Aviation History 2017-11

u-boat downs blimp? mysterious loss of K-14

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bat out of hell the me-163 komet rocket fighter’s brief, explosive combat career

HistoryNet.com

NOVEMBER 2017

Broken Arrow: B-52 crashes in greenland with four H-bombs skywriting: instant messaging with quarter-mile-high letters

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34 AMERICAN HISTORY

TURBINE PILOT Manufacture caliber. Turbine Technology. 48 mm stainless steel case. Screw-down crown at 3 o’clock. Bidirectional inner dial ring, circular aviation slide rule. Black 12-blades revolving Turbine. Black calfskin strap. Ref. A1085/1A

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NOvEMBER 2017 DEPARTMENTS 5 MAILBAG 6 BRIEFING 12 AVIATORS Joe Engle is the last living X-15 pilot and the only man to manually fly the space shuttle from orbit to landing. By Mark Carlson

14 RESTORED

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One of just two Avro Lancasters flying today honors the memory of a Canadian Victoria Cross recipient. By Bob Gordon

features 28 BAT OUT OF HELL

The rocket-powered Me-163 Komet interceptor was the hottest airplane in World War II skies, but many who flew it paid the ultimate price. By Don Hollway

38 THE SKY’S THEIR CANvAS

A new form of advertising emerged in the early 1920s when skywriters began creating commercial messages in smoke for all to see. By Stephan Wilkinson

46 THE LAST FLIGHT OF HOBO 28

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In January 1968, a B-52 carrying four hydrogen bombs caught fire and plummeted toward icy Greenland. By Timothy Karpin and James Maroncelli

54 THE REMARKABLE MRS. MARKHAM

Although little-remembered today, Beryl Markham outdid her contemporary Amelia Earhart by flying the Atlantic solo from east to west. By Derek O’Connor

16 EXTREMES In his quest to build the world’s safest airplane, designer Fred Weick pioneered several familiar features on an unfamiliar prototype. By Robert Guttman

18 STYLE Showcasing products of interest to aviation enthusiasts and pilots.

26 LETTER FROM AVIATION HISTORY 66 REVIEWS 71 FLIGHT TEST 72 AERO ARTIFACT

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60 CONTROvERSIAL CRASH OF K-14

Was the loss of a patrol blimp off Maine in 1944 the result of pilot error, or was it brought down by a German U-boat? By Chuck Lyons

ON THE COVER: A Messerschmitt Me-163B-1 Komet of Jagdgeschwader 400 streaks through a formation of 91st Bombardment Group B-17Gs, setting one of the bombers afire with its cannons. Jack Fellows’ illustration depicts a rare victory for the rocket fighter, which killed many of its own pilots. Cover: ©2017 Jack Fellows, ASAA.

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: DAVID HANDSCHUH/NY DAILY NEWS/GETTY IMAGES; NASA; NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM; COURTESY OF WOLFGANG MUEHLBAUER

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The Skytypers create a message in smoke with their T-6s over a New York area beach.

MICHAEL A. REINSTEIN CHAIRMAN & PUBLISHER DAVID STEINHAFEL ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER DOUG NEIMAN ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER ALEX NEILL EDITOR IN CHIEF

Aviation History

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

ACROSS THE HYPERSONIC DIVIDE The North American X-15 constituted a remarkable achievement that made possible an astonishingly productive research program, bridging the age of flight and the space age.

JACK NORTHROP’S “FLYING RAM” When the Messerschmitt Me-163 Komet began attacking Allied bombers late in World War II, American aircrews marveled at the rocket plane’s technology, unaware that since 1942 something similar had been secretly under development in their own country.

HITLER’S FEMALE TEST PILOT One of the best-known test pilots of the Third Reich, Hanna Reitsch set more than 40 flight records, but a turn in an Me-163 nearly ended her life.

ONLINE BONUS Follow our step-by-step instructions to build this issue’s “Modeling” project, the Bachem Ba-349 Natter rocket interceptor featured in “Bat Out of Hell” (P. 37). Let’s Connect Like Aviation History Magazine on Facebook Digital Subscription Aviation History is available via Zinio and other digital subscription services

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NOVEMBER 2017 / VOL. 28, NO. 2 CARL VON WODTKE EDITOR PARAAG SHUKLA SENIOR EDITOR JON GUTTMAN RESEARCH DIRECTOR CONTRIBUTING EDITORS WALTER J. BOYNE, STEPHAN WILKINSON ARTHUR H. SANFELICI EDITOR EMERITUS

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The first X-15 is on display at the National Air and Space Museum.

mailbag

MISS DONNA LEE CREWMAN

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have read Aviation History for years and I always enjoy the articles. Imagine my surprise when I opened up the September issue and saw a photo of my great-uncle Lorin Budd Low in the opening spread of “Fifty Years in the Air,” about the pilot John Hug. My Uncle Budd was a gunner >

> on the B-29 Miss Donna Lee, and he is the tall blond young man in the back row. He once proudly told me the name of the aircraft he served on as well as the numbers of his bomb group and squadron. From his information, I was able to do some research and finish an oil painting of the aircraft he flew on [above]. I was fortunate to be able to show it to him before he passed away. It was a thrill to see that aircraft in your magazine and read about the experiences and trials faced by the pilot and crew. David Meikle Salt Lake City, Utah

ABOVE: DAVIDMEIKLEART.COM; TOP RIGHT: COURTESY OF LT. COL. JOHN BESSETTE; BOTTOM RIGHT: U.S. AIR FORCE

BOMARC’S FLAW The Bomarc missile [“Extremes,” September] was indeed an extraordinary aircraft, but its guidance system had a fatal flaw. My dad, Lt. Col. John Simon, was U.S. Air Force liaison to Systems Development Corporation in the early 1960s, helping computer programmers develop the Bomarc’s software. The system’s fatal flaw was in the SAGE (Semi-Automatic Ground Environment) computer system that guided the missile. The SAGE computers, which used vacuum tubes instead of transistors, were the larg-

est, heaviest computers ever built. They processed data from radar sites (primarily the Distant Early Warning Line), and a complete radar sweep took a minute. My dad was sure the Russians knew how SAGE and the Bomarc worked. All the bomber pilots would have to do is alter course every minute or so, and the missiles would surely miss. He attended a meeting with the Air Force brass and told them the system would not work. An Air Force general stood up and hotly contradicted him. My dad offered to go up into Canada with a T-33 and penetrate the North American air defense zone. He said they could fire a live Bomarc at him, and they would miss. Needless to say, he did not endear himself to the generals at the conference. Frank Simon Plano, Texas

SPOOKY STORIES The July issue’s article about AC-47 “Spooky” operations [“Log of The Leper”] struck two chords. The first: I was a Spooky navigator in the same detachment that author Steve Birdsall visited in 1967 at Bien Hoa. He tells his tale with verve and accuracy. I arrived in

the same unit in the same location in May 1968. A lot had changed, and little had. Between his time and mine the USAF considerably increased Spooky’s strength, requiring two squadrons with 16 aircraft each. This increased strength enabled Spooky to respond more effectively to the Tet Offensive and related actions in early 1968. The second chord: During my 15 months in Spooky the missions continued to be “interesting.” A lot of routine orbiting in our area, awaiting the call to defend a Special Forces outpost, a Vietnamese village or GIs needing help at night. Once in a while we’d have intense action. But the most important mission was one I was not a part of: the firefight

that led to Airman 1st Class John Levitow, a loadmaster in our unit, receiving the Medal of Honor. The photo on the cover of your July issue depicts a “Gooney Bird” modified to resemble Levitow’s AC-47 (though its tail code should be EL, not EN) on the night of February 22, 1969, when he saved the airplane and crew at a moment

of deadly peril. I took the attached photo of Levitow’s aircraft [below, top; detail of holed wing at bottom] the afternoon after it was hit and barely escaped crashing with all hands onboard. Lt. Col. John Bessette U.S. Air Force (Ret.)

“NAKED FANNY” MEMORIES Your July article on the restored B-26K Special Kay [“Restored”] brought back memories of my two years as an officer with the U.S. Information Agency living in the town of Nakhon Phanom, Thailand. The Thai airbase, NKP, was 10 miles away, and I was there frequently, either to give lectures to incoming troops on the insurgency in that part of the country, or to hop rides to the interior of the province on either the U-6 Beavers or U-10 Helio Couriers stationed there. But the main attraction for me, the son of an Air Force pilot, were the A-26 Invaders and A-1E Skyraiders (and later, Navy P2V Neptunes) that dominated the flight line. The amount and variety of ordnance they carried was impressive. I once got a hop to Udorn in an A-1E. Midway through the flight the pilot asked if I had been told that he was on alert to divert to Laos if needed to participate in a rescue of a downed American pilot. Well, no, I hadn’t, but if it happens, carry on. I’m just a bit sad that I didn’t score any “combat time.” Thomas Calhoun Bethesda, Md.

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gateguards’ Full-Scale Model Warbirds

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full-sized facimilies Gateguards (UK) Ltd. shows off its new full-scale model of a Messerschmitt Me-109E (above) and its Westland Lysander (inset), which was used in the recent film Allied.

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here are warbird restorations, replicas and reproductions, and then there are full-scale models, or FSMs. The distinction is important, JMKI][M.;5[_QTTVM^MZÆa 1V[\MIL\PMaIZMQV\MVLMLNWZ KWUUMZKQITLQ[XTIaMV\P][QI[\KWTTMK\QWVWZUW^QML]\a 1VÅTU[KWUX]\MZOMVMZI\ML QUIOMZa_WZS[_MTTNWZJIKSOZW]VL[WZLWOÅOP\[J]\QN  aW]_IV\\WX]\*ZIL8Q\\QV\W IKWKSXQ\]XKTW[MaW]JM[\ J]QTLPQUWVMW]\WNÅJMZ-

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OPPOSITE: GATEGUARDS (UK) LTD.; TOP RIGHT: JAMES RAEDER; BOTTOM RIGHT: ALAMY

back from the depths After years of work by Vintage Airframes, the only combat veteran Republic P-47D still flying takes off from Caldwell Industrial Airport in Iowa.

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Last Lost p-47 Resurrected

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“NO HORIZON IS SO FAR THAT YOU CANNOT GET ABOVE IT OR BEYOND IT.” –BERYL MARKHAM

Republic P-47D Thunderbolt recovered from an Austrian lake has recently undertaken its first post-resurrection flight. With 93 combat missions, the destruction of three enemy planes on the ground and several patches over bullet holes in the course of its career, P-47D serial no. 42-29150 of the 511th Squadron, 405th Fighter Group, Ninth Air Force, was regularly flown by Lieutenant Larry A. Kuhl, who named it Dottie Mae after his wife. However, on May 8, 1945—the day Germany surrendered—2nd Lt. Henry G. Mohr Jr. was at the controls in a low-level flight to the Ebensee prisoner of war camp to airdrop a cargo of medicine and food. On the way to his objective, Mohr veered to avoid a chimney, and as he turned to rejoin his formation, his P-47’s propeller struck the water and Dottie Mae went into the Traunsee at 230 mph. Austrian boaters fished Mohr from the lake, and that seemed to be the end of the last P-47 lost in Europe during the war—that is until June 2005, when the fighter was found and recovered from the lake. Since then, the P-47 was returned to the United States and underwent years of restoration by Vintage Airframes in Caldwell, Idaho. Most of the interior was in surprisingly good shape and the cockpit canopy is original, but corrosion took its toll on the skin, which had to be replaced. The company used authentic components wherever they could be found, and reconstructions whenever they could not. The P-47 finally returned to flight at Caldwell Industrial Airport on June 22. Purchased by a private owner in California, it is the only Thunderbolt with a combat record still flying.

Jon Guttman

NOVEMBER 2017

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Mustang Mayhem at Duxford

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igh achievement and high drama marked the 25th annual Flying Legends airshow at Duxford in Britain. It began with a 5,470-mile re-creation of a typical ferry flight from Texas to England during World War II. Over six days, pilot Lee Lauderback of the USAF Heritage Flight delivered Berlin Express (above), a restored North American P-51B Mustang in the markings of William B. Overstreet Jr. of the 357th Fighter Group, to Duxford on July 4. For the airshow on July 8, Berlin Express joined The Horsemen Flight Team, the world’s only formation aerobatic group made up entirely of Mustangs. During its first pass, however, the plane’s canopy disintegrated, causing damage to the tail surfaces. Aborting his intended loop, the pilot quickly landed safely. The show went on until July 9, when P-51D Miss Velma suffered engine failure. The pilot was compelled to make a wheels-up landing, but he emerged unhurt and the fighter suffered only minor damage.

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TOP & INSET: WINGS OF VICTORY FOUNDATION; BOTTOM: JOE GIDDENS/AP PHOTO

frozen in time Recovered from a Russian lake (inset), an Ilyushin Il-2M awaits its wings before making its first flight in 74 years in Siberia.

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briefing

back in familiar skies A restored Mitsubishi A6M3 makes the first flight by a Zero over Japan since 1945.

Japanese Zero Comes Home

X-15 Reaches the Edge of Space

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ifty-four years ago, on August 22, 1963, NASA test pilot Joseph A. Walker (right) flew a North American X-15 to the highest altitude reached during the hypersonic X-plane program: 67.08 miles (354,182 feet). It was his second suborbital X-15 flight—making Walker the first person to reach space twice—and set an altitude record that stood until the 1981 flight of the space shuttle Columbia. Walker, who in 1960 had become the first NASA pilot to fly the X-15, flew the rocketpowered aircraft a total of 24 times. He also became

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the first test pilot of the Bell Lunar Landing Research Vehicle, completing 35 flights in the tricky craft. Walker’s storied and accomplished career came to a tragic end on June 8, 1966, when his F-104 Starfighter collided with a XB-70 Valkyrie during a publicity photo flight over Southern California, killing him instantly.

TOP: KYODO/AP PHOTO; BOTTOM: NASA

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aviators

The Last Rocket Pilot JOE ENGLE FLEW EVERYTHING FROM SUPER SABRES TO THE SPACE SHUTTLE, BUT IT IS AS AN X-15 PILOT THAT HE IS PERHAPS BEST KNOWN BY MARK CARLSON

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he last human footprints on the moon were left by Apollo 17’s Gene Cernan and Jack Schmitt in December 1972. Had things worked out as originally planned, however, those last prints would have been made by Cernan and U.S. Air Force pilot Joe Engle. But while he never set foot on the moon, Engle reached space long before Apollo even UILMQ\W‫\ٺ‬PMLZI_QVOJWIZL Born in Kansas in 1932, Engle graduated from the University of Kansas at Lawrence in 1956 with a degree in aeronautical engineering. From the start he set his sights on the sky,

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joining Air Force ROTC and earning his wings in 1958. Engle’s timing was perfect, as it was one of the most dynamic periods in aviation history—the “Blowtorch Era,” when the skies were ÅTTML_Q\P\PMKWV[\IV\ZWIZ of jet engines. Engle served with the 474th Fighter Day Squadron (later re-designated the 309th Tactical Fighter Squadron) at George Air Force Base in California. Tactical Air Command’s job was to protect SAC bombers on airborne alert. Flying the supersonic North American F-100 Super Sabre, the squadron deployed to Europe at the height of the Cold War. But there were other enticements for an eager pilot like Engle. He wanted to reach the peak WN\PMXaZIUQL"ÆQOP\\M[\

ROCKET MAN Captain Joe Engle stands beside one of the X-15s he flew a total of 16 times. Opposite: Engle exercises aboard the space shuttle Columbia during its second mission in 1981.

