Editorial

One of the world's neglected aerial oddities gets a reprieve. OnlineCxtras November 2004

You'll find much more about I HAVE ALWAYS LOOKED up when any- wing, just like the XC-99's. That experi- Aviation History on theV\feb's thing flies overhead (and often wonder ence gave me a taste for what it would leading history resource: why everyone else doesn't), a habit that have been like to pilot the lumbering sometimes gets me in trouble when it in- giant I had often gazed up at while I was The terrupts a conversation with someone sweating out basic training programs. who expects my undivided attention. The beautiful—in its own way—XC-99 HISTORY This occurred all too frequently when I would soon be put out to pasture and left was enjoying the "pleasures" of Air Force to languish for years. As time passed, basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, there were some aborted plans to revive www. TheHistoryNet.com San Antonio, Texas—once in 1955 and it for its intended purpose, to clean it up again a year later. (Taking basic twice?Yes, for display or to consign it to the scrap DiscussiomThis issue's "Art of Flight" only the second session had a fancier heap. More or less abandoned, it became department focuses on an unusual art name, "preflight training," but turned out the home of flying things with feathered form: airplane trading cards. Can you to be no more fun.) wings, and the bird droppings it even- think of similar types of aviation The latest, hottest fighter, the North tually collected probably outweighed memorabilia tbat document and American F-lOO Super Sabre, was going some of the airplanes I flew. illustrate aircraft and aviators but are not commonly regarded as aviation art? through operational introductions at the The bulky XC-99 was soon well on the time, and I would frequently find myself way to the junk heap. What many of us with a stiff neck from stealing glances who had seen that leviathan in action Goto upward when I should have been paying hoped for was a benefactor, a knight in www. TheHistoryNet. comJahi strict attention to my training curriculum. shining armor that would rescue this for these great exclmives: Another result was loud rebukes for air- aging, ratherplump, one-of-a-kind dowa- plane gawking that was considered irrev- ger from extinction. erent inattention to the training by my In recent years I have been delighted B-24 Raid on Magdeburg—The curtains tech instructor (drill instructor elsewhere), to hear that there was some interest in are pulled back, revealing a big map of who seemed to enjoy any excuse to bark acquiring the XC-99 by the world's oldest Europe with red ribbons leading to our at us scum-of-the-earth recruits in our and largest military aviation museum, target—the synthetic oil refineries near unsnazzy, sweat-stained fatigues. the U.S. Air Force Museum at Wright-Pat- Magdeburg. . There is a low terson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio. murmur among the crew members as The overhead distraction that made the the target is announced.... biggest impression on me during those However, just moving such a behemoth, long-ago days, however, was not a sleek, to say nothing of restoring this large- deadly fighter, but the ConvairXC-99, an scale derelict, posed formidable chal- Extraordinary Career of RAF ace aerial behemoth of a cargo plane created lenges. StanfordTUck—luc^s hard-won flying by adding a fat to B-36 wings and But a recent issue of Friends Journal, skills and a remarkable run of good for- tail. It looked like a B-36 on steroids. Its six the house organ of the Air Force Museum tune contributed to victory in the Battle engines, when they were all running, Foundation Inc., published several photos of Britain. made a distinctive throb in the sky, and it proving that wonderful project had not was large enough that it was easy to spot only begun but was already well under- without looking all over for the source of way, with careful dismantling in progress Friendly Rivals: Spitfires and the sound. for shipment to the museum, where a Hurricanfis—Although the relative I used to wonder what it would be like lengthy and arduous restoration will merits of these two World War II aircraft to fly that big, lumbering tbing. But it flew someday allow one of aviation's major ar- continue to be debated, the dissimilar well, apparently, because I saw it pass tifacts to be put on permanent display for stablemates complemented one another overhead frequently, going to and from its us all to gawk at—without getting in trou- in combat and together saved a country. base at nearby Kelly airfield. ble for it and without getting a stiff neck in the bargain. Only one XC-99 was ever built, and the Eagle of the Aegean Sea-Rudolf von manufacturer's hopes for a fleet of mili- We tip our Aviation History hat to re- Eschwege was the only German fighter tary or airline super cargo carriers never tired Maj. Gen. Charles D. Metcalf, the di- pUot on 's Macedonian really materialized beyond polite interest rector of the U.S. Air Force Museum, as Front, but in a little more than a year on the part of the U.S. government and weO as to the many other forward-looking the intrepid and resourceful flier military services. I would eventually fly individuals who are working hard to achieved 20 victories. die Douglas C-124—a shorter, four-engine make possible the rescue and preserva- cargo airplane that had a similar fat fu- tion of one of the world's greatest aerial selage and a cargo elevator behind the oddities. A.H.S. 6 AVIATION HISTORV NOVEMBER 2004 NO ROUND-THE-WORLD AUTOGIRO B-45A-5 that was used for flight training and couriering film to I enjoyed "Around the World in the Flying Carpet," Ron Gilliam's different Strategic Air Command bases where B-36s were sta- article in the May issue on Richard Hailiburton's 1931 aerial tour. tioned throughout the country. It is not generally known that early on, Halliburton contemplated Tech. Sgt. Richard Reighter making