F7F RG le MISSILES Of The USAF NS owasir 2, THE AIRPLANE ae CHANGED WORLD? $495.US CANADA seas | 05> - ‘3 oN N91 28"490450 08 P ee a,Editorial Gemini 6 rendezvous with Gemini 7, December 15, 1965. Everything’s A-OK guess it seems natural to use the words ‘orbit’ and ‘Cape Canaveral’ in the same sentence, but this orbit was something different. It was race weekend for the famed Daytona 500, and Orlando, Florida was suddenly besieged with NASCAR fans, As air traffic backed up, our Delta 757 wound up orbiting Orlando Intemational Airport 6,000 ft above flat swampland, and off to the east | could see it. A triangular spit of coastal land jutting into the azure Atlantic, dotted with small light-colored patches as far as the eye could see. It was Cape Canaveral, from where the actual satellite that beamed my DirecTV on the airplane was launched. The names started coming back. Cocoa Beach. Merritt Island. The Banana River. It was like going back 40 years in time. The purpose of my trip was to accompany WINGS & AIRPOWER Historian Anthony Accurso on a research mission to Cape Canaveral for our exciting Air Force Winged Missiles story in this issue, and during that week we literally saw where the U.S. Space Program was born, and where an amazing amount of activity is still going on today. Despite America’s manned space flights being grounded one year after the Columbia disaster, ‘the Cape’ is abuzz with many new programs that have their roots in the same embryonic time peri- od before Mercury and Gemini. Such early pro- grams as Douglas Thor, Convair Atlas, and Martin Titan proudly live on today as the Boeing Delta IV and Lockheed Martin Atlas V and Titan IV — all modern evolutions of those famed vehicles which are still launching vitally needed satellites into earth orbit, although payload sizes have grown immeasurably. Several stops on our tour were quite breath- | taking, beginning with historic Patrick AFB twenty minutes south of the Cape, where we were instantly transported back to the 1950s. Although the cinder block motels and tourist bars of US 1 in Cocoa Beach have now given way to discount malls and surf shops, the feel of those heady days when the word ‘Astronaut was held in total rever- ence is still there. You could almost see those excited crowds camped out or standing on a rooftop just to glimpse John Glenn's Mercury ‘Atlas. Further up the road from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station - site of so many historic space flights in the early-1960s - is Kennedy Space Center, former home of the Apollo Lunar Program, and base for Space Shuttle operations today. Standing on the sacred ground of Pad 34 was 6 Airpower MAY 2004 a most humbling experience, as this was the site | of the tragic Apollo | fire in January 1967. Although the same pad was later used to launch the Apollo 7 orbital mission, it is preserved today as an tistoric landmark in memory of Apollo Astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee. As we stood there under appropriately grey winter skies, the realization of ultimate human sacrifice and memories of having America’s first space fatalities occur on the ground were almost overwhelming. Today, it seems noth- ing less than miraculous that all those dangerous and pioneering Mercury and Gemini flights came off almost without a hitch. Despite the setback of Apollo |, we did land a man on the moon before the end of the decade, and then did it again five more times over the next three years. Dominating the desolate landscape to the west of Pad 34 was a mammoth structure that seemed much closer than being five-miles away. Built in the mid-1960s, it is known today as the VAB, or Vehicle Assembly Building. Once the world’s largest building, it was originally construct- ed to assemble and house the 45-story-tall Saturn V Moon Rockets. Today, it performs that same function giving shelter to the Space Shuttles. The giant 3,000-ton crawlers used to transport Saturn Vs approximately four miles to launch pads 39A and B now carry Shuttles to those same launch complexes, although the gantries and pad archi- tecture have been greatly modified. | was amazed to learn that the gas mileage attributed to those one-mph crawlers was thirty-five feet per gallon! Another awesome experience was actually standing in the block house used to launch Alan B. Shepard's Mercury Redstone on its sub-orbital flight into space. Vivid memories flooded back of hearing Walter Cronkite and seeing fuzzy black- and-white TV images of Shepard in his silver ‘space suit climbing into the elevator for the ride to the top of the rocket that May morning in 1961. Those original launch consoles with their big dials, switches, and buttons looked like something out of a bad 1950s sci-fi flick, and the antique Burroughs computer in an adjoining room was about the size of a small motorhome. The tall red tower used to service the rocket was actually a gift to NASA from a generous oil tycoon by the name of Gantry, who donated his surplus offshore oi! derrick for the good of the nation and all mankind. Itis sobering to think that the NASA budget at the start of Apollo consumed more than four per- cent of the federal budget back in 1965, yet NASA's budget today is less than 7/10ths of one percent. Yes, we've all heard arguments of how ‘space exploration produced tangible benefits for us earthlings like Velcro and Tang, but there is another common household item that attributes its origins to the Space Program. Developed as a special secret compound to eliminate moisture from sticking fuel valves in Atlas missiles that kept veering off course and blowing up seconds after liftoff, this seemingly magic material started disap- pearing from NASA shops as personnel