At Wright-Patterson and Edwards AFBs, the Air Force was testing the fastest and most advanced airplanes in the world. Knowing he needed 1,500 hours of stick \QUM\WY]ITQNa-VOTMÆM_ everything he could. Asked about his favorite airplane, Engle replied, “My favorite _I[_PI\M^MZ1_I[ÆaQVOI\ the moment.” After graduating from the Air Force Test Pilot and Aerospace Research Pilot schools, Engle found himself on the threshold of not only ÆQOP\\M[\J]\WN[XIKM
ALL PHOTOS: NASA

United States was about to go head-to-head with the Soviet Union in the race to send a man into space. Engle applied to join NASA, but watched as other Air Force and Navy pilots were selected \WJM\PMÅZ[\\WKTQUJQV\W rockets. However, with his extensive piloting experience, he was chosen for the next best thing: the North American X-15 hypersonic rocket plane. One of only eight men selected to pilot \PMJTIKS@-VOTMÆM_ it 16 times, surpassing the 50-mile altitude boundary that the Air Force recognized as “space” three times, and earning his astronaut wings. Engle said he felt the X-15 was “the ultimate airplane I KW]TLXW[[QJTaÆaº The X-15 pilots, who included the soon-to-befamous Neil Armstrong, pioneered and proved many of the techniques and hardware that would be invaluable to the future of space exploration. Even after Engle _I[[MTMK\ML\WRWQV\PMÅN\P astronaut group in 1966, he _W]TLÅVLPQ[M`XMZQMVKMQV the X-15 played a major role during his time at NASA. With the Gemini Program winding down, NASA had its sights squarely on the moon. Engle was ready, having been selected as the Lunar Module pilot for the Apollo 14 backup crew and the prime crew of Apollo 17, commanded by Cernan. During the triumphant days after the success of Apollo 11 and Neil Armstrong’s “one small step,” however, NASA found public support and congressional funding for the Apollo program waning. Apollo 18, 19 and 20 were cancelled. The last manned moon landing would be on Apollo 17, with Engle slated to pilot the Lunar Module. But he would not get the chance. NASA, under pres-

“We proved that a shuttle could be brought in from a speed of Mach 25 to a landing with thrusters and aerodynamic control alone.” []ZMNZWU\PM[KQMV\QÅKKWUU]VQ\a\WPI^MIY]ITQÅML OMWTWOQ[\WV\PMTI[\ÆQOP\ replaced Engle with Harrison “Jack” Schmitt. “I was very disappointed,” Engle admitted, “but as any test pilot will say, you don’t always get the ÆQOP\aW]_IV\1]VLMZ[\WWL what had to be done.” Yet it wasn’t the end of -VOTM¼[LZMIU[WNÆaQVOQV space. He conferred with Deke Slayton, head of the I[\ZWVI]\W‫ٻ‬KMIJW]\PQ[ future in manned spaceÆQOP\;TIa\WVINWZUMZ Air Force test pilot himself, was considering astronauts for the Apollo Applications Program, genesis of the Skylab space station. But another program was then under development, a reusable space shuttle slated \WJMOQVÆaQVOQV\PMMIZTa 1980s. “When I was talking

to Deke,” Engle said, “the shuttle kept coming up in the conversation. Deke said my stick-and-rudder time in the X-15 was a valuable skill for the shuttle program.” In fact, one of Engle’s X-15 ÆQOP\[LM\MZUQVML\PI\I space shuttle would not need air-breathing engines, i.e., jets for control during re-entry from orbit. “We proved that a shuttle could be brought in from a speed of Mach 25 to a landing with thrusters and aerodynamic control alone,” he said. Thus in late 1977 Engle found himself at the controls of the space shuttle Enterprise, commanding one of the two test crews. Carried by a UWLQÅML*WMQVO\WIV altitude over 20,000 feet and released, the shuttle glided to a landing at Edwards. As the shuttle Columbia made its UIQLMV[XIKMÆQOP\QV!  Engle was in training to command the second orbital mission, STS-2, with pilot Dick Truly. After testing the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System “CanadArm,” Engle IVL
landing. This was the legacy of Engle’s pioneering X-15 ÆQOP\[ITUW[\aMIZ[MIZTQMZ “Personally for me the highlight of the mission was to be able to look out of the windows at the Earth hanging overhead,” Engle said. “It was an awesome experience.” He also commanded the 1985 STS-51-I mission, during which Discovery’s crew launched three satellites and retrieved and repaired another. In the end, Engle had spent more than 200 hours in space. Now an adviser for the International Space Station, Engle continues to lend his expertise and experience to further NASA’s space exploration goals. On his retirement from the Air Force in 1986 as a major general, Engle had amassed a remarkable career in the air, logging nearly 15,000 hours in more than 185 different aircraft types. While at the controls of the X-15, he participated in one of the most successful high-speed, high-altitude research programs in history. Today he is the last living X-15 pilot. BOLDLY GOING Engle pilots Enterprise during a glide test from a modified Boeing 747 on September 13, 1977.

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restored Living Lanc Avro Lancaster FM213 flies at EAA AirVenture 2015. Below: Andy Mynarski (third from right) earned a posthumous Victoria Cross for trying to save rear gunner Pat Brophy (far left). Opposite below: The rear gun turret.

Mynarski Memorial Lancaster ONE OF ONLY TWO AVRO LANCASTERS FLYING TODAY HONORS THE MEMORY OF A CANADIAN CREWMAN WHO WON THE VICTORIA CROSS BY BOB GORDON

O

n the evening of June 12, 1944, Avro Lancasters of No. 419 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), began taxiing down the runway at RAF Middleton St. George. Their target was the railroad marshaling yards at Cambrai, France. In the early hours of Friday \PM\P4IVKI[\MZ3*KIUM]VLMZÅZMNZWUI2]VSMZ[ 2] +
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\PMM[KIXMPI\KPIVLR]UXML 5aVIZ[SQ[]Z^Q^MLPQ[ landing but succumbed to severe burns within hours. 0M_I[I_IZLMLIXW[\P]mous Victoria Cross, the *ZQ\Q[P+WUUWV_MIT\P¼[ highest award for valor. :MUIZSIJTa*ZWXPa[]Z^Q^ML _PMV\PMZMIZ\]ZZM\ZQXXML free of the fuselage before the 4IVKM`XTWLML¹1¼TTIT_Ia[ JMTQM^M\PI\ILQ^QVMXZW^Qdence intervened to save me because of what I had seen,” *ZWXPaTI\MZ[IQL¹[W\PI\\PM _WZTLUQOP\SVW_WN IOITlant man who laid down his life for a friend.” Today the Canadian WarXTIVM0MZQ\IOM5][M]UI\ John C. Munro International )QZXWZ\QV0IUQT\WV7V\IZQW

Q[K][\WLQIVWN\PM5aVIZ[SQ 5MUWZQIT4IVKI[\MZ1\¼[WVM of only two airworthy Lancasters surviving, and carries \PMUIZSQVO[WN 3*
OPPOSITE TOP & RIGHT: GUY ACETO; OPPOSITE BOTTOM: DEPARTMENT OF NATIONAL DEFENCE ARCHIVES; ABOVE RIGHT: CANADIAN WARPLANE HERITAGE MUSEUM

and further extend range. FM213 served with No. 405 Squadron based at Greenwood, Nova Scotia, and No. :M[K]M=VQ\ÆaQVOW]\WN 
OZIV\NZWU\PM+IVILQIV OW^MZVUMV\ITTW_ML -\PMZQLOM\WPQZMI[IXXZMV\QKM[Å^MZMKMV\OZIL]I\M[ NZWUKWTTMOMIQZKZIN\MVOQVMMZQVOXZWOZIU[¸+IZWTaV ;I_aMZ?M[:IOQV[SQ
IZW]VL\PMPWTM[_W]TLPI^M TMN\.5IXMZUIVMV\ PIVOIZY]MMVVM^MZ\WÆaº 5WT[[IQL:MKZMI\QVO\PM KIUW]ÆIOM[KPMUMWN:). *WUJMZ+WUUIVLIVL\PM UIZSQVO[WN5aVIZ[SQ¼[IQZKZIN\KWV[]UML!OITTWV[WN  XIQV\aIZL[WNUI[SQVO \IXMIVLPW]Z[WNTIJWZ 7V;MX\MUJMZ!  R][\[PWZ\WNVQVMaMIZ[IN\MZ Q\IZZQ^MLI\\PMU][M]U\PM ZM[\WZML4IVKI[\MZZW[MINM_ NMM\W‫\ٺ‬PMZ]V_IaL]ZQVOI PQOP[XMML\I`Q\M[\IQZJWZVM NWZ\PMÅZ[\\QUMQVIY]IZ\MZ KMV\]Za)N\MZI\M[\ÆQOP\ \PMVM`\LIa\PM4IVK\WWS W‫ٺ‬WVQ\[ÅZ[\X]JTQKÆQOP\WV ;MX\MUJMZ_Q\P\PM[]Z^Q^QVOUMUJMZ[WN 3*¼[ _IZ\QUMKZM_QVI\\MVLIVKM ;QVKM\PMV\PM5aVIZ[SQ 5MUWZQIT4IVKI[\MZPI[ LMTQOP\MLP]VLZML[WN  thousands of visitors to the U][M]UIVL\W]ZML\PM KWV\QVMV\^Q[Q\QVOU][M]U[

heavy load A CH-47 Chinook delivers FM213 to the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in 1979.

IVLIQZ[PW_[.TQOP\MVOQVMMZ +ZIQO*ZWWSPW][MM[\QUI\M[ Q\\ISM[PW]Z[WN_WZS Ja\PMOZW]VLKZM_NWZM^MZa PW]Z\PMKTI[[QK_IZJQZL [XMVL[QV\PMIQZ 1V\PM[]UUMZWN  \PM4IVKKZW[[ML\PM)\TIV\QK \WRWQV[Q[\MZ[PQX8) NZWU\PM*I\\TMWN *ZQ\IQV 5MUWZQIT.TQOP\
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EXTREMES safety first Fred Weick and other NACA engineers built the W-1A to address the needs of private pilots. Below: The original W-1, featuring auxiliary airfoils on the wing leading edges, is tested in Langley’s full-sized wind tunnel.

Fred Weick’s Innovative W-1 IN HIS QUEST TO BUILD THE WORLD’S SAFEST AIRPLANE, THE DESIGNER PIONEERED SEVERAL FAMILIAR FEATURES ON AN UNFAMILIAR PROTOTYPE BY ROBERT GUTTMAN

O

f the many pioneers in the history of aircraft design, Fred Weick may not be immediately familiar to most aviation enthusiasts. But for anyone involved in general aviation, he should be. Weick made major contributions to aircraft LM[QOVJMNWZMPMM^MVJ]QT\PQ[ÅZ[\IQZXTIVM
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MUMZOMVKaTIVLQVOÅMTL[NWZ use by mailplanes. In 1925 he went to work for the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA, the predecessor of NASA) at 4IVOTMa>I
_PQKPMVIJTMLM‫ٻ‬KQMV\TW_ drag installation of air-cooled radial engines that were aerodynamically competitive with heavier and more complicated, but lower-drag, liquid-cooled power plants. Weick’s greatest interest, however, was in the develWXUMV\WN[INMM‫ٻ‬KQMV\IVL inexpensive aircraft for the

OPPOSITE PHOTOS: NASA; RIGHT NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM

general aviation market. He sought to produce an airplane that could take the place of the family car, a sort WN¹ÆaQVO5WLMT<º
weick sought to produce an airplane that could take the place of the family car, a sort of “flying Model T.” to that end he designed the w-1 to serve as a testbed for a number of novel features. 1VNIK\\PM?_I[WVMWN  \PMÅZ[\IQZXTIVM[\WQVKT]LM steerable tricycle gear. As originally built, the _QVOPILKWV^MV\QWVIT ailerons and large auxiliary airfoils mounted ahead and above the leading edge, forming a sort of slot. A later version, the W-1A, featured ILQ‫ٺ‬MZMV\_QVO_Q\PW]\\PM leading-edge airfoils, but _Q\PTIZOM\ZIQTQVOMLOMÆIX[ and unusual slotted ailerons mounted at mid-chord. 8W_MZMLJaI*ZQ\Q[P 85-hp Pobjoy Niagara aircooled radial, the W-1 had a top speed of 110 mph and cruised at 80 mph. It demonstrated good stability and control, and, according to Weick, _I[¹I]\WUI\QKITTaVWV[XQVVQVOº
!IN\MZKZI[PTIVLQVOQV a schoolyard due to engine NIQT]ZM*a\PI\\QUM?MQKS had moved on to a job at the Engineering and Research Corporation of Riverdale, 5LNWZ_PWUPMLM[QOVMLI [UITT\_W[MI\MZJI[ML]XWV the lessons he had learned NZWU\PM?.QZ[\ÆW_VQV ! \PMVM_IQZXTIVM[\QTT NMI\]ZMLI\_QV\IQT[\MMZIJTM tricycle landing gear and combined aileron and rudder KWV\ZWT[
innovations into the highly []KKM[[N]T8)8I_VMM IOZQK]T\]ZITXTIVMWN  _PQKP_MZMJ]QT\JM\_MMV !!IVL! ?MQKSIT[W co-designed an economical, all-metal, four-place cabin monoplane for Piper, the PA-28 Cherokee. Since its QV\ZWL]K\QWVQV!UWZM \PIV+PMZWSMM[PI^M been manufactured. After retiring from Piper QV!?MQKSZMUIQVML an active participant in the annual Experimental )QZKZIN\)[[WKQI\QWVIQZ[PW_ at Oshkosh, Wisc., until his death from heart disease on 2]Ta !!8MZPIX[WVM ZMI[WV_PaPQ[VIUMQ[VW\ as familiar as those of other aeronautical pioneers is that ?MQKS_I[UWZMKWVKMZVML _Q\PÆQOP\[INM\a\PIV_Q\P speed, size or military potential. Another reason may be that none of the aircraft he designed actually bore his name…apart from the very ÅZ[\WVM “world’s safest plane” The ERCO Ercoupe, Weick’s follow-on design to the W-1, incorporated many of that testbed’s design features.

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Photo courtesy of Breitling

STYLE

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STYLE We take to the air on the Breitling DC-3 as it nears the end of its around-the-world tour; fly into ski slopes of Aspen; check out Honda’s innovative new business jet; and more. november 2017

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The Breitling DC-3 traveled to 55 cities—16 within the U.S.

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Image courtesy of Breitling

The Breitling DC-3 flies above Mount Aso in Aso Kuj National Park, Kumamoto Prefecture, on the island of Kyushu in Japan—one of the largest active volcanoes in the world.

Photos courtesy of Breitling

Soaring by 14,410-foot Mount Rainier, in Washington state. The most glaciated peak in the contiguous U.S., it spawns six major rivers.

AIRSHOW

Tour de Force Breitling demonstrated its commitment to its aeronautical heritage by restoring a twin-engine Douglas DC-3 prop plane and sending it on a 55-city, around-the-world tour. The aircraft, one of fewer than 150 DC-3s remaining in flightworthy condition, initiated its trip from Geneva in March and concluded at the Breitling Sion Airshow 2017 in September. On board: 500 limited-edition Breitling Navitimer aviation chronographs, each engraved with the Breitling DC-3 World Tour logo and authenticated with a certificate signed by the flight captain. For more information visit breitling.com. november 2017

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STYLE

Soft Landing Flying right to the ski slopes (or darn near to them) is possible if you’ve chosen Aspen, Colorado, as your wintertime getaway. Land your airplane at Aspen/Pitkin, the closest tarmac-to-ski-slopes airport in the United States—a mere three miles to Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk (host of the Winter X Games). Book a stay at Little Nell, the only five-star, five-diamond, ski-in/ski-out resort on Aspen Mountain. The hotel’s crack concierge team will assist with your ski- or snowboard-related needs. For hotel information, visit thelittlenell.com. 22

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Photos courtesy Little Nell

TRAVEL

Little Nell is the only five-star, five-diamond resort in Aspen.

STYLE

TRAVEL

Suite Dreams This uniquely reimagined jet, once an Avianca Boeing 727 airliner based in Colombia, is now a hotel suite perched 50-feet above a national park in Costa Rica. It features two bedrooms (each with a private bath), a kitchenette and stunning 360-degree views of the surrounding gardens. The furnishings—from the cockpit to tail—are made of hand-carved teak. Decks built above each wing are excellent vantage points for observing the neighboring sloths, toucans and curious monkeys. For more information, or to book a stay, visit costaverde.com/727.htm. november 2017

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STYLE

A HondaJet flies high above Lake Powell in Utah.

AIRCRAFT

After more than 20 years of extensive R&D, Honda unveiled its first aircraft, the HA-420 HondaJet, featuring innovative over-the-wing engine mount technology. An aeronautical breakthrough, the engine placement reduces noise, improves fuel efficiency and enables a larger cabin and lavatory size. The jet has a top speed of 486 mph and uses a Garmin® G3000 next-generation all-glass avionics system with touch-screen technology. The dual touch-screen controllers and three 14-inch high-resolution displays offer enhanced navigation, flight planning and permit single- or dual-pilot operation. This year, Honda plans to produce 55 to 60 of the jets. For more information visit hondajet.com.

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Photos courtesy HondaJet

Jet Dream

Specifications Crew: 1 or 2 Capacity: 4-6 Length: 42.6 ft. Wingspan: 39.8 ft. Height: 14.9 ft. Empty weight: 7,203 lbs. Max takeoff weight: 10,600 lbs. Powerplant: 2 × GE Honda HF120 turbofan, 2,050 lbf thrust each Bypass ratio: 2.9

Performance Maximum speed: 486 mph Cruise speed: 423 mph Range: 1,388 mi. (1,206 nmi) Service ceiling: 43,000 ft. Rate of climb: 4,000 ft./min. Fuel consumption: 1.46 lbs./mi. Takeoff distance: 3,934 ft. Landing distance: 3,047 ft. Fuel capacity: 2,850 lbs. Cabin altitude: 8,000 ft.

