The FReeper Foxhole Remembers Capt. Glen Edwards and The Flying Wing (1946 - 1949) - Mar. 17th, 2004

www.edwards.af.mil ^

[SAMWolf]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

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for all those serving their country at this time.

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Capt. Glen Edwards
and
The Flying Wing

In many ways, Glen Walter Edwards was very typical of his generation.

Born when the First World War was entering its final stages, he entered adolescence in aviation's Golden Age of the 1930s, when most young people of his age looked eagerly to the skies. He came to maturity as the war clouds were gathering in Europe for the second time, and it was foreordained that his generation would face the second cataclysm.

Capt. Glen Edwards

Bright, well-educated, and with a singularly engaging personality, Edwards had much to offer to his society in World War II, and especially during the dynamic postwar years which followed.

Capt. Edwards was born in the windswept Canadian prairie town of Medicine Hat, Alberta, on March 5, 1918.

His boyhood was spent in a rural environment of farming and ranching, and he developed a lifelong love of outdoor sports. In 1931, his American-born parents moved the family to Placer County, Calif., entitling him to dual Canadian and American citizenship. The family settled near the town of Lincoln, a flat rural area in the fertile San Joaquin Valley.

The young teenager excelled in the local schools, several times being chosen president of his class. Graduating from Lincoln Union High School in 1936, he passed through Placer Junior College two years later and earned a Chemical Engineering degree from the University of California at Berkeley in 1941.



Soon after graduation, Capt. Edwards enlisted in the Army Air Force at McClellan Field. America’s pilot training pipeline was already moving into high as the nation rearmed itself. Edwards soon found himself with other fledglings, learning to fly light training planes at Cal-Areo in Ontario, Calif.

Basic and advanced training soon followed at Luke Field (now Luke Air Force Base) in Arizona, and the newly-qualified pilot was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Army Air Corps in February 1942. From there, he learned to fly the Douglas A-20 Havoc, a speedy light bomber which its pilots claimed could be handled like a fighter.

Lt. Edwards and the 86th Bombardment Squadron (Light) (47th Bombardment Group) were sent into combat in October 1942.

Following the successful conclusion of Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of North Africa, the unit established itself at Mediouna, French Morocco; from there it set about attacking Axis ground targets and providing air support to the U.S. Army forces moving against Rommel.



The desperate battle of Kasserine Pass, when the Germans smashed through the mountains hoping to drive the brash Americans into the sea, proved to be a baptism of fire for the 86th Squadron. The undermanned and undersupplied bombers flew 11 missions against the German column in one day, winning a Distinguished Unit Citation in the process. The A-20s were based so close to the battle line that Edwards could claim a record: he completed a combat mission in 19 minutes, from takeoff to landing. Following the Kasserine Pass crisis, he was decorated for improvising a skip bombing technique which was successful against the German Panzers.

Kasserine Pass proved to be a turning point in the Mediterranean Theater; from then on, the Allied forces never turned back. The pilots of the 86th harassed the Fascist armies across the face of North Africa, into and out of Sicily, and into the Italian peninsula itself.


Douglas A-20 Havoc

During the next 10 months, the Havocs continually shifted from one makeshift air base to another: two in Algeria, three in Tunisia, to Malta, then Sicily, and finally to Grottaglie on the Italian mainland.

It was there, in September 1943, that Edwards completed his combat tour. With 50 missions, four Distinguished Flying Crosses and six Air Medals under his belt, he prepared to return to the United States for a new assignment.

Now a captain, Edwards could have expected to become a flying instructor, passing on his combat techniques to student pilots. Instead, he was sent to the Pilot Standardization Board at Florence Army Air Field, S.C. Late in 1944, he was assigned to Wright Field, Ohio, where his precision flying skills would soon be put to use in the Flight Test Division.

First, however, those skills had to be honed, and the young combat veteran trained in the flight data measurement techniques necessary for the evaluation of modern aircraft. He was among the first to graduate from the Air Technical Service Command’s newly-created Flight Performance School (now known as the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School). Edwards found himself in good company. Some of the Army Air Force’s most outstanding pilots were fellow students: Richard Bong, Francis S. Gabreski, and Don Gentile, among others. Lockheed test pilot Tony LeVier was a classmate, as was Daniel H. Forbes. Upon graduation, Edwards was placed in the Bomber Test Operations Section.



Although the Flight Test Division was still located at Wright Field in Ohio, Edwards spent much time at Muroc Army Air Field in California’s high desert.

It was an exciting time to be a test pilot.

America’s manufacturing strength was at its wartime peak, and new models of bombers and fighters were emerging from its giant air industry. Jet aircraft were beginning to appear, pushing the frontiers of flight into new and largely unknown directions. Throughout 1945 and 1946, Edwards flew anything he could lay his hands on, through the sheer love of flying. Test sorties, business trips, proficiency and demonstration flights saw him at the controls of a variety of aircraft: B-24s, B-25s, C-46s, C-47s, AT-6s and even P-51s and the jet-powered P-59. Light planes such as the Stinson L-5 and civilian Taylorcraft served when nothing else was available.

His personal diary reflected his exuberance at the test projects that came his way. "Flying is a great game--if only I could get more of it."

There were B-29 checkouts, a stability measurement project with a B-25, and a project to launch JB-2 "buzz bombs" from a B-17.



Yet there was more to the young pilot than a mere love of flying, and Glen Edwards was much more than a good stick-and-rudder man. In fact, he typified the first of an entirely new generation of test pilots: carefully-trained flight test engineers who knew the science of flight as well as their airplanes themselves. Col. Albert Boyd, chief of the Fight Test Division, was carefully assembling a team of aeronautical professionals who could not only fly well, but understood just what was happening to an airplane in the air and could translate that experience into useful engineering data.

Edwards’ future soon was pointed toward the evaluation of experimental prototype aircraft. The first such assignment was to the XB-42 Mixmaster, a sleek medium bomber powered by two counterrotating pusher propellers. In this highly innovative airplane, he and Lt.Col. Henry E. Worden established a new transcontinental speed record in December 1945, flying from Long Beach, Calif. to Bolling Field in Washington, D.C., in just 5 hours and 17 minutes.

Following this feat, Edwards was selected to be the principal project pilot for Convair’s all-jet XB-46 bomber. On Feb. 12, 1946, he was named chief test pilot for the bomber section.

Thanks to my partner Snippy About It for suggesting this thread

[SAMWolf]

It was during this period that Capt. Edwards began his association with the flying wings.

