This Date in Aviation History: February 3 - February 6

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn) 02/06/2018 at 12:35 • Filed to: wingspan, Planelopnik, TDIAH

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Welcome to This Date in Aviation History , getting of you caught up on milestones, important historical events and people in aviation from February 3 through February 6.

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February 3, 1961 – The US Air Force Strategic Air Command commences Operation Looking Glass. During the Cold War, Russia and the US stood toe to toe, and the conflict of differing ideologies often left the world on the brink of nuclear war. Being ready for nuclear war meant that it was imperative that any launch of nuclear weapons would be detected early, so that a counterstrike could be launched before the destruction of essential command and control targets. But even in the event that American ground control sites were destroyed, the US still maintained a system that could launch missiles from an aircraft. In 1961, the US Air Force !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! initiated Operation Looking Glass, which ensured that a command and control aircraft was in the air 24 hours a day, 365 day a year, and that the crew of that aircraft would be able to launch American missiles if ground-based crews had been incapacitated or killed.

Looking Glass battle staff in the early days of the operation

The operation was named Looking Glass because the aircraft mirrors the capability of the ground based command and control facilities. The EC-135 had the communications gear necessary to contact US missile sites to command a launch and, if those sites were unable to respond, the missiles could be launched remotely from the air. The first of these round-the-clock flights took off on February 3, 1961, from Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska. Crews flew in the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , a highly modified version of the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! transport aircraft. On board were two pilots, a refueling specialist, and approximately 20 other personnel to operate the communications equipment on board. But the most important person on those flights was the flag officer—either an Air Force general officer or a Navy admiral—who had the authority to order a launch of American missiles if the need arose. Looking Glass could also communicate with submerged nuclear submarines by extending a 2.5 mile long trailing wire antenna that could still communicate following a nuclear attack by using the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . This allowed the officer on board the EC-135 to issue Emergency Action Messages to American submarines and order the launch of their missiles.

US Air Force General Richard Ellis on board Looking Glass. Ellis served as the commander in chief of the Strategic Air Command and director of the Joint Strategic Target Planning Staff based at Offutt AFB.

At !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! or higher, meaning that nuclear war was the next step or that an attack was imminent, the Looking Glass pilots were required to wear an eye patch over one eye. If a nuclear explosion took place near enough to blind them with the flash, then they still had one good eye to fly the plane. Later, pilots were given special visors that instantly turned opaque in the event of a bright flash of light and then cleared.

Looking Glass flew continuously for more than 29 years, with only one 8-hour break in service. During that time, when no Looking Glass aircraft could take off from either Offutt AFB or Ellsworth AFB in South Dakota, the mission was covered by a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! aircraft. On July 24, 1990, Looking Glass ceased its continuous flights, but it remains on alert 24 hours a day should the need arise. In 1998, the EC-135 was retired in favor of the US Navy’s !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , a modified !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . (Photo by Mike Freer via !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ; US Air Force photos; photo by Alan Wilson via !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! )

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February 4, 1948 – The first flight of the Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket. Following the first powered flight in 1903, aircraft designers made incredible advances in a very short time. But perhaps the greatest impetus driving these aeronautical pioneers was the quest for speed. With the arrival of reliable jet engines during WWII, pilots began flying faster than even the fastest propeller planes, and rocket planes pushed the boundaries speed even farther. The next barrier to break was the speed of sound, or Mach 1, and some believed that it could never be done, that aircraft would simply be uncontrollable at such incredible speed. But once !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! passed that milestone in 1947 flying the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , the bar was raised once again. The next goal was to reach Mach 2.

The jet-powered Skyrocket is towed across the dry lake bed at Edwards Air Force Base. Note the intakes for the air-breathing jet.

