24 October 1968

Aviation, , , , , , ,
William Harvey Dana, NASA Research Pilot. (National Aeronautics and Space Administration E-5327)

24 October 1968: William Harvey Dana takes the first North America Aviation X-15 hypersonic research rocketplane, 56-6670, for the 199th and final flight of the X-15 program.

Carried aloft by NASA’s Boeing NB-52A Stratofortress mothership, 52-003, the first X-15A was launched over Smith Ranch Dry Lake, about half-way between the city of Reno and the NASA High Range Tracking Station at Ely, Nevada, at 10:02:47.3 a.m., Pacific Daylight Time (17:02:47.3 UTC). Bill Dana started the Reaction Motors XLR99-RM-1 rocket engine for a planned 84 second burn. The flight plan called for the X-15 to reach Mach 5.45 and 250,000 feet (76,200 meters).

The rocketplane’s performance was very close to plan, a tribute to Dana’s piloting skill. The engine burned out after 83.8 seconds. The maximum speed was slightly lower than planned at Mach 5.38, while the peak altitude was a little higher, at 255,000 feet (77,724 meters).

Dana glided back to Edwards Air Force Base. The total duration of the flight was 11 minutes, 28.3 seconds.

Dana made his first flight in the North American Aviation X-15 hypersonic research rocketplane on 4 November 1965. He reached a maximum speed of Mach 4.22, and a peak altitude of 80,200 feet (24,445 meters). He made a total of sixteen flights in the X-15s. Dana’s highest speed was Mach 5.38, and his highest altitude, 306,900 feet, (93,543 meters), on 1 November 1966.

This had been 56-6670’s 81st flight, and the 141st time it had been carried aloft aboard a B-52.

A. Scott Crossfield, wearing a David Clark Co. XMC-2 full-pressure suit, which he helped to design and test, with the first of three North American X-15s, 56-6670. (North American Aviation, Inc.)

56-6670 is the first of three X-15s built by North American Aviation’s Los Angeles Division for NASA, the United States Air Force, and the United States Navy, to investigate the effects of hypersonic flight (Mach 5+). On 8 June 1959, North American Aviation Chief Engineering Test Pilot, and former NACA research test pilot, Albert Scott Crossfield, had made the first glide flight of 56-6670, also launched by 52-003.

NASA Research Pilot William H. Dana with North American X-15A 56-6672 on Rogers Dry Lake. (NASA)

From 8 June 1959 to 24 October 1968, the three X-15s were flown by twelve test pilots, three of whom would qualify as astronauts in the X-15. Two would go on to the Apollo Program, and one, Neil Alden Armstrong, would be the first human to set foot on the surface of the Moon, 20 July 1969. Joe Engle would fly the space shuttle. Four of the test pilots, Petersen, White, Rushworth, and Knight, flew in combat during the Vietnam War, with Bob White being awarded the Air Force Cross. Petersen, Rushworth and White reached flag rank.

Overhead view of X-15A-1 56-6670 shows the rocketplane’s overall fineness ratio and short wings. (North American Aviation, Inc.)

Flown by a single pilot/astronaut, the X-15 is a mid-wing monoplane with dorsal and ventral fin/rudders and stabilators. The wing had no dihedral, while the stabilators had a pronounced 15° anhedral. The short wings have an area of 200 square feet (18.58 square meters) and a maximum thickness of just 5%. The leading edges are swept to 25.64°. There are two small flaps but no ailerons. The entire vertical fin pivots for yaw control.

Above 100,000 feet (30,840 meters) altitude, conventional aircraft flight control surfaces are ineffective. The X-15 is equipped with a system of reaction control jets for pitch, roll and yaw control. Hydrogen peroxide was passed through a catalyst to produce steam, which supplied the control thrusters.

The forward landing gear consists of a retractable oleo strut with steerable dual wheels and there are two strut/skids at the rear of the fuselage. The gear is retracted after the X-15 is mounted on the NB-52 and is extended for landing by its own weight.

The rocketplane’s cockpit featured both a conventional control stick as well as side-controllers. It was pressurized with nitrogen gas to prevent fires. The pilot wore an MC-2 full-pressure suit manufactured by the David Clark Company of Worcester, Massachusetts, with an MA-3 helmet. The suit was pressurized below the neck seal with nitrogen, while the helmet was supplied with 100% oxygen. This pressure suit was later changed to the Air Force-standardized A/P22S.

