Aviation History 2016-09

When Germany bombed Freiburg and blamed the Allies

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The real-life Skyraider mission behind James Michener’s Korean War masterpiece

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Tokyo firestorm: The most destructive raid of WWII

THE BRIDGES AT

TOKO-RI Vought F7U Cutlass ‘ensign eliminator’ CAC Boomerang: Australia’s first homegrown fighter

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armed and ready A Vought F7U-3M at the Naval Air Missile Test Center, Point Mugu, Calif.

DEPARTMENTS 5 MAILBAG 6 BRIEFING 12 EXTREMES Using amphibious gliders to land Marines on Pacific beachheads turned out to be a bad idea. By Robert Guttman

12 14 AVIATORS

20 THE REAL ‘BRIDGES AT TOKO-RI’

One harrowing day for American carrier pilots provided the inspiration for James Michener’s bestselling novel about the Korean War. By Don Hollway

28 WHEN FIRE RAINED FROM THE SKY

On the night of March 9-10, 1945, incendiaries dropped by B-29s ignited a firestorm in Tokyo that killed 85,000. By Barrett Tillman

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36 vOUGHT’S vISIONARY FIGHTER

16 RESTORED Columbine II, the original Air Force One, has a new lease on life. By Douglas Nelms

18 LETTER FROM AVIATION HISTORY 58 REVIEWS 63 FLIGHT TEST 64 AERO ARTIFACT

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To U.S. Navy pilots, the sweptwing, tailless F7U Cutlass looked every bit the fighter of the future, but for some it was a fatal attraction. By Warren Thompson

46 TARGET: FREIBURG

The Nazis used the German city of Freiburg as a pawn in their propaganda campaign. By David T. Zabecki

52 AUSSIE BATTLER

Commonwealth Aircraft Company’s Boomerang was Australia’s first frontline combat plane. By Graeme Davis

ON THE COVER: John Beattie pilots a Douglas AD-4NA Skyraider over Belgium in 2013. The gloss sea blue AD sports the markings of a Skyraider that served with U.S. Navy attack squadron VA-155 during the Korean War, when the big prop planes famously bombed the bridges at Samdong-ni (story, P. 20). Cover: Philip Stevens

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: NATIONAL ARCHIVES; NATIONAL ARCHIVES; NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE U.S. AIR FORCE; U.S. NAVY

features

Percy Pilcher became Britain’s first flier to die pursuing powered flight. By Stephan Wilkinson

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SEPTEMBER 2016 / VOL. 27, NO. 1

Online You’ll find much more from Aviation History on the Web’s leading history resource: HistoryNet.com

THE BOMB THAT ENDED THE WAR Three days after the first atomic bomb fell on Hiroshima (above), “Fat Man” destroyed 44 percent of Nagasaki, killing 35,000 and wounding another 60,000.

DEFINING THE JET The Cold War accelerated jet aircraft development without a shot being fired during the late 1940s.

LOCKHEED’S LEGENDARY CONSTELLATION The Constellation may be the source of more misinformation and fables than any other airliner ever built.

ONLINE BONUS Follow our step-by-step instructions to build this issue’s “Modeling” project, a Vought F7U-3 Cutlass, featured in “Vought’s Visionary Fighter” (P. 36).

Let’s Connect Like Aviation History Magazine on Facebook Digital Subscription Aviation History is available on iPad and other digital platforms

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SEPTEMBER 2016

CARL VON WODTKE EDITOR NAN SIEGEL ASSOCIATE EDITOR JON GUTTMAN RESEARCH DIRECTOR CONTRIBUTING EDITORS WALTER J. BOYNE, STEPHAN WILKINSON ARTHUR H. SANFELICI EDITOR EMERITUS

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Aviation History

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eally enjoyed the informative article and pictures in the May 2016 issue about the C-46 Commando. There is something about that aircraft that says it means business wherever it flies. In the post–WWII years, C-46s were the load-carriers of the north. It is sad to note that C-GTXW was damaged, apparently beyond repair, following a forced landing at Deline last September in the Northwest Territories. >

> While working at Sandy Lake, in northwest Ontario, I used to see and hear C-GTXW on its fuel delivery flights to that isolated community. Attached is a photo showing C-GTXW at Sandy Lake on such a flight [above]. In September 2000, the aircraft lost power on one engine during takeoff at Red Lake Airport and went off the end of the runaway. Clearly C-GTXW has had some misadventures in a lifetime of hard work. Neville Webb Newfoundland, Canada

no. 44-78649, then taken on by Panama in 1948, with U.S. civil registration N74171. Transocean Airlines is listed as the operator in 1955 and Ortner Air Service in 1963. She then appears to have been owned by Ferrer Aviation in 1983 before going to Northland Air Manitoba in 1985. The aircraft was imported to Canada by one-time Air Manitoba maintenance director Tom Phinney and re-registered as C-GIBX. I first encountered the aircraft, in Air Manitoba livery, in Nairobi, Kenya, while working with Kenya Airways in 1994. C-GIBX was operating U.N. relief flights at the time. Bob Monro, manager of Gimli Airport, kindly supplied a photo of the aircraft [left]. Stan Mason Holmer Green, U.K.

I very much enjoyed your piece on the C-46. I’m an airline retiree, and I research vintage and interesting aircraft, and thought you might like some further information on a C-46 survivor that didn’t get a mention in the article. Currently a long-term resident at Gimli Airport, Manitoba, this C-46F was constructed in January 1945 and registered to the U.S. Army Air Forces with serial

HEAVENLY DAZE CREWMAN My father, Charles A. Wayman Jr., was the bombardier on Heavenly Daze on her last flight. His story of the flight is substantially the same as Irving Rothman’s [“Aviators,” May]. He said that after he bailed out through the nose hatch, when he hit the ground a group of farmers armed

with pitchforks was coming toward him, but luckily he was “rescued” by members of the local militia. He was sent to Dulag Luft, near Frankfurt, where his treatment was similar to Rothman’s—solitary confinement followed by interrogation. He was eventually sent to Stalag Luft I, where he was reunited with the other officers in his crew, Foley, Keith and Shaughnessy. They remained there until they were liberated by the Russians in May 1945. My dad kept in touch with the other Heavenly Daze officers after the war, including Keith and Shaughnessy, and I also had the pleasure of meeting them. Dad attended several Eighth Air Force reunions before his death in the spring of 2000. Bob Wayman Troy, Kan.

FIRST 727 I enjoyed the “Briefing”article in the July issue about the first Boeing 727. I had the privilege of flying this historic airplane several times before it was retired. The article gave an excellent description of the 727’s innovative wing, which allowed it to land on a short 4,500-foot-long runway. Another unique feature on the early 727s was nose wheel braking. When only the left or right brakes were applied to assist steering, the nose wheel brakes did nothing. When the left and right brakes were applied simultaneously, however, the nose wheel brakes were activated as well. Many airports soon lengthened their runways,

and Boeing omitted the nose wheel brakes. About that same time United Air Lines deactivated the nose wheel brakes on its early model 727-100s. Captain Monty Mendenhall Thomasville, N.C.

B-52 BIRD STRIKE The article “When Birds Strike” [May] reminded me of an incident back in the mid-1980s when I was a navigator flying B-52s out of Barksdale AFB in Louisiana. We had just rotated on takeoff when the copilot yelled, “Birds, birds, birds!” over the intercom. I looked at our TV cameras and saw what looked like hundreds of seagulls trying desperately to get out of our way. We clearly heard the “thump, thump, thump” as many struck the engine pods and leading edge of the wing. The tower called to tell us we were on fire, but it was the engines backfiring from ingesting the birds. It seemed like we were hovering at about 300 feet because of the loss of two engines. The bombardier and I were staring at the altimeter because we knew that our downward ejection seats required 150 feet of altitude to safely eject. The pucker factor was definitely there until we slowly climbed to 1,000 feet. We then had to fly in circles for four hours with the gear and flaps down to burn fuel before landing. If we hadn’t had a light fuel load of 190,000 pounds instead of our normal 290,000 pounds, we never would have made it. Major Stephen Shahabian U.S. Air Force (ret.)

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briefing

Commemorative Air Force Kingcobras he Bell P-63 Kingcobra is one of the sleekest, cleanest warbirds in the world, and the P-63F you see here, which was returned to ÆQOP\Ja\PM+WUUMUWZI\Q^M Air Force in May, is doubly fascinating because it’s one of a kind: Only two F UWLMT[_MZMM^MZJ]QT\IVL \PQ[Q[\PMWVTaWVM\WPI^M []Z^Q^ML
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The Commemorative Air Force flies one of only two Bell P-63Fs ever built.

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OPPOSITE: P-63 SPONSOR GROUP; TOP: PACIFIC AVIATION MUSEUM, PEARL HARBOR; BOTTOM: U.S. AIR FORCE

“Hap” Arnold recommended they be given every P-39 and P-63 that could be located. The same features that made the P-63 such a handsome machine—no external radiator scoops, tricycle gear, a buried mid-engine—made Q\ITW][aÅOP\MZ*MKI][M of the engine location, the retractable nosegear, a wing center section crammed with hidden oil and coolant radiators and ducting, and a VW[MTIZOMTaLM^W\ML\W*MTT¼[ beloved but archaic 37mm cannon, there was zero room for fuselage fuel tanks. Wing bladders provided the only internal fuel, giving a clean P-63 a combat radius of about 80 miles. (Combat radius is the distance an airKZIN\KIVKTQUJÆaÅOP\NWZ Å^MUQV]\M[IVL[\QTTPI^M enough fuel to return to base. External tanks can greatly extend pure range, but if they have to be dropped for combat, that still leaves only interVITN]MTNWZN]Z\PMZÆQOP\ 6W=;8M^MZÆM_QV KWUJI\IVL\PMLM[QOV¼[WVTa KWV\ZQJ]\QWV[\W)UMZQKI¼[ _IZM‫ٺ‬WZ\_MZMI[IV IL^IVKMLÅOP\MZ\ZIQVMZIVL an aerial-gunnery target— the handful of up-armored RP-63 “Pinball” machines. 1\¼[VW_WVLMZ\PI\\WLIa the Kingcobra is one of the rarest of warbirds, yet the +)._QTT[WWVJMOQVÆaQVOI second example—a P-63A that has been under restoration since 1999 by the orgaVQbI\QWV¼[,Q`QM?QVO
some assembly required

A model shows parts (in yellow) that will need to be fabricated to complete the Pacific Aviation Museum’s Nakajima B5N2.

Pearl Harbor Raider recovered

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“I SUPPOSE IF I HAD LOST THE WAR, I WOULD HAVE BEEN TRIED AS A WAR CRIMINAL.” –MAJ. GEN. CURTIS LEMAY

he Nakajima B5N2, code-named “Kate” by the Allies, was the best carrier-based torpedo bomber in 1941 and scored the most damaging hits on U.S. battleships during the Pearl Harbor raid. Until now, however, the closest things to a surviving B5N were a large piece found in the Kuriles, now on display at the Wings Museum in Balcolme, U.K., and components of one that the Pacific Aviation Museum purchased in 2010. Now the Pearl Harbor–based museum plans to assemble those components, along with those it can find or remanufacture, with an eye toward fully restoring its Kate for static display. Although believed to have been built prior to Pearl Harbor and possibly used there (if it had served aboard Shokaku or Zuikaku, the two carriers that survived 1942 and thereafter often operated their planes from land bases in the Solomons), the museum’s B5N2 is known to have served with the 105th Naval Base Unit at Rabaul’s Vunakanau airfield when it bombed and damaged a floating dry dock in Seeadler Harbor on April 27, 1945. After Japan’s surrender, it was flown to Jaquinot Bay airfield in New Zealand, and left to deteriorate until 1971. Since its acquisition by the museum, the Kate has been on display in Lieutenant Ted Shealy’s restoration shop in Hangar 79, where the public can observe its progress. “An estimated 1,149 B5Ns were built, and only bits and pieces survive today, except for this Kate and its intriguing history,” said the museum’s executive director, Kenneth DeHoff. “With this year being the 75th anniversary of Pearl Harbor, the museum is honored to be able to display the Kate where she made aviation history, sharing a legacy with thousands of visitors worldwide.” If all goes as planned, perhaps the world’s only complete—albeit non-flying—Kate may be ready in time for the Pearl Harbor raid’s 80th anniversary.

Jon Guttman

september 2016

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BRIEFING

joint operation

In a prize-winning Coast Guard “Shutter Shootout” photo, Piper is on the job as a CH-146 Griffon (left) and CH-65 Dolphin lift off from Cherry Capital Airport in Michigan.

U.S. Coast Guard Aviation Centennial viation became part of the U.S. Coast Guard’s mission soon after Lieutenants Elmer Stone and Norman Hall convinced their superiors to consider integrating aircraft into USCG operations. In )XZQT!0ITTIVLÅ^MW\PMZ[JMOIV\ZIQVQVOQV +]Z\Q[[ÆaQVOJWI\[I\8MV[IKWTI¼[6I^IT)^QI\QWV ;KPWWT[\IZ\QVOIKMV\]ZaTWVO\ZILQ\QWV1VZMKWOVQ\QWV WN +WI[\/]IZLI^QI\QWV¼[\PIVVQ^MZ[IZaÅ`MLIVL ZW\IZa_QVO=;+/IQZKZIN\_QTTUISMIXXMIZIVKM[I\IV]UJMZWN IQZ[PW_[\PQ[ summer, including EAA AirVenture, _PMZM+WI[\/]IZLW‫ٻ‬KMZ[_QTTIT[W JMWVPIVL\WIV[_MZY]M[\QWV[ Other aspects of Coast Guard PQ[\WZaI[_MTTI[Q\[XZM[MV\LIa mission have gained an enthusias\QKWVTQVMI]LQMVKM¸NWZM`IUXTM via the U.S. Coast Guard Shutter ;PWW\W]\
Bucker and Funk Revives Jungmann The recent acquisition of the Bücker Flugzeugbau by Peter Funk, of FK Lightplanes, has led to the creation of a new firm, Bucker and Funk, and with it the revival of Germany’s last biplanes. While unveiling an original two-seater design—the BF 139 Clubman, featuring a high-mounted wing and radial engine—Bucker and Funk has also produced the BK 131 Jungmann single-seat biplane (above). The BK 131 is essentially a somewhat updated and up-powered version of the Bücker Bü-131 Jungmann basic trainer, which first flew in 1934. Renowned for its aerobatic qualities, the Jungmann was produced in Germany and also under license in Spain, Czechoslovakia, Poland and Japan. A similar update on the Bü-133, the even more nimble radial-engine version of 1935, designated the BF 133 Jungmeister, is projected for the future. Given the continuing popularity of the originals, Bucker and Funk may make it possible for a new generation to experience the exhilaration that lent these biplanes their enduring reputation.

