From: owner-skunk-works-digest@netwrx1.com (skunk-works-digest) To: skunk-works-digest@netwrx1.com Subject: skunk-works-digest V9 #80 Reply-To: skunk-works@netwrx1.com Sender: owner-skunk-works-digest@netwrx1.com Errors-To: owner-skunk-works-digest@netwrx1.com Precedence: bulk skunk-works-digest Saturday, October 21 2000 Volume 09 : Number 080 Index of this digest by subject: *************************************************** RSRA Re: RSRA LockMart stealthy hypersonic missile A vehicle in free space or air "Stealth Paint" Fwd: AMES MEDIA DAY FEATURES AIR SCOOTER WIND TUNNEL TESTS [none] code one article some aviation history(1954-63) *************************************************** ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 13 Oct 2000 14:54:56 -0700 From: David Lednicer Subject: RSRA Peter, You are right on in his comments regarding X-wing. I was in the middle of all that. Regarding the RSRA, there is more to the story. The program was initiated by NASA Langley, but soon after the two aircraft got flying, NASA decided that all the helicopter work would be done by Ames, while all the GA work would be done by Langley. Hence, a GA program that I had worked on in school got transfered to Langley, where it died and RSRA got transfered to Ames. There was some excellent vertical drag data taken at Ames and a little compound testing was done. Yes, the aircraft was too large for most rotors being designed, but it was well sized to test the UH-60 rotor. Answering a NASA RFP in the 1979-1981 time frame, Sikorsky proposed putting a UH-60 rotor on RSRA. I think Boeing proposed a 347 or YUH-61 rotor for the same purpose and I think Hughes proposed using a AH-64 rotor. I still have a copy of the Sikorsky proposal. I remember attending several meetings with NASA regarding the proposal, but in the end, nothing happened. Its a shame - such data would have been very useful. The trouble was that RSRA was an orphan at Ames and they didn't really have the will to do anything with it. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 14 Oct 100 05:20:48 GMT From: betnal@ns.net Subject: Re: RSRA On 10/13/00 2:54PM, in message , David Lednicer wrote: > Peter, > > You are right on in his comments regarding X-wing. I was in the > middle of all that. > > Regarding the RSRA, there is more to the story. The program was > initiated by NASA Langley, but soon after the two aircraft got flying, > NASA decided that all the helicopter work would be done by Ames, while all > the GA work would be done by Langley. Hence, a GA program that I had > worked on in school got transfered to Langley, where it died and RSRA got > transfered to Ames. There was some excellent vertical drag data taken > at Ames and a little compound testing was done. Yes, the aircraft was too > large for most rotors being designed, but it was well sized to test the > UH-60 rotor. Answering a NASA RFP in the 1979-1981 time frame, Sikorsky > proposed putting a UH-60 rotor on RSRA. I think Boeing proposed a 347 > or YUH-61 rotor for the same purpose and I think Hughes proposed using a > AH-64 rotor. I still have a copy of the Sikorsky proposal. I remember > attending several meetings with NASA regarding the proposal, but in the > end, nothing happened. Its a shame - such data would have been very > useful. The trouble was that RSRA was an orphan at Ames and they didn't > really have the will to do anything with it. > > > > > If the above wasn't a comment on my post on Tier 3, then please excuse this post. I didn't see Peter's message and maybe Dave's reply wasn't meant for general dissemination but got to the list by mistake (I've done that). In those years, I was able to spend a lot of time at Ames and was fortunate a number of times to ride in the King Air when it was flying chase on research aircraft. I also got to make pitches to people in the Navy when there was the early '80s talk of abandoning Crows Landing. What I said about X-Wing came from a number of direct conversations and interviews with personnel in the program, partly in conjunction with some articles I was doing for Aerospace America. I originally went into it hyped up on the concept of X-Wing, but the more data I got, from NASA Sikorsky and DoD, the more puzzling the concept seemed to be. Although Popular Science and the like were publishing things like X-Wing would be able to operate like a helicopter (sustained powered lift) yet reach supersonic speeds, when you talked to Sikorsky they were adamant that They never said it would do that. The statement about civil use and being slower than a Tilt-Rotor came from Sikorsky's own memos. I still have copies of those memos out in my storage shed somewhere (hey; it's been nearly 20 years). At those Powered Lift conferences that were held biennially in what was becoming Silicon Valley I was able to meet with a number of the potential users of X-Wing, and their reactions were pretty much the same. At first it sounded great, but the more they got into it, the complexity and related issues put them off. One military concern was survivability. Since X-Wing was in many ways an advanced CCR system (and I believe that CCR tested on the SH-2 never transitioned to full horizontal flight), there were questions as to what would happen if a bullet went through the rotor. Even though we already knew how to keep the blade intact (ala AH-64 and UH-60), what happened to the myriad channels and ducts that were now suddenly smashed or bent? It was feared that a relatively minor hit would suddenly render the rotor so unstable it would shake itself apart. No One had any doubt that NASA had the smarts and the ability to solve virtually all the problems with the concept (including keeping the hot air providing rotor/wing control from becoming an IR missile magnet), but at what cost? And, once did have an operational vehicle, what did you have that you couldn't have gotten simpler and cheaper? It would have been an engineering triumph, but what would you do with it that was worth the monetary and operational costs? Regarding RSRA, I also got to climb over Gertrude/Heathcliff. -Side note: You know you're dating yourself if you can say you actually saw what gave those two birds their name-. The buzz in the industry at the time was that the concept was a good one: Test advanced or new rotors for forthcoming designs in the air without having to actually go and build the whole aircraft itself. The thing was, the talked about designs were noticeably smaller than UH-60 sized. Look how long it's been since then and the S-92. One of the RSRA concepts objectives was that industry/other agencies could pay to have their designs tested. The thing was that for a UH-60 size rotor, Sikorsky could easily test it on a UH-60 if they had to use their own money. There were some proposals floating around to use the birds, Dave mentioned three, but not enough to justify the program. That's the same story at this point in time regarding my beloved SR-71s. I freely admit I never saw Sikorsky's proposal, but I imagine it involved the Government paying Sikorsky to develop the data using RSRA. There are always proposals for that kind of program. I suspect that if RSRA had been a Cobra or S-76 sized vehicle, there would have been a number of requests for the birds (if they were affordable) from multiple manufacturers and other agencies. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Oct 2000 13:44:22 -0500 From: "Allen Thomson" Subject: LockMart stealthy hypersonic missile This is a multi-part message in MIME format. - ------=_NextPart_000_0005_01C036AE.065643A0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit FYI, FWIW : http://www.delphion.com/details?pn=US06058846__ - ------=_NextPart_000_0005_01C036AE.065643A0 Content-Type: application/octet-stream; name="Rocket and ramjet powered hypersonic stealth missile having alterable radar cross section (US6058846).url" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="Rocket and ramjet powered hypersonic stealth missile having alterable radar cross section (US6058846).url" [DEFAULT] BASEURL=3Dhttp://www.delphion.com/details?pn=3DUS06058846__ [DOC#6] BASEURL=3Dhttp://ad.doubleclick.net/adi/patents.ibm.com/engineering_mecha= nical;sz=3D468x60;cat=3Dresearch;ord=3D696411? ORIGURL=3Dhttp://ad.doubleclick.net/adi/patents.ibm.com/engineering_mecha= nical;sz=3D468x60;cat=3Dresearch;ord=3D696411? [InternetShortcut] URL=3Dhttp://www.delphion.com/details?pn=3DUS06058846__ Modified=3D408C00B3D736C0014D - ------=_NextPart_000_0005_01C036AE.065643A0-- ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Oct 2000 15:52:17 -0500 From: "Allen Thomson" Subject: A vehicle in free space or air This is a multi-part message in MIME format. - ------=_NextPart_000_0081_01C036BF.E4F838A0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I have a question that perhaps some skunk.person can help with. What appears to be Lockheed's basic patent on HAVE BLUE/F-117 stealth technology -- http://www.delphion.com/details?pn=US05250950__ and http://www.delphion.com/details?pn=USRE036298__ , which adds some things censored in the original patent -- starts out, "A vehicle in free space or air, with external surfaces primarily fashioned from planar facets." Now, if it had just said "in free space," I would have taken that in the radio science sense and thought that "in [the] air" was pretty much included. But since it says free space *or* air, I'm left wondering what "free space" can mean other than the vasty deeps beyond the sky. Which would be interesting, if true. And that's my question: where else besides outer space do you find "free space" but not air? Note, BTW, that the material added in the second reference is quite unspecific as to platform, whereas that in the first issue of the patent clearly referred to an airplane. - ------=_NextPart_000_0081_01C036BF.E4F838A0 Content-Type: application/octet-stream; name="Vehicle (US5250950).url" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="Vehicle (US5250950).url" [DEFAULT] BASEURL=3Dhttp://www.delphion.com/details?pn=3DUS05250950__ [DOC#6] BASEURL=3Dhttp://ad.doubleclick.net/adi/patents.ibm.com/electronics;sz=3D= 468x60;cat=3Dresearch;ord=3D4915466? ORIGURL=3Dhttp://ad.doubleclick.net/adi/patents.ibm.com/electronics;sz=3D= 468x60;cat=3Dresearch;ord=3D4915466? [InternetShortcut] URL=3Dhttp://www.delphion.com/details?pn=3DUS05250950__ Modified=3DE028B3C8E136C0015B - ------=_NextPart_000_0081_01C036BF.E4F838A0-- ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Oct 2000 16:13:20 -0500 From: "Robert S. Hopkins, III" Subject: "Stealth Paint" Colleagues, I recall a number of comments and discussions regarding the potential of paint to change colors under different optical and thermal conditions, perhaps as applied to the F-117, B-2, and even the A-10. I would be grateful if anyone could redirect my energies toward this material, or perhaps provide a useful summary. Feel free to reply off-line directly to me at drbob@shemya.net rather than clutter the world with old news. Many Thanks, Robert ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2000 17:43:40 GMT From: "wayne binkley" Subject: Fwd: AMES MEDIA DAY FEATURES AIR SCOOTER WIND TUNNEL TESTS - ----Original Message Follows---- From: "NASANEWS@Ames" To: ames-releases@lists.arc.nasa.gov Subject: AMES MEDIA DAY FEATURES AIR SCOOTER WIND TUNNEL TESTS Date: Thu, 19 Oct 2000 13:40:01 -0700 David Morse Oct. 19, 2000 NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA Phone: 650/ 604-9000 e-mail: dmorse@mail.arc.nasa.gov RELEASE: 00-71AR NOTE TO EDITORS AND NEWS DIRECTORS: You are invited to cover a media day highlighting wind tunnel tests of the propulsion system of a one-person air scooter on Monday, Oct. 23, from 9:00 a.m. to 2 p.m. PDT, at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA. To reach Ames, take the Moffett Field exit from Highway 101, drive east to the main Ames gate, and report to the pass and identification office for maps and directions to Bldg. N215, 7-by 10-foot wind tunnel #1. Related video footage is slated for satellite distribution and handout on betacam videotape; please see further information at the end of this notice. U.S. media representatives must have valid picture ID in order to enter Ames. Foreign media representatives will require escort (advance notification recommended). Reporters will also be given a map with directions to Millennium Jet, Inc, Sunnyvale, so they can view the air scooter vehicle and interview Millennium Jet engineers (between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.) AMES MEDIA DAY FEATURES AIR SCOOTER WIND TUNNEL TESTS Testing of a flying air scooter's lift power will be the focus of an Oct. 23 media day for reporters at NASA Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley. NASA Ames and Millennium Jet, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA, are working under a cooperative agreement during development of the company's SoloTrek XFV” (Exo-skeletor Flying