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With deep regret I again must inform you of the passing of one of our Roadrunner members. Departing on his final flight, Colonel 'Gimo' Yang, former pilot and commander of The Black Cat Squadron on Taiwan, died at his home here in Las Vegas yesterday. Yang was one of the first six Chinese pilots chosen for U-2 training at Del Rio to fly for the CAF in Taiwan. Prior to that Yang was flying RF-84 photorecon missions at low-level over the mainland from Taiwan. At Taiwan, he then served in Project Tackle, a joint CIA U-2 operation that the ROC referred to as Project Razor. Many of the Roadrunners participated with Yang in Detachment H, known as the Black Cats, including Colonel Hugh Slater of Henderson, Nevada who served as detachment commander prior to taking command of the 1129th at Groom Lake. Colonel Yang advanced to deputy squadron commander of the while still one of the five operational pilots. Yang flew the second long penetration flight to the desert northwest of China plus numerous reconnaissance missions over China, eastern Tibet, and along the Burma/China border. Promoted to colonel, Yang frequently traveled to Washington with Chinese Air Force Chief of Staff General Yang Shao Lien to discuss U-2 business with OSA
The Roadrunner staff thanks Roadrunner Chris Pocock for this background information contained in his book, "50 Years of the U-2", and the photo from Gimo's album showing him with President Chiang Kai Shek, shortly after his first U-2 overflight mission of China in 1962.
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