Major John L. Armstrong, U.S. Air Force, standing on the wing of his record-setting F-86H-1-NH Sabre. (Jet Pilot Overseas)
3 September 1954: At the Dayton Air Show, being held for the first time at the James M. Cox Municipal Airport, Major John L. (“Jack”) Armstrong, U.S. Air Force, flew his North American Aviation F-86H-1-NH Sabre, 52-1998, to a Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) World Record for Speed Over a Closed Circuit of 500 Kilometers Without Payload, averaging 1,045.206 kilometers per hour (649.461 miles per hour). ¹
Similar to the F-86H-1-NH Sabre flown by Captain Armstrong, this is F-86H-10-NH 53-1298. (U.S. Air Force)
The North American Aviation F-86H was a fighter-bomber variant of the famous Sabre Jet day fighter. It was equipped with a much more powerful General Electric J73-GE-3 turbojet engine. The engine was larger that the J47 used in previous F-86 models, and this required a much larger air intake and airframe modifications. The fuselage was 6 inches deeper and two feet longer than the F-86F. This accommodated the new engine and an increase in fuel load. The tail surfaces were changed with an increase in the height of the vertical fin and the elevators were changed to an “all-flying” horizontal stabilizer. The first F-86Hs built retained the six Browning AN-M3 .50 caliber machine guns of the F-86F, but this was quickly changed to four Pontiac M39 20 millimeter revolver cannon.
Another view of North American Aviation F-86-10-NH Sabre 53-1298. This fighter bomber is similar to the airplane flown by Major Armstrong to set a world speed record. (U.S. Air Force)
The F-86H Sabre was 38 feet, 10 inches (11.836 meters) long with a wingspan of 39 feet, 1 inch (11.913 meters) and overall height of 14 feet, 11 inches (4.547 meters). Empty weight was 13,836 pounds (6,276 kilograms) and gross weight was 24,296 pounds (11,021 kilograms).
The F-86H was powered by a General Electric J73-GE-3D or -3E engine, a single-spool, axial-flow, turbojet engine, which used a 12-stage compressor section with variable inlet vanes, 10 combustion chambers and 2-stage turbine section. It produced 8,920 pounds of thrust (39.68 kilonewtons) at 7,950 r.p.m. (%-minute limit). The J73 was 12 feet, 3.2 inches (3.739 meters) long, 3 feet, 0.8 inches (0.935 meters) in diameter and weighed 3,650 pounds (1,656 kilograms).
The F-86H had a maximum speed of 601 knots (692 miles per hour/1,113 kilometers per hour) at Sea Level and 536 knots (617 miles per hour (993 kilometers) at 35,000 feet (10,668 meters). The fighter bomber had an initial rate of climb of 12,900 feet per minute (65.53 meters per second) and it could reach 30,000 feet (9,144 meters) in 5.7 minutes. The service ceiling was 50,800 feet (15,484 meters). With a full load of bombs, the F-86H had a combat radius of 350 nautical miles (402 statute miles/648 kilometers) at 470 knots (541 miles per hour (870 kilometers per hour). The maximum ferry range was 1,573 nautical miles (1,810 statute miles/2,913 kilometers).
F-86H Sabres (after the first ten production airplanes) were armed with four Pontiac M39 20 mm autocannon with 150 rounds of ammunition per gun. In ground attack configuration, it could carry a maximum bomb load of 2,310 pounds (1,048 kilograms), or one 12–24 kiloton Mark 12 “Special Store” that would be delivered by “toss bombing.”
The F-86H Sabre became operational in 1954. 473 F-86H Sabres were built before production ended. By 1958 all that remained in the U.S. Air Force Inventory were reassigned to the Air National Guard. The last one was retired in 1972.
North American Aviation F-86H Sabre. (U.S. Air Force)
John Leroy Armstrong was born in Orange County, California, 19 July 1922. He was the fourth child of Milton Williams Armstrong, an engineer, and Olive M. Meyer Armstrong. As a child, he was called “Jake.”
Major Armstrong had been a fighter pilot during World War II, flying Lockheed P-38 Lightnings, initially with the 554 Fighter Training Squadron, 496th Fighter Training Group.
On 13 March 1944, Armstrong made a forced landing at North Killingholme when his fighter ran out of fuel.
2nd Lieutenant Armstrong was assigned to the 79th Fighter Squadron, 20th Fighter Group based at RAF Kings Cliffe, Northamptonshire, England, 26 March 1944. He flew the Lockheed P-38 Lightning.