that tour in a Pitcairn Autogiro. He telegraphed Harold U.S. Air Force (ret.) Pitcairn on November 1,1930. proposing that a PCA-2 Autogiro Hunlington Beach, Calif be made available for a "vagabond flight around the world by aeroplane." His appeal to Pitcaim was straightforward: FOND C-47 MEMORIES I very much enjoyed the article on the Douglas C-47 that ap- The Journal has a circulation of three million and goes into three peared in the July issue ("Enduring Heritage," by Dick Smith), It million high class American homes. Kach article will be read by brought to mind some things that might be of interest to readers. seven to ten million people. My three previous books have been in In 19441 checked out as first pilot in C-47s while stadoned at Gore turn read in ten other countries. As they cost $5.00, they are bought Field in Great Falls, Mont. On my final check flight, the check pilot by people with money..,. lthe| Autogiro ship would fixth e attention told me that he would pull an engine as soon as I got the tail up on my flight, and cause a sensation wherever I landed. and I was to complete the takeoff and come around and land. Com- pleting this successfully certainly gave me confidence in the C-47. Pitcairn politely declined the offer, recognizing that the then- The article mentioned that the maximum takeoff weight was underway certification process for the PCA-2 Autogiro would take 26,000 pounds. I was assigned to take new C-47s from Creat Falls considerable time (the PCA-2 would receive ATC 410 on July 2, to Fairbanks, Alaska, where they were turned over to the Russians 1931, the first rotary aircraft in America to be certified). He may under the Lend-Lease program. These were always loaded with also have been hesitant to provide an aircraft for Hailiburton's use, supplies for Ladd Field in Fairbanks. We often fiew tbem at 31,000 given the relatively high cost of the PCA-2 ($15,000) and, of greater pounds with no problem, and the Canadian airfields we used on importance, the fact that a .support network did not exist for it. the way up were quite short. The Autogiro's future could only be advanced when aviators Ray C. Frodey could rely on its safety, backed by a support system for service Fremont, Mich. maintenance and repairs, and Pitcairn immediately telegraphed Halliburton stating that the Autogiro was not ready for a round- DC-5 NOT FORGOTTEN the-world trip. Halliburton replied on November 4, offering to come Regarding E.R. Johnson's "Aerial Oddities" department in the July to the Pitcairn factory witli his pilot to "take a thorough schooling issue, for me, the Douglas DC-5 is not a forgotten airplane. As a in the servicing and operation of your new device." Even though young graduate aeronautical engineer, my first job in March 1939 the possibility of publicity was certainly appealing, it was not to be. at the Douglas F.1 Segimdo division was checking stress analysis The journey took place as described in Gilliam's excellent article. of major components of that aircraft. I can assure you it was a Bruce H. Charnov new design and not a derivative of the DB7/A-20 series. Hempstead, N. Y. This airplane featured full-length wing flaps and leading-edge wing slots that enabled a phenomenal rate of climb and a very short Editor's Note: Bruce Charnov is the author of "From Autogiro to takeoff and landing run. Further, it was designed to precise com- Gyroplane" in the September 2004 issue o/Aviation History. mercial (then CAA) requirements, not military. The first customer was the Dutch airline KLM, for 24 aircraft. Several aircraft were B-45 GROUND CREWMAN delivered, but the start of WWII precluded contract fulfillment. Well, it's about time. After 50 years of reading articles on aviation, The balance of the aircraft under construction were purchased your May issue was the first time I was able to see a little effort by the U.S. government and dispersed to the Navy as R3D- Is and put forth toward an aircraft I worked uith during the R3D-2S. For military service, a large cargo door was cut into the ("Operation Backbreaker," by E.R. Johnson). A lot was accom- left side of the fuselage, requiring major structural reinforcement. plished with those aircraft that was never heard of in the press. The DB-7/A-20 was originally designed by Jack Northrop as an Our 3rd Squadron received all the RB-45Cs from the manufac- attack bomber for the French government and designated the turer, practiced high and low altitude photorecon and developed N-7, The company was then the Northrop Aircraft Company, a in-fiight refueling techniques with the "flying boom" from KB-29s division of After Northrop left to form while we were at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. We were his new company in Hawthorne, Calif., the aircraft was further assigned to the 91st Stragetic Reconnaissance Wing. After about modified, becoming the DB-7, and a large quantity were built and a year, we relocated four RB-45Cs to England with four KB-29s delivered to the French. Approximately 50 of the French DB-7s to support us there. The same number also went to lapan. I was were delivered and wasted away on the French aircraft carrier a ground crewman while they were at Manston Beam at Martinique, held there by the Vichy French government. Base, right above the White Cliffs of Dover. Our group then relo- The British then contracted for the balance of the French order, cated to Schulthorpe Royal Air Force Base, up the coast. I really plus additions, and the DB-7 Boston was born. enjoyed Mr, Johnson's article. One thing I was surprised to read The success of the British version resulted in the U.S. govern- was that there were so many B-45s rigged up as atomic bombers. ment's purchasing the aircraft, later designated as the A-20 Havoc After tbe 91st relocated to Lockbourne Air Force Base in series. The U.S. version was almost identical to tlie Boston, except Columbus, Ohio, I became a crew chief and flight mechanic on a Continued on page 57