Vehicle), a one-person air scooter that someday may fly commuters above traffic jams. "Our researchers are working with engineers from Millennium Jet to test one of the air scooter's two fan assemblies in a wind tunnel to determine if they can overcome gravity and raise the vehicle from the ground," said engineer William Warmbrodt, head of the Aeromechanics Branch at NASA Ames. "We won't know if the two ducted fans, as now designed, can lift the pilot and vehicle off the ground until we do these tests." "We have all been dreaming of such a vehicle for many years, and now the dream is becoming a reality," Millennium Jet, Inc. founder Michael Moshier said. - -more- - -2- "NASA is interested in further developing vertical flight technologies -- from large transports to personal transportation systems," said Warmbrodt. "NASA is supporting the company's efforts in engineering, technology and testing, and giving advice when asked." "We are doing this test in a wind tunnel because it's safe (a person does not have to pilot the vehicle). The test will result in accurate lift-force data, and we can evaluate the duct and fan system throughout its operating envelope under carefully controlled conditions," Warmbrodt said. "Each of the five-bladed fans is about 3 feet in diameter and rotates in a housing called a fairing or duct," explained Warmbrodt. The air scooter tests are taking place in the 7-by 10-foot wind tunnel operated for NASA Ames by the U.S. Army and the Army/NASA Rotorcraft Division. By mid November, engineers hope to have final statistics to indicate if the current ducted fans are strong enough to lift the air scooter. "The air scooter has a tripod-stand-like structure, and the pilot stands on footrests. The engine mounts to a tripod frame behind the pilot's back," Warmbrodt said. Aeronautical engineers see potential for such air scooters to be future personal transportation systems. These vehicles could be built for one or multiple passengers with the ability to take off and land vertically and to be operated either autonomously or manually with "car-like" controls. The military could use such vehicles to bypass obstacles like land mines, blocked roads, impassable bridges or large areas of water, and for search and rescue missions. Other potential uses for such vehicles include providing "instant-response" medical attention, adding a third, vertical dimension for sport utility vehicles, and rapid package delivery and transportation to and from airports. Workers could use these vehicles to help construct and maintain power lines, bridges and multi-story buildings. Additional uses for larger air scooters might include planting, spraying and harvesting crops, detecting and extracting land mines, conducting search and rescue missions in adverse weather and participating in major chemical and biological cleanups. Further information on the Millennium Jet air scooter can be found at: http://www.solotrek.com Details of Ames' Aeromechanics program can be found at: http://halfdome.arc.nasa.gov NOTE TO BROADCASTERS: "Video file" footage related to this story is scheduled for satellite distribution to broadcasters on Oct. 23 and 24, but the TV feed schedule may be revised if the Space Shuttle landing schedule changes. - -more- - -3- After Oct. 24, re-feeds of the material may also be available; please telephone Ray Castillo at 202/358-4555 or Fred Brown at 202/358-0713 in Washington, DC, to make a re-feed request. Please note that all TV feed times, unless otherwise listed, are Eastern Times. The NASA Video File normally airs at 12:00 p.m., 3:00 p.m., 6:00 p.m., 9:00 p.m. and 12:00 a.m. Eastern. NASA Television is available on GE-2, transponder 9C at 85 degrees West longitude, with vertical polarization. Frequency is 3880.0 Megahertz, with audio on 6.8 Megahertz. Any changes to the line-up will appear on the NASA video file advisory on the web at ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/tv-advisory/nasa-tv.txt - -end- To receive Ames press releases via email, send an email with the word "subscribe" in subject line to: ames-releases-request@lists.arc.nasa.gov. To unsubscribe, send an email to: ames-releases-request@lists.arc.nasa.gov with "unsubscribe" in subject line. Also, the NASA Ames News Home Page at URL, http://amesnews.arc.nasa.gov includes news releases and JPEG images in AP Leaf Desk format minus embedded captions. _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 21 Oct 2000 15:18:56 GMT From: "wayne binkley" Subject: [none] i found this site recently,and it is worth taking a look at.they have links to a lot of military aircraft currently on diaplay,and to a lot of museums.below is the opening page,if interested use the URL below.wayne Preserved US Military Aircraft - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is Ben's description of the list from his newsgroup post. - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here is my list of preserved military aircraft. The entire list is some 2,800 aircraft long. The criteria for inclusion in the list were : 1. the aircraft has or should have a US military serial; 2. the aircraft ended its service life with the US military. Consequently, the list excludes for example French F100's, Dutch F84F's etc. Also excluded are aircraft which are either instructional airframes or have civil regs. or are stored (AMARC!!). The list is sorted alphabetically by type, by US serial. The columns are generic type, US serial (zeroes added where needed for database sorting purposes), date last seen/reported and location. Where the US serial has an asterisk *, the aircraft served with a foreign air force/navy before it came back to US service. Although I am painfully aware that there are many designations for, say, a T6 and while I know that some aircraft in USAF and USN service have different designations, I just had to use generic types in order to a) protect myself against sleepless nights, b) avoid discussion and c) keep the lists tidy and accessible. Also, I had to be ruthless in naming locations. Some air bases have aircraft preserved in a museum and at the gate and around the corner from building 337-5 etc. For the purpose of this list, a location is a location, without any specifics. OK? Then about completeness and correctness: Although my friends and/or myself have actually seen many of the aircraft, and although I have done my best to compile a list as useful as possible, errors are human! Please send me any additions, corrections and even