took it home to use on sticky garage door hinges. Now officially licensed to NASGAR and found in any hardware store, you may just recognize the name of this stuff. It’s called WD-40! Mike Machat Alirpower Editor/Publisher Website Design Brad Pennock Contributing Photographers Research Historian National Advertising National Sales Director Gregg R Ostler Advertising Director Production Manager Reounuc@ pness sl (815) 734-5958 Subscriph www.wingscirpower.com wwwairwingmedia.com WIN IRPOWER or ) ‘Airpower \SSN (1067-1048) May. 2004. Volume 34 No. 5, Pubished bimonthly by Republic Press, 4426 Deseret Dr Woodland Hils, California 91364. (USPS 958840) (© 2003 Republic Press. Al ights reserved on entire contents for bath punt and electronic media. Nothing may be reprinied. In whole or in part, without witten permission from the pubisher Publisher assumes no resparsitilty fcr unsalicted material: al photos, manuscripts and artwork must be accompanied by a sel addressed stamped return envelope Periodical postage paid at Canoga Pak, CA and adaticnal offices. Printed in the USA. All changes of address and form 3879 should be sent to Wings & Arpower Magazne, PO, Box 465, ML Moms, IL 81056 POSTMASTER send adsress changes to Wings & Aipower Magazine, PO.Box 485, Mt Mors, IL 61054 Printed USAX-15 MEMORIES The article about the X-15 mishaps in the March AIRPOWER was very interesting, especially the one about Cdr. Petersen’s aborted flight of January 10, 1962. 1 was the Flight Engincer on the Edwards C-130 that orbited Mud Lake that day, and we car- ried a fire truck, firemen, a couple of pararescue jumpers, and several NASA techni ‘The encla photo shows the shortly after the X-15 landed, and the B-52 launch plane was flying right above the X-15 as it touched down. en Bill Peters, SMSgt USAF (Ret.) Sandwich, MA B-52H GOES OPERATIONAL The top photo on pg. 27 of March AIRPOWER states the B-52H entered service in 1962. The B-52H entered operational s with the 379! Bomb Wing at Wurtsmith AFB in May 1961, and by the end of June, twenty were in operation. The last of 102 the Hs built was received by the Air on October 26, 1962 Steven P. McNicoll Via the Internet PASSENGER ‘COPTERS A HIT! Kudos to Graig Kodera for his absorbing article on PAX helicopter operations! As a teenager, I eagerly and LAA helicopters countless times, and treasured each y flight. SFO had $6 round- trip excursion flights, and I flew those for weekend fun between San Francisco and San Jose. The ment of these flights helped me de to make aviation my career ... thirty years at SJC! flew on both § and e Dave Pecota Via the Internet (Continued on page 6) “Caught in the Rigging” (detail, left) captures a P-3C Orion rigging a suspected bad guy vessel. ($25 per print). “Come What LeMay” (detail right) recalls the golden age of Strategic Air Command bombers, including the B-36, B-47, & B-52 ($20 per print). Each print is 13°x16" on 80# cover stock. Please add $8 SHIPPING & HANDLING (U.S. and Canada) per order. Maryland residents add 5% SALES TAX. Prices to ship outside the U.S. and Canada and wholesale orders avaiable on request. Not responsible for shipping damage. Sorry, but no cash, CODs, or credit cards. Non-U.S. orders: money orders only in US. dolars redeemable through U.S. agent ForeFeathers™ Enterprises 44618 Rolling Oak Lane - Dept. AP California, MD 20619 USA www.aerocatures.com Cxglat Sutervationaf FIRST IN AHIGH QUALITY DIE CAST METAL. AIRCRAFT LINE! ae ts é 10001 P-51B “Shangri-La”, _ ats ‘4th F.G., Razorback 10002 P-51B-15 “Patty Ann Ii" Due May 04 352nd F.G., “Malcolm Hood” ve July 04 YOUR ONE STOP SOURCE FOR FRANKLIN MINT, CORGI, DRAGON WINGS AND MODEL POWER 4 ON MARK INTERNATIONAL, INC. www.onmarkint.com PHONE TOLL FREE: 888-373-2092 webmaster@onmarkint.com Airpower MAY 2004 7Coming In The JUNE Issue Of WINGS LITTLE RED SCHOOLHOUSE - Now more than fifty years old, the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot Schoo! started from humble roots at Wright Field. Currently operating from Edwards AFB, ‘TPS’, as it's now known, forges tomorrow's test pilots today. We take you aloft in the T-38 and F-16 airborne classrooms for some dazzling aerobatics! BEAUFIGHTER -— Bristol's ubiquitous pug-nosed powerhouse, the Beaufighter, was the Royal Air Force's first operational twin-engine fighter. By adapting many of the design features of its torpedo-bombing brethren, the Beaufort, engineers at Bristol created a potent night attacker, and one of the most successful allied aircraft of World War II. JET-POWERED! — Considered at first as a totally impractical solution to the problem of propelling high-speed aircraft in the years before World War II, the jet engine has evolved to become the backbone of today’s high-performance aviation. Author Scott Libis tells the tale of early turbojet engine development from 400 mph to Mach 3.2. 8 Airpower MAY 2004 (Continued trom page 7) What a surprise to find the great articles on passenger helicopters in WINGS & AIRPOWER. Nice to see you expand your focus on all things aero- nautical. In 1966, I flew on the New York Airways 107 to the top of the Pan Am Building in Manhattan, and land. ing in the midst of all those skyscrap- ers was an eerie experience from inside the cabin. When the chopper took off, it lifted slowly backwards so that if an engi point, it could back to the roof top. never happened. ie failed at a critical afely autorotate right Luckily, that Marv Berman Valley Stream, NY CROSS FLYING WING FAN As a long-time aviation hi enthusiast and writer, | belie knew a fair amount of such history, However, until the March 2004 issue of AIRPOWER, I'd never heard of the Cross Flying Wing concepts. This article more than got my attention, and I'll now dig