Aviation History 2013-09

BATTERED B-17 CREW’S MIRACULOUS SURVIVAL STORY

SCREAMING

STUKAS The Luftwaffe’s vertical dive bomber terrorized troops and tank crews from Poland to Russia

WAVE-TOP WAR IN A MARTIN MARAUDER

FOKKER TRIPLANE AND SOPWITH CAMEL: OVERRATED IMMORTALS?

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SEPTEMBER 2013

CANBERRA: AMERICA’S BRITISH JET BOMBER

HistoryNet.com

BIRTH OF THE BELL 47 BY TRIAL AND ERROR

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A Fokker Dr.I and Sopwith Camel—two legendary World War I opponents— face off in a head-to-head duel during the Warbirds Over Wanaka airshow in New Zealand (story, P. 44).

FEATURES 24

Screaming Birds of Prey

DEPARTMENTS 44

By Stephan Wilkinson The Germans didn’t invent dive bombing, but with the Ju-87 Stuka they refined the tactic to a degree never before seen.

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Short-Lived Glory

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By Rich Johns Matthies Tragedy struck the Canberra/B-57 bomber program during a December 1951 evaluation flight.

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The Gardenville Project

By Bruce Buckfelder The iconic bubble-canopy Bell 47 helicopter was developed by trial and error in a converted car dealership.

By O’Brien Browne Despite their lofty reputations, the Sopwith Camel and Fokker Dr.I triplane were nearly as dangerous to their pilots as they were to their opponents.

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Mailbag Briefing Extremes

Wave-Top Marauder

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Restored

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Weider Reader Aviators By Philip Handleman

Deadly Duo

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By Evan Hadingham

Flying low-level missions over the Adriatic was risky business for British Marauder crews. 56

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22 60 65 66

Cover: A Junkers Ju-87B Stuka unloads its ordnance in 1940. Despite its antiquated design, the Luftwaffe’s “little bomber” earned a fearsome reputation in World War II (story, P. 24).

By Andy Saunders Two D.H.9s discovered in India are brought back to life.

Tuskegee Airman Harry Stewart earned a DFC in his first dogfight.

Bertie Lee’s Final Flight

By David F. Crosby Against all odds, the battered Flying Fortress limped back to base on two engines after a brutal mission.

By John J. Geoghegan The military wasn’t interested in Sam Perkins’ Man-Carrying Kite.

Letter From Aviation History Reviews Flight Test By Jon Guttman Aero Poster

Cover: Art Resource/BPK/Hans Schaller Above: Ross Land/Getty Images

SEPTEMBER 2013 AV I AT I O N H I S T O RY 3

SEPTEMBER 2013

ONTHE WEB

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Discussion: The Gardenville Project (story, P. 38) showed that a small team of dedicated employees could use trial and error to develop a groundbreaking aircraft, in this case the Bell Model 47 helicopter. Do you think modern aircraft designers might use the same technique, and if so, in what context? Aviation History Magazine is on Facebook

This Sikorsky H-5, used in the Korean War, is equipped with rescue or medevac pods.

Rise of the Helicopter First employed for search and rescue, choppers had become an essential battlefield tool by the end of the Korean War. 207-Mission Marauder The B-26B Flak-Bait survived more raids than any other bomber during World War II. Triplane Fighter Craze In 1917 the fighter design world was dominated by triplanes, most famously FokkerÕs flawed Dr.I.

Vol. 24, No. 1 EDITOR

September 2013

Carl von Wodtke Nan Siegel Mark Drefs Jon Guttman Martin A. Bartels Guy Aceto

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Associate Editor Art Director Research Director Senior Editor Photo Editor

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MAILBAG Dambusters Revisited

I really enjoyed the Dambusters article in the July issue. As a matter of fact, just about all the articles were great. I was stationed in Germany when the movie based on the raid came out [The Dam Busters, 1955]. When you have a “little” airplane to play with and some detailed maps to find your way, it makes sense to go have a look. I first went to the Möhne Dam, and you could see the obvious patch from the breaching done by the Lancs. It only seemed right to make a pass in the manner of the Dambusters. This dam was quite easy to approach, as the lake was wide and the hills were not that imposing to drop down over. Easy, of course, as no one was shooting at me. The Eder was another story. Talk about a winding approach to the dam! Wow, it scared me, and I was flying in broad daylight. My little B-57 had to be more maneuverable than a Lancaster, and I could fly considerably slower than the required speeds mentioned in the article. How they managed that one at night is miraculous. I don’t remember the Sorpe as being difficult to approach, but since my petrol was getting a bit low, I figured I would pretty much ignore that one and get back before I turned into a glider. A very good article, and it sure jarred old memories. That was nearly 60 years ago, but it was impressive. Attached [above] is a picture of me with my little B-57 and my crew chief, Airman Lau—a great kid. Bob Webster Hardin, Ky.

Monster Landing

I enjoyed Stephan Wilkinson’s article, “Monster Singles,” in your July 2013 issue. However, the Tupolev ANT-25 that was flown nonstop from Moscow to the United States landed in Vancouver, Wash., rather than Portland, Ore., as stated in the article. Vancouver has an avenue named in honor of the pilot, Valery Chkalov. The site of the landing, Pearson Field, is the oldest operating airfield in the United States, beginning its career when Lincoln Beachey landed a dirigible at Vancouver Barracks in 1905. The first airplane landed there in 1911. Doug Myers Vancouver, Wash. Thanks for the correction. The Russian crew evidently intended to land at Portland, but when they saw the crowds there, they decided to land at the military airfield in Vancouver instead. –Ed.

Beech Test Pilot

I was pleased to see the mention of Robert S. Fogg as the test pilot of the A17FS in 1934

[“Extremes,” July]. I’ve been compiling information about Fogg, and I knew from his own notes that he was a test pilot for Beech at that time, but didn’t know for sure what he was testing. He flew the A17F as a corporate pilot for Goodall Mills in Sanford, Maine, during the summer of 1934 on trips to the Midwest, thus his expertise in that type of aircraft. I bet those company executives made an impression when they landed in that airplane! Readers might be interested in seeing an image of NC12583 [above], which was sold by Goodall to Howard Hughes in 1935, made a couple of unsuccessful attempts in the Bendix Race and was apparently de-

stroyed by fire in 1944. This picture comes from Fogg’s scrapbooks, which are preserved at Dartmouth College. Fogg served in both World War I and World War II; started the Concord, N.H., airport with a Curtiss Canuck in 1920; flew seaplanes on Lake Winnipesaukee during the 1920s and ’30s; and also had some adventures flying to Newfoundland to cover the arrival of several transatlantic flights, including the Junkers Bremen in 1928. Jane Rice author of Bob Fogg and New Hampshire’s Golden Age of Aviation

Tiny Tim Rockets

The references to the Tiny Tim rockets in “Aviators” [May 2013] brought back some fond memories from my time in naval aviation during the Korean conflict. In 1953 Air Group 10 went aboard USS Franklin D. Roosevelt for a Mediterranean cruise. One of our ports of call was Beirut, Lebanon, and on October 23 we left port after a group of dignitaries came aboard. We then put out to sea for some goodwill “show and tell,” part of which was an airshow. After some of the planes took off, the dignitaries were lined up in chairs across the aft portion of the flight deck. The ship then towed a “sled” on a cable so the pilots could use it for target practice with their guns, bombs and rockets. Some of the attack planes were carrying large Tiny Tim rockets left over from World War II. Because of their size and powerful rocket motors, they were dropped from the planes, after which the rocket motors were supposed to ignite. What was humorous to those of us who were not high naval officials was the fact that so many of the Tiny Tim rockets never did ignite; they just dropped into the sea. I am sure the brass were quite embarrassed by those almost 10-year-old rockets that turned out to be duds before the dignitaries! Bruce K. Alcorn Warsaw, Ind. Send letters to Aviation History Editor, Weider History Group, 19300 Promenade Drive, Leesburg, VA 20176-6500, or e-mail to [email protected]. SEPTEMBER 2013 AV I AT I O N H I S T O RY 7

BRIEFING

PHOTOS: SOLAR IMPULSE

Coast to Coast on Sun Power

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magine flying 900 miles at about 40 mph in a cockpit that has half the interior space of a Mini Cooper, with wings the span of a commercial jet providing lift. Now remove the gas tank, add 12,000 photovoltaic cells and a tail like a dragonfly’s, and you have a rough idea of what it’s like to fly Solar Impulse, the sun-powered Top: Solar Impulse soars over the Golden Gate Bridge during tests airplane making its way across the United States this summer. The inconveniences in achieving the seemingly impossible never in April 2013. Above: The solar plane in Phoenix, Ariz., on May 22. really bothered Swiss co-creators and pilots Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg, who first generated attention with test flights in While the team was preparing for the flight’s third leg in late May, Europe and North Africa in 2011 and 2012. Their latest goal—to tra- from Dallas/Fort Worth to Lambert Airport in St. Louis, severe storms verse the U.S. in a craft that requires no fossil fuels and can fly both damaged several hangars, including the one for which the plane was by day and by night—is as much a social movement as it is a practi- destined. The Solar Impulse ground team deployed a specially decal application of solar technologies. The U.S. effort began in San signed inflatable hangar in St. Louis, unique for its unusual dimenFrancisco in early May with the intent of sions (289 feet by 105 feet) and for the fact both showcasing green technology and prothat it is translucent, allowing the plane’s moting innovation. The journey has capsolar cells to recharge while docked. tured popular imagination, as the pilots Solar Impulse was expected to complete carry a USB drive containing the names of the journey’s final legs, from St. Louis to “The work of the individual more than 20,000 “virtual passengers” on Washington/Dulles, and then Dulles to still remains the spark that each flight. Hundreds of spectators witness New York’s JFK airport, by early July. The moves mankind ahead even each takeoff and landing, and view the airteam has plans to circumnavigate the globe more than teamwork.” craft during layovers. in 2015. For more information, visit solar The Solar Impulse team has achieved a impulse.com. –Igor Sikorsky Martin A. Bartels number of firsts, not all of them in the air.

Air Quotes

8 AV I AT I O N H I S T O RY SEPTEMBER 2013

ʻFlying Pencilʼ Recovery Stalls

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GARETH FULLER/AP WIRE

REX FEATURES VIA AP IMAGES

n August 26, 1940, German Dornier Do-17Zs of Kampfgeschwader 3 on a mission to bomb British airfields at Hornchurch and Debden were attacked by Boulton-Paul Defiants of No. 264 Squadron, Royal Air Force. Escorting Messerschmitt Me-109Es came to their aid, but one bomber from the wing’s 7th Squadron was hit in both engines. Its pilot, Sergeant Willi Effmert, veered out over the Kentish coast, apparently in hopes of either reaching France or being picked up by German rescue craft. The bomber had only gone three miles out, however, when it was forced to ditch. Effmert and Hermann Ritzel were taken prisoner; the other crewmen, radioman Helmut Reinhardt and bombardier Heinz Kuhn, were dead. After it sank, the “Flying Pencil” vanished beneath the shifting sands while the Battle of Britain raged on. In 2008 a survey team for the RAF Museum discovered exposed evidence of an airplane under Goodwin Sands, which was subsequently confirmed by divers and sonar scans to be the Do-17. Since then, the National Heritage Memorial Fund has raised £345,000 and engaged a salvage company, Seatech, to recover it. Although the bomber is not in one piece, there is enough of it—including still-inflated rubber tires—to constitute the most intact example of a Do-17 in existence, provided it can be raised from the seabed 50 feet below. But this is problematic, given the corrosive effect saltwater has on aluminum, and even if the airplane is recovered, preserving it presents a challenge. The RAF Museum believes it can counter the corrosion by using a citric acid spray. If it’s raised and preserved, the Dornier will be the only artifact of its kind, and the oldest Battle of Britain veteran in existence. On May 3, Seatech began constructing a framework of aluminum struts around the Dornier, by which it hoped to raise the extremely fragile wreck from the Channel floor. The following day the company reported its first setback, as high winds and waves delayed underwater operations. A further problem arose when divers found the plane was resting on a chalk bed rather than sand, dashing hopes of slipping the framework under it. On June 2, RAF Museum director Peter Dye an-

Above: A sonar image of the Do-17Z beneath the English Channel at Goodwin Sands. Left: Salvage equipment stands at the ready on a barge above the wreckage on June 3.

nounced, “We have adapted the lifting frame design to minimize the loads on the airframe during the lift while allowing the recovery to occur within the limited time remaining.” This involved fastening shackles to contact points on the Do-17 and hoisting it via a crane on a barge, after which it would be brought to Ramsgate Harbour, then to the conservation center at Cosford, Shropshire. During an initial attempt, however, high winds caused the framework to fly around so dangerously that the barge was sent back to port. The wind frustrated efforts the next day as well, but Ian Thirsk of the RAF Museum stated that the ongoing effort had gone “too far to give up at this stage,” and insisted, “We will get this project sorted out.” Jon Guttman

JIM HAWKINS

MYSTERY SHIP

Can you identify this golden age amphibian? Turn to P. 12 for the answer. SEPTEMBER 2013 AV I AT I O N H I S T O RY 9

BRIEFING

E

New Drone Designs Take Wing U.S. NAVY/NORTHROP GRUMMAN

ven as debate continues over the ethical use of drones in foreign and domestic airspace, two new drone designs are nearing full airworthiness—and pushing the boundaries of their respective technologies. Boeing’s Phantom Eye boasts, among other features, a liquid-hydrogen-powered internal combustion propulsion system. The Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton carries highly advanced surveillance and communications equipment. Each offers long-range, high-altitude reconnaissance support and long-term flight capability. Both feature relatively long wingspans, and neither is designed to carry weaponry. The Boeing Phantom Eye propulsion system went through its second flight test in February, when the aircraft achieved an altitude of 8,000 feet and flew for more than an hour without incident. The drone is propelled by two 2.3-liter engines (similar to those used in a Ford Fusion automobile), modified to run on hydrogen. “The only byproduct of the engine is water, so it’s also an environmentally responsible aircraft,” program manager Andrew Mallow said. (In its first test in 2012, the prototype’s landing gear was damaged when it dug into the lakebed upon landing at Edwards Air Force Base; the gear was redesigned for the latest test).

Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton

BOEING

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Boeing Phantom Eye Wingspan: 150 ft. • Gross takeoff weight: 9,800 lbs. Cruise speed: 172 mph • Maximum speed: 230 mph Altitude: 65,000 ft. • Engines: Two 150-hp 2.3L Endurance: 4 days at 65,000 ft. ¥ Operational: 2014/2015

With an initial payload of 450 pounds, and weighing in at about 9,800 pounds, the Phantom Eye is designed primarily for surveillance and can operate at 65,000 feet for up to four days. There are plans for a larger version, featuring a 250-foot wingspan, which will reportedly stay aloft for up to 10 days. According to Boeing, it would take only three such drones to cover operations across the globe. The Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton is designed for naval air operations and carries sophisticated 360-degree sensors that allow it to identify different types of ships and other targets. The drone is intended to play a major role in the military’s surveillance strategy, particularly in the areas surrounding the South China Sea, according to a statement by Rear Adm. Sean Buck, commander of the Navy Patrol and Reconnaissance Group. “Triton will bring an unprecedented ISR [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance] capability to the warfighter,” he said. The MQ-4C weighs about 16 tons and is powered by two RollsRoyce turbofans. The drone is designed to stay in the air for at least 24 hours at altitudes above 55,000 feet before it needs to be refueled. Tests will continue throughout the year, with operational capability anticipated by late 2015.

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ollowing up on deck-handling trials last winter, on May 14 Northrop Grumman’s X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System demonstrator made its first carrier-based catapult launch, from USS George H.W. Bush off Virginia’s coast. Vice Admiral David Buss, informally known as the U.S. Navy’s “Air Boss,” described it as a watershed event, anticipating that a future Air Boss will likely have a photo of the X-47B’s first catapult launch behind his or her desk—just as he himself today has a picture of Eugene Ely’s 1911 landing on USS Pennsylvania in his own office. Shore-based testing of the drone continues, meanwhile, with an arrested landing aboard a carrier anticipated in the coming weeks. 10 AV I AT I O N H I S T O RY SEPTEMBER 2013

U.S. NAVY/NORTHROP GRUMMAN

X-47B Launches From Carrier Northrop Grumman X-47B Wingspan: 62.1 ft. (extended), 30.9 ft. folded • Length: 38.2 ft. Height: 10.4 ft.• Empty weight: 14,000 lbs. Maximum takeoff weight: 44,567 lbs. Engine: Pratt & Whitney F100-220U turbofan Maximum speed: Subsonic ¥ Cruise speed: Mach 0.9 Range: 2,100 nautical mi. ¥ Altitude: 40,000 ft. Armament: 2 weapon bays for up to 4,500 lbs. of ordnance

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BRIEFING

MYSTERY SHIP ANSWER

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n May 1, the diminutive yet sleek missile dropped from beneath the wing of a B-52H and began accelerating. The X-51A WaveRider scramjet soon plunged into the A B-52H carries the X-51A. Pacific near Point Mugu, Calif., after a 240-second flight at Mach 5.1. That fourminute flight, reaching speeds of almost 4,000 mph (think New York to L.A. in about 39 minutes) set a record for airbreathing hypersonic flight. It was also notable for the scramjet technology and the surfboard-like design of the 4,000-pound aircraft. This marked the last planned test of the X-51A (three prior tests produced mixed results), said Boeing Phantom Works President Darryl Davis. Built under contract with the Air Force and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the program was designed to lay the groundwork for military and commercial applications.

U.S. AIR FORCE

WaveRider Goes Hypersonic

A versatile amphibian of the 1930s, the twin-engine, high-wing Douglas Dolphin was known for its reliability, flexibility and smooth handling. All Dolphins featured flying boat hulls, and most had tailwheel landing gear that was only partially retractable. Donald Douglas picked the wrong time to introduce his seaplane. At first called the Sinbad, it was offered to the civil market in 1930, just as the nation was succumbing to the Great Depression. Between 1930 and 1934, Douglas manufactured 59 Dolphins for civilian and military users. Despite the small number produced, there were 17 distinct models, some with different wings and wing areas, and at least five power plants: Two 300-hp Wright J-5C Whirlwinds or two 435-hp Wright R-975-3s were among the radial engines typically employed. Each Dolphin was handcrafted, and was a little different from the others. U.S.Army Air Corps Dolphin transports were designated Y1C-21, Y1C-26, C-26 and C-29, while the rescue model was the OA-4. The Navy and Coast Guard used RD, RD-1, RD-3 and RD-4 models. The only RD-2, delivered in 1932, was the administrative aircraft for Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau Jr. It was offered to the White House for presidential travel, but Franklin D. Roosevelt never flew in it. Coast Guard Dolphins were given individual names, such as Sirius and Adhara. Three crashed while performing their duties. Coast Guard aircraft transported dignitaries but also had a primary mission of search and rescue.After Pearl Harbor, four Coast Guard RD-4s carried out antisubmarine duties until the last was decommissioned in June 1943. The airplane in the P. 9 photo was the Coast Guard’s RD. Named Procyon, it was delivered on March 9, 1931, and retired on July 31, 1939.

