15 December 1944

Aviation, , , , , , , , ,
Captain Alton Glenn Miller, United States Army Air Forces. (American Air Museum on Britain, UPL 27599)

15 December 1944: Major Alton Glenn Miller, United States Army Air Forces, world famous as a leader of a “big band,” and on active military duty in England, was ordered to fly to France to prepare for moving his orchestra to Paris, where it would continue its radio entertainment broadcasts.

LCOL Norman F. Baesell

On December 13 and 14, weather forced the cancellation of two flights, but Miller was offered an unscheduled ride with Lieutenant Colonel Norman Francis Baesell of VIII Air Service Command.

Their airplane was a Noorduyn UC-64A Norseman, serial number 44-70285 (manufacturer’s serial number 550), assigned to the 35th Air Depot Group, 2d Strategic Air Depot, at RAF Abbots Ripton (USAAF Station 547), Cambridgeshire, England. The pilot was Flight Officer John Robert Stuart Morgan.

 

Flight Officer John Robert Stuart Morgan, T-190776, United States Army Air Forces.

At 13:55, the Norseman departed RAF Twinwood Farm (USAAF Station 506), 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) north of Bedford, England, en route across the English Channel to Villacoublay, France.

Neither the airplane, nor the three men on board, were ever seen again.

The Battle of the Bulge began on the morning of 16 December 1944. In the resulting chaos, the disappearance of the three men on an unscheduled flight was not noticed until 18 December. Searches were unsuccessful. All three men were listed as Missing.¹

A number of theories as to their disappearance have been put forward. The most obvious is that either poor visibility or mechanical problems over the English Channel caused the plane to go down. Another popular explanation is that Royal Air Force Avro Lancaster bombers returning from a mission jettisoned unused bombs into the Channel, and the Norseman was hit by one of these.

Glenn Miller and His Orchestra, circa 1941. Miller is just to the right of center, playing a trombone. (Wikipedia)

Following the United States’ entry into World War II, Alton Glenn Miller volunteered for military service. He received commission as a captain, Army Specialist Corps, Army of the United States, 8 September 1942, and was assigned to the Seventh Services Command at Offutt Field, Omaha, Nebraska, 7 October 1942. On the orders of General Henry H. (“Hap”) Arnold, he was transferred to the United States Army Air Forces, 25 November 1942. He organized the Glenn Miller Army Air Force Band.

Major Glenn Miller conducts the Army Air Forces Orchestra. (U.S. Air Force 050811-F-1234P-028)
James David Graham Niven, shown here with the British Army rank of captain.

Captain Miller deployed to England 19 June 1944 at request of General Dwight D. Eisenhower, U.S. Army, Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Forces. He was under the administrative command of Lieutenant-Colonel David Niven, British Army, Director of Troop Broadcasting Services, Allied Expeditionary Forces.

Captain Miller was promoted to the rank of major, 24 July 1944.

Major Miller was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal, which was presented to Mrs. Miller by Colonel F. R. Kerr, Special Services Division, during ceremony, 23 March 1945. The citation reads:

Major Alton Glenn Miller (Army Serial No. 0505273), Air Corps, United States Army, for meritorious service in connection with military operations as Commander of the Army Air Force Band (Special), from 9 July 1944 to 15 December 1944. Major Miller, through excellent judgment and professional skill, conspicuously blended the abilities of the outstanding musicians, comprising the group, into a harmonious orchestra whose noteworthy contribution to the morale of the armed forces has been little less than sensational. Major Miller constantly sought to increase the services rendered by his organization, and it was through him that the band was ordered to Paris to give this excellent entertainment to as many troops as possible. His superior accomplishments are highly commendable and reflect the highest credit upon himself and the armed forces of the United States.