to find more on Mr. Gross's flying wing endeavors. ‘Thanks to Mr. Zichek for interesting article! tory a very Steve Pace Tacoma, WA USS AKRON & MACON My compliments to you for your magazines, and 1 justifiably proud to own a complete collection. Regarding the article about the Akron and Macon, I'd like to make two comments: The top photo on pg. 23 appears to show the boarding gangway at the rear of the forward gondola, as the curvature and window arrangement match that of the gondola rather than the lower rudder. Also, while some of the fuel tanks did hold avgas for the [scout] aircraft, most of the tanks held diesel fuel for the engines tinued on page 10)Celebrating 100 Years Of Aviation History €FAirpower NEW WEBSITE Welcome Aboard! The future of Wings and Airpower has never been brighter! Fasten your seat belt and take off with our new online features! Fo more than 30 years, Wings” & Airpower™ magazines have brought you all the excitement and drama of the first century of flight in vibrant images and riveting stories found nowhere else! Now we've taken the next bold step and complemented our traditional magazines with an online component to offer you even more services and support. This new website features a showcase of the images and stories found in every issue of our publications, and now you can get the inside story in our About the Magazines page. We offer you secure online Subscription and Change of Address forms, a more streamlined way to order Back Issues of magazines, a "Notices to Airmen" NOTAMs section for the latest news and events, and a Contact Us form so you can get in touch with us with your comments and suggestions. Visit us or Subscribe online at: www.wingsairpower.com 10 Arpower May 200% AVIATION PATCHES WWW.PLANECRAZYENT.COM Emons NAVY 1 COMMEMORATIVE PATCH Large Beautiful 6-1/2"x 4-1/2" Pateh PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH'S “TRAP” ONBOARD CVN-72 USS LINCOLN —1 MAY 2003 Order# 03828U $9.99 SQUADRONS ° CARRIERS/SHIPS AIR STATIONS © AIR WINGS ENDURING FREEDOM e IRAQ! FREEDOM DESERT STORM « VIETNAM © KOREA WORLD WAR I WWW.PLANECRAZYENT.COM PLANE CRAZY ENTERPRISES 24333 BENT FEATHER ROAD CONIFER, CO 80433 303-838-4393 Email: plncrzy@idcomm.com (Continued trom page 8) which were German diesels. Keep up the good work! W. Cullen Chapman, Jr Via the Internet The caption identifying the Navy crewman on the boarding ladder was derived from copy showing “lower rud- accompanying the photograph on pe. 23. We Jubious about that as well, as the windows don’t exactly match either location. ~ Ed. FORWARD AIR CONTROLLERS REUNION 1 have been a subscriber to WINGS & AIRPOWER for years, and thorough- ly enjoy them. I feel that a future article devoted to slow FAC Viet Nam would fit right in with your gen- eral style, and there is an upcoming reunion of all slow Forward Air Controllers from the Viet Nam conflict. This comprises mainly aviators fromDe aes wee &® ‘At Squadron Flight Shop we produce the highest ‘quality patches. Art and Custom Made Models ‘and Plaques made. We sell to the Military and Collector. Seo our Line of itome on our Web Catalog. Visit our Web Catalog at itp: //werrw. sfspatches.com OFFICIAL Suppliers to: Navy Blue Angels USAF Thunderbirds Squadron Flight Shop PO Box 28: Boston, MA 02228-5174 Phone/Fax 781-284-9500 www.enolagay.org The official website of General Paul W. Tibbets Autographed Books, Photos and Models 215.794.8788 GUIDE TO OVER 900 AIRCRAFT MUSEUMS UT eas + 97 Canadian Aircraft Muscums/_ + 239 City Displayed Aircraft © 27 WWII Landmarks . 8700Aircratt Listed Aiphabticaly~ For a copy of this 184 page book send $20 (postage paid USA only) Michael A. Blaugher Attn: AP 124 East Foster Parkway Ft. Wayne, IN 46806-1730 ES 260-744-4020 + 952 US Aircraft Museums —~ www.alreraftmusoums.com O-1, O-2, and OV-10 aircraft as d to those flying modified jet ft, i.e. ‘fast FACS’. reunion will be held in San Antonio, TX from May 5 to May 9, 2004. For more info please contact Calvin Anderson, Rt. 1, Box 352, Whitakers, NC 27891, (252) 437-0550, indolly@earthlink.net. Cal, Hounddog 56, Covey 62 Via the Internet THE DC-6 (CONTINUED) Nice story on the DC-6, but a puz- zlement about the preceding XC-112A with R-2800 engines. “Large wore to be equipped with the Allison V1710 that powered the F | wonder if you meant the much larger experimental engine, as was later installed on the XB-19 and a few others? John Cole San Bernardino, CA Reader Cole is correct, as it was the original experimental concept for an (Continued on page 64) MUSEUM QUALITY T-6 Texan (Marines) 8° $1900 Aeromacci Fighter 8° $1900 Rivets, panels, Sele ee Et some weathered, Rend paras fine detail. ery Peers ce Mark Serotoff, .Y.. Ciena Cele SEY DOPPELDECKE Mail bee RA aww.2deckor.com 1-800-777-2080 JUST LAUNCHED! Now BUY or SELL collections and aviation memorabilia online! NEW FREE CLASSIFIED ADS SECTIO WWW.wingsairpower.com Airpower MAY 2004 11for he RECORD DID GERMANY GO SUPERSONIC FIRST? Our sincere thanks to Dr. Bernd Krag of Braunschweig, Germany, who sent us a very comprehensive and well researched letter outlin- ing Germany's attempts at supersonic flight during World War Il. While many high-speed flights were made in such aircraft as the Junkers Ju 287, Arado Ar 234 jet bomber, Heinkel He 111Z, He 177,He 280, and He 162, it was the jetpowered Messerschmitt Me-262 (below) and the radical rocket-powered Me-163 (above) that truly led the way in supersonic research before the end of the War. Here now are excerpts from Dr. Krag’s most informative story. - Ed. Like Brix Anderson, | read the November 2003 AIRPOWER with great pleasure and interest. Mr. Anderson claims that supersonic flight had already been achieved before Chuck Yeager's epic