Monthly Archives: September 2024

16 September 1999

September 16, 2024Aviation52-008, Airborne Launch Aircraft, Balls 8, Boeing NB-52B Stratofortress, Boeing RB-52B Stratofortress, Drop Ship, Edwards Air Force Base, Mothership, NASA 008, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, RB-52B-10-BO, X-15 ProgramBryan Swopes

NASA 008, known as “Balls 8,” a modified Boeing RB-52B-10-BO Stratofortress, serial number 52-008, with NASA 824, a Lockheed TF-104G Starfighter, N824NA. The DAST 1 drone is under the bomber’s right wing. (NASA)

16 September 1999: 44 years, 3 months and 6 days after its very first flight, NASA’s airborne launch aircraft, or “mothership,” Balls 8, completed its 1,000th flight.

Balls 8, so-called because of the double zeros in it U.S. Air Force serial number, 52-008, is a Boeing NB-52, modified as a drop ship from its original configuration as an RB-52B-10-BO Stratofortress reconnaissance bomber assigned to the Strategic Air Command. It made its first flight 11 June 1955 and was reassigned from SAC to Edwards Air Force Base to support NASA flight testing operations, 8 June 1959. Balls 8 served NASA until 17 December 2004, when it was replaced by a newer NB-52H Stratofortress.

52-008 was altered at the North American Aviation facility at Air Force Plant 42, Palmdale, California. A pylon was mounted under the bomber’s right wing. A large notch was cut into the trailing edge of the inboard flap for the X-15’s vertical fin. A 1,500 gallon (5,678 liter) liquid oxygen tank was installed in the bomb bay. A station for a launch operator was installed on the upper deck of the B-52 at the former electronic countermeasures position. A series of control panels allowed the panel operator to monitor the X-15’s systems, provide electrical power, and to keep the rocketplane’s liquid oxygen tank full as the LOX boiled off during the climb to launch altitude. The operator could see the X-15 through a plexiglas dome, and there were two television monitors.

The NB-52B was used during the X-15 Program and carried the three hypersonic research aircraft aloft on 159 of their 199 flights. (NB-52A 52-003, The High and Mighty One, made the other 40 launches.) It has also been used to carry the X-24 and HiMat lifting body research aircraft and to launch Pegasus research rockets.

At the time of its retirement, Balls 8 was the oldest B-52 in service, and also the lowest time B-52. It is on display near the north gate at Edwards Air Force Base.

Balls 8, Boeing NB-52B Stratofortress 52-008, as seen from a KC-135A Stratotanker. (NASA) — *Balls 8*, NASA’s Boeing NB-52B Stratofortress 52-008 “mothership”, as seen from a KC-135A Stratotanker. (NASA)

Of the 744 B-52 Stratofortresses built by Boeing, 50 were B-52Bs and 27 of these were RB-52B reconnaissance bombers.

The airplane was 156 feet, 6.9 inches (47.724 meters) long with a wingspan of 185 feet, 0 inches (56.388 meters) and overall height of 48 feet, 3.6 inches (14.722 meters). The wings were mounted high on the fuselage (“shoulder-mounted”) to provide clearance for the engines which were suspended on pylons. The wings’ leading edges were swept 35°. The bomber’s empty weight was 164,081 pounds (74,226 kilograms), with a combat weight of 272,000 pounds (123,377 kilograms) and a maximum takeoff weight of 420,000 pounds (190,509 kilograms).

Early production B-52Bs were powered by eight Pratt & Whitney J57-P-1W turbojet engines, while later aircraft were equipped with J57-P-19W and J57-P-29W or WA turbojets. The engines were grouped in two-engine pods on four under-wing pylons. The J57 was a two-spool, axial-flow engine with a 16-stage compressor section (9 low- and 7-high-pressure stages) and a 3-stage turbine section (1 high- and 2 low-pressure stages). These engines were rated at 10,500 pounds of thrust (46.71 kilonewtons), each, or 12,100 pounds (53.82 kilonewtons) with water injection.

