This week in AFLCMC history - March 14 - March 20, 2022 Published March 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 Mar 1942 (Robins AFB/Tinker AFB) The Army Air Corps Air Service Command issued General Order #24 revising its naming policies for new Air Depots. The Interwar-era Depots were named for the closest town, such as Fairfield Air Depot (now WPAFB Area A), while the new sites selected to support World War II aircraft production were initially designated by geographic region during their planning stages, prior to specific sites being selected. GO 24 brought those four newer depots in line with the existing ones. The Southeast Air Depot became the Wellston Air Depot (now Robins AFB) and the Midwest Air Depot became the Oklahoma City Air Depot (now Tinker AFB). 15 Mar 1981 (ISR & SOF Dir.— Big Safari) The Big Safari program RC-135S aircraft COBRA BALL II crashed during landing at Shemya, Alaska. Ironically, the first Cobra Ball resulted from the 13 Jan 1969 crash at Shemya of RIVET BALL, one of the planes modified to remotely monitor Soviet ballistic missile launches. Its equipment was salvaged for Cobra Ball I. A second aircraft, tail number 61-2664, was converted from an EC-135N Apollo Range Instrumentation Aircraft (ARIA) in 1970. At 10:45PM local time, -2664 attempted to land under extreme weather conditions. The right wing and engines struck the ground, exploding. Surviving crew members worked heroically to free their injured comrades, but six perished. 16 Mar 1926 (AFLCMC/Propulsion Dir.) At 2:30 PM, Professor Robert H. Goddard launched the first successful liquid-fueled rocket from his aunt’s farm in Auburn, Massachusetts. The rocket, nick-named “Nell” used gasoline and liquid oxygen as its propellants, which generated about 9 pounds of thrust for the rocket that weighed about 10 pounds fully fueled. Given that ratio, Goddard should not have been surprised when he observed that the “rocket did not rise at first...after a number of seconds it rose, slowly...then at express train speed "...the rocket’s weight decreasing as it burned fuel, thus increasing its acceleration. A decade later, the Wright Field Power Plant Branch sent an officer to assess Goddard’s further work and concluded that the rocket - appears to have little military value.” 17 Mar 1947 (Bombers Directorate) The North American Aviation XB-45 Tornado made its first flight. The German Arado Ar 234 jet bomber inspired the Army Air Force to similarly pair its first generation of turbine engines to a bomber as a complement to the XP-59 and XP-80 jet fighters then in development. North American won the bomber development contract, but the war’s end delayed the Tornado’s completion. Though it had significant problems in flight test, the B-45 went into production (143 built) as a bomber and for reconnaissance. 18 Mar 1964 (Armament Directorate) The Air Force issued Specific Operations Requirement 212 for a “Short Range Attack Missile” (SRAM). It called for an air-launched, medium-range nuclear missile for the primary purpose of eliminating enemy air defense installations from stand-off ranges. Doing so would enhance the survivability of manned aircraft en route to their targets inside enemy territory. The SRAM, designated AGM-69, was intended primarily to be carried by B-52s, but also by F-111s. Boeing won the production contract in 1966 and the SRAM was in service from 1972-1993. 19 Mar 1919 (AFLCMC/WPAFB) McCook Field pilots Lts CW Pyle and DL Bruner crash landed in a wheat field to the East of Dayton, in the North Riverdale area, near the intersection of Knecht Driver and Overlook Avenue around 10:30 am. They were flying this Curtiss JN-4H “Jenny” that was one of the first aircraft assigned to McCook Field in 1917. The JN-4 was the standard Army advanced trainer and the H model used the Wright Company’s licensed version of the Hispano-Suiza V-8 engine. When Pyle wasn’t flying, he worked in the Engineering Division’s Structures and Aerodynamics Branch. Bruner was part of McCook’s early test pilot cadre and helped develop night flying techniques. Both pilots and plane lived to fly another day, though this aircraft was destroyed in a crash at Wilbur Wright Field (WPAFB Area A) two years later. This Week in AFLCMC History Highlight: 20 (& 25) March 1948 Just after 10pm on Saturday night, March 20, 1948, a “savage wind” storm lashed the Oklahoma City area, with a tornado touching down at Tinker Field, southeast of the city. This storm came just a day after a line of tornados stretched from Texas to Ohio, killing a reported 52 people and injuring more than 300 others. Wright-Patterson AFB recorded only light damage and no injuries as a result of that first storm. Tinker Field originated in the peacetime build up of facilities to support the growing US Army Air Corps just ahead of World War II. Opening in 1942, Tinker was primarily an air depot, but also was home to a new Douglas Aircraft factory that churned out C-47s. The Depot specialized in overhauling and modifying heavy bombers and their engines, such as the B-17, B-24, an eventually the massive B-29 in late 1943. After the war, many production and logistics facilities were closed and consolidated, with Tinker receiving some of the little work left to go around. Its emphasis on bombers helped, as work on the B-29 and B-36 that were post-war mainstays of the new USAF went to Tinker. By early 1948, the 10,000+ people at Tinker were overhauling propellers, jet engines, Link trainers, and ground vehicles. They also built target drones in the former Douglas factory. That was the state of the newly-redesignated Tinker Air Force Base on that Saturday night when the tornado struck. Fortunately the late hour and peacetime posture meant few workers were present. As a result, only 8 people were injured on base, none seriously and none killed. The aircraft damage was a different story, as many planes were lined up outside. Reports indicated 20 C-54s, 32 P-47s, 10 L-1s, and a B-29 were damaged or destroyed. Two warehouses were destroyed, the air freight terminal badly damaged, and the control tower was flattened after taking a direct hit from the twister. Damage was estimated at $10 million. In an incredible stroke of bad luck, just five days later a second tornado hit Tinker directly at 6pm on Thursday, March 25, 1948. This time, 35 planes were destroyed and 49 others damaged, including many B-29s. The base weather service alerted personnel to the impending tornado, providing time to seek covering and limiting injuries to just one person. This event added another $6 million to the total losses.