8 AVIATION HISTORV NOVEMBER 2004 Aerial Oddities

Saab's J21 was among the few aircraft produced in both piston engine and turbojet versions.

BY E.R. JOHNSON

TheSaabJ21R,a Goblin II turbojet- powered prototype, first flew in March 1947.

TO MOST AMERICANS. THE NAME SAAB brings to a general European war between Germany and tbe Allied mind a line of modish and distinctively Swedish auto- nations, Sweden was understandably concerned that it mobiles. It migbt come as a surprise tbat Saab is actually would be cut off from its traditional trading partners. an acronym for Svenska Aeroplan Aktie Bolaget, or "Swed- Against that backdrop, in April 1937 Svenska Aeroplan isb Airplane Company." Althougb tbe company bas been Aktie Boiaget came to be. in tbe car business since 1947, it got its start in aviation 10 Saab's earliest aircraft manufacturing experience was years earlier and remains one of Europe's leading manu- gained by license-producing foreign aircraft designs (e.g., facturers of military and commercial aircraft and related junkers ju-86K bombers |B3s], Nortbrop 8A-1 /A-17 attack/ systems. Saab also began as a state-owned industry but dive-bombers lB5s] and North American NA16/BT-9 is now a publicly held corporation with about 40 percent trainers |Skl4s|). With tbe help of American consultants, of its ownership outside of Sweden. tbe Saab engineering team led by Erid Wanstrom was by The circumstances tbat led to tbe development of tbe 1939 already developing completely original designs for unorthodox )21 (1 fovjakt, or figbter), tbe first figbter de- a dive bomber, tbe B17, a twin-engine ligbt bomber, tbe signed by Saab to be built and flown, are connected to the B18, and two figbters, the J19 and 121. The J19 was a con- origins of tbe company itself. Despite being traditionally ventional all-metal designed for a radial neutral, tbe Swedish government by tbe mid-iy30s was engine, but tbe 121 had an unusual twin-boom pusher becoming increasingly alarmed by tbe rising political and configuration. After tbe outbreak of hostilities between military tensions in Europe, and in particular, tbe growing Germany and the Allies in September 1939, bowever, tbe power of nearby Nazi Germany. Tbougb Sweden was a rela- boped-for supply of aircraft engines from the United tively advanced industrial power at the time, it possessed States and Britain dried up, and Saab was forced to place practically no domestic industrial base for manufactur- botb of its fighter projects on hold. ing aircraft. In fact, its small air force, the Flygvapnet. was In 1940 Svenska Flygmotor (Swedish Aero Motors) began entirely equipped with aircraft imported from Great Brit- tooling up to produce a copy of tbe Pratt & Wbitney R-1830 ain, Germany, tbe and . In the event of (a nonlicensed-built example also known as the STW, or