Noorduyn UC-64A Norseman 44-70551 at Wright Field, circa March 1945.
Three view illustration of Noorduyn UC-64A Norseman, with dimensions. (United States Army Air Forces)

UC-64A 44-70285 was delivered to the U.S. Army Air Forces at Newark, New Jersey, 5 July 1944. It was shipped to England on 14 July. On arrival, the Norseman was assigned to the 35th Air Depot Group, 2d Strategic Air Depot, at RAF Abbots Ripton, Cambridgeshire, England (USAAF Station 547).

The Noorduyn Norseman was designed by Robert Bernard Cornelius Noorduyn, and manufactured by Noorduyn Aviation Ltd., Montréal, Quebec, Canada. The Norseman made its first flight 14 November 1935.² It is a large, single-engine, strut-braced high wing monoplane with fixed landing gear. It could be flown by a single pilot, or a pilot and copilot.

Cockpit of a Noorduyn UC-64 Norseman. (NASM)

The UC-45A has bench seats for up to eight passengers, or four ambulance litters. A 38 gallon (144 liters) auxiliary fuel tank can be installed. There is a baggage compartment with a capacity of 10 cubic feet (0.28 cubic meter). The fuselage is constructed of welded chrome moly tubing. The wings are constructed of wood, covered in doped fabric. The leading edge, under the fabric, is covered with alclad to the first spar. The cockpit and engine are covered in removable aluminum sheet, while the aft fuselage is covered in doped fabric.

The fixed landing gear could easily be changed to skis or floats.

The UC-45A has a length of 32 feet, 4 inches (9.855 meters), wing span of 51 feet, 6 inches (15.697 meters) and overall height of 13 feet, 9 inches (4.191 meters). The wing uses a NACA 2412 airfoil and has an area of 325.0 square feet (30.194 square meters). The chord, both at the root and the tip, is 7 feet, 3 inches (2.2098 meters). The wing has a 3° angle of incidence, 2½° dihedral, and no sweep. The airplane has a maximum gross weight of 7,400 pounds (3,356 kilograms).

The UC-64A is powered by an air cooled, supercharged, 1,343.804 cubic inch displacement (22.021 liters) Pratt & Whitney R-1340-AN-1 Wasp single-row nine cylinder radial engine with a compression ratio of 6.03:1. Burning 91-octane gasoline, this engine was rated at 550 horsepower at 2,200 r.p.m. at 5,000 feet (1,524 meters), and 600 horsepower at 2,250 r.p.m. for takeoff. The direct drive engine turned a Hamilton Standard two-blade constant speed propeller 9’1″ (2.769 m.) or three-blade 9’7″ (2.921 m.)  42-15/16″ (1.0906 m.) long, 51-7/16 (1.3065 m.) Belly compartments plywood diameter (865 pounds 392 kg)  mag /878 (398 kg) aluminum)

The UC-64A’s cruise speed is 148 miles per hour (238 kilometers per hour) and it’s maximum speed, 162 miles per hour (261 kilometers per hour). The service ceiling is 17,000 feet (5,182 meters).

The UC-64A has a fuel capacity of 222 gallons (840 liters) in two wing and two belly tanks. A 38 gallon (144 liters) auxiliary fuel tank could be installed in the rear of the cabin. Its maximum range was 574 nautical miles (661 statute miles/1,063 kilometers) at Sea Level, or 825 nautical miles (949 statute miles/1,528 kilometers) at 12,000 feet (3,658 meters).

The Noorduyn Norseman was in production from 1935 to 1959. 904 were built.

¹ Missing Aircrew Report (MACR) https://catalog.archives.gov/id/305258

Noorduyn Norseman Mk. I CF-AYO, operated by Dominion Skyways, circa 1946. (Province of Quebec Archives)

 

² The very first Noorduyn Norseman, CF-AYO, Arcturus, was featured in the James Cagney motion picture, “Captains of the Clouds” (1942), with the registration CF-HGO.