John K. "Jack" Northrop had long pioneered the flying wing concept, all-wing aircraft totally lacking a conventional fuselage and tail. Such a design, he calculated, would free an airplane from the weight and drag penalties associated with a conventional fuselage and tail assembly. Moreover, the payload of an all-wing airplane would be distributed evenly along its entire span, eliminating the heavy structural bracing necessary in conventional designs. The result would be an aircraft which would be both lighter and faster, yet capable of larger payloads as well.



Northrop had begun researching the concept in the 1930s with a series of small, tailless experimental planes. His company, Northrop Aircraft, Inc., developed two designs for tailless fighters during the war years: the XP-56 Black Bullet and the revolutionary XP-79 Flying Ram. Neither proved to be successful, but Northrop was convinced that the flying wing concept would come into its own as a bomber.

The Northrop company’s XB-35 Flying Wing was initiated early in the war, and by 1946 was attracting a great deal of attention in the aviation community. Strikingly clean and sleek, the XB-35 was powered by four Pratt & Whitney R-4360 engines, each driving a pair of counterrotating pusher propellers. The plane was designed to carry a bomb load of some 52,000 pounds for a distance of 7,500 miles, at an altitude twice that of most World War II bombers.

First, however, must come test and evaluation.



Edwards was assigned to the project, and began with a careful assessment of the last of Northrop’s small concept demonstrator planes, the N-9MB. This was a one-third scale model of the XB-35, a single-seat plane with a 60-foot wingspan and powered by two small pusher engines. Such an airplane involves lots of compromises and the craft was definitely underpowered; nevertheless, Edwards liked it. He evaluated the N-9MB a month before the larger airplane’s first flight, and found that it was stable to fly, yet very maneuverable. Even though he described his first takeoff as "…an experience not soon to be forgotten," the small plane lived up to its promise and served its purpose well.

Edwards’ work continued to attract the attention of his superior officers. When Maj. Robert L. Cardenas became Chief of the Bomber Operations Section on July 1, 1946, Edwards was appointed assistant chief. Cardenas was his mentor as well as supervisor, and soon nominated him for a dazzling assignment: pilot of the Bell X-1 rocket plane, which would soon probe the frontiers of supersonic flight. Boyd passed over this recommendation in favor of another of his pilots, Capt. Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager, but Edwards was clearly in the first rank at the Flight Test Division. Boyd selected Cardenas to fly the B-29 used to launch the X-1, and Edwards was sent to Princeton to study the new field of aircraft stability and control. In June 1947, he was awarded his master of science degree in aeronautical engineering.


3 years late and 400 percent over budget, the first XB-35 is ready for test flights

The month of May 1948 found the young test pilot at Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio, hard at work with a series of tail flutter tests on the XB-46 and evaluating air-to-air refueling techniques with the B-29.

The bomber section was experiencing a temporary shortage of pilots, leaving Edwards and his remaining pilots busier than ever. "[May 4] Things are sure in a squeeze. We’ve got so many projects and so few pilots to perform same. If we don’t get some relief pretty soon I may be forced to stay here while the B-45A service tests are going on! How horrible. Got to get to Muroc." Two weeks later, his wish came true. On May 18, he wrote: "…this evening all heck broke loose. Seems like I’m bound for Muroc tomorrow by fastest means possible. Plan to run stability on the YB-49, performance on B-45A and Phase II on XB-35—What fun! Sounds like I’ll be there for awhile. Packing like mad tonight."



By then, it was apparent that Air Force interest in the propeller-driven XB-35 had peaked, and that the future of flying wing development lay in the big bomber’s jet propelled derivative, the YB-49. Compared with this futuristic aircraft, the B-45 Tornado would seem to be a docile and unexciting workhorse. But like many airplanes on the cutting edge of science, the sleek jet also brought with it a number of problems. Converting a piston-engine design to jet power involves far more than a simple swapping of power plants, and the aerodynamics of all-wing technology had not yet been fully explored.

Two days after getting his new assignment, Edwards had his first flight in the YB-49. "[May 20] Got a short flight in on the YB-49 today—flew in the co-pilot seat with Bob [Cardenas] at the controls. Air speed [indicator] went out. So we landed using an A-26 as pacer. Plan to fly again tomorrow." The flight took place as scheduled. "[May 21] Got off another flight today. This time I flew the airplane, and must confess it is something of an experience. Stability is poor all around—landing is peculiar. Has a great tendency to float."


Maj Robert Cardenas completing walk-around inspection before first flight in the YB-49.

Indeed it did. Whenever the YB-49 neared touchdown, it compressed the air between its huge wing area and the runway; aviators were just beginning to appreciate the phenomenon of "ground effect" upon all-wing aircraft.

The floating tendency was harmless — forty years later, the B-2 Spirit would experience the same thing — but the marginal stability was more of a problem. "[May 27] Got two flights off today with doubtful success. Darndest airplane I ever tried to do anything with. Quite uncontrollable at times. Hope to be more favorably impressed as time goes on."

Others, however, shared his doubts. The final entry in Glen Edwards’ diary, on June 3, was both ebullient and thoughtful: "What a wonderful day this has been! Got off two flights on the YB-49, a lovely flight on the DC-6, one on the C-74—and I’m bushed…Col. Boyd flew the YB-49 for the first time today and wasn’t too impressed. We all share the same views. A passable airplane in ideal circumstances."

That was the last entry in the diary. Two days later, on June 5, 1948, Edwards and four others were killed in the crash of their YB-49.


YB-49 had same wingspan as current day B-2 Stealth bomber-- 172 feet

Just before 8 a.m. on that Saturday morning, a motorist on State Road 466 saw huge pieces of metal plummeting to earth northwest of Muroc Air Force Base.

YB-49 s/n 42-102368, undergoing a series of performance evaluations, had departed controlled flight and experienced a catastrophic failure in the air.

The center section containing the cockpit and crew stations crashed within view of the base; the outer wing panels fluttered to earth some distance away.


A wing tip came down a few miles from the main crash site and led to the belief that the crash was cause by a structural failure.

Capt. Glen W. Edwards and Maj. Daniel H. Forbes Jr. were the pilots that day; 1st Lt. Edward L. Swindell, Mr. Clare C. Lesser, and Mr. C.H. LaFountain were also aboard. The exact chain of events leading to the bomber’s loss of control remains a matter of some controversy.

Any person is much more than the sum of his professional accomplishments, and Glen W. Edwards was no exception.

That he was a highly skilled airman was only to be expected — then as now, that was the norm at the base that now bears his name. But the memories of those who knew him, his letters, and the personal diary that he penned over many years, give intriguing dimension to the portrait of the proficient test pilot.