Robert F. Dorr

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EXTREMES

By John J. Geoghegan

Man-Carrying Kite

S

amuel F. Perkins was only 27 in January 1911 when the Los Angeles Herald called him “the greatest authority in the world on man-carrying kites.” Eighteen months earlier nobody had ever heard of the newly minted MIT graduate. What happened during that year and a half to land Perkins on the front page of most every major American newspaper is a strange and unusual story. Right out of college, Perkins took a job working for Thomas C. Baldwin, the “father of the American dirigible,” who was touring the United States demonstrating his airship. Perkins may have signed on as Baldwin’s factotum, but he soon proved adept at saving the day. Whenever unruly winds prevented Baldwin from launching his airship, Perkins entertained the impatient crowds by flying his home-built, banner-draped kites until the weather improved. Though his kites were still unmanned at that point, he was gaining valuable experience in how to control them under various conditions. While he and Baldwin toured New England, Perkins had the opportunity to demonstrate his kite-flying skills to President William H. Taft. He didn’t get his big break, however, until September 1910 at the Harvard-Boston Aero Meet. Sponsored by Perkins’ alma mater, the aviation meet was the first of its kind on the East Coast. The Boston Globe even offered a $10,000 cash prize for the fastest flight from Atlantic, Mass., to Boston Light and back. Some 67,000 people turned out expecting to watch the still-new “aeroplane” streak across the sky. But the biggest spectacle that day, according to local newspaper accounts, was seeing Perkins lifted 200 feet off the ground by five huge man-carrying kites. Though the Globe claimed it was the first time an American had ever been carried aloft by a kite, history shows this was not actually 14 AV I AT I O N H I S T O RY SEPTEMBER 2013

the case. Nevertheless, it was by far the highest altitude an American had ever reached in a kite. Perkins’ fame soon spread. It didn’t hurt that he took as many newspaper reporters up with his Conyne-style box kites as were willing to go. It seems Perkins wasn’t just a capable inventor; he was a savvy publicist too. The Perkins ManCarrying Kite was made from a spruce frame covered in silk. After a lead Perkins demonstrates his innovative kite, and his patriotism. kite 18 to 20 feet in diameter was sent aloft, a train of three to six H.H. Clayton at the university’s Blue Hills smaller kites would follow. Once enough lift Meteorological Observatory that his interest had been generated, the aeronaut would take turned serious. After graduating from MIT, a seat in a swing-like contraption, similar to a Perkins set his sights on developing his own boatswain’s chair, and be winched into the sky. special breed of kite. Up to 10 men were required to reel PerHe was not the first to experiment with kins’ kite in or out, depending on wind con- man-carrying kites. In 1825 British schoolditions, with the kite line sometimes extend- teacher George Pocock used a 30-foot kite to ing as much as a mile into the sky. At first lift his daughter, Martha, 270 feet off the Perkins used manila rope as kite “string,” but ground. In 1902 American Charles Zimhe eventually switched to metal cable for merman employed a kite to send his wife Ida safety reasons. Subsequent versions of his in- 10 feet into the sky (which was probably vention were reportedly capable of lifting up more than enough for her). The first notable to 2,000 pounds. man-carrying kite flight in America not Flights, which generally lasted 90 minutes, involving a family member came in 1907, could obviously only be made when the wind when U.S. Army Lieutenant Thomas E. Selfwas blowing hard. Perkins reportedly pre- ridge was lifted to 150 feet, remaining at that ferred “gale conditions” for his demonstra- altitude for seven minutes. tions. But the biggest challenge was stability. For Perkins, 1910 proved to be a watershed The kites could veer out of control if their year. At a St. Louis aviation meet he set what line became too vertical, a problem he en- was then believed to be a world record when countered more than once. his man-carrying kite lifted him to 300 feet. Like many youngsters, Perkins had devel- By that time, he was regarded as America’s oped a healthy interest in kites at an early age. leading kite expert. As MIT’s class notes But it wasn’t until he apprenticed under stated: “Probably no 1909 man has been so Harvard professors A. Lawrence Rotch and much in the public eye as Sam Perkins. He is

ALL PHOTOS: BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY, LESLIE JONES COLLECTION, EXCEPT WHERE NOTED

Sam Perkins set many records with his new invention, but when he tried to sell the military on it, they told him to go fly a kite

come a buyer, however. As Perkins later explained, “Since no money was available, use by the Navy was left for future consideration.” Perkins was invited to demonstrate his invention at King George V’s coronation festivities later that year. Meanwhile, accidents continued to happen. At a Los Angeles event, he was at an altitude of 200 feet when a biplane severed his cable. Although three of his kites were destroyed, he again managed to use the remaining kites to parachute to safety. World War I brought renewed interest in kites, which would be used by Germany and France for scouting. Consequently, the U.S. Signal Corps ordered another round of tests, though it ultimately led nowhere. One problem was that man-carrying kites were easy targets on the battlefield, which didn’t endear them to their would-be operators. What’s more, improvements in airplanes and kite balloons soon rendered man-carrying kites obsolete, at least for observation purposes. Still, Perkins kept refining his kites, filing patent applications and undertaking demonstrations of his latest inventions. Though he couldn’t persuade the military to buy any of his man-carriers, his signal kites did meet with some success. When Lieutenant Rodgers attempted the first nonstop flight between San Francisco and Hawaii in 1925, he carried a Perkins signal kite with him (he had opportunity to use it after his flying boat ran out of fuel and landed in the Pacific). When the Army sent five amphibious biplanes on a goodwill tour of Latin America the next year (see story, July 2013 issue), each plane carried a Perkins kite. And Rear Adm. Richard Byrd took three of the kites with him on his first Antarctic expedition, in 1928. Perkins largely disappears from the historical record after 1930. By the time he died at age 72 near Dorchester, Mass., on October 7, 1956, his many accomplishments had all but been forgotten—likely the reason why the Globe’s obituary mistakenly referred to him as a “balloon expert.” Perkins had indeed spent years flying balloons, but anyone who knew him could have explained that kites were his first love. Though the U.S. military took a pass on the Man-Carrying Kite, Perkins’ legacy still thrives today. The next time you visit a busy beach resort, you’ll probably see tourists flying in a modern version of his invention: a parasail pulled by a motorboat. It’s a sight that would have made Sam Perkins proud.


COURTESY OF JOHN J. GEOGHEGAN

a high flyer of the first order.” The Globe, praising his knowledge of upper air currents, also ranked Perkins as “one of the foremost experts in aeronautics in America.” But not everything went smoothly during all his demonstrations. In November 1910, Perkins had what one newspaper described as a “slight mishap” when the rope connecting his kites snapped, causing him to fall 75 feet. He managed to check his fall along the way, avoiding serious injury, but it was the first of many warnings. Less than two weeks later Perkins used 12 kites to lift Helene Mallard to 40 feet, presumably to prove that his invention was safe. But the inventor suffered another mishap in Kansas City not long after that. During a demonstration, a cyclone suddenly swept down, collapsing his lead kite. The trailer kites became snagged on a building before disappearing somewhere over Missouri, and Perkins plummeted 150 feet to the ground. The parachute effect of the remaining kites checked his fall, but it was another signal that he was in a dangerous profession. Perkins was apparently fond of promising newspapers that his kites could “do stunts never seen before.” As a result, he racked up a number of firsts, including setting a 385-foot altitude record, sending a wireless message while aloft and employing his kites for aerial observation, photography, sharp-shooting and even for target practice by airplanes. He paid his bills by selling advertising space on the kites, and he also received a cut of the gate proceeds from aviation meets. His primary goal, however, was interesting the military in his device. As Perkins announced to the Los Angeles Herald,“Man-carrying kites should prove valuable in war for reconnoitering.” His first opportunity came in January 1911, when he lifted a U.S. Army Signal Corps officer over Los Angeles. Two weeks later he flew members of the 30th Infantry at the Tanforan Air Meet near San Francisco. After Rear Adm. Charles Pond witnessed a demonstration, he asked the inventor if an observer could be sent over water. Ever eager to seize an opportunity, Perkins answered yes. The next month Lieutenant John Rodgers, who had earlier been designated as one of the U.S. Navy’s first aviators, was strapped to a kite and lofted 400 feet above the deck of the armored cruiser Pennsylvania as it steamed toward San Diego. The Navy would not be-

A drawing of one of Perkins’ kites, as submitted to the U.S. Patent Office. This particular design was approved in May 1917.

A photo sequence shows Perkins’ kite being evaluated by the U.S. Army Signal Corps at Fort Devens, circa 1918. Once the lead kite is aloft, followed by a train of smaller kites, a photographer is tied into a seat for the flight. SEPTEMBER 2013 AV I AT I O N H I S T O RY 15

RESTORED

By Andy Saunders

Treasure From the Raj Discovered in an elephant barn in India, two World War I bombers have been brought back to life in the UK

16 AV I AT I O N H I S T O RY SEPTEMBER 2013

ALL PHOTOS: ZOE AND ROBYN SAUNDERS

I

n the 21st century, finding a long-undiscovered World War I airplane in a barn is more than a rarity; it’s a near impossibility. Thus when UK-based aircraft restorer Guy Black heard about two 1918 Airco D.H.9 bombers hidden in a Rajasthan elephant stable, he just had to investigate. In 1999 he set out for India to see for himself if the rumor was true. Once Black examined the disassembled aircraft, he determined that they were eminently suitable for restoration. While the D.H.9 was hardly in the league of the Sopwith Camel or Bristol Fighter, it nonetheless made a significant contribution to WWI. Until recently only four of the bombers were known to survive. The D.H.9 represented a gap in the aviation collections of major UK museums, and there were certainly no flying examples anywhere in the world. It’s likely the last time one of them flew was in the early 1920s, when the D.H.9 was withdrawn from RAF service. But how did any of these rare birds end up in India? At war’s end, the RAF had some 20,000 surplus airplanes, many of them factoryfresh. Many were scrapped or burned, but some were shipped to Britain’s overseas dominions and territories, in a scheme called “The Imperial Gift.” The goal was to either establish individual air forces in those regions or equip them with airplanes suited to civilian use. At least three D.H.9s went to the Raj of Bikaner. Without pilots to fly them or the means to maintain them, however, they ended up in storage in the Red Fort at Bikaner. Their engines were later removed, allegedly to provide power for an irrigation system. It was immediately clear to Black that the restoration challenges would be enormous. First, there were no engines. Second, there were no longer any drawings extant for the D.H.9. And third, there was the problem of sourcing authentic instruments, fixtures, fittings and materials. Nonetheless, Black purchased the fragile hulks and shipped them

Guy Black sits in the cockpit of D.H.9 D5649 at the Imperial War Museum in Duxford.

back to Britain in 2000. The Imperial War Museum, recognizing the value of having a D.H.9 in its collection, commissioned Black’s UK-based Retrotec company to rebuild one of the airplanes for static display. Meanwhile, Retrotec committed to returning the other bomber to airworthy status. It helped that the IWM’s reserve collection included the correct Siddeley Puma engine, along with a propeller. Drawings still had to be produced, though, since the termite-eaten timbers of the planes were largely beyond saving. Fortunately one of the airframes was complete, providing the basis for the schematics. Every part was photographed, measured and drawn. Even though the IWM aircraft would not have to meet airworthiness standards, the museum wanted it to include as many original components as feasible. For the restorers, working on the static-display version provided a valuable learning curve in advance of the more exacting second project. One of the most significant challenges was finding a potentially airworthy engine. Black estimated that only eight examples of the correct power plant survived. After an extensive

search, he tracked down a 200-hp BHP engine at the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa. (The BHP powered the earliest D.H.9s before being replaced by the Puma.) Another lucky break came when he remembered that he had bought a sundry collection of WWI-era wing struts. Digging them out of storage, he found he had one complete set of D.H.9 struts. Next he discovered that the Smithsonian Institution had many drawings of the D.H.4, which shared numerous parts with the D.H.9. And so it went: Instruments and fittings were located at “aero-jumble” sales and on Internet auction sites; a tail skid came from the U.S., ammunition chutes from Australia and even a pair of exhaust manifolds from a scrap yard in Afghanistan. The restoration team enjoyed one notable advantage: Nobody else was looking for D.H.9 parts. The D.H.9 had not been a great success in its day, in part because there were reliability issues with the Siddeley and BHP engines. The airworthy D.H.9 has been fitted with the latter. Despite the reliability issues, Black is adamant on the matter of originality: “I have

a dislike of re-creations of early aeroplanes fitted with modern engines. What is the point? Surely, the whole idea of constructing a period machine is to relive the experience of our forebears—both in construction and its operation, and with all the inherent flying characteristics, both good and bad.” While he was stripping and rebuilding the BHP, Black made a surprising discovery with respect to one of its known faults: a tendency for the connecting rods to fail. He realized that the point of failure on the rods was exactly where the engine number had been crudely stamped into each one. Clearly, the stampings had weakened them at that point. Though it was an obvious flaw, it had never been discovered while the bomber was in service. Now, almost a century later, Black had new rods manufactured in higher-grade metal without the stamping. Thus the integrity of the engine’s design and originality was retained, albeit with 21st-century improvements for enhanced safety and reliability. Sadly, the Indian company charged with transporting the D.H.9s had chopped up the airframe and wings for transit. The wings had all been cut in half in order to fit them onto their trucks, which could not accommodate the specially made crates supplied for that purpose. This meant that any of the timbers that might have been salvageable for the Duxford display aircraft had been ruined, since they couldn’t be spliced back together. More damage was done when the wings, horizontal stabilizers and control surfaces were crammed together in packing cases, smashing ribs and other internal elements. What the crosscut sections revealed, however, was that many timbers were little more than shells, their interiors eaten away by termites. Time had also taken a toll on the fabric covering, but enough samples remained to facilitate study of its type, how it had been applied and even paint schemes. While there is a record of period color schemes, there were also variations, resulting in debate about the correct upper surface color for RFC and RAF aircraft. Known as PC 10 (Protective Covering Type 10), it was intended to be a dark brown made up of 250 parts yellow ochre to one part lamp black. The resulting shade varied with the addition of oils and cellulose, also depending upon the surface to which it was applied. In some cases there was considerable “color shift,” resulted in a dark green appearance. Paint samples from the

Bikaner aircraft indicated their original paint was more green than brown. The undersides were unbleached fabric. There were also questions about the roundel colors. For example, the white paint originally used appeared off-white, since modern titanium dioxide paints were not then in use. Even the method of paint application needed to be replicated: Markings were painted by eye and hand, as masking tape wasn’t used during WWI. Black pointed out that the finish was all-important: “It is a sad fact that third-party criticism after the aircraft is finished always centers on color schemes, which overall are less than 5 percent of the actual effort put into the restoration! In this case, we are 100 percent we got it right.” Attention to detail has been the watchword in both of these stunning restorations, from sourcing the correct grade-A spruce from Canada to finding the authentic pattern of “Irish” linen from a supplier in Belgium. Black resolved a problem with one impossible-to-find component, frayed-edge fabric tape that covered the aircraft joints and stitching, when he discovered 1917 Ministry of Munitions documents describing the manufacturing process. It was just another example of the detective work involved in restoring these ultra-rare airplanes. The static D.H.9, D5649, went on display at the IWM at Duxford in April 2007. The airworthy example, E8894, is on track to make its maiden flight at the end of this summer. The flying version will doubtless be operated for a short while by Retrotec’s sister company, the Duxford-based Historic Aircraft Collection. But Black doesn’t anticipate the bomber will be a long-term stablemate of the HAC. “For me, the fun is in the challenge of the research and rebuilding of historically unique airplanes like this, and in getting them flying,” he said. “When that is achieved, it is time to move on to the next project. Sadly, that often means parting company with old friends like the D.H.9 in order to make the next project possible.” Our knowledge of WWI aviation technology has been enhanced by Guy Black’s drive and determination in tackling these challenging restorations. Both D.H.9s are valuable additions to Britain’s rich aviation heritage.
DH9: From Ruin to Restoration, by Andy Saunders and Guy Black, will be published by Grub Street after E8894’s first test flight.

The author examines the fuselage of D.H.9 E8894 inside the elephant barn at Bikaner, India, in 2000.

Two views of E8894’s cockpit: in its original condition, and fully restored in May 2013.

A close-up of fabric joint stitching shows cord and eyelets replicated to original specs.

Construction was underway on E8894’s wings at Retrotec’s workshops in 2012. SEPTEMBER 2013 AV I AT I O N H I S T O RY 17

WEIDER READER A sampling of great articles from our sister magazines Military History Small War, Big Problems

World War II The General Takes a Chance From “Grenada 1983: Small Island, Big Lessons,” in the July 2013 issue

At a time when the U.S. government was increasingly uneasy about Soviet support for “liberation movements” in Central America, a coup on the island of Grenada—coupled with the presence of large numbers of Cuban soldiers and the construction of a runway that could handle the largest Soviet aircraft—prompted the Reagan administration to launch an invasion on the pretext that American medical students on the island were in danger. Operation Urgent Fury succeeded but exposed serious shortcomings in America’s armed forces. Early on the morning of October 23, 1983, a truck bomb detonated beside the U.S. Marine barracks at Lebanon’s Beirut International Airport, killing 241 American servicemen. That evening President Ronald Reagan gave his final approval for Operation Urgent Fury—the American invasion of Grenada. Two battalions of elite U.S. Army Rangers had received a warning order days before and were already preparing to assault the Caribbean island. But at Fort Bragg, N.C., the 82nd Airborne Division, which would supply most of the invasion force, was caught by surprise. So soon after the attack on the Marine barracks most of the division’s leaders assumed they would be heading to the Middle East, as part of what they were sure would be an overwhelming reaction to the Beirut tragedy. One battalion commander found his briefing room walls papered in maps. When asked what the maps were for, a young staff officer replied, “They are of Lebanon and Beirut sir.” “Tear all that s— down,” the commander replied. “We’re heading for Grenada.” Perplexed, the staff officer asked, “Why are we invading Spain?” 18 AV I AT I O N H I S T O RY SEPTEMBER 2013

From “The Peacemaker,” in the July/August issue In the Pacific Theater, friction among the services hampered combat efficiency. As plans jelled to invade Okinawa, one general stood out as a font of accord. But he did not survive to witness all he had accomplished. For 79 days, America and Japan had been struggling for Okinawa. Now the invading Americans, victory in sight, were readying a final push. At Okinawa’s southern tip, Tenth Army commander Lt. Gen. Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr. climbed to an observation post to watch his Marines eliminate enemy holdouts. Buckner made a point of roving embattled Okinawa, often unannounced but usually wearing a three-star helmet and traveling in a jeep flying his three-star flag. The display sometimes drew enemy fire, but Buckner thought the morale boost worth the risk. At the summit Buckner had just switched to a plain helmet when a Japanese barrage sent all hands diving for shelter behind the coral boulders that dotted the hill. As quickly as it had struck, the enemy fire lifted. The rest of the men on the crest scrambled to their feet unhurt, but Buckner lay still. A sliver of coral had ripped his chest, and he was bleeding badly. Marines wrestled him onto a poncho and started for an aid station. The general asked if anyone else was hurt, then fell silent while his rescuers muscled him downhill.

To subscribe to any Weider History magazine, call 800-435-0715 or go to HistoryNet.com.

Military History Quarterly A Gentleman and a Killer From “The Worst Place of Any,” in the Summer 2013 issue Lieutenant General Courtney H. Hodges, commander of the U.S. First Army in late 1944, was an old-school soldier: He had flunked out of West Point— undone by plebe geometry—and risen through the ranks after enlisting as a private in 1905. The son of a newspaper publisher from southern Georgia, he was of average height but so erect that he appeared taller, with a domed forehead and prominent ears. Army records described the color of his close-set eyes as “#10 blue.” “God gave him a face that always looked pessimistic,” Dwight Eisenhower once observed, and even Hodges complained that a portrait commissioned by Life made him appear “a little too sad.” A crack shot and big game hunter—caribou and moose in Canada, elephants and tigers in Indochina—Hodges had earned two Purple Heart citations after being gassed in World War I but tore them up as excessively “sissy.” He smoked Old Golds in a long holder, favored bourbon and Dubonnet on ice with a dash of bitters, and messed formally every night, in jacket, necktie, and combat boots. He had been seen weeping by the road as trucks passed carrying wounded soldiers from the front. “I wish everybody could see them,” he said in his soft drawl. One division commander said of him: “Unexcitable. A killer. A gentleman.” A reporter wrote that even in battle “he sounds like a Georgia farmer leaning on the fence, discussing his crops.”

