Orville Wright at the controls of the Flyer, just airborne on its first flight at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, 17 December 1903. Wilbur Wright is running along to stabilize the wing. This photograph was taken by John Thomas Daniels, Jr., using the Wright Brothers’ Gundlach Optical Company Korona-V camera. (Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)
17 December 1903, 10:35 a.m.: Orville and Wilbur Wright, two brothers from Dayton, Ohio, had been working on the development of a machine capable of flight since 1899. They started with kites and gliders before moving on to powered aircraft. At the Kill Devil Hills near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on the eastern shoreline of the United States, they made the first successful flight of a manned, powered, controllable airplane.
Orville was at the controls of the Flyer while Wilbur ran along side, steadying the right wing. Against a 27 miles per hour (12 meters per second) headwind, the airplane flew 120 feet (36.6 meters) in 12 seconds.
Three more flights were made that day, with the brothers alternating as pilot. Wilbur made the last flight, covering 852 feet (263.7 meters) in 59 seconds. The Flyer was slightly damaged on landing but before it could be repaired for an intended flight four miles back to Kitty Hawk, a gust of wind overturned the airplane and caused more extensive damage. It never flew again.
Flyer after fourth (final) flight. (Wright Brothers Aeroplane Company)
The 1903 Wright Flyer is a canard biplane, with elevators to the front and rudders at the rear. The flight controls twisted, or “warped,” the wings to cause a change in direction. The pilot lay prone in the middle of the lower wing, on a sliding “cradle.” He slid left and right to shift the center of gravity. Wires attached to the cradle acted to warp the wings and move the rudders. The airplane is built of spruce and ash and covered with unbleached muslin fabric.
Wright Flyer, front view. (Wright Brothers Aeroplane Company)
The Flyer is 21 feet, 1 inch (6.426 meters) long with a wingspan of 40 feet, 4 inches (12.293 meters) and overall height of 9 feet, 3 inches (2.819 meters). The wings have an angle of incidence of 3° 25′. A built-in curvature of the wings creates a continuously-varying anhedral. (The wingtips are 10 inches (25.4 centimeters) lower than at the centerline.) The vertical gap between the upper and lower wings is 6 feet, 2 inches (1.880 meters). There is no sweep or stagger. The total wing area is 510 square feet (47.38 square meters). The Flyer weighs 605 pounds (274.4 kilograms), empty.
Wright Flyer, right quarter view. The airplane was damaged during the landing after its fourth flight. (Wright Brothers Aeroplane Company)
The Flyer was powered by a single water-cooled, normally-aspirated, 201.06-cubic-inch-displacement (3.30 liter) 4-cylinder inline overhead valve gasoline engine, which produced 12 horsepower at 1,025 r.p.m. The engine was built by the Wright’s mechanic, Charlie Taylor. The engine has a cast aluminum alloy crankcase with cast iron cylinders. Fuel is supplied from a gravity-feed tank mounted under the leading edge of the upper wing. Total fuel capacity is 22 fluid ounces (0.65 liters).
Wright Flyer, right profile. (Wright Brothers Aeroplane Company)
Using chains, sprockets, and drive shafts, the engine turns two fixed-pitch wooden propellers in opposite directions at 350 r.p.m. They turn outboard at the top of their arcs. The propellers have a diameter of 8 feet, 6 inches (2.591 meters) and are positioned at the trailing edges of the wings in a pusher configuration.
The Wright’s airfield near Kittyhawk, North Carolina. Wilbur Wright is standing in the hangar. (Wright Brothers Aeroplane Company)
In 1928, the Wright Flyer was shipped to England where it was displayed at the Science Museum on Exhibition Road, London. It returned to the United States in 1948 and was placed in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution.
The Wright Brothers’ first airplane flew a total of 1 minute, 42.5 seconds, and travelled 1,472 feet (448.7 meters).
The 1903 Wright Flyer at the Smithsonian Institution. (Photo by Eric Long, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution)
Wilbur Wright died of typhoid fever in 1912. Orville continued to fly until 1918. He served as a member of the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA, predecessor of NASA) for 28 years. He died in 1948.
