The Last of the RAF Biplane Heavy Bombers – The Handley Page Heyford

The Handley Page Heyford was the last biplane bomber to see service with the British Royal Air Force (RAF). Actually, it was the most important British bomber of the early thirties. But it looked completely obsolete even before it first took to the air in June 1930. The original Heyford was fitted with two Rolls-Royce 575 hp Kestrel IIIS, 12 cylinder piston engines. It had a fixed undercarriage that did nothing to improve its appearance as an out-of-date aircraft. The wingspan was of 75 ft, very large by those times. The length of the airplane was 58 ft with a height of 17 ft 6 in and a massive wing area of 1,470 sq ft. The Heyford’s wings were made of metal frame covered with fabric coverings, while the main fuselage was half metal, the forward area, and half fabric covered, the rear. Even with these drawbacks, the Heyford remained in front-line service with the RAF until the late thirties and the outbreak of war in Europe.

Three prototypes were originally ordered by the British for performance evaluation in the summer of 1927—the first of these prototypes, having its maiden flight in 1930. The first test was very successful and immediately the RAF ordered the Heyford to be put into full production. When the last Heyford rolled out of the assembly plant in July 1936, 15 Heyford MkIs, 21 Heyford Mk IAs, 16 Heyford Mk IIs and 70 Heyford Mk IIIs had been delivered. The aircraft units types differed little, except in the type of engines that were installed on them—all being Rolls-Royce Kestrels types. Perhaps the most distinguishing feature on the Heyford bomber was that its fuselage was mounted on the upper wing. This feature gave the pilot and the aircraft defensive gunners, an excellent field of vision. The bomber’s main armament consisted on three 7.7 mm machine guns, installed in dorsal, nose and ventral “dustbin” positions, and carried up to a 3,500 lb bomb load. A new technology break through came in the form of a retractable ventral “dustbin” turret that could be lowered beneath the aft fuselage.

The center section of the bomber’s lower wing was thick enough to contain cells for the carriage of bombs. The proximity of the bomb cells to the ground made for speedy re-arming. The Heyford maximum speed performance was of a pedestrian 142 mph with an open cockpit, with a top operational ceiling of 21,000 ft and a climb range of 700 ft/min. The Heyford’s maximum range, with reduced bomb load, was 920 miles. Take off weigh was of 9,200 lbs without a bomb load and with the bomber’s full complement of bombs and armaments—an impressive 16,900 lbs.

The first Royal Air Force unit to receive the Heyford as an operational bomber was the No. 99th squadron based at Upper Heyford, on November 1933. Other squadrons followed, the No.s 7, 9, 10, 38, 78, 97, 102, 148, 149 and 166, all received bomber units to complement its own squadrons. As the Whitleys and Wellesleys bombers started to appear on the mid thirties, the Heyford bomber was gradually phased out—the last of the units, being replace by the new Wellingtons, put in front line service in late 1939. It never saw any action in World War II, but it was of service to the RAF as a bomber training aircraft and target tug until it was finally retired from service July, 1941.

June 23 – This Day In Aviation History

In 1905… Wilbur and Orville Wright make their first flight of 1905 in Huffman Prairie, Ohio, in their new Flyer III, the first practical airplane in history. (OTM)

In 1913… The first large airplane designed exclusively as a bomber makes its first flight in Russia. Known as the “Russki Vityaz,” (Russian Knight) it was designed by Igor Sikorsky and built by the RBVZ [Russko-Baltijskij Vagonnyj Zavod (Russo-Baltic Cart Works)]. (F&F)

In 1924… The prototype Focke-Wulf A 16 monoplane makes its first flight. Capable of carrying four passengers, it is the first product of Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau GmbH. (AYY)

The 8th Air Force in Britain Ridgewells Story

The 8th Air Force undertook its first combat mission from a new British airfield just nine months after America entered World War II. By D-Day, this number stood at 39.

Hastily carved from East Anglia’s soil during 1942, these airfields were constructed far quicker than the 8th Air Force could be activated. This was evident at Ridgewell – the intended base for a newly-mobilized 381st Bomb Group and their fleet of Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses.

While its men and equipment were being assembled at an equally-new Pyote Air Base in Texas, the British Royal Air Force Bomber Command 90 Squadron was already testing Ridgewell’s freshly-concreted runways with its Short Stirling bombers. However, omens didn’t look good when the first aircraft to use the airfield crash-landed.