Lt. John L. Armstrong, 79th Fighter Squadron, 20th Fighter Group, with a Lockheed P-38 Lightning, 1944. (The 20th Fighter Group Project)
The 79th transitioned to the P-51 Mustang. Armstrong was promoted to first lieutenant 26 June 1944. He was officially credited with having destroyed one enemy Focke-Wulf Fw 190. On 28 August 1944, while flying his 30th combat mission, his North American Aviation P-51D-5-NA Mustang, 44-13791, Guardian Angel, was shot down by anti-aircraft gunfire while he was attacking a railway roundhouse at Bad Greuznach, Germany. Armstrong bailed out but was captured. He was held as a prisoner of war at Stalag Luft I at Barth, Western Pomerania. Armstrong was returned to U.S. military control in June 1945.
Major Armstrong had been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with five oak leaf clusters (six awards), the Purple Heart, the Prisoner of War Medal, World War II Victory Medal, and the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal.
Two days after setting the speed record, Jack Armstrong was attempting to increase his record speed. The Sabre broke up in flight and Major Armstrong was killed.
John Leroy Armstrong’s remains were buried at the Loma Vista Memorial Park, Fullerton, California, 11 September 1954.
This exhibit at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, commemorates Major Armstrong’s record-setting flight. His flight helmet is included in the display. Visible behind the display case is North American Aviation F-86H-10-NH Sabre 53-1352. (U.S. Air Force)
James H. Doolittle with his Gee Bee R-1, NR2100, at the Cleveland National Air Races, 1932. (NASM)The Thompson Trophy
3 September 1932: At the Cleveland National Air Races, James H. (“Jimmy”) Doolittle won the Thompson Trophy Race with his Granville Brothers Aircraft Company Gee Bee Supersportster R-1, NR2100.
He also set a Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) World Speed for Record Over a 3 Kilometer Course, averaging 473.82 kilometers per hour (294.42 miles per hour). ¹
The highest speed attained by Doolittle during his four passes over the 3-kilometer course was 497.352 kilometers per hour (309.040 miles per hour).
Jimmy Doolittle crosses the finish line at Cleveland, 1932.
The New York Daily News reported:
DOOLITTLE FLASHES TO 296-PER RECORD
CLEVELAND, SEPT. 3. (AP).—Major James H. Doolittle today shattered the world land plane speed record by averaging 296.287 miles an hour over a three-kilometer course at the National Air races.
Denied in two previous attempts, he bested the eight-year mark held by Warrant Officer Bonnet of France by 17.807 miles an hour.
He made six dashes, of 293.047, 287.154. 309.040, 281.966, 306.990, and 283.156 miles an hour. By the rules, any four consecutive laps may be taken for the record and the second to fifth laps, inclusive, gave the highest average.
A Light Cross-Wind.
A five to six miles an hour cross-wind was blowing over the course as Major Doolittle, who also holds the American seaplane record, roared along in the snub-nosed Flying Silo which Russell Boardman, transatlantic flier, had planned to fly at the races.
Doolittle grinned broadly as he was informed of his new record when he landed.
“I’m contented with this,” he said happily. He will not attempt to set a faster record, at least for the time being.
His plane pumped oil part of the time, he said, and this may have cost him another five miles an hour. The splattering oil impaired his vision somewhat, but not seriously.
Ship Will Go Faster.
“The ship behaved wonderfully,” Doolittle said on landing, “but I still think there are five miles or more in it. But it’s Russ Boardman’s ship and I think it no more than right that he should be able to take it and get out of it all that he can.”
Today’s average bested the unofficial mark of 293.193 miles an hour Doolittle set Wednesday during the eclipse and was well above the 282.672 miles an hour in an official test with a barograph the following day.
Before the new record can become official, the barograph must be calibrated and the mark accepted by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale, world governing body of sporting aviation, at Paris.
Description of Plane.
The plane used by Doolittle is a Gee Bee super-sportster. It has an 800-horsepower Wasp engine manufactured by the Pratt & Whitney Company, Hartford, Conn. The fuselage is streamlined from the engine, tapering to the knife-like rudder, just in front of which the pilot sits.
The three-kilometer course is distance of 9,844.5 feet, over which rules of the Federation Aeronautique Internationale require that the maximum altitude be seventy-five meters, or 244 feet.