The B-52B/RB-52B had a cruise speed of 523 miles per hour (842 kilometers per hour). The maximum speed varied with altitude: 630 miles per hour (1,014 kilometers per hour) at 19,800 feet (6,035 meters), 598 miles per hour (962 kilometers per hour) at 35,000 feet (10,668 meters) and 571 miles per hour (919 kilometers per hour) at 45,750 feet (13,945 meters). The service ceiling at combat weight was 47,300 feet (14,417 meters).

Maximum ferry range was 7,343 miles (11,817 kilometers). With a 10,000 pound (4,536 kilogram) bomb load, the B-52B had a combat radius of 3,590 miles (5,778 kilometers). With inflight refueling, the range was essentially world-wide.

This "score board" painted on the side of Balls 8 shows many of the missions that it flew as a "mothership" for NASA. (NASA) — This “score board” painted on the side of *Balls 8* shows many of the missions that it flew as a “mothership” for NASA. (NASA)

Defensive armament consisted of four Browning Aircraft Machine Guns, Caliber .50, AN-M3, mounted in a tail turret with 600 rounds of ammunition per gun. These guns had a combined rate of fire in excess of 4,000 rounds per minute. (Eighteen RB-52Bs were equipped with two M24A1 20 mm autocannon in the tail turret in place of the standard four .50-caliber machine guns.)

The B-52B’s maximum bomb load was 43,000 pounds (19,505 kilograms). It could carry a 15-megaton Mark 17 thermonuclear bomb, or two Mark 15s, each with a maximum yield of 3.8 megatons.

Balls 8 lands on a runway marked on Rogers Dry Lake at Edwards Air Force Base, California. The drogue parachute helps to slow the airplane. (NASA) — *Balls 8* lands on a runway marked on Rogers Dry Lake at Edwards Air Force Base, California. The drogue parachute helps to slow the airplane. (NASA)

16 September 1989

September 16, 2024AviationAleš Strojnik, John Washington, Kawasaki 440, Laminar Magic, N85AS, Stojnik S-4, U.S. National Speed Record Over a 3-Kilometer CourseBryan Swopes

Pilot John Washington with the Strojnik S-4, Laminar Magic. (John Washington Collection)

16 September 1989: Regular TDiA reader John Washington, then a 1st Lieutenant, United States Air Force, set a United States national record for speed over a 3 kilometer course while flying the Stojnik S-4, Laminar Magic (N85AS). Class C-1a/O

Washington’s average speed over the course was 126.72 miles per hour (203.94 kilometers per hour).

Laminar Magic was designed by Aleš Strojnik, a physics professor at Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona. Its basic structure was plywood, covered with molded fiberglass aerodynamic panels. It was a mid-wing monoplane consisting of a “pod” containing the cockpit, engine, and tandem landing gear, with an extended “boom” to which the vertical and horizontal stabilizers were attached. The engine was installed in a pusher configuration. The S-4 was 16.5 feet (5.03 meters) long, with a wingspan of 18 feet (5.49 meters). It weighed 498 pounds (225.9 kilograms) with the pilot and full fuel.

The S-4 was powered by an normally-aspirated, air cooled, 436 cubic centimeter (26.6 cubic inches) Kawasaki Heavy Industries 440 inline two-cylinder, two-stroke, direct-drive engine made for snowmobiles. The engine was capable of producing 38 horsepower at 5,000 r.p.m., and weighed 49 pounds (22 kilograms). A two-bladed fixed-pitch propeller was designed by Bernie Warnke. As installed aboard the S-4, the engine produced an estimated 30 horsepower.

The Federal Aviation Administration registration was cancelled 29 December 1992. The reason given is “Destroyed.”