The Douglas Skyrocket was the second phase of a three-part Navy program to construct both jet- and rocket-powered aircraft to explore supersonic flight. The first part of that program produced the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , a straight-winged, turbojet-powered research aircraft that first flew in 1947 and managed Mach 0.99, only exceeding Mach 1 in a dive. But discoveries on the benefits of swept wings, much of it gleaned from data captured from Germany at the end of the war, sent Douglas engineers in a new direction with the D-588-2 Skyrocket. Unlike the Skystreak, the Skyrocket was much more aerodynamic, with 35-degree swept wings, swept tail, and sharply pointed nose. At first, it was powered by a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! turbojet, and the first flight tests were made using this engine configuration. The Skyrocket took off from the dry lake bed at Edwards Air Force Base assisted by rockets, and the experimental aircraft undertook numerous flights to test the Skyrocket’s flight characteristics in transonic and supersonic flight.

The Skyrocket is released from its US Navy P2B mothership

For the next phase of testing, the turbojet was removed and replaced with a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! LR8-RM-6 liquid fueled rocket engine, the same engine that powered the X-1, which provided the Skyrocket with 6,000 lbf of static thrust. The rocket-powered Skyrocket was carried aloft by a US Navy P2B, the Navy designation for the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , and a number of flights were taken that brought the Skyrocket very near Mach 2, and also set unofficial altitude records in the process (in order to achieve an altitude record recognized by the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , the aircraft must take off and land on its own power).

Test pilot Scott Crossfield, in the cockpit of the Skyrocket following his record-setting Mach 2 flight.

The pressure was now on to break the Mach 2 barrier, but the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (NACA), which was running the tests, refused, saying that they were not in the business of setting records. However, NACA finally relented. For the record-setting flight, the Skyrocket was given modified rocket nozzles, filled with chilled alcohol fuel so more could be placed on board, and the fuselage was waxed to help reduce drag. After disengaging from the mothership, Navy test pilot !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! took the Skyrocket to 72,000 ft, then pushed over into a slight dive and, on November 20, 1953, he reached Mach 2.005 (1,291 mph). It was the one and only time that the Skyrocket exceeded Mach 2. All told, the three Skyrockets made 313 test flights throughout the program, and gathered significant data on swept wing flight in the transonic and supersonic regimes, data that would be used to help design the next generation of swept wing fighter aircraft. (NASA photos)

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Short Takeoff

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February 3, 1998 – A US Marine Corps EA-6B Prowler cuts a gondola cable in Italy, killing 20 people. While flying through a canyon near the Italian town of Calavese during low-level flight training, the pilots of the Prowler flew below the “hard deck,” or the minimum altitude for safe operation, so low that the aircraft struck the cable supporting a cable car, causing it to plunge 260 ft to the ground, killing the occupants. During the ensuing investigation, the pilots admitted that they flew so low to “have fun” and to film the scenery, making a video which the pilot destroyed after returning to base. The crew was acquitted of involuntary manslaughter and negligent homicide, yet they were found guilty of obstruction of justice and conduct unbecoming an officer for the destruction of evidence and were dismissed from the Marine Corps. (US Navy photo. Note: this is not the accident aircraft)

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February 3, 1984 – The launch of Space Shuttle Challenger on STS-41-B, which included the first untethered spacewalk. !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! was the fourth flight of the Shuttle !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and, while its main mission was the deployment of two communications satellites, the flight was notable for the first use of the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (MMU), a device that fit over the astronaut’s life support backpack and propelled the astronaut using bursts of gaseous nitrogen. Mission Specialist Bruce McCandless took the inaugural flight, followed by Mission Specialist Robert Stewart. The MMU was used on a total of three flights before its retirement. A smaller system has since been developed, called the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (SAFER), but it is only intended for emergency use should an astronaut become untethered from the orbiter. (NASA photo)