 

© 2024, Bryan R. Swopes

14 December 1972 22:54:36 UTC, T plus 188:01:36

Space Flight, , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Apollo 17 Lunar Module Challenger at the Taurus-Littrow landing site. (NASA AS17-134-20513)

14 December 1972: At 4:54:36 p.m., CST (Houston time), the Ascent Stage of the Apollo 17 Lunar Module Challenger lifted off from the landing site in the Taurus-Littrow Valley, The Moon. On board were Mission Commander Eugene A. Cernan and the LM Pilot, Harrison H. Schmitt.

The two Astronauts had been on the surface of the Moon for 3 days, 2 hours, 59 minutes, 40 seconds. During that time they made three excursions outside the lunar lander, totaling 22 hours, 3 minutes 57 seconds.

Apollo 17 was the last manned mission to the Moon in the Twentieth Century. Gene Cernan was the last man to stand on the surface of the Moon.

The Apollo 17 ascent stage lifts off from the Taurus-Littrow Valley at 2254 UTC, 14 December 1972. The takeoff was captured by a television camera which had been left on the surface of the Moon. (NASA)

© 2016, Bryan R. Swopes

14 December 1959

Aviation, , , , , , , , , , , ,
Captain Joe Bailey Jordan, U.S. Air Force, in the cockpit of his record-setting Lockheed F-104C Starfighter. (U.S. Air Force)
Captain Joe Bailey Jordan, U.S. Air Force, in the cockpit of his record-setting Lockheed F-104C Starfighter. (U.S. Air Force)

14 December 1959: Air Force test pilot Captain Joe Bailey Jordan, United States Air Force, established a Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) World Record for Altitude in a Turbojet Aircraft, breaking a record set only 8 days before by Commander Lawrence E. Flint, Jr., U.S. Navy, flying the number two prototype McDonnell YF4H-1 Phantom II, Bu. No. 142260.¹

Lockheed F-104C-5-LO Starfighter 56-885. (U.S. Air Force)
Lockheed F-104C-5-LO Starfighter 56-885. (U.S. Air Force)

Flying a slightly modified Lockheed F-104C-5-LO Starfighter, 56-885, (the aft fuselage had been replaced by one from a two-place F-104B, which had larger tail surfaces), Jordan released the brakes at Edwards Air Force Base, and 15 minutes, 4.92 seconds later he reached 30,000 meters (98,425 feet) establishing an Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) world record for time-to-altitude.² The Starfighter continued the zoom climb profile, peaking at 103,389 feet (31,513 meters) ³ and going over the top at 455 knots (843 kilometers per hour). While accelerating for the zoom maneuver, Jordan’s F-104 reached Mach 2.36.

The Harmon International Trophy (NASM)

Fédération Aéronautique Internationale rules required that a new record must exceed the previous record by 3%. The Starfighter beat the Phantom II’s peak altitude by 4.95%. Captain Jordan was credited for his very precise flying and energy efficiency. For this flight, Captain Jordan was awarded the Harmon International Trophy, which was presented to him by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Joe Bailey Jordan was born at Huntsville, Texas, 12 June 1929, the son of James Broughtan Jordan, a track foreman, and Mattie Lee Simms Jordan. Jordan graduated from Sweeney High School in 1946, then studied at the University of Houston. He entered the United States Air Force in 1949, trained as a pilot and received his pilot’s wings 15 September 1950. He flew more than 100 missions during the Korean War, and received two Distinguished Flying Crosses and two Air Medals. He then served as a flight instructor at Laredo Air Force Base, Laredo, Texas. In 1961 he was stationed at Bitburg Air Base in Germany. Jordan was a graduate of both the Air Force Test Pilot School and the Air Force Fighter Weapons School. He became a project test pilot on the F-104 in 1956.

Jordan married Dolores Ann Craig of Spokane, Washington, 8 February 1958, at Santa Monica, California. They had two children, Carrie and Ken.

Colonel Jordan was the first Western pilot to fly the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 interceptor and his evaluations allowed U.S. pilots to exploit the MiG’s weaknesses during the Vietnam War.

