This week in AFLCMC history - February 14 - 18, 2022 Published Feb. 14, 2022 By Air Force Life Cycle Management Center History Office In this edition of Heritage Hangar, you'll learn about old and new airplanes and tidbits of what happened this week many years ago. 14 Feb 1951 (Bombers Directorate) The Air Force contracted with Boeing to build 13 B-52As, the first production model. The primary difference from the prototypes was its conventional side-by-side cockpit that replaced the XB-52’s front-to-back arrangement. Strategic Air Command chief Gen Curtis LeMay himself ordered the switch. Shortly after, the Air Staff debated whether the bomber program should continue or be converted for strategic reconnaissance as the RB-52. As a result, this initial contract changed to just 3 B-52A bombers for service tests and 10 RB-52Bs with removable reconnaissance pods in the bomb bay. The first A model flew in August 1954. 15 Feb 1975 (Fighters & Adv. Aircraft Dir. ) The first preproduction model of the Fairchild A-10 Thunderbolt II made its first flight at Edwards Air Force Base, beginning Development Testing and Evaluation. While the idea of aircraft in the close air support (CAS) of troops (and “tank-busting”) role wasn’t new, the Air Force traditionally used multi-role or repurposed aircraft for that mission. In the late 1960s, the A-X program sought to change that. The A-10 won a fly-off against the Northrop YA-9A for the A-X contract in January 1973. The next year, Congress mandated an additional fly-off against the already-operational A-7 Corsair, which it also won. 16 Feb 1956 (Fighters & Adv. Aircraft Dir.) The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter made it public debut at Lockheed’s Palmdale, California plant, almost two years after the XF-104 completed its first flight This YF-104A, the second of 17 preproduction models, was specially prepared for the event, including the covers over the inlets, that you can see in the photo, to hide the inlet shock cone from photographers. Production Starfighters used the powerful General Electric J79 engine, with nearly 15,000 pounds of thrust on afterburner, that could propel the F-104 past Mach 2 in level flight. The YF-104 made its first flight the following day, reportedly astounding viewers with its looks and performance. 17 Feb 1951 (Bombers Directorate) Convair signed a contract with the Air Force to pursue Project MX- 1626, a supersonic, long-range, medium reconnaissance-bomber based on earlier Generalized Bomber (GEBO) I & II studies to complement the larger, subsonic B-47 and B-52 strategic bombers. This Phase I contract authorized detailed engineering and development and wind tunnel testing. Convair’s proposal was radical, featuring a delta wing and a large, ejectable pod with a combination of fuel, nuclear weapon, and engine. After many subsequent iterations, this concept became the B-58 Hustler. 18 Feb 2012 (ISR & SOF Dir.—Big Safari) An Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) U-28A Draco crashed, killing all four crewmembers aboard. In 2007, the Big Safari program opened an Operating Location at Centennial Airport in Littleton, CO under the 661st Aeronautical Systems Squadron, 645 Aeronautical Systems Group (Big Safari), now part of the AFLCMC ISR & SOF Directorate. Its first project there was the modification of the Swiss-built Pilatus PC-12 small turboprop passenger/cargo plane for AFSOC use as the U-28A. It provides intra-theater support for special operations forces, including ISR missions. This plane crashed In Djibouti supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. 19 Feb 1991 (Pres. & Exec Airlift Dir.) The Aeronautical Systems Division (WPAFB) transferred responsibility for the two VC-25A Presidential Aircraft to the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center. The Air Force has provided presidential airlift since Franklin Roosevelt. The longest-serving “Air Force One” was the VC-137C (Boeing 707) that transported presidents Kennedy through George H.W. Bush. The Boeing 747-based VC-25A first flew in 1987 and the elder President Bush was the first to fly on one. Two VC- 25As continue to serve the president until the replacement VC-25Bs become operational. 20 Feb 1964 (ISR & SOF Dir./Eglin AFB) The first flight test of UH-1F Bell Iroquois. The classic “Huey” originated in the mid-1950s as a general utility helicopter for the US Army and became an icon of the Vietnam War. In June 1963, Bell won a USAF contract for a helicopter with similar capabilities to support its vast ICBM missile bases and other sites, with the caveat that it use GE’s T58 turboshaft engine that was on the HH-3 fleet in order to simplify support. Bell modified the UH-1B design with that engine, dubbing it the UH-1F. The first operational one was delivered to Eglin AFB in September 1964. 100 Years Ago This Week in AFLCMC History: 18 February 1922 US Army Air Service Engineering Division (McCook Field) chief Maj Thurman Bane exchanged letters with his Naval counterpart, Commander Jerome C. Hunsaker, the Chief of Design in the Navy Bureau of Aeronautics’ Material Division. They covered several topics of mutual interest. Hunsaker was unquestionably one of the stars of American aeronautics in that period. He had finished first in his class at the Naval Academy in 1908, a year after Bane graduated West Point. He had an aptitude for multiple engineering disciplines, but an affinity for aeronautics. Before World War I, he studied the best aeronautical research facilities in Europe (the US had essentially none) and returned to establish an aerodynamic research institute at MIT, along with its related degree program. He was its first PhD graduate in aeronautical engineering. In 1921, he took the Chief of Design post. His correspondence with Maj Bane, who headed McCook Field since late 1918, began in 1919, exchanging thoughts about people, planes, and research. Later in 1922, Hunsaker joined Bane as part of the Executive Committee for the National Advisory Committee for A e r o n a u t i c s (NACA), the primary predecessor for NASA. In February 1922, the two officers had several concerns that are indicative of some of the key is-sues of the day. Major Bane had inquired as to Hunsaker’s knowledge of metal coverings for airships and airplanes. While the Europeans had used “rigid airships” (like the Hindenburg) for years and with some success in World War I, the US had little experience with them. Those used a lightweight internal metal structure, covered by a stiffened fabric skin, and kept aloft by internal, compart-mentalized gas bags of hydrogen. The US had purchased some of these after the war from the Europeans and were in the midst of testing them. The Navy was more invested than the Army, due to the advantages of long duration flights over the ocean. Bane and Hunsaker agreed that metal-covered airships was “foolish” but debated the problems of metal airplanes. At the time, McCook Field was also testing its first all-metal airplane, (the CO-1, right) with mixed success. The Germans in particular had been using metal aircraft in a limited way for several years, with other designs appearing both domestically and abroad. While the advantages of metal now seem obvious, it was less so then, as Hunsaker outlined: metal is less durable, heavier, more difficult to repair, field maintenance is impractical, and internal inspection of the airplane becomes difficult. He hit on the key point: metal was only worthwhile if the skin were strong enough to serve as part of the aircraft structure, thus saving structural weight. As history showed, it was the development of exactly that (stressed-skin aluminum) that enabled the widespread use of all-metal aircraft.