30 | This Day in Aviation

Colonel Clyde P. Evely, USAF with the crew of the record-setting B-52H Stratofortress 60-0040. (U.S. Air Force)

11 January 1962: Colonel Clyde P. Evely, United States Air Force, and his crew flew their Boeing B-52H-150-BW Stratofortress, 60-0040, of the 4136th Strategic Wing, from Kadena Air Force Base, Okinawa to Torrejon Air Base, Spain. Called Operation Persian Rug, this was an unrefueled 21 hour, 52 minute flight that covered 12,532.30 miles (20,168.78 kilometers) at an average 604.44 miles per hour (972.75 kilometers per hour) and set 11 Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) and seven National Aeronautic Association records for speed over a recognized course.

The route of Boeing B-52H Stratofortress 60-0040. (The Baltimore Sun, 12 January 1962, Page 2, Columns 6–7)

Others on the flight were Major Robert Carson and Captain Henry V. Sienkiewicz, second pilot and co-pilot; Major Edmund Bible, navigator; Major Dwight Baker, radar navigator; Captain Edward McLaughlin, electronics warfare officer; 1st Lieutenant William Telford, second navigator; and Master Sergeant Richard Posten, gunner. Chuck Tibbetts, vice president of the National Aeronautic Association, flew aboard the bomber to monitor the record-setting flight.

FAI Record File Num #8647 [Direct Link]
Status: ratified – retired by changes of the sporting code
Region: World
Class: C (Powered Aeroplanes)
Sub-Class: C-1 (Landplanes)
Category: Not applicable
Group: 3 : turbo-jet
Type of record: Distance
Performance: 20 168.78 km
Date: 1962-01-11
Course/Location: Okinawa (Japan) – Madrid (Spain)
Claimant Clyde P. Evely (USA)
Aeroplane: Boeing B-52H
Engines: 8 Pratt & Whitney TF-33(military desig.for JT-3D)

FAI Record File Num #16481 [Direct Link]
Status: ratified – retired by changes of the sporting code
Region: World
Class: C (Powered Aeroplanes)
Sub-Class: C-1 (Landplanes)
Category: Not applicable
Group: 3 : turbo-jet
Type of record: Speed over a recognised course
Performance: 929.30 km/h
Date: 1962-01-11
Course/Location: Okinawa (Japan) – Madrid (Spain)
Claimant Clyde P. Evely (USA)
Aeroplane: Boeing B-52H
Engines: 8 Pratt & Whitney TF-33(military desig.for JT-3D)

FAI Record File Num #16483 [Direct Link]
Status: ratified – retired by changes of the sporting code
Region: World
Class: C (Powered Aeroplanes)
Sub-Class: C-1 (Landplanes)
Category: Not applicable
Group: 3 : turbo-jet
Type of record: Speed over a recognised course
Performance: 972.75 km/h
Date: 1962-01-11
Course/Location: Okinawa (Japan) – Madrid (Spain)
Claimant Clyde P. Evely (USA)
Aeroplane: Boeing B-52H (60040)
Engines: 8 Pratt & Whitney TF-33(military desig.for JT-3D)

The flight crew of 60-0040 received awards for their world record flight, at Torrejon Air Base, Spain, 11 January 1962. (U.S. Air Force)

President John F. Kennedy congratulates the crew of 60-0040. This photograph shows the crew and President Kennedy with a different airplane, B-52G 57-6486. (U.S. Air Force)

Boeing B-52H Stratofortress. (U.S. Air Force)

The B-52H is a sub-sonic, swept wing, long-range strategic bomber. It has a crew of five. The airplane is 159 feet, 4 inches (48.6 meters) long, with a wing span of 185 feet (56.4 meters). It is 40 feet, 8 inches (12.4 meters) high to the top of the vertical fin. Maximum Takeoff Weight (MTOW) is 488,000 pounds (221,353 kilograms).

