1 - The Black Vault

PRAETORIAN STARSHIP
launch. By 1730 the entire flight line was on the
move. The proverbial walk of the elephants was
under way, with the C-130s loaded and maneuvering
to their takeoff positions. The Combat
Talon crews had an excellent view of the spectacle,
being parked on a side taxiway just 100 yards
from where the larger formation would begin its
takeoff roll. At precisely 1802, Eastern Standard
Time, the first C-130 began its takeoff roll, followed
every 15 seconds by another aircraft. The
weather had remained marginal throughout the
afternoon, and the ceiling was 300 feet overcast
with one-mile visibility as the C-130s lifted off
into the near darkness of the approaching night.
One by one the aircraft disappeared into the overcast.
Not one aircraft failed to make its scheduled
departure time. By 1807 local the C-130 formation
had departed, leaving behind the enginerunning
spare aircraft and the five-ship airland
formation. There were only a few minutes left for
the Talon crews to reflect on the night’s events
before it was time for them to make their own
departure (fig. 39). 24
Assault on Rio Hato, Panama
After a short taxi to the runway, Thigpen lined
up the lead aircraft (64-0567) for its takeoff roll.
At 1844 local, the lead Combat Talon began to roll,
with the other two Talons following at two-minute
intervals at 1846 and 1848. The two SOLL II aircraft,
which were not capable of in-flight refu eling,
and were lighter and faster than the Talons, followed
the last Talon 15 minutes later at 1903. As
the heavy Combat Talons lifted into the now
darkened night, they entered a solid overcast as
they passed the departure end of the runway. The
cold temperature helped create badly needed
thrust for the turboprop engines, but the aircraft
could climb only at about 300 feet per minute to a
cruise ceiling of 14,000 feet. Eventually, as the
aircraft burned off fuel, the formation continued
its climb to 18,000 feet. After the two SOLL II
aircraft departed Lawson AAF, one experienced a
maintenance problem and had to return to the
airfield for repairs. Thanks to a superior maintenance
effort, the problem was fixed, and the aircraft
was able to launch and to make its landing
time at Rio Hato. 25
As the three Combat Talons flew south towards
Panama, the early portion of the mission went
according to plan. After passing the Yucatan Peninsula
of Mexico, the three Talons were scheduled
for an IFR from two KC-135 at 10,000-feet altitude.
At the air refueling control point, there were
no tankers in sight. High overhead the Talon crews
could see an armada of aircraft heading south on
the same track as their formation, but none were
slowing to refuel the MC-130Es . Eventually, one
KC-135 rendezvoused with the Talon formation,
and Davenport was first to receive his on load of
fuel. With only one tanker, the three Talons
could not take their preplanned fuel load. The
crew navigators quickly calculated the minimum
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Figure 39. H-Hour Deployments, Operation Just Cause
324