questions, so that I can improve the list. Apart from friends (thanks!) I have used snippets from such extremely useful magazines like Scramble (Dutch) and British Aviation Review. Ben Marselis Flying from Eelde Airport Surfing From Rolde, Holland http://www.coastcomp.com/av/pres/presintr.htm _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 21 Oct 2000 16:10:37 GMT From: "wayne binkley" Subject: code one article Skunk Works This article appeared in the October 1993 issue of Code One Magazine. During early 1943, as a result of prescient jet engine design work by chief engineer Hall Hibbard and conducted by Lockheed's Nate Price and the then little-known Clarence L. "Kelly" Johnson, the Army Air Force's H. H. "Hap" Arnold drafted Lockheed to design and build a jet fighter to counter the rapid technology advances then taking place in Nazi Germany. On 17 June 1943, the Air Force formally approved what was to become Lockheed's first jet aircraft-the US Air Force's XP-80. That day is considered the birth date of the Skunk Works. http://www.codeonemagazine.com/archives/1993/articles/oct_93/oct93_p.html _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 21 Oct 2000 16:17:54 GMT From: "wayne binkley" Subject: some aviation history(1954-63) 1954-1963 February 15, 1954. President Dwight D. Eisenhower nominates Charles A. Lindbergh to be a brigadier general in the Air Force Reserve. February 24, 1954. President Eisenhower approves the National Security Council's recommendation for construction of the Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line. Operational control of the DEW Line will be transferred from the Air Force to the Royal Canadian Air Force on February 1, 1959. March 1, 1954. In the Marshall Islands, the US successfully explodes its first deliverable hydrogen bomb. March 7, 1954. Company test pilot Tony LeVier makes the first flight of the Lockheed XF-104 Starfighter at Edwards AFB, Calif. A first attempt on February 28 was cut short after the aircraft experienced gear retraction problems. Designed as a supersonic air-superiority fighter, the F-104 will set a number of records for the US, but it will find greater utility for a number of other countries than it will for USAF. March 18, 1954. Boeing rolls out the first production B-52A Stratofortress at its plant in Seattle, Wash. Production will continue until 1962. April 1, 1954. President Eisenhower signs into law a bill creating the US Air Force Academy. May 25, 1954. A Navy ZPG-2 airship lands at NAS Key West, Fla., after staying aloft for 200.1 hours. Cmdr. M.H. Eppes, the airship captain, is later awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. June 22, 1954. The Douglas A4D (A-4) Skyhawk makes its first flight from Edwards AFB, Calif., with company pilot Robert Rahn at the controls. Some 2,960 aircraft later, "Scooters" would still be flying with the Navy as trainers and with several foreign countries as front-line equipment into the mid 1990s. July 15, 1954. The Boeing Model 367-80 makes its first flight, with company pilot A.M. "Tex" Johnston in command. The aircraft is the prototype for the Air Force's C/KC-135 series and the progenitor of the 707, which will become the first civilian jetliner to see wide use. August 23, 1954. Lockheed pilots Stanley Beltz and Roy Wimmer crew the first flight of the YC-130 Hercules at Burbank, Calif. More than 2,100 aircraft later, the C-130 will still be in production at Marietta, Ga., and is expected to be produced beyond the turn of the century. August 26, 1954. Maj. Arthur "Kit" Murray reaches a record height of 90,443 feet in the Bell X-1A, which was released from a B-29 over Edwards AFB. September 1, 1954. Continental Air Defense Command--a joint command composed of Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine forces--is established at Colorado Springs, Colo. October 12, 1954. The Cessna XT-37 Tweet trainer is flown for the first time at Wichita, Kan. The T-37 will still be soldiering on, nearly forty years later, as the Air Force's primary trainer. October 27, 1954. Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., son of the first black general officer in the US Army, becomes the first black general officer in the US Air Force. He retires April 30, 1965, as a lieutenant general. November 2, 1954. Company test pilot J.F. Coleman, flying in the radical tail-sitting Convair XFY-1, makes a vertical takeoff, changes to horizontal flight, and then returns to vertical for a landing in San Diego, Calif. November 7, 1954. The Air Force announces plans to build a $15.5 million research laboratory for atomic aircraft engines. To be built in Connecticut, the plant is to be run by Pratt & Whitney and will be finished in 1957. December 10, 1954. To determine if a pilot could eject from an airplane at supersonic speed and live, Lt. Col. John Paul Stapp, a flight surgeon, rides a rocket sled to 632 mph, decelerates to zero in 125 seconds, and survives more than thirty-five times the force of gravity. February 7, 1955. After 131 shows, the Thunderbirds, the Air Force's aerial demonstration team, perform their last show in the Republic F-84G Thunderjet at Webb AFB, Tex. In April, the team will convert to swept-wing F-84F Thunderstreaks. February 23, 1955. The Army picks Bell Helicopter from a list of twenty competing companies to build its first turbine-powered helicopter. The winning design, designated XH-40, will become the HU-1 (and later still, UH-1) Iroquois, the renowned "Huey." February 26, 1955. North American Aviation test pilot George Smith becomes the first person to survive ejection from an aircraft flying at supersonic speed. His F-100 Super Sabre is traveling at Mach 1.05 when the controls jam and he is forced to punch out. July 11, 1955. The first class (306 cadets) is sworn in at the Air Force Academy's temporary location at Lowry AFB, Colo. August 4, 1955. Company pilot Tony LeVier makes the first official flight of the Lockheed U-2 spy plane at Groom Lake, Nev. An inadvertant "hop" had been made on July 29. August 15, 1955. Donald A. Quarles becomes Secretary of the Air Force. October 22, 1955. Company test pilot "Rusty" Roth makes the first flight of the Republic YF-105 Thunderchief at Edwards AFB, Calif. The aircraft, commonly known as the "Thud" (among other things), is the largest single-engine, single-seat fighter ever built. November 26, 1955. Secretary of Defense Charles Wilson assigns responsibility for development and operations of landbased