North American Aviation, Inc. X-15A 56-6670 on Rogers Dry Lake, Edwards Air Force Base, California. (NASA)

The X-15 is 50.75 feet (15.469 meters) long with a wing span of 22.36 feet (6.815 meters). The height—the distance between the tips of the dorsal and ventral fins—is 13.5 feet (4.115 meters). The stabilator span is 18.08 feet (5.511 meters). The fuselage is 4.67 feet (1.423 meters) deep and has a maximum width of 7.33 feet (2.234 meters).

The X-15s were built primarily of a nickel/chromium/iron alloy named Inconel X, along with corrosion-resistant steel, titanium and aluminum. Inconel X is both very hard and also able to maintain its strength at the very high temperatures the X-15s were subjected to by aerodynamic heating. It was extremely difficult to machine and special fabrication techniques had to be developed.

X-15 56-6670 with NB-52A 52-003, 13 April 1960. (NASA)

Since the X-15 was built of steel rather than light-weight aluminum, as are most aircraft, it is a heavy machine, weighing approximately 14,600 pounds (6,623 kilograms) empty and 34,000 pounds (15,422 kilograms) when loaded with a pilot and propellants. The X-15s carried as much as 1,300 pounds (590 kilograms) of research instrumentation, and the equipment varied from flight to flight. The minimum flight weight (for high-speed missions): was 31,292 pounds (14,194 kilograms) The maximum weight was 52,117 pounds (23,640 kilograms) at drop (modified X-15A-2 with external propellant tanks).

Initial flights were flown with a 5 foot, 11 inch (1.803 meters)-long air data boom at the nose, but this would later be replaced by the “ball nose” air sensor system. The data boom contained a standard pitot-static system along with angle-of-attack and sideslip vanes. The boom and ball nose were interchangeable.

Delays in the production of the planned Reaction Motors XLR99 rocket engine forced engineers to adapt two vertically-stacked Reaction Motors XLR11-RM-5 four-chamber rocket engines to the X-15 for early flights. This was a well-known engine which was used on the previous rocketplanes. The XLR11 burned a mixture of ethyl alcohol and water with liquid oxygen. Each of the engines’ four chambers could be ignited individually. Each engine was rated at 11,800 pounds of thrust (58.49 kilonewtons) at Sea Level.

Thiokol Reaction Motors Division XLR99-RM-1 rocket engine. (U.S. Air Force)

The Reaction Motors XLR99-RM-1 rocket engine was throttleable by the pilot from 28,500 to 60,000 pounds of thrust. The engine was rated at 50,000 pounds of thrust (222.41 kilonewtons) at Sea Level; 57,000 pounds (253.55 kilonewtons) at 45,000 feet (13,716 meters), the typical drop altitude; and 57,850 pounds (257.33 kilonewtons) of thrust at 100,000 feet (30,480 meters). Individual engines varied slightly. A few produced as much as 61,000 pounds of thrust (271.34 kilonewtons).

The XLR99 burned anhydrous ammonia and liquid oxygen. The flame temperature was approximately 5,000 °F. (2,760 °C.) The engine was cooled with circulating liquid oxygen. To protect the exhaust nozzle, it was flame-sprayed with ceramic coating of zirconium dioxide. The engine is 6 feet, 10 inches (2.083 meters) long and 3 feet, 3.3 inches (0.998 meters) in diameter. It weighs 910 pounds (413 kilograms). The Time Between Overhauls (TBO) is 1 hour of operation, or 100 starts.

The XLR99 proved to be very reliable. 169 X-15 flights were made using the XLR99. 165 of these had successful engine operation. It started on the first attempt 159 times.

The highest speed achieved during the program was with the modified number two ship, X-15A-2 56-6671, flown by Pete Knight to Mach 6.70 (6,620 feet per second/4,520 miles per hour/ kilometers per hour) at 102,700 feet (31,303 meters). On this flight, the rocketplane exceeded its maximum design speed of 6,600 feet per second (2,012 meters per second).

The maximum altitude was reached by Joe Walker, 22 August 1963, when he flew 56-6672 to 354,200 feet (107,960 meters).

The longest flight was flown by Neil Armstrong, 20 April 1962, with a duration of 12 minutes, 28.7 seconds.

The North American Aviation, Inc., X-15A-1, 56-6670, being brought into the Arts and Industries building, June 1969. (Smithsonian Institution Archives SI-A-4145-23-A)

North American Aviation X-15A-1 56-6670 is on display at the Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum. X-15A-2 56-6671 is at the National Museum of the United States Air Force.