10 AVIATION HISTORV NOVEMBER 2004 "Swedish Twin Wasp"), but initial production THE WEgTBBlg PWKW TB^EOHAPH COMPART. was already earmarked for Saab's B17 dive 33,000 OFFICES IN AMERICA. c'lkBUE^RVICI TO ALL THK WORLD. bomber, whicb was in the finaldesig n stages, and possibly after that, tiie J22 fighter, which was being designed and planned by FFVS (an aircraft factory run by the Flygvapnet). RCOEIVEDtt Norfolk Virginia 1903 // The STW-powered 122 had been conceived Wright Brothers Complete First Flight as a conventional monoplane design, but unlike Saab's earlier J19, was designed to be constructed primarily of wood, since it was feared that strategic metals would be in short NOW supply. In 1941 the cotnpany was advised FIRST FLIGHT FILMS that an arrangement was being reached with proudly presents the German government to procure and eventually license-build Daimler-Benz in- The Official First Flight Films line engines (i.e., the DB 601,603 and 605), and that future aircraft should incorporate Centennial Video those power plants. Saab at that point revived the idea of the twin-boom J21, but added a second proposal for a more conventional fighter designated the J23, both to be pow- Relive all the fabulous memories from the 6 day ered by Daimler-Benz in-line engines. The so-called trading relationship with the Nazis Pirst Flight Centennial Celebration held was essentially a one-way proposition under December 12-17, 2003 at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. which the Swedes were expected to supply steel and allow troop movements across their soil in return for not being absorbed into the Reich. Only a small number of German- made engines actually made it to Sweden, For more information or to reserve your the bulk coming later as license-built ver- sions produced by Suenska Flygmotor. $29-95 DVD/THS copy, please visit The exact chain of events thai led to the our website vvvvw.firsti'lighti'ilms.com. decision to develop the 121 isn't entirely clear, but sometime in the fall of 1941 the Swedish government apparently told the company to discontinue work on the twin- boom J21 and to proceed with the 123. Then, in December 1941, the government com- pletely reversed itself. A possible explana- tion might be that the J23 and the FFVS's J22 were too similar to be placed in production at the same time. In any case, detailed design work began in earnest on the 121 and 1903 2003 continued throughout 1942 and into 1943. RRSTRJGHT Frid Wanstrom had originally proposed the CENTENNIAL unusual twin-boom pusher layout because he believed it would offer a better gun plat- form. Planned armament would consist of I 1 i——i- 1903 a 20mm cannon and two 13.2mm (51.97- caliber) machine guns mounted in the nose, plus a 13.2mm mounted in each boom (comparable firepower to the • Sign up for our email newsletter. Lockheed P-38). On the other hand, the cen- The • Pliiy Ihe Daily Qviz and win prizes. terline pusher arrangement would obvi- • Chai wilh other readers. • Read hundreds of articles ously present a grave hazard in the event the HISTORY and interviews, pilot was forced to hail out, A parallel proj- • View Pictures of the Day. ect at Saab was already testing the ejection • Learn whal happened seat, meaning to make it a standard feature WHERE HISTORY LIVE'NeS ON tTHE WEB Today in Hisiory. • Shop for unique history products. on all of its combat aircraft. A compressed- The official web site Tor; ' Order back issues of the world's best air system was tried first but was later re- American Hixiory. America's Civil War, history magazincK. placed by two Bofors gunpowder cartridges, Aviation History, Brilish Heritage. Civil War Times, • Subscribe

A small town in Maine cherishes an unlikely artifact from Lindbergh's historic transatlantic flight.