Height of the YB-49 was 15 feet, 2 inches.

What emerges is a consistently good-natured person who loved life, freely and enthusiastically. He enjoyed a number of enthusiasms, of which flying was barely the first. Outdoor activities ran a close second, and Edwards exhausted himself skiing, swimming, skeet shooting and hunting whenever he had the chance. If he could manage to borrow an airplane and fly a great distance to his sport, he was supremely happy. He eagerly followed indoor sports as well. He was a tiger on the dance floor, even by the standards of the Jitterbug Era; one professional dancer urged him to give up flying and head to Hollywood. It follows, then, that he was an exacting judge of swing bands, and in the privacy of his diary he freely critiqued each of his dance partners according to their ability.


The main crash site was just a mass of melted aluminum and twisted metal. Oxygen tanks were about the only thing left that was recognizable

His good looks and dancing skills seem to have cut a wide swathe through the ranks of femininity.

Youthful pilots seldom lack for dates, but Edwards seems to have set new standards for off-duty activity. It must be said that he was impartial in his gallantry. Evening after evening ended on a note of wholehearted praise: "Swell kid!; Really a nice kid!; Great gal!; A neat little dancer!" Over the years, only the names changed… For a time there was a fairly contrived relationship with Hollywood actress Joan Leslie and her press agent. There were other occasional favorites, but none long-term, and his last days found him still not ready to settle down.


Glen Walter Edwards


Daniel Hugh Forbes, Jr


Edward Lee Swindell


Charles H. LaFountain


Clare C. Leser

Unlike many younger men, Edwards was an accomplished cook and baker, and prided himself each time that he produced a "world-class sour cream pie" or "the apple pie of a lifetime." He seldom commented upon books that stirred him, nor discussed his aviation work in detail. Instead, he cherished his friends, his family, and the numerous encounters of a busy and active life.

By all accounts, Glen Edwards was a man one would have liked to know.

[SAMWolf]

The product of a long period of experimentation and development by one of the aviation community’s most noted designers, the XB-35 was America’s first attempt at an all-wing heavy bomber.


Northrop XB-35

In the darkest days of World War II, when it appeared that Nazi Germany might well conquer Great Britain and the Soviet Union, the Army Air Forces saw the need for a large bomber with intercontinental range. Such a plane, based in the United States, must be able to cross the Atlantic and hit Germany with a large bomb load. Jack Northrop saw this formidable requirement as made-to-order for his flying wing concept. Only a flying wing, freed of the weight and drag of a conventional fuselage and tail, could have the performance necessary to meet that need. Northrop began work on a full-scale version of his earlier designs. At about the same time, the rival Consolidated Aircraft Corporation began work on its own design, destined to become the Convair B-36.

Jack Northrop’s XB-35 was a marvelous aircraft. Required to carry a 10,000-pound bomb load a distance of 10,000 miles, the futuristic plane was huge for its day: with a wing span of 172 feet and a length of only 53 feet, it stood 20 feet off the ground.


The Northrop plant was too small to build these airframes indoors so most of the manufacturing happened outside if at all possible

Its dramatically-swept shape (the same span and degree of sweepback of today’s B-2 bomber) was thrilling to see in the skies, particularly to a generation raised on aircraft of the 1930s and '40s. Seen from the side, it resembled a silver teardrop; viewed directly from the front, it nearly disappeared.

Four Pratt & Whitney R-4360 engines mounted internally, close to the leading edge. Each engine drove a pair of counter-rotating four-bladed propellers by means of a long extension shaft and a complex gearbox. Engines roaring and propellers churning, the bomber was a majestic sight in the air, but the complicated drive train proved to be its undoing.



The XB-35’s first flight, on June 25, 1946, was a success and Max Stanley later said that he would never have known that he was piloting a flying wing if he hadn’t looked behind him.

But that was about the only trouble-free flight the bomber was ever to have. Numerous equipment failures had already delayed the plane’s development by more than a year, and a host of gearbox and drive train problems plagued the flight test program. Only three B-35s were completed (two X-model and one Y-), and they accumulated only a modest number of hours in the air. In order to save the program, the government ordered the remainder of the initial service test models to be converted to jet power.

---

Popular folklore among aviation enthusiasts holds that Northrop’s futuristic Flying Wing was a wonder plane which was smothered in its cradle — a jet-powered marvel of fantastic performance which could have revolutionized postwar aviation "if only" it had been given a fair chance.


Northrop YB-49

The fact that the plane was canceled amid rumors of high-level conspiracy, and replaced by the more conventional — if equally awesome — B-36, only added to the legend.

In point of fact, the YB-49 had great promise, but flight testing soon revealed that it also had a lot of things wrong with it.

Most prototypes do, particularly those designs that push hard against the boundaries of aeronautical possibilities. And it was certainly true that the concept of a jet powered flying wing offered many possibilities: increased range and speed for the same power; more efficient airframe; substantial weight-lifting capability; and smaller aircrew. Its payload could be distributed evenly along the entire span, eliminating heavy internal bracing. Similarly, bomb bays no longer had to be confined to a narrow fuselage tube, but could be spread across the underside of the wing. From a strictly design standpoint, these advantages are indisputable.


Convair B-36

Many of the YB-49’s problems lay in its engineering design, and the compromises necessary in converting a piston engine design to jet propulsion. The Flying Wing’s basic airfoil section might have been optimum for the XB-35, but was clearly inadequate for the higher speeds needed for a jet bomber. Thus, the YB-49 cruised nearly 100 mph slower than the XB-47. The XB-35 never achieved its hoped-for bomb load, and its jet derivative fared no better.

Even worse, the bomb bays were simply too small for the nuclear weapons of the day. The cockpit layout was horrible: the pilot had a one-man bubble affording good visibility, but it could not be opened. There were no ejection seats. To leave his position, the pilot had to rotate his seat 90 degrees, lower it several feet, and walk to a hatch 15 feet away. The co-pilot’s position was buried in the leading edge; he had a very poor view that prevented him from taking off or landing the aircraft.


The YB-49 had eight Allison J35-A-5 engines with 4000lbs of thrust each. Pilot's position was in the bubble canopy. He sat three feet higher than the copilot.

Some of these problems could have been corrected, but others could not be. The designers had not been able to anticipate the critical control requirements needed for a large all-wing airplane, especially for a system that could anticipate and correct problems before the pilot was aware of them. That, of course, would have to wait for the computer age. The Air Force’s flight evaluators soon found that the YB-49 was sloppy in turns, and took too long to steady up for an effective bombing run. Its 1940s control technology was inadequate to the big plane’s needs. Worse, it could not provide the necessary margin of flight safety.