General Dynamics F-111A 65-5701. Photographed by Hervé Cariou at the Salon du Bourget (Paris Air Show), May 1967.

While testing General Dynamics F-111A 65-5701, Jordan and his co-pilot were forced to eject in the fighter’s escape capsule when the aircraft caught fire during a gunnery exercise at Edwards AFB, 2 January 1968. His back was injured in the ejection.

After Jordan retired from the Air Force in 1972, he became an engineering test pilot for the Northrop Corporation’s YF-17 flight test program.

Lieutenant Colonel Joe Bailey Jordan died at Oceanside, California, 22 April 1990, at the age of 60 years. His ashes were spread at Edwards Air Force Base. Jordan Street on the air base is named in his honor.

Captain Joe Bailey Jordan, United States Air Force. (Photograph courtesy of Neil Corbett, Test and Research Pilots, Flight Test Engineers)
Captain Joe Bailey Jordan, United States Air Force. (Photograph courtesy of Neil Corbett, Test and Research Pilots, Flight Test Engineers)

The Lockheed F-104C Starfighter was a tactical strike variant of the F-104A interceptor. The F-104C shared the external dimensions of the F-104A, but weighed slightly less.

The F-104C was powered by a single General Electric J79-GE-7 engine, a single-spool axial-flow afterburning turbojet, which used a 17-stage compressor and 3-stage turbine. The J79-GE-7 is rated at 10,000 pounds of thrust (44.482 kilonewtons), and 15,800 pounds (70.282 kilonewtons) with afterburner. The engine is 17 feet, 4 inches (5.283 meters) long, 3 feet, 2.3 inches (0.973 meters) in diameter, and weighs 3,575 pounds (1,622 kilograms).

The F-104C could carry a 2,000 pound weapon on a centerline hardpoint. It could carry up to four AIM-9B Sidewinder missiles.

On 9 May 1961, near Moron AFB, Spain, Starfighter 56-885 had a flight control failure with stick moving full aft. The pilot was unable to move it forward, resulting in an initial zoom climb followed by unrecoverable tumble. The pilot safely ejected but the airplane crashed and was destroyed.

Captain Joe B. Jordan, USAF, is congratulated by Lockheed test pilot Tony LeVier. Captain Bailey is wearing a David Clark Co. MC-3 capstan-type partial-pressure suit with a ILC Dover MC-2 helmet. (Jet Pilot Overseas)
Captain Joe B. Jordan, USAF, is congratulated by Lockheed Chief Engineering Test Pilot Tony LeVier. Captain Bailey is wearing a David Clark Co. MC-3 capstan-type partial-pressure suit with an ILC Dover MC-2 helmet. (Jet Pilot Overseas)

A short Air Force film of Joe Jordan’s record flight can be seen at:

¹ FAI Record File Number 10352

² FAI Record File Number 9065

³ FAI Record File Number 10354

© 2018, Bryan R. Swopes

14 December 1931

Aviation, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Sir Douglas Robert Stewart Bader, 12 May 1970,by Godfrey Argent, 12 May 1970. (© National Portrait Gallery, London)
Group Captain Sir Douglas Robert Steuart Bader, C.B.E., D.S.O. and Bar, D.F.C. and Bar, F.R.Ae.S., D.L.,  photographed by Godfrey Argent, 12 May 1970. (© National Portrait Gallery, London)

“On 14 December 1931, Douglas Bader flew to Woodley airfield near Reading. After lunch someone said, ‘I bet you won’t roll at nought feet.’ Bader did, and the graceful little Bulldog ended up in a shapeless ball of twisted metal. After hovering at death’s door Bader lost both legs. At Cranwell he remembered the Commandant had admonished him, ‘The RAF needs men, not schoolboys.’ Now he was neither, and the RAF would not need him anymore.”