By June 1943, the polished Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses of the 381st Bomb Group began arriving over the Essex countryside. Several weeks later, 21 of their number climbed away on the group’s first combat mission – a diversionary raid on Antwerp in support of the 8th Air Force’s main attack on Kiel, Germany. This momentous event in Ridgewell’s history was quickly overshadowed, though.

The following day, whilst being primed for her second mission over occupied Europe, ‘Caroline’ (a Boeing B-17F of 533rd Squadron) suddenly exploded on the ground. Her accidental detonation cost the lives of 21 US servicemen and one British civilian.

Tragic events weren’t just confined to the ground. On 17th August 1943, exactly one year after the 8th Air Force’s first daylight raid on occupied Europe; 26 of Ridgewell’s Flying Fortresses joined an armada of 350 others for an ambitious two-pronged assault on the German industrial cities of Schweinfurt and Regensburg.

Pitted with peril from the outset, this ‘double strike’ mission cost the 8th Air Force a total of 60 aircraft and over 550 men. For the 381st Bomb Group, flying across Nazi Germany for several hours without the aid of allied fighter support had also taken its toll. Nine aircraft were lost – the highest of any other group on the Schweinfurt mission.

Despite its deadly purpose, RAF Ridgewell played the ever-composed host to over 3,000 people, most of whom were American males. Fifteen outlying sites had been constructed to accommodate the sleeping, eating and recreational habits of this burgeoning population. Nowhere was this more keenly felt than in the towns and village surrounding the base.

Occasionally, the local civilian population came close to being affected by the machinations of the 8th Air Force. This was starkly illustrated on 3rd January 1944 when a bomb-laden B-17 crashed on take-off, killing all those onboard. Fortunately for those on the ground, this curiously unnamed aircraft crashed in thick woodland.

The naming of B-17s was invariably left to the wistful imaginations of the Flying Fortress crews. While most were daubed with elaborate caricatures of curvy females, others were named in honour of prominent people or places. ‘Stage Door Canteen’ – named after a popular eatery in London’s West End – was just one of them.

A glitzy gathering of some of the best-known celebrities of the time took place in one of Ridgewell’s maintenance hangars. Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh and Air Chief Marshall Sir Arthur Harris all looked on as Winston Churchill’s daughter, Mary, launched ‘Stage Door Canteen’ with the obligatory bottle of Coca Cola. This aircraft was just one of 346 individual B-17s which were based at Ridgewell during the Second World War.

At the end of hostilities, some 1,290 of the group’s men had sacrificed their young lives in the pursuit of freedom. RAF Ridgewell was just 22 months old when the last of its Flying Fortresses took off for their long journey back to the United States.

The airfield continued to be used for ordnance storage until the mid 1950s. Its runways and hangars were then broken up and dismantled. Today, just a section of the perimeter track and only a handful of buildings remain. The 8th Air Force may have scarred the landscape wherever it went, but it certainly helped to return Britain (and the world) to peace.

Tupolev Tu-160 Images

The Russian built Tupolev Tu-160 variable-sweep wing strategic bomber designed by the Soviet Union to be reach supersonic speeds. The Nato forces had code named the aircraft “Blackjack”. The Tupolev Tu-160 is the largest combat aircraft and the largest supersonic aircraft, as well as the largest variable-sweep aircraft ever built.

Photos of the Tupolev Tu-160

Images courtesy of:

By Panther (МАКС-2003) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

By Yuriy Lapitskiy [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Vulcan Bomber Saved By Donations

November 01, 2011 – Last minute donations have saved the world’s last flying Vulcan Bomber from being grounded indefinitely. £400,000 is what was needed to be raised by The Vulcan to The Sky Trust in order to keep the aircraft in flight.

Almost 2 million people have seen the magnificant cold war aircraft fly demonstrations at recent airshows. The trust would like to keep the aircraft flying for 2 more display seasons. The Vulcan made it’s maiden voyage in 1952 and played a large part in defending the UK during the cold war crisis.