YB-49 was 53 feet and one inch from nose to the vertical fin. Bomb load was 16,000lbs

Perhaps it is fair to say that Northrop’s design concepts were solid, but the means to implement them were still several decades away. The YB-49 was simply a generation ahead of its time.

Additional Sources:

www.kstope.ang.af.mil
www.check-six.com
home.att.net/~jbaugher2
www.yourzagi.com
www.globalaircraft.org
www.volny.cz
www.hobby.fbi.cz
www.pilotfriend.com
www.military.cz
1000aircraftphotos.com
www.fleetairarmarchive.net

[SAMWolf]

The YB-49 was in competition with the Convair B-36 for consideration as the next long-range strategic bomber for the USAF. The Air Force decided to order the B-36D (with six piston engines and four jets) to meet the requirement for a long-range strategic bomber, and the contract for 30 new RB-49A aircraft was canceled in April of 1949. In November of 1949, the conversion of the existing YB-35 airframes to jet-powered configuration was also cancelled. The surviving airframes were ordered destroyed. In 1952, Jack Northrop abruptly retired from the company he had founded and divested himself of all interests. He was personally devastated by the cancellation and destruction of his pet project.



The reasons for the abrupt cancellation of the B-49 project remain uncertain even today, and many of the details are still classified. The chronic stability problems, plus the series of accidents that seem to dog the project at every step along the way certainly must have played a role. In addition, the YB-49 carried its bomb load in a series of bomb bay cells, each of which was too small to accommodate the Mk III and Mk 4 atomic bombs of the day, which were 5 feet in diameter, 10 feet long, and weighed 10,000 pounds. In contrast, the weapons bay in the B-36 was cavernous and could carry almost anything.



In 1980, Jack Northrop finally told his side of the story to the press. He claimed that the YB-49 program had been cancelled by the Air Force not because of any insoluble technical problems but because he refused to obey an order to merge Northrop with Convair. He said that he had kept quiet all these years because he feared that the Pentagon would boycott his company if he disclosed the story to the public. He claimed that Air Force Secretary Stuart Symington had issued the merger order slightly after Northrop had won the RB-49 contract in June of 1948. Symington claimed at that time that the Air Force could not afford to support any new aircraft companies on its declining post-war budget, and that unless Northrop agreed to the merger, the flying wing bomber would not be built at all. Jack Northrop did meet with Floyd Odlum, head of Atlas Corporation, a Wall Street holding company for Convair, to discuss a possible merger, but the talks went nowhere. Jack Northrop said later that he had built up his company over the years and owed a debt of loyalty to his employees and was not about to have his flying wing built by anyone other than his people working at the Northrop factory in Hawthorne, California. Shortly thereafter, Secretary Symington abruptly ordered that the flying wing program be cancelled. As part of the cancellation order, the Air Force ordered that seven of the Flying Wings then under conversion be destroyed.



The YB-49 cancellation story became part of a congressional investigation that took place in June of 1949 in the wake of the awarding of the strategic bomber contract to the B-36, with charges of undue influence and favoritism toward Convair being aired. At that time, the Secretary of Defense was Louis A. Johnson, who had replaced James Forrestal on March 28, 1949. On April 23, 1949 Secretary Johnson abruptly cancelled the large aircraft carrier, the *United States*, which had been ordered by his predecessor to provide the Navy with strategic bombing capability, and went ahead with plans for a fleet of B-36D long-range strategic bombers. The Navy was enraged at the cancellation of its supercarrier, but the Air Force insisted that strategic bombing was strictly an Air Force responsibility. At that time, both President Harry Truman and Defense Secretary Johnson were under severe budgetary constraints, and felt that the government could not afford both new strategic bombers and a new carrier force. However, there were doubts expressed that the B-36 could defend itself against Soviet jet fighters, and there were concerns that the Air Force had spent a fortune on what would turn out to be a sitting duck.


Unfortunately - the remaining YB-49s ended up being cut up and sold for scrap. Not a single example remains today

There had been rumors in the press that Secretary Symington had been tapped to be the head of the new firm that would have been created from the merger of Convair and Northrop. Jack Northrop had been a witness at the B-36 hearings, and at that time he denied that there had been anything suspicious about the cancellation of the YB-49. Many years later, Northrop admitted that he had lied under oath at the hearings, fearful that Symington might completely obliterate his company in reprisal. Symington later went on to serve in the US Senate for 24 years, and he unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1960. He retired from the Senate in 1977. Symington has always denied that there is any truth to Jack Northrop's claim. It is interesting, though, to note that the production of the F-89 Scorpion interceptor commenced during this same time period, indicating that Jack Northrop's problems with his flying wing project did not prevent his company from being given other major defense contracts. The true story of what really happened with the YB-49 may never be known.

[SAMWolf]

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Good Wednesday Morning Everyone

Happy Saint Patrick's Day
from
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[Aeronaut]

Good morning Snippy.

Dayton-Wright RB-1 (1920)

[steveegg]

Good morning, and Happy St. Patrick's Day. The B-35/49 was a very interesting aircraft. I seem to recall a program on Discovery Wings a while ago about it, and it mentioned a planned civilian version with theater-type seating and a good part of the wing glassed so the passengers could get abetter view forward.

[steveegg]

Now that plane takes the cake. That certainly is a strong wing, but forward visibility leaves something to be desired to say the least.

[Aeronaut]

...but forward visibility leaves something to be desired to say the least.

Note the side "bubbles" in the upper picture.

[StayAt HomeMother]

Today, on St. Patrick’s Day, it is appropriate to remember at least a few of Irish immigrants who have fought in every major (and most of the minor) engagements of the US military.

Revolutionary War: Commodore John Barry, “Father of the American Navy,” was born in a thatched cottage in County Wexford, Ireland, and rose from humble cabin boy to senior commander of the United States fleet. See The FReeper Foxhole Profiles Commodore John Barry - Aug. 9th, 2003
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-vetscor/960949/posts

Civil War: An estimated 170,000 men born in Ireland joined the Union Army, and another 40,000 joined the Confederate Army. Thomas F. Meagher, born in County Waterford, Ireland, who had been exiled to Tasmania in 1849, fled to the United States in 1852 and joined the Union Army where he was promoted to brigadier general and commanded the famed 2nd "Irish Brigade,” lst Division, 2nd Corps, Army of the Potomac. See The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The Irish Brigade - Mar. 17th, 2003
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-vetscor/866520/posts

Plains Wars: Myles Walter Keogh born near the village of Leighlinbridge, County Carlow, was the senior captain among the five companies wiped out with Custer at Little Bighorn on June 25, 1876.