flight in 1947, and refers to rumors that perhaps the sound barrier might have been broken during high-speed flight testing of the German jets. Here are some comments to clarify this point, from statements made by former test pilots of the Messerschmitt factory and the German Air Force flight test center Rechlin during a meeting for the 50th Anniversary of the first turbojet-powered flight at the Deutsches Museum, Munich, in September, 1989. The first pilot to come close to the sound barrier was Messerschmitt pilot Heini Dittmar, who reached a speed of 1,003 kmh (540 mph) corresponding to a Mach number of M 0.85 on October 2 1941 when flying an early version of the rocket driven Me 163A at Peenemunde. At that speed he approached the aircraft's critical Mach number and ran into severe stability problems. Dittmar was unable to control the plane's strong pitch-down motions and had to slow down to remain airborne. Although the Me 163 had a swept back wing, it encountered strong stability problems at that limit speed. Besides the exotic Me 163 rocket, the fastest aircraft to be flight tested at Rechlin was the Me 262 jet fighter. The 262 was dived from 9,000m (30,000 ft.), and the highest Mach number attained was M 0.88. Although the Me 262 showed no distinct buffeting problems near the critical Mach number, the elevator could not be used for recovery because it had the effect to actually steepen the flight path. Only elevator trim worked at these speeds. A larger problem was the flaming out of the Junkers 004 engines during these dives, and only very experienced pilots were able to restart the engines below 4000m (13,000 ft.) altitudes. Many service pilots lost their lives in these high speed dive tests. Unlike NACA who did a lot of dangerous flight testing to investigate the effects of compressibility, German aeronautical fesearch establishments conducted most of their high-speed work theoretically and in wind tunnels. Flight testing of new aircraft was the responsibility of either the manufacturer or Luftwaffe flight test centers which cleared these aircraft for service duty. Controllability problems were discussed with aeronautical scientists, and one solution proposed by Prof. Adolf Busemann in 1944 was to use an all moving horizontal tail instead of a separate elevator, which becomes ineffective when the aircraft's own shock wave travels backwards at increasing speed and reaches the elevator. (This was the exact method used to solve the Bell X-1's controllability problems above Mach 0.93, which led to Yeager’s successful Mach 1 flight. - Ed.) | hope that my comments will contribute a little bit to destroy the legends that there were supersonic flights before Yeager’s historic flight of October 14, 1947. 12. Airpower MAY 2004Exclusive To Airpower Magazine! WINGED MISS7Z_ES Air Force By Mike Machat and Anthony Accurso A STORY OF SELFLESS SACRIFICE BY THIS NATION’S FINEST - THE ‘STEELY-EYED MISSILE MEN’ OF CAPE CANAVERAL DURING THE HOTTEST YEARS OF THE COLD WAR. We've all seen them. Those exciting launch shots of winged missiles blasting off into an ominous sunset or dramatic cloud-filled sky like the Martin Matador seen here. We built the models, read the magazines, and saw the movies, but never perceived exactly what would have happened had those launch photos been the real thing — thermonuclear annihilation of the world’s two largest superpowers, and the ultimate end of life as we knew it. Thankfully, that never came to pass. WINGS & AIRPOWER Historical Archives, unless othenwise noted,Left: Called the father of modern rocketry, Dr. Robert H. Goddard conducted experimental rocket flights to altitudes of 50 ft. as early as 1926. In this drawing, he is shown with his first successful large liquid fuel rocket which flew in 1929. Right: The deadly German V-2s were the first ballistic missiles used in wartime, raining down on allied targets during World War Il. Even with a limited range of only 250 miles, V-2s brought mayhem to the streets of London and proved that ballistic missiles were potent weapons that could leave the enemy totally helpless with no way of early warning, intercept, or defense. V-2 shown here is actually being tested in Cuxhaven, England in October 1945, only four months after the war ended in Europe. Author's Note: In creating what we hope will serve as a most interesting and authoritative compilation of winged missile data and lore. we encountered a rather not-uncom- mon situation. While culling information from countless sources including contractor records, personal interviews, historical authorities and even active units involved in the development and operational readiness of all these weapon systems, we encountered numerous cases where specific data proved inconsistent from one source to the next. The quest for such vital information as speed, altitude, range, milestone dates, and even nomenclature of all these mis- siles yielded answers with wide variations for any given sub- ject. Although many of our knowledgeable readers may have factual information differing from what you are about to read here, we now present what we feel is a most accurate representation of the amazing post-WWII era now referred to as the Golden Age of winged missile development, Who Will Light the First Match? This cryptic description of the Cold War has been attributed to any number of sources, but it s the great Aircraft Company artist, R.G. Smith, who first shared it with this auth Drawing an analogy to the then-current nuclear stand off between the United States and Soviet Union, R.G. explained, “Picture two men standing in a large room waist deep in gasoline. Each one has a match, and each is wondering who will light his first?” ‘That story creates @ pretty vivid mind picture of the results — complete destruction of both part Middle: In 1948, the U.S Navy developed the Regulus to marry the concept of a winged subsonic cruise missile with the mobility of its surface and underwater fleet. Shown here being launched at a land-based test site, the Chance Vought Regulus | became operational with the fleet in 1954 and was produced until 1958 with a total of 514 being built. Although range of the Regulus I was only 500 miles, submarines could bring these nuclear missiles within reach of enemy coastal cities anywhere in the world. (For more on the Regulus |, see April 2002 WINGS, available in back issue.) Right: Larger more advanced Vought Regulus !I brought supersonic speeds into the Navy's missile arsenal. Capable of reaching Mach 2 with a range of more than 1,000 miles, these winged terrors were test launched from both land bases and submarines, equipped with retractable landing gear for airplane-like recovery on runways under remote control. Although replaced operationally by underwater- launched Polaris missiles, the Regulus |! served as a Mach 2 target drone well into the early 1960s. (For more on the Regulus Il, see December 2002 WINGS, available in back issue.) Airpower MAY 2004 15.WINGED MISSILES case, or the complete destruction of life on earth in the bigger picture of global nuclear war. What follows is the compelling story of some of the many different ‘matches’ in the days before Ballistic held by the U. S. ICBMs (Intercontinental les) became a defini America’s formidable With the remaining components being manned bombers sitting on perpetual alert and missile-equipped nuclear- powered submarines roaming the world’s oceans, America’s military deterrent stood ready to most-impor tantly thwart any possibility of nuclear war, or respond in kind to the advances of a nuclear foe if called for. While the results of such a conflict were unthink- able, the cost of not addressing that threat was even more unthinkable. It 16 Aimpower MAY 2004 was then left to America’s burgeoning aerospace industry and military services to come up with the answers. Developed during the late-1940s in the days when manned space flight was only but a dream, the U.S. armed missile programs accelerated well into the decade of the 1950s and then ramped up in intensity after Russia’s Sputnik was launched into orbit in October 1957. / achievement of lofty propor- 5 ful orbiting of an earth satellite also carried a more ominous connotation, for it represented the ability to either place weapons of mass destruc- tion in orbit for future use, or to launch them on unstoppable ballistic trajecto- rics toward any country’s major cities or prime manufacturing centers. Capitalizing on rocketry carried over from the closing days of WWI, the U. S. doveloped a series of projects based on both the winged V-1 ‘Buzz Bomb’ and V-2 ballistic missile used by Germany with such deva: Both the Soviet Union an able to harness the expe man racket scientists afler the war, and both coun- Left: Martin Matador was America’s first opera- tional tactical surface-to-surtace missile, and is shown here being boosted into flight during a test launch on January 21, 1954. Mounted on mobile launchers, Matadors were stationed with USAF units of the Tactical Air Command throughout Europe during the mid-to-late 1950s. This Matador is being tested by the 6555th Guided Missile Wing at the USAF Missile Test Center at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. Below: Good three-quarter-rear view of the Matador in raised firing position on its mobile launcher. RATO booster (Rocket Assisted Take Off) is shown mounted directly below Allison J33 jet engine exhaust aperture. Cable at rear of missile is attached to a static line on the trailer, and serves as the radio antenna to receive mis- sile guidance and command signals from the ground. The 30-ft.-long aircraft features a wing sweep back of 30-degrees, and flies to its target at speeds of up to 650 mph and altitudes of more than 35,000 ft. tries began their rocket programs in earnest. Starting with a horizontal track-launched V-1 knock-off called the Loon and a vertically-launched ballistic rocket based on the V-2 called Bumper 8, America’s scientists and engineers forged ahead to build hoth winged and ballistic missiles of eve: ng, size and payload capability. Endless test launches were conducted at White Sands, New Mexico and Cape Canaveral, Florida — desolate and remote locations where these early pro- grams dealt with constant failure and tribulation, and then slowly overcame myriad technical obstacles to achieve the very boginnings of successful U. $ missile operations. The Matador Enters the Ring ‘Massive Retaliatory Power’, ‘Military ‘Industrial = Comp “Supersonic Jet Plane’, and even ‘Rock Around The Clock’, this phrase was squarely rooted in the 1950s. In 1954, President Eisenhower announced that for the first time the United States had deployed its Matador missiles to Europe as part of a “massive retaliatory power to deter aggression”. An carly Like forerunner of today’s sophisticated ground-launched cru missiles, the Matador sorved as the first generation of an entire family of weapons that changed the face of long-range strategic warfare forever. Designed from the ont set as a surfac ysurface tactical mis- sile capable of carrying either a 3,000- Ib. conventional or nuclear warhead, the Martin B-61 Matador was America’s first pilotloss bomber. Controlled electronically from the ground and launched by a solid-fuel booster rocket from a 40-ft.