The Boeing XB-15, 35-277, flies past the Wright Brothers Memorial at the Kill Devil Hills, near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. (U.S. Air Force)
The “empennage and fuselage aft of Fuselage Station 1490” of United Air Lines’ Douglas DC-8 N8013U at the intersection of Sterling Place and Seventh Avenue, Brooklyn, New York, 17 December 1960. (New York Daily News)
16 December 1960, 10:33:32 a.m., Eastern Standard Time: United Air Lines Flight 826, a Douglas DC-8 jet airliner, collided with Trans World Airlines Flight 266, a Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation, at approximately 5,200 feet (1,585 meters) over Staten Island, New York. The Lockheed crashed near the point of collision, on the former Miller Army Air Field, while the DC-8 continued to the northeast before crashing at Brooklyn.
All 128 persons on board both airliners were killed, as were 6 persons on the ground. One passenger, an 11-year-old boy on board the DC-8, did survive the crash, but he died the following day as a result of having inhaled the burning jet fuel fumes.
New York City Fire Department on the scene of the United Air Lines Flight 826 crash, 16 December 1960. The destroyed building was the Pillar of Fire Church, 123 Sterling Place, at Seventh Avenue, Brooklyn..(New York City Fire Department)
The Civil Aeronautics Board investigation of the accident was the first to use data from a Flight Data Recorder from one of the involved airplanes.
A Trans World Airlines Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation. (TWA)
TWA Flight 266 had originated at Dayton, Ohio, with an intermediate stop at Columbus, Ohio. The Super Constellation departed Port Columbus Airport at 9:00 a.m., en route to La Guardia Airport, New York. Captain David Arthur Wollam, a fifteen year veteran of TWA with 14,583 flight hours, was in command. First Officer Dean T. Bowen and Second Officer (Flight Engineer) LeRoy L. Rosenthal completed the cockpit crew. The cabin crew were Hostess Margaret Gernat and Hostess Patricia Post. The airliner carried 39 passengers.
A United Air Lines Douglas DC-8 at the Douglas Aircraft Company, Long Beach, California. (San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives)
UAL Flight 826 was a non-stop flight from O’Hare Airport, Chicago, Illinois, to New York International Airport (“Idelwild Airport,” now John F. Kennedy International Airport), New York City. The Pilot in Command was Captain Robert H. Sawyer. He had flown for United for nineteen years, and had 19,100 flight hours, with 344 hours in the new DC-8 jet airliner. The co-pilot was First Officer Robert W. Flebing and the flight engineer was Second Officer Richard E. Pruitt. There were four flight attendants in the cabin: Stewardess Mary J. Mahoney, Stewardess Augustine L. Ferrar, Stewardess Anne M. Bouthen, and Stewardess Patricia A. Keller. The flight crew had departed from Los Angeles, California, at 3:20 a.m., arrived at Chicago at 6:56 a.m., where they held over for two hours. The airliner departed Chicago at 9:11 a.m. with 76 passengers. (These times are Eastern Standard Time.)
Both airliners were flying under Instrument Flight Rules and followed a series of airways defined by a system of Very High Frequency Omnidirectional Ranges (VORs)—radio ground stations—as well as radar service provided by Air Traffic Control Centers and Approach Control facilities along their route of flight. As it approached LaGuardia, Flight 266 was controlled by New York Center and LaGuardia Approach Control. Flight 826 was also with New York Center, but the approach to Idlewild was with Idlewild Approach Control. The radar controllers of New York Center “handed off” Flight 266 to LaGuardia Approach at 10:27 a.m. Center cleared Flight 826 to the PRESTON Intersection, and advised to expect to hold at that position. It then handed off 826 to Idlewild Approach at 10:33 a.m.
PRESTON Intersection is a position defined by the 346° radial of the Colts Neck VOR (COL) and the 050° radial of Robbinsville VOR (RBV). Aircraft use VOR receivers and a visual display instrument to locate intersections and their positions along airway routes.
However, at 10:21 a.m., the crew of United 826 informed their operations department that the DC-8’s number two VOR receiver had failed. Flight 826 did not advise ATC, however.
While navigation is still possible with only one VOR receiver, it is more complicated as the operator must continuously switch radio frequencies between two VOR stations, and realign the Pictorial Deviation Indicator (“PDI”) instrument to the changing radials of the two ground stations. The higher speed of the new jet airliner gave the flight crew less time to accomplish the continuous changes required.
LaGuardia instructed Flight 266 to make a series of small right hand turns as it set up for the final approach to the airport’s runways. This placed the Super Constellation over Staten Island.