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General characteristics of the Vulcan Bomber
   Crew: 5 (pilot, co-pilot, AEO, Navigator Radar, Navigator Plotter)[nb 1]
   Length: 97 ft 1 in (29.59 m)
   Wing area: 3554 ft² (330.2 m²)
   Height: 26 ft 6 in (8.0 m)
   Empty weight: 83,573 lb (including crew) (37,144 kg)
   Max takeoff weight: 170,000 lb (77,111 kg)
   Wingspan: 99 ft 5 in (30.3 m)
   Powerplant: 4× Bristol Olympus 101, or 102 or 104 turbojet, 11,000 lbf
(49 kN) each

Performance
   Maximum speed: Mach 0.96 (607 mph (1,040 km/h)) at altitude
   Cruise speed: Mach 0.86 (567 miles per hour (912 km/h)) at 45,000 ft
   Range: 2,607 mi (4,171 km)
   Service ceiling: 55,000 ft (17,000 m)
   Thrust/weight: 0.31

General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark Images

The General Dynamics F-111 “Aardvark” has played the roles of strategic bomber, reconnaissance, and electronic warfare. Classified as a medium-range interceptor and tactical strike aircraft, it was developed in the 1960s by the United States Air Force (USAF) but it’s been since retired by 1998. Only the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) operates of the F-111 as of today.

Click on the images below to see a larger view

General Dynamics F-111 in Flight

F-111 Cockpit at night

Group of F-111s in flight

F-111 drops its payload

F-111 prepares for battle

F-111 high over the clouds

F-111 Nose Cone View

F-111 taking off

F-111 performing a fuel dump and burn maneuver

F-111 high speed fly by

B-2 Spirit: A Multi-Role Bomber

The B-2 Spirit is a manned American bomber that is designed to deliver both conventional and nuclear arms. The aircraft’s large payload capability and high aerodynamic efficiency gives it major advantages over other existing bombers. One B-2 aircraft has the ability to carry up to 20 tons of arsenal and can deliver bombs to enemy targets under any weather conditions. Its low observable technologies; in particular, give the B-2 more freedom at higher altitudes. This increases the aircraft’s range, which is approximately 6,000 nautical miles unrefueled.

Because it is not easily detected, the bomber is able to penetrate enemy defenses, locating even those targets that are heavily defended. Also known as the Stealth Bomber, the B-2′s reduced infrared, acoustic, electromagnetic, visual and radar signatures make it difficult for even some of the most sophisticated defensive systems to detect, track and engage the aircraft. The cost of a single B-2 Spirit aircraft is approximately $1,157 billion. The average price tag per aircraft exceeds well over $2 billion US dollars when including the total costs for development, testing and engineering.

The unusual shape of the B-2 Spirit flying wing bomber uniquely characterizes the fourth generation of stealth aircraft. Measuring 69 feet in length, the B-2 has a wingspan of 172 feet. Unlike the B-1B and B-52, the B-2 has only a crew of two pilots and is automated so that one crewmember can sleep while the other monitors the aircraft. As a rule, the B-2 can travel as many as 10,000 miles with just one refueling. The aircraft was designed to deploy both gravity nuclear and conventional weapons. Some of the aircraft’s missions have lasted for more than 30 hours.

Northrop Grumman is the primary contractor responsible for developing and building the B-2 Spirit. Boeing, General Electric Aircraft Engine Group, Vought Aircraft Industries and Hughes Radar Systems also were part of the team contributing to the B-2′s design and operating capabilities. Boeing initially provided the aircraft’s outboard wing and aft-center sections, landing gear, fuel systems and weapons-delivery system. Four General Electric G-118 GE-100 turbofan engines power the B-2, which is fitted with two separate weapons bays, located in the center of the aircraft. The bomber’s ability to carry a variety of different weapons and munitions enable the aircraft to attack as many as four different kinds of targets during a single flight mission.

The original B-2 fleet included 21 aircraft. In February 2008 a B-2 crashed shortly after takeoff from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, resulting in the loss of one of the aircrafts. Although the Spirit of Kansas was totally destroyed, the two-man crew ejected and survived the crash. Today 20 B-2 stealth bombers operate as part of the U.S. Air Force. Nineteen of the aircraft are based at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri. The remaining B-2 is assigned to flight-testing at Edwards Air Force Base in California. Northrop Grumman continues to work with the Air Force to improve the B-2′s performance and upgrade software and weapon systems.