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TOP: U,S. COAST GUARD; BOTTOM: FK LIGHTPLANES

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BRIEFING

family resemblance

The Dornier Seastar makes a test hop. Below right: Ramón Franco Bahamonde flew the South Atlantic in a Dornier DoJ Wal in 1926.

Dornier’s New Flying Boat he Dornier Seastar, a seven-passenger amphibian incorporating a corrosionfree airframe made of composite material by Diamond Aircraft in Canada and powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A turboprop engines mounted in tandem above the parasol wing, is at last poised to enter production. With a maximum speed of 207 mph and a range of 900 VI]\QKITUQTM[\PMÆaQVO boat—priced at about $7 million—is expected to go on sale in 2018. Although work on the Seastar began in the 1980s, IVLQ\ÅZ[\ÆM_QV!  and subsequently passed ÆQOP\\M[\[\WWJ\IQVQ\[ .))KMZ\QÅKI\QWVIN]VLing shortage compelled Claudius Dornier Jr. to put the project on hold until new Chinese partners gave Q\\PMÅVIVKQITQUXM\][\W resume in 2009. All this is nothing new to Dornier, _PQKPÅZ[\KWVKMQ^MLI

MILESTONES

WASPS AGAIN WELCOME AT ARLINGTON The Women’s Airforce Service Pilots came into being 73 years ago, on August 5, 1943, the result of a merger between the Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron and the Women’s Flying Detachment. The idea was to use female pilots for noncombat flying duties, especially ferrying aircraft. According to the Air Force, the 1,074 WASPs ferried more than 50 percent of the combat aircraft within the U.S. during World War II. Of those graduates, 38 women died—11 in training and 27 in missions. Federal law granted them veteran status in 1977, and since 2007 WASPs had been eligible to have their remains interred at Arlington National Cemetery. Last year Army Secretary John McHugh disallowed that practice. Thanks to a bill sponsored by Arizona Congresswoman Martha McSally, a retired USAF fighter pilot, and Maryland Senator Barbara Mikulski, his decision was overruled in March. “If they were good enough to fly for our country, risk their lives and earn the Congressional Gold Medal,” said Mikulski, “they should be good enough for Arlington.”

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\_QVMVOQVM\IVLMUÆaQVO boat at the end of World War I, when conditions of the Versailles Treaty compelled the company to XZWL]KMQ\[ÅZ[\KWUUMZKQITÆaQVOJWI\\PM,W2 Wal, in Italy between 1922 and 1932. Dornier then returned to Germany and subsequently produced a military version, the ,W 
TOP AND RIGHT: DORNIER; LEFT: U.S. AIR FORCE

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EXTREMES

skimming the waves An LRA-1 undergoes a test glide in 1943. The LRQ-1 (below) featured retractable tricycle landing gear.

Flying-Boat Gliders A PROPOSAL TO USE AMPHIBIOUS ASSAULT GLIDERS DURING THE PACIFIC ISLAND-HOPPING CAMPAIGN FAILED TO TAKE OFF BY ROBERT GUTTMAN

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)PIVLN]TWN [XMK\IK]TIZ []KKM[[M[NWTTW_MLI[_MTT I[[WUMKW[\TaNIQT]ZM[*]\ M^MV\PM^QK\WZQM[[]KPI[ /MZUIVa¼[IQZJWZVMQV^I[QWV WN +ZM\MIVL\PM)TTQMLTIVLQVO[QV6WZUIVLaQV^WT^ML PQOPKI[]IT\aZI\M[?Q\PW]\ KWUXTM\MIQZ[]XMZQWZQ\a

OPPOSITE TOP & RIGHT: NATIONAL ARCHIVES; OPPOSITE BOTTOM: U.S. NAVY

or the element of surprise, gliders were extremely vulnerable. Their freedom of maneuver was limited by the fact that they could ultimately go in only one direction— down. Despite that, gliders remained an integral part of Allied airborne operations as late as March 1945. In April 1941, Admiral Mitscher took the concept one step further, proposing that the Navy use amphibious ÆaQVOJWI\OTQLMZ[\WTIVLIV entire Marine brigade of 715 men and their equipment on a hostile beachhead. The gliders, capable of taking W‫ٺ‬NZWUIVLTIVLQVOWV either land or water, would preferably be towed by the Consolidated PBY-5A, the amphibian version of the +I\ITQVIÆaQVOJWI\
alike and had similar characteristics. Both were designed to carry two pilots, seated side by side in the nose, and 10 troops. Both were 40 feet long, with a wingspan of 72 NMM\1VIVM‫ٺ‬WZ\\WKWV[MZ^M strategic materials, they were constructed largely from molded plastic-impregnated plywood. One unusual feature was a single elevator mounted behind the fuselage rather than a conventional split elevator. Unlike most assault gliders of the period, however, the Navy gliders’ fuselages had IÆaQVOJWI\¼[XTIVQVOJW\\WU
without complete air superiority or the element of surprise, gliders were extremely vulnerable.

short of its objective. The Bristol XLRQ-1 made Q\[ÅZ[\ÆQOP\WV2IV]IZa !_PQTM\PM)TTQML @4:)ÆM_WV5IZKP By that time, however, it had become increasingly apparent that inserting Marines on beachheads in amphibious gliders was impractical. The production contracts calling for 100 Allied and 100 Bristol gliders were canceled. The Marine glider unit continued to train for a time with a few of the Army Air Forces’ standard Waco CG-4 gliders, on \PMW‫ٺ‬KPIVKM\PM4:[UQOP\ still prove useful, but the 6I^a¼[IUXPQJQW][ÆaQVO boat glider program was terminated after only two of each type were built. The Navy declared both types “successful,” although Q\VM^MZ[XMKQÅML\PMKZQ\MZQI on which that was based— perhaps simply because they UIVIOML\W\ISMW‫ٺ‬IVLTIVL without crashing. But by then the gliders were deemed neither viable nor necessary QV\PM8IKQÅKQ[TIVLPWXXQVO campaign. The amphibious I[[I]T\OTQLMZXZWRMK\_I[W‫ٻ‬cially canceled on September !\PW]OP\M[\QVOKWV-

relatives The LRQ-1 had much in common with the LRA-1—including the fact that both were canceled.

tinued until early December, presumably in connection with a Navy program involving the development of a glider bomb. Meanwhile, early in 1942 the Marines had established a glider training unit at Parris Island, S.C. Marine Glider Group 71 trained with Schweitzer LNS-1s and Pratt-Read LNE-1s, commercial sailplanes that were adapted for use as military trainers. About 15 of the Army Air Forces’ CG-4A assault gliders were also transferred to the Navy for evaluation and training purposes. Redesignated as LRW-1s by the Navy, the Wacos do not seem to have been used operationally. Aside from a few notable successes, WWII made it clear that assault gliders were not practical in general, and that amphibious assault gliders were an even worse idea. The helicopter would [WWVÅTT\PMZWTMMV^Q[QWVML for those aircraft. 

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AVIATORS

forgotten pioneer Percy Pilcher poses in Glasgow with his Hawk glider circa 1896.

Poor Percy Pilcher THE FIRST BRITON TO DESIGN, BUILD AND FLY A HEAVIER-THANAIR CRAFT PERISHED BEFORE HE COULD MAKE A POWERED FLIGHT ATTEMPT BY STEPHAN WILKINSON PMTQ[\WN XQWVMMZ[_PW[]XXW[MLTaÆM_JMNWZM\PM ?ZQOP\JZW\PMZ[LQL¸WZI\TMI[\tried\WÆaÅZ[\¸Q[ ÅTTML_Q\PVIUM[JW\PNIUQTQIZIVLM`W\QKJ]\NM_IZM TM[[_MTTSVW_V\PIV*ZQ\WV8MZKa8QTKPMZ6M_BMI TIVLMZ:QKPIZL8MIZ[M+WVVMK\QK]\VQOP\PI_S/][\I^ ?PQ\MPMIL\PMZMLW]J\IJTM;IU]MT84IVOTMa)]O][\][ 0MZZQVO+TuUMV\)LMZM^MV:][[QIV)LUQZIT)TM`IVLMZ 5WbPIa[Sa_QTTJMUMV\QWVMLJaI\TMI[\[WUMI^QI\QWVPQ[\WZa MV\P][QI[\[J]\WVTa\PMZIZMOMMSZMUMUJMZ[XWWZ8MZKa AM[XWWZ8MZKa0MKZI[PMLIPIVOOTQLMZIVLLQMLWN PQ[

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QVR]ZQM[WV;MX\MUJMZ  !!JMNWZMPMM^MZOW\I KPIVKMI\XW_MZMLÆQOP\ *]\\W\PQ[LIaPQ[[]XXWZ\MZ[ QV[Q[\\PI\QN 8QTKPMZPILTQ^ML \PM?ZQOP\JZW\PMZ[_W]TL JMJM\\MZSVW_VNWZJQKaKTM[ \PIVIQZXTIVM[ 8QTKPMZ_I[ÆaQVOI JZWIL_QVOMLOTQLMZ_PQKP PM¼LVIUML\PM0I_SQV IVI\\MUX\\WXMZ[]ILMI OZW]XWN XW\MV\QITJIKSMZ[ \WNZWV\PQU\PMUWVMa\W ZMXIQZ\PMPXMVOQVMWN  PQ[I[aM\]V\ZQMLXW_MZML IQZKZIN\_PQKPVM^MZLQLOM\I VIUM?MSVW_Q\WVTaI[\PM ¹8QTKPMZ
\PZMM^MZ[QWV[WN IOTQLMZ KITTML\PM/]TTXT][PQ[ QV\MZQU*MM\TMIVL\PMV\PM 0I_SIVLPM_I[IaW]VO UIV¸_PMVPMLQML¸WN  UWLM[\UMIV[ AM\8QTKPMZ_I[\PMÅZ[\ *ZQ\WV\WLM[QOVJ]QTLIVLÆa PMI^QMZ\PIVIQZKZIN\0M _MV\WV\W[M\\PM_WZTLTWVO LQ[\IVKMPMI^QMZ\PIVIQZ ÆQOP\ZMKWZLI\\PM\QUM IJW]\ NMM\0Q[KW][QV ,WZW\PaIVL[Q[\MZ-TTI JMKIUM\PMÅZ[\\_W_WUMV QV\PM_WZTL\WÆaIVIQZ XTIVM¸\PM8QTKPMZ0I_S )VL8MZKa_W]TLOWLW_VQV PQ[\WZaI[-VOTIVL¼[ÅZ[\I^QI \WZ)T[WQ\[ÅZ[\\WLQMQVX]Z []Q\WN XW_MZMLÆQOP\ 1\_I[ITWVMTa[IKZQÅKM1V \PMTI\M [ÆQOP\M`XMZQ UMV\I\QWV_I[^QM_MLI[ \Z]TaMKKMV\ZQKKWUXIZIJTM \W\PMM`XTWQ\[WN VMZL[QV\PM

PHOTOS: ©NATIONAL MUSEUMS SCOTLAND

early 1970s who hand-wired toggle-switched 8-bit computers. There were a number WN \PMWZQ[\[SQ\MÆQMZ[IVL model-builders, but few like 8QTKPMZ_PWIK\]ITTaÆM_ full-size gliders. Fifteen years ago, the +ZIVÅMTL+WTTMOMWN  Aeronautics, the UK’s top aviation school, decided to replicate the Triplane to see if 8QTKPMZKW]TLM^MZPI^MÆW_V it under power. The project _I[ÅTUMLIVLJZWILKI[\QV 2003 by the BBC (you can see it on YouTube under “Percy Pilcher’s Flying Machine”). Because nobody wants to watch an hour-long TV show IJW]\INIQT]ZM+ZIVÅMTLIVL the small ultralight airplane shop they engaged to do the construction put their thumbs on the scale and weighted the odds in Pilcher’s favor. Instead of the 40-pound, 2-cylinder boxer that Percy had planned to use—he called it his “oil engine”— \PM+ZIVÅMTLZMXTQKI_I[ XW_MZMLJaIPXUWLQÅML Swedish go-kart hummer. That meant a 50-percent power boost plus almost four times the power-to-weight ratio of the Pilcher engine. They also used a thoroughly modern propeller in place of 8QTKPMZ¼[ÆI\\_WJTILMÆWXper. Of course\PMZMXTQKIÆM_ albeit for only one minute and 25 seconds. Percy’s engine was designed and built by a business partner, Walter Gordon Wilson, who ultimately became far more successful than Pilcher. Wilson was credited with being a coinventor of the tank, and he also invented and built the Wilson pre-selector gearbox for automobiles. A famous feature of a number of sports cars of the 1930s, the electrically actuated Wilson preselector eliminated the clutch but allowed a driver to choose his next gear in advance and

Linen batwings Museum conservator Gemma Thorns stitches fabric on the Hawk’s wings (above). Percy’s sister Ella (below) was one of two women who flew the glider.