There are approaches, 500 meters, or 1,620 feet, in distance, at each end of the course, in which level flight must be made.
The maximum height allowed before entering the approaches is 400 meters, or 1,320 feet, so that a dive of slightly more than 1,000 feet is permitted before entering upon the approaches to the course. The barograph is carried to check these altitudes. . . .
—SUNDAY NEWS, Vol. 12, No. 21, Sunday, 4 September 1932, Page 2, Columns 3 and 4, and Page 4, Column 1
The Gee Bee was a purpose-built racing airplane, designed by Robert Leicester Hall, who would later become the Chief Engineer for the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation. It was a very small airplane, with short wings and small control surfaces. It had gained a reputation as being very dangerous. A number of famous racers of the time were killed when they lost control of the Gee Bee. However, Doolittle had a different opinion: “She is the sweetest ship I’ve ever flown. She is perfect in every respect and the motor is just as good as it was a week ago. It never missed a beat and has lots of stuff in it yet. I think this proves that the Granville brothers up in Springfield build the very best speed ships in America today.”
The Gee Bee Supersportster R-1 was a single-seat, single engine, low-wing monoplane with fixed conventional landing gear. The airplane had been designed for a load factor of 12. It was 17 feet, 8 inches (5.385 meters) long with a wingspan of 25 feet, 0 inches (7.620 meters), and height of 8 feet, 2 inches (2.489 meters). The fuselage had a maximum diameter 5 feet, 1 inch (1.549 meters). The wings were wire-braced. The angle of incidence was 2.5° and there was 4.5° dihedral. The aspect ratio was 6:1, and the wing area was 75 square feet (7.968 square meters).
The R-1 had an empty weight of 1,840 pounds (834.6 kilograms), gross weight of 2,415 pounds (1,095.4 kilograms), and maximum takeoff weight of 3,075 pounds (1,394.8 kilograms).
The Gee Bee R-1 was powered by an air-cooled, supercharged, 1,343.80-cubic-inch-displacement (22.021 liter) Pratt & Whitney Wasp T3D1 nine-cylinder direct-drive radial engine. It was rated at 730 horsepower at 2,300 r.p.m. at Sea Level. The engine turned a two-bladed U.S. Smith Engineering Co. adjustable-pitch propeller with a diameter of 8 feet, 0 inches (2.438 meters). The engine was enclosed in a NACA cowling. The T3D1 was 3 feet, 6.63 inches (1.083 meters) long, 4 feet, 3.44 inches (1.307 meters) in diameter, and weighed 763 pounds (346 kilograms).
The Gee Bee R-1 had a cruise speed was 260 miles per hour (418.4 kilometers per hour), and its maximum speed was more than 309 miles per hour (497 kilometers per hour). The stall speed was rather high at 90 miles per hour (144.8 kilometers per hour), as a result of optimizing the airplane for high speed. The air racer could climb at 6,100 feet per minute (31 meters per second). It had a range of 630 miles (1,014 kilometers) at full throttle. ²
Gee Bee Supersportster R-1 NR2100, #11, was later re-engined with a Pratt & Whitney Hornet. It was destroyed when it crashed on takeoff after refueling at Indianapolis, Indiana, 1 July 1933. The pilot, Russell Boardman, was killed.
Jimmy Doolittle hops out of the Gee Bee R-1. (San Diego Air and Space Museum)
Jimmy Doolittle was one of America’s foremost pioneering aviators. He set many records, won air races, tested and developed new flying equipment and techniques. He was a highly-educated military officer, having earned his Bachelor of Arts from the University of California Berkeley School of Mines, and M.S and D.Sc. degrees in Aeronautical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
During World War II Colonel Doolittle planned and led the famous Halsey-Doolittle Raid against Japan, 18 April 1942, for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor.
As a brigadier general, Doolittle commanded the Twelfth Air Force in North Africa. Promoted to major general, he was given command of the Fifteenth Air Force in the Mediterranean Theater. From 1943 until 1945, Lieutenant General Doolittle commanded Eighth Air Force. He was preparing his command to move against Japan, equipped with Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers, when World War II came to an end.
(Original Caption) 6/14/1945-Seattle, WA- Lt. General, James H. Doolittle, after making his first flight in the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, during a brief visit here said, “It’s a fine airplane and handles nicely.”
After the war, Lieutenant General Doolittle was placed on the inactive list. On 4 April 1985, by Act of Congress, James H. Doolittle was promoted to General, United States Air Force.