WATCH

Back in Time The Bremont limited-edition Boeing 100 timepiece is manufactured from Boeing aviation-grade Ti 6-4 titanium, a unique metal that is significantly stronger than commercial titanium and widely used in aerospace airframes and engine components. The distinctive “Boeing Brown” color of the watch was often used in older Boeing aircraft, reportedly designed to make the cockpits feel more relaxing. The watch also has a vintage Bakelite look and aesthetic of the older controls. The Bremont Boeing 100, $7,595, bremont.com/watch/boeing

GOODS

Eyes Have It The RŌKA Phantom aviator sunglasses with titanium frame are available with ultra-premium nylon lenses by Carl Zeiss Vision® or Barberini® glass lenses with anti-scratch, anti-fog and anti-reflectance coatings. Patented GEKO pads on the nose and temples for optimal support and comfort. Spot and fingerprint resistant. $275, roka.com november 2017

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LETTER FROM AvIATION HISTORY

REAL “FAKE NEWS” BY CARL VON WODTKE

T

he news was splashed across newspaper headlines and on TV broadcasts in July: “Shocking new evidence” had been found supporting the theory that Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan had crashlanded in the Marshall Islands during their 1937 around-the-world bid and were taken prisoner by the Japanese. The evidence, a fuzzy photograph purportedly showing Earhart and Noonan on a dock in the Marshalls’ Jaluit Atoll, served as the lynchpin of a History Channel documentary alleging “the U.S. government knew that she was in the custody of a foreign power, and may have covered it up.” Two days after the documentary premiered, however, Japanese military history blogger Kota Yamano posted pages from a 1935 Japaneselanguage travelogue containing the same photo.

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Yamano had found the book online in Japan’s VI\QWVITTQJZIZaIN\MZIPITNPW]Z[MIZKP¹1ÅVL it strange that the documentary makers didn’t KWVÅZU\PMLI\MWN\PMXPW\WOZIXPWZ\PMX]JTQcation in which it originally appeared,” he told The Guardian British daily. The History Channel responded that it “has a team of investigators exploring the latest developments about Amelia Earhart, and will be transparMV\QVW]ZÅVLQVO[=T\QUI\MTaPQ[\WZQKITIKK]ZIKa is most important to us and our viewers.” But since then, crickets. Meanwhile, the channel has removed the documentary from streaming services and says it is not re-airing it “at this time.” What’s most disturbing about this episode, other than the History Channel’s evident failure to follow basic historical research principles, is the lack of follow-up by the media outlets that trumpeted \PMKPIVVMT¼[KTIQU[QV\PMÅZ[\XTIKM
PHOTOS: NATIONAL ARCHIVES

looks can be deceiving A History Channel documentary claimed this photo shows Amelia Earhart (sitting) and her navigator, Fred Noonan (far left). Below: Earhart continues to fascinate.



“The quality of their watches is equal to many that can go for ten times the price or more.” — Jeff from

McKinney, TX

“Blue face watches are on the discerning gentleman’s ‘watch list’.” – watchtime.com

Stone Cold Fox

So good-looking...heads will turn. So unbelievably-priced...jaws will drop.

E

very once in a while a timepiece comes along that’s so incredibly good looking, masterfully equipped and jaw-droppingly priced, that it stops us stone cold. A watch that can take you seamlessly from the 18th hole to the board room. A watch that blurs the line betweens sports watch and dress watch. We’re talking the Blue Stone Chronograph, and it sits at the top of the discerning gentleman’s watch list. Striking in appearance and fully equipped with features, this is a watch of substance. The Blue Stone merges the durability of steel with the precision of crystal movement that’s accurate to 0.2 seconds a day. Both an analog and digital watch, the Blue Stone keeps time with pinpoint accuracy in two time zones. The watch’s handsome steel blue dial seamlessly blends an analog watch face with a stylish digital display. It’s a stopwatch, calendar, and alarm. Plus, the Blue Stone resists water up to 30 meters, making it up for water adventures. A watch with these features would easily cost you thousands if you shopped big names. But overcharging to justify an inflated brand name makes us blue in the face. Which is why we make superior looking and performing timepieces priced to please. Decades of experience in engineering enables Stauer to put quality on your wrist and keep your money in your pocket.

Your satisfaction is 100% guaranteed. Experience the Blue Stone Chronograph for 60 days. If you’re not convinced you got excellence for less, send it back for a refund of the item price. Time is running out. Originally priced at $395, the Blue Stone Chronograph was already generating buzz among watch connoisseurs, but with the price slashed to $69, we can’t guarantee this limited-edition timepiece will last. So, call today!

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• Precision movement • Digital and analog timekeeping • LED subdials • Stainless steel crown, caseback & bracelet • Dual time zone feature • Stopwatch • Alarm feature • Calendar: month, day, & date • Water resistant to 3 ATM • Fits wrists 7" to 9"

Stauer…Afford the Extraordinary.™

BAT OUT OF HELL

THE ROCKET-POWERED ME-163 KOMET INTERCEPTOR OUTPERFORMED EVERY OTHER WORLD WAR II COMBAT AIRCRAFT… IF ITS PILOTS LIVED TO FIGHT BY DON HOLLWAY

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SLASH AND BURN A Messerschmitt Me-163B-1 Komet of Jagdgeschwader 400 shoots down a 91st Bomb Group B-17G, in an illustration by Jack Fellows.

IN LATE JULY 1944, P-51 MUSTANG PILOTS WHO THOUGHT THEY FLEW THE BEST FIGHTER AIRCRAFT OVER GERMANY RECEIVED A RUDE SURPRISE.

PROMISING PROTOTYPE One of five V-series Me-163 test aircraft makes a lowlevel powered flight at the Peenemünde-West field near Germany’s Baltic Sea coast.

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Colonel Avelin P. Tacon Jr. of the 359th Fighter Group reported: “My eight ship section was furnishing close support to a Combat Wing of B-17s that had just bombed Merseburg....Someone called in contrails high at six o’clock.” From more than a mile above the Americans, two stubby, sweptwing single-seaters rocketed to the attack. As they slashed through his formation, Tacon recalled, “I estimate, conservatively, they were doing between 500 and 600 mph.” One dived away; the other climbed into the sun, as another 359th pilot put it, “like a bat out of hell.” That quickly, they were gone. “Although I had seen them start their dive and watched them throughout their attack,” Tacon admitted, “I had no time to get my sights anywhere near them.” A loophole in the Versailles Treaty ending World War I had XZWPQJQ\ML/MZUIVaNZWUJ]QTLQVOÅOP\MZ[J]\VW\[IQTXTIVM[ or rockets. In the 1920s and ’30s, designer Alexander Lippisch perfected tailless, delta-wing gliders, and engineer Helmuth Walter developed rockets burning 80-percent-pure hydroOMVXMZW`QLM
in it,” Lippisch warned, “then you get only the bone out.” Lippisch’s Messerschmitt Me-163A Komet was part rocket, part glider. Its plywood bat wings were swept back not so much for streamlining (transonic airflow being still little understood), but to put their control surfaces suffiKQMV\TaZMIZ_IZLTQSMÅV[WVI dart. “It just won’t spin,” declared test pilot Heinrich ,Q\\UIZ¹)KPQTLKIVÆaQ\º And it was fast. During one WN \PMÅZ[\]VXW_MZMLOTQLM tests, Dittmar hit 528 mph in a dive. On October 2, 1941, he was towed up over 13,000

NMM\KI[\W‫ٺ‬IVLZWKSM\ML\WUXPIJW]\5IKP QV TM^MTÆQOP\¹)VL\PMV\PQVO[[\IZ\ML\WPIXXMVºPMZMKITTML ¹°
I

PREVIOUS SPREAD: ©2017 JACK FELLOWS, ASAA; OPPOSITE & ABOVE RIGHT: NATIONAL ARCHIVES: RIGHT: HISTORYNET ARCHIVE

VTI\M!\M[\]VQ\KWUUIVLMZ+IX\IQV?WTNOIVO;Xq\M IXZM_IZOTQLQVOKPIUXQWVIVL ^QK\WZaIKMÆM_\PMÅZ[\ XZWL]K\QWV5M*VW\QVO¹6W_1_I[IJW]\\WÅVLW]\ _PI\\PM?IT\MZMVOQVMIVLUaTQ\\TM5MIK\]ITTaPIL QV\PMUº1VûUQV]\M[\PMKomet KW]TLPQ\NMM\¹
IF, IN A CRASH, LEAKING T-STOFF TOUCHED C-STOFF, DETONATION WAS INSTANTANEOUS AND TOTAL. Jagdgeschwader2/
HANDLE WITH CARE A ground crewman pours C-Stoff into an Me-163B’s fuel tank. Though the Komet’s fuel was extremely volatile, Heinrich Dittmar (below left) said, “A child can fly it.” Rudi Opitz (below right) was lucky to survive an Me-163 mishap.

\W[MMNZWUUQTM[I_Iaº)[ T]KS_W]TLPI^MQ\MIZTa\PI\ IN\MZVWWVNW]Z)TTQMLÅOP\MZ[ IXXZWIKPML1VUQV]\M[;Xq\M ZW[M]X]VLMZ\PMUJ]\I[PM ILR][\MLPQ[KTQUJIVOTMPM ILLMLI\W]KPWN VMOI\Q^MO 0Q[ZWKSM\XZWUX\TaK]\W‫ٺ‬ )UQLIQZZMTQOP\ZMY]QZML\_W UQV]\M[)[\PMLZQN\QVOZWKSM\ XTIVM[TW_ML\PM)UMZQKIV[ PI^QVOIXXIZMV\TaVW\[XW\\ML \PMTQ\\TMZMLJI\_QVOJMPQVL \PMUX]TTMLI_Ia*a\PM\QUM ;Xq\MZMÅZML\PMJ]ZVMZPM PIL\WP]ZZa\WKI\KP]X[W U]KP[W\PI\PQ[Komet KIUM ]XIOIQV[\\PM[W]VLJIZZQMZ NWZKQVOPQU\WJZMISWNN PQ[ I\\IKS¹1¼UUWZM\PIVK]ZQ W][\WSVW_ºPMTI\MZU][ML ¹_PI\M^MZPIXXMVML\W\PW[M XQTW\[_PWXW[[QJTaW_M\PMQZ TQ^M[\W\PMNIK\\PI\\PMZM_I[ VW5IKP_IZVQVOLM^QKMCQV \PM5MEº
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TECH NOTES MESSERSCHMITT ME-163B-1 TRIM TAB

FABRIC-COVERED ELEVON PILOT’S SEAT

MAIN UNPROTECTED T-STOFF TANK

HEADREST 8MM BACK ARMOR AMMUNITION FOR MK 108 CANNONS C-STOFF FILLER CAP

MECHANICALLY JETTISONABLE CANOPY WITH VENTILATION PANEL T-STOFF FILLER CAP

REVI 16B GUNSIGHT FUG 25A RADIO PACK

MAIN C-STOFF WING TANK

GENERATOR DRIVE PROPELLER

PITOT HEAD

COMPRESSED AIR BOTTLE BATTERY AND ELECTRONIC PACKS TAKEOFF TROLLEY HYDRAULIC AND COMPRESSED AIR PORTS

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LANDING SKID

PORT 30MM MK 108 CANNON

TAILFIN CONSTRUCTION

RUDDER

RUDDER HORN BALANCE

SPARTAN COCKPIT The instruments in a captured Me-163 include on its central panel (top row, from left) airspeed indicator, artificial horizon/turn and bank indicator and variometer; and (bottom row, from left) altimeter, tachometer and fuel gauge.

SPECIFICATIONS ENGINE Walter HWK 509A-1 or A-2 bi-fuel rocket motor with a maximum thrust rating of 3,748 lbs. WINGSPAN 30 feet 7¹/³ inches STEERABLE TAILWHEEL

WING AREA 199.13 square feet LENGTH 19 feet 2¹/³ inches

ILLUSTRATIONS BY STEVE KARP; PHOTO: ALAMY

WEIGHT 4,206 lbs. (empty) 9,502 lbs. (maximum takeoff)

HWK 509A-1 MOTOR TURBINE HOUSING

MAXIMUM SPEED 593 mph at 9,850 feet CLIMB 2.6 minutes to 29,500 feet 3.35 minutes to 39,370 feet CEILING 39,698 feet COMBAT RADIUS 22 miles at 497 mph MAXIMUM POWERED ENDURANCE 7.5 minutes ARMAMENT Two forward-firing 30mm Rheinmetall Borsig MK 108 cannons with 60 rounds per gun

ROCKET MOTOR COMBUSTION CHAMBER

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BASE OF OPERATIONS Top: An Me-163B-1 taxis for takeoff from JG.400’s base at Brandis, a bomber field east of Leipzig. Above: A Komet undergoes maintenance at Brandis. The Walter rocket engine was easily accessed by removing the one-piece rear fuselage and tailfin.

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ÅMTLMI[\WN4MQXbQO)\\PI\XWQV\QV\PM_IZNM_JWUJMZZIQL[ XZM[[ML[WLMMXQV\W/MZUIVa?PMV\PMaLQLKometXQTW\[ Y]QKSTaTMIZVML\PMWVMUIVM]^MZ\PMaPILV¼\[]‫ٻ‬KQMV\TaXZIK\QKML"IQZ\WIQZKWUJI\QV\MZKMX\[-^MVI\IQTKPI[MUMIV\KTW[QVO[XMML[WNVMIZTaUXPIVLR][\I[XTQ\[MKWVL\WX]TT\PM \ZQOOMZ¹
JIKS W]\ WN  \PM ! SUP C UXPE IZMI aW]¼ZM IT ZMILaJIKSQV\PMTWKITIZMI IVL]VLMZ\PMXZW\MK\QWVWN  W]ZW_VÆISº 7V )]O][\  :aTT [W JILTa[PW\]XI\P*WUJMZ /ZW]X * \PI\ \PW]OP Q\ _W]TL [\Z]OOTM JIKS \W -VOTIVLPM_I[KZMLQ\ML_Q\P ISQTT6M`\PMPWUMLQVWVI TWVM.WZ\ZM[[WN \PM![\*/ J]\\PMM[KWZ\QVO!\P¼[4\ +WT2WPV*5]ZXPaK]\PQU W‫ٺ‬¹1WXMVMLÅZMNZWUIJW]\ NMM\IVLPMTLQ\]V\QT1 W^MZ[PW\º5]ZXPaZMXWZ\ML ¹1[KWZMLINM_PQ\[WV\PMTMN\ [QLMWN\PMN][MTIOMº ?QVOUIV4QM]\MVIV\+aZQT ?2WVM[2ZOW\QVIJ]Z[\\WW ¹
speed, he pulled up in front of the 457th BG and came back down from 12 o’clock high. His head-on pass produced few hits, but Schubert looped back again for a tail attack, and with just \PZMMZW]VL[ZMXWZ\MLTa[PW\W‫ٺ‬I*¼[\IQT[MK\QWV 1\_W]TLJM\PMZWKSM\ÅOP\MZ[¼ÅVM[\PW]Z¹)N\MZ\PI\_M experienced a series of failures and aircraft losses,” remembered ;Xq\M¹°
FINALLY, THE TOLL IN PILOTS HAVING FAR OUTWEIGHED THEIR RESULTS, GERMANY CEASED KOMET PRODUCTION AFTER 364 HAD BEEN BUILT.

motor explosion and another killed in a crash when he lost control near the sound barZQMZ
W

OPPOSITE TOP & RIGHT PHOTOS: NATIONAL ARCHIVES; OPPOSITE BOTTOM: BUNDESARCHIV BILD I101-1965-011

HIGH PRICE Hartmut Ryll (left) was among JG.400’s earliest combat casualties. Siegfried Schubert (below left) scored three victories in the Me-163, but was killed in an explosion on takeoff.

\TM IK\QWV NWZ 2/
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LAST DAYS Above: Fritz Kelb was the only pilot to use a Jägerfaust 50mm cannonequipped Komet in combat. Right: A surviving Me-163B-1 and its rocket engine are displayed at the National Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center. Below: Lacking fuel for a tractor tug, ground crewman use what’s on hand to pull a Komet onto the runway late in the war.