The Strojnik S-4, N85AS. Note the smaller outriggers, compared to the ones in the photograph above. (Aleš Strojnik)

16 September 1975

September 16, 2024Aviation83/1, Alexander Vasilyevich Fedotov, Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, Fighter, First Flight, Foxhound, Henry De La Vaulx Medal, Hero of the Soviet Union, Honored Test Pilot of the Soviet Union, Interceptor, Mikoyan E-155MP, Mikoyan Experimental Design Bureau, Mikoyan MiG 31, Product 83, Prototype, Test PilotBryan Swopes

Mikoyan Design Bureau E155MP 83/1 (Mikoyan) — Mikoyan Design Bureau E-155MP 83/1 (OKB Mikoyan)

Alexander Vasilyevich Fedotov (1932–1982) — Alexander Vasilyevich Fedotov

16 September 1975: Alexander Vasilyevich Fedotov, Mikoyan Experimental Design Bureau’s chief test pilot, took the Product 83 prototype, E-155MP 83/1, for its first flight.

Project 83 was a two-seat, twin-engine, Mach 2.8+ interceptor, designed as a successor to the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG 25 “Foxbat” and would be designated the MiG 31. The Soviet Ministry of Defense assigned odd numbered designators to fighter-type aircraft, while NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, gave them identifying names beginning with the letter F. NATO calls the MiG 31 “Foxhound.”

The E-155MP is 22.69 meters (77 feet, 5 inches) long with a wingspan of 13.46 meters (44 feet, 2 inches) and overall height of 5.15 meters (16 feet, 11 inches). Its empty weight is 20,800 kilograms (45,856 pounds), normal takeoff weight 40,600 kilograms (89,508 pounds) and maximum takeoff weight of 46,000 kilograms (101,413 pounds).

Mikoyan Design Bureau Ye-155MP, 83/1, first prototype of the MiG-31 Fox Hound. (Mikoyan) — Mikoyan Design Bureau E-155MP, 83/1, first prototype of the MiG-31 Foxhound. (Mikoyan Experimental Design Bureau)

The aircraft is powered by two low-bypass-ratio Soloviev Design Bureau D-30 F6 turbofan engines, producing 91.00 kN (20,458 pounds of thrust), each, and 152.00 kN (34,171 pounds thrust), each, with afterburners.

The E-155MP had a maximum speed of Mach 2.82 (2,995 kilometers per hour/1,861 miles per hour) at 17,500 meters (57,415 feet) and 1500 (932 miles per hour) at low altitude. The prototype’s service ceiling was 20,000 meters (65,617 feet), and it had a range of 2,150 kilometers (1,336 miles).

The aircraft is unsuitable for air combat manuevering. The airframe is limited to a load factor of 5 Gs.

The production MiG 31 is armed with one Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-6 23 23mm six-barrel rotary cannon with 260 rounds of ammunition. Four Vympel R-33 long-range air-to-air missiles are carried in fuselage recesses, and various combinations of short and medium range missiles can be carried on pylons under the wings.

The MiG 31 was in production from 1979 until 1994. Beginning in 2010, a modernization program to bring the up to the MiG 31BM configuration. It is believed that approximately 400 MiG 31 interceptors are in service.

A Russian Air Force MiG-31. (Dmitriy Pichugin) — A Russian Air Force MiG 31. (Dmitriy Pichugin via Wikipedia)

Alexander Vasilievich Fedotov born 23 June 1932 at Stalingrad, Russia (renamed Volgograd in 1961). He graduated from the Air Force Special School at Stalingrad, and in 1950, entered the Soviet Army. Fedotov attended the Armavir Military Aviation School of Pilots at Amravir, Krasnodar Krai, Russia, graduating in 1952, and then became a flight instructor. In 1958 he attended the Ministry of Indutrial Aviation Test Pilot School at Zhukovsky. He was a test pilot for the Mikoyan Experimental Design Bureau from 1958 to 1984. In 1983, Alexander Fedotov was promoted to the rank of Major General in the Soviet Air Force.

On 22 July 1966, Fedotov was honored as a Hero of the Soviet Union. He was named an Honored Test Pilot of the Soviet Union, 21 February 1969. He was qualified as a Military Pilot 1st Class. Fedotov was twice awarded the Order of Lenin, and also held the Order of the Red Banner and the Order of the Red Banner of Labor.

