I flew C-97s through the Berlin Corridors in the early 70s
armed with a 48 inch camera taking snapshots of those airfields and other interestings sights on the ground.You can get some great pictures with a camera longer than your arm. We also had EWOs on board recording all the Russian radar signals. We would ask for our “own navigation” and wander to within 4 miles of the corridor edge to get in position to shoot the targets we wanted. Top Secret stuff-the Russians didn’t know a thing. Right. We had a photo of an airfield that had “Merry Xmas” and our squadron number plowed out of the snow on the ramp. Saw Migs all the time. Somehow managed to not get shot down. All at 190 knots.
Actually we were hauling Mil Intel folks back and forth from Berlin. I remember the first time we were making an approach into Templehof and broke out at about 5000 msl and looked down and saw a big stadium....and then it occurred to me was the Olympic stadium of the 1936 Olympics...where Jesse Owens embarrased Hitler and his Nazi buddies with a American Negro running away with a bunch of Gold Medals.. We usually got a one night RON in Berlin....and usually took a Helicopter ride up and down the wall. I guess that was actually the first time I really understood what the cold war was all about. East sector...dull...no lights and the West sector lit up like a Christmas tree.. Seeing war first hand in Vietnam was one of life’s lessons...seeing people separated by the wall with the folks on the East having family reunions by waving to their relatives in the West was another powerful lesson. I was stationed at Sembach AB during those days....great assignment flying for NATO Intelligence....the kids in finance called me Capt TDY...one of the kids told me...you collect more TDY every month than out whole section makes. He probably wasn’t far off the truth....repetitive TDY orders in those days had huge rewards....