Illustration of Flight 826 Navigation to Preston Intersection (Federal Aviation Administration)
At 10:33:26 a.m., LaGuardia Approach called Flight 266, “Roger, that appears to be jet traffic off your right now 3 o’clock at one mile, northeast bound.” This transmission was not acknowledged.
At 10:33:28 a.m., Flight 826 “checked in” with Idlewild Approach Control, reporting, “Idlewild Approach Control, United 826, approaching PRESTON at 5,000.” Approach control acknowledged the report and informed the airliner that it could expect, “little or no delay at Preston.” Approach then relayed the current weather at the airfield, which was “600 scattered, 1,500 overcast, visibility one-half mile, light rain and fog.” This transmission was not acknowledged.
The crew of United Flight 826 had made a navigational error. At the time they reported that they were “approaching PRESTON,” the DC-8 had already flown approximately 11 miles (18 kilometers) beyond the clearance limit. Without having received clearance to proceed further, Flight 826 should have entered a holding pattern to the southwest of the intersection.
Air traffic controllers at LaGuardia Approach Control saw two radar targets merge. One then continued to the northwest, while the second remained stationary, then made a slow right turn before disappearing from the radar scope.
At the point of collision, the Super Constellation was in a slight left bank. The DC-8 was flying straight and level at 301 miles per hour. It struck the L-1049A from the right rear quarter, its number 4 engine penetrating the Constellation’s passenger cabin, and severing the Constellation’s right wing between the number 3 and number 4 engines. The Lockheed’s fuselage broke into three sections and caught fire. The DC-8 was heavily damaged in the collision, the outboard section of the right wing and the number 4 engine found among the Constellation’s wreckage at Miller Field. The jetliner continued for approximately 9 miles before crashing into a residential area of Brooklyn.
Scene of the DC-8 crash, Brooklyn, New York, 16 December 1960. (New York City Fire Department)
Trans World Airlines Flight 266 was a Lockheed L-1049-54 Super Constellation, serial number 1049-4021, registered N6907C. It had been delivered to TWA eight years earlier, 16 October 1952. At the time of the collision, the airliner had flown a total of 21,555 hours (TTAF). It was 3,905 hours since the last major overhaul (SMOH).
United Air Lines Flight 826 was a Douglas DC-8-11, serial number 45920, registered N8013U. It was delivered to United 22 December 1959. The airliner had flown 2,434 hours TTAF, and 42 hours since overhaul.
The DC-8 carried a Waste King Flight Recorder, from which significant data was recovered by crash investigators.
Wreckage of TWA Flight 266 at Miller Field. (New York Daily News)
AA-1, the first prototype Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II, takes off at Fort Worth, Texas, 12:44 p.m., CST, 15 December 2006. (Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co.)
15 December 2006: Lockheed Martin Chief Test Pilot Jon S. Beesely takes the first prototype F-35A Lightning II stealth strike fighter for its first test flight at Forth Worth, Texas. Taking off at 12:44 p.m., Central Standard Time (18:44 UTC), Beesley took the prototype, designated AA-1, to 15,000 feet (4,572 meters) at 225 knots (259 miles per hour/417 kilometers per hour) to test the aircraft in landing configuration prior to continuing with other tests.
Beesely said that the F-35A, “. . . handled well, better than the simulator.” He compared it to the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor, and said that it handled like the Raptor, but better.
During the flight a minor problem occurred when two sensors disagreed. Although this was simply a calibration problem, test protocol required that Beesley bring the airplane back. He landed at Fort Worth at 1:19 p.m.
Jon S. Beesley in the cockpit of Lockheed Martin’s prototype F-35A Lightning II. (Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company)
Jon Stephan Beesley was born 5 August 1950 at Rexburg, Idaho. After graduating from Madison High School in Rexburg, he studied at Ricks College, then a two-year school, where he was also captain of the school’s ski team.
Jon Beesley married Miss Evona Christensen, 29 May 1970. They would have six children.
In 1972, Beesley graduated from Utah State University at Logan, Utah, with a bachelor of science degree (B.S.) in physics. Following graduation, Beesley was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Air Force, and sent for flight training at Reese Air Force Base, Lubbock, Texas. He was awarded his pilot’s wings in 1974.
1st Lieutenant Beesley was assigned to the 32nd Tactical Fighter Squadron, 36th Tactical Fighter Wing, stationed at Soesterberg Air Base, The Netherlands. The squadron was equipped with the McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantom II.
