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| UYUGAN, BATANES! ON THE WEB! |
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| The Cumulonimbus |
| JATO: Jet-Assisted Take-Off |
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| James Phillips Photo |
| LORSTA BATAN ISLAND - 1960s |
| The times they're a-changin' Air operations LORSTA Batan - 1960s It was a different time and a different environment. The pilot in most cases was his own everything. Once away from the Manila area, navigation was the LORAN that was being serviced and a low-powered radio beacon at the LORAN station. Visual flight operations dominate. IMC (Instrument Meteorological Conditions or blind flying) could be flown but approaches to the destinations had to be fabricated. The destination facilities were marginal. _________________________________________ _________________________________________ A description of the air operations at one LORAN station (LORSTA) is of interest. LORSTA Batan: The Batanes Islands lie 375 miles north of Sangley Point* midway between Luzon and Taiwan. The normal morning flight path was north over central Luzon and the return flight normally diverted over the west coast to circumvent the afternoon cumulonimbus build ups. The LORSTA was located on the east side of the main island and the airstrip was on the west side at the capital city of Basco. Basco International Airport, as it was referred to by the Coast Guard aviators who flew in there, was 3000 feet long, unpaved and situated on the side of a mountain running from the sea upslope with approximately a 5-degree grade. Landings were made uphill. Takeoffs were made downhill and normally had a tail wind. JATO (Jet-Assisted Take-Off) was armed and ready in case it was needed for the take off. The trip to the LORSTA was an adventure. Supplies were transported by station vehicle over a narrow twisting one-lane road carved out of the side of the mountain. The entire Coast Guard Philippine Section operation was turned over to the Philippine Government in 1971 and the Coast Guard air station (in Sangley Point) was closed. _________________________________________ _________________________________________ LORAN (LOng Range Aid to Navigation) is a terrestrial navigation system using ground-based transmitters. Hyperbolic LORAN lines of position (LOP) are formed by measuring the difference in reception times of synchronized signals. A LORAN net, or chain, requires a master station, initiating the pulse, and a series of slave stations. In very simplified terms, the master transmits and the slave responds. Charted values of this time delay measurement were placed upon a navigational chart. The measurement observed placed one somewhere along a LOP. That information is of little value without a LOP from a second pair. The point of intersection of the two LOPs is the location of the ship or aircraft receiving the signals. The station configurations thus must provide a geometry that allows such intersection. _________________________________________ _________________________________________ In the post war period LORAN became the primary electronic navigation system for both ships and aircraft. The Coast Guard was given the responsibility of maintaining and operating the vast majority of all LORAN stations. The LORAN chains in the Pacific were realigned and modified to support post war military and commercial requirements. Whenever and wherever support could be obtained from local sources and/or other military installations, it was utilized. A number of the stations, however, were constructed on isolated islands or other remote locations. A large vessel to supply equipment and personnel was needed for construction and logistical support of the Pacific LORAN chain. The USS COLQUIT (AK-174) was obtained and converted to Coast Guard requirements. The name was changed to USCGC KUKUI (WAK-186). The KUKUI carried two LCMs on her decks to ferry men and equipment to shore and also had three bulldozers, several trucks and a few jeeps stashed in her holds. Seven months a year she was underway providing necessary logistic support to members of the Coast Guard LORAN chain throughout the western Pacific. During this time she delivered everything from toothpicks to antenna poles; from a can of pepper to a "Quonset Hut." She also carried the complex electronic equipment necessary to set up the LORAN system. The Officers and men not only sailed the ship but they operated bulldozers, landing craft, trucks and jeeps. _________________________________________ *Coast Guard Air Detachment Sangley Point In April of 1945 an advance base maintenance organization and construction of a runway was begun to support the continuing war effort. The Naval Air Base Sangley Point was not large, encompassing an area of only 341 acres, half of which was occupied by its most valuable asset: the 7000-foot runway and its associated air-operations facilities. A small Coast Guard air detachment was established at Sangley Point and over time it increased in size and responsibilities and the Commanding Officer of the Air Detachment would serve a dual function as Commander, Philippine Section, responsible for all Coast Guard Forces in the Philippines. The primary mission of the Coast Guard air detachment was logistics, but it always responded (to emergencies). Medivacs from LORSTA, ill and injured Filipinos from remote provinces, searched for overdue boats and aircraft, assisted in relief to disaster areas and helped the Navy search for missing aircraft. SAR (Search and Rescue) decreased in the mid to late 60s. In 1953 two additional LORAN stations became operational and the air detachment was then supporting five LORAN stations. Conditions and resources were primitive by today's standards. Source: USCG Aviation History |