North American Aviation Inc./U.S. Air Force/NASA X-15A 56-6670, hypersonic research rocketplane on display at the National Air and Space Museum. (NASM)

© 2023, Bryan R. Swopes

18–24 October 1961

Aviation, , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Lieutenant Colonel Francis M. Carney, USAF. (FAI 13135-1.jpg)

18–24 October 1961: Lieutenant Colonel Francis Melvin (“Blackie”) Carney, United States Air Force, flying a Kaman HH-43B Huskie, 60-0263, set a series of four Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) world flight records at Bloomfield, Connecticut.

On 18 October 1961, Lieutenant Colonel Carney set an FAI World Record for Altitude Without Payload when he flew 60-0263 to 10,010 meters (32,841 feet).¹ The following week, on 24 October 1961, Colonel Carney set three more world records, flying the HH-43B to 3,000 meters (9,853 feet) in 2 minutes, 41.5 seconds;² 6,000 meters (19,685 feet) in 6 minutes 49.3 seconds;³ and to 9,000 meters (29,528 feet) in 14 minutes, 31 seconds.⁴

Kaman HH-53B Huskie 60-0263. *Fédération Aéronautique Internationale 13135-2)

This same helicopter, flown by Captain Walter G. McMeen, set an FAI World Record for Altitude with a 1000 kilogram Payload to an altitude of 8,037 meters (26,368 feet) over the Kaman plant at Bloomfield, Connecticut, 25 May 1961.⁵ The following summer, Captain Richard H. Coan set an FAI World Record for Distance Over a Closed Circuit Without Landing of 1,055.16 kilometers (655.65 miles) at Mono Lake, California;⁶ Captain Chester R. Radcliffe, Jr., set an FAI World Record for Distance Without Landing when he flew it from Hill Air Force Base, Utah, to Springfield, Minnesota, a distance of 1,429.80 kilometers (888.44 miles), 5 July 1962.⁷

Kaman HH-43B Huskie 60-263. (FAI)

In 1962, Lieutenant Colonel Carney, then commanding the 3638th Flying Training Squadron (Helicopter), U.S. Air Force, was awarded the American Helicopter Society (now, the Vertical Flight Society) Frederick L. Feinberg Award “For the establishment of four new world records for helicopters on 18 and 24 October, 1961. The records established were the maximum altitude for a Class EID helicopter and three time-to-climb records for all types of helicopters.”