General James Harold Doolittle is the only person to be awarded both the Medal of Honor and the Medal of Freedom. He died 27 September 1993 at the age of 96 years. He was buried at the Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia.
Lieutenant General James H. Doolittle, U.S. Army Air Force (U.S. Army Photo C-2102)
¹ FAI Record File Number 8751
² All Gee Bee Supersportster R-1 specifications from Zantford D. Granville, writing in Aero Digest Magazine, July 1933. See http://goldenageofaviation.org/geebeer2.html
The first 10 female officers to graduate from the Air Force Undergraduate Pilot Training Program, Class 77-08, with a Northrop T-38A-50-NO Talon, 63-8111, 2 September 1977. (U.S. Air Force)2nd Lieutenant Mary Livingston, U.S. Air Force
2 September 1978: The ten women in this photograph, members of Pilot Undergradute Training Class 77-08 at Williams Air Force Base, Arizona, along with their 36 male classmates, received their Silver Wings on 2 September 1977.
They are Captains Connie Engel, Kathy La Sauce, Mary Donahue, Susan Rogers and Christine Schott; First Lieutenants Sandra Scott and Victoria Crawford; Second Lieutenants Mary Livingston, Carol Scherer and Kathleen Rambo.
Gun Camera image from Senior Lieutenant Kucheryaev’s MiG 17. (PVO Strany)
During the Cold War, the United States routinely flew reconnaissance missions around and over Soviet Bloc territory, including over the Soviet Union itself. There have been unconfirmed reports that as many as 40 U.S. aircraft were shot down, and more than 200 airmen killed. Several hundred more may have been captured and held as prisoners.
2 September 1958: A U.S. Air Force Lockheed C-130A-II Dreamboat, 56-0528 (MSN 182-3136) of the 7406th Support Squadron, based at Rhein-Main Air Base, near Frankfurt am Main, Germany, was on a clandestine reconnaissance mission near the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) border with Armenia (a Soviet Block nation). The C-130 had departed from the U.S. air base at Incirlik, Turkey. In addition to the 6-man flight crew, the aircraft carried 11 radio operators and technicians from the 6911th Radio Group, Mobile.
Two 11th Air Army Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG 17s (NATO code name: “Fresco”), part of the Tbilisi Air Defense District, were dispatched from Leninakan (now known as Gyumri) to intercept and destroy the C-130. The radar interecept was controlled from Leninakan by Captain Romanyuta.
When the two fighters, piloted by Senior Lieutenant Kucheryaev (201) and Senior Lieutenant Ivanov (218), were delayed for 7 minutes by a dust storm, two more MiG 17s, piloted by Senior Lieutenant Lopatokov (582) and Lieutenat Gavrilov (583), were launched from Yerevan, the capital city of Armenia. (U.S. radar tracking reports indicate that 201 and 218 were airborne at 1152Z.) The weather was reported as good, with 2/10ths to 3/10ths (scattered) cloud cover.
The fighters closed on the C-130 and reported that it was flying at an altitude of 9,000–10,000 meters (29,528–32,808 feet). At 1213Z the fighters reported the C-130 at 10,000 meters (32,808 feet). Lieutenants Lopatokov and Gavrilov each made firing passes, with Gavrilov reporting that he fired three bursts. Next, Lieutenants Kucheryaev and Ivanov attacked. Lieutenant Kucheryaev reported that the C-130 started burning after his third burst. Lopatokov and Gavrilov attacked again.
Gun camera image of the shootdown of U.S. Air Force Lockheed C-130A-II, 56 0528, 2 September 1958. (ПВО страны [protivovozdushnaya oborona strany, or PVO Strany])The C-130 caught fire and its tail was observed to fall of. None of the fighter pilots observed any parachutes from the transport. 56-0528 crashed near N. 40°23′, E. 43° 55′. All 17 crewmen aboard were killed.
All four MiG 17s returned to the fighter base at Leninakan.
Reported location of C-130 shoot down. (Google Maps)
The Soviet radio communications during the intercept were heard by U.S. communications intelligence personnel.
News reports of the interecept appeared in Советская Авиа (Sovetskaya Aviatsiya) 19–29 September 1958.
(Arlington National Cemetery)
The remains of six of the air crew were returned to the United States.