then engage it whenever he or she wished with a quick stab at a not-a-clutch pedal. Still, Pilcher was nothing like the zanies we see in old silent movies attempting to levitate rolling Venetian blinds and farm carts with ÆIQTQVOJI\_QVO[0MQV\]Q tively understood that an airfoil should be curved, from [\]LaQVOJQZL[QVÆQOP\I[_MTT as the work of his German mentor Otto Lilienthal, and he realized that lift would be produced by the pressure of air on its undersurface, given enough forward speed. 0MÅO]ZMLW]\\PI\PMKW]TL slow his glider by slightly increasing the angle of attack and accelerate by decreasing it. Climbing was out of the question at this early stage. Another remarkable Pilcher invention was wheeled landing gear, though the \ISMW‫ٺ‬OMIZZMUIQVML\PM athlete/pilot’s sprinting legs. Louis Blériot was among the ÅZ[\\W][M_PMMT[WVI[]Kcessful powered airplane— his 1909 Blériot XI—and the Wrights didn’t replace skids with wheels until 1910, with

their Model B. Both the 0I_S¼[IVL\PM
6W_PW_M^MZ\PM0I_S has been accurately restored by the Scottish Museum of Flight. This July it’s slated to be hung in the atrium of a new science and technology gallery at the National Museum of Scotland. The wings now bear new linen painstakingly sewn in place atop the bamboo ribs, and a cat’s cradle of rusty iron wires IVLÅ\\QVO[PI[JMMVKTMIVML and renewed. Whatever potential the Triplane might have had, it was leading Percy Pilcher down a dead-end street. Like his mentors Otto Lilienthal and Octave Chanute, Pilcher knew nothing of movable KWV\ZWT[]ZNIKM[0MKWVtrolled all his aircraft by weight-shifting—hanging by his armpits from the fuselage and swinging his body back and forth and from side to side. The Triplane had a Å`MLMUXMVVIOMNWZ[\IJQTQ\a but no rudder, elevator or, most important, roll control. 0IL8QTKPMZ[WUMPW_ÆW_V it would still have remained for the Wrights to make the _WZTL¼[ÅZ[\XW_MZMLIVL controlled heavier-than-air ÆQOP\

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RESTORED

Ike’s Connie Comes Back THE FIRST AIR FORCE ONE IS NOW THE ONLY PRESIDENTIAL AIRCRAFT IN PRIVATE HANDS BY DOUGLAS NELMS

S

ometimes it just takes blind luck—the serendipitous discovery of a historic aircraft that had apparently been lost to the ages—and in the case of Dwight D. Eisenhower’s ÅZ[\XZM[QLMV\QITIQZXTIVMQ\KIUMR][\QV\QUM
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second Connie became Columbine II. 1V6W^MUJMZ!Q\_I[ ZMXTIKMLJaI;]XMZ+WV[\MT TI\QWVColumbine IIIIVL Columbine II became the JIKS]XXTIVM1\TI\MZZM^MZ\ML \W\PM=;)QZ.WZKMI[I>18 transport until it was sent to the boneyard at Davis-Mon\PIV)QZ.WZKM*I[MQV!  Columbine II was reportedly \PMÅZ[\XZM[QLMV\QITIQZKZIN\ to be assigned the Air Force 7VMKITT[QOVIT\PW]OP\PM

ready to go Columbine II prepares to depart Arizona in March (top). Karl Stoltzfus with his storied Connie (above).

reason is a bit nebulous. As the 610th Constellation built QV! Q\[UQTQ\IZa[MZQIT number was 48-610—thus its original call sign was Air .WZKM 1V!\PM[\WZa OWM[IUQLIQZKWTTQ[QWVVMIZTa occurred because aircraft

OPPOSITE TOP & ABOVE RIGHT: ©TYSON RININGER/TVR PHOTOGRAPHY; OPPOSITE BOTTOM: DOUGLAS NELMS

controllers in New York confused Air Force 8610 with Eastern Air Lines Flight 8610. Because of that, the aircraft was subsequently designated Air Force One. But Columbine II’s current owner Karl Stoltzfus, founder and chairman of Dynamic Aviation at Bridgewater Air Park in Virginia, said that story is nothing more than urban legend. The two aircraft reportedly did enter the same airspace, but they could have been thousands of feet apart, vertically and horizontally. Still, the possibility of a midair collision inspired Colonel William Draper, Eisenhower’s pilot, to suggest to the FAA and the Air Force that the plane with the president on board should be ZMNMZZML\WJa)QZ
Museum, told Christler about 48-610’s provenance. Christler then purchased a sixth Connie (48-608) for spare parts and restored Columbine II\WÆaQVOKWVLQtion. It began making appearances at airshows in 1990. Eight years later, +PZQ[\TMZÆM_\PMXZM[QLMV\QIT plane to Scottsdale, Ariz., where he put it up for auction. When there were no J]aMZ[PMÆM_Q\\W)^ZI Valley Airport, south of Marana, Ariz., and parked it. 1VPQ[\WZaJ]‫ٺ‬ Karl Stoltzfus read about Columbine II in a magazine article that said the aircraft would be scrapped by 2017 if no one bought it. Stoltzfus purchased the historic Connie and sent a team headed by Brian Miklos to Arizona to start restoration work, supported by Scott Glover of the Mid America Flight Museum in Mount Pleasant, Texas. “Glover brought a team of eight to 10 mechanics out multiple times to help out,” Stoltzfus said. “They helped us out a lot.” The XTIVM\PMVUILMINMZZaÆQOP\ to Bridgewater Air Park this XI[\5IZKP[MM¹*ZQMÅVOº 2]Ta Three of Columbine II’s Curtiss Wright R-3350-75 engines, rated at 4,500 shp each, were originals, with a fourth borrowed from Rod Lewis of Lewis Air Legends.

“we are going to make the aircraft as authentic as we can.”

That engine had come from Douglas McArthur’s Constellation, Bataan. “We still have that engine, but it will eventuITTaPI^M\WJM\ISMVW‫ٺ‬IVL shipped back to California,” Stoltzfus explained. “We’ll have to get another engine and overhaul it.” The plane also has its original Curtiss Wright Electric propellers. “We are going to make the aircraft as authentic as we can,” said Stoltzfus. “It will appear old, but will not be old. We’ll upgrade the avionics and stick a couple of Garmin 530s in there somewhere.” While there was little corrosion on the metal parts, he said everything else was pretty well shot: “Every hose on the airplane needed to be changed. Lots of rubber parts needed to be replaced. We overhauled the wheels and brakes and changed the tires. Replaced all the fuel components. Everything that had fuel in it was bad: the carbuZM\WZ[N]MTQVRMK\WZ[[P]\W‫ٺ‬ valves—everything that was part of the fuel components.” He also noted the Connie is “a very, very hydraulics aircraft, with all kinds of PaLZI]TQK[TMIS[¸Æ]QLKWUing from everywhere.” The interior will be restored to look just as it did when President Eisenhower ÆM_QVQ\JI[MLWVQVNWZUItion from the Eisenhower

partially restored The Constellation’s cockpit will eventually feature GPS and upgraded avionics.

museum in Abilene, Kan, and Lockheed. “The Eisenhower museum was extremely cooperative,” Stoltzfus said, “and we have the Lockheed drawings, color codes, what kind of Naugahyde it had, what paint was used. We even have blueprints of things such as the table that Eisenhower sat at.” Once Columbine II is completely restored, he added, “We would like to use it for educating young people. Have kids come out and go through the airplane, have someone give talks, have storyboards telling the story. We can point out where Eisenhower sat when he wrote the ‘Atoms for Peace’ speech. The Shah of Iran ÆM_QV\PQ[IQZXTIVM2WPV Foster Dulles, Richard Nixon, Queen Elizabeth. This is one of the most historic aircraft in \PM_WZTLJMQVOÆW_VJaI civilian company. Hopefully we’ll be going to Europe in it someday.” 

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LETTER FROM AVIATION HISTORY

WN PQ[\WZa"+WTWOVM0IUJ]ZO,ZM[LMV*MZTQV Tokyo, Kobe, Nagoya, Hiroshima, Nagasaki— KQ\QM[ ITT J]\ TM^MTML Ja )UMZQKIV IVL *ZQ\Q[P BY CARL VON WODTKE JWUJ[)TTQMLIQZKWUUIVLMZ[_MZM]VIXWTWOM\QK “We are going to scourge the Third Reich from t what point did it become morally accept- MVL\WMVLº[IQL:).*WUJMZ+WUUIVLTMILMZ able to bomb civilians? Two articles in this ;QZ)Z\P]Z0IZZQ[¹?MIZMJWUJQVO/MZUIVaKQ\a issue examine tipping points in the history by city and ever more terribly in order to make it of strategic bombing that led to wide- QUXW[[QJTMNWZPMZ\WOWWV_Q\P\PM_IZº)VL=; spread destruction in the Japanese home- <_MV\QM\P)QZ.WZKMKWUUIVLMZ+]Z\Q[4M5Ia land (“When Fire Rained from the Sky,” put it succinctly: “We’re at war with Japan. We were P. 28) and the leveling of a historic German city attacked by Japan. Do you want to kill Japanese, or (“Target: Freiburg,” P. 46) during World War II. _W]TLaW]ZI\PMZPI^M)UMZQKIV[SQTTML'º It’s tempting to blame the Italians. They were Perhaps the man most associated with the area the first to drop explosive ordnance from air- JWUJQVOWN ]ZJIVQVL][\ZQITKMV\MZ[4M5IaLZM_ planes—on Ottoman forces during the 1911-12 no distinction between enemy combatants and Italo-Turkish War—though the results were less civilians. “There are no innocent civilians,” he told than impressive. Italian air power prophet Giulio an interviewer in 1989. “It is their government Douhet advocated bombing enemy population IVLaW]IZMÅOP\QVOIXMWXTM#aW]IZMVW\\ZaQVO\W centers as a means to shorten wars, predicting in ÅOP\IVIZUMLNWZKMIVaUWZM;WQ\LWM[V¼\JW\PMZ his 1921 book The Command of the Air that under a me so much to be killing the so-called innocent sustained aerial onslaught, “The time would soon Ja[\IVLMZ[º1VLMNMVLQVOPQ[IXXZWIKP4M5Ia KWUM_PMV\WX]\IVMVL\W\PMPWZZWZIVL[]‫ٺ‬MZ- _I[\ISQVOIXIOMNZWU,W]PM\_PW_ZW\M"¹)Va ing, the people themselves, driven by instinct and distinction between belligerents and nonbelligerself-preservation, would rise up and demand an ents is no longer admissible today....because when end to the war....” Of course Douhet’s prediction nations are at war, everyone takes part in it: the solproved illusory: Often the bombing of civilian tar- dier carrying his gun, the woman loading shells in gets only served to strengthen the people’s resolve, a factory, the farmer growing wheat, the scientist as was the case with the World War I zeppelin experimenting in his laboratory.” ZIQL[WV4WVLWVIVL\PM4]N\_I‫ٺ‬M*TQ\bL]ZQVO It is this context of modern war in which the \PM*I\\TMWN *ZQ\IQV)VL\PW[MTQ^QVO]VLMZ\PM history of strategic bombing must be viewed. Yet totalitarian regimes of Nazi Germany and imperi- it’s also important that the people of all nations japan in flames al Japan were hardly in a position to rise up and learn from the past and strive for a better future— The B-29 Incendiary make demands of their governments. ¹IN]\]ZMQV_PQKPºI[8ZM[QLMV\*IZIKS7JIUI Journey lives up to When it came to wholesale destruction of cities X]\Q\WV5Ia¹0QZW[PQUIIVL6IOI[ISQIZM its name over Osaka NZWU\PMIQZVWJWLa_I[I[M‫ٺ‬MK\Q^MI[\PM)TTQM[ known not as the dawn of atomic warfare, but as on June 1, 1945. in WWII. The names are familiar to any student the start of our own moral awakening.” 

Collateral Damage

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NATIONAL ARCHIVES

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THE REAL ‘BRIDGES ’ AT TOKO-RI JAMES MICHENER’S BESTSELLER AND MOVIE ADAPTATION WERE BASED ON ONE VERY BAD DAY IN NORTH KOREA BY DON HOLLWAY

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KOREAN WAR COMBO Douglas AD-4 Skyraiders (foreground) of U.S. Navy squadron VF-194 set out on a bombing mission, accompanied by Vought F4U-4 Corsairs of VF-44.

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IT WAS A NEW KIND OF WAR. REAL-LIFE RESULTS The three bridges at Samdong-ni show damage inflicted by Navy Skyraiders on February 8, 1952, during the mission that served as the inspiration for James Michener’s novel.

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In less than a decade the United States had sided with former enemies, retired its most famous general and settled with bitter foes—ex-allies—for nothing more than a stalemate. President Harry Truman called it a “police action.” The press called it the “Forgotten War.” Trying to make sense of it, in January 1952 a correspondent for Reader’s Digest and the Saturday Evening Post joined the Task Force 77 commander, Rear Admiral 2WPV¹*TIKS2IKSº8MZZaWVPQ[ÆIO[PQX\PMIQZcraft carrier Valley Forge. James A. Michener was researching what would become the classic story, IVLIZO]IJTaOZMI\M[\ÅTUIJW]\\PM3WZMIV?IZ" The Bridges at Toko-Ri. “In those days of research for Toko-Ri I would XIZ\QKQXI\MQVKI\IX]T\\ISMW‫[ٺ‬IVLKIJTMOZIJJQVO landings many times,” wrote Michener, a World ?IZ11VI^ITW‫ٻ‬KMZ_PWPIL_WV\PM8]TQ\bMZ8ZQbM writing about combat on sultry tropical islands. In the wintry Sea of Japan, with victory nowhere in sight, he wanted to know, “Have Americans lost their moral courage?” The “Happy Valley” was then on its third of four

\W]Z[WN 3WZMIIVLMIZVQVOILIZSMZVQKSVIUM" “Death Valley.” Since early December 1951 its air group had lost eight aviators, starting with 25-yearWTL0IZZa-\\QVOMZ7VPQ[ÅZ[\VQOP\QV\MZLQK\QWV mission, Ettinger’s Douglas AD-4NL Skyraider _I[PQ\JaIV\QIQZKZIN\ÅZM[W]\PWN ?WV[IV0M and his crew of two bailed out. Almost two months later, on February 7, Army intelligence revealed that Ettinger had been spirited from captivity by IV\Q+WUU]VQ[\6WZ\P3WZMIVXIZ\Q[IV[
PREVIOUS PAGES, ABOVE RIGHT & RIGHT: U.S. NAVY; OPPOSITE: NATIONAL ARCHIVES

very little, no more than 150 pounds including his transceiver. And it was stressed that it must all be out of the helicopter before we brought the man [Ettinger] aboard.” At 6 a.m. on the 8th, three F4U Corsairs and \PZMM;SaZIQLMZ[\WWSW‫ٺ‬NZWUValley Forge on a ResCAP: rescue combat air patrol. The frozen hillside pickup site appeared to be clear of enemy troops, but its terraced, stair-stepped rice paddies were too narrow for Thorin’s Sikorsky to set down. 0MXTIVVML\WPW^MZ_PQTM\PM[]XXTQM[_MZMW‫ٺ‬loaded and the passenger put aboard, but when the Horse came down, the “stretcher-bound” Ettinger darted out from cover. Thorin shouted at the Army IOMV\"¹,]UX\PI\[\]‫ٺ‬W]\ :QOP\VW_ º Too late. Ettinger hurled himself aboard. Burdened with all three men plus the extra gear, \PMKPWXXMZOZW]VLMLWVM_PMMTW‫\ٺ‬PM\MZZIKM It tipped, rolled and struck its rotor blades on the frozen ground. Out at sea Valley Forge prepared to launch the morning’s scheduled mission. At Samdong-ni, near the villages of Poko-ri and Toko-san (names 5QKPMVMZ_W]TLTI\MZKWUJQVMNWZPQ[ÅK\QWVIT Toko-ri), three bridges crossed the bottom of a deep, winding river valley. Lieutenant Commander Robert “Iron Pants” Schreiber of attack squadron VF-194 would lead the strike against \PMUJ]\VW\QVÆI[PaVM_RM\ÅOP\MZ[¹
LOADED FOR BEAR An AD-4 of VA-195 carries bombs as well as napalm in converted drop tanks.

