviation section was one big family. Ours were the only RU-8Ds that flew without paint, without tail numbers, without logbooks, without dog tags. We were not there. 11/17/2008 @ 17:58 [ref: 23092]
Jim Sessoms  Fayetteville, GA	Well! I sure learned something today! Never, Never before had I heard about locations being relayed to B-52s. except that our reports were sent via messae to a variety of consumers and Arc-Light missions were normally planned using a number of locations over a period of time (coposite fixes)--certainly NOT immediate response as R. Brown stated. More common was reaction by a Tactical Unit on the ground with artillery---or the ground unit might contact a local USAF plane loitering in the area (NOT a B-52) who had some unexpended ordnance--then we'd perhaps see an air strike. Then, especially after a B-52 strike, the local cdr on the ground would send in a recon unit to determine what happened--this was often our only source of feedback as to success of our efforts. 07/06/2008 @ 05:42 [ref: 21775]
Roger Brown  Anchorage, AK	I was an Vietnam RU-8D pilot assigned to the 138th, 146th and the 148th during 70-71. After Vietnam I was assigned to the 156th ASA Avn Co. at Ft. Bliss. Subsequently I served TDY in Europe with the initial Guardrail I and II test, and then transferred permanently for Guardrail III and IV deployment. Guardrail utilized the RU-21A, RU-21H, RU-21G and RU-21E aircraft. For those who don't know what an RU-8D mission in Vietnam consisted of: The RU-8D carried a crew of three (pilot, co-pilot and mission operator T/O). Its purpose was one of airborne radio direction finding (ARDF). The mission equipment configuration (initially code named – Winebottle) consisted of two Collins general coverage HF receivers installed at an operators position in the rear, one external HF intercept antenna (wire from fuselage to vertical stabilizer), a set of wires joining the wing-tips to the tail feathers (for the purpose of bonding and antenna counterpois), an AN/ASN-64 Doppler Navigation system (Marconi), a C-12 Digital flux gate compass system and an HF/DF antennas system consisting of an Adcock configured set of helically wound, capacitivly loaded, vertical mounted (through the wings) dipoles at the wing-tips. The system worked like this - The operator would search for/find an HF station to DF (CW [Continuous Wave Morse code] tactical intercepts). Upon finding a station, the operator would switch to the DF antenna and patch the received audio to the pilot's intercom. The pilot would then turn the aircraft until an audio null (point where signal disappeared) was detected in signal strength, while keeping the wings absolutely level on the null bearing. The co-pilot (acting as a plotter) would then record the Doppler geographic coordinates for that bearing shot. The pilot would then make a turn somewhat perpendicular to the null bearing and fly on for a short distance (period of time). When it was estimated that sufficient distance had been covered, the pilot would turn again back towards the station and make another null shot. Coordinates and bearings would be recorded again and the process would continue in this fashion (usually five or six bearings could be taken prior to the station going off the air) until enough shots existed to record the plotted positions and bearings on a special plotting sheet. The results would be a succession of aircraft positions plotted around a central point established by the crossing of the numerous bearing lines from the aircraft positions. The plotting sheet coordinates then established (accuracy of about 100 meters – if you were good and other conditions allowed) the geographic position of the transmitting station. If intelligence indicated that the station was associated with a high priority target (these targets would be briefed prior to the mission), then the position would be relayed over a secure (KY-28) FM communications link to waiting or available B-52 bombers (Milky). They would arc-light (saturation bomb) the area as soon as we could be clear. Though our mission wasn't common knowledge for a long time, I'm very proud to have been involved with the ASA, NSA, and the RU-8D ARDF mission in Vietnam. I beleive we accomplish a lot with a very primitive system - and have much to be proud of. 07/03/2008 @ 11:53 [ref: 21755]

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