“A replica of 56-0528, a C-130A-II “Sun Valley” reconnaissance aircraft shot down over Armenia on 2 September 1958, on display at the National Cryptologic Museum, Fort Meade, Maryland (real identity – C-130A-45-LM, c/n 3160, s/n 57-0453).”
56-0528 was a Lockheed C-130A-8-LM Hercules which had been converted to a C-130A-II Dreamboat electronic surveillance configuration by the Texas Engineering & Manufacturing Company (TEMCO) under Project SUN VALLEY. It was flown by two pilots with a navigator and radar navigator, a flight engineer and scanner. There were ten radio operators and a radio repair technician.
The cargo compartment had been converted to three radio compartments. The two forward compartments each had voice intercept positions for four operators, while the third had only two. A galley and radio repair station were at the rear. There was an airline-style toilet. The aft cargo doors were permanently closed and sealed. Radio antennas were installed in fiberglass pods resembling fuel tanks, mounted between the inboard and outboard engines. In the aircraft’s nose was the AN/APN-59 navigation, search, and weather radar. The aircraft was equipped with four alternators to supply electrical power for the equipment.
The Lockheed C-130A Hercules is a four-engine high-wing transport. It was normally operated by a crew of four. The C-130A was 97.8 feet (29.81 meters) long with a wingspan of 132.6 feet (40.42 meters), and height of 38.1 feet (11.61 meters). The total wing area was 1,745.5 square feet (162.16 square meters). The transport’s empty weight was 59,164 pounds (26,836 kilograms) and takeoff weight, 122,245 pounds (55,449 kilograms).
The C 130 has a rear loading ramp for vehicles, and there is a large cargo door on the left side of the fuselage, forward of the wing, The transport’s cargo compartment volume is 3,708 cubic feet (105.0 cubic meters). It could carry 35,000 pounds (15,876 kilograms) of cargo.
The C-130A was equipped with four Allison T56-A-1A turboshaft engines, driving three-bladed propellers. The engines produced 3,094 shaft horsepower at 13,820 r.p.m. (continuous), and 3,460 horsepower, Military Power (30-minute limit) or Takeoff ( 5-minute limit).
The C-130A had a cruise speed of 286 knots (329 miles per hour/530 kilometers per hour) and maximum speed of 326 knots (375 miles per hour/604 kilometers per hour) at 24,200 feet (7,376 meters). Its range with a 35,000 pound (15,876 kilograms) payload was 1,835 nautical miles (2,112 statute miles/3,398 kilometers). The initial rate of climb at Sea Level was 4,320 feet per minute (21.95 meters per second). The combat ceiling was 38,700 feet (11,796 meters).
In addition to its basic role as a transport, the C-130 has also been used as an aerial tanker, a command-and-control aircraft, weather reconnaissance, search and rescue, and tactical gunship. It has even been used as a bomber, carrying huge “Daisy Cutters” to clear large areas of jungle for use as helicopter landing zones, or, more recently, the Massive Ordnance Air Blast “mother of all bombs.” The aircraft has been so versatile that it has served in every type of mission. Over 40 variants have been built by Lockheed, including civilian transports. It is in service worldwide.
The prototype YC-130 first flew 23 August 1954. The first production C-130A made ts first flight 7 April 1955. The latest version is the Lockheed C-130J Hercules. After 69 years, the C-130 is still in production, longer than any other aircraft type.
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG 17 is an improved version of the MiG-15 fighter. It is a single-place, single-engine, swept-wing, high-subsonic interceptor.
The MiG 17’s wing is thinner, stiffer, and more highly swept than the wing of the MiG 15. There are three stall fences on the upper surface of each wing. The wings are mounted at mid-fuselage with -3° anhedral. The leading edges of the inboard sections ares swept aft to 45° while the outboard sections are swept 42°.
The MiG 17 is 11.364 meters (37 feet, 3.4 inches) long, with a wingspan of 9.600 meters (31 feet, 5.95 inches), and height of 3.800 meters (12 feet, 5.6 inches). It has an empty weight o f3,939 kilograms (8,684 pounds). The normal takeoff weight is 5,340 kilograms (11,773 pounds), and the maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) is 6,069 kilograms (13,380 pounds).
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 three-view illustration with dimensions.