“THE BIG PROP-DRIVEN AD SKYRAIDERS WERE THE NAVY’S ONLY AIRCRAFT ABLE TO DESTROY THE BRIDGES.”

Corsairs would try to keep any stray Korean heads down, but the bridges were up to the Skyraiders. “We had no illusions as to what we were in for,” ZMUMUJMZML;KPZMQJMZ¼[_QVOUIV4\RO:QKPIZL 3I]NUIV4QM]\MVIV\*WJ3WUWZW‫_ٺ‬PWPIL been best man at Kaufman’s wedding, would lead the second section, with Ensign Marv Broomhead as last man through. “I was very uncomfortable,” recalled Kaufman, “knowing that the rescue helicopter from the Rochester was not available.”

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t the helo wreck near Wonsan, the Americans had barely extricated themselves when North Korean troops emerged from cover and closed in. The ResCAP came down to strafe them with cannons. “The explosive rounds sounded like popping corn,” recalled Thorin of huddling against a bank as shrapnel “…sizzled through the trees above us, close enough that I felt the breeze.”
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KPWXXMZUILM\_WIXXZWIKPM[J]\_I[LZQ^MVW‫ٺ‬ to an emergency landing on the cruiser St. Paul. Huddling beside Thorin, Ettinger said, “I’m sorry I got you guys into this mess.” Thorin blamed Army intel.

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“DEATH VALLEY” The attack aircraft launched from USS Valley Forge (top). “We had no illusions as to what we were in for,” said Skyraider pilot Richard Kaufman (above). Lt. Cmdr. Robert Schreiber (right) led VF-194 against the bridges.

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t Samdong-ni, Kaufman followed Schreiber down on their second bomb run with 20mm cannons blazing, tryQVO\W[]XXZM[[[WUMWN \PMOZW]VLÅZM He pickled his wing bombs and banked away, 3WUWZW‫ٺ‬ZQOP\JMPQVLPQU?Q\PNW]ZIQZKZIN\ dropping dozens of 250-pounders on one bridge, the smoke and dust was so thick they couldn’t immediately discern the damage, but saw the odds PILKI]OP\]X\W\PMU*ZWWUPMIL¼[),_I[ÆMMing eastward down the valley, streaming smoke. “I am hit,” Broomhead radioed. He had been grazed in the head by shrapnel or a small-caliber round. His Skyraider didn’t have the power to climb. “I’m losing rpms.” “Bail out,” Schreiber told him. “I’m already too low,” Broomhead said. “I have \WÅVL[WUMXTIKM\W[M\LW_Vº the Thorin crash site. “The Panthers put the gun “We followed him about nine, ten miles,” recrews on alert,” Kaufman realized, “so when we called Kaufman. Broomhead spotted a snowarrived a half hour later, they were waiting for us.” covered mountaintop clearing and brought the As Schreiber’s dark blue AD rolled into its bomb stricken Skyraider in. “The crash was sudden in run, Kaufman saw the snowy white valley erupt: IÆ]ZZaWN [VW_I[PMPQ\IVL[SQLLML\WI[\WX “All hell broke loose. In my 30 missions over North QVIJW]\NMM\
PHOTOS: NATIONAL ARCHIVES

READY FOR ACTION A Skyraider takes off from Valley Forge in March 1951 while a Sikorsky HO3S-1 rescue chopper stands by in case of trouble.

a taste of combat. They hurried south. The multiple shootdowns were sucking in airKZIN\TQSMI8IKQÅK\aXPWWV)JWIZLValley Forge, Michener was listening to the radio chatter. “Word of the situation flashed through the fleet,” he would write. “…Pilots insisted on going in to get their men.” 4QM]\MVIV\:Ia-LQVOMZM`MK]\Q^MW‫ٻ‬KMZWN  >.\WWS\PMI[[QOVUMV\WVPQ[LIaW‫ٺ‬¹):PQOP^MTWKQ\aIQZTI]VKPMLZWKSM\[7VM WN -LQVOMZ¼[PIVOÅZMLIVLPQ[_QVOUIV\WWSI PQ\2][\I[I[MKWVLÆQOP\WN ¹8PQT;MIº+WZ[IQZ[ arrived, Edinger heard a thump and was told he was streaming oil. “I looked out at the left wing, and sure enough, it’s all running out,” he recalled. ?PMV5WWZM¼[07;_IN\ML]X\W*ZWWU head’s mountaintop crash site, now surrounded by 6WZ\P3WZMIV[Q\ZIVQV\WIJIZZIOMWN OZW]VLÅZM The Horse collapsed onto the snow and rolled on its side. Both crewmen got out—Henry hobbling with a sprained knee—and managed to reach Broomhead, who was now unconscious. The )UMZQKIV[KQZKTQVOW^MZPMIL[I_\PMULZIOPQU away from his wrecked Skyraider. Things were getting worse at Thorin’s crash site,

“IN MY 30 MISSIONS OVER NORTH KOREA THUS FAR, IT WAS THE HEAVIEST FLAK I HAD EVER SEEN.”

too. “Some time after noon a Marine helicopter came looking for us, moving upslope over the open area about 200 yards outside of our hideaway,” PM[IQL¹)V07;Q\PILKIXIJQTQ\aWN \ISQVOITT three of us.” The Sikorsky Chickasaw had a crew WN \_WIVLKW]TLKIZZaJ]\JaVW_\PMLW_VML )UMZQKIV[ZMITQbML\PMa_MZMR][\JIQ\QVI\ZIX Thorin knew that “If we were to break out into the open area where this helicopter could pick us up, both it and ourselves would be a well-centered \IZOM\NWZITTWN \PM\ZWWX[QV\PM^QKQVQ\a)TT\PQVO[ considered, it seemed best to let the Marine helicopter pass on by.” He and Ettinger stood up so every aviator and enemy soldier in sight could see them raise their hands.

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eanwhile Edinger, fleeing seaward I\N]TT\PZW\\TMZMITQbMLPQ[+WZ[IQZ¼[ engine should be dead. His leak wasn’t WQTJ]\PaLZI]TQKÆ]QL1\UMIV\X]\ting down on Valley Forge _Q\PVWÆIX[VWTWKSML down landing gear, maybe not so much as a tail hook, not to mention the hung rocket still on his wing. But having made it out over the water—and against the advice of the carrier crew, who all but WZLMZMLPQU\WLQ\KPWZLQ^MZ\\W3 ¸-LQVOMZ was determined to come aboard, no matter what. “They wouldn’t let me land until…they put the [crash barrier] fences up and were going to put a line of donkeys [tow vehicles] there.” 0Q[ÅZ[\IXXZWIKP¸VWÆIX[[\ZIQOP\QV¸_I[ \WWNI[\IVL-LQVOMZOW\I_I^MW‫ٺ‬0M_W]VL

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And the defeat, it turned out, wasn’t total. Photorecon planes revealed all three bridges at Samdong-ni had been taken down. Ettinger,
FLIGHT TO FREEDOM An HO3S-1 hovers above the deck of the cruiser Manchester off Korea in 1951 (top). Downed during the bridge attack and captured, Marvin Broomhead boards a helicopter (above) after his repatriation at war’s end.

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THE BRIDGES AT SAMDONG-NI ver

CHINA

Ri

the F4U back around the circuit and hung it in the air at near-stall speed, hose-nose so high he had to slide open the canopy and stick his head out to see the LSO give him the cutthroat signal to chop throttle. The Corsair smashed down on its bent wings. On impact the live HVAR tore loose, skittering across the deck until two anonymous, heroic deckhands tackled it and pitched it overboard. Edinger’s F4U was dragged below on its belly. A bad day was coming to a bad end. “A stolid N]Za[M\\TML]XWV\PM=;ÆQMZ[º_ZW\M5QKPMVMZ ¹IVL_Q\PQ\IVIOWVQbQVOLM[XIQZº)[LIZSVM[[ descended, the Siberian wind gusted toward 60 knots over North Korea. An Army chopper KW]TLV¼\ Y]Q\M ZMIKP *ZWWUPMIL 5WWZM IVL Henry. “It had space for only two men, and *ZWWUPMIL_I[]VKWV[KQW][º5QKPMVMZTMIZVML “To try to carry him the 200 yards under enemy ÅZM_W]TLJMNI\IT5WWZMIVL0MVZaUQOP\UISM it in a quick dash, but they would not leave *ZWWUPMIL
Frequent contributor Don Hollway thanks Richard Kaufman for his photos, video and recollections of his NZQMVL2IUM[5QKPMVMZIVLÆaQVO\PM¹
u Ya l

NORTH KOREA

SAMDONG-NI BRIDGES

Sea of Japan WONSAN

PYONGYANG K-50 K-18

38th Parallel SEOUL KIMPO (K-14) SOUTH KOREA

Yellow Sea

KUNSAN

ARTISTIC LICENSE William Holden struggles to escape from his downed F9F-2 Panther jet in the movie adaptation.

HOLLYWOOD’S BRIDGES dmirals and movie audiences in the 1950s loved their new jets and helicopters. For its production of The Bridges at Toko-Ri, Paramount Pictures forsook prop-driven Skyraiders and Corsairs for the F9F Panther jets of VFA-192, the Golden Dragons. They had flown F4U-4 Corsairs over Korea from USS Princeton but would make their claim to fame as the “World Famous Golden Dragons” for their postwar work in Toko-Ri and MGM’s Men of the Fighting Lady, also based on a James Michener action report. The Essex-class fleet carrier Oriskany played the part of Michener’s Savo Island, an escort carrier that actually spent the duration in mothballs. Star William Holden taxied a Panther on Oriskany’s deck and played poker with its crew. “He never actually got in the air [but]…Holden knew these Navy pilots were the real heroes and he was just an actor playing a part,” remembered Panther pilot Lieutenant Charles “Gil” Erb. “He had a lot of respect for them and the way they risked their lives every day for their country.” (Holden’s younger brother, F6F Hellcat pilot Ensign Robert W. Beedle, had been killed in action in January 1944.) Meanwhile Mickey Rooney reportedly bribed a pilot to fly him to Tokyo for the horse races. After six weeks in the Yellow Sea, Tokyo and Yokosuka, cast and crew returned to California. VF-52, the Knightriders, took over as stunt pilots. Paul Mantz, former commander of the Army’s First Motion Picture

OPPOSITE PHOTOS: NATIONAL ARCHIVES; MAP: DIT RUTLAND; ABOVE: ©INTERPHOTO/ALAMY; RIGHT: PARAMOUNT PICTURES/PHOTOFEST

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Unit and three-time winner of the L.A.-to-Cleveland Bendix Trophy air race, filmed them from the open-air tail-gunner position of his surplus B-25 Mitchell, Smasher. VF-52’s Lt. Cmdr. (later Admiral) James Holloway III recalled, “Standing waist high in the plane’s slipstream, he wore a leather jacket and cloth helmet with World War II–era aviator’s goggles as he manhandled his enormous cameras as if they were machine guns.” Using a prop plane to film jets was no cinch. “The maximum speed for the B-25 while filming was 175 knots, close to the minimum airspeed for the Panthers,” said Holloway. “…During most of the filming, the Panthers were flying just above the stalling airspeed with flaps up. If we dropped below 175 knots, our flaps would have to be down, which just wouldn’t look right.” Getting the right look extended even to the “fuel” leaking from Brubaker’s stricken jet: actually chocolate milk. The bridge attack was shot in Mint Canyon, 30 miles north of L.A. The “valley of Toko-ri” was a 200-foot excavation gully with 1:12-scale buildings, a functioning O-scale railway and 8-foothigh bridges, all the work of special effects supervisor and cinematographer John P. Fulton. He rigged model Panthers to swoop up his manmade valley on wires, with pyrotechnics filling in for anti-aircraft fire. Fans of modern computerized effects may laugh, but in 1955 this was cutting-edge: The Bridges at Toko-Ri beat out The Dam Busters for the 1956 Oscar for Best Special Effects. D.H.

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WHEN FIRE RAINED FROM THE SKY THE FIRST LOW-LEVEL B-29 RAID ON TOKYO INTRODUCED A TERRIFYING NEW TACTIC IN THE WAR AGAINST JAPAN BY BARRETT TILLMAN

firestorm Following the same tactic used in their March 1945 raid on Tokyo, B-29s of the Twentieth Air Force set the port of Kobe ablaze on June 5.

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ON THE NIGHT OF MARCH 9-10, 1945, U.S. TWENTIETH AIR FORCE B-29S BURNED DOWN 7 PERCENT OF TOKYO AND KILLED SOME 85,000 PEOPLE. eve of destruction E-46 incendiaries are loaded into the bomb bay of a B-29 of the 29th Bomb Group, 314th Bombardment Wing, at North Field on Guam.