Leipzig. “Kelb approached the lead aircraft of the bomber forUI\QWVIVLÆM_Ja]VLMZVMI\P\PMJWUJMZI\^MZaKTW[MZIVOMº ;Xq\MZMUMUJMZML¹)\\PI\QV[\IV\\PMJWUJMZLQ[IXXMIZML QVIKTW]LWN[UWSMIVLÆIUM[º2]UXMLJa5][\IVO[3MTJ X]\\PMKomet¼[VW[MLW_VIVLZIVNWZPWUM¹0MPILZMKMQ^ML ITW\WNPQ\[WV\PM\WX[QLMWN\PMIQZXTIVM°[PZIXVMTNZWU\PM OQIV\M`XTW[QWV_PQKPPILJTW_VPQ[\IZOM\\WJQ\[
¹?Q\PW]\ KPIVOQVO LQZMK\QWVPM[TQLQV\W_Q\PQVINM_ NMM\WNW]ZTMN\_QVO\QXº\PM bomber pilot remembered. ¹?M_MZMI\\PM\QUM\ZI^MTQVOI\IVIQZ[XMMLWNIXXZW`QUI\MTa UXP
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FATAL FLIGHT A Ba-349 is readied for a test flight (left) and Lothar Sieber climbs into the cockpit (above) before rocketing to his death.

OPPOSITE (CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT): NATIONAL ARCHIVES; NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM; COURTESY OF WOLFGANG MUEHLBAUER; RIGHT PHOTOS: NATIONAL ARCHIVES

ROCKET-POWERED SNAKE

F

acing a critical shortage of C-Stoff fuel for JG.400, Colonel Wolfgang Späte was informed by General of Fighters Adolf Galland that “because of a special SS initiative, a defensive surface-to-air rocket aircraft is supposed to be forced into production. And they will be propelled by C-Agent as well. That is the height of stupidity, but it’s also fact.” With the Me-163 in perpetual development, in July 1944 the Luftwaffe established an emergency program to come up with a quick and dirty solution to the Allied bombers pummel-

ing Germany. Engineer Erich Bachem’s Ba-349 Natter (Adder) would operate more like a guided missile: a verticaltakeoff, semi-disposable manned rocket. The Luftwaffe rejected the concept, so Bachem put it in front of Heinrich Himmler. The Reichsführer-SS, desiring to give his personal army some air power, approved the idea. The Natter was to be built by unskilled laborers using wood, glue and nails. The wings were simple wooden blades, with all control surfaces on the cruciform tail. Because the Walter rocket motor wasn’t powerful enough to launch a fully load-

ed Natter straight up, four solid-fuel boosters would provide 10,500 extra pounds of thrust for 10 seconds, until the main engine built up enough thrust to climb at 37,000 feet per minute. At first the idea was to ram enemy bombers with a concrete nosecone, but eventually that became a Perspex cap over as many as two-dozen R4M rockets. After firing them, the pilot would release the disposable nose section and a brake parachute. The sudden deceleration would separate the cockpit from the rocket, and they would descend under separate parachutes. The Natter required no landing gear, no runways, no huge manufacturing commitment and hardly any development time. The first prototype was ready in October 1944, towed glide tests were flown in November and an unmanned test launched three days before Christmas. A second test in January 1945 with a dummy pilot was also successful, though the rocket’s leftover

T-Stoff and C-Stoff exploded on touchdown. As the pilot would have landed safely clear of the blast, plans went ahead for a manned test. Experienced Arado Ar-232 pilot Lothar Sieber signed on for the first vertical-takeoff manned rocket flight. On March 1, the Natter rose from its launch tower on a pillar of smoke and steam, but before it passed 500 feet something went wrong. It pitched over backward and its canopy flew off. Climbing inverted, it disappeared into the clouds. Less than a minute later it came hurtling back down, still under full power, to hit the ground about five miles away with Sieber still inside. He may have been pinned in the cockpit by G forces, knocked unconscious or killed when the canopy flew back. The SS figured that if a veteran test pilot couldn’t control the Natter, no inexperienced pilot could, so it cancelled the project. But like the Komet, the Natter broke new ground, if at a high cost. D.H.

EARLY SUCCESS A Natter blasts off on an unmanned flight circa January 1945.

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THE SKY’S THEIR CANVAS LONG BEFORE THE ADVENT OF SOCIAL MEDIA, SKYWRITERS CREATED EPHEMERAL MESSAGES WRIT LARGE IN THE ATMOSPHERE FOR ALL TO SEE BY STEPHAN WILKINSON

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NO GECKO REQUIRED The GEICO Skytypers release smoke from their North American T-6s to get their message across to a wide audience.

POSTWAR PIONEER An S.E.5a modified by Cyril Turner turns Major John Savage’s smoky pipe dream into reality shortly after World War I. G-EBIA, restored to its wartime guise, still flies in the Shuttleworth Collection.

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Just as there are diehard airship fans and those who would like to see Pan Am Clippers still carving wakes across San Francisco Bay, skywriting continues to have its boosters. Skywriting can be traced back to the beginning of World War I, when Royal Flying Corps Major John “Jack” Savage developed a mechanism to pump an oily smokescreen out of an airplane’s exhaust pipe to help hide ships at sea. Some historians date the inception of such smoke to 1910, used “as an alternate means of communication,” in the words of one source. To imagine a 1910 Bristol Boxkite carving smoky letters in the sky is laughable, however, as is the concept of communicating military messages quite so openly. Disregard as well claims that West Coast stunt

pilot Art Smith invented skywriting in 1915, when PMÆM_[XMK\IK]TIZVQOP\IQZ[PW_[_Q\PIÆIZM attached to the tail of his Curtiss pusher. Many spectators swore that Smith closed every show by “writing” GOOD NIGHT _Q\PPQ[ÆIUQVO\IQTTQOP\ but time-exposure photographs make it obvious \PI\PM[QUXTaÆM_I[MZQM[WN[XQZIT[IVLTWWX[ )N\MZ\PM_IZ;I^IOM¼[NZQMVLIVLNMTTW_W‫ٻ‬KMZ +aZQT<]ZVMZUWLQÅMLI:WaIT)QZKZIN\.IK\WZa ;-IÅOP\MZ\WUISM][MWN;I^IOM¼[KWVKMX\NWZ skywriting. He installed a smoke-oil tank and valve to inject the potion into the exhaust, extended the big Hispano-Suiza V8’s pipes all the way to the tail, asbestos-wrapped them to keep the gases hot and split the rudder to allow the pipes to be joined into one big smoke outlet.

PREVIOUS SPREAD: GEICO SKYTYPERS; LEFT, BOTTOM RIGHT & RIGHT: RAF MUSEUM, HENDON; TOP RIGHT: SMITHSONIAN NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM ARCHIVES

AVIATION HAS GIVEN US MANY HERE TODAY, GONE TOMORROW MOMENTS—PASSENGERCARRYING DIRIGIBLES, MAILPLANES, MILITARY GLIDERS, ENORMOUS FLYING BOATS—AND AMONG THEM IS THE CRAFT OF SKYWRITING.

Skywriting as an advertising medium had its debut above the famous English racetrack Epson Downs, on Derby Day in 1922. Turner had made a deal with an aviation-friendly London newspaper to smokestream the words DAILY MAIL in the sky above tens of thousands of bemused bettors and most of the country’s peerage. A few months later, realizing where the big bucks were, Turner boxed up his warbird, shipped it to New York and introduced himself with the smoky message HELLO USA spelled out over Manhattan. The next day, he wrote CALL VANDERBILT 7200— the phone number of his hotel—and, legend has it, elicited 47,000 calls in less than three hours…“legMVLºJMKI][M\PI\_I[\PMÅO]ZMZMTMI[MLJa\PM hotel press agent, and the New York Telephone Company doubted that tally was possible. Nonetheless, the American Tobacco Company was impressed. Makers of America’s favorite brand, 4]KSa;\ZQSM\PMKWUXIVaJMKIUM\PMÅZ[\ major corporate sponsor of skywriting. It’s said that sales of Luckies jumped 60 percent immediately after a skywriting demo over Philadelphia. Many claim that American’s early messages consisted of LSMFT—“Lucky Strike Means Fine Tobacco”— but that acronym didn’t appear until the mid1940s. It’s more likely that skywriters wrote IT’S TOASTED, the brand’s meaningless catchphrase. 2IKS;I^IOMMVLML]XW_VQVO\PMTIZOM[\ÆMM\ of skywriting aircraft in Britain, and he sent them all over the world with Turner as his chief pilot. Turner’s original skywriting airplane, the S.E.5a /-*1)[\QTTÆQM[I[XIZ\WN\PMNIUW][;P]\\TM worth Collection, though restored in its original wartime olive-drab paint scheme. Skywriting, IXXIZMV\Ta_I[\WWZI‫[ٻ‬PIXZWNM[[QWVNWZIXZWXMZ warbird to have been involved in. Commercial skywriting, in fact, is today banned in the UK.

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t took awhile for skywriting to become an important commercial advertising medium. Initially, the capability was used to broadcast personal messages, political rants, birthday wishes and marriage proposals, and for such frivolQ\QM[I[ÆI\\MZQVOKMTMJZQ\QM[LMJIZSQVONZWUWKMIV

SKYWRITING AS AN ADVERTISING MEDIUM HAD ITS DEBUT ABOVE EPSON DOWNS IN 1922.

CAPTIVE AUDIENCE Top: A long-exposure photo reveals spiral “writing” created by Art Smith over a San Francisco exposition in 1915. Above: Jack Savage and staff pose before skywriting S.E.5a G-EBIB in April 1927. Below left: Spectators marvel at a skywriting show.

liners by writing their names, and even simply to post goofy phrases and greetings—a kind of 1920s Twitter. But the potential was unmistakable. In the mid-1920s, city-dwellers would rush to a window at the mere sound of an airplane, and a simple TW_IT\Q\]LMÆaJaKW]TL[]UUWVIVI]LQMVKM easily in the tens of thousands. Skywriting became so popular that in June 1923 a New York Times essay by poet and critic Benjamin De Casseres complained that “Above \PM0QUITaI[\PM)TX[IVL\PM-Q‫ٺ‬MT
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“HELLO USA” The Skywriting Corporation of America’s S.E.5as await their next job at Curtiss Field (top). Turner (above) served as the company’s chief pilot. A 1922 illustration (right) depicts a skywriter in action.

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working on developing palettes of colored smoke as well as glowing smoke for nighttime use. Neither ever came to pass, though of course aerobatic teams have used colored smoke. The expense of scrubbing dye-stained fuselages has always led skywriters to avoid it. The Germans saw skywriting as another means to circumvent the Versailles Treaty, which forbade their country to develop any form of military aviation. So besides training its pilots through [XWZ\OTQLQVOKT]J[IVLKWVÅO]ZQVON]\]ZMJWUJers as airliners, the Germans formed several Reklamestaffeln, or “publicity and advertising” squadrons. These specialized units did commercial skywriting work that screened what was in fact practice for target-marking and reconnaissance missions. Among the many pilots initially trained I[[Sa_ZQ\MZ[_I[N]\]ZMOMVMZITWNÅOP\MZ[)LWTN  Galland, and the :MSTIUM[\I‫ٺ‬MTV actually became \PMÅZ[\WXMZI\QWVIT\IK\QKIT]VQ\[WN\PMVM_TaKWV[\Q\]\ML4]N\_I‫ٺ‬M Hermann Dibbel, a Junkers Ju-87 sergeant pilot, _I[IVW\PMZ4]N\_I‫ٺ‬M[Sa_ZQ\MZ\ZIQVMLQV\PQ[ fashion. Dibbel used his Stuka to spell out surrender appeals above Soviet units and, later, Yugoslav partisans. Perhaps because they were amazed by such displays of technical prowess, some troops _W]TLQVLMMLÆMM\PMNZWV\TQVM[)N\MZ\PM_IZ Dibbel reinvented himself as Europe’s only skywriting instructor. Without access to an airplane, he had his students pedal a bicycle equipped with a container of limewater and a spigot that could be triggered open or closed, to make upside-down and backward letters on the ground just as a skywriter would in the air. The Dibbel dribble method disappeared into the mists of 1950s history, and

whether it created any actual skywriters remains a mystery. By the late 1930s, the big dog in the U.S. had become the Skywriting Corporation of America, operating out of Curtiss Field, on Long Island. Cyril Turner was their chief pilot. The company made much of holding all the patents necessary to create “the writing gas.” According to The New Yorker magazine, this involved “injecting a chemical into some kind of oil, the exact nature of these ingredients being a secret.” Secrecy has always been an important element of skywriting. The profession even today labors like a White House press secretary to dissemble and hide any clues to its operation. It has long been hinted that only those who have the talent within

their DNA can become skywriters, and that like the Flying Wallendas, unless you’re born into the craft you’ll never gain entry. When Pepsi-Cola became the world’s best-known skywriting user, its contracts with company skywriters forbade them to reveal IVaLM\IQT[WNPW_\PMaÆM_\PMQZ[UWSaXI\\MZV[ Granted, skywriting is not easy, since the letters must be formed without the pilots having any perspective over what they’re doing. Though the letters look vertical from the ground, they are in fact horizontal, facing the ground, and a skywriting pilot can only see what he or she has done when the message is complete, if it hasn’t already been tattered by the wind.
OPPOSITE TOP: RAF MUSEUM, HENDON; OPPOSITE BOTTOM: BETTMANN/GETTY IMAGES; LEFT: CHRONICLE/ALAMY; ABOVE RIGHT: EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY COLLECTIONS

7>-:1.A7=?)6<1<0)88A@5);.:752706 )6,A737, written over Toronto and then New

AWZS+Q\a5IV[ÅMTLPI[IT_Ia[KIZZQML^MZaTIZOM smoke-oil tanks in his skywriting airplanes—in \PQ[KI[MOITTWV[QVPQ[)O+I\-TM^MVaMIZ[ TI\MZ5IV[ÅMTL[XMTTML0)88A*1:<0,)A2706 ;-)647>-A737 over Manhattan, repeated eight \QUM[2WPV4MVVWV_W]TLJMLMILQV\_WUWV\P[

O

VMZM\QZML[Sa_ZQ\MZ_PWÆM_IV)O+I\ gave Aviation History a few clues as to how \PMOIUMQ[XTIaML¹;Sa_ZQ\QVOIMZWJI\QK[Q[WVTaNWZ0WTTa_WWLºPM_ZW\M¹1LQL everything level at 9,500 to 10,500 feet. Count to six-Mississippi and maintain a constant airspeed for any straight part of a letter. Count higher for bigger letters. Maintain a constant angle of bank NWZ\PMK]Z^ML[\]‫ٺ‬°IVL\Za\WSMMX\PMK]Z^ML [\]‫\ٺ‬WIUQVQU]U7Q[\PMPIZLM[\TM\\MZM[XMcially at the beginning of a word. “Determine the winds aloft and start waaaay upwind. Write upside down and backward, so the XMWXTMWV\PMOZW]VLKIVZMILQ\0I^M\_WMI[-

“IF YOU CAN’T HOLD A HEADING AND AN ALTITUDE, YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO SKYWRITE.”

“DRINK PEPSI-COLA” Pilots Steve Oliver and Suzanne Asbury-Oliver do some preflight planning next to PepsiCo’s Travel Air D4D.