BY RICHARD W. O'DONNELL

WHEN CHARLES LINDBERGH MADE his solo flight wanted to share it and his Lindbergb collection with across the Atlantic in May 1927, he earned instant fame. people: "I have photos, clippings, publications, and—most His plane, Spirit of St. Louis, is today one of the Smith- important to me—letters from people with their recollec- sonian Air and Space Museum's leading attractions. But tions of the impact that Lindbergb and his flight had on what happened to the huge wooden containers used to them. Every year, the collection gets larger." He decided transport the airplane hack home from Europe aboard to buy the wooden box after learning that it was hidden USS Memphis'? Believe it or not, one of those crates has in the woodlands of Contoocook, N.H. "It was a slice of also received a modicum of acclaim. While the container history, and I didn't want it to rot away," he said. that held the wings seems to have disappeared, the giant Lindbergh's crate has a storied past. For several years, box that held the fuselage is currently serving as a it was owned by Californian Harry Holt. He was the one museum on Easy Street in the community of Canaan, who sold the big box, as well as the land on which it was Maine. Canaan resident Larry Ross paid $3,000 for the located, to David Price Sr., who eventually sold the giant crate in 1990 and moved it from New Hampshire, where container to Ross. "A new roof had been put on the crate, it had been sitting, to a lot next to his home. He also trans- and we put some windows into the ramshackle old thing," formed it, after a lot of repair of work, turning it into what recalled Holt. "The idea was to make a guest house out of is now known as the Lindbergh Crate Museum. it, but if you must know, not many guests were interested "It's open year-round," said Lindbergh buff Ross. "Hun- in staying in the place. We had a few tenants, but not very dreds of people, mostly schoolchildren, visit it annually. many of them. Every June, about the time summer vacation begins, we "I had been hoping it would end up in a museum, or hold a 'Lindbergh Crate Day' for the youngsters. It has that some airplane club might buy it," said Holt. "When I become quite an event since we started it back in 1992. owned it, souvenir hunters would search the woods look- The young people learn a lot about Lindbergh and the im- Continued on page 58 portance of having a vision of what they want to achieve in their lives. We do a variety of activities and also spon- sor an airshow. The kids have a great time." Visitors today flock to the Lindbergh Crate Museum Ross recalled that when he bought the historic crate (above left) to celebrate the life and lore of "Lucky from former owner David Price Sr., he wasn't exactly sure Lindy," shown (above) with his crated aircraft aboard what he wanted to do with it, but he did know that he USS/Wemp/7/sin1927.