During his career as a test pilot, Major General Fedotov had been forced to eject from an airplane three times. He had also set 15 Fédération Aéronautique Internationale world records for speed, altitude and time to altitude. One of these, FAI Record File Number 2825, in which he flew a Mikoyan E-266M to 37,650 meters (123,534 feet), 31 August 1977, remains the current record. The FAI has also honored him three times with The De la Vaulx Medal (1961, 1973 and 1977), and in 1976 awarded him the FAI’s Gold Air Medal.

Major General Alexander Vasilyevich Fedotov and his navigator, Valerie Sergeyvich Zaytevym, were killed when the second MiG 31 prototype, number 83/2, crashed during a test flight. Neither airman was able to eject.

Major General Alexander Vasilyevich Federov, Hero of the Soviet Union. — Major General Alexander Vasilyevich Federov, Hero of the Soviet Union

16 September 1958

September 16, 2024AviationFirst Flight, General Electric J85-GE-X, George Mace, James O'Connor ("J.O.") Roberts Jr., N4060K, North American Aviation Inc., North American Aviation Model NA-246, North American Aviation Sabreliner, North American Aviation T-39A Sabreliner, Pratt & Whitney J60-P-3, Prototype, s/n 1Bryan Swopes

16 September 1958: At Palmdale, in the high desert of southern California, the prototype North American Aviation, Inc., Model NA-246 Sabreliner, N4060K, took off on its first flight. The test pilots were James O’Connor (“J.O.”) Roberts, Jr., and George Mace. Following the flight, Roberts said, “The airplane handled exceptionally well in every maneuver we tried.”

The Sabreliner had been designed and built at North American’s expense to meet the U.S. Air Force specification for the UTX, a twin-engine jet that would be primarily used as a trainer for Air Force pilots in non-flying assignments but who needed to remain proficient. It could also be used as a passenger and cargo transport.

The NA-246 was flown by two pilots and could carry up to four passengers in “club seating.”

In October 1958, the Air Force ordered the Model 265 Sabreliner into production, designated T-39A-1-NA (Serial numbers 59-2868 to -2871). This aircraft could carry up to 7 passengers. In 1962, a commercial variant of the T-39A, the Model 265 Sabreliner, was certified by the Federal Aviation Administration.

North American Aviation Model 256, N4060K, during its first flight, 16 September 1958. (North American Aviation, Inc.)

The T-39A was 44 feet (13.411 meters) long, with a wingspan of 44 feet, 6 inches (13.564 meters) and overall height of 16 feet (14.874 meters). The wings were swept at 28°. It had an empty weight of approximately 9,250 pounds (4,196 kilograms) and maximum takeoff weight of 17,760 pounds (8,056 kilograms).

The Model 246 prototype was powered by General Electric J85 turbojet engines which produced about 2,000 pounds of thrust (8.90 kilonewtons). The the production T-39A used Pratt & Whitney J60-P-3 engines, rated at 3,000 pounds (13.34 kilonewtons) for takeoff.

The T-39A had a maximum allowable airspeed (V_MO) of 350 knots, indicated (KIAS) (403 miles per hour/648 kilometers per hour) from Sea Level to 21,100 feet (6,431 meters). Above that altitude, speed was restricted to 0.77 Mach.

North American Aviation T-39A-1-NA, 62-4478, at the National Museum of the United States Air Force.. (U.S. Air Force)

The prototype was issued an Airworthiness Certificate by the Federal Aviation Administration 25 April 1958. The registration was cancelled 30 June 1970.

James O’Connor Roberts, Jr. (Test & Research Pilots, Flight Test Engineers)

James O’Connor Roberts, Jr., was born 17 April 1924 at Washington, D.C. He was the second son of James O’Connor Roberts, an attorney employed by the United States government, and Leah Irene Harris Roberts. He attended the Peddie School in Highstown, New Jersey, and Yale University, where he was a member of the Kappa Phi Sigma (ΚΦΣ) and Chi Psi (ΧΨ) fraternities.