Although the B-2 Spirit was originally developed in the 1970s to sneak into Soviet airspace to drop nuclear missiles, the aircraft did not make its maiden flight until July 1989. It was nearly 10 years later before the B-2, with its first strike capability, was finally put into operation. Recognized for its high subsonic speeds, long flight range and ability to elude radar-guided air defenses, the B-2 Spirit was first deployed in combat operations in the spring of 1999 during Operation Allied Force. At that time the aircraft flew nonstop from its home base in Missouri to strike Serbian targets in Kosovo, Bosnia. Since then B-2 bombers have flown missions during Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. During Operation Enduring Freedom, the B-2 flew one of its longest missions when it was deployed from Whiteman Air Force Base to Afghanistan and back. The aircraft can reach a top speed of 1,333 mph.

Primary function: Multi-role heavy bomber
Contractor: Northrop Grumman Corp. and Contractor Team: Boeing Military Airplanes
Co., Hughes Radar Systems Group, General Electric Aircraft Engine Group and
Vought Aircraft Industries, Inc.
Power Plant: Four General Electric F118-GE-100 engines
Thrust: 17,300 pounds each engine
Wingspan: 172 feet (52.12 meters)
Length: 69 feet (20.9 meters)
Height: 17 feet (5.1 meters
Weight: 160,000 pounds (72,575 kilograms)
Maximum Takeoff Weight: 336,500 pounds (152,634 kilograms)
Fuel Capacity: 167,000 pounds (75750 kilograms)
Payload: 40,000 pounds (18,144 kilograms)
Speed: High subsonic
Range: Intercontinental
Ceiling: 50,000 feet (15,240 meters)
Armament: Conventional or nuclear weapons
Crew: Two pilots
Unit cost: Approximately $1.157 billion (fiscal 98 constant dollars)
Initial operating capability: April 1997
Inventory: Active force: 20 (1 test); ANG: 0; Reserve: 0

References:

http://www.fas.org/programs/ssp/man/uswpns/air/bombers/b2.html

Federation of American Scientists: B-2 Spirit

http://www.as.northropgrumman.com/products/b2spirit/index.html

Northrop Grumman: B-2 Spirit Bomber

http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/systems/b-2.htm

GlobalSecurity.com: B-2 Spirit

http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/military/b2bomber/index.html

Boeing: Overview B-2 Spirit

http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/military/b2bomber/index.html

airforce-technology.com: B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber, USA

http://www.af.mil/information/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=82

U.S. Air Force: B-2 Spirit

Boeing B-52 Stratofortress Images

The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is a jet-powered strategic bomber operated by the USAF. The bomber was designed and built by Boeing to address their need for a subsonic bomber aircraft.

Click on the images below to see a larger view

Boeing B-52 Stratofortress

B-52 Stratofortress over the desert

Boeing B-52 in flight

B-52 dropping a payload of bombs over Vietnam

Boeing B-52 Refueling

B-52 Weapons Display

The Dreadnaught No. 1

Aviation was in its infancy when the Great War began in August 1914. Still, many historians point towards the ‘War to End All Wars’ as the single, most important event in the transformation of the aircraft from a novelty to a much sough out commodity. No one will look at aviation the same way after 1914. That’s because the antagonist on this cataclysmic period utilized the airplane as a pure tool of war, rather than for communication or reconnaissance duties as it was customary during the first years of the twentieth century.

By the outbreak of hostilities, all combatants had an air force of some sort. The Germans had the biggest force with about 250 aircraft on inventory. The French, although outnumbered 3 to 2 in airplanes by the Germans, had a much greater understanding of aviation tactics. A base that would serve them well as its country became the main battlefront throughout the four year struggle. Farther behind the Germans and French were the British. The Royal Flying Corps, created in 1912; two years after France had done the same, could only field 60 airframes by July 1914. For the first two years of the war, Great Britain depended heavily on French engines and airframes. However, with its much larger industrial base, the island nation quickly caught and surpassed, both the Germans and French in aircraft output. On the other side of Europe, Russia was in possession of more planes than the British and French combined. They also had a better command structure than the French. But the confusing variety of types made maintenance of their aircraft difficult. Meanwhile, the chief culprit of instigating the war, Austria-Hungary, had only a tiny force by comparison.

In the later part of the nineteen century, in the vast territory controlled by the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungry, many aviation pioneers started developing and testing indigenous flying platforms. In the Czechoslovakia part of the empire, some aircraft inventors like Jan Kaspar began gaining a reputation for excellence in designs and development. Many aspiring pioneers became fixated with Kaspar’s achievements. One of those people who felt in love with Kaspar’s blue prints was Jan Stastik. The life of this remarkable, yet, less know aviation trailblazer is one of the most mysterious ones. The holes and hiatuses in his curriculum vitae are one of history’s greatest travesties.