Francis Melvin Carney was born at Roxborough, Pennsylvania, 14 November 1921. He was the son of Francis Jerome Carney, an electrician, and Maggie May Ferguson Carney. His father died in 1929.
Carney registered for Selective Service (conscription), 16 February 1942. He was described as having a light complexion with brown hair and blue eyes. He was 6 feet (1.83 meters) tall and weighed 165 pounds (73 kilograms). Three days earlier, 13 February 1942, he had enlisted in the Army of the United States (AUS) at the U.S. Customs House, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
On 12 March 1942, Carney was assigned as an Aviation Cadet, Air Corps, and began flight training. On completion of training, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant, Air Reserve, 22 April 1943.
Lieutenant Carney married Miss Eleanor May Childs, circa 1944. They would have four children, Eric Lance Carney, Ronald Jerome Carney, Randall Wayne Carney, and Robin Carney.
Lieutenant Carney received a permanent commission as a first lieutenant, Air Corps, United States Army, 10 October 1947, with date of rank retroactive to 22 April 1946. When the United States Air Force was established as a separate military service, 1st Lieutenant Carney was transferred from the U.S. Army to the U.S. Air Force.
In 1952 Captain Carney transitioned to helicopters.
With insufficient fuel to return to Shaw Air Force Base, the two H-19s were refueled at the scene. (U.S. Air Force/The State, 28 March 1955, Page 8-A, Columns 1–3)
On 27 March 1955, Major Carney flew one of two Sikorsky H-19 Chickasaw helicopters of the 363rd Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, Shaw Air Force Base, Sumter, South Carolina, in the nighttime rescue of 93 men, women, and children from several tiny islands in Lake Marion, near Eutawville, South Carolina. A sudden increase in wind raised 4 foot waves on the lake, endangering them. One of the islands was too small to land, so Carney’s co-pilot, Captain Robert L. Hess (also reported as Warren C. Hess), climbed down to help lift victims aboard. Major Carney, Captain Hess, 1st Lieutenant Ronald L. Ingraham, pilot of the second H-19, and several others received the Air Force Commendation Medal, presented 29 March by Major General Edward Julius Timberlake, Jr., commanding Ninth Air Force.
Major Carney climbs down from the cockpit of his Sikorsky H-19, while Captain Robert L. Hess stands at right. (Crowson/ The Sumpter Daily Item, 28 March 1955, Page 6, Columns 7 and 8)
In 1955 Major Carney was assigned as commanding officer, 24th Helicopter Squadron at Sewart Air Force Base, Smyrna, Tennessee, flying the Piasecki H-21B Work Horse, providing troop carrier support to US Army; flew to CA 10 October 1956 deployed to Tachikawa Air Base, Japan, aboard the Casablanca-class utility aircraft carrier USS Corregidor (CVU-58).
Lieutenant Colonel Carney commanded the 3638th Flying Training Squadron (Helicopter), 3635th Combat Crew Training Wing (Advanced) at Stead AFB, Reno, Nevada, 1959–1964. Initially, pilots were trained in the H-19B and H-21B helicopters. In 1964, Carney deployed to Vietnam.
Lieutenant Colonel Carney retired from the U.S. Air Force, 20 September 1965. During his 23 years of military service, he had flown as a fighter pilot in World War II and the Korean War, and a helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War. He had been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.
Following his retirement for the Air Force, Carney served as Chief Pilot, Carson Helicopters, Inc., Perkasie, Pennsylvania, then in 1984, he opened a helicopter flight school at Quakertown Airport (UKT), Pennsylvania, using two Hiller UH-12C three-place helicopters.
“Blackie” Carney with a Hiller UH-12C at Quakertown Airport, 1984. (Don Boorse/News Herald, 22 February 1984) columns –6
28 June 1994, Carney was flying his green and white 1947 Piper PA-12 Supercruiser, N3807M (s/n 12-2729). While on approach to the Flying M Aerodrome (P91), Heidelberg Township, Germansville, Pennsylvania, he was caught in a downdraft. His airplane flipped over on landing. Carney suffered one fractured vertebrae in his neck and two in his lower back lower back. He was transported by ambulance and admitted to the Lehigh Valley Hospital, Lehigh Township, Pennsylvania, where he remained in stable condition.
Blackie Carnet’s green and white Piper PA-12 Supercruiser, N3807M, upside down at the Flying M Aerodrome (P91), Heidelberg Township, Pennsylvania, 28 June 1994. (Don Fisher/The Morning Call, 29 June 1994, Page 12, Columns 5–7)
Lieutenant Colonel Carney died at Bedminster, Pennsylvania, 30 July 1996. His remains were interred at White Marsh Memorial Park, Prospectville, Pennsylvania.
The record-setting Kaman HH-43B-KA Huskie, 60-0263, at the National Museum of the United States Air Force. (U.S. Air Force)

The Kaman Aircraft Corporation Huskie was used by the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, primarily for short range rescue operations. It was operated by two pilots and two rescue crewmen.

A turboshaft engine drove a unique system of counter-rotating and intermeshing rotors to provide lift, thrust and directional control. The counter-rotation cancelled the torque effect so no anti-torque, or tail, rotor was necessary. This allowed all of the engine’s power to drive the main rotor system.

The fuselage of the H-43B was 25 feet, 2 inches (7.671 meters) long. Each rotor had a diameter of 47 feet, 0 inches (14.326 meters). It’s height was 15 feet, 6½ inches (4.737 meters). The helicopter’s empty weight was 4,470 pounds (2,028 kilograms) and its maximum gross weight was 8,800 pounds (3,992 kilograms).⁸

The H-43B was powered by one Lycoming T53-L-1B turboshaft engine, rated at 860 shaft horsepower at 21,510 r.p.m. The engine uses a 5-stage axial-flow, 1 stage centrifugal-flow, compressor with a single stage gas producer turbine and single-stage power turbine. A reverse-flow combustion section allows significant reduction in the the engine’s total length. The power turbine drives the output shaft through a 3.22:1 gear reduction. The T53-L-1 is 3 feet, 11.8 inches (1.214 meters) long and 1 foot, 11.0 inches (0.584 meters) in diameter. It weighs 460 pounds (209 kilograms).

The Huskie’s economical cruise speed was 98 miles per hour (158 kilometers per hour), and the maximum speed was 120 miles per hour (193 kilometers per hour). Its hover ceiling out of ground effect (HOGE) was 18,000 feet (5,486 meters), and in ground effect (HIGE) was 20,000 feet (6,096 meters) and it had a range of 235 miles (378 kilometers).

With the call sign Pedro, the HH-43 was a rescue helicopter that served in combat during the Vietnam War.