—Duel of Eagles by Group Captain Peter Wooldridge Townsend, CVO, DSO, DFC and Bar, RAF, Castle Books, Edison, New Jersey, 2003. Chapter 6 at Page 82.

Left to right, Pilot Officer Douglas R.S. Bader, Flight Lieutenant Harry Day and Flying Officer Geoffrey Stephenson during training for the 1932 Hendon Airshow, with a Bristol Bulldog. (RAF Museum)
Left to right, Pilot Officer Douglas R.S. Bader, Flight Lieutenant Harry Day and Flying Officer Geoffrey Stephenson during training for the 1932 Hendon Airshow, with a Gloster Gamecock. (RAF Museum)

Pilot Officer Douglas Robert Steuart Bader, Royal Air Force, caught the wingtip of his Bristol Bulldog Mk.IIA, K-1676, and crashed at Woodley Aerodrome, approximately four miles east of Reading, Berkshire, England. The airplane was damaged beyond repair.

Bader suffered major injuries requiring amputation of his right leg, followed by amputation of his left leg several days later. He was fitted with prosthetic legs with which he was soon able to walk without assistance. Pilot Officer Bader was medically retired and received a 100% disability pension.

Bristol Bulldog Mk.IIA K-1676. This is the airplane that Douglas Bader was flying when he crashed at Woodley, 14 December 1931. (Royal Air Force)
Bristol Bulldog Mk.IIA K-1675. This is a sister ship of the airplane that Douglas Bader was flying when he crashed at Woodley Aerodrome, 14 December 1931. (Royal Air Force)

In 1939, feeling that war with Germany was imminent, Bader applied to the Air Ministry for reinstatement. He was turned down, but was told that if there was a war his request might be reconsidered.

The Air Ministry did reconsider Douglas Bader’s request for reinstatement and after a medical evaluation and other tests, he was sent to refresher flight training where he was evaluated as “Exceptional,” a very rare qualification.

A page from Douglas bader's pilot log book, showing his "exceptional' evaluation. (Royal Air Force Museum)
A page from Douglas Bader’s pilot log book, showing his “Exceptional” evaluation. (Royal Air Force Museum)

Group Captain Sir Douglas R. S. Bader, Royal Air Force, C.B.E., D.S.O. and Bar, D.F.C. and Bar, F.R.Ae.S., D.L., a legendary fighter pilot of the Royal Air Force during World War II, was born at St. John’s Wood, London, England. He joined the Royal Air Force in 1928 as a cadet at the Royal Air Force College Cranwell and was commissioned as a Pilot Officer in July 1930.

Credited with more than 20 aerial victories while flying Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire fighters, Bader was himself shot down while flying his Spitfire Mk Va, serial W3185, marked “D B”. His prosthetic legs caught in the cockpit and made it difficult for him to escape, but he finally broke free and parachuted to safety.

Bader was captured and held as a prisoner of war. He was initially held at a hospital in occupied France and it was there that he met and became a life long friend of Adolf Galland, also a legendary fighter pilot—but for the other side! After arrangements were made for replacement legs, Bader escaped. He was recaptured and taken to the notorious Offizierslager IV-C at Colditz Castle where he was held for three years.

Prisoners of War held at Colditz Castle, a maximum security prison during World War II. Squadron Leader Douglas Bader is seated, center.

Douglas Bader is the subject of Reach For The Sky, a biography by Paul Brickhill, and a movie based on that book which starred Kenneth More.

Sir Douglas was invested Knight Bachelor, 12 June 1976, for his service to the disabled. He died suddenly of a heart attack, 5 September 1982.