World War II: Here are some of the Irish-born men died while serving in the US Army in Europe. These soldiers were initially interred in various US military cemeteries on the Continent, but after the War their remains were returned to Ireland for re-interment at the request of their next-of-kin.
Technician JOSEPH P. CARMODY
PFC PATRICK J. COMER
PVT FRANK J. FINNERTY
PVT PATRICK J. FITZGERALD
PVT MARTIN J. KELLY
PVT JAMES KEVANE
PFC MICHAEL J. LYONS
SGT THOMAS McARDLE
PFC PATRICK J. McDONAGH
1/LT EDWARD J. McKEON
PVT THOMAS MOLONEY
S/SGT THOMAS MORAN
PVT PATRICK J. MORRIS
PFC THOMAS J. MORRISROE
PVT THOMAS O'BRIEN
SGT M. J. O'SHAUGHNESSY
SGT JOHN O'SHEA
SGT EDWARD SMITH

Korea: Among the Irish immigrants to lose their lives while serving in the US forces in Korea were Mark James Brennan of Kiltamagh; Co Mayo, John Corcoran of Millstreet Co Cork and John Canty of Lixnaw Co Kerry.

And in Vietnam, Irish-born military whose names are on the Vietnam Wall include:
BERNARD ANTHONY FREYNE, L/CPL Marine Corps, born BALLAGHADERREEN, ROSCOMMON 
PATRICK GALLAGHER, CPL Marine Corps, born BALLYHAUNIS, MAYO
PETER MARY NEE, L/CPL Marine Corps, born GALWAY/CONNERMARA
PATRICK CHRISTOPHER NEVIN, SGT Army, born CLAREMORRIS, MAYO
and a nurse: PAMELA DOROTHY DONOVAN, 2/LT Army Nurse Corps, born THE WIRRAL MERSEYSIDE, UK (DUBLIN)

Source: http://www.illyria.com/irish/irishwar.html

[E.G.C.]

Good morning, Snippy and everyone at the Freeper Foxhole.

Good luck to OU as they take on LSU in the first round of the NIT tonight.

The weather's nice here in SW OK. Forecast to reach 70 today.

[snippy_about_it]

Able to withstand 12 G's. LOL. Good morning Aeronaut.

[snippy_about_it]

Thanks to my partner Snippy...

No thanks needed since you supply at least half my ideas. ;-)

I just thought we should remember our test pilots lesser known than folks like Yeager. Good job on the thread Sam, thanks.

[The Mayor]

By You I have been upheld from birth . . . . My praise shall be continually of You. —Psalm 71:6

Whatever the season of life, attitude makes all the difference.

[steveegg]

Noted. I still wouldn't want to try to fly it.

A couple of years ago, the EAA offered rides in their replica of the Spirit of St. Louis, with the passenger sitting way back where Lindbergh sat on his trans-Atlantic flight. Between the (non-)view out the front and the VERY heavy controls, I have no idea how Lindy made it to Paris (I'll leave out the noise and the fumes that must've been coming from the cockpit gas tank, which thankfully was replaced by the pilot).

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning EGC. It's only going to be 28 today. :-(

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning Mayor.

[The Mayor]

Mornin Snippy

looking at about 10 inches of dandruff and only 22
Spring where is spring??

[E.G.C.]

Folks, please be sure to keep your anti-virus software upated.

[snippy_about_it]

Spring? We've been skipping that the last few years. We now extend winter and just jump right into August it seems.

[The Mayor]

Ya, I agree.

[Soaring Feather]

Top of the morning to you all in The Foxhole!

[CholeraJoe]

Great AirPower thread. I spent some temporary duty at Edwards AFB, CA. It doesn't look much different than it did in the 40's. I got to see the Space Shuttle land there once.

[Valin]

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on March 17:
1473 James IV king of Scotland (1488-1513)
1578 Francesco Albana Italian painter (Mary's Ascension)
1777 Roger Brooke Taney Calvert MD, 5th Chief Justice (Dred Scott decision)
1780 Thomas Chalmers 1st moderator (Free Church of Scotland 1843-47)
1789 Edmund Kean London England, tragic actor (Shylock)
1804 James Bridger scout/fur trader/mountain man par excellence
1820 Patrick Edward Connor Brevet Major General (Union volunteers)
1828 Patrick Ronayne Cleburne the "Stonewall" of the West (Major General-Confederate Army)
1832 Moncure Daniel Conway US,clergyman/author/abolitionist (Life of Thomas Paine)
1832 Walter Quintin Gresham Brevet Major General (Union volunteers)
1834 Gottlieb Daimler Germany, engineer/inventor/auto pioneer-designed 1st motorcycle
1874 Kincsem horse that never lost a race
1874 Stephen Samuel Wise US, president of Zionist Organization of America
1895 Shemp Howard [Samuel Horwitz] Brooklyn NY, comedian/actor (3 Stooges, Bank Dick)
1899 Gloria Swanson Chicago IL, actress (Sadie Thompson, Killer Bees)
1902 Bobby Jones Jr Atlanta GA, PGA golfer (Grand Slam 1930)
1914 (Slinging)Sammy Baugh Temple TX, NFL hall of famer QB (Washington Redskins)
1919 Nat "King" Cole Montgomery AL, singer (Unforgettable, Mona Lisa)
1927 Patrick Allen Malawi, actor (Roman Holiday, Dial "M" for Murder)
1930 James Benson Irwin Pittsburgh PA, Colonel USAF/astronaut (Apollo 15)
1936 Thomas K Mattingly II Chicago IL, Captain USN/astronaut (Apollo 16, STS-4, 51C)
1938 Rudolf Nureyev Russia, ballet dancer/choreographer (Kirov)
1941 Gene Pitney Hartford CT, rock singer (Town without Pity)
1942 John Wayne Gacy Jr Chicago IL, serial killer (32 boys)
1942 Paul Kantner rock guitarist (Jefferson Starship-White Rabbit)
1944 Danny DeVito Neptune NJ, actor (Louie-Taxi, Twins)
1944 John Sebastian New York NY, singer (Loving Spoonful, Welcome Back Kotter)
1948 William [Ford] Gibson Canada, sci-fi author (Neuromancer, Count Zero)
1949 Patrick Duffy Townsend MT, actor (Bobby-Dallas, Man from Atlantis)
1951 Kurt Russell Springfeild MA, actor (Thing, Overboard, Mean Seasons)
1954 Lesley-Anne Down London, actress (A Little Night Music, Moonraker)
1955 Gary Sinise actor (Apollo 13, Forrest Gump)
1955 Paul Overstreet Van Cleave MS, country singer (Daddy's Come Around)
1964 Rob Lowe Charlottesville VA, actor (St Elmo's Fire, West Wing, Wayne's World, Class)