The record-setting Kaman HH-43B Huskie 60-0263 was last assigned to Detachment 3, 42nd Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron, Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico. It is in the collection of the National Museum of the United States Air Force, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

¹ FAI Record File Number 1870

² FAI Record File Number 13135

³ FAI Record File Number 13056

⁴ FAI Record File Number 13137

⁵ FAI Record File Number 1258

⁶ FAI Record File Number 13154

⁷ FAI Record File Number 13208

⁸ Maximum overload gross weight is 9,150 pounds (4,150 kilograms) at a load factor of 2.0

© 2020, Bryan R. Swopes

24 October 1953

Aviation, , , , , , , , , , , ,
Convair YF-102 52-7994 on Rogers Dry Lake, Edwards Air Force Base, California. (San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive)
Convair YF-102 52-7994 on Rogers Dry Lake, Edwards Air Force Base, California. (San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive)

24 October 1953: At Edwards Air Force Base, California, Richard Lowe Johnson, Chief Test Pilot for the Convair Division of the General Dynamics Corporation, took the first prototype YF-102 Delta Dagger, serial number 52-7994, for its first flight.

The YF-102 was a single-seat, single-engine, delta wing fighter designed as an all-weather, missile-armed, Mach 2 interceptor. It was developed from the earlier, experimental, Convair XF-92 Dart. The F-102 was planned for a Westinghouse XJ67-W-1 engine, but when that was not ready in time, a Pratt & Whitney J57-P-11 afterburning turbojet engine was substituted. 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). The J57-P-11 was rated at 10,000 pounds of thrust (44.482 kilonewtons), and 16,000 pounds (71.172 kilonewtons) with afterburner.

The first prototype Convair YF-102 Delta Dagger, 52-7994, was completed at the Convair plant in San Diego, 2 October 1953. (U.S. Air Force)
The first prototype Convair YF-102 Delta Dagger, 52-7994, was completed at the Convair plant in San Diego, 2 October 1953. (Convair Division of General Dynamics)

The prototype had finished assembly at the Convair plant in San Diego, California, on 2 October 1953. It was then shipped by truck to Edwards Air Force Base in the high desert of southern California where final preparations and testing was carried out.

The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) had tested scale models of the YF-102 in the 8-foot HST wind tunnel at the Langley Memorial Aeronautical laboratory and found that significant shock waves were produced at near-sonic speeds. Surprisingly, shock waves were created at the trailing edge of the delta wing. The shock waves caused very high drag that would keep the aircraft from reaching Mach 1, even with the more powerful engine planned for production models.

Convair YF-102 with the original fuselage. (NASA)
Convair YF-102 53-1785 with the original fuselage, photographed 31 December 1954. (NASA)

The Republic YF-105 fighter bomber had similar problems, though it did pass the speed of sound. Both aircraft were significantly redesigned to incorporate the “Area Rule,” developed by NACA aerodynamicist Richard T. Whitcomb. Rather than considering the aerodynamics of the fuselage independently, the frontal area of the wings and tail surfaces had to be included to reduce drag. This produced the “wasp waist” or “Coke bottle” shape that the production models of these two fighters were known for.

Convair built two YF-102s before the design was changed, resulting in the YF-102A prototypes and the production F-102A Delta Dagger.

The first prototype Convair YF-102 Delta Dagger, 52-7994, on Rogers Dry Lake, October 1953. (U.S. Air Force)
The first prototype Convair YF-102 Delta Dagger, 52-7994, on Rogers Dry Lake, October 1953. (U.S. Air Force)

Several problems showed up on the YF-102’s first flight. Severe buffeting was encountered at high sub-sonic speed. As predicted by NACA, aerodynamic drag prevented the YF-102 from reaching Mach 1 in level flight. There were also problems with the landing gear, the fuel system, and the J57 engine did not produce the rated power.

The production F-102A was considerably larger than the YF-102. The fuselage was lengthened, the wing area and span were increased, and the vertical fin was taller. A more powerful J57-P-23 engine was used. These and other changes increased the F-102A’s gross weight by nearly 1,800 pounds (815 kilograms).

Convair YF-102 52-7994 parked on the dry lake bed, Edwards AFB, California. (U.S. Air Force)

On 2 November 1953, just nine days after the first flight, the Pratt & Whitney J57-P-11 engine flamed out during a test flight. Dick Johnson was unable to restart it and made a forced landing in the desert. The  YF-102 was severely damaged and Dick Johnson badly hurt. The flameout was traced to a problem with the the fuel control system. The prototype was written off.