Two McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantom IIs of the 32nd Tactical Fighter Squadron take off from Soesterberg Air Base, 1975. (U.S. Air Force)
Lieutenant Beesley was next sent to the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base in California, graduating in 1979. Beesley was then assigned as a project test pilot for the Lockheed YF-117A Nighthawk (his call sign, “Bandit 102”), and as the operations officer of the F-117A Combined Test Force based at Groom Lake, Nevada (Area 51). Major Beesley was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for saving YF-117A (FSD-2) 79-10781 when the left tail fin departed the aircraft while pulling up during a weapons test, 25 September 1985.
FSD-2, the second Lockheed YF-117A Full-Scale Development Aircraft, 79-10781, at the National Museum of the United States Air Force. (U.S. Air Force)
Major Beeseley retired from the Air Force in 1986. He then became a test pilot for General Dynamics, where he tested various configurations of the F-16, including Falcon Eye, and project test pilot prototype YF-22. Through a series of mergers, General Dynamics evolved into today’s Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company.
The two Lockheed-Boeing-General Dynamics YF-22 prototypes s at Edwards Air Force Base, California. (U.S. Air Force)
In 1996, the Society of Experimental Test Pilots honored Jon Beesley with its Iven C. Kincheloe Award for his work with the F-117 Combined Test Force (the award was retroactive to 1983). The Kincheloe Award “recognizes outstanding professional accomplishment in the conduct of flight-testing by a test pilot member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots.”
In 2000, The Engineers’ Council awarded Beesley its Brigadier General Charles E. “Chuck” Yeager International Aeronautical Achievements Award for his “lifetime career of dedication to the progress of aerospace technology.”
The Society of Experimental Test Pilots selected Jon Beesley for the Kincheloe Award a second time in 2007, for his work with the F-35A.
After testing the three configurations of the Joint Strike Fighter, the F-35A, F-35B and F-35C, Jon Beesley retired in 2011.
Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II AA-1 in flight. (U. S. Air Force)
The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is a “multirole” stealth fighter capable of air defense, ground attack and reconnaissance. There are three variants: The F-35A is designed for conventional takeoff and landing; the F-35B is a short takeoff/vertical landing variant; and the F-35C is for use aboard aircraft carriers.
The F-35A Lightning II is a single-place, single-engine supersonic stealth aircraft. It is 51.4 feet (15.7 meters) long with a wingspan of 35 feet (10.7 meters) and overall height of 14.4 feet (4.28 meters). It has an empty weight of 29,300 pounds (13,290 kilograms) and can carry 18,000 pounds of weapons. Maximum takeoff weight is 70,000 pounds (31,800 kilograms). (Specifications differ for other variants.)
The F-35 is powered by one Pratt & Whitney F135-PW-100 turbofan engine. This is an axial-flow engine with a 3-stage fan section, 6 stage compressor and 2 stage turbine section (1 high- and 1 low-pressure stage.) The engine is rated at 43,000 pounds of thrust (191.17 kilonewtons) with afterburner.It is 18 feet, 4 inches (5.500 meters) long, 3 feet, 7 inches (1.092 meters) in diameter, and weighs 3,750 pounds (1,701 kilograms).
Maximum speed of the F-35A with internal weapons is Mach 1.6+.
The F-35A is armed with a General Dynamics GAU-22/A 25mm four-barrel rotary cannon with 180 rounds of ammunition. The gun has a rate of fire of 3,300 rounds per minute. The standard weapons load consists of two AIM-120C AMRAAM air-to-air missiles and two 2,000 pound GBU-31 JDAM guided bombs carried in an internal bay.
The United States Air Force planned on buying 1,763 F-35As. The U.S. Navy will get 260 F-35Cs while the Marine Corps plans for 420 F-35Bs. Ten other counties have ordered various configurations of the lightning II. As of September 2018, about 320 F-35s had been built, but the production rate has been slowed to just 150 airplanes per year.
After completing its test program of 91 flights, in 2009 F-35A AA-1 was turned over to the U.S. Navy for use as a live fire target at NAWC China Lake, California.
Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II, AA-1, parked in its hangar. (Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company)
Gemini 7, as seen from Gemini 6A, 15 December 1965. (Thomas P. Stafford/NASA)
15 December 1965: At 13:37:26 UTC, Gemini 6A, with NASA astronauts Captain Walter M. Schirra, Jr., United States Navy and Major Thomas P. Stafford, United States Air Force, on board, lifted off from Launch Complex 19 at the Cape Kennedy Air Force Station, Cape Kennedy, Florida. During its fourth orbit, Gemini 6A rendezvoused with Gemini 7, carrying Major Frank F. Borman II, USAF, and LCDR James A. Lovell, Jr., USN.
This was the first time that two manned space vehicles had rendezvoused in Earth orbit.
The two spacecraft remained together for 5 hours, 19 minutes before separating to a distance of approximately 10 miles (16 kilometers).
Gemini 7 as seen from Gemini 6A, 15 December 1965. (NASA)
Gemini 7 had been in orbit since 4 December. Gemini 6, then 6A, had been postponed several times before finally launching on 15 December. It would return to Earth the following day, landing in the North Atlantic Ocean. Gemini 7 remained in orbit until 18 December.
The two-man Gemini spacecraft was built by the McDonnell Aircraft Corporation of St. Louis, Missouri, the same company that built the earlier Mercury space capsule. The spacecraft consisted of a series of cone-shaped segments forming a reentry module and an adapter section. It had an overall length of 18 feet, 9.84 inches (5.736 meters) and a maximum diameter of 10 feet, 0.00 inches (3.048 meters) at the base of the equipment section. The reentry module was 11 feet (3.353 meters) long with a maximum diameter of 7 feet, 6.00 inches (2.347 meters). The Gemini re-entry heat shield was a spherical section with a radius of 12 feet, 0.00 inches (3.658 meters). The weight of the Gemini spacecraft varied from ship to ship. Gemini VII had a gross weight of 8,076.10 pounds (3,663.26 kilograms) at launch. It was shipped from St. Louis to Cape Kennedy in early October 1965.
The Titan II GLV was a “man-rated” variant of the Martin Marietta Corporation SM-68B intercontinental ballistic missile. It was assembled at Martin’s Middle River, Maryland, plant so as not to interfere with the production of the ICBM at Denver, Colorado. Twelve GLVs were ordered by the Air Force for the Gemini Program. The GLV-7 first and second stages were shipped from Middle River to Cape Kennedy on 9 October 1965.
The Titan II GLV was a two-stage, liquid-fueled rocket. The first stage was 70 feet, 2.31 inches (21.395 meters) long with a diameter of 10 feet (3.048 meters). It was powered by an Aerojet Engineering Corporation LR87-7 engine which combined two combustion chambers and exhaust nozzles with a single turbopump unit. The engine was fueled by Aerozine 50, a hypergolic 51/47/2 blend of hydrazine, unsymetrical-dimethyl hydrazine, and water. Ignition occurred spontaneously as the components were combined in the combustion chambers. The LR87-7 produced approximately 430,000 pounds of thrust (1,912.74 kilonewtons). It was not throttled and could not be shut down and restarted. Post flight analysis indicated that the first stage engine of GLV-7 had produced an average of 462,433 pounds of thrust (2,057.0 kilonewtons). The second stage was 25 feet, 6.375 inches (7.031 meters) long, with the same diameter, and used an Aerojet LR91 engine which produced approximately 100,000 pounds of thrust (444.82 kilonewtons), also burning Aerozine 50. GLV-7’s LR91 produced an average of 102,584 pounds of thrust (456.3 kilonewtons).
The Gemini/Titan II GLV-7 combination had a total height of 107 feet, 7.33 inches (32.795 meters) and weighed 346,228 pounds (157,046 kilograms) at ignition.
Gemini 7 as seen from Gemini 6A, 15 December 1965. (NASA)
Major Joseph W. Rogers, U.S. Air Force, in the cockpit of Convair F-106A Delta Dart 56-0467, at Edwards AFB, 15 December 1959. (U.S. Air Force)
15 December 1959: At Edwards Air Force Base, California, Major Joseph William Rogers, United States Air Force, flew a Convair F-106A Delta Dart all-weather interceptor, serial number 56-0467, to a new Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) World Record for Speed over a 15 Kilometer-to-25 Kilometer Straight Course, breaking the record set two years earlier by Major Adrian E. Drew with a modified McDonnell F-101A Voodoo.¹
At an altitude of 40,000 feet (12,192 meters), Rogers made two passes over the straight 11 mile (17.7 kilometers) course, once in each direction, for an average speed of 2,455.736 kilometers per hour (1,525.924 miles per hour)—Mach 2.31. For his accomplishment, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the FAI’s Henry De La Vaulx Medal, and the Thompson Trophy.