---

Deaths which occurred on March 17:
0180 Antonius Marcus Aurelius [Marcus Verus], Emperor of Rome, dies at 58
0461 St Patrick patron St of Ireland, dies in Saul (according to legend)
1040 Harold British King (1035-40), dies
1516 Giuliano de' Medici monarch of Florence, dies at 37
1653 Johan van Galen Admiral (battle of Livorno), dies in battle at 48
1806 David Dale industrialist & philanthropist, dies
1853 Christian Doppler physicist, dies
1863 John Pelham US Confederate artillery major, dies in battle at 24
1915 Walter Crane English painter/cartoonist/illustrator, dies at 69
1941 Joachim Schepke German commandant (U-100), dies in battle
1956 Fred Allen comedian (Colgate Comedy Hour, Fred Allen Radio Show), dies at 61
1961 Suzanna Salter 1st US female mayor/temperance leader, dies at 101
1962 Frank Orth actor (Boston Blackie, The Brothers), dies at 82
1965 Almos Alonzo Stagg football coach (University of Chicago), dies in California at 102
1965 Quentin Reynolds newscaster (Its News to Me)/author (FBI), dies at 62
1989 Merritt Butrick actor (Shy People, Wired to Kill), dies of AIDS at 29
1990 Capucine [Germaine Lefebvre] actress (Rendez-Vous de Juillet, Curse of the Pink Panther), commits suicide in Lausanne Switzerland at 57
1990 Rick Grech rocker (Blind Faith, Traffic), dies at 44
1992 Grace Stafford Lantz cartoon voice (Woody Woodpecker), dies at 87
1993 Helen Hayes actress (Airport), dies of congestive heart failure at 92
1995 Ahmad Khomeini youngest son of Iran ayatollah Khomeini, dies at 48
1995 Ronnie Kray English gangster (The Firm), dies at 61
1995 Sunnyland Smart jazz/blues singer/pianist (Delta Blues), dies at 87

---

Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1966 BALDOCK FREDERICK C.---PITTSBURGH PA.
[02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE IN 98]
1967 GOEDEN GENE WILLIAM---CORNELIUS OR.
1968 BARBER THOMAS D.---AURORA CO.
[LOST OVER WATER/SAR FAILED]
1968 BENSON LEE D.---SAN MATEO CA.
[SAR FAILED]
1968 COLLAZO RAPHAEL C.---GARDENA CA.
[REMAINS RETURNED 05/93]
1968 DOSS DALE W.---VIRGINIA BEACH VA.
[03/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1968 HENSLEY THOMAS TRUETT---LAFAYETTE LA.
1968 HUBBS DONALD R.---PALMYRA NJ.
[SAR FAILED]
1968 NIGHTENGALE RANDALL J.---ONARGA IL.
[SAR FAILED]
1968 ROSS JLYNN JR.---DETROIT MI.
[REMAINS ID 14 JUN 96]
1968 SHUMAN EDWIN A.---MARBLEHEAD MA.
[03/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1969 ARMISTEAD STEVEN R.---LOS ANGELES CA.
1969 DINAN DAVID T. III---NUTLEY NJ.
1969 FINNEY CHARLES E.---SALTVILLE MS.
[REMAINS RETURNED 03/15/00]
1971 BAUMAN RICHARD L.---COLUMBUS OH.
1971 DIX CRAIG M.---LIVONIA MI.
1971 HESTAND JAMES H.---OKLAHOMA CITY OK.
[02/12/73 RELEASED BY PRG, ALIVE IN 96]
1971 HARRIS BOBBY G.---MISSION TX.
1971 LILLY LAWRENCE E.---LOS ANGELES CA.