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AVIATORS

By Philip Handleman

Tuskegee Triple

Harry Stewart earned a Distinguished Flying Cross in his first dogfight as a Tuskegee Airman

20 AV I AT I O N H I S T O RY SEPTEMBER 2013

PHOTOS: COURTESY OF LT. COL. HARRY T. STEWART

G

iven the immense obstacles faced by black Americans who aspired to fly in World War II, obtaining the Army’s coveted silver wings at Tuskegee Army Airfield on June 27, 1944, was a remarkable accomplishment for Harry T. Stewart Jr. But the greatest test for the newly minted pilot lay ahead. The manner in which Stewart and his comrades acquitted themselves in the unforgiving crucible of the air war would burnish their reputation as outstanding fliers and patriots. After earning his wings, Stewart accumulated an additional 80 hours in P-47 Thunderbolts at Walterboro, S.C., in preparation for his deployment overseas. An uneventful voyage to France was followed by yet another cruise—the source of fond memories to this day. Onboard the luxury liner Citie Doran, en route from Marseille to the Italian port of Taranto, immaculately attired stewards waited on Stewart and his squadron mates. He recalled it was more than a little awkward to have caricatures of the stereotypical English butler all but bowing to their every whim as they sailed to a war zone, shortly to be thrust into combat. Once the airmen arrived, in early January 1945, their accommodations changed dramatically. They were herded into dirty, malodorous boxcars destined for Naples. Then trucks carried them to the air base at Ramitelli. Ramitelli had become the operational nerve center for the all-black 332nd Fighter Group and its four squadrons the preceding summer. Fortunately for Stewart, the veteran pilots in the 301st Fighter Squadron took him under their wing. They mentored the newcomer as only grizzled combat fliers could, filling in the gaps in his training so that when his time came to face the Luftwaffe in eyeball-to-eyeball encounters, he would be ready. Indeed, when asked about his heroes during a panel discussion of Tuskegee Airmen in

2012, Stewart turned to those seated around him and said quietly: “These gentlemen up here with me now. They were there for me; they are my heroes.” By the time Stewart arrived in-theater, the 332nd had been assigned to the Bari, Italybased Fifteenth Air Force, which—in sync with the Eighth Air Force operating out of England—was pressing the strategic bombing campaign into the enemy’s home territory. Since the 332nd was flying P-51 Mustangs with distinctive red tail markings, the black fliers became known as the “Red Tails.” The missions in which they regularly participated involved hundreds of B-17s and B-24s, layered in massive formations. From Stewart’s aerie, riding shotgun well above these flying armadas, the sheer magnitude of the assemblage was awe-inspiring, especially on missions where, as a junior member of his squadron, he flew as Tail-end Charlie. Years later, his eyes beaming as he reminisced, Stewart said it was “a sight to behold.” Of his 43 combat missions, none resonates in his memory as vividly as the one he flew on April Fool’s Day 1945. The briefing called for

his element of eight Mustangs to lead a Liberator formation of the 47th Bomb Wing over the railway marshaling yards at St. Polten, Austria. Once the bombers reached the target area, Stewart and his squadron mates veered west to a Luftwaffe air base near Wels, to look for targets of opportunity. One of the pilots in Stewart’s element called out four German fighters below, not far from the air base. “Our eight Mustangs cranked over in a mass dive on the enemy aircraft,” Stewart recalled. Suddenly, though, the hunters became the hunted. “The sky filled with at least another dozen fighters bearing Luftwaffe insignia,” he remembered. The lowflying fighters were decoys, used to lure the Americans into an ambush. Barely out of his teens and facing his first dogfight, Stewart was initially almost overwhelmed by his emotions. There was anger at having been suckered into a trap, accompanied by terror at the high-stakes duel about to unfold. But then his survival instinct kicked in, with fear and doubt giving way to determination, bolstered by the young airman’s training and talent. Stewart fastened his eyes on an enemy twoship element beneath him. He dived toward his prospective quarry as skirmishes broke out around him. As he bore down on the enemy planes, he saw that they were longnosed Focke-Wulf Fw-190Ds, the finest piston-powered fighters in the Luftwaffe’s arsenal. Closing to firing range, Stewart first concentrated on the nearest aircraft, squeezing off a few short bursts of .50-caliber rounds from his six wing-mounted machine guns. Smoke and flames quickly erupted from the enemy fighter. When the second Luftwaffe pilot realized what had happened to his wingman, he yanked his plane into a hard right turn, trying to shake off the American. But Stewart turned just as tightly, pulling high Gs that stretched

his P-51 to its limits. In the space of a fleeting second, the Tuskegee Airman trained his sight on the tail of the fleeing German. It was sufficient to squeeze off one more burst. An instant later, the German plane started to disintegrate “in a cloud of black smoke and orange flame just like the first one.” Stewart had scored his second victory of the day, but just then he heard a squadron mate’s call: “Bandit on your tail!” Tracers whizzed past his cockpit, frightfully close. The sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach returned, but as before the survival instinct came to his rescue. This time he used the Mustang’s speed in his own defense, dashing to the deck. The Focke-Wulf pilot on his tail was tenacious, much as Stewart had been moments earlier. With an enemy glued to his six, Stewart reefed his mount over into an extreme right turn—a desperate maneuver. The German followed, turning and turning in a test of strength and will. With the men and machines ratcheted up to their limits, something had to give. Suddenly Stewart realized he was free of his pursuer. Looking back, he spotted the Fw-190

Harry T. Stewart celebrates his “hat trick.”

cartwheeling across the ground, then exploding in a ball of fire. Stewart and his squadron mates who had witnessed the episode later speculated that the German had either stalled or snap-rolled too low to the ground. Perhaps he had become so fixated on Stewart’s Mustang that he simply failed to pull up in time over the

undulating terrain. Whatever the cause, Stewart had racked up three victories during his first dogfight, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross. Stewart remained in the Army Air Forces after the war in Europe ended five weeks later. In May 1949, he participated in the first U.S. Air Force gunnery meet, in which his Tuskegee Airman team won the “top gun” trophy for propeller planes (see “Tuskegee Top Guns,” March 2012 issue). Soon afterward he left active duty, but he retained his commission in the reserves, eventually retiring as a lieutenant colonel. After earning a mechanical engineering degree from New York University, Stewart went on to a successful career with Bechtel Corporation in San Francisco and ANR Pipeline Company in Detroit. In 2007, when the Tuskegee Airmen were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, he was among the half-dozen fliers on hand to accept on behalf of all who had played a part in the pioneering program. Today, on good flying days, Stewart can be found at Detroit’s airport, mentoring inner-city youth and sharing his love of flying with a new generation.


LETTER FROM AVIATION HISTORY

By Carl von Wodtke

22 AV I AT I O N H I S T O RY

SEPTEMBER 2013

U.S. NAVY

Unmanned aircraft systems—drones—have been generating headlines of late (see “Briefing,” P. 10). The explosion in UAS technology, and the attendant controversies surrounding their use, has led to an ongoing national debate that recently prompted President Obama to address the issue during his May 23 policy speech at the National Defense University. Drones have come a long way since we last reported on them less than three years ago (January 2011 issue). At the time, the main questions concerned the rapid escalation of their use by the U.S. military and CIA, and their impact on the future of traditional military aircraft and pilots. Today the A rotary-wing drone photographs a Mojave Desert race, debate has expanded to include concerns about drones’ do- illustrating just one of many uses for the versatile UAS. mestic use and integration into America’s national airspace. Certainly the military debate—now primarily focused on the morality and efficacy of using drones to target terrorists overseas—rages on. As the president noted: “…America’s legitimate claim of self-defense cannot be the end of the discussion. To say a military tactic is legal, or even effective, is not to say it is wise or moral in every instance.”After an initial love affair with drones, the U.S. is taking a step back and asking some hard questions about the UAS campaign’s effect on perceptions of Americans abroad. As former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General James E. Cartwright com- A Northrop Grumman crew readies the X-47B Unmanned mented in March at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Combat Air System demonstrator for operational tests. “If you’re trying to kill your way to a solution, no matter how precise you are, you’re going to upset people even if they’re not targeted.” Underscoring that sentiment, a young Yemeni activist told a Senate subcommittee,“What radicals had previously failed to achieve in my village, one drone strike accomplished in an instant: There is now an intense anger and growing hatred of America.” On the home front, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul’s March 6 filibuster stoked fears of domestic drones assassinating American citizens while they sat sipping coffee at Starbucks. Paul’s dystopian scenario of a future Hitler-like president with a fleet of drones to do his bidding aside, his 13-hour ramble did serve to thrust drones into the spotlight. The specter of drones being used by law enforcement agencies for surveillance is far from fantasy; it’s already becoming a reality. As Reuters reported in March, “Several dozen local police departments, federal agencies and universities have special FAA permits to fly drones in U.S. airspace.”And,“Recent applications to the FAA…indicate many police want drones for drug investigations, covert surveillance and high-risk tactical operations.” Can armed law enforcement drones be that far off? All of this makes crafting a domestic drone policy a particularly difficult task. Congress has set a target date of September 30, 2015, for the FAA to safely integrate UAS into the national airspace. The payoff promises to be considerable. The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International forecasts that during the first decade following integration, more than 100,000 new jobs will be created, and the total economic impact could reach $82 billion by 2025. Domestic uses for drones extend far beyond crime-fighting to include monitoring crops and spraying pesticides, mapping wildfires with infrared cameras, searching for missing persons, tracking traffic patterns, assessing wildlife populations, evaluating environmental conditions, aiding disaster relief efforts and more mundane but lucrative tasks such as photographing real estate. But without a coherent plan in place for commercial drone applications such as these, the association estimates that “every year that integration is delayed, the United States loses more than $10 billion in potential impact.” Despite the many questions surrounding the use of drones—both military and civil—one thing remains certain: We’re witnessing a revolution unprecedented in aviation history.


©JIM WEST/ALAMY

Droning On

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Junkers Ju-87B-1 Stukas descend in formation in 1940. Their call letters have been altered by Nazi censors to mislead Allied intelligence.

Although obsolescent even before World War II began, the Ju-87 Stuka terrorized ground troops and found a late-war niche as a tank-buster

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PHOTOS: ODIZ MÜNCHEN GMBH, SÜDDEUTSCHER ZEITUNG PHOTO/ALAMY

ever has a warplane so obsolete, vulnerBy Stephan Wilkinson tical wings, stylish P-51 radiator doghouses or reable and technologically basic wrought tractable landing gear on a bomb truck intended to so much damage to its enemies as did the Junkers Ju-87 fly to a target little farther away than its pilot can see, do a job and Stuka. Even as Germany invaded Poland and triggered rumble back home again? World War II, its Ministry of Aviation (ReichsluftfahrtThe Stuka’s ugly reputation was also influenced by the fact that the ministerium, or RLM) was hard at work on a replace- airplane is often envisioned—and frequently depicted in newsreels of ment for its dive bomber, and the early Ju-87B was intended to be the the day—pummeling Warsaw and the Low Countries, its “Jericho last model made. No surprise, since typically an air force begins devel- Trompeten” sirens wailing. Nine Ju-87s were also used at one time or opment of the next-generation aircraft the instant the current another during the Spanish Civil War, but they were operated only machine goes into service. But occasionally and conservatively. hard as they tried, the Germans Even Spanish Nationalist pilots never came up with a Stuka sucweren’t allowed near them, since cessor, so the angular, archaic they were still considered to be “little bomber,” as the Luftwaffe secret weapons. The small Spancalled it, was the airplane that on ish market town of Guernica, the September 1, 1939, dropped the subject of Pablo Picasso’s famous first bombs of the war, and on antiwar painting, was bombed by May 4, 1945, flew the final LuftHeinkel He-111s and Junkers waffe ground-assault mission. Ju-52s, horizontal bombers heedThe very last propaganda film lessly killing civilians as they made by the Luftwaffe showed carpet-bombed, exactly the kind Stukas attacking Soviet tanks on of mission the Stuka was not inthe outskirts of Berlin, smoke tended to fly. It’s hard to cast a streaming from their big anti- A Ju-87A “Anton” in Nationalist markings flies for the Condor kindly light on any bomber, but tank cannons. That’s 5½ years of Legion during the Stuka’s earliest days in the Spanish Civil War. the Ju-87 was designed to attack nonstop combat by an airplane and destroy specific military taradjudged by some to be too primitive, too slow and too vulnerable gets, not civilians. Had Stukas been used to bomb the important before the war even began. bridge that was the primary target of the raid, the world would have Granted there have been inexcusably ugly aircraft, but like so many long ago forgotten Guernica. designed-for-a-mission utilitarian airplanes—the Consolidated PBY The Spanish war did make it plain that the Ju-87 would be a useful comes to mind—the Ju-87 looks better the longer you consider its weapon. When Bf-109Bs arrived on the scene, the Nationalist rebels rugged lines. One Stuka admirer calls it “a flying swastika,” thanks to soon claimed control of the air. Republican anti-aircraft artillery was its angularity and coarseness. But that same straightforwardness made pretty primitive, so the Stukas bombed at will—as they were intended the Stuka easy to manufacture, repair and maintain. Who needs ellip- to—and even the worst drops typically landed within less than 100 SEPTEMBER 2013 AV I AT I O N H I S T O RY 25

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feet of the target. Good hits were either on target or no more than 15 feet off-center. Dive bombing was by no means a German invention, though they refined the tactic to a degree never seen before—or since. The British were the first to try moderate-dive-angle attacks, during World War I, and both the U.S. and Japan experimented with diving delivery between the wars. In fact, it was Japanese interest in the tactic that led them to commission Heinkel to design a dive bomber to rival the American Curtiss F8C Helldiver, which became the He-50 biplane. The Japanese actually bought and tested two Ju-87s before WWII, but placed no further orders— probably because their own Heinkel-influenced Aichi D3A1 “Val” dive bomber was already excellent, as Pearl Harbor would prove. The Rolls-Royce Kestral-powered Ju-87 V-1 prototype first flew on September 17, 1935.

egend has it that when WWI ace Ernst Udet, then a civilian, attended the 1935 Cleveland Air Races, he saw some U.S. Navy Curtiss F11C-2 Goshawk biplane dive bombers and was dazzled by their performance. Hermann Göring, who wanted to entice Udet back into the reborn Luftwaffe, imported two export-version Hawk IIs for the ace’s use. Udet did divebombing demonstrations during airshows in Germany, the myth continues, and convinced the Luftwaffe that it would be a useful tactic. Thus the Stuka was born, with Udet thereafter credited as its “father.” Well, not exactly, as the rental car commercials used to say. The Stuka design had already been finalized and was in mock-up form when Udet became enamored of the Curtiss, and he never did airshow bombing, just enthusiastic aerobatics. But Udet certainly was a verticalbombing proponent, and his one important role in the Stuka’s development was that when RLM Technical Director Wolfram von Richthofen (the Red Baron’s cousin) canceled the Ju-87 program— Richthofen thought that a slow, cumbersome, diving Stuka would

never survive the anti-aircraft guns toward which it was necessarily pointed—Udet happened the next day to be given Richthofen’s job. His first move was to countermand that order, so the Stuka survived. “Stuka” became the Ju-87’s popular name, but it’s actually a generic term. Stuka is short for one of those German freight-train words, Sturkampfflugzeug, which translates as “diving combat aircraft.” So to call a Ju-87 a Stuka was just like naming the P-51 “Fighter” or the B-17 “Bomber.” Nobody cares: The Ju-87 will forever remain the Stuka. Popular accounts of Ju-87 raids invariably mention the airplane’s sirens, wind-driven devices on the front of each landing gear leg that the Germans called Jericho’s Trumpets. The simple wooden props that drove them could be clutched and de-clutched electro-hydraulically— a typical example of German overengineering. What did they sound like? Well, forget fire engines, the noise was exactly like the sound in every classic Hollywood movie’s approximation of an airplane’s final dive to destruction—the rising, grinding wail of an over-revving en-

ODIZ MÜNCHEN GMBH, SÜDDEUTSCHER ZEITUNG PHOTO/ALAMY

A Ju-87B-2, with yellow cowling and rudder to distinguish it from Allied airplanes, prepares to dive on a target in the Balkans in 1941.

26 AV I AT I O N H I S T O RY

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he sole benefit of dive bombing is accuracy. Imagine running across a golf green as fast as you can while trying to drop a ball into the cup from eye level. Now imagine standing directly above the cup and sighting from the ball to the cup, then dropping it. The former is classic horizontal bombing, and its accuracy depends on a bombsight that can calculate a variety of parameters to create the proper parabola from bomb bay to target. The latter is dive bombing, and if the dive is truly vertical, the flight of the bomb will follow the path of the bomber to wherever the airplane is pointed—at a tank, a ship, a bunker, a building. The Ju-87 was one of the only dive bombers that could actually perform a vertical dive without surpassing VNE— never-exceed speed. Most dive bombers couldn’t put the nose more than about 70 degrees down, though the Vultee Vengeance was also said to be a truly vertical bomber. The Stuka’s under-wing dive brakes, a Hugo Junkers invention, were remarkably effective despite their small size and simplicity, and apparently the airplane’s bluff chin radiator, large wheel pants, upright greenhouse and general avoidance of drag reduction sufficed to maintain a 375-mph vertical dive speed. (Later models could dive at up to 405 mph.) Some Stuka pilots entered a dive by half-rolling the airplane onto its back and then pulling positive Gs to dive, others simply bunted from level flight into the dive. Standing on the rudder pedals to keep from doing a face-plant into the instrument panel is difficult enough, even with the help of a shoulder harness, but trying to aim at a target while simultaneously ignoring anti-aircraft fire must have been truly challenging. British test pilot Eric “Winkle” Brown spent an hour flying a captured Ju-87D and later wrote: “A dive angle of 90 degrees is a pretty palpitating experience, for it always feels as if the aircraft is over the vertical and is bunting, and all this while terra firma is rushing closer with apparent suicidal rapidity. In fact I have rarely seen a specialist

SÜDDEUTSCHER ZEITUNG/MARY EVANS

Ju-87Bs plummet toward the ground. The Stuka was one of the only airplanes that could perform a true vertical dive without surpassing never-exceed speed.

BPK/ART RESOURCE

gine. The noise was apparently as annoying to Stuka pilots as it was to troops being bombed, so many units dispensed with the extra drag and complication of the trumpets, though reports of their occasional use persevere into 1943. The Germans eventually preferred to mount wind-whistles on the fins of Stuka bombs, another development beloved of the film business. In movies, bombs all whistle. In real life, the only bombs that whistled were some dropped from Stukas. It’s not widely known that the peace-loving Swedes, those professional neutrals during Europe’s wars, were contributors to the development of the Stuka. To circumvent the punishing provisions of the Versailles Treaty, Hugo Junkers established an aircraft factory in Sweden. The facility was no secret, but it allowed operation free of pesky oversight by treaty inspectors, who had no authority in Sweden. There, Junkers developed the K.47, a heavily strutted and braced radial engine monoplane (other dive bombers of the time were all biplanes) optimized for diving and equipped with both Junkers dive brakes and what would become the Ju-87’s automatic pullout mechanism. Though the K.47 contributed only in the broadest sense to the prototype that became the Stuka, Swedish test pilots enthusiastically performed hundreds of dives with it and refined diving procedures and methods. Hermann Pohlmann designed the K.47 under the direction of Karl Plauth, a WWI fighter pilot, and Pohlmann went on to engineer the Ju-87 after Plauth died in the crash of Major Alfons Orthofer flew this unique shark-mouth Ju-87B-1 in Poland and France. a Junkers prototype.

SEPTEMBER 2013 AV I AT I O N H I S T O RY 27

dive bomber put over 70 degrees in a dive, but the Ju-87 was a genuine 90-degree screamer…the Ju-87 felt right standing on its nose, and the acceleration to 335 mph was reached in about 4,500 feet, speed thereafter creeping up slowly to the absolute permitted limit of 375 mph, so that the feeling of being on a runaway roller coaster experienced with most other dive bombers was missing. I must confess that I had a more enjoyable hour’s dive-bombing practice than I had ever experienced with any other aircraft of this specialist type. Somehow the Ju-87D did not appear to find its natural element until it was diving steeply. Obviously the fixed undercarriage and large-span dive brakes of the Junkers were a highly effective drag combination.” Ju-87s had “Stuka-vizier” gyro-stabilized bombsights developed by the famous German optical house Zeiss; they were basically gunsights modified for vertical guidance. Stuka pilots also had half a protractor’s worth of angle lines etched in red into the right-hand canopy window, which when matched to the horizon gave them their dive angles. Another unusual Stuka feature was a large window in its belly, between the pilot’s feet, so that he could keep the target in view as he prepared to roll into his dive. Unfortunately, it was usually useless, covered with a thick film of engine oil leakage streaming aft. One of the Ju-87’s advanced features, at least for that era, was an automatic pullout mechanism, to avoid the possibility of pilots being overcome by target fixation or rendered unable to fly by the effects of high-G pullouts. It was a simple hydraulic device. Once the pilot had trimmed nose-down for the dive and to counteract the increased airspeed, it released the trim setting when the ordnance was pickled and reset the tab to command a pullout that typically ran to between 5 and 6 Gs. In those days long before G-suits and abdomen-tightening yells, only the strongest Stuka pilots and gunners avoided at least briefly graying out, but the Stuka did the flying for them. If they trusted it to do so, that is. Many Ju-87 pilots were leery of the automatic pullout feature and preferred to do the flying themselves. During training dives against a floating target in the Baltic soon after the automatic pullout mechanism was introduced, at least three Stukas went straight into the sea, which certainly didn’t endear the device to pilots. The pullout was also the point at which a Stuka was most vulnerable, its speed paying off rapidly as it clawed for altitude, following a predictable course and unable to maneuver. Allied pilots who opposed Stukas didn’t bother trying to catch them in a dive; they waited until the Germans released their bombs and pulled out. Ju-87s were intended to operate only where the Luftwaffe had complete air superiority and could make bomb runs with impunity. Nobody ever meant for them to go head-to-head with eight-gun Spitfires and Hurricanes.