Convair F-106A Delta Dart 56-0467, FAI World Speed Record holder, parked on Rogers Dry Lake at Edwards AFB. Note the jettisonable external fuel tanks. (U.S. Air Force)A copy of Joseph W. Rogers’ Diplôme de Record from the FAI. NOTE: The signature of LE PRÉSIDENT DE LA F.A.I. at the lower right of the document. (f-106deltadart.com)The Thompson Trophy
Major Rogers was the Air Force F-106 project officer assigned to Convair. He first attempted the record with another F-106A, 56-0459, but when that Delta Dart developed uncontrollable compressor stalls, 56-0467 was substituted. (This has led to confusion over which aircraft actually set the record, but in an interview, Colonel Rogers confirmed that it was 467.)
Joseph William Rogers was born at Chillicothe, Ohio, 28 May 1924. He grew up on a farm, and attended West High School, graduating in 1942. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1943 and trained as a pilot. From 1944 he was assigned as a flight instructor in California. Rogers remained in the Air Force after World War II.
During the Korean War, Joe Rogers got the nickname “Whistlin’ Joe” when he put whistles on the wings of his North American Aviation F-51D Mustang in an effort to frighten enemy troops. 1st Lieutenant Rogers was awarded the Silver Star for his actions of 8 October 1950, in close support of a British infantry unit, which was surrounded on a hilltop by the enemy.
Though not officially credited, it is widely accepted that on 8 November 1950, with his Mustang Buckeye Blitz VI, he shot down an enemy Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 jet fighter. An aerial victory of a piston-engine fighter over a jet fighter was a very rare occurrence. Rogers was one of a group of “The American Fighting Man” named Man of the Year by TIMEMagazine. He flew 170 combat missions in the F-51 and another 30 in the Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star.
Captain Joseph W. Rogers in the cockpit of his North American F-51D Mustang, Buckeye Blitz VI, assigned to the 36th Fighter Bomber Squadron, 8th Fighter Bomber Group, Korea, 1950. Note the red dive bombing stripes on the upper surface of the Mustang’s left wing. (Photograph by Lieutenant Colonel William J. O’Donnell, commanding officer, 36th FBS, via ww2color.com)
Rogers was a 1954 graduate of the Air Force Test Pilot School and worked as a test pilot on the North American Aviation F-86D Sabre radar-equipped interceptor, and then the Convair F-102 Delta Dagger and F-106 Delta Dart.
From 1960 to 1964 Rogers commanded the 317th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, which was, at that time, the largest squadron in the United States Air Force. In 1963, he flew a F-102 in the annual William Tell competition at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, which he won, and was named the Air Force’s “Top Gun.”
Colonel Joseph W. Rogers with a Lockheed SR-71A. (U.S. Air Force)
Next, Rogers he commanded the Lockheed SR-71A and F-12A Test Force at Edwards Air Force Base. He is one of the few pilots to have ejected from an SR-71A, when 61-7953 went out of control, 18 December 1969. Both he and Radar Intercept Officer Lieutenant Colonel Gary Heidelbaugh safely escaped the doomed Blackbird.
Colonel Rogers was Vice Commander of the 3d Fighter Wing, flying the McDonnell F-4 Phantom II during the Vietnam War. After serving as Assistant Deputy Commander of the 7th and 13th Air Forces, he was appointed Chief of Staff for Operations at the Aerospace Defense Command Headquarters, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado. Rogers retired from the Air Force in 1975 after 32 years of service.
Joe Rogers worked for Northrop Aerospace for the next 13 years, marketing the company’s F-5 and F-20 fighters.
During his service in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, Colonel Rogers was awarded the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit with two Oak Leaf Clusters, Distinguished Flying Cross with two Oak Leaf Clusters, and Air Medal with thirteen Oak Leaf Clusters.
Joe Rogers was married to the former Charis Tate. They had three children. Mrs. Rogers passed away in 2003.
Colonel Joseph W. Rogers died at Healdsburg, California, 6 August 2005, at the age of 81 years. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery, alongside his wife.