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

---

On this day...
0432 St Patrick, a bishop, is carried off to Ireland as a slave
0455 Roman senator Petronius Maximus becomes Emperor
1521 Ferdinand Magellan discovers the Philippines
1537 French troops invade Flanders
1658 Pro-Charles II plot in England discovered
1672 England declares war on Netherlands
1722 Willem KH Friso appointed mayor of Drente
1753 1st official St Patrick's Day
1755 Transylvania Land Co buys Kentucky for $50,000 from a Cherokee chief
1756 St Patrick's Day 1st celebrated in NYC at Crown & Thistle Tavern
1762 1st St Patrick's Day parade in NYC
1766 Britain repeals Stamp Act
1776 British forces evacuate Boston to Nova Scotia during Revolutionary War
1800 English warship Queen Charlotte catches fire; 700 die
1804 Johann von Schiller's "Wilhelm Tell" premieres
1833 Phoenix Society forms (New York)
1836 Texas abolishes slavery
1845 Henry Jones, patents self-raising flour
1845 Rubber band patented by Stephen Perry of London
1847 Dmitri Shostakovich's opera "Macbeth" is produced (Florence)
1854 1st park land purchased by a US city, Worcester MA
1861 Italy declares independence; Kingdom of Italy proclaimed
1863 Battle of Kelly's Ford, Virginia (211 casualities)
1868 Postage stamp canceling machine patent issued
1870 Massachusetts legislature authorizes incorporation of Wellesley Female Seminary
1871 National Association of Professional Base-Ball players organized
1876 1st record high jump over 6' (Marshall Jones Brooks)
1876 General Crook destroy Cheyennes & Oglala-Sioux Indian camps
1886 Carrollton Massacre, (Mississippi) 20 blacks killed
1891 British Steamer "Utopia" sinks off Gibraltar killing 574
1894 US & China sign treaty preventing Chinese laborers from entering US
1897 Robert Fitzsimmons KOs James J Corbett in 14 for heavyweight boxing title
1898 1st practical submarine 1st submerges, New York NY (for 1 hour 40 minutes)
1905 Eleanor Roosevelt marries FDR in New York
1906 President Theodore Roosevelt uses term "muckraker"
1908 Quickest world heavyweight title fight (Tommy Burns KOs Jem Roche in 88 seconds)
1912 Camp Fire Girls organization announced by Mrs Luther Halsey Gulick
1917 1st exclusively women's bowling tournament begins in St Louis
1917 Tsar Nicolas II of Russia abdicates the throne
1919 Dutch steel workers strike for 8 hour day & minimum wages
1921 Dr Marie Stopes opens Britain's 1st birth control clinic (London)
1921 Lenin proclaims New Economic Politics
1921 Sailors revolt in Kronstadt (thousands die)
1926 Spain & Brazil prevent Germany joining League of Nations
1927 US government doesn't sign league of Nations disarmament treaty
1929 General Motors acquires German auto manufacturer Adam Opel
1929 Spanish dictator Primo de Rivera closes university of Madrid
1931 Stalin throws Krupskaya Lenin out of Central Committee
1932 German police raid Hitler's Nazi-headquarter
1934 Dollfuss, Mussolini & Gömbös sign Donau Pact (protocols of Rome)
1942 Belzec Concentration Camp opens-30,000 Lublin Polish Jews transported
1944 Actor Charlton Heston weds Lydia Clarke
1950 Element 98 (Californium) announced
1953 Bill Veeck says he will sell his 80% of St Louis Browns for $2,475M
1953 WBAY TV channel 2 in Green Bay WI (CBS) begins broadcasting
1953 WWLP TV channel 22 in Springfield MA (NBC) begins broadcasting
1955 Maurice "Rocket" Richard suspended, sparks 7 hour riot in Montréal
1957 Ramon Magsaysay, President of Philippines dies in a plane crash
1958 Navy launches Vanguard 1 into orbit (2nd US), measures Earth shape
1959 Australia & USSR restore diplomatic relations
1959 Dalai Lama flees Tibet for India
1960 Eisenhower forms anti-Castro-exile army under the CIA
1961 New York DA arrests professional gamblers who implicate Seton Hall players
1963 Bob Cousy plays his last NBA game
1963 Elizabeth Ann Seton of New York beatified (canonized in 1975)
1963 Eruptions of Mount Agung Bali, kills 1,500 Balinese
1966 US sub locates missing H-bomb in Mediterranean
1969 Golda Meir becomes Israel's 4th Prime Minister
1970 US casts their 1st UN Security Council veto (Support England)
1976 Rubin "Hurricane" Carter is retried
1986 Haemers gang robs gold transport in Belgium of 35 million BF
1987 IBM releases PC-DOS version 3.3
1988 Highest scoring NCAA basketball game: Loyola-Marymnt 119, Wyoming 115
1988 Iran says Iraq uses poison gas (SHOCK)
1989 Dorothy Cudahy is 1st female grand marshal of St Patrick Day Parade
1990 PBA National Championship Won by Jim Pencak
1991 Irish Lesbians & Gays march in St Patrick Day parade
1991 USSR holds a referendum to determine if they should stay together; 9 of 15 Soviet representatives officially approve new union treaty
1992 Islamic Jihad truck bombs Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires Argentina killing 29
1992 Russian manned space craft TM-14, launches into orbit
1993 86 killed by bomb attack in Calcutta
1994 It is announced there is no smoking in Cleveland Indians new ballpark
1995 Sinn-Fein leader Gerry Adams visits White House
1996 Mike Tyson beat Frank Bruno in 3rd round to gain Heavyweight title

---

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Boston MA : Evacuation Day (1776)
Ireland : St Patrick's Day/Irish National Day
World : World Maritime Day
US : Small Family Farm Week (Day 4)
US : Straw Hat Week (Day 4)
US : Daffodil Days (Day 4)
International Hamburger & Pickle Month

---

Religious Observances
Ancient Rome : Liberalia; honoring Liber, Libera
Christian : Commemoration of St Gertrude of Nivelles & Joseph of Arimathea
Roman Catholic, Anglican : Memorial of St Patrick, bishop, missionary to Ireland (optional)

---

Religious History
1734 Forty-two families of German Protestant refugees landed in the American colonies. Sponsored by the British Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge (SPCK), the 78 religious pilgrims soon founded the town of Ebenezer, 30 miles from Savannah, Georgia.
1789 Birth of Charlotte Elliott, English devotional writer. An illness at age 33 left her an invalid her remaining 50 years, during which she devoted herself to religious writing. Of her 150 hymns, "Just As I Am" remains popular today.
1841 Birth of James R. Murray, American sacred music editor. A veteran of the American Civil War, Murray is better remembered today as composer of the hymn tune MUELLER, to which we sing the Christmas carol, "Away in a Manger."
1890 Birth of Julius R. Mantey, co-author (with H. E. Dana) of a popular intermediate biblical language grammar. Originally published in 1927, the "Dana & Mantey" New Testament Greek Grammar is still popular, and still in print!
1897 Emilie Grace Briggs became the first woman in America to graduate from a Presbyterian theological school, when she received her Bachelor of Divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary, in New York City.

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

---

Thought for the day :
"He is no lawyer who cannot take two sides."

---

Hallmark cards that never made it...
I'm so miserable without you ...
(inside card)
It's almost like you're still here.

---

New State Slogans...
Tennessee: The Educashun State

---

Male Language Patterns...
"It would take too long to explain," REALLY MEANS, "I have no idea how it works."

---

Female Language Patterns...
1. "Fine"
This is the word women use at the end of any argument when
they feel they are right but can't stand to hear you argue any longer. It means that you should shut up. (NEVER use "fine" to describe how she looks. This will cause you to have one of those arguments.)

[Professional Engineer]

The family settled near the town of Lincoln, a flat rural area in the fertile San Joaquin Valley.

I've been to Lincoln quite alot. I have considerable number of shirt tail family and a grandmother who live there still. It's not very rural anymore.

[Professional Engineer]

Nice shot of the YB-35 and a P-61. Look at all those round engines.

[Professional Engineer]

Howdy ma'am

[Professional Engineer]

G'morning Miss Feather.

[Professional Engineer]

I got to see the Space Shuttle land there once.

Man, I'm jealous. Back in 1987, when the B1 fleet was grounded, I drove by Edwards while on leave. There were two B1's flying in and around the canyons there at 200-300 feet playing follow the leader. Pretty neat to see.

[SAMWolf]

Good morning Snippy. Happy Saint Patricks Day!

[SAMWolf]

How the heck did the pilot see where he was going? It must have been fun leaning to one side or the other.

[Johnny Gage]

Good Morning everyone. Woke up to about 2-3" of new snow, very very pretty out. Gonna get back into the 30's today, and saying maybe in the low 50's by this weekend.

It's definitely that time of year where it can't decide if it's still winter, or if it should be spring.. ROFL!

I guess todays obvious choice would be the "grandchild" of the XB-35/49.