D Stukas wing over in a chain for an attack in France in 1940.

uring the Battle of Britain, Stukas were downed by the dozens while trying to do a job—strategic rather than tactical bombing—for which they were never intended. They were groundsupport airplanes, designed to work in tandem with tanks. Yet at the classic tank battle of El Alamein, in the North African desert, Stukas were never a factor, since RAF and South African Air Force Kittyhawks, for the most part, had by that time gotten the upper hand over fuel-starved Luftwaffe Me-109s and Italian Macchi MC.202s. There were Ju-87s in North Africa nonetheless. “Apart from a few improvised fighters, we had no dive bombers at all,” wrote Alan Moorehead in The Desert War. “It is useless for the military strategists to

BILDARCHIV PREUSSISCHER KULTURBESITZ

ODIZ MÜNCHEN GMBH, SÜDDEUTSCHER ZEITUNG PHOTO/ALAMY

argue, as they will and fiercely, that the he was reassuring Royal Navy Admiral Stuka is a failure and very vulnerable. Andrew Cunningham, whose armoredAsk the troops in the field. Its effect on deck aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious, morale alone made it worthwhile in and its support ships, would soon be the Middle East as long as we had inbattered so badly by Stukas off Malta sufficient fighters.” that it was out of action for nearly a After the Battle of Britain, the RAF year. Stukas also thoroughly chased the proclaimed that the Stuka was finished Royal Navy out of Norway’s waters. as an offensive weapon, beaten bloody Yet Tedder wasn’t far off the mark. by Spitfires and Hurricanes. That myth Luftwaffe Messerschmitt and Fockehas become part of Stuka lore and is Wulf pilots called Ju-87s “fighter magone reason why, as a British historian nets,” and depending on whether they put it, “More crap has been written preferred to die in bed or collect Iron about the Stuka than about any other Crosses, they feared or enjoyed being airplane in history.” During the five assigned to Stuka-escorting missions. years after the Battle of Britain and the Two Ju-87 tactics were used to great RAF’s haughty pronouncement, the effect in the Vietnam War. One was emhundreds of thousands of tons of merploying forward air controllers (FACs), chant shipping and warships sunk, and a concept developed by the Germans thousands of Soviet tanks destroyed, during the Polish blitzkreig. Stuka UHF made it obvious the Ju-87 could still get The terror created by oncoming Stukas was enhanced radios were mounted in tanks or other the job done. by wailing sirens attached to their landing gear legs. armored vehicles, and were manned by Like the Slow-But-Deadly Douglas Luftwaffe officers schooled in groundSBD, the Stuka turned out to be a superb anti-shipping weapon. support tactics. They directed strikes by Stukas overhead against any Stuka pilots quickly learned to attack from astern, so they could easily targets impeding the panzers’ advance. follow a ship’s evasive actions. They often dived on a ship at a 45The other was what has come to be called the daisy-cutter—a bomb degree angle and fired their machine guns as a telltale. “When the first that explodes several feet above the ground rather than penetrating of our…bullets were observed to be hitting the water in front of the the earth and dissipating its energy in making a crater. A belt-high ship’s bow, we pulled the bomb release,” said one former Stuka pilot blast wreaks terrible damage on personnel. The Germans approached quoted in Peter C. Smith’s book Junkers Ju 87 Stuka. “There was very fuzing the bomb to go off at this height in the simplest way possible: little chance for a merchant ship of any size attacked with this Stuka They attached a 3-foot-long metal rod to the impact fuze in the tactic,” Smith wrote. bomb’s nose, to set it off when the rod touched the ground. At first, the While the RAF was dismissing the Stuka as irrelevant after its poor rods penetrated soft ground without setting off the bomb, so they showing in the Battle of Britain, Ju-87s essentially destroyed the Royal learned to weld a 3-inch-diameter disk to the tip. The same technique Navy’s Mediterranean fleet. RAF Air Marshal Arthur Tedder said, was used 25 years later by the U.S. Air Force. “Our fighter pilots weep for joy when they see [Stukas].” At the time, Many assume that because the Stuka was a bomb truck, it must

Junkers Ju-87B-2

Engine: 1,200-hp Junkers Jumo 211Da inverted V-12 liquid-cooled engine Wingspan 45 ft. 31∕4 in. • Length: 36 ft. 11∕2 in. Height: 13 ft. 6 in. • Maximum speed: 242 mph Never-exceed speed: 375 mph Ceiling: 26,903 ft. • Range: 340 miles Armament: Two 7.92mm MG17 machine guns in wings, one 7.92mm MG15 flexibly mounted in rear cockpit One 551-lb. bomb under fuselage and four 110-lb. bombs under wings

ILLUSTRATION BY JOHN BATCHELOR

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have flown like one. Untrue, according to former Ju-87 pilots who have talked and written about what a delightful, light and responsive airplane it was to fly—easy to handle, a piece of cake to land and one of those rare flying machines without a vice. The Ju-87 was noseheavy by design, and Allied pilots who flew captured Stukas said the airplane felt “just right” when dived vertically. One RAF pilot described its handling as “so light that there was a marked tendency to overcontrol.” Perhaps it was a function of the unusual Junkers-design floating ailerons (and flaps). Further proof that the Stuka was not just a manly man’s airplane was that a surprising amount of the preproduction testing of all models was carried out by two women pilots— the famous Hanna Reitsch, whose specialty was dive-brake testing, and Countess Melitta Schenk von Stauffenberg, the sisterin-law of anti-Hitler conspiracist Claus von Stauffenberg.

landing on rough ground. The Caesar also had four air-filled flotation bags—two in the fuselage, one in each wing—that supposedly would have allowed it to stay afloat for up to three days after ditching. The Ju-87R (the R stood for Reichtweite, or range, rather than being part of a normal alphabetic progression) was a longer-legged version of the Ju-87B, and its extra wing tanks, which increased range from a supposed 340 miles to 875, were incorporated into most succeeding Stukas. Some Ju-87Rs were rigged to tow gliders—not to carry troops but to lug a Stuka unit’s own supplies, tools, spares and other maintenance stores. The Ju-87G, one of the most effective Stuka models, was no longer a dive bomber and didn’t even have dive brakes. The G was armed with a huge 37mm, 12-round anti-tank cannon under each wing. The cannons used the barrels and receivers of a cumbersome flak gun that u-87s were produced in dated back to World War I, several successive varibut they were potent against ants, inevitably requirSoviet T-34 tanks. Firing one ing more power, more tungsten-cored explosive range, more bomb-lifting round at a time required a ability. The Ju-87B was the precise gunner. T-34s were classic—the one with the big most vulnerable from astern, wheel pants, squared-away where there was little armor greenhouse and vertically and lots of gas. Good shots louvered, overbite chin radiasuch as Hans-Ulrich Rudel, tor. It’s the version that flew who claimed 519 Soviet tanks during the early-war blitzdestroyed (see “Eagle of the kreigs and the Battle of Eastern Front,” July 2011), Britain, and it could carry a The fairings have been removed from the undercarriage of these Eastern could put a round into the un1,100-pound main bomb. It Front Ju-87Ds in 1943, to keep soil and grass from fouling the wheels. protected space between the had been preceded by the bottom of the turret and the Ju-87A, the first production series, but the underpowered “Anton” top of even the most heavily armored T-34’s hull and blow the turret really wasn’t a combat-ready design. off. The top 58 Stuka pilots on the Russian Front eliminated some The later Ju-87D, the “Dora,” was an up-engined, more aerody- 3,700 Soviet tanks. But the Soviets were building that many new T-34s namic version with a streamlined canopy, a twin-gun rolling turret every three months in 1943, so Stukas were a small finger in a big dike. rather than the “Bertha’s” single gun pivoting on a hole through the aft Not all Eastern Front Stukas were tank-busters. Filling what must canopy, and only an oil cooler under the nose, the engine-coolant have been one of the most unusual military occupation specialties in radiators having been moved to underwing positions. The Dora could any armed force, Sergeant Hermann Dibbel was one of several special carry a bomb weighing almost 3,900 pounds, which the Luftwaffe felt Stuka skywriters. Every clear day, Dibbel would go over the Soviet lines it needed to penetrate major fortifications. in his Ju-87 and spell out in augmented exhaust smoke appeals to the Between them came “the Stuka that never was,” the Ju-87C. It was Russians to surrender. Dibbel had already been credited with sinking to be a tail-hooked, folding-wings navalized version, back when Ger- a British cruiser and destroying 30 Soviet tanks, and he later flew simimany was still working on its potent new carrier, Graf Zeppelin. Flown lar missions over Yugoslavia entreating Tito’s partisans to surrender. in prototype form, the C was canceled when work on Graf Zeppelin Whether or not his smoky appeals worked, they led him to a new stopped. Though legend has it that Leroy Grumman invented the Wild- career. After the war, he became a skywriting instructor. cat’s twist-and-fold wings while playing with a paperclip, the Ju-87C The Stuka was finally reaching the end of its useful life. At the bealso had wings that folded straight aft with the leading edges pointing ginning of WWII, a Ju-87 had a life expectancy of 10½ months. By down. The Wildcat’s first flight preceded that of the folding-wing 1941, it was little better than half that, and as Soviet fighters found “Caesar” by almost nine months, but it’s doubtful that either company their groove after the disastrous first months of Operation Barbarossa, was aware of the other’s development work. a Stuka could expect to live for just over four days of combat. One of the Ju-87C’s most unusual features was landing gear struts Only two intact Stukas remain—one in the Chicago Museum of that could be blown off with explosive bolts, to allow the airplane to Industry and the second in the RAF Museum at Hendon. Neither is ditch without the fixed gear digging in and flipping it. This feature was flyable, though when the 1969 film Battle of Britain was in production, carried over to the Dora, assumedly to clean the airplane up for a belly plans were laid to restore the Hendon Ju-87 to flight for use in the NATIONAL ARCHIVES

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NATIONAL ARCHIVES

The Stuka was no longer a Stuka when the Ju-87G became operational, armed with powerful 37mm Panzerknäcker anti-tank cannons.

scrapped, and radio-controlled models were used instead. It was either divine justice or a bad joke that the last operational Ju-87s in the world were two survivors flown as trainers after the war by one of the Reich’s first conquests—the postwar air force of Czechoslovakia, which by then had become a Soviet satellite.
For further reading, frequent contributor Stephan Wilkinson recommends: The Junkers Ju 87 Stuka, by Peter C. Smith; and Junkers Ju 87, by Eddie J. Creek.

NICOLAS TRUDGIAN/WWW.NICOLASTRUDGIAN.COM

movie. A pilot from the film company, Vivian Bellamy, reportedly climbed into the museum Stuka, cranked it through three blades and the Jumo V-12 lit off and idled perfectly. But the project turned out to be too rich even for a film studio’s mega-million budget. Instead, three Percival Proctor lightplanes were modified to resemble Stukas and were thereafter known as “the Proctukas,” suggesting some fearsome medical instrument. They were also thereafter known as some of the most dangerous and barely airworthy aircraft ever approved for flight. Obviously unable to endure even the most gentle of dives, they were

Led by Hans-Ulrich Rudel, Ju-87G-1s attack Soviet T-34s at Prokhorovka on July 12, 1943, in Nicolas Trudgian’s The Battle of Kursk.

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Short-Lived

GLORY

English Electric Canberra WD932’s brief but distinguished service life ended in tragedy By Rich Johns Matthies

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rchival footage from the 1951 newsreel shows a sleek twinengine jet being towed out of its hangar onto the runway of a remote Royal Air Force base in Northern Ireland. The British commentator intones: “Great hopes center on the Canberra, Britain’s first jet bomber. She’s a top secret, a little something nobody else has got.” The camera pans to the crew, lingering on the test pilot, RAF Squadron Leader A.E. Callard.“He makes a careful study of wind and weather and every crucial detail which must be mastered for the occasion.” We learn the Canberra’s crew is about to embark on a 2,100-mile nonstop flight between Aldergrove, Northern Ireland, and Gander, Newfoundland. The narrator continues, “They are aiming to make the hop in record time.” And so they did. On February 21, 1951, English Electric Canberra serial no. WD932 made the first direct, nonrefueled Atlantic crossing by a jet aircraft—in a new unofficial record time of 4 hours and 37 minutes. A few days later, Canberra WD932 went on to win a U.S. Air Force competition at Andrews AFB in Maryland, eventually getting the nod to become the Air Force’s new twin-engine bomber-interceptor. During the course of 1951, WD932 became something of a celebrity, serving as a symbol of Anglo-American cooperation and as the pattern aircraft for the B-57 program. For me, this particular airplane was more than just a promising new jet or brief media star. Ten months after its record-setting flight, 32 AV I AT I O N H I S T O RY

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on December 21, WD932 crashed during a test flight over Centerville, Md. The pilot parachuted to safety, but the engineer-observer was killed. That man was Captain Reid Johns Shaw, my father. He was 29 years old.

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y any standard, the English Electric Canberra was one of the most successful military airplanes ever built. Rarely has any aircraft served so long or so well. The Canberra became operational with the RAF in 1951, and served in various roles until retired from service 55 years later, in 2006. It proved to be extremely versatile, utilized by the air forces of 14 other countries, including Australia and the U.S., both of which flew it in combat in Vietnam. At the dawn of the jet age in 1945, the RAF envisioned a new jet aircraft as a replacement for its de Havilland Mosquito fighter-bomber, operating primarily at high altitude in a radar bombing role. The Canberra, designed by W.E.W. “Teddy” Petter, was intended to fill that role. During its test program phase, the aircraft was named after the Australian capital, following the RAF practice of naming British bombers after cities. On May 2, 1949, the first Canberra A1 prototype, VN799, resplendent in all blue, was rolled out of its hangar for ground runs and taxi tests. Much was at stake during the first flight, on the morning of May 13. Some had suggested the project was doomed from the start because the English Electric Company lacked aviation experience. If successful, however, it would put Britain into the fore-

front of world aviation technology. Shortly before the morning briefing, in a discussion with test pilot Roland Beamont, aircraft designer Petter had suggested that since it was Friday the 13th, he would not argue with delaying the flight until the next day. But Beamont was ready to fly. Notwithstanding Petter’s superstitious fears, it turned out to be a lucky day with a successful first flight. The only uneasiness Beamont experienced during the flight was a sharp directional jerk each time he applied rudder pressure. Ultimately, this resulted in the rounded top of the Canberra’s rudder being trimmed down to its characteristic squaredoff appearance. On subsequent flights, Beamont discovered that the Canberra handled more like a fighter than a bomber. With its low wing loading and twin-jet power, the new bomber performed better than most fighters of the period. Although acrobatics had not been written into the design requirements, there was nothing to limit the airplane from rolls and loops when flown within the design limits of speed and G forces. Beamont prepared a flight routine for the upcoming Society of British Aircraft Constructors’ Flying Exhibition and Display at Farnborough in September 1949. As exFormer RAF Wing Commander Roland P. Beamont, English Electric’s chief test pilot, puts Canberra WD932 through its paces, watched by executives and workers of the Glenn L. Martin Company.

NATIONAL ARCHIVES

PHOTOS: COURTESY OF RICH JOHNS MATTHIES, EXCEPT BELOW LEFT: RAF MUSEUM

Above: Beamont demos the first prototype, Canberra A1 VN799, at Farnborough in 1949. Below left: Beamont in the prototype’s cockpit. Below right: The pilot’s position in an early Martin RB-57A, which retained the British Canberra’s canopy, at Hill Aerospace Museum.

pected, the airplane stole the show. Aviation Week reported: Canberra Shows Off—biggest military surprise of the show was the English Electric Co. Ltd sky-blue Canberra jet bomber. U.S. observers were not impressed with the Canberra’s straight wing and somewhat conventional configuration on the ground. But in the air the combination of test pilot R.P. Beamont and the 15,000 lb thrust from the two axial Avons made the Canberra behave in a spectacular fashion.... Beamont whipped the bomber (designed to carry a 10,000 lb bomb load) around on the deck like a fighter, flying it through a series of slow rolls, high speed turns and remarkable rates of climb. The Canberra was originally

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designed for radar bombing at around 50,000 ft, but Beamont’s demonstration convinced many Britishers the new bomber may prove to be another Mosquito in its versatility at everything from low-level attack through high altitude bombing.

American military observers at this and other early demonstrations of the Canberra were as impressed as their British counterparts, but they could not envision a role for the new bomber. As one reporter said, “It is neither fish nor fowl.” The Canberra was considered too large to be a fighter and too small to be a bomber. It fell into the same class as the Mosquito, for which there was no American counterpart. With the outbreak of the Korean War in

June 1950, however, the U.S. Air Force needed a replacement for its aging twin-prop Douglas B-26 (previously A-26) Invader. The B-26 was the only U.S. medium bomber suited to low-level interdiction, but attack with the Invader was purely visual, and its numbers were dwindling. At wartime attrition rates, the B-26 inventory was forecast to be depleted if the war continued to 1954. According to Lt. Gen. Earle E. Partridge, speaking from the bitter experience of his Fifth Air Force in Korea in 1951,“I believe the paramount deficiency of the USAF today…is our inability to effectively seek out and destroy the enemy at night.” Not only was there no effective night intruder available for Korea, there wasn’t even one on the drawing board of any American aircraft company. But

OPPOSITE: U.S. AIR FORCE

by the time the Korean War broke out, the first production model of the English Electric Canberra had already flown.

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via a hatch located above his seat. Ejection seats were in place for both. After several months of evaluation by the board of Air Force officers, the final selection was to be made based on competitive flight demonstrations and comparisons at Andrews AFB, outside Washington, in November 1950. The delayed arrival of Canberra WD932 pushed the fly-off to February 26, 1951, though its record-setting Atlantic crossing created buzz for the airplane. While there was little doubt the Canberra would outperform its competitors, the flying demonstration was considered necessary to silence those who were opposed to accepting a foreign aircraft in the U.S. inventory. The

RIGHT & FAR RIGHT: COURTESY OF STAN PIET/MARTIN MARYLAND AVIATION MUSEUM

n Air Force committee formed in the summer of 1950 was tasked with evaluating all available American, Canadian and British aircraft, to see which one could be most quickly adapted to fill the night interdiction role. The selection was to be made from existing models, since creating a new design would add years to development time. American aircraft to be considered were the Martin XB-51, North American B-45 Tornado and North American AJ-1 Savage; for-

eign designs were the Canadian Avro CF-100 Canuck and the English Electric Canberra. Consideration of the Canberra as a night intruder was based on an examination of the aircraft in Britain by USAF officials. Earlier that summer, a group led by Brig. Gen. Albert Boyd of the Air Materiel Command went to England and was enthusiastic about the new bomber in many respects. The Canberra’s crew facilities, however, were rated as marginal. Although the pilot had adequate working room, overhead clearance was limited. The navigator sat in a cramped “black hole” behind and below the pilot, with little room to work. Emergency escape for the pilot was by blowing the canopy; the navigator escaped

Above left: U.S. Navy officers examine WD932. Above right: An aerial shot of WD932. Below: An overhead view of Martin’s B-57A prototype for license production. WD932’s crash may have influenced Martin to switch to a tandem two-seat cockpit for its B-57B.

LEFT: COURTESY OF RICH JOHNS MATTHIES; MIDDLE AND RIGHT: NATIONAL ARCHIVES

Left: Reid Johns Shaw, WD932’s engineer-observer on its ill-fated December 21, 1951 flight, died after ejecting from the bomber. Middle: A salvage vessel recovers pieces of the Canberra. Right: The rear fuselage is hauled from Chesapeake Bay off the Delmarva Peninsula.

last such example to see active service had been the de Havilland DH-4 of World War I. A strong contingent felt Martin’s XB-51 was the best choice, but no firm decision could be made without a rigorous fly-off. Former RAF Wing Commander Beamont, now chief test pilot for English Electric and the Canberra test program, would fly the British entry. Beamont’s first reaction to the tight flight schedule was disappointment, since he felt it limited his ability to show off the Canberra’s capabilities. When asked if the schedule could be varied to suit a particular aircraft, he was firmly told, “No, this is an Air Force trial and not a Farnborough show!” However, Beamont calculated that he could complete the set maneuvers in about half the allotted time, and no one had said anything about what could or couldn’t be done with any remaining time. Making full use of the controllability afforded by the Canberra’s low wing loading, Beamont took WD932 though all its set maneuvers. When he completed the final turn and approached the runway with gear and flaps down, he still had about four minutes left of the 10-minute time slot. Putting the time to good use, Beamont snapped up the gear and flaps, applied full power and zoomed back up 1,000 feet above the dazzled spectators, then made a tight 360-degree turn and a spiral dive before landing with a minute to spare. After the fly-off, the Canberra seemed to be the obvious winner. Nevertheless, the board could not unconditionally recommend 36 AV I AT I O N H I S T O RY

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its procurement until certain modifications were made and more information was obtained from the British concerning their ability to deliver the requisite number of aircraft. Those factors and the strong support for the Martin XB-51 resulted in both airplanes being named temporary “winners.” Since English Electric was unable to supply Canberras to both the RAF and USAF quickly enough, the British agreed to allow the Glenn L. Martin Company to produce it under license in the U.S., assuming the XB-51 lost out. Martin agreed, since it would ensure them a much-needed contract, though naturally they preferred to work on an airplane of their own design. It was during this period of indecision that the B-57 designation was assigned to the American version. At Boyd’s suggestion, the USAF board requested the loan of a completely equipped Canberra for a more thorough critical evaluation. In March WD932 was delivered to Martin as its first pattern aircraft. The decision to go with the Canberra was made on March 23, when the Air Force sent a letter to Martin requesting 250 B-57As. English Electric delivered a second Canberra, WD940, on August 31. Martin would go on to produce more than 400 B-57s in various configurations.