Convair YF-102 Delta Dagger 52-7994. (U.S. Air Force)
Convair YF-102 Delta Dagger 52-7994 just before touchdown on Rogers Dry Lake. (U.S. Air Force)
Wreck o fConvair YF-102 52-994 near Edwards Air focre Base, 2 Novemnber 1953. (U.S. Air Force)
Wreck of Convair YF-102 52-7994 near Edwards Air Force Base, 2 November 1953. (U.S. Air Force)

Richard Lowe Johnson ¹ was born at Cooperstown, North Dakota, 21 September 1917. He was the eighth of nine children of Swedish immigrants, John N. Johnson, a farmer, and Elna Kristina Helgesten Johnson, a seamstress.

Dick Johnson attended Oregon State College at Corvallis, Oregon, as a member of the Class of 1943. He was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon (ΣΑΕ) fraternity.

Dick Johnson was a pitcher for the college baseball team, and later, played for the Boston Red Sox “farm” (minor league) system.

On 18 June 1942, Johnson enlisted as a private in the Air Corps, United States Army. On 5 November, he was appointed an aviation cadet and assigned to flight training.

Aviation Cadet Johnson married Miss Juanita Blanche Carter, 17 April 1943, at Ocala, Florida. The civil ceremony was officiated by Judge D. R. Smith.

After completing flight training, on 1 October 1943, Richard L. Johnson was commissioned as a second lieutenant, Army of the United States (A.U.S.).

Lieutenant Johnson was assigned to the 66th Fighter Squadron, 57th Fighter Group, Twelfth Air Force, in North Africa, Corsica, and Italy, flying the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt. He was promoted to first lieutenant, A.U.S., 9 August 1944, and just over three months later, 26 November 1944, to the rank of captain, A.U.S. On 14 May 1945, Captain Johnson was promoted to the rank of major, A.U.S. (Major Johnson was assigned a permanent rank of first lieutenant, Air Corps, United States Army, on 5 July 1946, with a date of rank retroactive to 21 September 1945.)

Republic P-47D-25-RE Thunderbolt 42-26421, assigned to the 66th Fighter Squadron, 57th Fighter group, Twelfth Air Force. This airplane was purchased by the employees of Republic Aviation. (American Air Museum in Britain UPL 25505)

During World War II, Major Johnson flew 180 combat missions with the 66th Fighter Squadron. He is officially credited with one air-to-air victory, 1 July 1944. Johnson was awarded the Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross with two oak leaf clusters (3 awards), and the Air Medal with twelve oak leaf clusters (thirteen awards).

In 1946, was assigned to the Air Materiel Command Engineering Test Pilot School at the Army Air Forces Technical Base, Dayton, Ohio (Wright-Patterson Air Force Base). He was the second U.S. Air Force pilot to be publicly acknowledged for breaking the “sound barrier.”

A few weeks after arriving at Dayton, Major Johnson met Miss Alvina Conway Huester, the daughter of an officer in the U.S. Navy. Dick Johnson and his wife Juanita were divorced 8 January 1947, and he married Miss Huester in a ceremony in Henry County, Indiana, 10 January 1947. They would have three children, Kristie, Lisa and Richard.

Richard L. Johnson waves from the cockpit of the record-setting North American Aviation F-86A-1-NA Sabre, 47-611.

Dick Johnson set a Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) World Record Speed Over a 3 Kilometer Course,² flying the sixth production North American Aviation F-86A-1-NA Sabre, serial number 47-611, at Muroc Air Force Base, California (renamed Edwards AFB in 1949).

During the Korean War, Major Johnson was sent to the war zone to supervise field installations of improvements to the F-86 Sabre. He was “caught” flying “unauthorized” combat missions and was sent home.

Convair Chief Test Pilot Richard Lowe Johnson. (Photograph courtesy of Neil Corbett, Test and Research Pilots, Flight Test Engineers)

Lieutenant Colonel Johnson resigned from the Air Force in 1953 to become the Chief Test Pilot for the Convair Division of General Dynamics. He made the first flights of the YF-102 and the F-106A Delta Dart, 26 December 1956. He also made the first flight of the F-111 on 21 December 1964.

In 1955, Johnson was one of the six founding members of the Society of Experimental test Pilots.

Dick Johnson was Chief Engineering Test Pilot for the General Dynamics F-111 “Aardvark.” In 1967, the Society of Experimental Test Pilots awarded Johnson its Iven C. Kincheloe Award for his work on the F-111 program. In 1977, Dick Johnson, then the Director of Flight and Quality Assurance at General Dynamics, retired.