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February 3, 1964 – Operation Bongo II commences over Oklahoma City. With the advent of supersonic aircraft, and the possibility of regular supersonic transport over the United States, NASA, the FAA, and the US Air Force conducted a study to measure the effect of sonic booms on buildings, and public attitude towards the repeated sonic booms. They also hoped to develop methods to predict the effect of the booms and gather data for insurance companies. For a six-month period, a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! flew 1,253 supersonic flights over Oklahoma City, averaging just about seven sonic booms per day. Initially tolerant of the noise, residents soon began to resent the tests, and 147 windows were broken in the city’s tallest buildings. The negative publicity from the program, as well as the FAA’s botched handling of damage claims, were cited as part of the decision to cancel the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! supersonic airliner in 1971. (US Air Force photo)

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February 3, 1959 – A crash claims the life of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson. Tired of riding in a cold tour bus, Holly chartered a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (N3794) to take himself, Valens and Richardson from Clear Lake, Iowa to Moorhead, Minnesota. The plane was piloted by Roger Peterson, and took off at 12:55 am in snowy conditions with six mile visibility, though conditions were deteriorating rapidly, and Peterson was not given an accurate weather report. Peterson was not certified to fly in !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! conditions, and had failed an instrument checkride nine months prior to the accident. Also, the Bonanza was equipped with a Sperry altitude gyroscope rather than a traditional artificial horizon, and the two instruments read opposite of each other. Just five minutes after takeoff, and less than six miles from the airport, the plane crashed, killing all on board. The Civil Aeronautics Board stated the crash was caused by “the pilot’s unwise decision to embark on a flight” that required an IFR rating, but also listed the gyroscope and the pilot’s lack of awareness of the worsening weather as contributing factors. (US Department of Transportation photo)

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February 3, 1859 – The birth of Hugo Junkers, a German engineer and aircraft designer who pioneered the development of all-metal airplanes in Germany. His company, Junkers Flugzeug und Motorenwerke AG , played a significant role in the development of the German aircraft industry between WWI and WWII, and Junkers created numerous all-metal aircraft for Germany during the war while also pioneering the use of !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! in airplane construction. But perhaps his greatest achievement was the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , a three-engine, corrugated metal passenger plane that helped create the business of civilian air travel, served the Luftwaffe throughout WWII, and influenced other aircraft designers such as Ford with with their !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Although his company continued producing aircraft in his name for the Nazi war effort, Junkers had already been forced out of his company by 1934, and died the following year. (Ju-52 photo by Bernd K via !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! )

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February 4, 2011 – The first flight of the Northrop Grumman X-47B, an !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (UCAV) developed for carrier operations. The X-47B made its first launch from the USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) on May 14, 2013, performed the first autonomous touch-and-go landings three days later, and made the first arrested carrier landing of a UCAV on July 10. The X-47B also demonstrated autonomous aerial refueling in April of 2015. The X-47 program has finished, and the Navy plans to open the competition for a deployable fleet of !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (UCLASS) aircraft in 2016, with regular operations beginning in 2020. (US Navy photo)

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February 4, 1946 – The first flight of the Republic XF-12 Rainbow. Designed by !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , the man who created the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , the Rainbow was intended for use in the Pacific as a high-flying reconnaissance plane to find targets for allied bombers. The Rainbow was said to “fly on all fours,” which meant that it had four engines, a 4,000 mile range, could fly at 40,000 feet, and could cruise at 400 mph. It remains the fastest piston-powered aircraft of its size. Unfortunately for the Rainbow, it came at the same time as the emerging jet engine and, by the end of the WWII, the US no longer had a need for an aircraft of its type. Only two Rainbows were built before the project was canceled. (US Air Force photo)

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February 5, 1880 – The birth of Gabriel Voisin, a French aviation pioneer who is credited with creating Europe’s first manned, powered, heavier-than-air aircraft capable of controlled, sustained flight. After working with French aviation pioneer !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , Voisin formed the world’s first aircraft manufacturing company with his brother Charles, the Société Anonyme des Aéroplanes G. Voisin . The historic first flight in Europe took place on January 13, 1908 with pilot !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! at the controls of a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , also called the Voisin 1907 Biplane. Following the flight, about 60 of these aircraft were produced by the Voisin brothers. Voisin was a major provider of aircraft to France during WWI, but after the war he abandoned the aviation business and set up an automobile manufacturing company called !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!   which was in business from 1919 to 1939. Voisin died in 1973. (Photos via the US Library of Congress)