QTaQLMV\QÅIJTMXWQV\[WNZMNMZMVKMW]\[QLM¸WVM [\ZIQOP\IPMILIVLWVM[\ZIQOP\W‫ٺ‬aW]Z_QVO “We would draw our pattern on a 5-by-8 card IVLKTQXQ\WV\PMXIVMTQVNZWV\WN][1\TWWSML essentially like an aerobatic-routine card, showing how we maneuvered through each letter to the VM`\WVM8ZMÆQOP\XTIVVQVO_I[QUXWZ\IV\M[XMcially if it was windy at altitude, as letters don’t last long then. We’d keep writing the word or phrase over and over until we ran out of smoke oil. We could do about 25 to 30 letters on an 80-gallon \IVSWNWQTAW]ZUM[[IOM[TWWSML\MZZQJTM\PMÅZ[\ few times you tried to write, so we would videotape them and critique. “That’s about it—no magic or mystery, just an old airplane with a big, fat exhaust and a semiKWUXM\MV\>.:XQTW\º ;]bIVVM)[J]Za7TQ^MZ\WLIa\PMKW]V\Za¼[ UW[\IK\Q^M[Sa_ZQ\MZ[Ia[¹1N aW]KIV¼\PWTL a heading and an altitude, you won’t be able to [Sa_ZQ\Mº;PMIOZMM[\PI\IJQOXIZ\WN[Sa_ZQ\QVOQ[KW]V\QVO¹1KW]V\W‫[ٺ‬MKWVL[R][\TQSMI LIVKMZ_W]TLKW]V\W‫\[ٺ‬MX[º[PM[Ia[¹ITMV\QVM¼[,Ia\PMZQLM[PIZQVOKWUXIVa=JMZPMTLIXZWUW\QWV".WZ =JMZ][MZ[ could have 12-character romantic messages sky_ZQ\\MVW^MZ4);IV,QMOW,ITTI[WZ6M_AWZS
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served—but with more cities on the list than there are skilled skywriters in the U.S., the results were about what you’d expect. Numerous “fails” were posted on social media, though Uber was happy with the publicity. Skywriters used to insist smoke oil was an exotic witch’s brew, but it is in fact sold by the barrel (about $900, or $16-plus a gallon) as Chevron/ Texaco Canopus 13, which used to be called Corvus oil. It is also used by the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds and by civilian airshow aerobats as well as radio-control modelers. Aviation applica\QWV[IZMIK\]ITTa_PI\LWK\WZ[_W]TLKITTIVW‫ٺ‬ label use, for Canopus 13 was originally intended to be a quenching oil for fresh-rolled steel and a T]JZQKIV\[a[\MUÆ][P It takes one to three gallons of smoke oil to skywrite a typical quarter-mile-high letter, depending on the size of the skywriting airplane’s engine, so messages are limited in length by oil tank size, usually running from 15 to 80 gallons. (One of a skywriter’s most embarrassing situations is to run out of oil before a message is complete.)

airplanes—often Stearmans—to work all over the U.S., Mexico and Central America. This continued until 1953, when TV advertising turned skywriting from the coolest form of advertising into a niche industry whose time had come and gone. No longer did the drone of a radial bring people racing to the nearest window, and Madison Avenue was learning the lessons of audiencedirected advertising: Don’t just throw an expensive cigarette ad out there for a hundred thousand people to see even though most of them don’t smoke, buy a time slot on a TV show watched by middleaged pack-a-day guys. In 1973, in what has been called “a burst of nostalgia,” PepsiCo decided to get back into the skywriting business, encouraged by one of its corporate pilots, “Smilin’” Jack Strayer. Strayer located Andy Stinis’ original Travel Air, and Pepsi bought it. In 1980, needing an assistant, Strayer advertised for a skywriting pilot and found none. *]\PMLQLÅVLIaMIZWTLKWUUMZKQITXQTW\IVL ÆQOP\QV[\Z]K\WZ;]bIVVM)[J]Za?Q\PQV_MMS[ he had her skywriting, and within a year, Asbury (today Asbury-Oliver) was Pepsi’s chief skywriting n 1931 the Pepsi-Cola Company set forth pilot, following Strayer’s death from pneumonia. to become the world’s foremost skywriting Before Strayer died, Pepsi combined the might user. At the time a distant contender in the of television with the nostalgic appeal of skywritcutthroat cola wars—a 1940 New Yorker car- ing to create a classic TV commercial. A scarfedtoon depicts an antiaircraft gun crew in Coca- IVLOWOOTML;\ZIaMZ\ISM[W‫ٺ‬NZWUINIZUÅMTLQV Cola shirts taking aim at a Pepsi skywriter—Pepsi the Travel Air, resplendent in its swoopy red-whitehired skywriter Andy Stinis and his classic 1929 and-blue Pepsi livery, and writes MARRY ME SUE Travel Air D4D biplane to spread its message, and far above the heads of a farmboy and his girlfriend. Stinis would limn DRINK PEPSI-COLA often eight It helped turn the Travel Air into a national icon, times a day over various cities. Pepsi eventually and today the airplane hangs in the National Air W_VMLWZKWV\ZIK\MLNWZIÆMM\WN [Sa_ZQ\QVO and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center.

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ABOVE: AP PHOTO; OPPOSITE TOP: SCIENCE MUSEUM, LONDON; OPPOSITE BOTTOM: DAVID L. MOORE, CALIFORNIA/ALAMY

OLYMPIC RINGS Skywriters perform during the opening ceremonies of the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, on October 10, 1964.

PepsiCo got out of the skywriting business for good in 2000. During the fat years, Suzanne and her husband, aerobat Steve Oliver, were on the road for nine months every year, skywriting for Pepsi several times a week. Today Suzanne estimates that their company, Olivers Flying Circus, [\QTTLWM[UM[[IOM[I\LQ‫ٺ‬MZMV\TWKI\QWV[ each year, “from marriage proposals to commerKQIT[\]‫ٺ‬º-IKPRWJXIa[NZWU \W  most of which is eaten up by travel and other exXMV[M[)[J]Za7TQ^MZÆQM[IPQOPTaUWLQÅML! de Havilland Super Chipmunk. Other than Asbury-Oliver, perhaps the most widely seen skywriter active today is 74-year-old Jerry Stevens, a retired corporate pilot who frequently traces religious messages over Orlando’s theme parks with an Ag-Cat logoed “Holy ;UWSMº)PMI^MVTa\M`\MZPMPI[JMMVSVW_V\W write not only the standard 2-;=;.7:/1>-;IVL /7,1;/:-)<but=/7,%". Today, most skywriting is done by a company KITTML;Sa\aXMZ[ÆaQVO/Z]UUIV))
SKYTYPING INVOLVES FIVE PLANES FLYING A PERFECT LINE-ABREAST FORMATION.

COMPUTERIZED SMOKE Skytypers write a message above the 2016 Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena, Calif.

SURVIVING SKYWRITER G-EBIB, sister ship to the first skywriting airplane, is preserved with its original equipment at London’s Science Museum.

for inventing the system, but it was actually QV^MV\MLJaUaNI\PMZ1_I\KPMLUaLIL_WZSWV \PI\[a[\MUNWZUIVaaMIZ[_PQTM1_I[OZW_QVO]X He told me Sid didn’t even know how to turn it WVº1V!)VLaOW\IXI\MV\NWZI^MZ[QWVWN\PM Skytyper technology controlled by punched tapes, IVLPM\WWSW^MZ\PMXMVVQM[WV\PMLWTTIZÆMM\ WN;62[IVL*<[\PI\;QL8QSMPILJW]OP\ QUUMLQI\MTaIN\MZ?WZTL?IZ11 /ZMO;\QVQ[NWZUML;Sa\aXMZ[1VKQV!! and today holds his late father’s patents as well I[PQ[WZQOQVITÆMM\WN 2*QZL[1V/ZMO¼[[WV Stephen and cousin Curtiss Stinis developed the present-day computerized, all-digital, wirelessnetwork skytyping system. The appeal of classic skywriting has always been the lazy, what-comes-next unpredictability of a barely visible airplane, its message slowly scrollQVONWZ\PNZWU_PI\[MMU[\WJM/WL¼[W_VNMT\\QX XMV-IKPTM\\MZ\ISM[I\TMI[\\_WUQV]\M[\WNWZU Skytypers, on the other hand, seem to move as fast I[I+66VM_[\QKSMZ¸IK\]ITTa\_W[MKWVL[XMZ TM\\MZ¸IVL\PMZM¼[TQ\\TMLIVOMZWN\PMÅZ[\TM\\MZ LQ[IXXMIZQVOJMNWZM\PMTI[\Q[\aXML1\¼[IVMUWtionless, paint-by-numbers approach to skywriting, but it’s perfect for our text-and-talk, face-in-aphone millennials audience. =VTQSMBMXXMTQV[IVLJQOÆaQVOJWI\[[Sa_ZQ\ing will be around forever, even if only on a rare, occasional, amateur level. The sky is a canvas so enormous that there will always be a painter-pilot or two waiting to challenge it. Contributing editor Stephan Wilkinson’s latest book, with Bruce McAllister, is 4QVLJMZOP")8PW\WOZIXPQK *QWOZIXPaWN\PM4WVM-IOTM. For more on Olivers Flying Circus, see skywriter.info; for more on Skytypers Inc., see skytypers.com. NOVEMBER 2017

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THE LAST FLIGHT OF HOBO 28 IN ONE OF AMERICA’S WORST “BROKEN ARROW” INCIDENTS, A B-52 CARRYING FOUR HYDROGEN BOMBS CRASHED ON THE ICE OFF GREENLAND BY TIMOTHY KARPIN & JAMES MARONCELLI

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COLD WARRIOR On January 21, 1968, the crew of a Boeing B-52G like this ejected over Greenland after a fire broke out in their bomber.

MAJOR ALFRED D’AMARIO THOUGHT THE WORST WAS OVER AFTER HIS VIOLENT EJECTION FROM THE DARK AND SMOKY COCKPIT OF HIS BOEING B-52G STRATOFORTRESS.

ARCTIC AIR BASE A B-52 delivers personnel to Thule Air Force Base on January 23 to participate in the “Broken Arrow” cleanup operation.

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WNN \W Ua ZQOP\ TMI^QVO UM _PI\ TWWSML TQSM \MV WZ NQN \MMVNMM\\W\PMTMN\WN\PMU
As the Cold War evolved, SAC developed technologies to detect and counter a Soviet surprise nuclear attack. When SAC LMXTWaML\PMÅZ[\QV\MZKWV\QVMV\ITJITTQ[\QKUQ[[QTM[QV!!Q\[ XZQUIZaLM\MK\QWVIVL[\ZQSMNWZKMKWV[Q[\MLWN \PM,MNMV[M-IZTa ?IZVQVOTQVMWNZILIZ[[M^MZIT*ITTQ[\QK5Q[[QTM-IZTa?IZVQVO ;a[\MU[*5-?;IVLLWbMV[WN*JWUJMZ[IZUML_Q\P \PMZUWV]KTMIZ_MIXWV[/MVMZIT
PREVIOUS SPREAD: ©BOEING; OPPOSITE: KEYSTONE ALAMY; ABOVE RIGHT: U.S. AIR FORCE

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IV]IZa_I[IJZQOP\IVLKTMIZ;]VLIaUWZVQVOQV VWZ\PMZV6M_AWZSI[IZMNZM[PMLKZM_WN\PM \PXZM XIZML\W\ISM\PMQZKZIN\ITWN\\W
A SUPERSONIC BLAST WAVE TORE OUTWARD IN ALL DIRECTIONS INTO THE SUBFREEZING ARCTIC AIR. XWQV\ML W]\ ¹)\ UI`QU]U endurance throttle settings, the heating and air condi \QWVQVO[a[\MUKIVVW\LMTQ^MZ enough heat to keep the cock XQ\_IZUº.TQOP\KZM_[PIL IUM\PWLNWZPIVLTQVO\PQ[ -IZTaWV\PMKWXQTW\IXXTQML \PM VWZUIT PMI\QVO IVL IQZ KWVLQ\QWVQVO[a[\MU)[\PM KWKSXQ\ JMKIUM KWTLMZ PM ZMIKPML LW_V \W I KWV\ZWT XIVMT ILRIKMV\ \W PQ[ ZQOP\ KITNIVLOZIL]ITTa\]ZVML\PM PMI\]X\WUI`QU]U?PMV \PQ[¹VWZUITº[a[\MUKW]TL VW\UIQV\IQV[]‫ٻ‬KQMV\KWKS

APOCALYPTIC PAYLOAD Crewmen load a “clip” of four B28 thermonuclear bombs aboard a B-52 prior to a Cold War mission.

XQ\PMI\\PMKWXQTW\UW^ML\W \PMKMV\MZKWV[WTM\W[_Q\KP WV\PMMVOQVMIQZJTMML[a[ \MU
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THE H-BOMBS ON BOARD HAD YIELDS OF UP TO 1.45 MEGATONS, ENOUGH TO OBLITERATE A CITY AND ITS SUBURBS. EXTENDED RANGE A B-52G refuels from a KC-135 tanker, allowing it to fly missions in excess of 24 hours. Above: The manual temperature control on a B-52 couldn’t compensate for arctic air.

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resting against a heating vent. Another account described the stink of burned dust in vent pipes after a bomber had sat idle in a maintenance depot. In other cases, superheated air released from damaged air bleed pipes had destroyed onboard equipUMV\IVLITUW[\KWWSMLW‫\ٺ‬PM_MIXWV[QV\PMJWUJJIa 8ZQWZ\W\ISMW‫ٺ‬0I]O¼[KZM_KPMKSML\PMKWVLQ\QWVWN\PMQZ XZQUIZaXIaTWILNW]Z* .1\PMZUWV]KTMIZ_MIXWV[\PMWVTa model that SAC bombers carried in 1968. The FI, or “Full .]bQVO1V\MZVITºUWLMTITTW_ML\PMZILIZVI^QOI\WZ\W[M\\PM _MIXWVNWZMQ\PMZIVIQZJ]Z[\ZM\IZLMLIQZJ]Z[\OZW]VLJ]Z[\ WZIXIZIKP]\MZM\IZLMLTIaLW_V
A

[0WJW [M\\TMLQV\WQ\[ÆQOP\XI\\MZV0I]OIVL ,¼)UIZQWZML]KML\PM\PZW\\TM[NWZUI`QU]UMVL]ZIVKMIVLTM^MTMLW‫ٺ‬I\IVIT\Q\]LMR][\IJW^M feet. The minus-55-degree outside air penetrated the \PQVTaQV[]TI\MLKZM_KIJQVKI][QVO\PMQV\MZQWZ\MUXMZI\]ZM \WLZWXXZMKQXQ\W][Ta.ZWU\PMTW_MZLMKS;^Q\MVSWZMY]M[\ML UWZMPMI\IVL,¼)UIZQWJMOIV\PMKIJQVPMI\QVOXZWKM[[ Y]QKSTa UI`QUQbQVO \PM VWZUIT PMI\QVO [a[\MU 0M \PMV brought in hot air from the air bleed manifolds. Several minutes QV\W\PI\KaKTM_MZMITT\PI\_I[VMKM[[IZa\WKZMI\M\PMÆQOP\¼[ subsequent emergency. The B-52 heating distribution system consisted of a series of XQXM[_Q\PZW]VLPWTM[X]VKPML\PZW]OP\PMUQVZMO]TIZQV\MZ^IT[7VMWN\PM[MXQXM[ZIVQV\WI^MV\JW`XW[Q\QWVMLLQZMK\Ta JMVMI\P\PMR]UX[MI\;]XMZPMI\MLIQZX][PML]X_IZLIOIQV[\ \PMNW]Z[\W_MLXWTa]ZM\PIVMK][PQWV[+WV[QLMZML¹[WTQLOI[WTQVMºJaÅZMUIZ[PIT[PMI\MLXWTa]ZM\PIVM_QTTÅZ[\JMOQV\W

smolder, generating charac\MZQ[\QK_PQ\M[UWSMIVL\W`QK combustible gases, before N]Z\PMZJZMISQVOLW_VIVL QOVQ\QVOI\[WUM_PMZMIJW^M 600 degrees. The pilots on the upper LMKSLQLV¼\]VLMZ[\IVL_Pa \PMa _MZM [_MT\MZQVO _PQTM \PMTW_MZLMKSZMUIQVMLKWTL )KKW]V\[ ^IZa WV _PW LQL _PI\ J]\ KTMIZTa ;^Q\MVSW _I[ WV JZMIS IVL I^IQTIJTM to respond to the emergency. Some report Criss as searching for and finding the fire, but this interpretation may be a result of his staying in his seat initially and updating the XQTW\^QIQV\MZKWU0WXSQV[ most likely stayed focused on the instruments monitoring \PMV]KTMIZ_MIXWV[ At 4:22 p.m. local time, 90 miles south of Thule AFB, 5IZ`[UMTTMLJ]ZVQVOZ]JJMZ IVL[WUMWN\PMKZM_JMOIV I[KZIUJTM\WÅVL\PM[W]ZKM Spotting smoke coming from ]VLMZ \PM R]UX [MI\ 5IZ` ÅZ[\M`XMVLML\PMTW_MZLMKS )ÅZMM`\QVO]Q[PMZIZW]VL \PM[MI\\WVWM‫ٺ‬MK\0M\PMV retrieved the second and last M`\QVO]Q[PMZ NZWU JM\_MMV the EWO and gunner positions on the upper deck, and emptied it onto the rear bulkhead. As the polyurethane smoldered, burned and disintegrated, pieces of it most TQSMTaNMTTLW_VQV\W\PM^MV\ JW`JMTW_\PMK][PQWV[UISQVOQ\QUXW[[QJTMNWZ\PMKZM_\W ZMIKP\PMÅZMQ\[MTN-^MV\PMV burning polyurethane is best M`\QVO]Q[PML_Q\P_I\MZKIZJWVLQW`QLMWZLZaXW_LMZML KPMUQKIT[VWVMWN_PQKP_MZM I^IQTIJTM\W\PMKZM_ As the smoke continued to pour, Svitenko pulled the UM\ITNWWLJW`I_IaNZWU\PM [MI\IVLÆIUM[MZ]X\MLNZWU \PM [\W_ML K][PQWV[ *W\P TM^MT[WN\PMKIJQV[WWVÅTTML _Q\PLMV[M_PQ\M[UWSM+ZQ[[ called into the pilot that they KW]TLV¼\KWV\ZWT\PMÅZMIVL \PM TW_MZ LMKS _I[ JMKWU-

TECH NOTES The fire started under the fold-away jump seat on the B-52’s lower deck, where Major D’Amario had stowed four polyurethane cushions. The crew then ejected in sequence (1-3), after which Captain Svitenko bailed out (4).