intercontinental ballistic missiles to the Air Force. January 17, 1956. Department of Defense reveals the existence of SAGE, an electronic air defense system. February 17, 1956. Company test pilot Tony LeVier inadvertently makes the first flight of the Lockheed F-104A Starfighter as the plane skips off the runway during high-speed taxi tests at Edwards AFB, Calif. The first official flight takes place March 4. March 10, 1956. The recognized absolute speed record passes the 1,000 mph barrier, as company pilot Peter Twiss hits 1,132.13 mph in the Fairey Delta 2 research aircraft at Sussex, England. May 20, 1956. After ninety-one shows in a little more than a year, the Thunderbirds perform their last demonstration in the Republic F-84F Thunderstreak at Bolling AFB, D.C. May 21, 1956. An Air Force crew flying Boeing B-52B Stratofortress at 40,000 feet air-drops a live hydrogen bomb over Bikini Atoll in the Pacific. The bomb has a measured blast of 3.75 megatons. May 28, 1956. Company pilot "Pete" Girard makes the first flight of the Ryan X-13 Vertijet VTOL research aircraft in hover mode at Edwards AFB, Calif. He had also made the type's first conventional flight on December 10, 1955. June 30, 1956. The Thunderbirds, the Air Force's aerial demonstration squadron, fly their first show in the supersonic North American F-100 Super Sabre, the type the team would fly for most of the next thirteen years. August 1, 1956. President Eisenhower signs into law bill permitting Armed Forces to include flight instruction in ROTC programs. September 27, 1956. Capt. Milburn Apt, USAF, reaches Mach 3.196 in the Bell X-2, becoming the first pilot to fly three times the speed of sound. Captain Apt is killed, however, when the aircraft tumbles out of control. October 1, 1956. NASA awards its Distinguished Service Medal to Dr. Richard T. Whitcomb, inventor of the "area rule" concept, which results in aircraft (such as the Convair F-102) having Coke bottle-shaped fuselages in order to reduce supersonic drag. October 26, 1956. Less than sixteen months after design work began, and ironically, the same day that legendary designer Larry Bell dies, company pilot Floyd Carlson makes the first flight of the Bell XH-40 at Fort Worth, Tex. Later redesignated UH-1, the Iroquois, or "Huey" as it is more popularly known, will go on to be one of the significant helicopters of all time. November 11, 1956. With company pilot Beryl A. Erickson at the controls, USAF's first supersonic bomber, the delta-winged Convair B-58 Hustler, capable of flying at speeds of more than 1,000 mph, makes its first flight at Fort Worth, Tex. December 26, 1956. Company pilot Richard L. Johnson makes the first flight of the first Convair F-106 Delta Dart at Edwards AFB, Calif. The F-106, a substantially redesigned and much improved version of the F-102 interceptor, would remain in service until 1988 and would later be modified into target drones. January 18, 1957. Commanded by Maj. Gen. Archie J. Old, Jr., USAF, three B-52 Stratofortresses complete a 24,325-mile round-the-world nonstop flight in forty-five hours, nineteen minutes, with an average speed of 534 mph. It is the first globe-circling nonstop flight by a jet aircraft. April 11, 1957. With company pilot "Pete" Girard at the controls, the Ryan X-13 Vertijet makes its first full-cycle flight. He takes off vertically from the aircraft's mobile trailer, transitions to horizontal flight, performs several maneuvers, and then lands vertically. May 1, 1957. James H. Douglas, Jr., becomes Secretary of the Air Force. July 1, 1957. Gen. Thomas D. White becomes Air Force Chief of Staff. July 1, 1957. Pacific Air Forces is established. July 13, 1957. President Dwight D. Eisenhower becomes the first chief executive to fly in a helicopter as he takes off from the White House lawn in a Bell UH-13J Sioux. Maj. Joseph E. Barrett flies the President a short distance to a military command post at a remote location as part of a military exercise. July 19, 1957. A Douglas MB-1 Genie aerial rocket is fired from a Northrop F-89J Scorpion, marking the first time in history that an air-to-air rocket with a nuclear warhead is launched and detonated. The test took place at 20,000 feet over the Nevada Test Site. July 31, 1957. The DEW Line, a distant early warning radar defense installation extending across the Canadian Arctic, is reported to be fully operational. August 1, 1957. NORAD, the joint US-Canadian North American Air Defense Command, is informally established. August 15, 1957. Gen. Nathan F. Twining becomes Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the first USAF officer to serve in this position. October 4, 1957. The space age begins when the Soviet Union launches Sputnik 1, the world's first artificial satellite, into Earth orbit. November 3, 1957. The first animal in space, a dog named Laika, is carried aboard Sputnik 2. The satellite is carried aloft by a modified intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). November 11-13, 1957. Gen. Curtis E. LeMay and crew fly a Boeing KC-135 from Westover AFB, Mass., to Buenos Aires, Argentina, to set a world jet-class record distance in a straight line of 6,322 miles. The crew will set a class speed record on the trip back. December 6, 1957. The first US attempt to orbit a satellite fails when a Vanguard rocket loses thrust and explodes. December 12, 1957. Flying a McDonnell F-101A Voodoo, USAF Maj. Adrian Drew sets a world record of 1,207.34 mph at Edwards AFB, Calif. December 17, 1957. The Convair HGM-16 Atlas ICBM makes its first successful launch and flight. January 31, 1958. Explorer I, the first US satellite, is launched by the Army at Cape Canaveral. The satellite, launched on a Jupiter-C rocket, will later play a key role in the discovery of the Van Allen radiation belt. February 4, 1958. The keel of the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, USS Enterprise (CVN-65), is laid at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Co. yards in Virginia. February 27, 1958. Approval is given to USAF to start research and development on an ICBM program that will later be called "Minuteman." March 6, 1958. The first production Northrop SM-62 Snark intercontinental missile is accepted by the Air Force after four previous successful launchings. April 8, 1958. An Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker crew flies 10,229.3 miles nonstop and unrefueled from Tokyo to Lajes Field, Azores, in eighteen hours, fifty minutes. May 7, 