There are eight Pratt & Whitney TF33-PW-3 turbofan engines mounted in two-engine pods suspended under the wings on four pylons. Each engine produces a maximum of 17,000 pounds of thrust (75.620 kilonewtons). The TF-33 is a two-spool axial-flow turbofan engine with 2 fan stages, 14-stage compressor stages (7 stage intermediate pressure, 7 stage high-pressure) and and 4-stage turbine (1 stage high-pressure, 3-stage low-pressure). The engine is 11 feet, 10 inches (3.607 meters) long, 4 feet, 5.0 inches (1.346 meters) in diameter and weighs 3,900 pounds (15,377 kilograms).

The B-52H can carry approximately 70,000 pounds (31,750 kilograms) of ordnance, including free-fall bombs, precision-guided bombs, thermonuclear bombs and cruise missiles, naval mines and anti-ship missiles.

The bomber’s cruise speed is 520 miles per hour (837 kilometers per hour) and its maximum speed is 650 miles per hour (1,046 kilometers per hour) at 23,800 feet (7,254 meters) at a combat weight of 306,350 pounds. Its service ceiling is 47,700 feet (14,539 meters) at the same combat weight. The unrefueled range is 8,000 miles (12,875 kilometers).

With inflight refueling, the Stratofortress’s range is limited only by the endurance of its five-man crew.

The B-52H is the only version still in service. 102 were built and as of 27 September 2016, 76 are still in service. Beginning in 2013, the Air Force began a fleet-wide technological upgrade for the B-52H, including a digital avionics and communications system, as well as an internal weapons bay upgrade. The bomber is expected to remain in service until 2040.

The record-setting B-52, 60-0040, named The Black Widow, had been on a 7-hour training flight with an eight-man crew, 5–6 December 1988. They were practicing “touch and go” landings and takeoffs at K.I. Sawyer Air Force Base, near Marquette, Michigan.

After the third landing, the bomber just became airborne, when at 0115 EST,

“. . . At about 75 ft airborne the #30 fuel boost pump overheated due to lack of fuel to cool it down, and, because, the spark arrester was missing from the shaft of the boost pump allowing sparks into the empty tank. The fumes then combusted and exploded inflight causing the tail section to separate from the fuselage. We went crashing to the ground over the runway. Upon hitting the ground the wing section separated from the cockpit. Both went skidding down the runway and came to rest just 3400 ft from impact. The cockpit was blocking the alert ramp for the tankers. All 8 crewmembers survived, each with varying degrees of injury. The Pilot, copilot and IP sustained the more serious injuries, while the rest of us had multiple broken bones and burns but nothing terribly serious.”

— Captain Anthony D. Phillips, Radar Navigator.

Colonel Clyde P. Evely retired from the Air Force after thirty years service. He died 7 April 2010 at 88 years of age.

The remains of "Balls 40", B-52H-150-BW 60-0040, The Black Widow, at K.I. Sawyer AFB, Gwinn, Michigan, 6 December 1988. (U.S. Air Force) — The remains of B-52H-150-BW 60-0040, The Black Widow, at K.I. Sawyer AFB, Gwinn, Michigan, 6 December 1988. (U.S. Air Force)

Curtiss-Wright XSB2C-1 Helldiver, Bu. No. 1758, photographed during its first flight, 18 December 1940. (NASM.XXXX.0359-M0001741-00010)

18 December 1940: Longtime Curtiss-Wright Airplane Division test pilot Henry Lloyd Child took the prototype XSB2C-1 for its first flight.

The XSB2C-1 was a large dive bomber, intended to replace the U.S. Navy’s Douglas SBD Dauntless. It was designed by a team lead by Curstiss-Wright chief engineer Raymond Cottrell Blaylock (1904–1973).

The prototype had longitudinal stability problems caused by its relatively short fuselage, required to fit on aircraft carrier flight decks.

While on approach to land, 8 Feb 1941, the XSB2C-1 suffered an engine failure and made a hard landing in an open field. The rear of the fuselage was damaged.

Curtiss-Wright XSB2C-1, Bu. No. 1758, after crash landing 8 February 1941. (NARA)

The prototype was repaired. Its fuselage was lengthened and a larger vertical fin installed to reduce the stability problems. On 21 Dec 1941 the XSB2C-1 was destroyed after wing failure during flight.