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ragedy struck the Canberra project during an evaluation flight just before Christmas 1951, when WD932 crashed in Chesapeake Bay off the Delmarva Peninsula, not far from

the Martin factory. Both crewmen ejected, but Captain Shaw’s chute failed to open and he was killed. It was a significant setback for the B-57/Canberra program. The Air Force crash investigation determined that WD932’s left wing had failed just outboard of the engine nacelle as the pilot pulled 4.8Gs at 420 knots during a tight turn. By process of elimination, it was suggested that improper use of fuel tanks—emptying the fore tank first rather than the rear tank— resulted in the center of gravity moving far aft, causing the aircraft to pitch up and become longitudinally unstable. Neither crew member was able to carry out the proper ejection procedure, which involved manually blowing the canopy and navigator’s hatch before seat ejection. Both the pilot and the navigator ejected through the canopy and hatch, respectively. This was likely the result of the high G-forces. Some believed that my father would have lived had he not been knocked unconscious during ejection, since he died from drowning, and the injuries he sustained during the ejection were relatively minor. Naturally, there was concern in Britain about the Canberra’s structural failure. Chief test pilot Beamont duplicated the flight with another Canberra to confirm the original test conditions while the U.S. investigation was still underway. Beamont reported: “I re-proved this case at Warton a few weeks later in another production B2, WD958, to 5.2G at 450 knots,

Rich Johns (formerly Shaw) Matthies writes from Seattle, Wash. For additional reading, he recommends: Martin B-57 Canberra: The Complete Record, by Robert C. Mikesh; English Electric Canberra, by Roland Beamont and Arthur Reed; and English Electric Canberra and Martin B-57, by Barry Jones.

Build a Transatlantic Canberra

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evell USA, Airfix of England and the Frog company produced English Electric Canberra models in the 1960s and ’70s, but they are all out of production and very rare. In the 1990s, Classic Airframes relieved the drought of Canberra kits, releasing the B2, an early version of the bomber. It’s a huge model with a hefty $60 price tag, but there’s a lot in this 1/48th-scale kit box: a full resin interior and giant decal sheet with markings for a trio of aircraft. Classic Airframes kits are for the experienced modeler who has plenty of patience. Start by taping the forward portions of the fuselage together and fitting the clear nosepiece into place. Light sanding at this point will help to ensure a flawless fit after painting is complete. Note that this kit is the basis for several versions of the Canberra, with the forward section of the fuselage molded separately. Place the front and main fuselage parts on a flat surface, carefully align the two and glue them together. The interior pieces are cleanly molded resin castings. It is essential to completely remove the pouring blocks, since these parts fit tightly into the fuselage. Use a particle mask when cutting and sanding the resin, as the dust is toxic. Canberra interiors were painted black. To avoid creating a “black hole” effect with your model, paint the interior dark sea gray, BS381C/638. Spray the instrument panels gloss black and dot the control knobs and handles with red, silver and white. Dry brushing with light gray will highlight the details. The ejection seat frames should be flat black, with khaki green cushions and off-white seat belts. Next glue the horizontal stabilizers to their corresponding fuselage section. Note that these are butt joints. To strengthen this area, drill small holes through the fuselage and into the stabilizer roots, then insert pieces of plastic rod into the holes to secure the parts. The wings will also require these strengthening rods. Cement the completed interior into the left fuselage with cyanoacrylate cement and then add as much weight as possible behind the cockpit, to keep the model from becoming a tail-dragger. Glue the fuselage parts together and add the engine nacelles to the wings. The fit in this area is very poor, so you’ll need to do considerable filling and sanding. Next, look over your work and apply additional filler where necessary. Plug the cockpit opening with wet tissue and spray a primer coat overall. The English Electric Canberra Mk. I & IV, by Kenneth Munson, shows that B2s from No. 101 Squadron were painted gloss black and light aircraft gray, BS381C/627. WD932, the Canberra that made the first nonstop, unrefueled crossing of the Atlantic by a jet, should be painted with Tamiya’s gloss black, X-1, which you can easily apply via an airbrush or spray can. After letting it dry overnight, mask off the underside and spray the top of the wings, stabilizers and the top of the fuselage with the light gray. The wheel wells should be sprayed either flat aluminum or British interior green, with silver landing gear legs and tire black wheels. Apply a coat of Future acrylic floor wax to the model to provide a glass-like finish for the decals. The kit supplies the British national markings for WD932—the postwar, high-visibility red, white and blue roundels—and standard warning and safety stencils. I took the white underside and fuselage WD932 numbers and letters from various Super-Scale and Air Decal 1/48th-scale sheets. Another coat of Future seals the decals. Once you attach the large bubble canopy and the bombardier-navigator’s glazing with white glue, your model is ready for display. Dick Smith DICK SMITH

before we knew the results of the analysis. Subsequent calculations showed that with incorrect fuel management on that fatal flight, the C.G. [center of gravity] could have moved well aft of the aft limit and when pulling the G-force tests, the aircraft could have pitched up to 6½ to 7G.” His willingness to repeat the recently fatal maneuver before knowing the results of the crash investigation was a gutsy move. After the fatal crash, the Air Force brass called for changes and improvements to address a number of perceived deficiencies. Among the significant modifications in subsequent B-57B models was a much improved tandem canopy. This represented a considerable upgrade for the pilot, who gained far greater visibility. Of equal importance, it moved the navigator from the compartment deep behind the pilot, with only a small window, to a position where he could see out of the aircraft and be in a better position to eject, if necessary. As for the crew of WD932, the pilot was Major Harry M. Lester, who had been part of a record-setting USAF team of F-84E Thunderjets at the Bendix Trophy Races in 1949. Captain Shaw, the engineer-observer, had enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Forces in early 1942, shortly after the Pearl Harbor attack. He completed pilot training at Lubbock Air Field in Texas in 1943, and was assigned to fly B-24 Liberators. He would remain Stateside as a pilot instructor for the remainder of the war. Taking advantage of the GI Bill, he graduated with a degree in aeronautical engineering from Purdue University in August 1949 on the day after I was born. He was called up as a reservist at the outset of the Korean War, and assigned to the Canberra project. When Canberra WD932 crashed on December 21, 1951, the Air Force lost more than an iconic aircraft. It also lost a proficient pilot instructor, test engineer, dedicated officer and family man. Captain Reid Johns Shaw gave “the last full measure of devotion” to his country. I am proud to be his son.


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The

GARDENVILLE Project

The iconic bubblecanopy Bell 47, the first helicopter certified for civilian use, was born in an abandoned car dealership By Bruce Buckfelder

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nowy Buffalo, on the shores of Lake Erie in upstate New York, might seem an unlikely place for cuttingedge developments in vertical flight during the 1940s. At the time, however, Buffalo already had a significant history in the aviation business. Glenn Curtiss established his Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company there in 1916, merging with Wright Aeronautical in 1929 to form CurtissWright, America’s largest aviation company. Reuben Fleet’s Consolidated Aircraft was also active in the city between the wars. Fleet’s decision to move his operation to the West Coast in 1935 gave Vice President Larry Bell the opportunity to found his own firm, as well as the necessary space, personnel and tooling in Consolidated’s old Buffalo facility. Within a few years, the outbreak of World War II and a chance meeting with an inventor made the fledgling manufacturer a major 38 AV I AT I O N H I S T O RY

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player in the aviation industry. The payoff for what became known as the Gardenville Project would come on March 8, 1946, when the Bell Model 47 was certified as the first commercially licensed helicopter in the United States. Before Bell became closely associated with rotary-wing aircraft, the company had enjoyed significant success with its fixedwing airplanes. The P-39A Airacobra was in production before the U.S. entered WWII, with almost 10,000 rolling off the line by war’s end. By the time work began on the Gardenville Project, Bell was test-flying the XP-59A, America’s first jet fighter, and would soon produce the rocket-propelled X-1 that Chuck Yeager took through the sound barrier. Today both of those airplanes hang in the National Air and Space Museum’s Milestones of Flight gallery. The Gardenville Project has to be one of

the most overlooked stories in aviation. Even in its day, it received remarkably little attention considering the significance of what was achieved. Janet Harris of the West Seneca (N.Y.) Historical Society, a lifelong resident of the area, said, “I was never aware of the helicopter taking root practically in my backyard.” The lack of attention might be attributed to the times—there was a war on, after all, and the Model 47 was initially envisioned for civilian use. The Gardenville shop operated from June 1942 to June 1945, when the Bell and Curtiss-Wright factories in Buffalo were producing tens of thousands of airplanes for the war effort. Bell Aircraft employment would rise from 1,170 in 1940 to more than 50,000 by 1944. Buffalo, then the nation’s 14th largest city, boasted such a concentration of war-related industries that it was ranked third behind Detroit and San Francisco on the War Department’s list of strategiALL PHOTOS: NIAGARA AEROSPACE MUSEUM, EXCEPT WHERE NOTED

Opposite: With Joe Mashman at the controls, a crew of Gardenville staffers hops a ride on the preproduction Bell Model 30, Ship 3, in November 1946. Inventor Arthur Young is standing, facing the camera. Below: Floyd Carlson pilots Bell’s Model 30, Ship 2, in May 1944 during a demonstration inside the 65th Regiment Armory in Buffalo, N.Y.

Model 30, Ship 1, is prepared for a test flight. In June 1943, Ship 1 became the third helicopter to successfully fly untethered in the U.S.

cally important cities. WWII created its own priorities, and building helicopters for the civilian market was not among them. Inventor Arthur M. Young, the man behind the Bell 47, had trained as a mathematician rather than an engineer. Soon after graduating from Princeton in 1927, he devoted his attention to advancing the science of vertical flight. During the ensuing decade, he designed, built and tested rotarywing models at his farm in Paoli, Pa. In the late 1930s Young attended a series of Rotating Wing Aircraft meetings, where he met Igor Sikorsky and other pioneers in the field. In 1939 he managed to solve a major stability problem with the invention of the stabilizer bar, which consisted of two weights set at 90 degrees to the main rotor blades. The gyroscopic function of the bar effectively dampened out the effects of wind gusts, greatly increasing the machine’s stability. Thanks to this breakthrough, Young gained enough control to maneuver and even hover his model inside his barn workshop. The breakthrough earned him the respect of his competitors and effectively made him a leader in the field. Named the “fly bar,” his invention was granted one of the two patents Young earned. But when the inventor set out to market his ideas, approaching private industry as well as the military, neither the Army nor Navy was interested. The one nibble he received, from Brewster Aircraft in Phila-

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delphia, was lumbered with so many uncertainties that he decided not to pursue it. Young’s break came when his friend John Sharpe, who knew Bell engineer Jack Strickler, visited the Bell plant and mentioned the inventor’s work to Strickler, who relayed the recommendation to Larry Bell. That led to

Young demonstrating his model inside the Bell factory on September 3, 1941, flying it above assembly lines packed with P-39s. Larry Bell was first and foremost a salesman. He envisioned a large postwar civilian market for aircraft of all descriptions—a not uncommon view at the time. If he could suc-

Floyd Carlson sits at the controls of the rebuilt Ship 1, advised by Young (third from left).

cesfully produce a helicopter, Bell believed, he After considering all his options, including which broke off in the crash, would be would have an opportunity to corner a seg- giving up the project completely, Young con- replaced with a truss of welded steel tubing, a ment of the market that many of his com- tacted a real estate agent, who found an distinctive feature of the Model 47 throughpetitors had never even considered pursuing. empty auto dealership about 10 miles east of out its production run. Bell’s visions of postwar markets aside, a Buffalo near the village of Gardenville. It had Test pilot Floyd Carlson, a junior Bell major factor in his agreement with Young ample garage and office space, as well as some employee assigned to the project after Stanwas that the two men liked each other.“I took undeveloped land where the helicopters ley’s incident, became an important member a fancy to him right away,” Young said years could be tested. With Bell’s blessing, Young of the Gardenville team. Young later relater. They struck a deal that included remark- set up shop there in June 1942. His staff for marked that Carlson was the best test pilot ably few conditions compared to today’s the Gardenville Project—beginning at 15 and they could have had—capable of flying the voluminous contracts. Young agreed to assign never exceeding 32—included test pilots, helicopters, but not so good that he masked to Bell any patents he held in exchange for machinists and eventually one draftsman, design deficiencies. Carlson also contributed funds to build two full-size helicopters. One although it would be a year before the first a fix for the vibration issues that had plagued would have two seats, so Bell could ride in it. member with formal training in engineering, early flights. His “Swedish yoke” (the name (Bell stipulated this for all aircraft types pro- Charles Seibel, joined the group. was a nod to his Scandinavian heritage) stiffduced by his company; he ened the rotor mast and elimifelt that he couldn’t sell them nated the vibrations. On June if he hadn’t flown in them.) 26, 1943, he took the controls Bell agreed to hire Young’s of Ship 1 during its first longtime friend, Bartram untethered flight, making it Kelley, to assist the inventor. the third successful helicopter Young and Kelley arrived in America. at the Bell plant two weeks Once the team was flying before the attack on Pearl on a regular basis, the GarHarbor propelled the U.S. denville Project gained wider into WWII. At first they eked recognition. Carlson and secout a cramped workspace ond test pilot Joe Mashman between the existing assemspent time giving rides to bly lines that was dubbed visiting dignitaries, including “gyro test.” Given how busy competitor Igor Sikorsky. the plant was, however, it After the Russian-born dewasn’t long before they felt signer allowed Young and they were getting in the way. Carlson to fly one of his own Young also came to believe helicopters in return, they that the corporate bureau- Carlson prepares to take Larry Bell for a spin in Ship 2, as Young looks on. concluded that Sikorsky’s cracy at the Bell factory bird took much more effort made it very difficult to accomplish anything. Just six months later, on a frigid December to fly, especially in a hover. The Gardenville Larry Bell, who had lost his brother Grover 18, 1942, the first full-size helicopter—Model team then knew they had a good product. in an airplane crash in 1913, came up with 30, Ship 1, christened Genevieve by a secreOther visitors included a group of Russian one more condition before he would fully tary who smashed a bottle of champagne generals, in Buffalo to see the P-39s being fund Young’s project: The inventor had to over its nose—was moved outside the shop built at Bell’s main plant (most of which demonstrate that his machine could fly safely. for an engine run-up. Due to the cold, the would be sent to the Soviet Union under After Young successfully autorotated a model 160-hp Franklin engine initially refused to Lend-Lease) and then–Vice President Harry carrying a raw egg down from the plant’s 30- start, but once additional battery power was Truman. At one point Young narrowly foot-high ceiling, Bell released $250,000 to provided it came to life. Young, although not avoided an international incident when he get the helicopter project off the ground. a licensed pilot, successfully hovered the teth- slapped the hand of a Russian general who It almost stalled at the starting gate, how- ered craft a foot off the ground. had ignored repeated requests to stop flipever, once Young learned that the money was The program’s first setback occurred while ping switches in the cockpit. supposed to be spent on two dozen drafting Bell executive and pilot Robert Stanley was A feature article in a Buffalo newspaper tables and draftsmen. That was how his com- flying Ship 1 just before the end of 1942. helped raise the de facto veil of secrecy under petitors, mainly Sikorsky and Frank Piasecki, Pilot-induced oscillations threw Stanley which the Gardenville team had been workwere doing things at the time, but Young upward into the rotor, and he was flung into ing. Larry Bell, ever the salesman, decided believed he would be farther ahead if he was a snowbank. Luckily his worst injury was a that the helicopter must be demonstrated allowed to experiment first, then made draw- broken arm. He reluctantly called Bell after- before the public if they hoped to sell any. In ings of the parts that were successful—a view ward and reported, “I have delayed your heli- May 1944, Ship 2, with Carlson at the consupported by his track record to that point. copter a little.” Ship 1’s enclosed tail boom, trols, became the first helicopter to make an

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On March 14, 1945, Carlson rescued two fishermen from a Lake Erie ice floe using Ship 2.

The classic bubble-canopy version of the Model 47 served MASH units in the Korean War.

BETTMANN/CORBIS

indoor flight in the Western Hemisphere (a feat accomplished in Germany six years earlier) before a crowd of Civil Air Patrol members and invited guests inside a Buffalo armory. Carlson kept the machine centered between the building’s walls and 60-foot ceiling, even dipping its nose in a tribute to the CAP commander. On the Fourth of July, Carlson demonstrated Ship 1 inside Buffalo’s Civic Stadium before a crowd of 42,000 veterans, wartime production workers and guests. The grand finale came when he maneuvered the helicopter to position one of its wheels in Arthur Young’s outstretched hand and held it there in a motionless hover. In early 1945, two incidents showcased the Gardenville helicopters’ utility, providing a morale boost for Bell employees and garnering the kind of publicity money can’t buy. On January 15, Carlson participated in the first rotary-winged mercy mission after Bell test pilot Jack Woolams bailed out of an XP-59A. Woolams, who was injured in the mishap, made it to a farmhouse near Lockport, N.Y., but heavy snow prevented an ambulance from reaching him. Carlson flew Bell doctor Thomas Marriott to the scene, where he cared for Woolams—reportedly saving his life—until an ambulance finally arrived three hours later. The Marriott-Carlson Award, still given annually by the Association of Air Medical Services, is named for the doctor and pilot in that first rescue flight. On March 14, Carlson set out on another rescue mission, flying to Lake Erie to pull two stranded fishermen off an ice floe. He had Ship 2’s doors removed and calculated a fuel load that would allow him to pick up someone on the helicopter’s skids without landing, which would have been impossible on the thin ice. Plucking the fishermen off the ice one at a time, he flew them to safety. Given that Ship 2 had logged only 12 hours’ flying time at that point, Tom Harriman, another Gardenville team member, called it “the bravest thing I ever saw a father of three do.” The team built a third, unauthorized chopper, based on knowledge gained from Ships 1 and 2, after Young convinced Bell that it was necessary to continue their research. Ship 3 would essentially be the first production helicopter, unchanged as it went through certification except for the later addition of the iconic plastic bubble over the cockpit. It had a seat that would accommodate three and fea-

An H-13 (the Model 47’s military designation) is tested at Bell’s Fort Worth, Texas, plant.

tured the now industry-standard “rudder pedals” for control of the tail rotor, to make the machine more marketable to pilots. Model 30, Ship 3, was renamed Model 47, and production was moved to Bell’s Wheatfield plant, near Niagara Falls, in June 1945. Bell’s development and demonstration pro-

grams continued after that, but the closing of the Gardenville shop effectively marked the end of an era. There have been very few programs like it—before or since. The Civil Aeronautics Administration’s chief pilot Raymond Malloy led the certification program, but before he could judge the

new machine he had to be taught how to fly it. Malloy decreed that the control forces were too stiff, and specified that the Model 47 must receive a major overhaul every 25 hours, a restriction that would eventually be lifted. Registration NC-1H was assigned on March 8, 1946, and the first Bell 47 was no longer an experimental aircraft. The nod to begin production came two months later, when the CAA issued Bell a type certificate for the Model 47. At that point Larry Bell approached his corporate board and told them, “The only way we can sell the helicopter is to have the courage to build some.” He requested an initial run of 500, expecting a lesser number to be approved. The board approved all 500. The Bell 47, in a variety of configurations, would remain in production for nearly 30 years. Crop-duster, pipeline surveyor, traffic copter, news gatherer, law enforcement tool: These are just a few of the roles the Bell 47 has

since played around the world. Television star would also be added to that list with the 1957-60 series Whirlybirds. Its service in Korea was later immortalized by the film and TV show M*A*S*H, which celebrated the medevac missions performed by chopper crews working with mobile Army surgical hospitals close to the battlefield. The value of quickly transporting wounded soldiers to hospitals during that conflict—and all the wars since then—cannot be exaggerated. An estimated 20,000 wounded were evacuated by helicopter in Korea alone. The Bell 47 has even received recognition as a work of art. In 1984 a 47D was placed on permanent display in New York’s Museum of Modern Art. The type certificate earned in 1946 would remain in the possession of Bell Helicopter until 2010, when Scott’s Helicopter Services acquired it. The Minnesota-based company provides support to the roughly 1,000 exam-

ples of the venerable craft that are still flying. After the Gardenville Project came to an end, Arthur Young left Bell for academic pursuits in October 1947. Bartram Kelley retired from Bell Helicopter in 1974, at which point two-thirds of all the helicopters in the world were descendants of the three that had been built at Gardenville. The research facility in Gardenville was later transformed back into a Chrysler dealership, but several years ago it was replaced by a big-box drug store. Today many residents of the area are unaware of the important development work that took place in their community. But thanks to the Gardenville Project, there are very few people worldwide who have never seen a Bell 47.
Bruce Buckfelder writes from Kennesaw, Ga. Additional reading: The Bell Notes: A Journal From Physics to Metaphysics, by Arthur M. Young. For more information about Young, visit arthuryoung.com.