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February 6, 1971 – NASA astronaut Alan Shepard drives two golf balls on the Moon. !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! was the eighth manned mission of the Apollo program, the third manned mission to land on the moon, and the first after the near-disaster of !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Mission Commander !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and Lunar Module Pilot !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! spent two days on the lunar surface, while Command Module Pilot !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! remained in orbit around the Moon. While on the Moon, the astronauts collected rocks and carried out several experiments, but the TV highlight was when Shepard struck two golf balls in the reduced gravity of the Moon using a makeshift golf club he had brought from Earth. Shepherd said the ball traveled “miles and miles and miles,” though it’s unlikely that his shot traveled much more than one mile. Had he struck the ball perfectly, though, it could have traveled 2.5 miles and stayed aloft for 70 seconds, as the Moon’s gravity is only 5/6 of the Earth’s. (NASA photo)

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Connecting Flights

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If you enjoy these Aviation History posts, please let me know in the comments. And if you missed any of the past articles, you can find them all at !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . You can also find more stories about aviation, aviators and airplane oddities at !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

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For Sweden > ttyymmnn 02/06/2018 at 12:39

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Bonanza: Not Even Once

ttyymmnn > For Sweden 02/06/2018 at 12:41

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Are you a doctor?

For Sweden > ttyymmnn 02/06/2018 at 12:46

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No, I’m still alive

Chariotoflove > ttyymmnn 02/06/2018 at 13:24

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and the fuselage was waxed to help reduce drag

So then, waxing my car gives more or less speed boost than the Oppo sticker?

Also, how many Looking Glass planes were/are in service?

user314 > ttyymmnn 02/06/2018 at 13:38

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February 3, 1959 – A crash claims the life of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson.

...Or did they?

ttyymmnn > Chariotoflove 02/06/2018 at 13:39

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How many? Wiki says we have 16 E-6s and 4 E-4Bs, but I don’t think one is in the air 24/7 like the old days. I actually photographed one of the E-4s up in Abilene when it paid a visit to Dyess AFB back in 2014. This is my shot.

ttyymmnn > user314 02/06/2018 at 13:42

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Well, I guess they didn’t.

e36Jeff now drives a ZHP > ttyymmnn 02/06/2018 at 13:46

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Minor point, the Moon’s gravity is 1/6 of earth’s gravity, not 5/6.

Chariotoflove > ttyymmnn 02/06/2018 at 13:46

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Well done. Hard shot to get perfect.

I suspect those babies were really expensive to outfit and run. I had no idea how many hours they put on each airframe to keep one in the air 24/7 back in the day.

ttyymmnn > Chariotoflove 02/06/2018 at 13:52

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Thanks. That was with my old gear. I’ve been working on the aviation photography thing for a long time, and I feel like I’m only now getting the hang of it, with still much to learn. You can see some of my work here if you’ve got some time to kill.

WilliamsSW > For Sweden 02/06/2018 at 13:58

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Bah - they’re good airplanes.

Driven by bad pilots.

For Sweden > WilliamsSW 02/06/2018 at 13:58

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tru fax

WilliamsSW > ttyymmnn 02/06/2018 at 13:59

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February 3, 1959 - a crash inspires the creation of a terrible song.

Derpwagon > ttyymmnn 02/07/2018 at 11:28

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Dude, awesome post. I need to lurk more because I love aviation.

ttyymmnn > Derpwagon 02/07/2018 at 11:32

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Thanks. Click the link at the bottom of the post. There’s tons more stuff!