HOBO 28 EJECTION SEQUENCE PILOT: CAPTAIN JOHN HAUG COPILOT: MAJOR ALFRED D’AMARIO

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2 ELECTRONIC WEAPONS OFFICER: CAPTAIN RICHARD MARX AERIAL GUNNER: STAFF SGT. CALVIN WALDREP SNAPP

RADARNAVIGATOR/ BOMBARDIER: MAJOR FRANK HOPKINS NAVIGATOR: CAPTAIN CURTIS R. CRISS

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1 EJECTION SEAT EGRESS

OPPOSITE BOTTOM: ©BOEING; OPPOSITE TOP AND RIGHT PHOTOS: COURTESY OF TIMOTHY KARPIN; ILLUSTRATION BY STEVE KARP

MANUAL BAILOUT

QVOMVO]TNML?Q\PÅZM\MUXMZI\]ZM[XZWJIJTaM`KMMLQVO LMOZMM[+ZQ[[UILMITI[\LM[XMZI\MN]\QTMI\\MUX\\W[UW\PMZ \PMÅZM_Q\PIÆQOP\JIO5IZ`KTQUJML\W\PM]XXMZLMKSIVL WXMVML\PM[M`\IV\XWZ\WV\PMKMQTQVOLQZMK\TaIJW^M\PMTILLMZ \WKTMIZ\PMKWKSXQ\WN[UWSM 0I]O WZLMZML M^MZaWVM WV W`aOMV \]ZVML \PM JWUJMZ VWZ\P_IZL\W_IZL
COPILOT: CAPTAIN LEONARD SVITENKO

Superheated engine air flowing through a perforated pipe in the vent box under the jump seat—intended to help warm the crew cabin—caused the cushions to smolder and ignite.

U]KP\QUMI[XW[[QJTMJMNWZM \PMa TMN\ \PM XTIVM QV \PMQZ ?MJMZ[MI\[ 5IV]ITTa JIQTQVO W]\ WN  I*Q[KWV[QLMZML]V[INM IJW^MUXP;^Q\MVSWPIL \WMVL]ZMÆIUM[IVL[UWSM \WR]UX\PZW]OP\PMPI\KP 0MLQLVW\[]Z^Q^M)\[WUM XWQV\ L]ZQVO PQ[ M`Q\ QV\W \PM[TQX[\ZMIUPM[\Z]KSPQ[ PMILWV\PMPI\KPMLOMWZ\PM MTMK\ZWVQK KW]V\MZUMI[]ZM[ IV\MVVI[ WV \PM JW\\WU WN  \PMN][MTIOM?PMV\PMZM[K]M \MIU[NW]VLPQUNIZVWZ\PWN  \PMIQZJI[MXIZ\WN\PMVaTWV WN PQ[ ]VWXMVML XIZIKP]\M XIKS_I[UMT\MLIVLN][ML
UMT\MLXIZ\[WNPQ[JWW\[WTM[ 5W[\IKKW]V\[ZMXWZ\PM_I[ VW\KWV[KQW][L]ZQVO\PMNITT 6W WVM M[KIXML QVR]Za *M\_MMV\PMJWUJMZ¼[[XMML I\MRMK\QWVIVL\PMQZQUXIK\[ WV\W\PMQKMUW[\WN\PMKZM_ []NNMZML K]\[ JZ]Q[M[ IVL [\ZIQVMLTQOIUMV\[IVL\MVLWV[ 0WXSQV[¼ QUUMLQI\M QVR]ZQM[_MZM\PM_WZ[\_Q\P NZIK\]ZM[\WPQ[TMN\IZUIVL [PW]TLMZ ,IVQ[P IVL )QZ .WZKM XMZ[WVVMT ZM\ZQM^ML \PMKZM_NZWU\PM[W]\P[QLM WN
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DANGER ZONE The U.S. Air Force wasted little time in setting up Camp Hunziker (top) to clean up the crash debris and radioactive bomb components. The burning bomber left a half-mile-long black scar on the sea ice (above). Hobo 28’s pilot Captain John Haug meets with the press (top right).

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JI[M?Q\PVWQLMV\QÅIJTMM`Q\ZW]\MQV\PMXQ\KPLIZSPMZWTTML ]XQVPQ[XIZIKP]\MQV[QLMPQ[QVÆI\IJTMZIN\IVL_IQ\MLQV\PM []JNZMMbQVOIZK\QKKWTL:M[K]M\MIU[NW]VLPQUPW]Z[TI\MZ [M^MZMTaNZW[\JQ\\MVJ]\ITQ^M\W\PM]\\MZLQ[JMTQMNWN\PMTWKIT 1V]Q\[_PWI[[]UMLPMU][\PI^M[]KK]UJML\W\PMKWTL+ZQ[[ TI\MZTW[\JW\PNMM\\WNZW[\JQ\M ,]ZQVOQ\[ÅVIT\_W]VXQTW\MLUQV]\M[0WJW ÆM_IVW\PMZ  \WUQTM[
\WITUW[\IPITNUQTMIVL\PM [UWSMKWT]UVM`\MVLML\PW] [IVL[WNNMM\PQOPMZ5]KPWN  \PMIQZKZIN\LMJZQ[[IVSQV\PM NWW\LMMX _I\MZ JMNWZM \PM[PI\\MZMLJTWKS[WN QKMI\ \PMXWQV\WN QUXIK\ZMNZWbM
OPPOSITE: (TOP LEFT & BOTTOM) U.S. AIR FORCE, (TOP RIGHT) KEYSTONE/ALAMY; RIGHT: (TOP) GETTY IMAGES, (BOTTOM) U.S. AIR FORCE

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AC immediately activated the Broken Arrow Control Group, and assigned Major General Richard O. Hunziker to Project Crested Ice. Construction of “Camp Hunziker” on the ice began the next day. To prevent breaking through the ice, cleanup crews dispersed their temporary buildings, storage piles and heavy earthmovers. Stormy weather on the 24th and 28th blew plutonium and uranium dust at least four miles northwest to Saunders Island. Within days, the Air Force, Atomic Energy Commission and two national laboratories were assisting with the crash site cleanup. On any given day, between storms, from one to three dozen U.S. personnel and up to a dozen Inuits worked on the ice, while another 25 to 250 personnel at the base transported, moni\WZMLQLMV\QÅMLIVLKWV\IQVMZQbMLXTIVMXIZ\[IVLKWV\IUQnated snow and ice. Project Crested Ice ultimately drew in about 565 Americans and 85 Danish citizens, who searched some 30 square miles of sea ice for debris and radioactivity. By April 10, Danish and Air Force crews had completed the cleanup operations on the sea ice. Afterward, Thule AFB personnel spread “carbonized sand” over 6.2 acres of slightly contaminated sea ice to accelerate springtime melting and to bind the remaining fuel and radionuclides so they would sink rather than wash onto the beach. Denmark required the U.S. government to remove all of the radioactive debris and contaminated snow and ice from Greenland. Thule AFB ultimately amassed an incredible colTMK\QWVWN_I[\MQVKT]LQVOOITTWV\IVS[ÅTTML_Q\P cleanup debris and contaminated snow and ice. Alongside were 14 large “engine containers,” 192 drums of aircraft debris and   OITTWV\IVS[ÅTTML_Q\PKWV\IUQVI\MLTQY]QL
TO THIS DAY DEEP IN BYLOT SOUND, FRAGMENTS OF HYDROGEN BOMBS REMAIN BURIED IN THE SOFT SEDIMENT. sion, though presumably with no extra seat cushions. Boeing provided alerts to crews to warn of the high heat from the air bleed system. The national laboratories also began to design nuclear weapons with insensitive high explosives to prevent reoccurrence of this

CLEANUP Top: Inuit dogsled teams transported personnel to the crash site (top left in the distance). Above: A crane removes contaminated ice.

kind of catastrophe. To this day deep in Bylot Sound, clas[QÅMLIVLUW[\Ta]VZMKWOVQbable fragments of hydrogen bombs remain buried in the soft sediment. Timothy Karpin and James Maroncelli are the authors of The Traveler’s Guide to Nuclear Weapons: A Journey Through America’s Cold ?IZ*I\\TMÅMTL[, available at atomictraveler.com. Further reading: Hangar Flying, by Alfred J. D’Amario; and Thule: Nuclear Weapon Accident Near Thule Greenland, by John Taschner and James Oskins.

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THE REMARKABLE MRS. MARKHAM LITTLE-REMEMBERED TODAY, THE ADVENTUROUS KENYA BUSH PILOT OUTDID HER CONTEMPORARY AMELIA EARHART BY FLYING THE ATLANTIC SOLO THE HARD WAY BY DEREK O’CONNOR

PRELUDE TO CELEBRITY Beryl Markham poses at RAF Abington with the Percival Vega Gull in which she would cross the Atlantic from east to west on September 4-5, 1936.

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THE SMALL SINGLE-ENGINE MONOPLANE EMERGED FROM THE ATLANTIC SKY AND, NEARLY OUT OF FUEL, FLEW LOW OVER THE INHOSPITABLE, BOULDER-STREWN NOVA SCOTIAN LANDSCAPE.

BATTERED BUT SAFE In spite of a gashed forehead, Markham (above) is elated to have made it to Nova Scotia, where her Vega Gull nosed over in a peat bog (below).

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Desperately seeking a place to land and weary after more than 21 hours at the controls, the pilot set the monoplane down on what appeared to be a solid surface. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a soggy peat bog. Seconds later, the plane nosed W^MZ\PMXQTW\[]‫ٺ‬MZQVOIOI[P\WPMZNWZMPMIL -`\ZIK\QVOPMZ[MTN _Q\PLQ‫ٻ‬K]T\aNZWU\PMKWKSpit, the tall blonde aviator promptly found herself up to her shins in glutinous mud. No matter. She was safe, if desperately short of sleep and ravenous after eating only a packet of chicken sand_QKPM[L]ZQVO\PMMV\QZMÆQOP\1\_I[;MX\MUJMZ !IVL[PMPILR][\JMKWUM\PMÅZ[\_WUIV \WÆa\PM)\TIV\QK[WTW\PMPIZL_Ia¸NZWUMI[\\W west, against the prevailing winds. She was also the ÅZ[\XMZ[WV\WÆaLQZMK\TaIKZW[[\PM)\TIV\QKNZWU England. Her name was Beryl Markham and, as a bush pilot from Kenya, she was well outside her equatorial comfort zone. Born Beryl Clutterbuck on October 26, 1902, QV\PM-VOTQ[P^QTTIOMWN )[P_MTT[PMPILUW^ML _Q\PPMZNIUQTa\WKWTWVQIT*ZQ\Q[P-I[\)NZQKI

(Kenya from 1920) at the age of 4. Unlike her mother who, disliking the isolation, soon headed back to England, young Beryl thrived amid the hardships and challenges of settler life. Often left to her own devices while her ex-soldier father developed their farm and horse-racing stable, she NWZUMLNZQMVL[PQX[_Q\P\PM)NZQKIVNIZU_WZSers’ children, learning to speak their tribal lanO]IOM[IVLJMKWUQVOÆ]MV\QV;_IPQTQ*IZMNWW\ and clutching a spear, she joined hunting parties as they scoured the bush for game. The fearless and strongly independent youngster even opted to sleep in her own mud hut. Like the father she hero-worshipped, she was an accomplished rider IVLQVPMZTI\M\MMV[JMKIUM3MVaI¼[ÅZ[\NMUITM licensed racehorse trainer. Three times married and divorced, in later life she used the surname of her second husband, 5IV[ÅMTL5IZSPIU_Q\P_PWU[PMPILPMZWVTa KPQTLI[WV/MZ^I[M)[[WUMWVM_Q\PILMKQLedly relaxed attitude toward her wedding vows, \PM_PQ‫ٺ‬WN[KIVLIT[MMUML\WNWTTW_\PM^Q^IKQW][ 5Z[5IZSPIUIZW]VLTQSMIKWUM\¼[\IQT)VI_ML 3MVaIVKWV\MUXWZIZaLM[KZQJMLPMZI[¹)UIOVQÅKMV\KZMI\]ZM^MZaNMTQVM1\_I[TQSM_I\KPQVOI golden lioness when she walked across the room.” But it was not until 1931, after making several flights with the renowned professional hunter Denys Finch Hatton, that Markham caught the ÆaQVOJ]O;PMI[SML.QVKP0I\\WV\W\MIKPPMZ \WÆaJ]\I[IZMTI\Q^MVW^QKMPQU[MTNPM[MV[QJTa declined. Markham then turned to another friend, the debonair Captain Tom Campbell Black, a :WaIT6I^IT)QZ;MZ^QKM:6);IVL:WaIT)QZ .WZKM:).^M\MZIV\PMV_WZSQVOI[\PMUIVIOing director and chief pilot of the Nairobi-based ?QT[WV)QZ_Ia[=VLMZPQ[XIQV[\ISQVOQV[\Z]K\QWV in a de Havilland DH.60 Gipsy Moth biplane, she soon began to show a precocious natural ability QV\PMIQZ;WKTW[MLQL\PMÆaQVOJWVLJM\_MMV Markham and Campbell Black become that she would always regard him as her mentor and guide in all aviation matters. They even talked of emuTI\QVO*ZQ\Q[PZMKWZL[M\\MZ[)Ua2WPV[WVIVL2QU 5WTTQ[WVI[I_Ia\WNIUMIVLNWZ\]VM)T\PW]OP still married, Markham soon became involved in a TWVO\MZUI‫ٺ‬IQZ_Q\P+IUXJMTT*TIKS
PREVIOUS SPREAD & OPPOSITE PHOTOS: BETTMANN/GETTY IMAGES; TOP RIGHT: KEYSTONE; BOTTOM RIGHT: HISTORYNET ARCHIVE

PREFLIGHT Christened The Messenger, the Vega Gull is rolled out for a test flight. Below: Markham during her East Africa bush pilot days.

an Avro Avian IV two-seater biplane, soon to be repainted in her blue-and-silver horse-racing colors. In April and May 1932, with only 127 hours QVPMZTWOJWWS[PMÆM_\PM\QVaIQZXTIVM miles by stages, with several forced landings, via the Sudan and Egypt across the Mediterranean IVL-]ZWXM\W-VOTIVL5WV\P[TI\MZ[PMÆM_ back to Kenya, completing an astonishing feat of airmanship and navigation for someone so relatively inexperienced. As a token life-preserver while crossing the Mediterranean, she wore an QVÆI\MLQVVMZ\]JM  Markham obtained her commercial license in September 1933 with just under a thousand hours in her logbook. Her early commercial work included taking joyriding tourists in the Avian along the Mombasa coastline. She delivered mail and supplies to the goldmines of Kakamega in western Kenya, often using tiny airstrips hacked from the featureless bush by the miners themselves. 5IZSPIUIT[WÆM_QVLWK\WZ[IVLUMLQKIT[]Xplies to isolated farms and bush outposts. Although it was a hazardous way of earning a living, she thrived on the daily challenges. By late 1933 she had started to work as an aerial big-game spotter for hunting safaris, a technique pioneered by Finch Hatton and Campbell Black, but taken to new levels of precision by Markham.
“IT WAS LIKE WATCHING A GOLDEN LIONESS WHEN SHE WALKED ACROSS THE ROOM.”

directional instructions, dropped to the hunters in leather message bags, were meticulous in the extreme, detailing the animal and herd size, the density of the surrounding bush, the distance away from the hunting party and a precise compass bearing to follow. More often than not, she worked for safaris led by her professional hunter friend, the Swedish Baron Bror von Blixen-Finecke, former husband of Karen Blixen, author of the classic Out of Africa. Markham herself was never interested in big-game trophy hunting, preferring to photograph the animals. When the safari season ended, Markham used her Avian as an aerial taxi for upcountry residents. Later, to increase her operating capacity, she acquired a three-seater DH.85 Leopard Moth high-wing cabin monoplane.

