Documents Relating to the Black Cats
Operational Navigation Chart used by U-2 pilots when navigating visually through the viewsight. Scale approximates what the pilot sees prior to employing full magnification. Osan Air Base is located at the lower center with Suwon to the north connected by Highway 1, which in turn travels northward to Seoul. (Author’s collection)
The first page of the “Black Cat Newsletter,” sent to all the other Dets, Higher Headquarters, and the 9th SRW, back at Beale, on a regular basis. The other Dets did likewise so no pilot went unscathed while serving a worldwide remote tour. (Author’s collection)
Certificate presented to the author by the maintainers, tech reps, pilots, and DO as he terminated his second tour as a Black Cat. (Author’s collection)
The J75 tailpipe section catastrophically detached from the exhaust sections immediately after take-off, explosively taking with it the empennage of three Dragon Ladies in 1984. Of these crashes, two occurred at Osan AB and one at Beale. All pilots survived the extremely low-altitude ejections with only one injury. (TR-1/U-2R Utility Flight Manual)
Gaudy plaques presented to the author and his wife during their going-away party in January 1985. Giny, being the first wife to accompany a pilot for a one-year tour, made quite a splash with the vast majority of the Black Cats and paved the way for future accompanying tours. (Author’s collection)