14 AVIATION HISTORV NOVEMBER 2004 Oddities Continued from page 12 Taking Flight laminar flow vAn% with approximately 15 degrees sweepback in the panels outboard the booms, and vertical fins located at the end of each boom, connected by the hori- zontal tailplane. The plane's general dimen- sions included a wingspan of 38 feet and a length of 24 feet 2 inches, and loaded weight totaled 11,466 pounds. Three landing gear legs of unusual length gave the pusher pro- peller adequate ground clearance. The 121 was powered by a German-made DB 605B engine rated at 1,475 hp, driving a fully con- SKY AS FRONTIER trollahle-pitch, three-bladed pusher pro- Adventure, Aviation, and Empire peller. The coolant radiators were huried in David T. Courtwright the wing roots, giving the J21 a fairly clean overall appearance. Aviation's frontier stage lasted a scant three decades, then vanished as flying became a settled experience. Sky as Frontier shows how commercial and milicary imperatives The first prototype 121 flew on luly 30, destroyed this pioneer world by routini/.ing Bight. Along the way, Courtwright stops to 1943. Flight trials demonstrated a maximum consider barnstorming, ihe first air mail pilocs, the development of airlines, military air speed of 403 mph, a cruising speed of 304 power, flight's impact on the environment, and how the male-dominated aviation mpb, a service ceiling of 33,450 feet and a enterprise was domesticated and democratized. $60.00 cloth; $24.95 paper range of 1,920 miles. Though 45 mph faster than the FFVS |22. the J2l was still 30 to 50 mph slower than the Focke Wulf Fw- 190D, FLYING DOWN TO RIO Mk.XTV and North Hollywood, Tourists, and Yankee Clippers American P-51B, which all flew about the Rosalie Schwartz same time, and was not nearly as maneu- Ihe 193.3 RKO'Radio Pictures musical comedy Flying Down to Rio connected verable. Nonetheless, the Flygvapnet—no airplanes, movies, and tourism, ending spectacularly with chorus girls dancing on the doubt hard pressed lor new fighters—or- wings of airplanes high above RJo de Janeiro, Brazil. Schwartz uses this production to dered 484 of the type into production as the examine the interplay oi rechnology and popular culture that shaped the rwentieth- J21 A-1, with deliveries starting in June 1945. ccntury. S60.00 doth; $24.95 paper Fven as J21A-ls hegan reaching opera- tional units, the Plyguapnet expressed disap- ELECTRONICS IN THE pointment with the plane's performance as an air-to-air fighter, and hegan replacing it in EVOLUTION OF FLIGHT the immediate postwar period with North Albert Helfrick American P-51 Ds. By the end of 1949, the type Helfrick traces the paired history of modern aviation and electronics, or avionics, from its had heen completely withdrawn from front- earliest years to the indispensahle tool it is today. He provides a thorough account of the line fighter units. Yet, as early as 1945, Saab roles played by the famous and the obscure, from Edwin Howard Armstrong to David had started developing a follow-on version Sarnoff", in the successtiil creation of aviation technology. $37.95 cloth; $19.95 paper designed for an air-to-ground attack role. The resulting J21A-2s and A21A-3s retained the fighter's gun armament but were specifically modified to carry hombs and rockets and use TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY PRESS www.tamu.e(lu/upress RATO (rocket-assisted takeoff) to improve College Station, Texas • 800-826-8911 • Fax: 888-617-242 i takeoff performance. In 1945 Saab proposed an improved J2IB with heavier armament, and a more powerful DB 605E engine, but the project never went beyond the pro- FINE ART GICLEE PRINT posal stage. Later still, Saah suggested yet an- Wild Blue Yonder: Where Eagles Dare other version with a 2,050-hp Rolls-Royce Griffon engine, but by this time the Flygvap- nelwas seeking new designs urith jet propul- Hugh Polder sion. When the last A21A-3 was delivered in LIMITED EDITION OF 250 S/N 1949, a total of 298 of all versions had been 120 LB. COTTON RAG built. J21A-2S and A21A-3s continued to 16" X 20" serve with Flygvapnet attack units until 1954. OVERALL 22"X 30"

As World War II drew to a close, Sweden PRICE: $150.00 S/H INCLUDED found itself years behind Britain and the United States in the development of jet send check ur money order In. propulsion. In an effort to gain experience Hugh's Aviation Prints quickly, Saab investigated the feasibility of 3540 W. Beach Ave., Chicago, IL 60651 wedding turbojet power to a 121 airframe 773-772-7683 NOVEMBER 2004 AVIATION HISTORV 17 loiojorie Blvd. R3J2 and purchased British-made de Havilland Goblin engines, rated at 3,100 pounds static Oak Brook, II 60523 thrust. Three incomplete J21 A- Is were taken 1-800-985-8463 from Saah's assembly lines to undergo the www.alomictime.com conversion, which turned out to be more complex than originally expected: The entire fuselage section aft of the was 12" Arabic Black Wall replaced in order to house the larger diam- WAWO102 $29.95> eter turbojet; the empennage was re- This Hiill eloek is gn:al fur dii oll'iee. designed to move the horizontal stabilizer school, or home. It has a priilessiimal Imik. ailing «ith prolessiiinal reliabil- above the thrust line; and the stance of the ity. Features an i;as> time zone switch, landing gear was modified to compensate jiisl sel Ihe /one and (ju! Runs otl 1 AA hutlei^ anJ h;is a sule plastie Itns for the change in thrust angle. The first Goblin Il-powered prototype, Atomic Digital Chrono Waich ADWAIOI S4<).9-S designated the J21R, flew on March 10,1947. Diir realure I'iieked t hrDnc-Aliirm Flight testing revealed a maximum speed of u.tlch is now available liir uinit-r Hi?"' 496 mph, a cruising speed of 378 mph, a serv- It has date aiid time abrms. stiipw,ii>.li hiicklight. Urc lime, anil much mori.'' ice ceiling of 39,350 feet and a range of 558 IIMJ eiiupon code', ADWA49 miles. It was ordered into production as the Waich A21RA, to be used in a ground attack role, .S542Z-2 SI 99.99 with the last examples delivered to the Ffy- I his eteganl ualch li-alurts a gvapnet in 1952. Production versions were u'^islant slainle^.s sli^el I'dse with adapted to carry a belly-mounted pod con- liardtncd mineral lens. Uliiffc/jirey dial uilh lumincitL'n! num taining an additional eight 13.2mm machine :iiid high quulii)' replaceahk' leather guns. The last 30 produced as the A21RB lMi!d. Aalch can cliaii|;e ti' any world were powered by the Swedish-huilt Goblin [imo/ime Case Jiameler 40mn!. III, which boosted them to 3,300 pounds 1-800-985-8463 static thrust and a top speed of 520 mph. www.atcmicijme.com The greatest drawback of the aircraft was