Young pilots Ship 1, the first incarnation of his brainchild.

Young’s Quest for Knowledge It would be incorrect to say that Arthur Middleton Young invented the Bell 47 by accident, the way penicillin was discovered because of a stack of dirty dishes. But the helicopter was by no means the goal of his lifelong quest. Born in Paris in 1905, Young was a Princeton-educated mathematician, philosopher and—above all—thinker, who early in life became focused on determining the “theory of process,” an understanding of how things work. At 23 he decided he’d have a better chance of accomplishing his goal if he could focus on a specific project for 10 to 15 years. During a visit to the Library of Congress, he read Anton Flettner’s description of a transatlantic boat powered by a rotating drum with small “windmills” at the edges. Theorizing that the same system might be used to power a verticalflight aircraft, Young decided to develop a helicopter. It is notable that Young was not an engineer, though he studied

everything he could find about vertical flight. He began his experiments by building small models, which allowed him to quickly try different methods and discard unsuccessful ones. This approach would serve him well when he later built larger machines. Young stuck to his rapid-development methods, eschewing Larry Bell’s plan to provide a gaggle of draftsmen. Once development began in Gardenville in 1942, “things really began to hum,” the inventor later recalled. In March 1946, less than four years later, the Civil Aeronautics Administration certified the Bell 47. In his journal, portions of which were published in 1979 as The Bell Notes: A Journey From Physics to Metaphysics, Young frequently noted his frustration with corporate bureaucracy and the differences of opinion that arose at Bell. He admitted that he intended to devote himself to the helicopter only “long enough to make it work.” The differences between Young’s and Bell’s approaches were underscored in 1946, when the Model 42, which had initially been developed by the Bell engineering department using more traditional methods, was turned over to Young to fix. Even though the 42 never became a commercial success, Young felt that this vindicated his own approach. “The model 42 was an admission that the Gardenville method could achieve things that the ‘system’ could not,” Young recorded in his journal. Once the Model 47 was flying, Young was ready move on. “Now I want only to amaze myself; to retire and seek the esoteric for its own sake,” he wrote. In 1952 he established the Foundation for the Study of Consciousness. In addition to publishing several books on philosophy, he became a poet and a painter. When Young died of cancer in 1995, he might not have left the exact mark he wanted on this earth, but countless people had benefited from his work. That’s a legacy of which anyone could be proud. B.B.

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DEADLY

DUO Two of the world’s most famous fighters—the Sopwith Camel and Fokker triplane—are arguably the most overrated By O’Brien Browne

This Fokker Dr.I triplane reproduction is painted in the colors of Lothar von Richthofen, brother of the most famous Dreidecker pilot: Manfred, the “Red Baron.”

Built in New Zealand, this replica Sopwith Camel sports the markings of early New Zealand ace Captain Clive Collett, who scored 11 victories before being wounded on September 9, 1917.

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erman Lieutenant Lothar von Richthofen, younger brother of Manfred, the celebrated “Red Baron,” peered over the cockpit of his Fokker Dreidecker (triplane), spotting a mixed flight of British Sopwith F.1 Camel fighters and Bristol F.2b two-seaters soaring over the cratered battlefields of France. In a flash, Lothar led his flight into the attack, guns blazing. Suddenly he heard a sickening ripping sound. Looking up, he watched helplessly as the fabric on the leading edge of his uppermost wing shredded in the airflow, either due to enemy fire or, more likely, shoddy construction. “My triplane became a biplane,” Lothar later recalled, as his stricken craft went into a steep dive and crash-landed, severely injuring him. Meanwhile in England, Lieutenant Colonel L.A. Strange of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) watched with his stomach churning as a Camel approached Upavon airfield. Quick as a lash, the fighter flipped over into a dizzying spin and smashed into the ground, instantly killing its novice pilot. “Camels continually spun down out of control when flown by pupils out on their first solos,” Strange laconically commented. It was the spring of 1918, and both the Camel and the Dreidecker had claimed their latest victims—unfortunately not the enemy. The Fokker Dr.I triplane and the Sopwith Camel are indisputably the two most recognizable fighter aircraft of World War I, indeed, two of the most famous fighters in aerial combat history. Arguably the most recognizable fighter from any war is Manfred von Richthofen’s blood-red Dr.I 425/17, in which he was killed. To this day, Camel and Dreidecker images are everywhere, from model airplane kits to Hollywood films, from bicycles to pizza boxes, from the Peanuts comic strip to countless book and PHOTOS: PHILIP MAKANNA/©GHOSTS

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Camel had a wingspan of 28 feet, a top speed of 121 mph and a ceiling of 19,000 to 24,000 feet (depending on the engine), while the stubby Dr.I’s wingspan was just 23 feet 7 inches and its top speed was only 115 to 120 mph, with a ceiling of 20,000 feet. Both fighters had to be flown hands-on all the time. The Dr.I’s three wings created breathtaking lift, and the Camel, with its fuel tanks and pilot packed closely together, was extremely light and nimble. Both were highly maneuverable: Their rotary engines—a 110hp or 130-hp Clerget, Le Rhône or Bentley, among others, in the Camel; a 110-hp Oberursel in the Dreidecker—produced lightningquick right-hand turns that dazzled opponents in a dogfight, even while terrifying novice pilots.“The new Fokker triplane which I fly is an absolutely splendid craft, tremendously maneuverable and it climbs splendidly,” Captain Adolf Ritter von Tutschek, a 27-victory ace, excitedly wrote in his diary.

verable and equal to the British machines.” After a running ground-level fight with a swarm of 16 British S.E.5as, Captain Tutschek repeatedly outmaneuvered and got above and behind his opponents, noting in his diary on February 2, 1918, “after this day I have a burning love for my Fokker triplane.” Both opponents respected the prowess of their enemy’s aircraft. Never try “to fight a Triplane at a disadvantage,” RAF Captain Edward Mannock instructed his men, one of whom, when a Dreidecker latched onto his tail, reportedly yanked “his aircraft into a vertical bank, held the stick tight into his stomach, kept his engine full on, and prayed hard” until the German finally broke off the attack. Prior to its introduction, the Dr.I already enjoyed a formidable reputation thanks to the marketing efforts of its creator, Anthony Fokker, who filmed Richthofen, the war’s highest scoring ace with 80 victories, and other aces test-flying it. Indeed, the Red FAR LEFT: ALEX IMRIE COLLECTION VIA JON GUTTMAN; LEFT: PHILIP JARRETT

periodical covers. In popular volumes such as Time-Life’s Knights of the Air, the Camel and the Dr.I are presented like sexy pinups— complete with double-page spreads—subconsciously magnifying these planes’ significance in modern minds. But are their reputations justified? What was the reality of their performance, and their impact on the war effort? Looking at the sheer number of experienced and inchoate pilots killed in these machines, one wonders what all the hype is about. The Dreidecker and the Camel shared several similarities. Both were introduced in 1917, as the air war was becoming more deadly. The Sopwith F.1, dubbed the “Camel” because of the humped fairing covering its twin Vickers machine guns on the forward cowling, was warmly welcomed by British fliers. For the first time in the war, they could match the firepower of German fighters, which sported double Spandau machine guns.

The Dr.I’s cockpit instrumentation was Spartan compared to the Camel’s, but jams on its exposed machine guns were easier to clear.

Similarly, the Dreidecker was eagerly received by German pilots, including the Red Baron, who noted the triplanes could “climb like apes and are as maneuverable as the devil.” Additionally, the Dr.I and Camel replaced outclassed earlier fighters, such as the singlegunned Sopwith Pup, Sopwith Triplane and Nieuport 17 on the Allied side, and the Germans’ effective but structurally weak Albatros D.III to D.Va series. The Camel was a natural developmental progression from the Pup and Triplane, while the Dreidecker was essentially a stopgap response to the impressive climbing abilities of Sopwith’s Triplane. The Camel and the Dr.I were diminutive, relatively slow and had low ceilings: The

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The Sopwith F.1’s hump-like fairing over its Vickers machine guns led to its unofficial but universally adopted nickname, “Camel.”

The Camel, one RAF pilot asserted, “was unquestionably the greatest plane at the front….In a fight it could turn to the right faster than any other plane….” There is no doubt that in the hands of skilled, experienced and confident pilots the Dr.I and Camel were superior dogfighters and excellent at low-level work. The Camel was particularly good at strafing and bombing ground targets. “They could dive straight down on anything,” remembered Lieutenant Victor Yeates, “and when a few feet off the ground go straight up again.” Lieutenant Josef Jacobs, an ace with 44 or 48 victories (depending on the scorekeeper), wrote that the Dreidecker “at low level…is very maneu-

Baron received the very first Dreidecker and scored the first triplane victory on September 1, 1917, shooting down an RFC R.E.8 twoseater. Produced in small numbers, the triplane was initially assigned only to seasoned aces, further promoting its exclusive allure. Similarly, the Camel was also flown by several successful Allied aces, such as Major William Barker, 50 victories, and Lt. Col. Raymond Collishaw, who ended the war with a tally of 60. After the conflict, the Camel “starred” in an excellent novel, Winged Victory, written by former Camel pilot V.M. Yeates, and the popular “Biggles” war adventure books by W.E. Johns. And when Peanuts creator Charles Schulz, an avid WWI aviation

COURTESY OF GREG VAN WYNGARDEN

This Camel is a relatively rare example mounting a 100-hp Gnome monosoupape engine.

engine. Failure to do so often resulted in a loop, with the Camel crashing into the ground on its starboard wingtip. And to recover from a spin, as experienced pilots quickly realized, the key was to center the controls and push the stick forward until the fighter righted itself. Thus in one awful respect the Camel was indeed king: training casualties. According to statistics compiled by researcher Chris Hobson, the Camel accounted for 16.5 percent of British training casualties, much more than any other type of aircraft during the war. Shockingly, an estimated 385 pilots died from noncombat-related causes while flying Camels, compared to 413 killed in combat. As with the Camel, the Dreidecker’s reputation is vastly overinflated. A disturbingly large number of German squadron leaders

ALEX IMRIE COLLECTION VIA JON GUTTMAN

enthusiast, decided to place Snoopy at the controls of a Camel, perpetually cursing the Red Baron, its reputation was sealed. As if this was not enough, it is oft reported that the Camel scored more victories than any other aircraft type during the war: 1,294. A closer look at the reality of these two famous fighters, however, reveals a more complex story. First, given RFC (later Royal Air Force) victory accreditation standards, which counted “out of control” as a “kill,” it is more accurate to say that more victories were claimed in Camels than in any other airplane. Second, and most disturbing, the Camel killed many of its own pilots. As 29-victory Australian ace Captain Arthur Cobby recalled: “A great number of trainee pilots had been killed learning to fly this machine, as its tricks took some learning, although they were really simple to overcome. Its main trouble was that owing to its very small wingspan, and its purposely unstable characteristics, coupled with the gyroscopic effect of a rotating engine and propeller, it flipped into a spin very easily at low speeds. Consequently, in landing and taking off, a tremendous number of fatal accidents occurred, and a general feeling of dislike for the machine was prevalent. It really had people frightened.” As the Camel nosed down in a spin, most novice pilots did the logical thing: They pulled the stick back and applied opposite rudder. Tragically, this was not the cure to lift the Camel out of its deadly spiral. During takeoffs, enough speed had to be developed, with the pilot applying full right rudder to counteract the torque of the spinning rotary

and high-ranking aces were killed in the triplane: Lieutenant Werner Voss (48 victories), Lieutenant Walter Göttsch (20), Lieutenant Heinrich Gontermann (39), 1st Lt. Kurt Wolff (33), Tutschek (27) and of course Imperial Germany’s superstar, Richthofen. Many others crash-landed, resulting in some pilots requiring extended hospitalization, while still others were killed in tragic mishaps, as in the case of Private Günther Pastor (one victory), who died when his Dr.I hit the ground in October 1917 due to wing failure. The loss of these talented and inspirational combat leaders—as well as the equally important lower ranks—was immense, especially given the comparatively low rate of return. By the end of 1917, for instance, it has been estimated by WWI air combat researchers Norman Franks, Frank Bailey and Russell Guest that only “15 victories would have been scored in these Dreideckers…ten of which were by Voss.” Indeed, the triplane was so troubled that German military authorities grounded it while a special commission investigated its flaws. Tests revealed poor quality control and substandard construction practices at the Fokker factory. Officials discovered that the Dr.I’s ailerons could break during banks and other maneuvers because of faulty attachments. Furthermore, moisture in the top wing affected glue joints, causing the fabric to rip off in the airstream. There were other concerns as well: With restricted access to the castor oil needed for the rotary engine, the Germans used a synthetic substitute, which led to overheating and breakdowns, particularly in the summer months. In addition, the

The Dr.I was the first production fighter to feature wood box cantilever wing construction.

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COURTESY OF JON GUTTMAN

Dreidecker’s high center of gravity meant it was an extremely cold aircraft to fly. And it was unstable on the ground and rocked its rotary engine—as with the Dr.I— laterally during takeoff and landing; spewed castor oil fumes, afflicting pilots wooden skids were added to the lower with nausea and digestive tract problems. wingtips to prevent damage. Production By war’s end, 5,695 Camels had been was halted until these potentially deadly ordered, and the fighter had fought on faults were remedied, and it wasn’t until every front as well as in a home defense the end of November 1917 that the Dr.I role in the UK. Yet the Camel’s contempowas again declared fit for active service. raries, such as the excellent French SPAD The Camel, too, was plagued by probXIII and the tough and stable British lems. Rushed into production, some could S.E.5a, surpassed it in performance and not reach their operational ceiling in the reliability, reaching speeds of 125 mph promised amount of time. Moreover, as and ceilings of up to 22,000 feet. Indeed, Wing Captain C.L. Lambe of the Royal one flier bemoaned,“A Camel pilot had to Navy Air Service complained: “The work shoot down every German plane in the on Camels has not been satisfactory. Four sky in order to get home himself, as the were sent down with their engine bearers Camel could neither outclimb nor outrun in such a state that it had to be rea Fokker [D.VII].” ported….It is obvious that not only had The Dreidecker’s impact on the war was they never been flown, but could never minimal. Only 320 were produced, equiphave had engines installed….” On top of This Camel of No. 208 Squadron crashed in 1918. ping about 14 of 80 German fighter squadthis, British-made Clerget motors suffered rons. It was far superseded by the Albatros significant loss of performance with extended breakages were reported); the port wheel was D.I to D.Va series, whose production numuse; there were troubles with the Kauper prone to detaching itself from the undercar- bers reached more than 4,000 by 1918, and by interrupter gear, which enabled the machine riage, causing landing accidents; and the the superlative Fokker D.VII, rightly considguns to fire through the propeller arc; tail- small rudder was “barely adequate,” in the ered one of the war’s greatest fighters, with an skids broke (from March to May 1918, 370 words of Camel expert J.M. Bruce. Moreover, estimated production run of about 3,200.

PHILIP MAKANNA/©GHOSTS

A superb reconstruction of the third preproduction Fokker triplane, F.I 103/17, flown to fame by Werner Voss in September 1917.

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As to their illustrious reputations, the his fill of troublesome rotaries. In a letter to a is the most important point. One could shoot Camel and the Dreidecker have both benefited friend at German air force headquarters, down five to ten times as many [enemy airfrom being the key actors in one of aviation Richthofen demanded,“When can I count on craft] if one were faster.” Given these comhistory’s most famous air battles—Richt- [receiving] Fokker [D.VII] biplanes and with ments, it is ironic that Richthofen is today so hofen’s last flight on April 21, 1918, when he the super-compressed engines?” He noted closely associated with the troubled triplane. was pursuing one Camel for his potential 81st that Allied fighters were operating at such The Camel and the Dr.I were touchy, sensivictory while being attacked from behind by high altitudes that “One cannot even shoot at tive and agile fighters, creatures of the war another. Whether he was shot down by them. The two-seaters drop their bombs that had produced them. In the hands of Camel pilot Roy Brown or, more likely, by without our being able to reach them. Speed skilled pilots they were spectacularly responAustralian ground troops, doesn’t sive, but with novices at the controls seem to matter: What has remained they were more deadly to themselves in our collective consciousness is that than to their enemy. Both were obthe Red Baron died in his scarlet trisolete by mid-1918, surpassed in plane while fighting Sopwith Camels. performance, safety and reliability In reality, however, Richthofen by other aircraft. In the final analyscored less than a quarter of his vicsis, we should see them for what they tories in the Dreidecker. The vast mareally were: flawed fighters, deadly to jority of his kills were in Albatros friend and foe alike.
fighters—also painted partially or all O’Brien Browne writes from Mannred. Moreover, toward the end of his heim, Germany. For further reading, short life, Richthofen was painfully he recommends: Sopwith Camel vs. aware of the Dr.I’s limitations, and he Fokker Dr I: Western Front 1917-18 wrote to his superiors complaining and Sopwith Camel, both by Jon about its performance. “I would preGuttman; Sopwith Camel, by J.M. fer to have the Fokker [D.VII] with Bruce; The Fokker Triplane, by Alex the BMW engine or the supercharged Imrie; and Fokker Dr I Aces of Mercedes,” he told them. BMW and World War I, by Norman Franks and Mercedes engines were inline, reliable Greg Van Wyngarden. and powerful; Richthofen had had Lothar von Richthofen’s Dr.I after he crash-landed in 1918. COURTESY OF GREG VAN WYNGARDEN

PHILIP MAKANNA/©GHOSTS

Javier Arango’s Camel is an original, bearing the markings of a Sopwith flown in Italy by Canadian ace William G. Barker.