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8ZWJIJTaVWWVMWV5IRWZ/MVMZIT+]Z\Q[4M5Ia¼[[\I‫ٺ‬QV the Mariana Islands expected the Japanese to capitulate in the IN\MZUI\PJ]\\PM]VXZMKMLMV\MLÅZMJTQ\bWV\PMMVMUaKIXQ\IT _W]TL[M\\PM[\IVLIZLNWZÅ^MUWV\P[WN WXMZI\QWV[\WKWUM By the summer of 1944, four B-29 groups were operating from India, staging through China within maximum range of [W]\PMZV2IXIV4M5Ia)ZUa)QZ.WZKM[KPQMN 0MVZa¹0IXº )ZVWTL¼[\ZW]JTM[PWW\MZ\]ZVML\PMPIZLXZM[[ML@@*WUJMZ +WUUIVLIZW]VLQUXZW^QVOM‫ٻ‬KQMVKaIVLZM[]T\[*]\\PM )[QIVUIQVTIVLXZW^ML\WWLMUIVLQVOTWOQ[\QKITTaIVLTI\M \PI\aMIZ;]XMZNWZ\ZM[[M[JMOIVÆaQVONZWU\PM5IZQIVI[ UQTM[[W]\PWN 0WV[P]
QVIOMWOZIXPQK^Q[M\PI\XMZUQ\\MLVWM[KIXM 6W_ KWUUIVLQVO @@1 Bomber Command on Guam, LeMay concluded that con^MV\QWVITPQOPTM^MTJWUJQVO was not producing the desired ZM[]T\[
reports only mentioned American aircraft orbiting at Choshi, a port city 50 miles northeast—seemingly no immediate threat to the capital. Choshi was one of the coast-in points for XXI Bomber Command B-29s.

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PREVIOUS PAGES & ABOVE RIGHT: NATIONAL ARCHIVES; OPPOSITE: LIBRARY OF CONGRESS; RIGHT: STEVE VOGEL COLLECTION

PMÅZ[\JWUJMZ[_MZMXI\PÅVLMZ[[_MMXQVOQVTW_IVL fast over Tokyo, doing nearly 300 mph at 5,000 feet. Their navigators had worked to perfection with an identical time over target of 12:15 a.m. Approaching at right angles to each other, the B-29s opened their bomb bay doors and the bombardiers toggled their loads. Bundles of incendiaries spewed into the slipstream, cascading onto the urban congestion. As the napalm sticks ignited, they formed a ÅMZaKZW[[WV\PMOZW]VL
ALMOST HALF A MILLION FIREBOMBS CASCADED DOWN, AND WHEREVER THEY HIT THEY SPURTED THEIR NAPALM-FILLED CHEESECLOTH BAGS. QVO_Q\PÆIUMQV\PMLMX\P[WN  the night, then hurtling down_IZLQVbQObIOOQVOJW]Y]M\[ WN ÆIUM_PQ[\TQVOI[\PMaNITT Barely 15 minutes after the beginning of the attack, the ÅZM_PQXXML]XJa\PM_QVL starts to rake through the depths of the wooden city.” As the sky over the city became superheated, huge amounts of air were sucked upward through multistory J]QTLQVO[QV\PM¹[\IKSM‫ٺ‬MK\º draining the cool air from ground level to feed the insatiable stack. As more and more ground air was drawn

postmortem Brig. Gen. Thomas Power (right) reviews results of the Tokyo raid with Maj. Gen. Curtis E. LeMay (center) and his chief of staff, Brig. Gen. Lauris Norstad. Below: Leaflets warned the Japanese in targeted cities.

into the conflagration from farther afield, the firestorm spread of its own accord. )N]TTaLM^MTWXMLÅZM[\WZU Q[ I PWZZQNQKITTa UM[UMZQbing sight. It seems like a living, malicious creature that feeds upon itself, generating ever higher winds that whirl cyclonically, breeding updrafts \PI\[]KS\PMW`aOMVW]\WN  the atmosphere even while \PMÆIUM[KWV[]UM\PMN]MT¸ buildings—that feed the monster’s ravenous appetite. Most ÅZM[\WZU^QK\QU[LWVW\J]ZV to death. Rather, as carbon UWVW`QLM Y]QKSTa ZMIKPM[ lethal levels, people suffoKI\MNZWUTIKSWN W`aOMVIVL M`KM[[Q^M[UWSMQVPITI\QWV In Tokyo that night some KQ\Qb MV[ NMT\ \PI\ PMTT PIL slipped its nether bounds and raised itself through the earth’s crust to feed on the surface. People fled panicstricken from searing heat amid the demonic roar of

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ÆIUM[\PMKZI[PWN KWTTIX[QVOJ]QTLQVO[IVL\PMUQTTQVOKWVOM[ \QWVWN \MZZQÅMLP]UIVJMQVO[;WUM[]Z^Q^WZ[NW]VL\PMU[MT^M[ []LLMVTaVISML\PMKTW\PM[J]ZVMLW‫\ٺ‬PMQZJWLQM[TMI^QVO\PMQZ [SQVTIZOMTaQV\IK\ 1V\PW[MNZQOP\N]TPW]Z[P]UIV[_I\KPML\PQVO[PIXXMVWVI [KITM\PI\XZWJIJTaPILVM^MZJMNWZMJMMV_Q\VM[[ML
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damage assessment In September 1945, Tokyo shows the effects of months of firebombing raids (above). Emperor Hirohito (right) surveys the ruins of his capital city late in the war.

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KWVÆIOZI\QWVNZWU[XZMILQVO QV\WIVW\PMZ-^MVILMY]I\M NQZMJZMIS[ UQOP\ VW\ PI^M PMTXML\PI\VQOP\
where the burden fell upon thousands of pitifully prepared neighborhood associations. Small groups of families tried to KWUXTa_Q\POW^MZVUMV\LQK\I\M[\W[_I\I\ÅZM[_Q\PLIUXMVML cloths or sandbags, or vainly attempted to douse blazing napalm with buckets of water. Everywhere people were forced to rely on their own meager resources. Factory worker Hidezo Tsuchikura saved his family and himself by climbing into a water tank on a school roof. Tsuchikura later made a Dantesque comparison: “The whole spectacle with its blinding lights and thundering noise reminded me of the paintings of purgatory—a real inferno out of the depths of hell itself.” 6W\M^MV\PMQUXMZQITJ]VSMZ_I[QUU]VM?PMV\PMÅZM storm’s high winds dropped burning embers onto the emperor’s Obunko[PZ]J[IVLKIUW]ÆIOMUI\MZQITQOVQ\ML8ITIKMO]IZL[ IVL[\I‫_ٺ‬MZMZML]KML\W[]JL]QVO\PMÆIUM[][QVO_I\MZXIQT[ and even tree branches. Safely underground, Emperor Hirohito and Empress Kojun sat out the attack in their bunker. The empress had observed her 42nd birthday three days previously, and now they had planned WVKMTMJZI\QVO\PMQZOZIVL[WV¼[ÅZ[\1V[\MIL\PMa\I[\ML\PM IKZQLW]\[QLMIQZ\PI\[TQXXML\PZW]OP\PMÅT\MZ[IVL^MV\[

OPPOSITE: (TOP) NATIONAL ARCHIVES, (BOTTOM) UNIVERSAL HISTORY ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES; RIGHT: ASAHI SHIMBUN

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ZQOILQMZ/MVMZIT
TEMPERATURES REACHED 1,800 DEGREES, CAUSING SOME PEOPLE TO IGNITE IN SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION. about as fast as a Superfort ever went. Fighting the heavy aerodynamic loads on the KWV\ZWT[:WJMZ\[WVM`XMVLML much of his momentum to regain precious altitude. )JW]\!)UMZQKIVNTQMZ[ died that night and at least six more later perished in captivQ\a)QZKZIN\TW[[M[IUWVO\PM !! MNNMK\Q^M [WZ\QM[ \W\ITML XTIVM[LW_VMLLQ\KPMLWZ demolished by enemy action or accident, including two crews lost in bad weather, three bombers ditched in

feeling the heat Firefighters try to contain the damage in Tokyo’s Ginza shopping district.

the sea and one plane crashTIVLML WV 1_W 2QUI
I

n the aftermath, Tokyo’s survivors struggled to deal with the massive calamity and found no standard of comparison. Medical services were reduced to insignificance: The only military rescue unit in the capital numbered nine LWK\WZ[ IVL  V]Z[M[ 6W\ even the capital’s combined civil and military emergency services could ease human []‫ٺ‬MZQVOWV[]KPIV]VXZMKedented scale.

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ABOVE & OPPOSITE TOP: NATIONAL ARCHIVES; BELOW & RIGHT: GALERIE BILDERWELT/GETTY IMAGES; ILLUSTRATION: DIT RUTLAND

bombers and the bombed B-29s rain incendiaries on Yokohama on May 29 (above). The charred remains of Tokyo residents clog the streets (above right) after the March 9-10 raid. Survivors sit amid the wreckage of their homes (opposite) following the raid.

found in a single astonishing number. During 10 previ ous attacks since November, Tokyo had sustained fewer than 1,300 deaths. Then, literally overnight, at least 84,000 were killed and 40,000 injured. (Reports of 100,000 dead probably included dis placed persons unaccounted NWZ 5WZM \PIV I Y]IZ\MZ million buildings were destroyed, leaving 1.1 million people homeless. Damage to Japan’s indus try was considerable. The 16 “Stacked up corpses were being hauled away on lorries,” facilities destroyed or badly Fusako Sasaki recalled. “Everywhere there was the stench of damaged included steel pro the dead and of smoke. I saw the places on the pavement where duction, petroleum storage XMWXTMPILJMMVZWI[\ML\WLMI\P)\TI[\1KWUXZMPMVLMLÅZ[\ and public services. And no hand what an air raid meant.” one could calculate the num American intelligence monitored a Japanese radio report that ber of small feeder factories [IQL"¹:MLÅZMKTW]L[SMX\KZMMXQVOPQOPIVL\PM\W_MZWN \PM and family shops that had Parliament Building stuck out black against the background of been incinerated in the resi the red sky. During the night we thought the whole of Tokyo had dential areas. been reduced to ashes.” One of the most illuminat ;XZMIL Ja XIVQKLZQ^MV Z]UWZ M`IOOMZI\ML 2IXIVM[M QVO KWUUMV\[ WV 5MM\QVO accounts of the disaster claimed as much as 40 percent of the house came from Maj. Gen. city had been destroyed. In truth, 7 percent of metropolitan 0IZ]W7V]UIWN \PM2IXI Tokyo—16 square miles—had been razed that night. But with VM[MIZUaOMVMZIT[\I‫"ٺ‬¹
great, and, accompanying this, the main productive power was stopped. It [also] decreased the will of the people to continue the war.” Tokuji Takeuchi of the Ministry of Interior echoed that from a civilian perspective: “It was the great incendiary attacks WV5IZKP!WV
TECH NOTES E-46 INCENDIARY CLUSTER BOMB

500-LB CLUSTER BOMB

TOP VIEW 20 IN

MAGNESIUM & TNT NAPALM GEL 2.6 LBS FUSE

TAIL STREAMER

WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION Armorers fuse E-46 “aimable clusters” on a 500th Bomb Group B-29 (top). Each E-46 contained 38 M-69 hexagonal incendiaries that would separate at 2,000 feet altitude and release a streamer to orient the fuse downward. After impact, an explosive charge ignited and spread the napalm.

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VOUGHT’S VISIONARY FIGHTER TO NAVY PILOTS IN THE EARLY 1950S, THE SWEPTWING F7U CUTLASS LOOKED LIKE A FIGHTER OF THE FUTURE, BUT THEY SOON LEARNED LOOKS CAN BE DECEIVING BY WARREN THOMPSON 36

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NEW ON DECK An F7U-3 prepares to launch during USS Hancock’s 1955 Far East cruise. Opposite: With wings folded, two Cutlasses await their turn on Hancock’s flight deck.

GOOD COMPANY Among those testing the F7U-3 at Naval Air Station Miramar were future astronaut Wally Schirra, Floyd Nugent, Burt Shepherd and Don Shelton.

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The Cutlass turned a lot of heads with its radical design, said to have been partially based on data captured from the Germans I\\PMMVLWN ?WZTL?IZ111\_I[)UMZQKI¼[ÅZ[\\IQTTM[[XZWL]K\QWVÅOP\MZIVL\PMÅZ[\IQZXTIVMLM[QOVMLNZWU\PMW]\[M\\W][M afterburners. The F7U featured hydraulically powered controls, IV¹IZ\QÅKQITNMMTºKWV\ZWT[a[\MUIVLI[\MMZIJTMVW[M_PMMT1\ _I[IT[W\PMÅZ[\ÅOP\MZ\WKI\IX]T\NZWUIKIZZQMZ_Q\PVMIZTaû tons of external stores and weapons.
Vought began working on the design just a few weeks before World War II ended. Navy officials had issued a ZMY]M[\NWZIÅOP\MZ\PI\KW]TL easily operate at 40,000 feet and reach speeds approaching 5IKP
PREVIOUS PAGES: (LEFT) ROBERT ANGLE VIA WARREN THOMPSON; (RIGHT) TAILHOOK ASSN VIA WARREN THOMPSON; ABOVE: DON SHELTON VIA WARREN THOMPSON; RIGHT PHOTOS: U.S. NAVY

WHEN THE CHANCE VOUGHT F7U CUTLASS FIRST ENTERED U.S. NAVY SERVICE IN JULY 1951, THE TAILLESS, SWEPTWING JET FIGHTER SEEMED TO REPRESENT A LEAP INTO THE FUTURE.

showed that the F7U could haul its weight in ordnance for ground-attack missions, and would also be a viable threat in the air-to-air arena. As a result, the Navy placed an order for 14 F7U-1s.

“ENSIGN ELIMINATOR” A pilot boards an F7U-1 for a test flight in 1952. Below: A Cutlass crashes on Hancock’s deck in 1955, killing the pilot.