1958. USAF Maj. Howard C. Johnson sets a world altitude record of 91,243 feet in a Lockheed F-104A Starfighter. Nine days later, USAF Capt. Walter W. Irwin sets a world speed record of 1,404.09 mph, also in an F-104. May 27, 1958. The first flight of the McDonnell F4H-1 (F-4) Phantom II is made by company pilot Robert Little (who was wearing street shoes at the time) at the company's facility in Saint Louis, Mo. On May 20, 1978, McDonnell Douglas will deliver the 5,000th F-4. June 17, 1958. Boeing and Martin are named prime contractors to develop competitive designs for the Air Force's X-20 Dyna-Soar boost-glide space vehicle. This project, although later canceled, is the first step toward the space shuttle. July 23, 1958. The Boeing Vertol VZ-2A tiltwing research aircraft makes the first successful transition from vertical to horizontal flight and vice versa. July 26, 1958. Capt. Iven C. Kincheloe, Jr., USAF, holder of the world altitude record (126,200 feet, set in the Bell X-2, September 7, 1956), is killed in an F-104 crash. August 1958. The term "aerospace" is used publicly for the first time by Gen. Thomas D. White, USAF Chief of Staff, in an Air Force Magazine article. The term was invented by Frank W. Jennings, a civilian writer and editor for the Air Force News Service. August 6, 1958. A Department of Defense Reorganization Act removes operational control of combat forces from the individual services and reassigns the missions to unified and specified commands on a geographic or functional basis. The main role of the services becomes to organize, train, and equip forces. September 1, 1958. A new enlisted supergrade, senior master sergeant (E-8) is created. September 26, 1958. A Boeing B-52D crew sets a world distance record of 6,233.98 miles and a speed record of 560.75 mph (over a 10,000-meter course) during a two-lap flight from Ellsworth AFB, S.D., to Douglas, Ariz., to Newburg, Ore., and back. October 1, 1958. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is officially established, replacing NACA. December 16, 1958. The Pacific Missile Range begins launching operations with the successful flight of the Chrysler PGM-19 Thor missile, the first ballistic missile launched over the Pacific Ocean. (The first free world firing of ballistic missile under simulated combat conditions.) December 18, 1958. Project Score, an Atlas booster with a communications repeater satellite, is launched into Earth orbit. The satellite carries a Christmas message from President Eisenhower that is broadcast to Earth, the first time a human voice has been heard from space. January 8, 1959. NASA requests eight Redstone-type launch vehicles from the Army for Project Mercury development flights. Four days later, McDonnell Aircraft Co. is selected to build the Mercury capsules. January 22, 1959. Air Force Capt. William B. White sets a record for the longest nonstop flight between points in the US, as he flies a Republic F-105 Thunderchief 3,850 miles from Eielson AFB, Alaska, to Eglin AFB, Fla., in five hours, twenty-seven minutes. February 6, 1959. USAF successfully launches the first Martin HGM-25A Titan ICBM. February 28, 1959. USAF successfully launches the Discoverer I satellite into polar orbit from Vandenberg AFB, Calif. April 2, 1959. Chosen from a field of 110 candidates, seven test pilots--Air Force Capts. L. Gordon Cooper, Jr., Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, and Donald K. "Deke" Slayton; Navy Lt. Cmdrs. Walter M. Schirra, Jr., and Alan B. Shepard, Jr., and Lt. M. Scott Carpenter; and Marine Lt. Col. John H. Glenn, Jr.--are announced as the Project Mercury astronauts. April 12, 1959. The Air Force Association's World Congress of Flight is held in Las Vegas, Nev.-- the first international air show in US history. Fifty-one foreign nations participate. NBC-TV telecasts an hour-long special, and Life Magazine gives it five pages of coverage. April 15, 1959. USAF Capt. George A. Edwards sets a speed record of 816.279 mph in a McDonnell RF-101C Voodoo on a 500-kilometer closed course at Edwards AFB, Calif. April 20, 1959. The prototype Lockheed UGM-27A Polaris sea-launched ballistic missile successfully flies a 500-mile trajectory in a Navy test. Three days later, the Air Force carries out the first flight test of the North American GAM-77 Hound Dog air-launched strategic missile at Eglin AFB, Fla. May 28, 1959. Astrochimps Able and Baker are recovered alive in the Atlantic after their flight to an altitude of 300 miles in the nosecone of a PGM-19 Jupiter missile launched from Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex, Fla. June 3, 1959. The first class is graduated from the Air Force Academy. June 8, 1959. The Post Office enters the missile age, as 3,000 stamped envelopes are carried aboard a Vought RGM-6 Regulus I missile launched from the submarine USS Barbero (SSG-317) in the Atlantic. The unarmed missile lands twenty-one minutes later at the Naval Auxiliary Air Station at Mayport, Fla. June 8, 1959. After several attempts, North American Aviation pilot Scott Crossfield makes the first nonpowered flight in the X-15. July 1, 1959. The first experimental reactor (Kiwi-A) in the nuclear space rocket program is operated successfully in a test at Jackass Flats, Nev. August 7, 1959. First intercontinental relay of voice message by satellite takes place. The voice is that of Maj. Robert G. Mathis, later USAF Vice Chief of Staff. August 7, 1959. Two USAF F-100Fs make the first flight by jet fighter aircraft over the North Pole. September 9, 1959. The Atlas missile is fired for the first time by a SAC crew from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., and the missile type is declared operational by the SAC commander in chief. The shot travels about 4,300 miles at 16,000 mph. September 12, 1959. The Soviet Union launches Luna 2, the first man-made object to reach the moon. September 24, 1959. Company test pilot Robert C. Little makes the first flight of the McDonnell F-101A Voodoo at Edwards AFB, Calif. The "One-oh-Wonder" hits Mach 1.2 on its first flight and will go on to fill several roles for a number of Air Force comands. November 16, 1959. Air Force Capt. Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr., after ascending to an altitude of 76,400 feet in Excelsior I, an open-gondola balloon (setting three unofficial altitude records on the way), makes the longest free-fall parachute jump in history (64,000 feet) in two minutes, fifty-eight seconds at White Sands, N.M. December 1, 1959. A new enlisted grade E-9, chief master sergeant, is created. December 11, 1959. Dudley C. Sharp becomes Secretary of the Air Force. December 15, 1959. Maj. Richard W. Rogers regains the world speed record for the US, as he pilots his Convair F-106 Delta Dart to a speed of 1,525.6 mph at an altitude of 40,550 feet at Edwards AFB, Calif. December 15, 1959. Maj. Joseph Rogers sets the recognized absolute speed record of 1,525.965 mph in a Convair F-106A at Edwards AFB, Calif. December 30, 1959. The first US ballistic missile-carrying submarine, USS George Washington (SSBN-598), is commissioned at Groton, Conn. January 25, 1960. In what is billed as the "first known kill of a ballistic missile," an Army MIM-23 HAWK antiaircraft missile downs an unarmed MGR-1 Honest John surface-to-surface unguided rocket. March 22, 1960. The Civil Aeronautics Board reports that slightly more than ten percent of revenue passenger miles flown in scheduled domestic operations during 1959 were flown by pure jet aircraft. March 29, 1960. The Naval Weapons Station Annex at Charleston, S.C., opens. It will provide a final assembly capability for UGM-27 Polaris sea-launched ballistic missiles and also a capability for loading them on submarines. April 1, 1960. The RCA-built TIROS 1 (Television Infrared Observation Satellite), the world's first meteorological satellite, is successfully launched from Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex, Fla., atop a Thor launch vehicle. April 4, 1960. Project Ozma is initiated at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory at Green Bank, W.Va., to listen for possible signal patterns from outer space other than "natural" noise. April 22, 1960. A federal court of appeals upholds a Federal Aviation Administration order that automatically grounds pilots over sixty years old. May 1, 1960. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) pilot Francis Gary Powers, flying a Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft, is shot down over the Soviet Union near Sverdlovsk. He is captured and later put on trial for espionage. The incident creates an international furor, and a superpower summit scheduled for later in the month is canceled. In 1962, Mr. Powers will be exchanged for Soviet KGB agent Rudolf Abel. May 20, 1960. The Air Force launches from Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex a Convair HGM-16 Atlas ICBM that carries a 1.5-ton payload 9,040 miles to the Indian Ocean. This is the greatest distance ever flown by a US ICBM. May 21, 1960. The last World War II era North American B-25 Mitchell is retired from active Air Force service at Eglin AFB, Fla. July 20, 1960. The first underwater launch of a Lockheed UGM-27 Polaris ballistic missile is successfully carried out from USS George Washington (SSBN-598) off Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex. August 16, 1960. At an altitude of 102,800 feet over Tularosa, N.M., Air Force Capt. Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr., makes the ultimate leap of faith. In the four and a half minutes between stepping out of the balloon's open gondola and opening his parachute, he free falls 84,700 feet, reaching a speed of 614 mph. Captain Kittinger lands unharmed thirteen minutes, forty-five seconds after jumping. This the highest jump and longest free fall ever recorded. September 21, 1960. Tactical Air Command formally accepts the first Republic F-105D Thunderchief all-weather fighter in ceremonies at Nellis AFB, Nev. The aircraft will not officially enter service until the following year, when deliveries to Seymour Johnson AFB, N.C., begin. October 1, 1960. Ballistic Missile Early Warning System radar post at Thule, Greenland, begins regular operations, part of chain of three planned installations to warn of air or missile attacks on North America over an Arctic route. January 12, 1961. A B-58 Hustler piloted by Maj. Henry J. Deutschendorf, Jr., sets six international speed and payload records on a single flight, thus breaking five previous records held by the Soviet Union. On January 14, another B-58 from the same wing breaks three of the records set on January 12. January 24, 1961. Eugene M. Zuckert becomes Secretary of the Air Force. January 31, 1961. A chimpanzee named Ham is launched atop a Redstone booster from Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex in a test of the Mercury manned capsule. February 1, 1961. The first Boeing LGM-30A Minuteman ICBM is launched from Cape Canaveral Missile Test Annex. It travels 4,600 miles and hits the target area. This is the first time a first-test missile is launched with all systems and stages functioning. February 3, 1961. SAC's Boeing EC-135 Airborne Command Post begins operations. Dubbed "Looking Glass," the planes and their equipment provide a backup means of controlling manned bombers and launching landbased ICBMs in case a nuclear attack wipes out conventional command-and-control systems. April 12, 1961. The Soviet Union stuns the world with the first successful manned spaceflight. Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin is not only history's first spaceman. He is also the first person to orbit the Earth. May 5, 1961. Cmdr. Alan B. Shepard, Jr., USN, becomes the first Project Mercury astronaut to cross the space frontier. His flight in Freedom 7 lasts fifteen minutes, twenty-eight seconds, reaches an altitude of 116.5 miles, and ends 303.8 miles downrange. May 25, 1961. President John F. Kennedy, at a joint session of Congress, declares a national space objective: "I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth." June 30, 1961. Gen. Curtis E. LeMay becomes Air Force Chief of Staff. July 21, 1961. Capt. Virgil I. Grissom becomes the first Air Force astronaut in space. He attains an altitude of 118.3 miles on the second Mercury mission. August 6-7, 1961. Flying in the Vostok 2 spacecraft, Soviet Air Force Capt. Gherman Titov becomes the first person to orbit the Earth for more than a day. He also becomes the first person to get spacesick. January 10-11, 1962. Maj. Clyde P. Evely sets a recognized class record for great circle distance without landing (jet aircraft) of 12,532.28 miiles from Kadena AB, Japan, to Madrid, Spain, in a Boeing B-52H Stratofortress. The record still stands. January 12, 1962. Maj. Henry J. Deutschendorf, Jr., sets two recognized class records for 2,000- kilometer speed over a closed circuit with payload (jet aircraft) of 1,061.81 mph in