-long 20-ton mobile trailer, the jet-powered Matador somewhat 1 Martin's new rakish three-engine T-tailed bomberdesign, the XB-51. The missile actually had the appearance of a Korean War-era jet fighter, only without a pilot's canopy, and its performance specs were similar as well. Boasting a top speed of more than 600 mph and capable of going supersonic in its terminal dive to a target, the Matador could cover 600 nautical miles while flying as high as 44,000 ft. The sleek swept-wing vehicle weighed 13,600 Ibs. at launch, and was powered by a 4,600-Ib.-thrust Allison J33 turbojet engine augmented by a sin- gle Aerojet solid-fuel booster rocket that produced an immediate 57,000 Ibs. of thrust at takeoff. The Matador Program began in August 1945, and the first XB-61 was launched only four years later on January 19, 1949. By June 1952, eigh- teen of the bright red B-61s had been launched, and its designation had been changed to TM-61 (Tactical Missile) following extensive testing. Operated by the ist and 69th Pilotless Bomber Squadrons (PBS) of the 6555th Guided Missile Wing at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, Matadors were launched to both train crews and debug new and highly-classified onboard systems still undergoing development. Operational problems such as the missile’s tendency to breakup during its supersonic terminal dive were solved after studious investigations, with 200 Ibs. of structural reinforce- ment providing the fix. Below: Early Matador launch test at Cape Canaveral on August 10, 1951. This Matador ‘was originally named the B-61A as part of America’s bomber fleet, but that designation was later changed to TM-61 for ‘Tactical Missile’. Famous Cape Canaveral Lighthouse ‘shown in background was built in 1868 and served as a navigational aid for local shipping with its light fueled by whale oil - a stark contrast in technology with the missile. Note early configuration for mounting booster rocket with its retractable doors. Above: The very last Matador to be launched from the Cape by an Air Force crew takes to the skies on June 1, 1961 after more than ten years of developmental test flights. Although the first operational Matador units were deployed to Europe in 1954 with others eventually stationed in Germany, Taiwan, and Korea, developmental testing continued at the Cape as numerous improvements to the missile’s warheads and guidance system were made. Note flush air intake on missile's underside directly below wing trailing edge. Below: Air Force and Contractor personnel prepare a TM-61 for launch from Cape Canaveral. Five-foot diameter missile carried either conventional or nuclear warheads, and was about the same size and weight as a North American F-86. In initial publicity material released to the mass public, the missile’s guidance system was actually listed as ‘electronic brain’. Airpower-MAY 2004 17Left: Shown on Zero-Length mobile launcher, this TM-61 is raised in the firing position and awaits command for launch from its Air Force groundcrew. Large umbilical flex hose is for air start of the Allison J33 jet engine, while electrical power is carried via the cables underneath missile’s tail Middle: Group photo of the Air Force enlisted contingent required to service the Matador. Note unusual nose art and signatures of the crew on side of missile’s nosecone. Photo was taken at Cape Canaveral on May 12, 1960 during the final days of the Matador's flight test program. WINGED MISSILES The first operational M were then deple operating as part of the U P Air Command, airlifted to bases West Germany, South Korea, and faiwan operated by the 1st, 11th, and 69th PBS of the 3bth Tactical Missile Wing . By the 1959, an unbelievable number of more than 1,000 Matadors had been built, and as the more advanced internally-guided Martin IM-76 Mace came into the inventory a gradual phase-out of the TM-61 began But the Matador, with its nearly 300 launches, clearly stood out as the pio neering forerunner of more advanced tactical and strategic missiles to come, and was by far, the most-flown vehicle of this new airborne era. Below: Looking at first glance like a typical armada of Soviet missiles being paraded through Red Square on May Day during the 1950's and ‘60s, these operational TM-61 Matadors are actually rolling in review at an undisclosed Air Force Base in West Germany in March 1957. 18 Aipower MAY 2aThe jet-propelled Fairchild SM-73 Goose (origi- nally called Bull Goose) was a long-range ground-launched ‘diversionary missile’ designed for use by the Strategic Air Command for penetrating and saturating enemy radar to confuse enemy air defenses immediately before a strategic missile strike. Actively simulating the performance of B-47 and B-52 jet bombers, the Goose carried a 500-Ib. payload of radar repeaters, chaff, and jamming devices. It is shown at right being launched on September 26, 1957 with Cape Canaveral Lighthouse in the background. Entering Snark-Infested Waters What do you get when you cross a snake and a shark? If you answered ‘a Northrop SM-62’, you're correct. That missiles proper name, however, was the SNARK ~ a colorful and distinctive combination of those two animal names, connoting something a potential enemy would definitely want to avoid. First suggested by Jack Northrop him- self, the name originally stemmed from a classic Lewis Carroll poem. Nevertheless, despite numerous early setbacks and systems failures, the SNARK went on to achieve brief opera- tional status as America’s first true intercontinental-range ballistic missile whose key attribute was its sheer poten- cy as a weapon system. To quote a Northzop ad in 1959, “No defensive strategy yet conceived can stop the Snarks in mass attack!” Originally designated as the B-62, the SNARK began development in 1947 as an interim surface-to-surface weapon before such large ICBMs as the Convair Atlas (B-65) and Martin " went into frontline serv: Strategic Air Command. — It launched from mobile or fixed plat- forms, boosted into flight by two mas- sive Aerojet-General solid-propellant rockets of more than 130,000 lbs. of thrust each. SNARK’s main engine was a 5,000-lb.