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WAVE-TOP

MARAUDER A faded wartime diary provided a window on my father’s RAF service flying risky low-level bombing missions in the Adriatic By Evan Hadingham

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anuary 25, 1944. My father, Ronald Hadingham, is aboard a troopship bound for his Royal Air Force duty station in the Mediterranean. Ten days out from Liverpool, he decides to retrieve a baggage item from the hold and, unnoticed, follows another passenger down through the huge watertight door. While rummaging around, my father is suddenly plunged into darkness when the other passenger slams the door and turns off the light from the outside. It’s pitch-black and no one knows he’s down there. The ship is five days away from its destination, Alexandria, and the convoy has already been under attack from U-boats. What will happen, he wonders, if a torpedo strikes? In his wartime diary he later jots down the alarming thoughts that raced through his mind. Ronald tries banging on the hull with a stray piece of wood, but that proves useless. Finally, he wrote, “after great efforts to think calmly, I hit upon the idea of finding a water pipe, which would carry sounds out to other parts of the ship. After groping in the dark for ages, I found one in the roof, and banged out S.O.S. with my piece of wood. Sure enough, an answering call came back along the pipe 50 AV I AT I O N H I S T O RY

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after a while, and after another half hour’s search, I was located and rescued by about a dozen people, convinced they had found a stowaway!” That incident was just a prelude to the challenges my father would face over the next seven months—challenges he would meet with the same ability to think clearly in a crisis. Eventually assigned to No. 14 Squadron, RAF, he arrived at its base at Grottaglie, in the “heel” of Italy, at a critical moment in the struggle for control of the Mediterranean. The Allies had invaded southern Italy in September 1943, and now their forces were preparing a massive final push against strongly defended Axis positions at Monte Cassino, south of Rome. The RAF had the vital job of spotting and destroying any enemy ships bringing supplies and reinforcements to the war zone. For 14 Squadron, this meant a particularly risky type of mission: six- to eighthour patrols flown at sea level to evade radar and fighter attack, often within range of formidable coastal anti-aircraft batteries. The Martin Marauders flown by 14 Squadron compounded the risk for aircrews. A powerful twin-engine medium bomber, the American-built B-26 Marauder was an un-

forgiving handful for inexperienced pilots. There was little margin for error: Its landing speed was high, and if an engine failed with the wheels down, the result could be catastrophic. Not surprisingly, the “Widow Maker” was unpopular with training units. Yet in skilled hands it proved highly effective in fending off enemy fighters and dodging flak during the long Mediterranean missions. As the leader of 14 Squadron’s A Flight at Grottaglie, my father had more than 150 men under his command and led 44 of these highrisk missions. Pathologically modest, in the stiff-upper-lip British tradition, in later life he rarely talked about what he had been through. A postwar business associate described him as “a quiet, pleasant and unassuming individual; rather a small man, totally lacking in ostentation, his modest demeanor totally belied the capability which existed behind the facade. It was a long time before I discovered that he had been a squadron leader in the RAF.” Once, my mother let slip the fact that his squadron nickname had been “Hell Hadingham,” which seemed utterly at odds with his quiet personality and calm demeanor. I wondered how he had managed to lead his ABOVE: NO. 14 SQUADRON ASSOCIATION; OPPOSITE IMAGES: ©EVAN HADINGHAM

Opposite: A Marauder of No. 14 Squadron, RAF, skims just above the waves of the Adriatic Sea during a 1944 mission. Left: A sketch by Ronald Hadingham (below) in his war diary shows the route of his first operational flight with 14 Squadron, on May 17, 1944. Bottom: Hadingham used this navigation chart to keep track of the ever-fluid situation in the Adriatic. German-occupied islands are marked in red, while partisancontrolled islands are green.

men through the traumatic experiences of war. It was not until after he died that I came across the diary with a faded blue cover he had kept throughout his sevenmonth tour of duty in Italy. As I read the entries—neatly penned in blue ink nearly every day, even after six-hour missions—I began to understand what had been a mystery to me during my father’s lifetime. Still getting the hang of the Marauder after a six-week training course and facing his first mission, he had arrived at Grottaglie in unnerving circumstances. The squadron was suffering heavy losses, he wrote, “of a somewhat mysterious nature, since in practically every case the aircraft has simply failed to return, without radio or any other clue as to what has been happening.” The risks became clearer as Ronald began his first patrols along the northern Adriatic coast. Low-level flight for hour after hour presented a huge hazard: On a calm day the glassy sea often blended with the sky, so a pilot could easily lose track of the horizon. After one pilot just back from a mission complained about how rough his engines had been running, it was discovered

that the tips of all eight propeller blades were bent back from contact with the sea—a close call indeed. Patrolling the maze of small islands, some of them held by the Axis, others by partisans on the Allies’ side, involved other risks. It was crucial for the British airmen to keep track of these shifting territories to avoid accidentally attacking the partisans or exposing their aircraft to enemy groundfire along the coast. Moreover, innocent-looking merchant vessels—even hospital ships marked with the Red Cross—might turn out to be heavily armed and carrying supplies to the Italian forces. Ronald noted of a typical encounter with one such disguised ship: “As we went up to it to note its type and size, a storm of ackack was let loose at us from at least half a dozen guns on it, easily the worst we have experienced yet, so I turned violently to avoid getting too unhealthily close, and took vioHadingham (standing at center) poses with his crew at Grottaglie air base, in Italy.

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PHOTOS: ©EVAN HADINGHAM

Pilots and crewmen of A Flight gather for a group photo with one of their Marauders at Grottaglie on September 26, 1944.

lent evasive action, climbing up, skidding, diving on to the water, and turning to right or left with the crazy flight of a bat.” It didn’t help that their bombers were plagued with mechanical problems. “How unlucky I have been on Marauders in small things!” he wrote after one mission in which both generators had failed, requiring him to fly without radio contact. “I have had failures of almost every item of ancillary equipment at various times. Two burst tires, broken hydraulic system, failure of all instruments just after take off (fuse blown), air locks in petrol causing engine cuts, and now faulty generators! And most people have never had anything go wrong!” Yet he put a positive spin on these incidents, viewing them as learning experiences that “help one to understand the aircraft, and feel confident one could cope with a similar situation next time.” The worst mishap of all came on his third mission, hundreds of miles from Grottaglie, when he suddenly noticed there was zero pressure in the hydraulic system, which oper-

ated the landing gear, flaps and brakes. His copilot clambered into the bomb bay and found it swimming in hydraulic fluid. One of the main lines had broken—serious news, since it meant their emergency hand pump would be of only limited use. During the long flight home, Ronald led a thorough discussion with the crew, assigning each of them a job in handling the emergency gear. Over the airfield, he began circling at 2,000 feet while they worked on the hand pump. They managed to get both the nose wheel and left wheel down and locked, but even after strenuous pumping the right wheel still refused to budge. At that point their situation was dire indeed: A one-wheel touchdown was far more dangerous than a belly landing, but it was impossible to retract the left wheel. “So with one final effort, plus violent rocking of the aircraft on my part,” he wrote, “the wheel suddenly unlocked, and down she came. The relief was terrific…we still had to land with only partly working flaps, and no brakes, which had its dangers, but all went well.”

Once again, he concluded, “we shall know what to do next time.” By his ninth mission, Ronald’s growing confidence and familiarity with the coast posed its own hazard: “I got a little too close in shore, and a hail of splashes around us and tracer was sufficient reminder to keep a healthy way out…a false step like this reminds you there is danger there.” For his crew, however, it was apparently not the first time their captain had shown overconfidence. To his dismay the following day, the crewmen confronted him with a serious complaint. After comparing notes and photos with other crews, they were convinced Ronald was piloting closer to ships and the shore than anyone else, exposing them all to unnecessary risk. Shaken by this challenge to his judgment, Ronald confided in his diary that night: “Perhaps I have been going slightly close because I have not wanted to appear timid to them or ‘half do’ the job of identifying vessels. Now that I know how they really feel, we shall from now on keep a mile or two

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PHOTOS: ©EVAN HADINGHAM

The B-26A—or Marauder Mark I, as the British knew it—had high wing loading and consequently high takeoff and landing speeds.

out to sea instead of half a mile, and view ing the 1930s. When war broke out, Rex was midable barricade. Ronald’s A Flight had ships from a more healthy distance.” first laid up at Bari, in the Adriatic, and then been given the mission of finding Rex before But even at a range of five miles, a well- towed to Pola, where it disappeared from aer- that happened. operated shore battery could bring down a ial photos in early September. Allied intelliOn September 6, as my father’s Marauder Marauder. Patrolling at this seemingly safe gence thought the Germans might be towing flew past Trieste, his navigator spotted a susdistance in September, Ronald’s aircraft was the liner to Trieste, where they could scuttle it picious object close to the cliffs. Since it was hit by a “clap like thunder,” as ack-ack shells at the entrance to the harbor to create a for- hard to see in the twilight, Ronald turned the burst a few yards away from its wings and tail. “The sea all around us was churned up with shrapnel,” he wrote, “and the whole aircraft literally gave a shudder, and the concussion was terrific. Gene called out, ‘I think we are hit,’ and as I pulled the aircraft up in a violent evasive turn I glued my eyes on the instruments looking for engine troubles, and anxiously felt the aircraft responding normally to the controls….We were certainly badly shaken, and all felt that this was a really narrow escape!” The crew’s diligence was finally rewarded in early September, when they made a spectacular sighting: the Italian luxury liner Rex. At 880 feet long, it was the world’s fourth biggest ocean liner and had broken records for the fastest transatlantic crossing dur- A view of the “front office” shows the controls and instrument panel of a 14 Squadron Marauder. 54 AV I AT I O N H I S T O RY

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Evan Hadingham is the senior science editor of the PBS NOVA science series. Further reading: Spreading My Wings: The Wartime Story of Ronald Hadingham (available at blurb.com).

IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM C4622

After being spotted by Hadingham’s navigator on September 6, 1944, the Italian liner Rex, which had been seized by the Germans, comes under attack by Bristol Beaufighters.

IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM C4699

bomber around and roared into Trieste Harbor under full power. Still unsure of what they were looking at, he repeated the run, expecting a storm of flak from Trieste’s defenses. As he pulled up sharply, all doubts vanished—they could clearly make out Rex’s rakish lines and twin funnels. When my father turned tail to make his escape, “all hell was let loose at us, and we paid for our view of this prize target by experiencing three minutes of pretty hair-raising flak. Dirty black puffs would suddenly appear in the air ahead, to one side or above us, and a sudden kick against the tail told me that they were bursting close behind us as well. The sea all around us was speckled with small and large shrapnel from the fragmentation. And all the time, with both engines full out, I was putting the aircraft into every type of dive, climb, and turn imaginable. We eventually passed out of the danger area completely unscathed, flushed with excitement. We got a great kick from sending our radio message—sighting a 51,000-ton vessel!” Stormy weather intervened after that sighting, but three days later Bristol Beaufighters attacked the liner, pummeling it with armor-piercing rockets until the great ship caught fire and eventually rolled onto its side. Rex’s sinking marked a dramatic end to the enemy shipping threat in the Adriatic, which 14 Squadron and other units had played a vital role in neutralizing. Less than two weeks after the liner was sunk, the squadron was ordered home to “Blighty.” Ronald was clearly lucky to have survived. Between November 1942 and September 1944, No. 14 Squadron lost 30 aircraft—18 in combat and 12 in accidents—an average of more than one Marauder a month. This was a much higher casualty rate than seen in any other Marauder-equipped RAF unit, due largely to the squadron’s perilous mission of flying low-level patrols. But there was obviously more to my father’s survival than luck. His calm determination and ability to think clearly in a crisis often figure in his diary’s blue-inked pages. In our family we have a new saying: If in doubt, “remember to knock on the pipes,” and things will probably turn out all right.


Ravaged by rockets fired by Beaufighters of the RAF’s No. 272 and 39 squadrons, and No. 16 Squadron, South African Air Force, Rex rolls over and sinks in Capodistria Bay.

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Bertie Lee’s

With two engines out and a fire in the bomb bay, the battered B-17Õs odds of survival didnÕt look good, but somehow the three remaining crewmen kept the shot-up bomber flying By David F. Crosby

“Brakes,”ordered First Lieutenant Edward S. Michael,

pilot of the B-17G Bertie Lee. “Brakes set,” answered First Lieutenant Franklin Westberg, his copilot. Continuing down the takeoff checklist, the experienced pilot took nothing for granted. Finally, pushing the throttles forward, Michael applied rudder to keep the big bomber in the runway’s center until they lifted off. “Gear up,” he ordered. Forming up with the rest of the 364th Bombardment Squadron Flying Fortresses of the 305th Bombardment Group (Heavy), Bertie Lee headed east across the English Channel. It was April 11, 1944, and Stettin, Germany—75 miles beyond Berlin—was their target. During the Eighth Air Force’s darkest days in 1943, when bombers were being shot out of the sky with frightening rapidity, if a B-17 survived 25 combat missions, its crew rotated Stateside. Bertie Lee’s crew had already completed 25 sorties by April 1944, but bad timing and a command decision by Lt. Gen. Jimmy Doolittle conspired to send them into harm’s way once more on the 11th. Doolittle was concerned 56 AV I AT I O N H I S T O RY

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that by rotating his best aircrews home after 25 combat missions, he was losing them just when he needed them most, so he had recently upped the number of required missions to 30. Experienced crews like Bertie Lee’s, which had already logged close to the original rotation number, now had to fly 27 missions before returning home. It was a very unpopular policy, but Doolittle had his reasons. Raids on enemy positions along the Channel coast had become more frequent in preparation for D-Day, and those, along with bombing missions in France’s interior, had recently proved less dangerous for aircrews. P-51 Mustangs equipped with drop tanks now escorted the bombers deep into Germany. Doolittle had given the fighter pilots permission to go after targets of opportunity once the bombers had dropped their ordALL PHOTOS: HOMEOFHEROES.COM, EXCEPT WHERE NOTED

Taken sometime before Bertie Lee’s 26th mission, this photo includes seven of the 10 crewmen who made the final flight. Shown standing, from left, are Arthur Kosino, Pat Malone, Ray Ridge, Anthony Russo, Fred Wilkins and Reynold Evans. Kneeling, from left, are Franklin Westberg, Sid Miller, John Lieber and Edward Michael.

nance, a change that put great pressure on Germany’s fighter command. Luftwaffe pilots now had to watch the sky even when they were on the ground. Doolittle had stolen a play from Civil War Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s strategy book: Attack, attack and then attack again. When you had more assets and a better supply chain, a war of attrition worked in your favor. Bertie Lee’s crew of 10 included seven men on their 26th mission and three replacements on their first flight. Besides Michael and Westberg, the other officers were navigator 2nd Lt. M.M. Calvert—on his first mission—and bombardier 2nd Lt. John Lieber. The remainder of the crew consisted of enlisted men: Staff Sgt. Jewell Phillips, flight engineer; Staff Sgt. Reynold Evans, radio operator; Staff Sgts.

Anthony Russo and Arthur Kosino, waist gunners; Staff Sgt. Clarence Luce, tail gunner; and Staff Sgt. Fred Wilkins, in the bottom ball turret. Of these, Luce and Phillips were participating in their first raid. Four hours into the mission, the formation started taking flak. As black puffs of smoke filled the sky, Bertie Lee was hit in the right wing, sending a shudder through the bomber. The B-17’s gunners could see German fighters working over a flight of B-24s in the distance. While the B-24 Liberator was a good longrange bomber, it could not take as much punishment as a Flying Fortress and had a tendency to burn when hit. Flashing through the formation, the German fighters sent 13 B-24s spiraling toward earth. Tracer rounds slicing across the sky, smoke from burning bombers SEPTEMBER 2013 AV I AT I O N H I S T O RY 57

and an occasional parachute opening amid the flak testified to the carnage surrounding them. As Bertie Lee and its sister ships hit the IP for the run on Stettin’s ball bearing plant, the enemy threw an old trick at them. More than 100 Messerschmitt and Focke-Wulf fighters had massed high above the bomber formation, poised for an ambush. Despite the Americans’ fighter escort and intense flak from their own anti-aircraft guns, the German fighters suddenly swooped down like birds of prey, sending one B-17 plunging to the ground and badly damaging another. Many of the fighters seemed to be concentrating on Bertie Lee, raking the Fortress from nose to tail with 20mm rounds. Every crewman with a machine gun at hand returned fire. Enemy cannons knocked out two of the bomber’s engines and badly shot up the top turret. The radio room also took a beating from shell fragments, shredding Sergeant Evans’ parachute stored there. Cannon fire destroyed most of Bertie Lee’s flight instrumentation, blew out a cockpit window and injured both the pilot and copilot, with Michael suffering a gaping thigh wound.

they both could use one parachute, but then someone discovered an extra chute stored in a duffel bag. The four enlisted men leapt out above Germany, headed for certain capture. Believing the aircraft was empty, the pilots began preparing to jump as well at that point. But then the German fighters returned to the attack, and Michael spent precious moments steering the B-17 into a cloud bank in an attempt to escape. At that point Sergeant Phillips appeared in the cockpit, with a shattered arm and badly wounded eye. The sergeant was unable to put on his parachute or open it due to his injuries, so Michael attached Phillips’ parachute to his harness, led him to the door and pulled the ripcord as the flight engineer jumped from the bomber. Michael turned back to the cockpit, where Westberg remained at the controls. Just then they heard one of Bertie Lee’s machine guns firing. Lieutenant Lieber, the bombardier, had missed the bail-out command and remained at his station. Incredibly, despite the mayhem all around him, he continued to fight the enemy. Michael, by now bleeding profusely, ordered Lieber to put on his parachute and get out.

What was left of the B-17G after its belly landing at Grimsby airfield. Inset: Lieber and Westberg accompany Michael to the hospital.

Suddenly the bomber shuddered and started to spin earthward— even as the fighters continued to fire on it. Hydraulic fluid streamed down the windscreen, making it nearly impossible to see ahead, and the cockpit began to fill with smoke. At first the controls refused to respond, but Michael and Westberg managed to wrestle the stricken bomber into level flight after losing 3,000 feet of altitude. Even then, the enemy fighters hadn’t given up their pursuit. Three 20mm cannon shells now hit Bertie Lee’s bomb bay, setting fire to three of the 42 100-pound incendiary bombs stored there. Evans staggered to the cockpit and alerted Michael. They all realized that the bomber could explode at any moment. Michael tried to use the emergency jettison switch to drop the bombs, but it wouldn’t function. “Bail out, bail out, bail out!” Michael shouted over the intercom, and the bail-out buzzer clanged its warning to the beleaguered crew. Two of the new men were the first to escape. In the tail gun, Sergeant Luce opened his trap door and slipped out. Lieutenant Calvert, the navigator, went next. Gunners Russo, Wilkins and Kosino had snapped their parachutes into their harnesses and were preparing to jump when Evans ran back and begged them to not leave him behind without a usable parachute. At first Kosino tried to rig his own harness so

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When the bombardier reached for his chute, however, he discovered that it had also been riddled by German fire. The pilot ordered Lieber to take his own parachute, but the plucky bombardier refused—and went right back to firing his gun. Recognizing the inevitable, Michael told him to get back to the bomb bay and try to find some way to drop the incendiary bombs before they exploded. Somehow Lieber managed to release the bombload. Meanwhile, the Germans continued their attacks, forcing Michael to fly violent evasive maneuvers. By this time the wounded bomber had been under constant attack for 45 minutes, and it was still flying on just two engines. The injured pilot managed to shake the fighters by dodging into a cloud bank once again, but when he reemerged he had to contend with heavy, accurate flak. Convinced that their best option would be to crash-land, Michael took the B-17 down to treetop level. Blood was pooling on the cockpit floor beneath his wounded leg, and he began to feel dizzy. The rapid dive to the deck shook off the German fighters, but the flak towers were still spitting anti-aircraft fire at the low and slow Bertie Lee. Keeping the B-17 just 50 feet above the ground, Michael headed toward England. By some miracle, the battered bomber continued to

NATIONAL ARCHIVES

fly. A windshield had been shot away, two met in flight school, whom he would evenengines were out, the instrument panel was tually marry. Now the battered B-17 was wrecked and the control cables, right wing, declared unfit even for spare parts. Bertie Lee rudder and elevators had all sustained damwas reduced to scrap metal—an ignoble end age. On top of that, the airframe’s integrity for a gallant flying machine that had brought was threatened by a huge hole created by the its crew home against all odds. burning incendiary bombs. The three reMichael required several transfusions, but maining crewmen knew their plane could after a couple of days his condition improved snap in two at any time. Moreover, the bomb and his thoughts began to clear. During the bay doors refused to close, adding significant seven weeks he remained in the hospital, drag to the struggling Fortress. however, he became wracked with survivor’s Westberg now took over the controls while guilt. Not even Lieber and Westberg’s visits Lieber administered first aid to the badly could sweep away the pilot’s feelings of failwounded pilot. Michael continued to fly the ure. While the 305th Bomb Group considB-17 while he was conscious, but as he lost Michael with his nonregulation goatee. ered him a hero, Michael regarded himself as more blood he began blacking out, at which a commander who had lost seven good men. point the copilot would take over. Lieber stayed in the cockpit serving After all, he had given the order to bail out of a ship that ultimately as a medic, trying to keep both pilots patched together so that they made it home. He wondered what had happened to those men. could keep the bomber in the air. Michael grew a goatee as he lay in bed recovering from his wounds, Bertie Lee flew so low across Holland that as the bomber roared by and he resolved that he would not shave until he found out what had the crewmen could see the faces of farmers waving at them from their happened to every man in his crew. In effect, his nonregulation facial fields. Some of the Dutch onlookers even pointed the way toward hair would serve as a reminder of urgent unfinished business. England. Then the North Sea came into view, and the Fortress was By July 1944, Michael had returned to limited duty in the U.S. The suddenly out over the water, with Michael flying. When the pilot once 305th had nominated him for the Medal of Honor, but an officer again lost consciousness, Westberg turned the stricken bomber for sporting a goatee became a matter of consternation to his superiors. home, fighting hard to keep the aircraft above the waves. Sluggish and By that time, too, news had begun filtering in regarding the fate of unresponsive, it didn’t have much life left. Lieber continued to work Bertie Lee’s crew. Art Kosino, Reynold Evans, Fred Wilkins, Anthony on Michael, trying to keep him awake. Russo and Clarence Luce were imprisoned at Stalag 17-B, near Krems, At last the English coastline came into view, and Westberg pointed Austria. Lieutenant Calvert was being held at a separate prison for offithe B-17 toward the RAF airfield at Grimsby. With no working radio cers. Only the fate of Staff Sgt. Jewell Phillips, whom Michael had to alert the airfield, he circled while Lieber shot flares out of the plane, helped to jump from Bertie Lee, was still unknown. to let the tower know they’d be making an emergency landing with On January 10, 1945, the morning of his award presentation, wounded on board. Westberg again shook Michael awake, this time Michael still had not shaved, though he’d been increasingly pressured for the final approach. With no undercarriage, no flaps, no rudder, no to do so. Rather than force the issue, the Army brass had wisely opted airspeed indicator and no altimeter, the landfor another path: finding Sergeant Phillips. As ing promised to be as dangerous as their Michael was preparing his uniform for the entire flight back to England. Michael gave ceremony, a messenger arrived and advised one more order, telling the other two to bail him that the Army had at last found the flight out with the remaining good parachutes and engineer. Phillips had been so severely that he would land the B-17 alone. But Westwounded that the Germans did not believe he berg and Lieber refused to comply. could survive captivity, and had instead repaMichael then started his landing approach, triated him. knowing the bomb bay doors were stuck With this welcome news, Michael shaved open and the lower ball turret’s guns frozen off his beard. down—hardly a good posture for a belly Later that morning President Franklin D. landing. It seemed likely that the hole in the Roosevelt presented 1st Lt. Edward S. Miairframe would cause the B-17 to crack in chael the Medal of Honor and shook his two from the stress of the landing. But despite hand. The saga of Bertie Lee’s last flight had the severe damage to the control surfaces and finally come to an end.
with no indications of his height or airspeed, Previous contributor David F. Crosby is the Michael somehow managed to perform a author of A Guide to Airborne Weapons. He is perfect landing, considering the circumcurrently working on a book about al-Qaeda. stances. An ambulance quickly carted the Additional reading: Above and Beyond: The three Americans to the hospital. Bertie Lee had flown its final mission. President Franklin D. Roosevelt awards the Aviation Medals of Honor, by Barrett TillMichael had named the bomber after a girl he clean-shaven lieutenant the Medal of Honor. man. Also see homeofheroes.com.