In 1998, Dick Johnson was inducted into the Aerospace Walk of Honor at Lancaster, California. His commemorative monument is located in front of the Lancaster Public Library on W. Lancaster Boulevard, just West of Cedar Avenue. ³

Lieutenant Colonel Richard Lowe Johnson, United States Air Force, (Retired), died 9 November 2002 at Fort Worth, Texas. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, on 7 January 2003.

Chief Test Pilot Dick Johnson in the cockpit of a Convair B-58A Hustler. (Courtesy of Neil Corbett, Test and Research Pilots, Flight Test Engineers)

¹ Several sources spell Johnson’s middle name as “Loe.”

² FAI Record File Number 9866

³ Various Internet sources repeat the statement that “Richard Johnson has been honored with. . . the Thompson Trophy, Mackay Trophy, Flying Tiger Trophy, Federation Aeronautique Internationale Gold Medal and Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement. . . .” TDiA has checked the lists of awardees of each of the appropriate organizations and has not found any support for the statement.

© 2018, Bryan R. Swopes

24 October 1947

Aviation, , , , , , , , ,
Grumman Model G-64, XJR2F-1 Pelican. (Уголок неба)

24 October 1947: First flight, prototype Grumman Model G-64, the XJR2F-1 Pelican. This amphibian would become the Grumman UF-1 Albatross. (In U.S. Air Force service, the Albatross was designated SA-16A. In 1962, this was changed to HU-16A for Navy, Coast Guard and USAF.)

Interestingly, several months earlier, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) conducted landing tests using a 1:7-scale model XJ2RF-1 in a test tank at the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. Wave heights of 4.4 and 8.0 inches (11.2 and 20.3 centimeters) were used, with wave lengths between 10 feet and 50 feet (3–15 meters). Tests indicated that the amphibian could be expected to experience a maximum of 8.5 gs.

Grumman G-64, XJ2RF-1 Pelican (U.S. Coast Guard)

The Albatross was operated by a crew of 4 to 6 airmen, and could carry up to 10 passengers. The SA-16A amphibian was 62 feet, 10 inches (19.152 meters) long, with a wingspan (before modification) of 80 feet, 0 inches (24.384 meters) and had an overall height of 25 feet, 11 inches (7.899 meters). The wing had an angle of incidence of 5° and the total wing area was 883 square feet (82.03 square meters).

The SA-16A was modified to the SA-16B standard, increasing the wingspan to 96 feet, 8 inches (29.464 meters) and the wing area to 1,035 square feet (96.15 square meters). The wing’s leading edges were altered and larger tail surfaces were added.

The HU-16B had an empty weight of 23,025 pounds (10,444 kilograms), and maximum takeoff weight of 37,500 pounds (17,010 kilograms). For takeoff from water, the airplane’s weight was limited to 34,000 pound (15,422 kilograms), using rocket assist. The maximum weight for landing on water was 32,000 pounds (14,515 kilograms).

The SA-16 was powered by two air-cooled, supercharged, 1,823.129-cubic-inch-displacement (29.876 liter) Wright Aeronautical Division Cyclone 9 826C9HD3 and -D5 (R-1820-76A and -76B) nine-cylinder radial engines with a compression ratio of 6.80:1. 115/145 octane aviation gasoline was required. These engines were rated at 1,275 horsepower at 2,500 r.p.m., and 1,425 horsepower at 2,700 r.p.m for takeoff. The engines drove three-bladed Hamilton Standard Hydromatic full-feathering, reversible-pitch propellers with a diameter of 11 feet, 0 inches (3.353 meters) through a 0.666:1 gear reduction. The R-1820-76A and -76B were 3 feet, 11.69 inches (1.211 meters) long and 4 feet, 6.95 inches (1.396 meters) in diameter, and weighed 1,380 pounds (626 kilograms).

The Albatross could be equipped with two or four Aerojet 14AS1000 RATO units, which produced 1,000 pounds of thrust (4.49 kilonewtons), each, for 15 seconds.

The flying boat had a cruise speed of 134 knots (154 miles per hour/248 kilometers per hour) and a maximum speed of 204 knots (235 miles per hour/378 kilometers per hour) at 3,700 feet (1,128 meters). The service ceiling was 23,800 feet (7,254 meters). The SA-16B had a combat radius of 725 nautical miles (834 statute miles/1,343 kilometers), and 1,130 nautical miles (1,300 statute miles/2,093 kilometers) with two 300-gallon (1,136 liters) drop tanks.