The bits and pieces of what is known are tantalizing. What is certainly accepted is that his public life started in the spring of 1911, when he applied as a student pilot in Kaspar’s flying school at Pardubitze. After this period, little information is available, but it is safe to assume that Stastik was fulltime alum at the Technical University in Prague. By 1912, he introduced to the public his first aircraft model mockup in front of a jam packed crowd at the Prague Car Exhibition. He called the biplane on display at the exhibition that day Bomber Project Number One or Dreadnought No.1. According to the October 30th, 1914 issue of Flight, a prestigious British aviation magazine, Stastik’s biplane bomber mockup has several similarities in design with that of Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky’s famous Ilya Moroumetz heavy bomber, prompting many to conclude this was a copycat. Little do they know that the entrepreneur has secretly commenced work on his dream plane almost two years before the great Russian inventor.

In 1913, the Stastik began full work on his concept. The hard part of transforming a design mockup to a full size aircraft was a daunting task. One that required time and money. Time he had but money was in short supply. It was at that time that he turned to fellow countrymen Horak and Vonka to sponsor the project. The banking duo, famous for establishing several financing regulations in Imperial Austria, gave Stastik the important amount of 130,000 koruny (crowns). With money in tow, a year later, Stastik was able to present its semi-completed aircraft to an impressed gathering at the Prague Car Exhibition. In May, with the initial funds dwindling, he managed to finish the installation of the wing fittings and power plant. The final pieces needed before the aircraft could take to the air. By early June, and with his beloved bomber completed, Stastik began to plan for the initial flight test phase. At the time of his completion, Dreadnought No.1 was the Danube Monarchy’s first operational-capable bomber.

The Dreadnought was a remarkable flying machine for its time. It was a three strutted biplane design, built from wood coverings and fiber. It was powered by two Gnome rotary engines capable of generating up to 100 horse power per unit. The power plants were placed at the front and rear sections of the fuselage. Each of them drove a two-bladed airscrew, rotating in opposite directions. Originally, the front faced Gnome engine got a cover hood. But it was soon removed due to problems associated with the cooling of the motor. The rear engine was never housed. The upper wing structure of the airplane was fitted with two sets of ailerons for additional control and had a span of 18 meters. The lower wing area was shorter by a couple of meters.

The tailplane was assembled in two frames meeting at the ruder post that carried one rudder and one elevator which was built in a T-configuration. Below the tailplane sat a tailskid. The main undercarriage was completed with another carriage that was mounted under the cockpit and used two metal wheels without rubber tires. These metal wheels had S-shaped spokes that served as additional suspension for the airplane. On the air frame, fitted in a compact cabin, sat the two man crew. Behind the pilot and co-pilot, was an intriguing apparatus for mounting the bomb load. The mechanism looked like a revolver drum. A remarkable close looking system was used by the United State’s B-1A Lancer bomber for the deployment of cruise missiles in the early 1980s. The handling of the system was performed by lever controls and a special indicator that noticed the number of bombs attached to the barrel.

Next to the bomb-barrel were the fuel tanks. The empty weight of this twin-engine plane was 750kg. It soared to 1,200kg when fully fitted. Stastik planned to enhance that capacity two-fold, to around 2,000kg. Top operational speed for the bomber was estimated at 150 to 160 kmh, with a maximum flight endurance time of nearly six hours. By the middle of the summer of 1914, the massive Dreadnought began its flight test phase at Pardubitze. A year and a half later, the biplane finally joined the K.U.K. Fligerarsenal, the technical test center for the fledgling Luftschifferabteilung, the forerunner of the K.U.K Luftfahrtruppen (Austro-Hungarian air force), at Fischamend, downriver from the imperial capital of Vienna. From there, the aircraft will never emerge.

During the initial test flight, the aircraft began to gather speed for the takeoff before the front carriage broke, propelling the plane to a somersault crash. As the pilot emerged from the crash site, he managed to see what remained of the bomber catching fire. The end came quickly as ground crews were ill prepared to extinguish the fire. After the debris was removed, Stastik was contacted to do a follow-up project. But this never made it out of the discussion table. In an unfortunate side bar, the end of Dreadnought No.1 also signaled the end of Stastik’s aviation career, as he and his remarkable plane, faded away in the fog of history.