-thrust Allison J33 turbojet in the sinallar early N-25 test configura- tion, and then the new 10,500-Ib.-thrust Pratt & Whitney J57 turbojet in the later N-69 test missiles and operational SM- 62 versions. ‘This was also the largest and heaviest of the winged jet-powered missiles, having a 67-[l. length and tip- ping the scales at more than 50,000 Ibs al launch. Armament was designed to be a nuclear warhead from inception. As you will see throughout this story, éach missile established some unique aspect of aviation progress, and for the SNARK, that distinction was in bringing true intercontinental range, internal guidance, and nuclear lethality to the winged missile fleet. With a ser- vice ceiling in excess of 50,000 ft and a cruise speed of nearly Mach 1, the SNARK was all but indefensible to the enemy. Its flight path controlled by the 24-hour Mark I internal celestial was guidance system for operational down- range flights, while inflight radio control from an accompanying Northrop F-89D Scorpion was utilized during the test phase to guide N-69 test missiles back to Cape Canaveral for recovery on a special landing strip adjacent to the Test Center By 1958, after ten years of intense development and test work, the first operational SM-62 SNARK missile was ready for deployment to its new home at Presque Isle, Maine. Airlifted there in May 1959 by Douglas C-124 Globemaster and C-133 Cargomaster Uansports, the SNARKS were finally put on alert status for the first time on March 18, 1960. Operated by the 556th Strategic Missile Squadron of the newly- formed 702nd Strategic Missile Wing, SNARKS stood as silent sentinels ready to launch a retaliatory strike against the Soviet Union at a moment's notice. In March 1961, President ordered the SNARK unit de-a as Atlas and Titan ICBMs assumed the mantle of being America’s prime strategic nuclear weapons. The First Missile Interceptor Boeing's IM-99A was a much more advanced second-generation follow-on program to the oarlier Fairchild Lark surface-to-air missile developed for the TTS aN Navy, eed and was the Air Force's only operational missile interce (Nike Ajax and Nike Hercules missiles were operated by the U.S. Army.) BOMARC test program at Cape Canaveral was essentially a contractor- led project with the Air Force serving strictly in a support role, its name being an acronym for the prime contractor and its technical support entity, the Michigan Aeronautical Research Center (BOeing and M.A.R.C.). The IM-99 numerical designation followed recent manned aircraft interceptors such as the F-94, making the BOMARC the last Air Force aircraft before the supersonic Century Series jet fighters. First of the winged missiles to be launched vertically, the 15,000-|b. BOMARG was a fully-automated self- contained vehicle (meaning no struc- ture was jettisoned during flight) that increased interceptor performance capabilities to supersonic speeds of Mach 2.8, and exo-atmospheric alti- tudes of 100,000 ft. with the advanced IM-99B. Armed with cither convention- atheads that detonated BOMARCs were ically from remote contro] centers up to 300 miles away from the launchers, and were based at various U.S. coastal cities in anticipa- Airpower MAY 2004 19As the size and lethality of America’s missile arsenal increased, the first true winged intercontinental cruise missile came into being as the mighty SC ES BGS Cee Ce RECS UCC RU SCR ULC a UC Ory Ome ia cE) ce eR es RC em OR RUC Ue Cece mee CO MUU CRU RS GMC ORR Cn ORC OR eM aM ler Co) as an N-69D, shown undergoing launch prep at Cape Canaveral’s Pad 1 on December 16, 1959 for a flight that returned to the Cape and landed En en nm uc ese cur Ee eerie fut aaa re Poa LdWINGED MISSILES tion of large enemy bomber fleets suddenly appearing over the northern horizon. Unlike earlier missile systems requiring hundreds of man hours for launch, the BOMARC was the first to offer automatic flight control through a new computer system called SAGE (Semi-Automatic Ground Environment). This IBM-developed system remotely controlled launches in Florida from as far away as upstate Now York, and was proven in testing with the Air Force’s Air Research and Development Command (ARDC). SAGE computers remotely launched and controlled several BOMARC flights from 1,500 miles away, with a total of 70 BOMARC launches having been completed from the beginning of flight testing in 1952 to its final test flight from Cape Canaveral in April 1960. BOMARCs also successfully intercepted sev- eral types of target drones, from slow-flying QB-17s to supersonic North American X-10s and Vought Regulus IIs. Below: Three N-69C missiles await test firings at the Air Force Missile Test Center. Note subterranean block house at upper right, with earthen berm and thick con- crete walls to offer protection from possible missile explosion damage. Block houses situated near the pads for vertically-launched missiles were reinforced to withstand a direct impact had errant vehicles some- how headed back and landed directly on top of them! ni cr Above & Middle: No, the Flying Tigers never flew SM-62s, but their fabled Shark’s teeth motif did survive to adorn this SNARK. While many SNARK flights were conducted successfully up ‘to 5,000 miles over the Atlantic Missile Range from 1953 through 1960, more than 30 of the missiles were lost to crashes or were destroyed by range safety officers during developmen- tal testing. Many of these losses were attributed to guidance system failures, however. aFantastic sequence showing separation and deployment of the SNARK's 5,000-Ib, terminal-dive-delivery ballistic warhead, which was actually the entire fuselage forward of the wing. Top photo shows moment of separa- tion as the nosecone containing a dummy nuclear store deploys a small stabilizing fin to prevent tumbling at transonic speed. Middle photo show missile’s main fuselage arcing upward and away as the Pratt & Whitney J57 turbojet engine flames out. Enemy radar observers would have undoubt- edly been confused at seeing two radar blips suddenly emerging from a single one on their screens. Bottom photo shows nose cone slowly rotat- ing as it begins its terminal dive towards the target. Self-contained Inertial Guidance System guides nosecone directly to the target in a scorching and unstoppable ballistic trajectory. 