This former U.S. Coast Guard UF-1G (HU-16E) Albatross is now privately owned. (paxdaus)

© 2018, Bryan R. Swopes

24 October 1946

Space Flight, , , , , ,
First photograph of the Earth taken from an altitude of 65 miles (105 kilometers). (White Sands Missile Range/Applied Physics Laboratory)

24 October 1946: At 12:18 p.m., Mountain Standard Time (17:18 UTC), a captured V-2 rocket was launched from the U.S. Army’s White Sands Missile Range, east of Las Cruces, New Mexico. The rocket, identified as Upper Air  Rocket Number 13, carried a 35-millimeter DeVry Corporation cine camera set to expose one frame every second-and-a-half.

The V-2’s engine burned for 59.8 seconds, by which time the rocket had reached an altitude of 17.0 miles (27.4 kilometers) and a velocity of 3,990 feet per second (1,216 meters per second). Continuing upward on a ballistic trajectory, the rocket reached a maximum altitude of 65.0 miles (104.6 kilometers) after 180.0 seconds. This is just above the 100-kilometer Kármán Line which is the arbitrary beginning of Space.

Falling back to Earth, Number 13 impacted approximately 17 miles north-northwest of the White Sands V-2 Launching Site and was completely destroyed. Although debris from the rocket was scattered widely, the film cassette was recovered.

The image above is a still frame from the recovered film. It shows the curvature of the Earth. This was the highest altitude a photograph had been made since Captain Albert W. Stevens photographed the Earth from a balloon, Explorer II, 20 July 1935.

A captured German V-2 rocket is launched from the White Sand Proving Grounds, 10 May 1946. (Popular Science)

The V2, or Vergeltungswaffen 2 (also known as the A4, or Aggregat 4) was a ballistic missile with an empty weight of approximately 10,000 pounds (4,536 kilograms) and weighing 28,000 pounds (12,700 kilograms), fully loaded. It carried a 738 kilogram (1,627 pound) (sources vary) explosive warhead of amatol, a mixture of ammonium nitrate and TNT. The propellant was a 75/25 mixture of ethanol and water with liquid oxygen as an oxidizer.

The complete rocket was 14.036 meters (46.050 feet) long, and had a maximum diameter of 1.651 meters (5.417 feet). The rocket was stabilized by four large fins, 3.945 meters (12.943 feet) long, with a maximum span of 3.564 meters (11.693 feet). The leading edge of these fins was swept aft 60° to the “shoulder,” and then to 87° (30° and 3°, relative to the rocket’s centerline). A small guide vane was at the outer tip of each fin, and other vanes were placed in the engine’s exhaust plume.

Cutaway illustration of a V-2 rocket. (U.S. Army)

When launched, the rocket engine burned for 65 seconds, accelerating the rocket to 3,580 miles per hour (5,760 kilometers per hour) on a ballistic trajectory. The maximum range of the rocket was 200 miles (320 kilometers) with a peak altitude between 88 and 128 miles, depending on the desired range. On impact, the rocket was falling at 1,790 miles per hour (2,880 kilometers per hour), about Mach 2.35, so its approach would have been completely silent in the target area.

The V-2 could only hit a general area and was not militarily effective. Germany used it against England, France, The Netherlands and Belgium as a terror weapon. More than 3,200 V-2 rockets were launched against these countries.

U.S. soldiers examine an incomplete V-2 rocket at Kleinbodungen, Germany, 1945.

As World War II came to and end, the Allies captured many partially-completed missiles, as well as components and parts. Sufficient parts and materiel and been transferred from Germany to construct more than one hundred V-2 rockets for testing at White Sands. No missiles were received in flyable condition. Over a five year period, there were 67 successful launches, but it is considered that as much knowledge was gained from failures as successes.

V-2 rocket body at White Sands.

Along with the rockets, many German engineers and scientists surrendered or were captured by the Allies. Under Operation Paperclip, Wernher von Braun and many other scientists, engineers and technicians were brought to the United States to work with the U.S. Army’s ballistic missile program at Fort Bliss, Texas, White Sands Proving Grounds, New Mexico, and the Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Alabama.

Tests of the V-2 rockets led to the development of U.S. rockets for the military and NASA’s space program.

V-2 Number 3 is prepared for launch at White Sands Proving Grounds, New Mexico, 10 May 1946. With a burn time of 59 seconds, the rocket reached an altitude of 70.9 miles (114.1 kilometers) and traveled 31 miles (49.9 kilometers) down range. (The Space Race – Rockets)

¹ V-2 Number 13 had an unfueled weight of, 9,070 pounds (4,114 kilograms); fully fueled, it weighed 28,277 pounds (12,826 kilograms).

© 2019, Bryan R. Swopes