L

ieutenant Don B. Shelton, who had flown F4U-5N Corsairs with Navy composite squadron VC-3 during the Korean War, was one of the most experienced pilots \WÆa\PM+]\TI[[0M_I[IUWVO\PM\M[\XQTW\[_PW\WWS part in Project Cutlass at Naval Air Station Miramar in San Diego, gathering operational information prior to the improved .=RWQVQVO\PMÆMM\
not allowed in this area, I called INZQMVLQV.TQOP\W]OP\\WW‫ٻ‬KQITTa [M^MZITÆQOP\[1PILUILMI witness a demo program few gentle approaches to stall in hurriedly set up by Pax and \PMKTMIVKWVÅO]ZI\QWVº[IQL the Bureau of Aeronautics, Shelton. “At that point, I just \PM6I^a¼[UI\MZQIT[]XXWZ\ relaxed the controls and let the or gani zation for all naval IQZKZIN\ÆaW]\WN \PMIXXZWIKP I^QI\QWV
ALTHOUGH THE SWEPTWING FIGHTER’S SLEEK LOOK LENT IT ALLURE, ITS FLYING CHARACTERISTICS RESULTED IN SOME SCARY MOMENTS.

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TECH NOTES VOUGHT F7U-3 CUTLASS SPECIFICATIONS

MID-FUSELAGE FUEL CELL COMPARTMENT

ENGINES Two Westinghouse J46-WE-8B turbojets generating 4,600 lbs. thrust each (dry) or 6,000 lbs. with afterburner

FORWARD FUSELAGE FUEL CELL COMPARTMENT

WINGSPAN 39 feet 9 inches (extended) 22 feet 3.6 inches (folded)

RADIO COMPASS ANTENNA

WING AREA 535 square feet

STARBOARD AILERATOR (ELEVON)

LENGTH 44 feet 3 inches HEIGHT 14 feet WEIGHT 18,262 lbs. (empty) 26,840 lbs. (gross) 31,642 lbs. (max takeoff) MAXIMUM SPEED 696 mph (with afterburner) AFT-SLIDING COCKPIT CANOPY

CRUISE 518 mph CLIMB 14,420 feet per second (military power plus afterburner)

ARMORED WINDSCREEN PANEL

CEILING 46,500 feet RANGE 817 miles (max), 696 miles (loaded) ARMAMENT Four fixed forward-firing 20mm M3 cannons and up to 5,500 lbs. external ordnance (four AAM-N-2 Sparrow I medium-range air-to-air missiles on F7U-3M)

20MM M3 CANNON WITH 180 ROUNDS PER GUN

NOSE WHEEL DOOR

FLIGHT REFUELING PROBE

NOSE WHEEL LEG DOOR DRAG STRUT UPWARDHINGING RADOME COMPARTMENT

TWIN NOSE WHEELS

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AFT AVIONICS EQUIPMENT BAY

FLEDGLING SPARROW

STARBOARD TAILFIN

STARBOARD RUDDER

In 1947 the U.S. Navy asked Sperry to develop a beam-riding guidance system for the 5-inch high-velocity aerial rocket. In 1952 AAM-N-2 Sparrow missiles were first mounted on the F3H-2M Demon and F7U-3M Cutlass. Low-level performance was poor, and the guidance beam was slaved to the airplane’s optical sight, limiting its use to visual contacts. Development shifted to a radar-homing seeker, leading to the Sparrow II.

STARBOARD AUXILIARY TRIMMING RUDDER/YAW DAMPER WESTINGHOUSE J46-WE-8B AFTERBURNING ENGINES PORT ENGINE AFTERBURNER DUCT ENGINE EXHAUST NOZZLE

PORT SPLIT TRAILINGEDGE AIRBRAKE PORT AUXILIARY TRIMMING RUDDER/ YAW DAMPER

ENGINE ACCESSORY EQUIPMENT GEARBOX

ILLUSTRATION: STEVE KARP; PHOTO: NATIONAL ARCHIVES

MAINWHEEL LEG DOOR

FUEL TANK BAYS

PORT MAINWHEEL INBOARD LEADING-EDGE SLAT SEGMENT

OUTBOARD LEADING-EDGE SLAT SEGMENT

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that he and the seat hit the ground only a few feet apart, with the aircraft landing close by also. He survived but that was the end of the argument. On another occasion Bud and I were lined up for takeW‫ٺ‬WV4I\5W‫ٺ‬M\\JMPQVL IV.=\PI\_I[ÆW_VJa IXQTW\NZWU>.)[PM [\IZ\MLPQ[\ISMW‫ٺ‬Z]VPQ[TMN\ MVOQVMM`XTWLMLIVLIJW]\ halfway down the runway he stopped the aircraft directly in front of the fire station.
GOING UP Jack Walton wears high-altitude gear for a Cutlass test flight in 1956. Opposite: (top) An F7U-3M takes off from Intrepid in 1954, leaving its bridle behind; (bottom) an F7U-3H launches from Lexington’s steam catapult in September 1956.

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the best, maybe only, recovery technique once in the gyration was to put the stick just a bit aft of neutral—no lateral or rudder input—hang on and the aircraft would recover nicely.” 1VTWWSQVOJIKSW^MZPQ[aMIZ[\M[\ÆaQVO\PM.=;PMT\WV vividly recalled several incidents. “One of these involved Po 0IZ_MTTWVPQ[ÅZ[\ÆQOP\JMQVOKPI[MLJa?ITTa;KPQZZIºPM [IQL¹.WVI\IK\QK[PWX_PW maneuvered into an accelerated stall and the post-stall gyration MV[]ML.WZ[WUMZMI[WVPMLQLVW\IXXTa\PMKWZZMK\ZMKW^MZa technique and ejected. ¹
PHOTOS: NATIONAL ARCHIVES

L

ieutenant j.g. Robert 7 )VOTM IVW\PMZ pilot involved with testing the Cutlass, PIL\PMWXXWZ\]VQ\a\WÆa\PM .=QVIVWXMZI\QWVIT\ZQIT _Q\P >. IJWIZL =;; Hancock L]ZQVO I .IZ -I[\ cruise. He had just finished advanced flight training, so Q\_W]TLJMPQ[ÅZ[\[Y]ILZWV assignment. Prior to completing his training, he was told to ZMXWZ\\W\PM+7¼[W‫ٻ‬KM0Q[ mind raced over all the things he might have done wrong, QVKT]LQVOIKKQLMV\ITTaÆaQVO QV\W5M`QKIVIQZ[XIKM¹.\WOW NZWUÆQOP\\ZIQVQVO\W\PMVM_ sweptwing Cutlass.” *MNWZM)VOTMKW]TLOM\QV\W the cockpit, he had to undergo

extensive ground education classes on the Cutlass’ systems and ÆQOP\KPIZIK\MZQ[\QK[1VIJW]\\PM\PQZL_MMSWN QVLWK\ZQVI\QWV WVMWN \PMZMKMV\VM_XQTW\[_I[SQTTMLWVPQ[ÅZ[\ÆQOP\QV\PM F7U-3. Soon after crossing the coast north of La Jolla at about NMM\\PMIQZKZIN\_MV\QV\WI\QOP\[XQZITIVLÆM_LQZMK\Ta into the ocean. The doomed pilot did not communicate with his chase plane and did not eject. “After the accident, the skipXMZ\ITSML\WMIKPWN ][\PI\PILVW\aM\PILIÅZ[\ÆQOP\QV\PM Cutlass to see if we wanted in the program or be transferred out,” Angle recalled. “All of us elected to stay. For me, it was not ILQ‫ٻ‬K]T\LMKQ[QWVJMKI][M\PMXQTW\[_PWPILÆW_V\PM+]\TI[[ praised its handling characteristics and told us that it handled R][\TQSMW\PMZÅOP\MZ[M`KMX\JM\\MZ 1_I[VW\INZIQLWN Q\IVL was eager to get started.” After that accident, the Cutlasses in VF-124 were grounded _PQTM>W]OP\MVOQVMMZ[\ZQML\WÅO]ZMW]\_PI\PILPIXXMVML \_W[MI\MZIVL\PM.!.8IV\PMZ which used a single button on top of the control stick for pitch IVLZWTT\ZQU¸\PM+]\TI[[PIL\_WZPMW[\I\\aXM\ZQU_PMMT[WV \PM[\QKS"WVMNWZZWTTIVLWVMNWZXQ\KP1VI[\ZM[[N]T[Q\]I\QWV_M speculated that the pilot placed his left hand on top of the stick, accidentally touching the roll trim wheel and moving it slightly. Only a couple of degrees of movement would have been enough to start a quick roll.” 7N ITT\PMRM\LM[QOV[WV\PMLZI_QVOJWIZLQV\PMTI\M![ the F7U appeared to hold the greatest potential for supersonic ÆQOP\¸Q\R][\TWWSMLNI[\M^MVWV\PMOZW]VL*]\LM[XQ\MQ\[ twin engines, the Cutlass possessed too little thrust and too much bulk to break the sound barrier. Above 30,000 feet, it could reach IXXZW`QUI\MTa5IKP! WZ!!QVTM^MTÆQOP\_Q\PIN\MZJ]ZVMZ[ and in a power dive with full afterburner the Mach meter would

DESPITE ITS TWIN ENGINES, THE F7U CUTLASS POSSESSED TOO LITTLE THRUST AND TOO MUCH BULK TO BREAK THE SOUND BARRIER. probably indicate 1.0, but that was about as far as it got. The entire reason for the Cutlass’ being was its armament and ordnance capabilities. “Armament for the F7U-3 consisted of four 20mm cannons mounted above the en-

gine intakes, an attachable rocket pack and external stores carried on the wing pylons,” explained Angle. “The cannon design had caused engine flameout problems, which the experts thought had been solved before VF-124 received the Cutlasses. Vents had been installed in the fuselage above the cannons to prevent propellant gases from being sucked into the engine. Later, IVILLQ\QWVITÅ`KWV[Q[\MLWN  installing large lips along the bottom edges of the engine intakes. We had limited gunVMZaXZIK\QKMÅZQVOWV\W_ML banners, and we experienced no flameout problems. The lips probably reduced top speed slightly, but we did not notice any changes. “The rocket pack contained 16 rows for 32 2.75-inch nonguided solid-propellant rockets. Two rockets in each row meant that one was in front of the other and that they had to

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VOUGHT F7U-3 CUTLASS COCKPIT Standby compass Gunsight Oil pressure warning lights Acceleration/G limits indicator 5. 8-day clock 6. Elapsed time clock 7. Emergency canopy release 8, 9. Exhaust temperature indicators 1. 2. 3. 4.

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10. Altimeter 11. Turn and bank indicator 12. Fire warning light panel 13. Control column 14. G-2 compass 15. Manual bomb release 16, 17. Tachometers 18. Airspeed indicator 19. Rate of climb indicator 20. Gyro horizon indicator

21. Main fuel quantity indicator 22. Transfer fuel quantity indicator 23. Fuel flow indicator 24. Arrestor gear handle 25. Throttle control levers (right throttle is from F-8) 26. Landing gear lever 27. Landing gear and slats position indicator

28. Throttle friction control 29. Master engine switches 30. Emergency fuel operating warning light 31. Engine fuel pump test switch 32. Console light panel 33. Exterior light panel 34. IFF radar set control 35. Radio compass control

OPPOSITE: NATIONAL NAVAL AVIATION MUSEUM; ABOVE RIGHT: U.S. NAVY; INSET: ©PERFORMANCE IMAGE/ALAMY

JMÅZMLQV[MY]MVKM_Q\P\PMNZWV\WVM[LMXIZ\QVOÅZ[\W]OP\IVL\PM6I^aKIUM]X_Q\PI»Å`¼ NWZ\PMXZWJTMU
LMI\PSVMTTW]OP\ÅOP\MZ\PM. =.  .WZ\]VI\MTaVWXQTW\M^MZPIL +Z][ILMZ \WXMZNWZU\PI\¹\W[[JWUJ Frequent contributor Warren QVOºUIVM]^MZQVKWUJI\ 7V\PM[]ZNIKM\PMN]\]ZQ[ Thompson specializes in military \QK+]\TI[[IXXMIZML\WXW[[M[[ aviation from World War II ITT\PMVMKM[[IZa\ZIQ\[\WUISM through Desert Storm. For addiQ\IOZMI\ÅOP\MZ*]\Q\[IVMUQK tional reading, he recommends: MVOQVM[XWWZKIZZQMZ\ISMW‫ ٺ‬+PIVKM>W]OP\.=+]\TI[[, IVLTIVLQVOXMZNWZUIVKMIVL by Steven Ginter; and +PIVKM \PMV]UMZW][IKKQLMV\[Q\[]N >W]OP\.=+]\TI[[, by NMZMLM^MV\]ITTa[QOVITMLQ\[ Tommy Thomason. SLEEK DESIGN An F7U-3 shows off its futuristic silhouette during a 1953 test flight. Inset: The Cutlassinspired hood ornament of Chevrolet’s 1955 Bel Air.

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dubious prize Freiburg lies in ruins in 1945, after falling into French hands for the fifth time in 300 years. Many of its historic buildings were leveled by war’s end.