Roberts enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces as an aviation cadet in February 1943.¹ He had blond hair and blue eyes, was 5 feet, 10½ inches (1.79 meters) tall and weighed 145 pounds (65.8 kilograms). He graduated from pilot training 7 January 1944 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant.

Second Lieutenant James O. Roberts, Jr., married Miss Evelyn Meryle Foss Johnson 19 January 1944 at the Walter Reed Memorial Chapel in Washington, D.C. The ceremony was officiated by Chaplain George F. Cotton. They would have four sons. (Mrs. Roberts later died and he remarried.)

Lieutenant Roberts was assigned to the Aleutian Islands where he flew the Curtiss-Wright P-40 Warhawk.

Following World War II, Lieutenant Roberts returned to Yale to complete his studies, graduating in 1946. He majored in Sociology.

North American Aviation F-86A-5-NA Sabre 48-273, 335th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 4th Fighter-Interceptor Group, in the markings of the Silver Sabres Aerobatic Team, at Langley Air Force Base, circa 1950. (U.S. Air Force)

Remaining in the Air Force after the war, he transitioned to the North American P-51 Mustang and the Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star. Assigned to the 4th Fighter Group at Andrews Air Force Base, he was a member of the USAF Champion Gunnery Team and the Silver Sabres Aerobatic Team, flying “slot” and solo. The team flew the North American Aviation F-86A Sabre.

4th Fighter-Interceptor Group North American Aviation F-86A Sabres at Suwon, Korea, June 1951. (U.S. Department of Defense VIRIN: HD-SN-99-03072)

The 4th Fighter-Interceptor Group deployed to Korea in 1950. On 22 December 1950, Captain Roberts was flying one of eight F-86As in an air battle against fifteen Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 fighters. Roberts shot down one of the six MiGs destroyed in the battle. No Sabres were lost. He later shot down a second MiG-15.

Major Roberts resigned from the Air Force in March 1952 and joined North American Aviation as an engineering test pilot. He was involved in testing the F-86H fighter bomber variant of the Sabre, the F-100A Super Sabre, and the F-107A. Roberts was a founding member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots.

Roberts retired from North American after thirty years.

James O’Connor Roberts, Jr., died at Salinas, California, 6 September 2008, at the age of 84 years.

¹ The Department of Veterans Affairs gives an enlistment date of 17 April 1937.

16 September 1951

September 16, 2024Aviation35548, 35735, 43-32179, 6117, Cessna 310B, Cessna Aircraft Company Inc., Cessna T-50, Cessna UC-78B Bobcat, Continental O-470-M, Flying Crown Ranch, Gloria Winters, Grover Arizona, Hal McAlpin, Kirby Grant, N5348A, N6635B, N67832, Sky King, SongbirdBryan Swopes

Actors Kirby Grant and Gloria Winters with a Cessna 310B, N5384A, the Songbird. (Photograph by Hal McAlpin)

16 September 1951: On Sunday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. (in most locations), the speakers of American television sets blared with the roar of a twin-engine airplane, while the announcer called, “Out of the clear blue of the western sky comes. . . SKY KING!“ The television series “Sky King” debuted on the NBC Television Network.

“Schuyler King,” owner of the Flying Crown Ranch in the fictional town of Grover, Arizona, was portrayed by actor Kirby Grant. His niece, “Penny,” was played by actress Gloria Winters.¹ The television program (developed from an earlier radio series) was a juvenile action-adventure series set in the American Southwest. The lead character, Sky King, was a former naval aviator-turned-rancher who was frequently called on to deal with criminals and spies, and to rescue his niece, all while using his airplane, which he had named Songbird.