No longer an Island: Britain and the Wright Brothers, 1902-109, Stanford Press University, 1984
The R.F.C. in the War, Flight Magazine No.6, 1914
Jane’s Fighting Aircraft of World War I, Random House, 2001
Bombers and X-planes, from 1901 to 1915, Carson Palmer, Rodger Press Books 1971

An article by Raul Colon: rcolonfrias@yahoo.com

HIII

Project Tom-Tom

Project Tom-Tom was originated by the United States Air Force’s Strategic Air Command as a way to provide its long range heavy bomber fleets with a fighter umbrella by towing them on semi-fixed wing links.

The concept of the MX-1018, the programs official call-sign, was devised from the FICO (Fighter Conveyor) system. A program initiated by the US Air Force in the 1950s to test the feasibility of utilizing a B-29 Superfortress bomber as a ‘mother ship’ from which a pair of Republic’s F-84 Thunderflash fighters would operate. FICO became fully operational in 1955, but only a handful of missions were ever flown.

In the Tom-Tom structure, the parasite fighter plane would shut down its engine to save fuel while it’s been towed. It will restart and detach from the moving airplane to intercept enemy aircrafts, rejoining the bomber once it has accomplished the mission.

For this configuration, two F-84Ds (versions 48-641 and 48-661) from the BASUT based at Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio were especially modified to carry a lance-like structure on their port and starboard wingtips platforms. The re-configurated aircraft was given the EF-84D designation.

For the initial test phase of the concept, a modified EB-29A-60-BN, tail number 44-62093 was selected. The bomber was fitted with booms installed at the wing tips onto which the F-84D’s lance would be attached to just before being withdrawn into the mother ship’s wing to lock both planes together.

The first hook-on trials were carried out on July 21st 1950 in the skies above Long Island, New York. With Major Clarence Anderson flying the starboard and Major John Davis running the port plane, the initial connecting test proved a resounding success. In the beginning both F-84Ds experienced heavy turbulence in their pitch and yaw while in the process of hooking into the booms, but after that the ride proved to be more smothering than many anticipated. Re-engaging the Thunderflash’s engine was also relatively easy and after several months, the program was ready for it next phase.

The morning of September 15th 1952 marked another milestone in the project’s life when the Thunderfalsh made their first, long lasting link up with the bomber. That was followed by another 43 additional connections. After a brief, inactive period, testing resumed in full swing on March 1953.

A month later, tragedy hit the program. On April 24th during an engaging maneuver, Major Davis’s F-84D lost surface control, rolling upside down hitting the upper wing structure of the EB-29A. Both aircrafts plummeted into the Peconic Bay with the lost of Davis and the entire bomber crew.

The news of the accident hit the program hard, but it did not end it. After several months, the program was back on track. Now two new RF-84s, this time an F variant (tail number 51-1848 and 51-1849) would attempt to connect, but not with a now obsolete B-29, but with the new and massive B-36 Peacemaker. JRB-36F, serial number 49-2707, was fitted with a new link up platform that would cope with the small fighter’s swept wing arrangement. The system consisted on a hinged arm on the ‘mother ship’ that trapped the fighter in a jaw-type position on its wingtip structure. The first test connection was made on April 24th 1956. With Beryl A. Eickson at the controls, the improved Thunderfalsh performed several quick, connection-detachment operations.

Almost 50 hookups were made during a five month period. Then, on the afternoon of September 26th, tragedy almost hit the program again. While engaging the connecting mechanisms, Eickson’s plane began to rift out of control, very much like Davis’ did three years before. Fortunately for both aircrafts, he was able to detach in time and both airplanes were able to land at Carswell AFB in Texas.

Although only minor damages were reported, most of them on the RF-84F, the AF decided to cancel the entire program soon after the incident.

Concept Aircraft: Prototypes, X-Planes and Experimental Aircraft, Editor Jim Winchester, Thunder Bay Press 2005
Air Power: The men, machines, and ideas that revolutionized war, from Kitty Hawk to Gulf War II, Stephen Budiansky, Penguin Books 2004
Air Power in the Age of Total War, John Buckley, Indiana University Press 1999

An article by Raul Colon: rcolonfrias@yahoo.com

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