a Convair B-58A Hustler at Edwards AFB, Calif. The records still stand. February 2, 1962. A C-123 "Ranch Hand" aircraft crashes while spraying defoliant on a Viet Cong ambush site. It is the first US Air Force plane lost in South Vietnam. February 20, 1962. Marine Lt. Col. John H. Glenn, Jr., becomes the first US astronaut to orbit the Earth. His Friendship 7 flight lasts nearly five hours. March 5, 1962. Capts. Robert G. Sowers, Robert MacDonald, and John T. Walton flying in a Convair B-58A Hustler bomber, are the only contestant in the twenty-first and last Bendix Trophy transcontinental race. The crew completes the Los Angeles-to-New York course with an average speed of 1214.71 mph and total elapsed time is two hours, fifty-six seconds. This is still the certified speed record over a recognized course between the two cities. April 30, 1962. Company pilot Lou Schalk makes the first official flight of the Lockheed A-12, the forerunner of the SR-71 high-speed reconnaissance aircraft, at Groom Lake, Nev. Two earlier "hops" had been made on April 25 and 26. May 24, 1962. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Scott Carpenter makes the fourth flight of the Mercury space program. The flight is less than perfect, as a number of in-flight problems leads to the astronaut overshooting the recovery ship, the USS Intrepid (CVS-11) by more than 250 miles. July 17, 1962. Maj. Robert White pilots the North American X-15 to an altitude of 314,750 feet, thus making the first spaceflight in a manned aircraft. After the eleven-minute fight, Major White lands at Edwards AFB, Calif. September 12, 1962. Navy Lt. Cmdrs. Don Moore and Fred Fanke separately set two recognized class records for altitude with 1,000 and 2,000 kilogram payloads (piston engined amphibians) of 29,475 feet and 27,404.93 feet, respectively, in a Grumman UF-2G Albatross at Floyd Bennett Field, N.Y. Both records still stand. September 14, 1962. Maj. F. L. Fulton sets a recognized class record for altitude with 5,000 kilogram payload (jet aircraft) of 85,360.8 ft. in a Convair B-58A Hustler at Edwards AFB, Calif. The record still stands. October 3, 1962. Navy Cmdr. Walter M. "Wally" Schirra, Jr., makes what is described as a "textbook" orbital flight during the fifth flight in the Mercury program. He flies in a 100x176 mile orbit, the highest to date, and completes nearly six orbits. He is also the first astronaut to splash down in the Pacific Ocean. October 14, 1962. An Air Force reconnaissance flight photographs nuclear-armed Soviet missiles in Cuba. Moscow subsequently agrees to remove the missiles under threat of US invasion of Cuba. October 25, 1962. Coast Guard Cmdr. W. Fenlon sets a recognized class record for great circle distance without landing (piston engined amphibians) of 3,571.65 miles from Kodiak, Alaska, to Pensacola, Fla., in a Grumman UF-2G Albatross. The record still stands. November 30, 1962. The first tethered hovering flight is made by the Lockheed XV-4A Hummingbird vertical takeoff and landing airplane at Marietta, Ga. December 14, 1962. NASA's Mariner II satellite scans the surface of Venus for thirty-five minutes as it flies past the planet at a distance of 21,642 miles. January 17, 1963. NASA pilot Joe Walker qualifies for astronaut wings by flying the North American X-15 to an altitude of 271,700 feet or 51.46 miles. He is the eleventh man to pass the fifty-mile mark. February 28, 1963. The first Minuteman squadron, the 10th Strategic Missile Squadron (SMS) at Malmstrom AFB, Mont., is declared operational. March 20, 1963. Capt. Henry E. Erwin, Jr., sets two recognized class records for altitude with 5,000 kilogram payload (19,747 feet) and greatest payload carried to an altitude of 2,000 meters (12,162.90 pounds) in a Grumman HU-16B Albatross at Eglin AFB, Fla. Both records still stand. April 11, 1963. The first successful launch of a Boeing LGM-30 Minuteman I ICBM is conducted at Vandenberg AFB, Calif. May 15, 1963. Maj. L. Gordon Cooper becomes the second Air Force astronaut in space as he makes nearly twenty-two orbits in his spacecraft, Faith 7. He is the last American to be launched into space alone, he is the first to spend a complete day in orbit, and because of a failure of the automatic system, he is the first to perform an entirely manual reentry. This is the last Project Mercury space mission. June 16-19, 1963. Cosmonaut Jr. Lt. Valentina Tereshkova, a former cotton mill worker, becomes the first woman in space. Her Vostok 6 flight lasts nearly three days. August 22, 1963. NASA pilot Joe Walker achieves an unofficial world altitude record of 354,200 feet in the X-15. October 17, 1963. The first LGM-30A Minuteman I operational test launch is carried out at Vandenberg AFB, Calif., by a crew from Malmstrom AFB. The shot is a partial success. The reentry vehicle overshoots the target. October 22, 1963. In Exercise Big Lift, the Air Force airlifts more than 15,000 men of 2d Armored Division and its supporting units from Fort Hood, Tex., to bases near Frankfurt, West Germany. In completing the movement in sixty-three hours, five minutes, Military Air Transport Service (MATS) flies 223 missions without a fatality. October 30, 1963. Navy Lt. James H. Flatley lands a Lockheed KC-130F Hercules on the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal (CVA-59) in the Atlantic off Boston, Mass., in a test to see if the Hercules could be used as a "Super COD" (carrier on-board delivery) aircraft. Lieutenant Flatley and crew will eventually make twenty-one unarrested full-stop landings and a like number of unassisted takeoffs from the carrier. November 7, 1963. The Northrop-developed three-parachute landing system for the Apollo command module is successfully tested at White Sands, N.M. December 17, 1963. With company pilots Leo Sullivan and Hank Dees at the controls, the Lockheed C-141A StarLifter, USAF's first jet-powered transport makes its first flight at Marietta, Ga., on the sixtieth anniversary of the Wright brothers' first flight. December 17, 1963. The Thunderbirds, the Air Force's aerial demonstration squadron, fly their 690th and last show in the North American F-100C Super Sabre. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com. ------------------------------ End of skunk-works-digest V9 #80 ******************************** To subscribe to skunk-works-digest, send the command: subscribe in the body of a message to "majordomo@netwrx1.com". 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