The production SB2C-1 Helldiver a large, single engine, low wing airplane, with a two-man crew: the pilot and a radio operator/gunner. It had conventional retractable landing gear. Its wings could be folded for storage aboard aircraft carriers. It was 36 feet, 8 inches (11.176 meters) long, with a wing span of 49 feet, 8-5/8 inches (15.154 meters), and overall height of 13 feet, 1-½ inches (4.005 meters); the height was 16 feet, 10 inches (5.131 meters) with wings folded. The reduced its width to 22 feet, 6-½ inches (6.871 meters).

Curtiss-Wright SB2C-1 Helldiver, three view illustration with dimensions. (U.S. Navy)

The SBC2-1 had a combat weight, empty, of 9,630 pounds (4,368 kilograms). With a 1,000 pound (454 kilogram) bomb and two external fuel tanks tanks, its gross weight was 15,583 pounds (7,068 kilograms); and with a Mk 13 aerial torpedo and two external tanks, 16,812 pounds (7,626 kilograms).

Curtiss-Wright XSB2C-1, Bu. No. 1758, after reconstruction. Note the enlarged tail fin. (Curtiss-Wright Airplane Division)

The XSB2C-1 powered by an air-cooled, supercharged, 2,603.737 cubic inch displacement (42.668 liter) Curtiss-Wright R2600-8 Twin Cyclone (GR2600B698) two-row, 14-cylinder radial engine with a compression ratio of 6.9:1. It was equipped with a Holley Automatic Type Model 1685-H or -HA carburetor. The right-hand drive engine turned a three-bladed Curtiss Electric Propeller with a diameter of 12 feet (3.658 meters) through a reduction gear ratio of 0.5625:1. The engine required 100-octane aviation gasoline and was rated at 1,500 horsepower at 2,400 rpm; 1,700 horsepower at 2,600 r.p.m., military power; and 1,700 horsepower at 2,800 r.p.m. for takeoff. The R2600-8 was 5 feet, 4.91 inches (1.649 meters) long, 4 feet, 6.26 inches (1.378 meters) in diameter, and weighed 1,995 pounds (905 kilograms). 11,410 of this engine variant were built between April 1940 and May 1944.

The SB2C-1 had a total fuel capacity of 290 gallons (1,098 liters) in one fuselage tank and two wing tanks. An additional 130 gallon (492 liters) tank could be installed in the bomb bay.

The prototype Curtiss-Wright XSB2C-1 Helldiver, Bu. No. 1758, photographed 12 December 1940. (Curtiss-Wright Airplane Division)

The Helldiver’s armament consisted of four air-cooled AN-M2 .50 caliber machine guns in the wings with 240 rounds per gun. A single .50 caliber machine gun with 150 rounds of ammunition was installed in the aft compartment on a flexible mount. After first 200 production airplanes, the wing machine guns were replaced with two 20 mm automatic cannon, while two .30 caliber machine guns replaced the single aft .50 caliber gun.

The SB2C-1 had a maximum speed 250 miles per hour (402 kilometers per hour) at Sea Level, and maximum speed of 273 miles per hour (439 kilometers per hour)at 13,400 feet (4,084 meters). Its service ceiling was 22,800 feet (6,949 meters). It could climb from Sea Level to to climb to 10,000′ (3,048 meters) in 9.7 minutes, and to 20,000 feet (6,096 meters) 32.6 minutes. The dive bomber’s combat radius, with two 1,000 pound (454 kilogram) bombs and two external fuel tanks was 365 nautical miles (676 kilometers). It had a maximum range of max range 1,375 nautical miles (2,547 kilometers).

7,141 SBC2 Helldivers were built in several variations. 300, designated SBF, were built by Fairchild Aircraft Ltd. (Canada), Longueuil, Quebec; and 834 SBWs by the Canadian Car & Foundry at Fort William, Ontario.

The U.S Army ordered 3,100 Helldiver variants as the A-25A Shrike, but found the airplane inferior in the ground attack role to the Republic Aviation P-47 Thunderbolt. The contract was cancelled with just 900 A-25s produced. These were modified back to the Navy variant and transferred to the U.S. Marine Corps.

This Day in Aviation

Important Dates in Aviation History

Tag Archives: 30

11 January 1962

18 December 1940