The first songbird was this Cessna T-50, N ( productions) — The first Songbird was this 1943 Cessna T-50, N67832. (Jack Chertoff Television Productions)

Several airplanes were used during the filming of the television series. Initially, “Uncle Sky’s” airplane was a twin-engine Cessna T-50, N67832, owned by Paul Mantz. This airplane had been built as a U.S. Army Air Corps UC-78B Bobcat 43-32179 (Cessna serial number 6117). In 1946 it was sold as surplus by the War Assets Administration and registered under Cessna’s T-50 type certificate. N67832 was last registered to an owner in Clinton, Missouri. The registration was cancelled 16 March 2018.

The best known Flying Crown Ranch airplane, though, was a 1958 Cessna 310B, serial number 35548. In the title sequence of later episodes, Songbird is clearly seen with FAA registration N5348A on the bottom of its left wing as it banks away from the camera plane.

After filming of the “Sky King” series came to an end in 1959, Cessna sold N5348A. On 4 August 1962, it crashed near Delano, California, and its pilot was killed.

Some sequences filmed from inside the Songbird show a partial N-number of “-635B” on the upper surface of the right wing. This airplane was probably Cessna 310B 35735, registered N6635B. It was destroyed when it crashed while on approach to Van Nuys Airport (VNY) at 11:49 a.m., 17 December 1969. All three persons on board were killed.

N5348A was painted white, yellow and gold. Cessna owned the airplane and it was usually flown by the manufacturer’s pilot. A fuselage which had been used for static testing was also provided by Cessna for use in closeup and interior cockpit scenes.

The Model 310 was a 5-place light twin. It was the first airplane built by Cessna to have retractable tricycle landing gear. It was also the first Cessna design to be tested in a wind tunnel. In 1958, the only year in which the 310B variant was produced, the list price for a new airplane was $59,950. The airplane’s fuselage was 26 feet, 3 inches (8.001 meters) long (27 feet, 0 inches/8.230 meters including the extended nose wheel). Its wingspan was 35 feet, 9 inches (10.897 meters) and overall height of 10 feet, 8 inches (3.251 meters). Its empty weight was approximately 2,850 pounds (1,293 kilograms) and maximum takeoff weight of 4,700 pounds (2,132 kilograms).

The Cessna 310B was powered by two air-cooled, normally-aspirated, 471.239-cubic-inch-displacement (7.722 liters) Continental Motors O-470-M horizontally-opposed six-cylinder direct-drive engines with a compression ratio of 7:1. They were rated at 240 horsepower at 2,600 r.p.m. for takeoff (5-minute limit), using 91/96 octane aviation gasoline. The O-470-M weighed 410 pounds (186 kilograms). The engines drove two-bladed Hartzell full-feathering propellers with a diameter of 7 feet, 0 inches (2.134 meters).

The 310B had a maximum structural cruise speed (V_NO) of 200 miles per hour (322 kilometers per hour) and maximum speed (V_NE) of 248 miles per hour (399 kilometers per hour). The light twin had a service ceiling of 20,000 feet (6,096 meters) and range of 1,000 miles (1,609 kilometers).

This still image from the television series, "Sky King", shows teh Songbird parked at "the Flying Crown Ranch", actually, a location near Apple Valley, California. — This still image from the television series, “Sky King,” shows the *Songbird* parked at the “Flying Crown Ranch”— a filming location in Apple Valley, California. (Jack Chertoff Television Productions)

According to an aerodynamicist who worked for Cessna at the time, the 51-gallon (193 liters) wing-tip-mounted fuel tanks were the main design feature of the 310. Company management insisted on them as a safety measure, even though they caused some handling difficulties and slowed the airplane by nearly 10 miles per hour (16 kilometers per hour). In the early 310 models, the entire fuel load was carried in the tip tanks, with none in the wings. It was felt that keeping fuel as far from the passenger compartment was safer in the event of an accident.

The Model 310 was in production from 1954 to 1980. The 310B was produced only in 1958. A total of 6,321 of all variants were built.

The Songbird, Cessna 310B N5348A. (NASM)

¹ Gloria Winters was a friend of TDiA’s sister-in-law. I met her at a Christmas Party circa 1977. My back was turned to her and she was in an adjacent room, but I heard her voice, which was instantly recognizable. “It’s Penny!”

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