---

Air Power
B-2 "Spirit"

The B-2 Spirit is a multi-role bomber capable of delivering both conventional and nuclear munitions. Along with the B-52 and B-1B, the B-2 provides the penetrating flexibility and effectiveness inherent in manned bombers. Its low-observable, or "stealth," characteristics give it the unique ability to penetrate an enemy's most sophisticated defenses and threaten its most valued, and heavily defended, targets. Its capability to penetrate air defenses and threaten effective retaliation provide an effective deterrent and combat force well into the 21st century.

The blending of low-observable technologies with high aerodynamic efficiency and large payload gives the B-2 important advantages over existing bombers. Its low-observability provides it greater freedom of action at high altitudes, thus increasing its range and a better field of view for the aircraft's sensors.

Four General Electric F118-GE-100 non-afterburning turbofan engines (each delivering approximately 19,000 lbs. of thrust) drive the airplane to a maximum speed described as "high subsonic," and to altitudes near 50,000 ft. They also provide an unrefueled range of approximately 6,000 nautical miles. A single aerial refueling extends this to some 10,000 miles and multiple visits to air tankers stretches the range indefinitely.

The B-2's low observability is derived from a combination of reduced infrared, acoustic, electromagnetic, visual and radar signatures. These signatures make it difficult for the sophisticated defensive systems to detect, track and engage the B-2. Many aspects of the low-observability process remain classified; however, the B-2's composite materials, special coatings and flying-wing design all contribute to its "stealthiness."

The B-2 has a crew of two pilots, an aircraft commander in the left seat and mission commander in the right, compared to the B-1B's crew of four and the B-52's crew of five.

The B-2 is intended to deliver gravity nuclear and conventional weapons, including precision-guided standoff weapons. An interim, precision-guided bomb capability called Global Positioning System (GPS) Aided Targeting System/GPS Aided Munition (GATS/GAM) is being tested and evaluated. Future configurations are planned for the B-2 to be capable of carrying and delivering the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) and Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile.

B-2s, in a conventional role, staging from Whiteman AFB, MO; Diego Garcia; and Guam can cover the entire world with just one refueling. Six B-2s could execute an operation similar to the 1986 Libya raid but launch from the continental U.S. rather than Europe with a much smaller, more lethal, and more survivable force. Using the rotary launcher assembly, all B-2s are capable of employing 16 Mk 84 JDAMs, 16 JSOWs, or 8 GBU-37/BLU-113s (to be replaced by EGBU-28).

---

Specifications:
Primary function: Multi-role heavy bomber.
Primary Contractor: Northrop Grumman Corp.
Power Plant: Four General Electric F-118-GE-100 engines - Thrust: 17,300 pounds each engine
Crew: Two pilots
Unit cost: Approximately $2.1 billion [average]
Date Deployed: December 1993
Inventory: Active force: 21 (planned operational aircraft)

Dimensions:
Length: 69 feet (20.9 meters)
Height: 17 feet (5.1 meters)
Wingspan: 172 feet (52.12 meters)

Performance :
Speed: High subsonic
Ceiling: 50,000 feet (15,152 meters)
Takeoff Weight (Typical): 336,500 pounds (152,635 kilograms)
Range: Intercontinental, unrefueled - Approx 11,508 miles (with one aerial refueling)
Payload: 40,000 pounds (18,000 kilograms)

Armaments:

NUCLEAR 16 - B61 16 - B83 16 - AGM-129 ACM 16 - AGM-131 SRAM 2

CONVENTIONAL 80 - MK82 [500lb] 16 - MK84 [2000lb] 34 to 36 - CBU87 34 to 36 - CBU89 34 to 36 - CBU97

PRECISION 80 - GBU 30 JDAM [500lb] 16 - GBU 32 JDAM [2000lb] 8 - GBU 27 8 - EGBU 28 8 - GBU 36 8 - GBU 37 8 to 16 - AGM-154 JSOW 8 to 16 - AGM-137 TSSAM

---

---

All photos Copyright of Global Security.Org

[Professional Engineer]

Male Language Patterns...
"It would take too long to explain," REALLY MEANS, "I have no idea how it works."

Ruh Roh, the secret is out.

[SAMWolf]

Morning steveegg.

My first memory of the Flying Wing was in "War of The Worlds" it was the bomber that drops the Huke onm the Martians.

[SAMWolf]

Thanks StayAt HomeMother for remembering the Irish contribution to our country's history.

The New York Irish units have a long and distinguished history.

[Johnny Gage]

There were two B1's flying in and around the canyons there at 200-300 feet playing follow the leader

A couple years ago, I was in Wisconsin, near Volk Field, and the Air Force came to visit the ANG group there.

Saw many planes that week, the best was a B-1 and two F-16's, in formation, flying overhead.

Way cool.

[SAMWolf]

Morning E.G.C.

We've had a beautiful week, they are predicting rain by Friday but for now I'm just loving it.

[SAMWolf]

It's easy to forget that our military bases are more than just a name pulled out of a hat. They're named after real people for a reason. It was a good idea to look further into some of them.

[SAMWolf]

Good Morning Mayor.

[SAMWolf]

Good Morning Feather.

[SAMWolf]

I got to see the Space Shuttle land there once.

That has to be something to see live!

[Professional Engineer]

When the B1's where first deployed to Dyess AFB, they would come on friday afternoons to Reese AFB and shoot touch and goes for an hour or so. The last pass was always done at about a 100 feet, wings swept, full throttle with burners, probably 350-400 knots.

Those were good days to be on the flightline!

[CholeraJoe]

I was stationed at Dyess AFB, TX when the first B-1B went on Nuclear Alert, 1 October 1986. When one does a full afterburner take off at night, it looks like Battlestar Gallactica with blue flames coming out of the tail.

[Soaring Feather]

Oh thank you, Sam, for the wonderful feather.

[SAMWolf]

1941 Gene Pitney Hartford CT, rock singer (Town without Pity)

I can still spend all day listening to Gene Pitneys songs.

<==Mash Lee

[SAMWolf]

Morning PE. Give you some idea of the size of the Flying wing. The Black Widow was not a small plane.

[Professional Engineer]

Afterburners at night are always cool to see. T-38's don't have a large flame, but are still cool.

Watching B1's at night must have been like being in heaven.

[CholeraJoe]

It was pretty close. After a while you become complacent because you're always seeing a couple in the pattern.

I know what you mean about the awesome power of seeing, hearing and feeling one make a high speed, low altitude pass right over your head. It'll suck the air right out of your lungs.

[SAMWolf]

Morning Johnny. What's with everyone getting snow?