DARLINGTON — A restored U.S. Air Force T-33 Silver Star jet will be among the attractions Saturday and Sunday during the May Fly Air Show and Festival at the Florence Regional Airport.
While the T-33 might be unfamiliar to those unacquainted with Air Force history, it isn’t to Roland “Rocky” Gannon of Darlington. Gannon is a retired Air Force fighter pilot who flew the T-33 and a slew of other aircraft during World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam.
The T-33 has special significance to Gannon because he said he almost lost his life in one on a non-military mission. It was 1957 and Gannon was a first lieutenant stationed at Castle Air Force Base in California.
Scenes for the movie “Bombers B-52” were being shot at the base. Gannon was flying a T-33 and had it positioned for a photo run on a B-52 at 38,000 feet so a Hollywood cameraman aboard the T-33 could shoot footage.
“The cameraman had accidentally disconnected his oxygen and passed out,” Gannon recalled. “I noticed it a few minutes later and started down to an altitude where he could get some oxygen.”
But this only compounded a serious problem.
“When the nose went down, he dropped his camera and slumped forward, jamming the stick forward,” Gannon said. “The result was an uncontrolled power dive. It was much steeper than I had intended and the tremendous change in outside air temperature made ice form on all the windows.
“I couldn’t pull out and thought it was all over, but just under 10,000 feet, the cameraman recovered enough to realize what was wrong. When he removed his weight from the stick, I was able to pull out.”
Gannon knew the cameraman was in bad shape and he needed to land as soon as possible.
But what to do? The canopy was iced over and Gannon couldn’t see. He was ordered several times to bail out, but ignored the orders.
Fortunately, a Sgt. Jessee Chavez was the controller on the ground.
“Sgt. Chavez had no choice but to try a blind landing,” Gannon said. “I never saw the ground, but he guided me to a zero-zero landing. It was a feat that gained national attention for both of us.”
An investigation revealed the photographer dropped his camera while changing magazines. The camera disconnected the oxygen hose and lodged between the seat and control stick.
“I can’t wait to see the T-33,” Gannon said. “It has more history than most people know. It holds volumes for me.”
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