An overflight of the Franz Josef Land Archipelago in the U.S.S.R. took place on 17 September 1952. The aircraft selected for this 14-hour unrefueled flight was an RB-50E manned by a 12-man reconnaissance crew of the 38th Reconnaissance Squadron, 55th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, both units home-based at Ramey Air Force Base in Puerto Rico. The aircraft launched from Thule Air Base in Greenland, then under construction, and it is the opinion of the four living members of the aircrew that this “overflight” into completely unknown Soviet arctic territory numbered among the most hazardous and unhearlded intelligence missions of the early Cold War.

The Franz Josef Archipelago consists of a group of approximately 190 islands in the high Arctic Ocean adjacent to the Barents Sea, above 80 degrees north latitude, and between 45 and 60 degrees east longitude. It is the northern-most land in the Eastern Hemisphere. The island grouping is approximately 180 nautical miles long and 110 nautical miles wide. The most eastern islands are 500 nautical miles west of the Soviet air base at Dikson, and 250 nautical miles north of the Soviet island of Novaya Zelmya. The islands themselves are 85 to 95 percent ice covered and low-lying, with the highest point reaching approximately 2,000 feet above sea level. The archipelago has a harsh climate with extremely cold winters and unstable weather, with average winter temperatures registering between minus 25 to minus 30 degrees Centigrade.

[Editor's note: If you wish to have an advance look at this geographical location, you may go to Atch. #3, where you will find four pages of selected and anotated maps which will be a useful reference as you continue to review this reconnaissance story. You may use your back button or the links guide included at the bottom of each page of this presentation.]

In 1952 the 38th Reconnaissance Squadron flew RB-50Es that normally operated with a crew of ten. Our crew, however, was augmented with an additional navigator and photographer because of the exceptional requirements of the project.