This Week In AFLCMC History – September 2 - 8, 2024
3 Sep 1999 (Fighters & Advanced Aircraft Directorate)
Twenty-five years ago today, Capt Julie Hudson of the Maryland Air National Guard completed her final mission check ride to qualify as the Air National Guard’s first fully combat ready female A-10 pilot. Prior to her training in the A-10, Capt Hudson flew the Lockheed C-141 Starlifter, and in her civilian life, she was a commercial pilot for Northwest Airlines. The A-10 itself is a close air support attack plane, nicknamed the “Warthog,” that make an iconic “BRRRT” sound when firing its 30mm GAU-8/A cannon, which can fire 3,900 water-bottle-sized rounds per minute.
4 Sep 1984 (Bombers Directorate)
On today’s date, 40 years ago, Rockwell International revealed the first production B-1B Lancer (tail number 82-0001) to the public. About 1,500 people attended the rollout, where they heard a message from President Reagan, and then listened to a speech from Rockwell Chairman Robert Anderson. The celebratory occasion was somewhat darkened by the crash of one of the B-1’s prototypes a little over a week before, on 29 Aug 1984, which killed Rockwell test pilot T.D. (Doug) Benefield and prompted the Air Force to ground the last flying B-1 prototype. This first production aircraft (82-0001) would eventually get scrapped in the mid-1990s at Ellsworth AFB in compliance with the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START). B-1Bs still fly today as long-range, multi-mission bombers for the U.S. Air Force.
5 Sep 1944 (Fighters & Advanced Aircraft Directorate)
Today, 80 years ago, Lt William H. Allen became an “ace” in one day when he shot down five enemy aircraft in just a handful of minutes. Flying a P-51 Mustang named “Pretty Patty II,” Lt Allen and his flight of P-51s (all from the Eighth Air Force’s 55th Fighter Group) attacked a Nazi airfield north of Göppingen, Germany. As the German airplanes took off one after the other, trying to get airborne, he shot down his five targets. Together with the other members of his flight, they took out 16 enemy aircraft in total. Between 3 and 11 September 1944, the 55th Fighter Group took down a total of 106 enemy aircraft, which earned them a Distinguished Unit Citation. The 55th’s heritage was inherited by the 55th Operations Group, today at Offutt AFB, Nebraska.
6 Sep 1994 (Armament Directorate)
Thirty years ago today, the Pentagon released previously classified details on the Tri-Service Standoff Attack Missile (TSSAM) to the media in a last-ditch, but unsuccessful, effort to save the floundering program by generating public interest in it. As the name suggests, the TSSAM program (which began in 1986) was a tri-service joint program between the Army, Navy, and Air Force meant to develop a long-range, survivable (stealth) cruise missile for attacks against targets on land and at sea. After overruns nearly tripled the cost to over $2 million per missile, the Army withdrew from the program in FY 1994 and the TSSAM was cancelled altogether in December. The technology developed for the TSSAM would, however, eventually help to inform the development of the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM).
7 Sep 1904 (Wright-Patterson AFB)
On today’s date, 120 years ago, the Wright Brothers used their catapult launching mechanism for the first time to assist in the launching of their airplane. Installed at Huffman Prairie, just outside of Dayton, Ohio (and at the site of present-day Wright-Patterson AFB) the device was intended to counteract the erratic winds of the Miami Valley and increase the lift of their airplane on takeoff. It consisted of a tall, pyramid-like tower (which Wilbur Wright referred to as the “derrick,” like an oil derrick) and a monorail. The plane was set up on the monorail, and a 1,600-pound weight was raised within the tower. Falling from a height of about sixteen feet, the weight exerted a forward pull of about 350 pounds, which was enough to get the aircraft up even with no wind at all. The first time the catapult was used, Wilbur flew over 2,000 feet.
8 Sep 2004 (Mobility Directorate/Wright-Patterson AFB)
On this date twenty years ago, the Air Force Flight Test Center (AFFTC) retired its NKC-135E tanker, tail number 55-3135. This unique KC-135 was originally designed to monitor nuclear testing—and, as such, had most of its windows on only one side of the plane. It then was specially instrumented for test and evaluation, and belonged to AFLCMC predecessor, the Aeronautical Systems Division (ASD), and the 4950th Test Wing, at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. It even had a stint as a Flying Infrared Signature Technology Aircraft (FISTA). When it was retired, it was the second oldest operational plane in the Air Force, with 49 years of service.
100 Years Ago in AFLCMC History:
2 Sep 1924 - Lt Alex Pearson
In the 1920s, air races rivalled the popularity of most sporting events and the racers themselves were the “rock stars” of the era. The International Air Races were the sport’s Olympics—drawing entrants from around the world. For 1924, Dayton had the honor of hosting these massive races at the Army Air Service’s Wilbur Wright Field (now WPAFB Area A) and test pilot Lt Alexander Pearson, Jr., had earned the privilege of flying the Army’s fastest plane in the premiere event: the Pulitzer Race.
When the US entered the First World War in April 1917, Pearson joined the Army as a pilot, ending up at the aviation Armorers’ School at Wilbur Wright Field. The war ended just as now-Lt Pearson finished his training. He remained in the service and built a reputation as an intrepid flyer and air racer with operational units. In a 1921 transcontinental flight attempt, Pearson inadvertently crash-landed in Mexico and spent days finding his way back to civilization. The Army didn’t want to lose the plane, so it sent another young lieutenant to repair it and fly it back to the US. Ironically, that same pilot shortly afterwards set the transcontinental flight record that had eluded Pearson—Jimmy Doolittle.
The next year, Lt Pearson was reassigned to the Engineering Division (ALFCMC’s predecessor) at McCook Field in Dayton, as a test pilot, air racer, and student at the Air Service Engineering School (now AFIT) there. At the 1923 International Air Races in St. Louis, he flew a McCook-designed Verville R-3, but mechanical problems kept him out of the final contest, making him determined to try again at his “home” field in 1924.
On the evening of September 2, 1924, several hundred people, including his wife Margaret, turned out at Wilbur Wright Field to watch Pearson and others practice for the races in October. Three Army pilots were honing their technique for the Pulitzer Race’s flying start: each contestant would dive at full-throttle from about 3000 feet toward the towers marking the starting line, pulling up at the last moment for maximum speed to start the race.
At 7:15 PM, Lt Pearson took his turn, flying a Curtiss R- 8 racer that had been designed for the Navy and had dominated the 1923 races. As he pulled up at just 300 feet travelling over 260mph, the supporting strut that separated the upper and lower wings on one side of the R-8 biplane snapped. The wings collapsed, throwing the plane into a snap roll that plunged it into the ground in seconds. Pearson was thrown from the cockpit and killed instantly. His plane was completely destroyed and its engine buried 3 feet into the ground.
An investigation determined that aerodynamically-induced vibrations (“flutter”) caused the accident. The Air Races went on as scheduled, though Lt Burt Skeel, one of the pilots aloft when Pearson crashed, died in a similar accident. Wright-Patt’s Pearson Road and Skeel Ave are named in their honor. In 1925, the Army designated Pearson Field in Vancouver, Washington, which continues to operate as a civilian facility.