22 Airpower MAY 2004 WINGED MISSILES Powerplants for the initial IM-99A consisted of both an Aerojet-General LR59 liquid-fuel rocket engine housed in the fuselage as a launch booster, and twin underwing 10,000-Ib. thrust Marquart RJ43 ramjet engines for the high-speed cruise: climb to intercept. The more advanced IM-99B was powered by a Thiokol XM-51solid-fuel booster rocket and more power- ful Marquart ramjets. First production IM-99As were rolled out in December 1957, and were based at Suffolk Gounty AFB on eastern Long Island and McGuire AFB, New Jersey, for cov- erage of the east coast well as Travis AFB in California. By 1961, IM-99Bs were based at Niagara Falls, NY, Duluth, MN, Sacramento, CA, Everett, WA, and in several Canadian cities with the RC er cancellation of that country's CF-105 Arrow. A total of 700 BOMARCS were built by Boeing from 1957 ta 1964, and IM-99Bs remained on operational status until the early-1970s. Rising from the Navaho Trail Combining nearly every aspect of the aforementioned mis: sile programs was North American's novel X-10/Navaho. Divided into two major phases, the Mach 2 X-10 turbojet- round take-off and landing test aircraft; and Mach 3 6 rocket-boosted ramjet Navaho, this program perhaps the boldest and most ambitious of them all nally designated as the B-64, the Navaho was to be, like the SNARK before it. an interim step in strategic ballistic mis: sile weaponry designed for use before fully-tested and opera tionally-ready ICBMs came on line with SAC Unlike most of the other missile programs, the Navaho was flown in two different locations on either coast of the U.S, In its first iteration as a delt inged twin-jel test aircraft, the X-10 version was operated on its retractable landing gear olf the South end of famed Rogers Dry Lake at Edwards AFB beginning with ontrolled flight on October 14, 1953. Fourteen more flights followed over the course of the next year-and-a-half, and although many challengin objectives were achieved during this phase of the pros four of the five X-10s flown re lost in accidents. Oddly cnough, only Ship One survived and is now on display at the Air Force Museum in Dayton, OH. The next step was flying the X-10 at Cape Canaveral with eight more vehicles in preparation for the rocket boosted G-26 missions, and a total of fifteen flights were accomplished operating off the noted ‘Skid Strip’ used earlier in the SNARK program. Achievements during this phase included highly-successful flights with the full auto navigation N-GA guidance system and the first flight of a turbojet-powered aircraft to a speed in excess of Mach 2 on February 29, 1956. Between September 1958 and January 1959, the final three X-10 aircraft were flown as high-speed target drones for the BOMARC IM-99 Pre Finally, in November 1956, vertically-launched rocket- boosted flights of the 26, also known as the XSM-64 or experimental test version of the SM-64 strategic missile, com- menced. Getting off to a less-than-perfect start, the first launch ended in disaster when the vehicle began uncontrol lable pitch oscillations and then disintegrated inflight ve launches were highly successful, howeve and a max. speed of Mach (2,250 mph) was attained by the sixth Navaho on September 18, 1957 — most appropriately on the tenth anniversary of the Air Force as a separate service. Of the twelve operational G-26 Navahos built, eleven were launched from the 1956 to 1958, with that phase of the program culminating in its first remo! test m. Several suce ‘ape's Pad 9 complex during testing fromAbove: This SNARK N-69D was fired 1,300 miles down the Atlantic Missile Range towards Puerto Rico, and then commanded to make a 180-degree turn and head back for a landing at what was called the ‘Skid Strip’ near Cape Canaveral. Missile is shown moments after touching down on its tandem skids as the drag chute begins to deploy. Smaller chute at extreme right is the pilot device that pulls main parachute out of its housing. Right: N-69D immediately following a successful landing at the Skid Strip on October 1, 1957. Novel tandem-skid landing gear allowed the missile to be recovered and re-used multiple times, offering a simpler and more cost-effective solution to the issue of re-usable vehicles than the Regulus ll’s complex retractable tricycle landing gear. Below: Wearing fully operational Strategic Air Command markings, this SM-62 sits on its launch trailer at Cape Canaveral's Pad 2, December 5, 1960. Note 350-gal. auxiliary fuel tanks under the wing, and missile’s overall light grey color vs. the test vehicles’ red-with-white-stripe motif. Nosecone separation line is clearly delineated by a 10-inch-wide white stripe immediately forward of the wing, Operational missile was powered by a single 10,500-Ib.-thrust Pratt & Whitney J57 turbojet, and was launched with the aid of two 130,000-Ib.-thrust solid-fuel boosters.