PHOTOS: XXX XXXXXXX

TARGET: FREIBURG WHEN THREE LUFTWAFFE AIRCRAFT ACCIDENTALLY BOMBED THE GERMAN CITY IN MAY 1940, HITLER BLAMED THE ALLIES, BUT THE REAL HORROR WAS YET TO COME BY DAVID T. ZABECKI september 2016

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FREIBURG IM BREISGAU HAS THE UNENVIABLE DISTINCTION OF BEING THE FIRST GERMAN CITY BOMBED FROM THE AIR IN BOTH WORLD WARS. Nestled against the foothills of the Black Forest, and just a few miles east of the Rhine, Freiburg was a chokepoint on the only north-south rail line along the river. Its proximity to France, just across the Rhine, made it a tempting target. The city suffered moderate damage during the World War I bombings, and it was not heavily hit when it was ÅZ[\JWUJMLMIZTaQV?WZTL?IZ11*]\\PI\JWUJing became one of the major tipping points in the history of aerial warfare, and a little more than four years later Freiburg would pay the ultimate price. On December 4, 1914, French aircraft dropped six propeller-guided bombs on Freiburg’s main rail station, but did little damage. Five days later the French returned and this time dropped 19 bombs on the train station. Between 1914 and 1918, Freiburg was subjected to 25 aerial attacks. One of \PMSMa\IZOM\[_I[I[UITTUQTQ\IZaIQZÅMTLWV\PM city’s northern edge. There, from June to September 1915, Hermann Göring trained as a military pilot before eventually going on to command the 4]N\_I‫ٺ‬MQV??111VTI\M!/MZUIVI]\PWZities established a British POW camp as human shields on the grounds of Freiburg’s Albert Ludwig University, right in the middle of the Old Town. By the end of WWI, Allied air forces had dropped a

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PREVIOUS PAGES & OPPOSITE PHOTOS: FREIBURG STADTARCHIV; ABOVE: BUNDESARCHIV BILD 1011-408-0803-12 PHOTO O. ANG

total of 1,407 bombs on Freiburg, making it Germany’s third most heavily bombed city. In terms WN \W\ITKI[]IT\QM[.ZMQJ]ZO[]‫ٺ‬MZML\PMPQOPM[\ losses, with 678 dead. Like all major German towns, Freiburg had its share of dark episodes during the Third Reich’s reign. Hitler visited the city on several occasions, and the major road leading south from town was called Adolf-Hitler-Strasse (today Günterstal Strasse). On November 10, 1938—Kristallnacht, the infamous “Night of Broken Glass”—Freiburg’s main synagogue was burned to the ground. In the aftermath, 137 Jews were arrested and sent to Dachau. On October 22, 1940, the remaining 350 Jewish citizens of Freiburg were deported to the Gurs concentration camp in southern France, and two years later those who were still alive were transferred to Auschwitz.
“THUS DO OUR BRUTAL AND UNSCRUPULOUS ENEMIES BOMB AND KILL AND MURDER INNOCENT GERMAN CHILDREN.”

déjà vu Opposite: Freiburg burns during the RAF night raid of November 27, 1944 (top). Troops manning the city’s AA defenses pose with a Voisin 3 bomber downed in 1915 (bottom). Above: A Heinkel He-111H heads for a French target in May 1940.

UI\WZa[XMMKPJa0Q\TMZ;PQZMZ_ZW\MQVPQ[LQIZa" ¹?QTT*Z][[MT[JMJWUJMLIN\MZTI[\VQOP\¼[/MZ man threat? P., always well informed on German intentions, thinks Hitler will bomb Paris and London to daylights within the next twenty-four PW]Z[º¹8º_I[WVMWN ;PQZMZ¼[[W]ZKM[QLMV\QÅML only by the initial as a security precaution.) That same day Shirer made another entry in PQ[LQIZaIN\MZI\\MVLQVO\PMKQVMUIQV*MZTQV" “Towards sundown Joe [Harsch] and I took a walk QV\PM
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stupidity.” Courting international public opinion, especially among the neutral countries, the German Foreign Ministry in 1943 issued a white book titled Documents on England’s Sole Guilt for the Bombing War Against the Civilian Population. The Allies did not actually bomb Freiburg until October 2, 1943, and again on October 7. Those two RAF night attacks did relatively little damage, J]\[Q`XMWXTMWV\PMOZW]VL_MZMSQTTML*M\_MMV October 7, 1943, and November 27, 1944, Freiburg was attacked from the air nine more times by either British or American aircraft. All were very small strikes that dropped a total of 46 bombs on \PMKQ\a.Q^MWN \PW[MVQVMZIQL[_MZM[\ZIÅVOZ]V[ only. As 1944 came to a close and the end of the war was clearly approaching, many Freiburgers hoped that the bombings too were almost at an end. But worse, far worse, was yet to come.

O

survivor Freiburg’s Gothic cathedral was miraculously spared amid the devastation of the WWII Allied bombing campaign. The walls of the 13thcentury church (above) still bear pockmarks from bomb shrapnel.

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n November 27, 1944, Operation TigerÅ[PJZW]OP\:).*WUJMZ+WUUIVL¼[ No. 1 Group back to Freiburg in force. Under the overall command of Air Vice Marshal Edward A.B. Rice, No. 1 Group’s 14 [Y]ILZWV[QVKT]LML6WUIVVMLJaM`QTML Polish airmen. To this day many people still wonprobably by accident. The Royal Air Force then der why Freiburg was hit so hard, so late in the retaliated with a pinprick raid against Berlin on war. The town had very little heavy industry in the 26th. On September 7, the Germans shifted \PM![)TJMZ\4]L_QO=VQ^MZ[Q\aM[\IJTQ[PML the focus of their aerial attacks from the RAF’s in 1457 and one of the world’s oldest and most ÅOP\MZJI[M[WV\W4WVLWVQ\[MTN
OPPOSITE TOP & RIGHT: FREIBURG STADTARCHIV; OPPOSITE BOTTOM: DAVID T. ZABECKI

of the main force arrived. The main force’s three waves consisted of 285 Lancasters, with each wave of 95 aircraft spending three minutes over the KQ\a
TO THIS DAY, MANY PEOPLE STILL WONDER WHY FREIBURG WAS HIT SO HARD, SO LATE IN THE WAR.

Digging out Residents of Freiburg clear the remains of a demolished structure and prepare to rebuild.

JTMNWZ\PM!ZIQLI[XIZ\WN [WUMKaVQKITIVL XMZ^MZ\MLI\\MUX\Ja\PM6IbQ[\WQVKQ\M\PMXWX] TI\QWV\WZM[Q[\IVLPWTLW]\1\_I[IXZMXW[\MZW][ VW\QWVWN KW]Z[M*aTI\M!\PM4]N\_I‫ٺ‬MPIL JMMVI\\ZQ\ML[WJILTa\PI\Q\[QUXTaLQLVW\PI^M \PMKIXIJQTQ\aWN UW]V\QVOIZIQLWN \PI\[QbM +IX\]ZMLJa\PM.ZMVKPNWZ\PMÅN\P\QUMQV years, Freiburg became part of the postwar French BWVMWN 7KK]XI\QWV1V,MKMUJMZ!Q\_I[ designated the seat of government for the German state of Badenia, which in 1952 was merged into *ILMV?†Z\\MUJMZO_Q\PQ\[KIXQ\ITQV;\]\\OIZ\ .ZMVKP\ZWWX[ZMUIQVMLQV.ZMQJ]ZO]V\QT\PM+WTL ?IZMVLML.ZWU!\W!!\PMPMILY]IZ\MZ[ WN \PM.ZMVKPZL)ZUWZML,Q^Q[QWV_I[JI[MLI\ >I]JIV+I[MZVMWV\PM\W_V¼[[W]\PMZVMVL =VM`XTWLML WZLVIVKM SMX\ \]ZVQVO ]X NWZ years after the war. Between 2005 and 2012, seven ]VM`XTWLMLJWUJ[_MZMZMKW^MZML1V2]Ta KWV[\Z]K\QWV_WZSMZ[NW]VLI*ZQ\Q[PXW]VLMZ WV\PMOZW]VL[WN \PM.ZMQJ]ZO=VQ^MZ[Q\a+TQVQK 8WKSUIZS[NZWUJWUJNZIOUMV\[IZM[\QTT^Q[QJTM QV[WUMXTIKM[WV\PMW]\MZ_ITT[WN \PMKI\PMLZIT
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AUSSIE BATTLER DESIGNED BY AN AUSTRIAN AROUND AN AMERICAN ENGINE, THE COMMONWEALTH BOOMERANG WAS THE FIRST FRONTLINE COMBAT AIRCRAFT BUILT IN AUSTRALIA BY GRAEME DAVIS 52

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developed down under A restored CA-13 Boomerang in the markings of No. 83 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, flies near the Temora Aviation Museum in New South Wales.

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BARELY TWO MONTHS AFTER PEARL HARBOR, JAPANESE BOMBERS ATTACKED DARWIN, AUSTRALIA’S NORTHERN TERRITORY CAPITAL, IN THE FIRST OF 97 RAIDS.

valuable assets Above: Two CA-12s serve as trainers after being retired from No. 83 Squadron. Opposite: Ground crewmen work on a “Boomer” at Piva airfield on Bougainville in January 1945.

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With fears of a Japanese invasion growing, the island nation ]ZOMV\TaVMMLMLÅOP\MZIQZKZIN\J]\\PM:WaIT)][\ZITQIV)QZ .WZKMÆMM\_I[[UITTIVLTIZOMTaWJ[WTM\M
purpose aircraft developed from the North American NA-16—known as the Harvard I to Commonwealth forces. David designed the Boomerang around the Beaufort’s 1,200-hp Twin Wasp engine, reusing the jigs used to build the Wirraway’s wing, center section, landing gear and tail assembly. Armament was another challenge. British and Commonwealth aircraft in the 8IKQÅK[\QTTZMTQMLWVQVKP machine guns, but experience had shown that heavier guns were needed to deal with the VM_MVMUaÅOP\MZ[
TECH NOTES QV\ISMZM[]T\MLQVJ]‫ٺ‬M\QVOXZWJTMU[*a\PQ[\QUM\PW]OP\PM *WWUMZIVO_I[JMQVOZMXTIKMLJaNI[\MZ;]XMZUIZQVM;XQ\ÅZM 5S>K[\PMÅZ[\WN _PQKPZMIKPML)][\ZITQIQV2IV]IZa! IVL8,3Q\\aPI_S[NZWU*ZQ\IQVIVL\PM=;  QV;MX\MUJMZ!IVL\PM[Y]ILZWV¼[TI[\*WWUMZIVO[_MZM ZMXTIKMLWV2IV]IZa!
CAC CA-12 BOOMERANG

PREVIOUS PAGES: GAVIN CONROY; PHOTOS: AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL; ILLUSTRATION: STEVE KARP

SPECIFICATIONS ENGINE CAC-built 1,200-hp Pratt & Whitney R-1830-S3C4-G Twin Wasp 14-cylinder radial engine driving three-bladed Hamilton 3T50 constant-speed propeller WINGSPAN 36 feet 3 inches WING AREA 225 square feet LENGTH 25 feet 6 inches HEIGHT 9 feet 7 inches

WEIGHT 5,373 lbs. (empty) 7,600 lbs. (max) MAXIMUM SPEED 305 mph at 15,500 feet CLIMB 2,940 feet per minute CEILING 29,000 feet RANGE 930 miles (normal) 1,600 (with auxiliary tank) ARMAMENT Two 20mm cannons and four .303-inch Browning machine guns plus one 500-lb. bomb in place of auxiliary tank

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close support CA-13s of RAAF No. 5 Squadron undergo daily inspection at Piva.

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1st Lt. Gerald Johnson

JOHNSON LATER ADDED AN AUSTRALIAN FLAG TO THE 20 JAPANESE FLAGS THAT WOULD EVENTUALLY DECORATE THE NACELLE OF HIS P-38 LIGHTNING. UWZMM‫ٺ‬MK\Q^Mº One other RAAF unit equipped with Boomerangs, 6W +WUU]VQKI\QWV=VQ\ operated around New Guinea from late 1943, assisting with air-sea rescue operations. Boomerangs were also used for supply dropping and anti-malarial spraying, but it was their tree-skimming attacks on the enemy front lines that most endeared them to Allied ground forces slogging through the jungle. On more than one occasion the planes flew so low that they returned to base carrying leaves and small branches.

The job was not without its risks. Rugged as it was, the Boomerang was vulnerIJTM\WMVMUaOZW]VLÅZMI[ well as fighters. It was easy for an inexperienced pilot to groundloop the fighter, and an overzealous kick of a rudder pedal while taxiing could send it veering into the jungle. Because of their rarity, Boomerangs were regularly challenged by friendly ground and air forces. Of the 250 Boomerangs built between 1942 and 1945, only a handful survive. The three said to be airworthy are all based in Australia: +))Suzy-Q at the Temora Aviation Museum QV6M_;W]\P?ITM[#+)! A46-206 Milingimbi Ghost on static display at the Museum of Australian Army Flying at Oakey in Queensland; and ) I ZM[\WZML +) from 1943 with an added passenger seat. A46-30 is on static display at the RAAF 5][M]UI\8WQV\+WWSVMIZ 5MTJW]ZVM)+)ZMXTQKI with many original parts, numbered A46-139 and XIQV\MLQV:)).KWTWZ[ÆM_ for years in the U.S., but is now based in the Netherlands. The ?IZJQZL[:M[MIZKP/ZW]X¼[ online warbird registry lists eight other Boomerangs as surviving in partial condition and either in storage or under restoration. An airline brat from the 1960s, Graeme Davis developed an early interest in aircraft of the interwar years and World War II. He discovered the CAC Boomerang \PIVS[\W\PM)QZÅ`UWLMT kit. Suggested reading: The +WUUWV_MIT\P*WWUMZIVO, by Rene Francillon, and +WUUWV_MIT\P*WWUMZIVO DescribedJa/MW‫ٺ‬ZMa8MV\TIVL

ABOVE: P-38 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION; BELOW: AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL

Kittyhawks, the Boomerang found its true calling as a close support and tactical reconnaissance aircraft with Nos. 4 and 5 squadrons in New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Borneo.
A Proud Tribute in A Classic Bomber Style Authentic Bomber-style in Distressed Leather Decked out with 10 Patches of Top WWII Planes, with Detailed Descriptions on the Inside Lining

AMERICA’S WWII HEROES IN FLIGHT Leather Aviator Jacket A Custom Design Exclusive They were America’s finest aircraft during WWII, helping to secure victories from Europe’s Baltic coast to the islands of the Pacific Ocean. Now, you can pay tribute to these war planes that ruled the skies with a superbly detailed, quality crafted bomber jacket—our “Heroes in Flight ” Aviator Jacket. This exclusive distressed leather jacket in dark brown captures the look of a classic bomber jacket down to the last detail. The first thing that you’ll notice is both sleeves emblazoned with 10 vintage-style patches representing 10 of America’s most influential World War II airplanes—from the formidable P-51 Mustang fighter to the famous B-17 Flying Fortress bomber, along with an American flag patch on the front. Open up the jacket and you’ll find a description of the planes that made history during WWII printed on the lining. The custom styling includes a removable faux shearling collar, front-zip breast pockets, front flap pockets with additional side-entry pockets, cuffs with snaps, knit hem, and even a hanging loop on the back.