Convair F-106A Delta Dart 56-0467 after setting World Speed Record. Note the missing paint on vertical fin as a result of the high speed flight. (U.S. Air Force)
The Convair F-106A Delta Dart was the primary all-weather interceptor of the United States Air Force from 1959 to 1988, when it was withdrawn from service with the Air National Guard. It was a single-seat, single engine delta-winged aircraft capable of speeds above Mach 2. The airplane was a development of the earlier F-102A Delta Dagger, and was initially designated F-102B. However, so many changes were made that it is considered to be a new aircraft.
The F-106A is 70 feet, 8¾ inches (21.558 meters) long with a wingspan of 38 feet, 4 inches (11.684 meters). The total area of the delta wing is 697.83 square feet (64.83 square meters). The angle of incidence was 0° and there was no dihedral. The leading edges were swept aft 60°. The top of the vertical fin was 20 feet, 3¼ inches (6.179 meters) high. The Delta Dart weighs 23,646 pounds (10,726 kilograms) empty, and has a maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) of 38,729 pounds (17,567 kilograms).
The F-106 was powered by a Pratt & Whitney J75-P-17 afterburning turbojet engine. The J75-P-17 was a two-spool axial-flow turbojet engine with afterburner. It used a 15-stage compressor section (8 high- and 7 low-pressure stages) and a 3-stage turbine section (1 high- and 2-low pressure stages. The J75-P-17 had a maximum continuous power rating of 14,100 pounds of thrust (62.72 kilonewtons), and military power rating of 16,100 pounds (71.62 kilonewtons) (30-minute limit). It produced a maximum of 24,500 pounds (108.98 kilonewtons) with afterburner (5-minute limit). The engine was 3 feet, 8.25 inches (1.124 meters) in diameter, 19 feet, 9.6 inches long (6.035 meters), and weighed 5,875 pounds (2,665 kilograms)
The interceptor has a cruise speed of 530 knots (610 miles per hour/982 kilometers per hour). and a maximum speed of 1,153 knots 1,327 miles per hour/2,135 kilometers per hour) at 35,000 feet (10,668 meters). The F-106A had a service ceiling is 53,800 feet (16,398 meters) and a rate of climb of 48,900 feet per minute (248 meters per second). Its combat radius was 530 nautical miles (610 statute miles/982 kilometers) and the maximum ferry range was 1,843 nautical miles (2,121 statute miles/3,413 kilometers).
The Delta Dart was armed with four GAR-3A radar-homing, or -4A (AIM-4F, -4G) infrared-homing Falcon air-to-air guided missiles, and one MB-1 (AIM-2A) Genie unguided rocket with a 1.5 kiloton W-25 nuclear warhead. The missiles were carried in an internal weapons bay. In 1972, the General Electric M61A1 Vulcan 20mm cannon was added to the rear weapons bay with 650 round of ammunition. (The number of gun-equipped Delta Darts is uncertain.)
Convair built 342 F-106 interceptors. 277 were F-106As and the remainder were F-106B two-seat trainers.
Convair F-106A Delta Dart 56-0467 in flight. Because of the filter used by the photographer, areas that are actually painted bright “day-glow” orange appear to be white. (U.S. Air Force)Convair F-106A Delta Dart 56-0467 in flight, seen from left rear quarter. (U.S. Air Force)
F-106A 56-0467 was built in April 1958 and was the eighteenth production aircraft. After being used for flight testing at Edwards Air Force Base it was converted back to an operational interceptor and assigned to the 329th Tactical Fighter Squadron at nearby George Air Force Base.
Convair F-106A Delta Dart 56-0467 on display at Edwards AFB, May 1961. (Gary Abel from Marty Isham Collection via f-106deltadart.com)
On 14 August 1961, while taking off from George Air Force Base, Victorville, California, on a routine training mission, 56-0467’s right tire blew out. The pilot, James Wilkinson, flew until most of the airplane’s fuel had been exhausted, and then landed at Edwards Air Force Base because of its longer runway and available emergency equipment. After touching down, the right wheel and brake assembly caught fire. The flames quickly spread to the wing and fuselage. The aircraft slid to a stop and the pilot safely escaped. 467 was totally destroyed.
56-0459, which had been scheduled to make the speed record flights, is on display at the McChord Air Force Base Museum.
Major Joe Rogers with Convair F-106A Delta Dart 56-0459 at Edwards Air Force Base before a speed record attempt. This airplane was originally scheduled for the speed record attempt. (U.S. Air Force)U.S. Air Force public relations photograph.