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n October 1934, Markham received news that Campbell Black and Charles Scott had won the prestigious Mildenhall-to-Melbourne 5IK:WJMZ\[WV)QZ:IKMÆaQVO\PM,0  Comet Grosvenor House. This was one of the contests that she had hoped to enter with Campbell Black. Not long after she learned that he had married actress Florence Desmond. Deeply upset, Markham determined to demonstrate that her piloting skills were the equal of Campbell Black’s and his record-setting contemporaries. She wanted to set a record that would resonate around the world, conceivably the London–Cape Town–London route, or some form of transatlantic record. These ambitions began to crystallize in February !_PMV5IZSPIU[WTLPMZ)^QIV\WÅVIVKM another trip to England. Once there she hoped to NOVEMBER 2017

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PASSIONATE RIVALS Tom Campbell Black stands beside his wife, actress Florence Desmond, prior to his record-breaking flight to Cape Town, South Africa, in 1935. Campbell Black and Markham carried on a long-term affair. Opposite: Reporters swarm Markham as she arrives at Floyd Bennett Field in a Beech Staggerwing.

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persuade Campbell Black to join her in a record attempt on the Cape Town route or, failing that, \WOWQ\ITWVMJaÅVLQVOIZQKPJIKSMZ\WÅVIVKMI solo record attempt. But it was not until March 1936 that, accompanied by Bror Blixen, Markham left Kenya in PMZ4MWXIZL5W\P\WZMXZQ[MPMZ!ÆQOP\\W -VOTIVL)T\PW]OP+IUXJMTT*TIKSPILW‫ٺ‬MZML to arrange interviews for several flying jobs in Britain, she sought something more than that: an objective that would make the headlines of the world’s newspapers. Ironically, when eventually she found a wealthy patron, it turned out to be an old Kenya settler friend, John C. Carberry, who had been a member of Britain’s 1914 Schneider Trophy team and later served in the RNAS. Carberry was in England at that time, awaiting the completion of a Percival Vega Gull he was having built to compete in the Schlesinger African Air Race between Portsmouth and Johannesburg, scheduled for late ;MX\MUJMZ!1UX]T[Q^MTaPMW‫ٺ‬MZML\PM>MOI Gull to Markham for an east-west solo transatlantic attempt, conditional on her getting it back to England in time for him to compete in the Schlesinger. She readily agreed. 2QU5WTTQ[WVPILUILM\PMÅZ[\_M[\_IZL[WTW crossing of the North Atlantic, on August 18-19, !ÆaQVOJM\_MMV1ZMTIVLIVL+IVILIQVI DH.80A Puss Moth. Mollison had been aiming for 6M_AWZSIVL[WR]LOML\PMÆQOP\IXIZ\QITNIQT]ZM Markham also decided to head for New York but, on Carberry’s advice, chose to start from England. The Vega Gull, dubbed The Messenger, was an elegant low-wing, fabric-covered, four-seater monoplane, powered by a 200-hp de Havilland Gipsy Six II engine driving a Ratier variable-pitch XZWXMTTMZ1V[\IVLIZLKWVÅO]ZI\QWVQ\PILI mph maximum speed, 150-mph cruising speed and a range of about 660 miles. For Markham’s \ZIV[I\TIV\QKÆQOP\[M^MZITM`\ZIN]MT\IVS[_MZMÅ\ted, including two in the cabin, to take on the 255 gallons of gasoline needed to reach New York, giving a theoretical range of about 3,800 miles. The Å`ML]VLMZKIZZQIOM_I[[XMKQITTa[\ZMVO\PMVML\W

carry the extra load. All the supplementary tanks were controlled by hand-operated petcocks. The cabin tanks had no gauges, but each contained enough fuel for about four hours. Markham was cautioned that proper use of the petcocks to con\ZWT\PMÆW_WN N]MT_I[^Q\IT?MZM[PM\WWXMVWVM _Q\PW]\ÅZ[\[P]\\QVO\PMW\PMZIVIQZTWKSUQOP\ ZM[]T\JTWKSQVO\PMN]MTÆW_
OPPOSITE: AP PHOTO; TOP RIGHT: NY DAILY NEWS ARCHIVE VIA GETTY IMAGES; BOTTOM RIGHT: EVERETT COLLECTION/ALAMY

Soon after the Gull was spotted circling the Cape Race lighthouse on the southeastern tip of Newfoundland’s Avalon peninsula before heading for the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. “After a while there would be New Brunswick, Maine and then New York,” Markham wrote. “…Four hundred miles of water, but then again land at Cape Breton. I would stop at Sydney to refuel and go on....New York was my goal.” Fate, meanwhile, had another card to play. “My engine began to shudder before I saw the land. It died. It spluttered, it started again and limped along. Airlock, I thought.” Hoping she might clear \PMIQZTWKSJa\]ZVQVO\PMMUX\a\IVS[WVIVLW‫ٺ‬ she cut her hands on the sharp metal petcocks, blood dripping onto her maps and clothes, to no avail. The engine ran on intermittently until at last, over Nova Scotia’s Cape Breton, an estiUI\MLUQV]\M[NZWU;aLVMaIQZÅMTLQ\K]\W]\ completely, leading to that tail-up landing in the Baleine Cove peat bog. (The “airlock” was later attributed to ice lodged in the air intake of the last XM\ZWT\IVSXIZ\QITTaKPWSQVO\PMN]MTÆW_\W\PM carburetor.) Since departing England, Markham had covered an extraordinary 2,612 miles in 21 hours and 35 minutes. :M[K]MLJaTWKITÅ[PMZUMV[PM_I[\ISMV\W a telephone, from which she reported to Sydney IQZÅMTL6M`\LIaPMZNWZMPMILJIVLIOML[PM_I[ ÆW_V\W0ITQNI`IVLIKQ^QKZMKMX\QWV?IQ\QVOI\ \PMIQZÅMTL_I[I=;+WI[\/]IZL*MMKPKZIN\ _PQKPÆM_PMZ\W.TWaL*MVVM\\.QMTL_PMZM a rapturous crowd welcomed her. Over the following packed days, the glamorous, party-loving Markham delighted in New York’s generous hospitality and tickertape welcome. But then came

THE GLAMOROUS MARKHAM DELIGHTED IN NEW YORK’S GENEROUS HOSPITALITY.

the shattering news that Tom Campbell Black was dead, killed on September 19 at Liverpool Airport in a ground collision between the Percival Mew Gull he was intending to pilot in the Schlesinger Race and an RAF Hawker Hart light bomber. The trusting John Carberry, of course, never did OM\\WÆaPQ[>MOI/]TTQV\PM;KPTM[QVOMZ)N\MZQ\ was extracted from the Nova Scotian mud, it was shipped back to England and then East Africa, where it was sold to Dar-es-Salaam Airways. Markham returned to England where, over the ensuing years, she was frequently reported as entering races or seeking sponsorship for record attempts. But nothing ever came of it. Nor did she [PW_IVaQV\MZM[\QVZM\]ZVQVO\WJ][PÆaQVO1\_I[ as if Campbell Black’s tragic death had deprived her of a vital motivational spark—as if she no longer had anything to prove. ;PM_MV\JIKS\W\PM=VQ\ML;\I\M[QV!!TQ^ing there until 1950, when the siren call of Africa drew her back to Kenya and, eventually, to another period as one of the country’s most successful racehorse trainers. She died in Nairobi on August 3, 1986, aged 83. Today, Beryl Markham and her epic transatTIV\QKÆQOP\IZMITTJ]\NWZOW\\MV.M_KIVLW]J\ however, that had this extraordinary woman so KPW[MV_Q\PPMZKW]ZIOMOZQ\\a[MTNKWVÅLMVKM and flying skills, she could have ranked alongside such aviation greats as Amelia Earhart, Amy Johnson and Jean Batten. RAF veteran Derek O’Connor writes from Britain. For further reading, he recommends: ?M[\?Q\P\PM6QOP\, by Beryl Markham; and Straight on Till Morning: The Life of Beryl Markham, by Mary S. Lovell. NOVEMBER 2017

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GASBAG DOWN The small coastal transport APc-94 takes part in the recovery of U.S. Navy blimp K-14 off Mount Desert Island, Maine, on July 3, 1944.

CONTROVERSIAL CRASH OF K-14 WAS THE LOSS OF A PATROL BLIMP OFF MAINE IN 1944 THE RESULT OF PILOT ERROR, AS THE U.S. NAVY MAINTAINS TO THIS DAY, OR WAS IT DUE TO A BATTLE WITH A GERMAN U-BOAT? BY CHUCK LYONS

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WHEN THE U.S. NAVY BLIMP K-14 WENT DOWN IN THE GULF OF MAINE IN JULY 1944, IT LEFT BEHIND A SERIES OF UNANSWERED QUESTIONS. The most controversial of these was whether K-14 had accidentally crashed, as a Navy inquiry concluded, or had been shot down by a German submarine. That question has never been []‫ٻ‬KQMV\TaZM[WT^ML The blimp was conducting an anti-submarine patrol on July 2 when it radioed a routine check-in call around 9:20 p.m. K-14 was not heard from again, and is believed to have crashed into the ocean at about 10 p.m. Six of its 10 crewmen perished in the KZI[PIVL\PM[]Z^Q^WZ[KT]VO\W\PM\IQTÅV[WN\PM_ZMKSNWZ more than six hours before being located and rescued. Evidence found on K-14’s salvaged gas envelope and in its gondola indiKI\ML\PI\[PW\[PILJMMVÅZMLJW\PNZWUIVLTQSMTaI\\PMIQZship. Meanwhile military and civilian witnesses reported hearing O]VÅZMIVLM`XTW[QWV[IZW]VL\PMM[\QUI\ML\QUMWN\PMKZI[P Following the incident, the surviving crew members were ordered not to talk about it, orders the Navy has never rescinded.
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lighter-than-air craft to patrol \PMQUUMLQI\MW‫[ٺ‬PWZM_I\MZ[
ALL PHOTOS: NATIONAL ARCHIVES

WARSHIPS OF THE AIR Goodyear’s K-type blimps (left) were armed with depth charges (below) and pressed into service early in the war.

at about 10:45 some 13 miles southeast of nearby Baker Island. They said they had spied a periscope sticking out of the water several hundred yards away, moving south. The weather at the time was clear and the seas calm with little or no wind. When \PMUMVZM\]ZVML\WXWZ\\PI\IN\MZVWWV\PMaVW\QÅML\PM+WI[\ Guard station in Southwest Harbor of the sighting. To search for the sub, the Navy sent surface vessels and launched K-14 at 5 p.m. from the naval air station in South Weymouth, Mass. The blimp arrived in the search area around 9 p.m. and dropped to an altitude of between 100 and 200 feet, where it deployed a magnetic anomaly detector that it pulled through the water to sense any large mass of steel such as a submarine. After its check-in call around 9:20, all attempts to contact K-14 failed, and at 4 a.m. surface vessels and aircraft in the area were alerted to keep an eye out for the missing blimp.
AS WATER POURED INTO K-14’S GONDOLA, THE TRAPPED CREW STRUGGLED TO FIND AN EXIT.

SEARCHING FOR CLUES Seamen detach K-14’s gas envelope from its gondola during salvage operations. Below: The German sub U-233 was sunk nearby three days after K-14 went down.

ened, a naval reserve lieutenant who had been on patrol at the time of crash reported \PI\¹PMIVLITTPIVL[WVPQ[ ship heard the explosion of two depth charges to seaward” about 40 minutes before the estimated time of the blimp the blimp’s gondola was found crash. Warrant Officer W. to be 95 percent wrecked, Meytrott was aboard a ship with the bodies of two dead [\I\QWVMLW‫;ٺ‬KPWWLQK8WQV\ crewmen still aboard. (The when he and three other bodies of the two other crew- UMV ¹LQ[\QVK\Ta PMIZL _PI\ men were never found.) Pre- sounded like six pom-pom liminary examination of the shots, possibly from a 20mm wreckage also revealed two gun” at about 9:52 p.m. He depth charges missing and 15 recalled seeing the blimp a to 20 .50-caliber shell casings half-hour earlier, heading in the gondola. There were from Schoodic Point toward also what appeared to be bul- the area where it crashed. He let holes in the underside of estimated K-14 would have the K-14 gas bag near the gon- been in the area from which dola, which were consistent PMPILPMIZL\PMO]VÅZM with the caliber of anti-airLocal fishermen reported KZIN\IUU]VQ\QWVÅZMLNZWU they had seen flashes in the German submarines. It was distance and heard two also discovered during the sal- explosions, while three men vage operation that the entire stationed on another nearby rear portion of the blimp’s gas island also reported hearing bag was missing, something gunfire and an explosion, not known to have happened as did some area residents. before to a K-type blimp. Arlene Spurling, who had As the investigation wid- grown up in Southwest Har-

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RECOVERY K-14’s gondola is hoisted aboard a salvage vessel (left), and sailors help one of the surviving crewmen onto a motor launch (below).

bor and was a teenager at the time, told the Mount Desert Islander newspaper, which in 2012 ran a series of articles on the K-14 incident, that she was sitting on the front porch of her home _PMV\PMZM_MZMÆI[PM[\W\PMMI[\IVL¹_MPMIZL[PW\[IVL\PM thuds of large explosions.” 1VITTI[MKZM\6I^aWXMZI\QWVITQV\MTTQOMVKMZMXWZ\ÅTMLWV 2]TaTQ[\MLMQOP\_Q\VM[[M[_PWZMXWZ\MLO]VÅZMIVLM`XTW[QWV[ around the time of the crash, and concluded the loss of K-14 ¹KW]TLPI^MJMMVI[IZM[]T\WN MVMUaIK\QWVº The Mount Desert Islander also reported in its 2012 series that unbeknown to the four K-14 survivors, a stenographer had been hidden in proximity to the room where they were receiving medical aid to record anything they said among themselves—an ]V][]IT[MK]ZQ\aUMI[]ZM¹6WZMKWZLWN\PW[MKWV^MZ[I\QWV[PI[ M^MZ[]ZNIKMLº\PMVM_[XIXMZVW\ML¹IT\PW]OP\PM*IZ0IZJWZ base’s commander at the time said in his memoir that ‘nothing’ LQ‫ٺ‬MZMLNZWU\PMW‫ٻ‬KQIT\ZIV[KZQX\º
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into the accident. Researchers have also pointed to a menu NZWU\PMW‫ٻ‬KMZ[¼KT]JI\\PM *IZ0IZJWZVI^ITJI[M\PI\ was taken by one of K-14’s surviving crewmen as a souvenir. 7VMWN \PMZM[K]MXMZ[WVVMT signed the menu with the nota\QWV¹?Q[PQVOaW]\PMJM[\WN everything although you’re the only one that surprised a *W[KP[]JºIVQVLQKI\QWV\PI\ the Navy blamed pilot error, both the K-14 crew and its none of K-14’s survivors was rescuers knew the blimp had ever court-martialed or disci- been attacked and shot down. plined for the alleged error. It The shell casings in the is generally accepted that the gondola, the missing depth incident was swept under the charges and the damaged rug to prevent panic among gas envelope, plus at least the public and to maintain the eight eyewitness reports and morale of blimp crews. an unverified claim by one That explanation made of the surviving crew memsense in 1944, but it’s now 73 bers make a strong case that years later. K-14 was attacked that July Fred Morin of Plymouth, night and brought down by a Mass., who has been research- German submarine. So why, ing the K-14 incident for more more than seven decades than a decade, is among the later, Morin and other invesinvestigators who insist that tigators ask, is the Navy still the available evidence clearly clinging to an explanation shows the blimp was shot that—almost from the time down. Morin has interviewed Q\_I[ÅZ[\UILM¸PILUWZM survivors of the crash, and holes than were found in the claims that copilot Carl Levine K-14 gas bag? admitted to him that K-14 ¹C
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REvIEWS

NORTH AMERICAN X-15 by Peter E. Davies, Osprey Publishing, 2017, $20. DANGEROUS BUSINESS Major Michael J. Adams was killed in this X-15, the third one built, in November 1967.