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REVIEWS BOOKS PROJECT TERMINATED: Famous Military Aircraft Cancellations of the Cold War and What Might Have Been by Erik Simonsen, Crécy Publishing, Manchester, UK, 2013, $39.95. Any aviation devotee will be intrigued by aerospace professional Erik Simonsen’s analysis of why magnificent aircraft such as the North American XB-70, Avro CF-105 Arrow and British Aircraft Company TSR-2 were designed and developed, then canceled. (For the sake of full disclosure, in my own foreword to this volume, I used the term “auteur” to refer to Simonsen’s amazing combination of research, writing, photography and, perhaps above all, artistry.) He also tells us what they might have done had they gone into production, and clearly defines the reasons they were terminated— some sensible, some frivolous and, inevitably, some political. While projects tend to move more slowly nowadays, it doesn’t take much imagination to see how closely the events of the fruitful period that he covers are paralleled today. Simonsen presents a broad chronology of canceled aircraft, from Northrop’s YB-49A of 1947 through its F-20 Tigershark of 1982. He also manages to include much additional information, such as his treatment of the beautiful North American F-108 Rapier and the less-well-known Republic XF-103. Having demonstrated why the airplanes were born and then rejected, the author is at his best in illustrating what they, and their modified successors, would have looked like in the colors and camouflage of the appropriate periods. Project Terminated focuses on the intimate details of some of the most fascinating aircraft ever to leave a drawing board. Crécy Publishing deserves a great deal of credit for having the vision to select this book, then lavishing on it glossy paper and filling it with numerous color photos and digital illustrations. The story of the Rockwell International XFV-12A is by far the best I’ve 60 AV I AT I O N H I S T O RY

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ever read on the subject, and should be studied closely by both friends and foes of the Lockheed Martin F-35. Walter J. Boyne AMERICAN MILITARY TRANSPORT AIRCRAFT SINCE 1925 by E.R. Johnson, drawings by Lloyd S. Jones, McFarland and Company, Jefferson, N.C., 2013, $45. Although military transports seldom generate the same degree of interest that books about fighters or even bombers do, this book should be an exception, for it covers more little-known types than any other on the subject. Author E.R. “Buddy” Johnson has teamed up with Lloyd S. Jones to create a vital reference book that also makes for fascinating reading. It is also extremely important, for transport aircraft have taken on a totally new role in today’s world of far-flung asymmetric warfare. Modern transports have become the baggage train of earlier eras, keeping the armies supplied in the field. In the past, moving a division took months of buildup, dozens of ships and lots of waiting. Today jet transports can place an imposing force halfway around the world within a matter of days, if not hours. The modern U.S. Army, and to a lesser but similar extent the Marine Corps, depends on the capacity of America’s air forces to secure air superiority first, and then begin an unending assembly line of supplies. The curious thing is that this exercise of air power tends to relegate the Air Force to the back burner in terms of credit for successful operations. Thus while air power, particularly transport aircraft, shortens wars by shortening supply lines, tank columns get the headlines. Johnson introduces his topic with a very satisfying description of how American military airlift came into being, highlighting its role in war and peacetime. He divides military transport aircraft into two periods, from 1925 to 1962, and from 1962 to the present. Many readers will find the book’s third focus, the story of utility and miscellaneous transport aircraft since 1962, the most surprising. How many of you can honestly

say you know what a U-11A, a U-28 or an M-28 is? Neither could I. Aviation researchers may liken Johnson’s efforts to the work that pioneers such as James Fahey and Peter Bowers did in the early days. But Buddy Johnson is doing it with vastly improved writing, bigger photos and, perhaps most important, footnotes, a bibliography, a glossary and an index. American Military Transport Aircraft is nicely illustrated with excellent drawings by Lloyd Jones. It will win a place in serious libraries the world over. Walter J. Boyne STUKAS OVER SPAIN: Dive Bomber Aircraft and Units of the Legion Condor by Rafael A. Permuy and Lucas Molina, Schiffer Publishing, Atglen, Pa., 2013, $34.99. The Spanish Civil War saw a contingent of Nazi Germany’s Luftwaffe, which came to be called the Condor Legion, providing air support to the Nationalist side—and taking advantage of the situation to combat test its latest warplanes and formulate tactics for their use. Compiled and written by two Spanish military historians, Stukas Over Spain gives a concise account of the Condor Legion’s dive bombers in action. This started with the Henschel Hs-123, a rugged biplane with an open cockpit that soon gave way to the Junkers Ju-87 V-4, which was followed by the first production Ju-87As. The “Antons” achieved a measure of fame for the deadly efficiency of a three-plane flight called the Jolanthe Kette (Jolanthe being a fat pig that was a popular character in Germany at the time, and was painted on the wheel pants of the flight’s Stukas). December 1938 saw the debut of the Ju-87B-1, which replaced the Anton in time for the Nationalists’ final victorious campaign in Catalonia. One of them had the dubious distinction of being the first Stuka to fall victim to an enemy fighter, on January 21, 1939. Among the multitude of rare photographs in the book are some of that Ju-87, which was brought down reasonably intact inside Republican lines, complemented by a firsthand account of the action from the vic-

tor, Polikarpov I-15 pilot Sergeant Francisco Alférez Jiménez. Combining day-by-day mission reports with a detailed narrative of the notable events during what amounted to the Blitzkrieg’s dress rehearsal, Stukas Over Spain chronicles an interesting prelude to two fighting careers: the Hs-123B’s as a close support ground attacker and the Ju-87B’s as the notorious vanguard of the Wehrmacht’s intoxicating successes during the first two years of World War II. Jon Guttman FLYING ON FILM: A Century of Aviation in the Movies 1912-2012 by Mark Carlson, Bear Manor Media, Duncan, Okla., 2012, $24.95. Few of my articles have elicited more letters to the editor than “Top Ten Best and Worst Aviation Movies Ever Made” (see the March 2010 Aviation History, and letters in subsequent issues). Try as any author might to be objective, there’s no way his selections will match those of many (or even a few) of the readers—and their objections are sure to be prompt and pithy. Mark Carlson’s new book provides plenty of ammunition as he looks at the remarkable confluence of film and flying for more than a century. Both disciplines started out in a primitive manner, both gained style and expertise through the years and in both we find accurate reflections of their era. Carlson conducted many interviews with movie pilots, directors, heroes such as the late, great Ralph Parr and also—in the interest of full disclosure—me. In addition, he had guidance from William A. Wellman Jr., son of the famous director who combined his flying and film experience to create such greats as Wings, the first Oscar winner, and 11 other memorable pictures. Carlson adopted a sensible, if a bit unusual, approach: In general the book is organized chronologically, but he also includes chapters devoted to film types, e.g., airliner, action, comedies. Movies within the thematic chapters are also kept in chronological order, as a rule. Major films naturally receive more extensive treatment, and whenever possible Carlson provides information on where the film

was made, what aviation interests any of the principals might have had and what aircraft were used. He doesn’t pull any punches, especially when it comes to genuine turkeys such as Von Richthofen and Brown. Flying on Film covers many motion pictures that are rarely seen anymore, even on the Turner Classic Movies channel. Its indices provide quick references to even the most obscure films. If you like aviation or films, and particularly if you like aviation films, this book is for you. Walter J. Boyne NO 60 SQN RFC/RAF by Alex Revell, Osprey Publishing, Oxford, England, 2011, $25.95. Among the last offerings in Osprey’s “Elite Aviation Units” series, pending further notice, No 60 Sqn RFC/RAF exemplifies how entertaining and informative unit histories can be. Dealing with an outfit that evolved from a mixed bag of Morane-Saulnier singleseat monoplane scouts and two-seat biplanes, neither of which were very successful, to a pure fighter unit equipped with Nieuport sesquiplanes, to success in S.E.5s and S.E.5as, the history of 60 Squadron encompasses a period of heartbreaking losses, outstanding heroism and ultimate victory. For Alex Revell, best known for his extensive work on No. 56 Squadron, this latest narrative involved a similar balance between the technical, the chronological and the personal. Like “Fighting 56,” 60 Squadron had its fair share of characters, such as England’s Albert Ball, South Africa’s Henry “Duke” Meintjes and New Zealand’s Keith “Grid” Caldwell. Also prominent is William A. Bishop, though Revell avoids adding to the controversy surrounding his status as the British Commonwealth’s ace of aces. Of the June 2, 1917, aerodrome raid that earned Bishop the Victoria Cross, the author does note that there were no eyewitness reports to confirm it, not even from the Germans; that the recommendation bypassed the regular RFC chain of command; and that Canadian researcher Philip Markham concluded, “I have been unable to discover any supporting evidence; in fact it has been quite the reverse.”

As with Revell’s earlier book on 56 Squadron, firsthand accounts, many from personal acquaintances of the author’s, abound in No 60 Sqn RFC/RAF. So do color profiles, with 28 covering a variety of aircraft, including four S.E.5s in the prominent red, blue or yellow flight markings that appeared from July to late August 1917, when the RFC brass ordered them replaced by more sober liveries. Although the unit’s overall record of more than 320 victories was laudable, posterity’s interest in 60 Squadron—as with Escadrilles N.3 and N.124, Jasta Boelcke and Jasta 18—is largely personality-driven. Revell packs this lively unit history with personalities aplenty. Jon Guttman THE LAST ZERO FIGHTER: Firsthand Accounts from WWII Japanese Naval Pilots by Dan King, Pacific Press, Irvine, Calif., 2012, $24.95. This remarkable book resulted from a confluence of personal interests, work assignments, linguistic talent, excellent writing, dedicated research and varied experience with films and video games. Dan King, who is fluent in Japanese, interviewed almost 100 Japanese veterans of World War II in the course of his research. His stated goal is to share the pilots’ thoughts and motivations. I found it especially interesting that King has the wisdom to recognize that not everyone will automatically sympathize with the Japanese who waged war against the United States. He does posit that Americans and Japanese are “not that different,” which may be true today. It may have applied even during the war when it came to matters related to love of family, etc. It is indisputable, however, that the military clique that ruled Japan in WWII dictated the discipline, code of honor and practices of Japanese servicemen. That clique espoused views that were very different indeed from the outlook of its opposite numbers in the Allied forces. As a result, the Japanese conducted warfare in a far more vicious manner, torturing prisoners and treating them with contempt, and they were also brutal to their own people. SEPTEMBER 2013 AV I AT I O N H I S T O RY 61

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That said, the valor, skill and indeed the humanity of the six men profiled by King come through, delivering an in-depth view of the war as seen by Japanese naval aviators. Each narrative is filled with fascinating sidelights. For example, we learn about the lavish entertainment the Germans provided for the crew of the Japanese submarine I-29, which carried back to Japan detailed information on both the Messerschmitt Me-163 and Me-262. From another we learn new nicknames for the Lockheed P-38, including Katsuobushi, which alludes to the profile of dried skipjack tuna. King provides an overview of all six aviators’ careers, beginning with their family background and extending to their postwar activities. He gives a particularly interesting account of the life of Haruo Yoshino, who trained as a navigator, including the intricate details of launching the special torpedoes developed for use at Pearl Harbor. The author is astute in his use of quotations from the interviews. Rather than rely on lengthy quotes, he instead integrates brief comments from the Japanese fliers, enhancing the solid information provided by his own research. The Last Zero Fighter is an unusual read, filled with information not to be found elsewhere. It offers almost X-ray insight into the hard life of six survivors of the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service. Walter J. Boyne

CLASSICS

TO WAR IN A STRINGBAG by Commander Charles Lamb, Royal Navy, DSC, DSO

To War in a Stringbag is the extraordinary autobiography of an extraordinary naval aviator, Commander Charles Lamb, who experienced combat from the first days of World War II until the final stages of the Pacific campaign. “Stringbag” was the nickname of the legendary Fairey Swordfish, a seemingly obsolete biplane that was responsible for destroying a greater tonnage of enemy shipping than any other torpedo bomber during the war, and which Lamb flew into combat for more than two years. Lamb recounts exploits that are nothing short of jaw-dropping. Flying an airplane

that looked better suited to World War I, he participated in enough combat to have killed off half a dozen fliers. After his first carrier, HMS Courageous, was sunk by U-29 on September 17, 1939, he flew his Swordfish from land bases, sowing mines off the German coast and attacking E-boats off Dunkirk. Transferred to the new carrier Illustrious, Lamb then began operations in the Mediterranean, including serving as a pathfinder pilot during the famous attack on the Italian fleet at Taranto on November 11, 1940. After surviving repeated air attacks on Illustrious, which nearly destroyed the ship and killed many of his friends, Lamb continued flying combat missions out of land bases in Malta, Greece, Albania, Crete and Egypt. On one occasion during the Greek campaign, he managed to destroy two Italian fighters by outmaneuvering them and causing them to collide with each other, a victory of pure airmanship of which he was justly proud, and which he insisted could only have been accomplished in the incredible Swordfish. After crashing while delivering a secret agent into Algeria in a nighttime flight, Lamb spent more than a year in Vichy French POW camps—an experience he found every bit as unpleasant as it would have been under the Germans, and possibly worse. Released late in 1942 after the Allies invaded North Africa, he was promoted to assistant flight officer on the new carriers Implacable and Indefatigable, participating in the attacks on the German battleship Tirpitz in Norway, and in operations against the Japanese in the Indian and Pacific oceans. In July 1945, just before the war ended, Lamb was struck by a shattered propeller blade on the flight deck, suffering injuries that hospitalized him for the next two years. To War in a Stringbag is written in a wry, humorous style that seems characteristically British. The wonder isn’t that Lamb managed to write such a fascinating and entertaining book, but that he survived the war at all. It’s clear he didn’t write his memoir to celebrate his own achievements; rather, he sought to memorialize the companions with whom he had served, many of whom did not live to tell their stories. To that end, To War in a Stringbag remains a classic account of the Fleet Air Arm activities throughout the conflict. Robert Guttman SEPTEMBER 2013 AV I AT I O N H I S T O RY 63

AIRWARE

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World of Warplanes A new free online multiplayer sim will soon offer a wild ride

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64 AV I AT I O N H I S T O RY

SEPTEMBER 2013

W

hile we typically review finished products in “Airware” rather than previews of releases still in development, I recently had a chance to explore the beta version of the new freeto-play online multiplayer game World of Warplanes, where virtual pilots face off in air battles featuring about 20 to 30 aircraft at a time. This is the latest release from Wargaming.net, which earlier this year helped fund the failed search for buried Spitfires in Burma. The idea is far from new; we’ve seen other online flight sims such as Warbirds, Aces High and WWII Online. World of Warplanes (worldof warplanes.com) appears to be more approachable than its competitors, however, all of which strive for realism. This is perhaps most evident in the control scheme, which allows players to fly using a keyboard and mouse, something traditional sim pilots frown upon, since they generally prefer a true joystick and throttle setup. WoW also supports joysticks, but its keyboard and mouse controls are nicely appointed. A little practice with them can make a player quite competent, although maneuvers such as rolls and loops are less intuitive at first, while functions like using the mouse’s scroll wheel to zoom a view’s magnification are more so. Players can also take advantage of customization options that tailor the interface to their preference. Other concessions to gameplay abound. Where some of the more realistic sims encompass every part of the sortie, from takeoff to patrol and landing, in WoW the action starts quickly, with players dumped into the cockpit in midair, facing opponents. WoW is also more accommodating than some products in that it aids players with situational awareness, in addition to giving them maps and targeting aids for air-to-air combat and bombing. The flight model is also much more forgiving, and while planes can stall, it’s not like hardcore sims where sneezing can trigger the stall-warning horn. WoW isn’t devoid of

realism, however, and novices who try to “yank and bank” by constantly pulling on the stick will find that although they’re not careening constantly into spins, they’ll be easy pickings for pilots who understand the relative strengths of their aircraft and are able to manage altitude and energy.

The way players acquire aircraft and upgrades reflects historical realism. The aircraft and weapons are all based on real counterparts, and players start with a basic airplane from an American, German, Japanese or Russian manufacturer. Performance in battles leads to experience points and credits that can be spent on research to unlock and purchase engine, airframe and weapon improvements as well as new aircraft. Players can also purchase in-game “gold” currency with real money—one way Wargaming profits. Planes are ranked by technology levels one through 10, and the matchmaking algorithm in the game sets up teams with equal numbers of aircraft at each level. The graphics are pleasing, though not as detailed as some of the non-online sims. I expect them to continue to evolve. The current aircraft variety is interesting and includes some experimental planes that did not see operational use. On the other hand, iconic steeds such as the Focke-Wulf Fw-190 and Lockheed P-38 Lightning have yet to make an appearance, though they likely will. The software is currently at version 0.4.2 and has iterations to go before formal release. There are now about 70 aircraft available in total, and Wargaming has said it expects to reach 100 per nation. WoW is shaping up to be a wild ride. I’ll definitely revisit this package once it’s released.


FLIGHT TEST

By Jon Guttman

Dive Bomber!

Canberra Accomplishments

The dive bomber had a short but spectacular career. Can you identify these divers from the 1930s and ’40s? A.

1. Aichi D1A3

B.

2. Curtiss BFC-2

C.

3. Curtiss SBC-3

D.

4. Petlyakov Pe-2 E. 5. Heinkel He-118V F. 6. Blackburn Skua 7. Aichi E16A1 Zuiun

2. Which country’s air force did not fly English Electric Canberras in combat? A. Australia B. Britain C. Argentina D. Pakistan 3. In which conflict did Canberras serve on both sides? A. Malay Insurgency B. Suez Crisis C. Indo-Pakistan War D. Vietnam War

G.

I. 10. Savoia-Marchetti S.M.85 “Banana con Ali” J.

Classic Fighter Matchups

Match the famous fighter to its most renowned adversary. A. F-86A Sabre

1. Supermarine Spitfire I

B. Focke-Wulf Fw-190A-6

2. McDonnell F-4C

C. Grumman F4F-4

3. de Havilland D.H.2

D. S.E.5a

4. Lavochkin La-5FN

E. Gloster Gladiator

5. Messerschmitt Bf-109B

F. Messerschmitt Me-109E

6. MiG-15bis

G. MiG-21PF

7. Fiat C.R.42

H. Folland Gnat

8. Mitsubishi A6M2

I. Albatros D.II

9. Albatros D.V

J. Polikarpov I-16

10. F-86F Sabre

5. What pioneering jet bomber was known in the West as the “Russian Canberra”? A. Yakovlev Yak-26 B. Ilyushin Il-28 C. Myasishchev M-4 D. Tupolev Tu-14

Answers: Dive Bomber! 1.F, 2.H, 3.E, 4.A, 5.B 6.J, 7.I, 8.C, 9.G, 10.D

9. Arado Ar-81

Classic Fighter Matchups A.6, B.4, C.8, D.9, E.7, F.1, G.2, H.10, I.3, J.5

H.

4. On November 3, 1970, Canberra Mark 20 A84-231 of No. 2 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, disappeared over South Vietnam. When was it found and its crew’s remains recovered? A. 1970 B. 1996 C. 2009 D. 2012

Canberra Accomplishments 1.A, 2.D, 3.C, 4.C, 5.B

8. Vought SB2U-3 Vindicator

ILLUSTRATIONS BY MARK DREFS

1. What world record did an English Electric Canberra set in 1957? A. Altitude B. Payload C. Speed D. Distance (jet)

SEPTEMBER 2013 AV I AT I O N H I S T O RY 65

AERO POSTER

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66 AV I AT I O N H I S T O RY SEPTEMBER 2013

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