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With its custom design and quality craftsmanship, this leather bomber jacket is a remarkable value at $299.95*, payable in five convenient installments of $59.99 each. Your purchase is backed by our unconditional, 30-day guarantee. To order yours in 4 sizes, M-XXL, send no money now; just return the Priority Reservation. However, strong demand is expected and this is a limited time offer available only from The Bradford Exchange. So don’t miss out... order your today!

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reviews

THE BIG BOOK OF X-BOMBERS AND X-FIGHTERS

republic prototypes A YF-84F (foreground) and YRF-84F fly in formation.

USAF Jet-Powered Experimental Aircraft and Their Propulsive Systems by Steve Pace, Zenith Press, 2016, $40.

Longtime aviation writer Steve Pace is best known for his insightful histories of pioneering aircraft from the glory days of Edwards Air Force Base. His latest book is his best yet. It is also a culmination of sorts, since it covers most jet-powered U.S. )QZ.WZKMJWUJMZ[IVLÅOP\MZ[_PM\PMZLM^MToped or canceled, since 1942. > > Enthusiasts will immediately recognize iconic photos ZMXZWL]KMLQV\PQ[UIOVQÅ cently illustrated volume, but it would be a mistake to consider it a mere recycling of familiar material. In addition to providing detailed information on each aircraft, Pace delves into descriptions

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of the engines that are often overlooked in other histories. Moreover, his book is punctuated by numerous new color IQZKZIN\XZWÅTM[ The adventure begins in !_Q\P\PMÆQOP\\M[\QVO of the lame Bell XP-59A, )UMZQKI¼[ÅZ[\RM\ÅOP\MZ on the dry lakebeds of the

Mojave Desert. Pace ably guides us from that inauspicious beginning through a fascinating evolution in aerial technology, including adoption of the swept wing, the challenges of early super[WVQKÆQOP\\PM+WSMJW\\TM [PIXMWN +WV^IQZ¼[¹KMV\]Za [MZQM[ºÅOP\MZ[\PM[Q`IN\MZ-

burning turbojets of the Mach 3 North American XB-70, the faceted surface of the stealthy Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk and the stingray planform of the Northrop B-2A. The title’s reference to @JWUJMZ[IVL@ÅOP\MZ[ is a tad misleading because many of the featured airXTIVM[_MZMVW\M`XMZQUMV\IT types but prototypes. The point, however, is that when these cutting-edge designs ÅZ[\\WWS\W\PM[SQM[\PMa heralded a new age in air power. The last chapter provides an intriguing peek into what future bombers and ÅOP\MZ[_QTTTWWSTQSM Philip Handleman

BERLIN AIRLIFT Air Bridge to Freedom by Bruce McAllister, Roundup Press, 2015, $49.95. The 1948-49 aerial resupply of Berlin by U.S., British and a few French aircraft was the beginning of the end for the Soviet Union. The Cuban 5Q[[QTM+ZQ[Q[[\IVLW‫[ٺ‬I\ Checkpoint Charlie, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall,” the collapse of the ;W^QM\=VQWVIVLÅVITTa\PM formation of the benighted Russian Federation were all part of the powerslide that began when the allies stood up to the Soviets and mounted the greatest airlift in history. And they did it with C-47s and C-54s, not C-5s and C-130 Herks.

When the Soviets isolated West Berlin and ended the \Z]KS\ZIQVIVLJIZOM\ZI‫ٻ‬K that had been supplying the city with food and fuel, the ITTQM[ZM[XWVLML_Q\PIÆMM\ of transport aircraft, crews, maintainers and controllers. When the Soviets tried to impose restrictive rules on those airplanes, they responded with the threat of P-51s and a very real wing of B-29s that sometimes cruised high above the city, assumedly (though not actu-

ally) carrying nuclear weapons. When the Soviets refused to remove a radio tower that was hampering approaches into one of the airlift airports, French sappers sneaked out at night and blew it up. (“How could you do that?” an exasperated Soviet general whined at his French counterpart. “With dynamite,” the Frenchman answered.) 5aÅZ[\_QNMTQ^ML\PZW]OP the airlift. She was a child, the daughter of an American diplomat, but “I remember it very well,” Micheline Gunter recently told me, “the planes constantly going over as I played with German children in the bombed-out houses. I listened to a BBC program about the airlift a while ago— about how dangerous it was to land at Tempelhof in the

DICK COLE’S WAR

OPPOSITE: NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE U.S. AIR FORCE

Doolittle Raider, Hump Pilot, Air Commando by Dennis R. Okerstrom, University of Missouri Press, 2015, $29.95. On April 18, 1942, Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle and 79 fellow volunteers launched from the heaving deck of USS Hornet to exact revenge against Japan for its attack on Pearl Harbor. A short time earlier, during training in Florida, Doolittle stepped up to replace one of his B-25 pilots who had fallen ill. That bomber’s 26-year-old copilot, Lieutenant Richard E. “Dick” Cole, was thrilled to be ÆaQVOITWVO[QLM\PMTMILMZWN \PMUQ[[QWV because Doolittle’s air racing exploits and ÆQOP\\M[\JZMIS\PZW]OP[QV\PMQV\MZ_IZaMIZ[PIL inspired Cole to pursue an Air Corps career.
MESSERSCHMITT BF 109 by Jean-Claude Mermet and Christian-Jacques Ehrendardt, Caraktère SARL, 2016, $59.90. What remains to be written about the Messerschmitt Bf 109 (or Me-109, depending on who you ask)? One might ask the same question IJW]\\PM;XQ\ÅZMWZ\PM8 Mustang, but the books still keep coming. In the case of French publisher Caraktère’s Messerschmitt Bf 109, however, the answer is, “Woah, I had no idea how much!” The emphasis is on the technical side, from genesis to the ongoing process of keeping the design competitive. For the 109 this involved at

best of times, and how the end of the runway was in the Russian Zone, so they had to make short landings, and lots of other things I never knew. 1\_I[IV]VJMTQM^IJTMM‫ٺ‬WZ\ everyone made to keep the food and supplies coming for the starving Germans—while we spoiled Americans had all we wanted in the PX and commissary.” My friend and one-time co-author—of the book Skygirls, another in his growing line of photo-collection books—Bruce McAllister has assembled a remarkable assortment of airlift photographs accompanied by incisive text and captions. Many of us have seen a few of these photos, but I’m sure no one has seen them all. Stephan Wilkinson least one major redesign of the airframe and a succession of engine changes, from the Junkers Jumo of the earliest models to the fuel-injected Daimler-Benz DB 605DB/ DC that powered the 109G-10, G-14 and 109K-4, not to mention experimen\ITUWLMT[
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reviews ÅVLW]\IJW]\\PMKTIVLM[\QVMXZWRMK\ through shadowy undercover agents in the United States, but from World War I ace Eddie Rickenbacker, who told them ITTIJW]\Q\L]ZQVOIVW‫ٻ‬KQIT^Q[Q\\W\PM Soviet Union. The Soviets tried unsuccessfully to obtain B-29s through Lend-Lease, and several design bureaus were assigned to create bombers with similar capabilities. Those efforts were canceled abruptly in 1944, however, when three intact Superfortresses made emergency landings in Soviet territory. What followed could only have taken TUPOLEV TU-4 place under the most authoritarian of The First Soviet Strategic regimes. At Joseph Stalin’s order, an Bomber entire B-29 was disassembled, each part carefully weighed and measured, and JaAMÅU/WZLWV,UQ\ZQa3WUQ[[IZW^IVL the bomber reverse-engineered to met>TILQUQZ:QOUIV\;KPQ‫ٺ‬MZ8]JTQ[PQVO ric standards for production in Soviet  !! factories. It was a monumental task, The appearance of the Tupolev Tu-4 in and Andrei Tupolev, the eminent air1947 was undoubtedly one of the Cold craft designer placed in overall charge, War’s major events. It meant the Soviet was less than enthusiastic about it. But Union possessed a bomber capable of PI^QVOITZMILa[XMV\Å^MaMIZ[QVXZQ[WV delivering nuclear weapons over very after the infamous political purges of long ranges. The fact that it was a copy of the late 1930s, Tupolev was well aware the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, the most that whatever Stalin commanded had advanced bomber of its time, came as to be done. even more of a shock to the Americans. Written by three experts on Soviet With the end of the Cold War now more aviation history, <]XWTM^<] reveals than two decades in the past, the strange the previously untold story of an event saga of how the Dalniya Aviatsia (the long- that had far-reaching consequences in range strategic branch of the Soviet air post–WWII history. Among those conNWZKMUIVIOML\WIKY]QZMIÆMM\WN *! sequences covered here are air transclones can now be revealed. port versions and Chinese-built copies Although it was the most technologi- that even included a turboprop variant. cally complex and secret bomber proj- This book is a must for those interested ect in world, the Soviets were aware of in the Cold War or Soviet aviation. Robert Guttman the B-29 as early as 1943. They didn’t

CLASSICS BIRDFLIGHT AS THE BASIS OF AVIATION A Contribution Towards a System of Aviation Ja7\\W4QTQMV\PIT *MNWZM\PM?ZQOP\JZW\PMZ[UILM\PMÅZ[\KWV\ZWTTML XW_MZMLÆQOP\QV!\PMaPILIZWTMUWLMTWV whose fundamental achievement they hoped to build. Just a few days before his death on May 30, 1912, Wilbur Wright wrote a heartfelt tribute to German pioneer Otto Lilienthal. “Others had noted that birds’ wings were arched and had speculated on the possibility that an arched wing was superior to an absolutely true plane,” Wright noted, “but Lilienthal demonstrated the reason why it was better, and changed mere speculation into accepted knowledge.” >

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> The translation of Lilienthal’s seminal work from 1889, *QZLÆQOP\I[\PM*I[Q[ WN )^QI\QWV, reissued by Mike Markowski’s Aeronautical 8]JTQ[PMZ[I‫ٺ‬WZL[IOTQUX[M QV\W\PMXZMKMLMV\WV_PQKP \PM?ZQOP\[+TuUMV\)LMZ 7K\I^M+PIV]\MIVLITT\PM W\PMZXQWVMMZ[JI[ML\PMQZ M‫ٺ‬WZ\[\WUISMP]UIVÆQOP\ a reality. His studies of bird IVLJI\_QVO[IKKWUXIVQML JaUMI[]ZMUMV\[M`IUQVQVO PW_MIKPLQ‫ٺ‬MZMV\XZWXWZ\QWV KWVÅO]ZI\QWVIVLK]Z^I\]ZM I‫ٺ‬MK\ML\PMQZXIZ\QK]TIZÆQOP\ characteristics, show the sciMV\QÅKXZWKM[[WV_PQKPPM LM^MTWXMLPQ[\PMWZQM[*]\I[ \PMXPW\W[\PI\IKKWUXIVa \PMXZMNIKMJaPQ[JZW\PMZ Gustav testify, Otto went on \WLW[WUM\PQVOQV !\PI\ fellow theorists had not: He IXXTQMLPQ[ÅVLQVO[\WIXIQZ WN _QVO[IVLUILM\PMÅZ[\ WN OTQLQVOÆQOP\[\PI\ demonstrated his theories for the world to see. ,]ZQVOPQ[NW]Z\PÆQOP\WV )]O][\! !4QTQMV\PIT¼[ OTQLMZ[]LLMVTaXQ\KPMLNWZ_IZLIVLKZI[PML*MNWZM he died of his injuries the next day, his last words to his brother were, “7XNMZU†[[MVOMJZIKP\_IZLMV º¹;IKZQÅKM[U][\ be made!”). His own would by no means be the last.
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PLAYING WITH FIRE A. Savoia-Marchetti SM.82 B. Consolidated B-24H C. Mitsubishi Ki-21 D. Gotha G.IV E. Boeing B-29 F. Junkers Ju-52/3m G. Heinkel He-111H H. Avro Lancaster I. Zeppelin LZ-38 J. Mitsubishi G3M2

1. Rangoon (December 23, 1941) 2. Kobe (February 3, 1945) 3. Chongquing (May 3-4, 1939) 4. Southend (May 30, 1915) 5. London (December 5-6, 1917) 6. Dresden (February 13-14, 1945) 7. Friedrichshafen (March 18, 1944) 8. Bahrain (October 19, 1940) 9. Warsaw (September 25, 1939) 10. Coventry (November 14, 1940)

4. What shape of wing distinguished the Vought XF5U-1? A. High-aspect ratio B. Circular C. Double delta D. Angular 5. What was the largest flying wing until the B-2? A. Horton Ho-229 B. Northrop YB-35 C. Northrop YB-49 D. Armstrong-Whitworth A.W.52

ANSWERS: MYSTERY SHIP: Loening S2L-1. Learn more about it at HistoryNet.com/aviation-history. PLAYING WITH FIRE: A.8, B.7, C.1, D.5, E.2, F.9, G.10, H.6, I.4, J.3 WHO NEEDS A TAIL? 1.D, 2.B, 3.D, 4.B, 5.C

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carrier pilot’s Close Call ouglas AD-4 pilot Lt. j.g. Paul Cooper didn’t dodge a bullet, though he did survive an automatic-weapon round that penetrated his canopy and helmet on March 21, 1952, over Hungnam, North Korea. Flying a Skyraider attached to VF-194 from the carrier USS Valley Forge[MMZMTI\ML[\WZa8+WWXMZPILOZMI\LQ‫ٻ‬K]T\a[MMQVOL]ZQVO\PMZM[\WN  \PI\ÆQOP\I[PM_I[JTMMLQVONZWUU]T\QXTMPMILIVLNIKM_W]VL[[][\IQVML_PMV[PZIXVMT XMXXMZMLPQ[OWOOTM[,M[XQ\MPQ[_W]VL[PMUIVIOML\W[INMTaTIVLI\I;W]\P3WZMIVIQZÅMTL Today Cooper’s holed helmet is at the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Fla.

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SAVED BY A HELMET Lt. j.g. Paul Cooper sits in the cockpit of his Douglas AD-4 Skyraider.

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