Purely experimental aircraft tend to stand out for one trait or another, but the North American X-15 might justly be called unique, both for its built-for-speed appearance and for its long service record. On November 6, 1961—only 14 years after Chuck Yeager exceeded the speed of [W]VLQVI*MTT@;¸*WJ?PQ\MÆM_IV@ XI[\5IKPUXP1V[]J[MY]MV\ÆQOP\[ @[_W]TLM`KMML5IKP\PZMMUWZM\QUM[ and Mach 5 no less than 108 times. > &;XMMLPW_M^MZ_I[ only one of the X-15’s achievements in a series of ÆQOP\[\WM`XTWZMIVLKW]V\MZ the extreme heat, pressure and numerous other factors involved in achieving spaceÆQOP\7V2]VM! L]ZQVOIÆQOP\\WUMI[]ZM\PM IQZXTIVM¼[[\IJQTQ\a_Q\P\PM 66

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ventral stabilizer removed, I[_MTTI[\PMMIZ\P¼[JIKSground ultraviolet radiation and the infrared signature of the liquid-oxygen-andammonia-fueled rocket motors, Major Bob Rushforth ZMIKPML NMM\¸I threshold of space that required the ballistic control

system to maintain control of \PM@IVLY]ITQNaQVO him as an astronaut. In the third of Osprey’s X Planes series, Peter E. Davies, XMZMVVQIT_ZQ\MZWV\PMRM\ IOM¼[ÅZ[\NM_LMKILM[[]U[ up the development of this ZMUIZSIJTMZWKSM\XW_MZML IQZKZIN\KWUXIZM[Q\_Q\PQ\[

KWUXM\Q\WZ[IVLNWTTW_[Q\[ ZM[MIZKPÆQOP\[¸[WUMWN  _PQKPQV^WT^MLKTW[MKITT[ J]\WVTaWVMWN_PQKPMVLML in fatal tragedy. At ultraPQOPIT\Q\]LM\PM@_I[ literally a hot plane, and it took hot pilots such as Scott +ZW[[ÅMTLIVL2WM?ITSMZ\W handle it. The data and techVWTWOaQ\aQMTLML_W]TLPMTX another of those test pilots, Neil Armstrong, to reach the moon. All that summarized history adds up, the author convincingly concludes, to make the X-15 the most successful X-plane of them all. Jon Guttman

ON WAVE AND WING

The 100-Year Quest to Perfect the Aircraft Carrier by Barrett Tillman, Regnery History, 2017, $29.99. Noted naval aviation historian Barrett Tillman soars to new heights with his QV[QOP\N]TKPZWVQKTMWN\PMÅZ[\KMV\]Za of aircraft carriers, making the case that air power delivered from the sea has changed the nature of warfare. In emotive prose the book covers all the great carriers, from USS Langley through Nimitz_Q\PIUMV\QWVWN\PMZMKMV\Ta commissioned Gerald R. Ford. And like a Dauntless in a powered dive, the draUI\QKVIZZI\Q^MVM^MZ[TIKS[W‫ٺ‬ The genius of this book is that the historical material comes IKZW[[QVIVQUI\ML[\aTMI[QN\PMI]\PWZ_I[QVIPIVOIZI\ the Pensacola naval air station free-streaming his vast storePW][MWNQVNWZUI\QWVJMNWZMIZIX\I]LQMVKM0Q[MVKaKTWXMLQK SVW_TMLOMIVL[\WZa\MTTQVO[SQTT[MVIJTMPQU\WZMTI\MQVIVMI[QTaIKKM[[QJTMNI[PQWV\PMKWUXTM`Q\QM[WNUIRWZKIZZQMZJI\\TM[ []KPI[5QL_IaQV2]VM!)[\]\MKPIX\MZ[]J[MK\QWV[[MZ^M ]XSMaNIK\[QVKT]LQVO\PMKWV\ZQJ]\QWV[WNW]\[\IVLQVOXMZ[WVITQ\QM[TQSM:WaIT6I^a+IX\IQV-ZQK5¹?QVSTMº*ZW_V _PWTWOOMLIZMKWZL[PQXJWIZLTIVLQVO[IVL,W]OTI[ )QZKZIN\¼[-L_IZL00MQVMUIVV_PW_I[SVW_VI[¹5Z )\\IKS)^QI\QWVºNWZLM[QOVQVOKTI[[QKKIZZQMZXTIVM[
JU 52/3m BOMBER AND TRANSPORT UNITS 1936-41

NASA

by Robert Forsyth, Osprey Publishing, 2017, $23.


+Q^QT?IZUIVa2][_MZM KWV^MZ\MLQV\W¹M`XMLQMV\ JWUJMZ[º\PI\\WWSXIZ\QV numerous combat operations, including the notorious

VC10: ICON OF THE SKIES

BOAC, Boeing and a Jet Age Battle by Lance Cole, Pen & Sword Books Ltd., 2017, $44.95. ?PMVQ\ÅZ[\ÆM_QV! the beautiful and impressive >QKSMZ[>+_I[_QLMTa M`XMK\ML\WKPITTMVOM\PM *WMQVOIVL,W]OTI[ ,+ NWZLWUQVI\QWVWN\PM TWVOPI]TRM\IQZTQVMZQVL][\Za QKSMZ[Å\\MLPMI^aL]\a landing gear for operation from unimproved Third ?WZTLZ]V_Ia[IVLUW]V\ML four engines in a distinctive KWVÅO]ZI\QWVWVI\\IQT\W reduce the danger of ingesting debris. The result was IKTMIVMZ_QVO_PQKP\PMa Å\\ML_Q\PXW_MZN]TPQOP TQN\ÆIX[IVL[TW\[NWZJM\\MZ \ISMW‫ٺ‬IVLKTQUJQVOXMZNWZmance in tropical conditions. )QZKZM__PWÆM_\PM >+I[_MTTI[Q\[XI[sengers, held the aircraft in

\PMPQOPM[\M[\MMU¸Q\LQL M^MZa\PQVOQ\_I[LM[QOVML\W do, and did it well. However, WVTaM`IUXTM[_MZMJ]QT\ )[\PMI]\PWZM`XTIQV[\PM >+_I[]VLMZUQVMLJa \PM^MZaPW\IVLPQOPLM[QOV characteristics demanded of it, which, at least in the case of the commercial operI\WZ[]J[MY]MV\TaXZW^ML QZZMTM^IV\)LLQ\QWVITTaTQSM UIVaW\PMZXZWUQ[QVO*ZQ\Q[P XW[\·?WZTL?IZ11IMZW[XIKM XZWRMK\[\PMUIOVQÅKMV\ >+_I[\PM^QK\QUWN\PM machinations of politicians. The result of a decade of historical research, VC10: Icon of the Skies will be a must for those interested in airliners. Robert Guttman

bombings of Guernica in !IVL?IZ[I_QV!! It was as a transport, howM^MZ\PI\\PM2]U[I_ Q\[UW[\[QOVQÅKIV\UQTQ\IZa ][M1VNIK\2]VSMZ[PILR][\ begun production when the Bolivian air force pressed QV\W[MZ^QKM\PZMM2][ NWZQ\[+PIKW?IZIOIQV[\ 8IZIO]Ia1V!/MZUIV []XXTQML2][XTIaMLIKZQ\ical role in rushing soldiers from Morocco to Spain to support General Francisco Franco’s revolt against the ;XIVQ[P:MX]JTQK2][ XTIaMLIVMY]ITTa^Q\ITZWTM QVKIZZaQVO/MZUIV\ZWWX[ \W,MVUIZSIVL6WZ_Ia as well as paratroopers and glider troops over Belgium

IVL\PM6M\PMZTIVL[QV!
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254 PAGES | H A RD CO V ER | $39.95 “Laslie expertly brings into focus perhaps the least known of the major Air Force personalities of World War II and the early Cold War. . . . This book fills an indispensable gap in our understanding of the people and ideas that propelled the nation’s air arm to independence and prominence.” —Thomas Alexander Hughes, author of Over Lord: General Pete Quesada and the Triumph of Tactical Air Power in World War II 416 PAGE S | PA PER B ACK | $29.95 “One of the more interesting and better books on military aviation to appear in the last few years.”—Journal of Military History

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REvIEWS HURRICANE

Hawker’s Fighter Legend by John Dibbs, Tony Holmes & Gordon Riley, Osprey Publishing, 2017, $45. While the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain recently passed in 2015, the number of books about the iconic confrontation between the Royal Air Force and \PM4]N\_I‫ٺ‬MKWV\QV]M[\WOZW_)UWVO\PM[MIZM\_W TI^Q[PTaQTT][\ZI\ML^WT]UM[NZWU7[XZMaIJW]\\PMÅOP\ers that defended the British homeland, coauthored by
FIGHTER!

Ten Killer Planes of World War II Ja2QU4I]ZQMZ>WaIOM]Z8ZM[[ 2016, $40. Great military aviation artists make viewers feel like they are in the cockpit, ÆaQVOITWVO[QLMKWUJI\PIZLMVMLIKM[ WVLIVOMZW][UQ[[QWV[QV[UWSMÅTTML [SQM[
0]ZZQKIVM;XQ\ÅZMBMZW8 8 8IVL8-IKPQ[KW^MZMLQVI dedicated chapter that includes a crisp \PZMM^QM_KWTWZXZWÅTMILM\IQTMLKWKSXQ\TIaW]\ZM^MITQVOJTIKSIVL_PQ\M IZKPQ^ITXPW\W[\PMIZ\Q[\¼[UI[\MZN]T XIQV\QVO[WN\PMIQZXTIVMQVIK\QWVIVL IVM`KMTTMV\M[[Ia\PI\X]\[\PMÅOP\MZQV PQ[\WZQKITKWV\M`\
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IMPORTANT CONSUMER INFORMATION: Jitterbug is owned by GreatCall, Inc. Your invoices will come from GreatCall. 1Monthly fees do not include government taxes or assessment surcharges and are subject to change. Plans and services may require purchase of a Jitterbug Flip and a one-time setup fee of $35. Coverage is not available everywhere. 5Star or 9-1-1 calls can only be made when cellular service is available. 5Star Service will be able to track an approximate location when your device is turned on, but we cannot guarantee an exact location. 2We will refund the full price of the Jitterbug phone and the activation fee (or setup fee) if it is returned within 30 days of purchase in like-new condition. We will also refund your first monthly service charge if you have less than 30 minutes of usage. If you have more than 30 minutes of usage, a per minute charge of 35 cents will be deducted from your refund for each minute over 30 minutes.You will be charged a $10 restocking fee. The shipping charges are not refundable. There are no additional fees to call GreatCall’s U.S.-based customer service. However, for calls to a Personal Operator in which a service is completed, you will be charged 99 cents per call, and minutes will be deducted from your monthly rate plan balance equal to the length of the call and any call connected by the Personal Operator. Jitterbug, GreatCall and 5Star are registered trademarks of GreatCall, Inc. Copyright ©2017 GreatCall, Inc. ©2017 firstSTREET for Boomers and Beyond, Inc.

REvIEWS

CLASSICS THE WAR LOVER by John Hersey

Written in 1959, The War Lover is one of the almostforgotten great novels about World War II. Perhaps the thing that hurt the book’s reputation over the years is the rather poorly received 1962 movie very loosely based on the book—even though it starred Steve McQueen. Despite the movie, it is a book that deserves to be better remembered. Along with 12 O’Clock High and Command Decision, The War Lover rounds out a trilogy of novels about America’s daylight bombing campaign in Europe. While 12 O’Clock High focuses on the command problems of a bombardment group, Command Decision deals

with the higher-level leadership problems of a bombardment division. The War Lover is about a single B-17 crew, as the airmen struggle to survive their 25 missions. But this is not the stereotypical “band of brothers” crew. All four W‫ٻ‬KMZ[IVL[Q`[MZOMIV\[IZM portrayed as very distinct individuals, each with his own unique foibles, fears and personal demons. They only coalesce once they are in the air, purely as a matter of survival. Back on the ground \PMaNWZUIKWUXTM`[M\WN  friendships, rivalries and antagonisms.
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has the reputation of being the hotshot in the group. But as the book’s title implies, he is also a war lover who actually thrives on the adrenaline rush of death and destruction. The copilot, a second lieutenant, Q[IKWUXM\MV\ÆQMZJ]\ he is cautious and hates killing people. Thus he is continually overshadowed by his seemingly largerthan-life pilot, who never misses an opportunity to ridicule him. But it’s all a façade. As they continue to rack up missions, the crew slowly realizes that the copilot is the safer pair of hands. Finally, on their 24th mission, the infamous 1943 Schweinfurt Raid, the pilot breaks down into a catatonic state, and the copilot is forced to take over. The bomber gets badly shot up, and barely manages to get back far enough to ditch in the English Channel.
FLIGHT TEST

AIR VCS 1. William Rhodes-Moorhouse, William Leefe Robinson and Frank McNamara all earned the Victoria Cross flying which airplane type? A. Sopwith Tabloid B. Morane-Saulnier L C. B.E.2 D. Armstrong-Whitworth F.K.8

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2. From whose clutches did Richard Bell Davies land to rescue downed comrade Gilbert Smylie on January 23, 1915, earning a VC?

MYSTERY SHIP

Can you identify this experimental testbed? See the answer below.

A. Austro-Hungarians B. Bulgarians C. Germans D. Turks 3. James B. Nicolson was the only pilot of which RAF command to win the VC in World War II? A. Army Cooperation B. Bomber C. Coastal D. Fighter 4. Arthur Stewart King Scarf’s posthumous VC was earned uniquely over what country?

Burgess-Dunne D.5

A. Wright Model III B. Lippisch Delta IVC C. S.E.5a D. Burgess-Dunne D.5 E. Douglas C-47 F. B.E.2c G. Etrich Taube H. Martinsyde G.102 Elephant I. LVG C.IV J. Fauvel AV-36

1. Flying-wing sailplane noted for ease of handling 2. British two-seater flown 40 miles hands-off in 1914 3. Stable enough for a glider version to be considered 4. Stable single-seat reconnaissance-bomber of 1916 5. Last of a glider series leading up to the Me-163 6. Stable and reliable German workhorse of 1917 7. First of the brothers’ Flyers with long-distance stability 8. Birdlike model of stability in 1912 9. First tailless plane with natural stability in 1910 10. Fighter capable of hands-off flight in 1917

5. VCs were awarded to Roderick Learoyd in 1940 and George Thompson in 1945 for bombing missions over the same location. Which was it? A. Antwerp B. Eder dam C. Brest D. Dortmund-Ems Canal

ANSWERS: MYSTERY SHIP: Saab 210 Lilldraken. Learn more about it at HistoryNet.com/aviation-history SAFETY FIRSTS: A.7, B.5, C.10, D.9, E.3, F.2, G.8, H.4, I.6, J.1 AIR VCS: 1.C, 2.B, 3.D, 4.A, 5.D

TOP: SAAB; BOTTOM: GETTY IMAGES

SAFETY FIRSTS Match the famously stable aircraft with its description.

A. Thailand B. Syria C. Italy D. Tunisia

NOVEMBER 2017

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AERO ARTIFACT

these are the voyages

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test shuttle rollout Above: The two crews for the space shuttle approach and landing tests, including Joe Engle (second from right), pose with Enterprise on September 17, 1976.

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NOVEMBER 2017

TOP: NASA; BOTTOM: NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM/GIFT OF MAJ. GEN. JOE H. ENGLE

-15 pilot and astronaut Joe Engle’s illustrious career (story, P. 12) included comUIVLQVOWVMWN\_WKZM_[\PI\ÆM_\PM space shuttle Enterprise during its 1977 approach and landing tests. The engine-less WZJQ\MZUW]V\MLI\WXIUWLQÅML*WMQVO 747, was taken above 20,000 feet and released, with Engle and astronaut Richard
ANTHONY SAUNDERS ‘One of the World’s most collected Aviation Artists’

LONG HAUL TO BERLIN Mustangs of the 332nd Fighter Group – the Tuskegee Airmen – defend B-17s from the 483rd Bomb Group during a raid on the Daimler-Benz factory in Berlin, 24 March 1945. The edition is personally signed by iconic veterans.

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SUPPORT THE NATIONAL WWII MUSEUM

Kid’s A-2 Bomber Jacket Item #14547 . . . . Price: $59.99 Size: 12M, 18M, 24M, 2T, 3T, 4T, 4/5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12, 14

Infant Aviator Cap Item # 19760 . . . . Price: $9.00

US Roundel Cap Item# 18329 . . . . Price: $18.00 Color: Yellow or Blue

MONOPOLY: America’s World War II: We’re All In This Together Edition Item#16128 . . . . Price: $39.99

Mignon Faget B-17 Bar Pin Item #16485 . . . . Price: $16.00

WWII Aircraft Aloha Print Hawaiian Shirt Item #20930 . . . . Price: $50.00 Size: Sm, Md, Lg, XL, 2XL

P40 Warhawk Smithsonian 1:48 Scale Diecast Model Item #12611 . . . . Price: $39.99

Enter promo code* WW2SAVE15 on the shopping cart screen to receive a 15% discount on your entire purchase. Visit SHOPWWII.ORG or call 877-813-3329 x 244. *Offer valid through December 2017. Offer not valid on Memberships, gift cards, donations, or items already discounted.

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