Douglas Bader with a Hawker Hurricane of No. 242 Squadron.
Douglas Bader with a Hawker Hurricane of No. 242 Squadron, September 1940. Photograph by F/O S. A. Devon, Royal Air Force. © IWM (CH 1406)

The Bristol Type 105 Bulldog was a single-place, single-engine biplane fighter which served with the Royal Air Force from 1928 to 1938. It was constructed of a riveted framework of rolled steel strips. The forward fuselage was covered with light weight sheet metal, while the wings and aft fuselage were covered with doped fabric. The Bulldog Mk.IIA was 25 feet, 2 inches (7.671 meters) long with a wingspan of 33 feet, 10 inches (10.312 meters) and height of 8 feet, 9 inches (2.667 meters). It had and empty weight of 2,222 pounds (1,008 kilograms) and maximum takeoff weight of 3,660 pounds (1,660 kilograms).

The Bristol Bulldog Mk.IIA was powered by an air-cooled, supercharged, 1,752.79-cubic-inch-displacement (28.72 liter) Bristol Jupiter VIIF nine-cylinder radial engine which was rated at 440 horsepower up to 12,000 feet (3,658 meters). This was a left-hand tractor engine which drove a wooden two-bladed fixed-pitch propeller through a 2:1 gear reduction.

The airplane had a maximum speed of 174 miles per hour (280 kilometers per hour) at 10,000 feet (3,048 meters) and a service ceiling of 29,300 feet (8,931 meters).

The Bristol Bulldog Mk.IIA was armed with two synchronized Vickers .303-caliber machine guns with 600 rounds of ammunition per gun.

Bristol Bulldog Mk.IIA K-2227, the same type airplane flown by Pilot Officer Bader when he crashed 14 December 1931. K-2227 is in the collection of the Royal Air Force Museum. (Unattributed)
Bristol Bulldog Mk.IIA K-2227, the same type airplane flown by Pilot Officer Bader when he crashed 14 December 1931. K-2227 is in the collection of the Royal Air Force Museum. (Royal Air Force)

© 2018, Bryan R. Swopes

13 December 1972

Space Flight, , , , , , , , , ,
Eugene A. Cernan at the Taurus-Littrow Valley during the third EVA of the Apollo 17 mission. (Harrison H. Schmitt/NASA)
Eugene A. Cernan at the Taurus-Littrow Valley during the third EVA of the Apollo 17 mission. (Harrison H. Schmitt/NASA)

13 December 1972: At approximately 22:26 UTC, NASA Astronauts Eugene A. Cernan and Harrison H. Schmitt began the last of three moon walks, or EVAs, on the surface of the Moon at the Taurus-Littrow Valley.

“Bob, [Robert A.P. Parker, Astronaut, Houston Mission Control Cap Com]  this is Gene, and I’m on the surface; and, as I take man’s last step from the surface, back home for some time to come — but we believe not too long into the future — I’d like to just [say] what I believe history will record. That America’s challenge of today has forged man’s destiny of tomorrow. And, as we leave the Moon at Taurus-Littrow, we leave as we came and, God willing, as we shall return: with peace and hope for all mankind. Godspeed the crew of Apollo 17.”

— Astronaut Eugene Andrew Cernan, Captain, USN, at the Taurus Littrow Valley, The Moon, at Mission Time 170:40:00

Eugene A. Cernan, Mission Commander, inside the Lunar Module Challenger after the third EVA, 13 December 1972. (Harrison H. Schmitt/NASA)
Eugene A. Cernan, Mission Commander, inside the Lunar Module Challenger after the third EVA, 13 December 1972. (Harrison H. Schmitt/NASA)

This was the final EVA of the Apollo Program, lasting approximately 7 hours, 15 minutes. Then Harrison H. Schmitt and Gene Cernan climbed up into the Lunar Module Challenger to prepare to lift off the following day.

Gene Cernan was the last man to stand on the surface of the Moon.

Harrison H. Schmitt, Lunar Module Pilot, inside the LM after the final EVA of teh Apollo Program, 13 December 1972. (Eugene A. Cernan/NASA)
Harrison H. Schmitt, Lunar Module Pilot, inside the LM after the final EVA of the Apollo Program, 13 December 1972. (Eugene A. Cernan/NASA)

© 2016, Bryan R. Swopes