The MiG 17 is powered by a Klimov VK-1F centrifugal-flow turbojet. The basic VK-1 was developed from the Rolls-Royce Nene. The British engines were reverse-engineered by Vladimir Yakovlevich Klimov and manufactured at Factory No. 45 in Moscow as the Klimov VK-1. The VK-1 had a single-stage centrifugal-flow compressor, 9 combustion chambers and a single-stage axial-flow turbine. It produced a maximum 26.48 kilonewtons of thrust (5,952 pounds of thrust). The VK-1 was 2.600 meters (8 feet, 6.4 inches) long, 1.300 meters (4 feet, 3.2 inches) in diameter, and weighed 872 kilograms (1,922 pounds).
The maximum speed of the MiG 17 is 1,145 kilometers per hour (711 miles per hour). The interceptor has a practical range 1,240 kilometers (770 miles) and practical ceiling of 16,600 meters (54,462 feet). For high altitude missions, pilots wore a Zvezda VSS-04 pressure suit.
The MiG 17 was originally armed with two Nudelman-Rikhter NR-23 23 mm autocannons with 80 rounds per gun, and a single, NR-37 37 mm autocannon, with 40 rounds of ammunition. Later, it could be armed with two NR30 30 mm autocannons with 70 rounds per gun. This gun used 30x155mm high explosive or armor piercing ammunition. It has a rate of fire of 900 rounds per minute.
More than 10,000 MiG 17 fighters were built in the Soviet Union, Poland and China. The type remains in service with North Korea.
Three Boeing B-47E Stratojet strategic bombers assigned to the 306th Bombardment Wing. The airplane closest to the camera is Boeing-Wichita-built B-47E-95-BW 52-0545. The lead aircraft is Lockheed-Marietta-built B-47E-25-LM 52-0250. These aircraft are similar to the B-47s flown in the 1955 General Electric Trophy Race. (U.S. Air Force)
2 September 1956: As it had been the previous year, the 1956 General Electric Trophy Race was flown by three Boeing B-47 Stratojet strategic bombers. The 1955 race course was from March Air Force Base, California, to Philadelphia International Airport in Pennsylvania. The 1956 course was changed so that the competitors would be facing headwinds rather than tailwinds. The race began at Kindley Air Force Base, St. David’s Island, Bermuda, and ended at Will Rogers Field, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
An estimated 100,000 spectators were present to see the finish of the race. The winning B-47, flown by Major Joseph Schreiber, 33d Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 22d Bombardment Wing (Medium), based at March Field, arrived overhead at 11:38 a.m. Its official time for the course was 3 hours, 8 minutes, 43.6 seconds, with an average speed of 601.187 miles per hour (967.517 kilometers per hour).
Major Schreiber had flown a Great Circle Course. He flew at 12,000 to 20,000 feet (3,658–6,096 meters), searching for the most favorable winds. During the flight, the B-47 encountered headwinds of up to 45 miles per hour (20 meters per second).
Great Circle Course from Kindley Air Force Base, Bermuda, to Will Rogers Field, Oklahoma, 1,895 statute miles (3,050 kilometers). (Great Circle Mapper)
The crew of Schreiber’s B-47 included Captain Denis O. Wilson, co-pilot; Major Christian J. Luecke, navigator; and Technical Sergeant James Richardson, crew chief.
The second place aircraft, a B-47E assigned to the 301st Bombardment Wing (Medium), 22d Bombardment Wing (Medium), 2nd Air Force, at Barksdale AFB, trailed Major Schreiber’s aircraft by 21 seconds. It was flown by Lieutenant Colonel John C. Lewis; Captain John D. Roche; Lieutenant Colonel Oscar R. Black; and Staff Sergeant Thomas J. Tharo. Colonel Lewis had to slow down when a row of rivets on a left wing engine nacelle popped and a piece of skin was torn off. Its time at the finish line was 3 hours, 9 minutes, 49 seconds, for an average speed of 600.058 miles per hour (965.700 kilometers per hour).
The third-place B-47, assigned to the 310th Bombardment Wing (Medium) at Smoky Hill AFB, Salina, Kansas, was flown by Captain C. L. Porter, Captain R. W. Cain, Captain Sam Allison; and crew chief Frank B. Johnston. Its finishing time was 3 hours, 11 minutes, 38 seconds, with an average speed of 593.602 miles per hour (955.310 kilometers per hour).
All three B-47s encountered significant turbulence when descending toward Will Rogers Field.
Boeing B-47E Stratojet 51-2394, similar to bombers in the 1956 General Electric trophy Race. Photographed 7 April 1956. This airplane was assigned to the 22d Bombardment Wing Medium). (U.S. Air Force)