Tell lime by thi; II S. Aloiiiii: CiiKk -I lie oflitial I'.S. lime that governs ship moveniems. radio slaiions, spiice fliglils, jnj war- range: When fully loaded, the A2 IR's combat plants. Wiih small radio reccht-rs liidden inside our linKpieccs. ihcy auloniolically sjneruni/c lo the \ '.S Aiuniic Clui:k {which radius was only 118 miles. All A21Rs were measures eaih setond of lime as ^.\')2.(}?i].77ii vihralions of a cesium 133 aUiin in a vactiLim) and [five lime w'hich is accurate to rox. I second i-very million years. Ojr timepieces evon avtounl auionialically llir dayli^hl saiinji lime, leap years, and leap withdrawn from service by the end of 1956. seconds $7.45 Shipping & Handliny na I IPS (Kush available al addilioiidl eiisl|(.'all M-F «-5 CSI lor our Tree catalog. IftheA21R had fallen short of success, it gave Saab's engineers a wealth of experience. Even before the last A 21R was retired, Saab HANK CARUSO'S New 2005 AEROCATURES'" CALENDAR! ^ In this case, our models are was rapidly moving up the ladder as one of the world's leading designers of military jet safer than the real thing. aircraft. The sweptwing J29 Tunnan, which WANl'hD: Sca«>ncd conihat pilots ti) (ly a target airplane flew in 1948, began equipping Flyguapnet nggcd with himdreds of lighi bulbs [hat wiiuld Hash each time fighter units in 1951; the two-seat, all- i novice's hullets hil yaur airplane. Oon't worrv' about gotting hit 3 fcw estra layers nf armor has been aJded for your sa(etv\ weather 132 Lansen flew in 1952 and served In the event you do get shot down, the orange paini will make in fighter-interceptor units until the mid- you can' to find. 1970s; and the strikingly innovative double- The Bell r-63 "Pinhall" fust one of Classic Aircraft Collection's historical airplanes modeled ti) delta J35 Draken, when it flew in 1955, was museum quality' perfection in durable resin. perhaps the most advanced second-genera- tion supersonic fighter aircraft in the world. Saab was developing a controversially large, expensive multirole fighter when it began partially privatizing and merged with © Hank Caruso Aktie Bolaget Scania-Vabis in 1970. In 1972 The 2005 Aerocatures"" Calendar features: USMC UH-1N; A-6E heads downtown; the IA37 Viggen (Thunderbolt) fighter en- A-10 Warthog; X-32 JSF; WWII carrier tered service, subsequently joined by attack, birds F4F, F6F, TBM, F4U; KC-135R ^Classics conversion trainer and other variants. The tanks C-17; XP-59; Carrier LSOs; F-107; Meteor vs. V-1; SAAB 37 Viggen; B-66. AIRCRAFT 1980s saw the development of a single- Calendar size~8.5" x 11"; contents b&w, engine multirole successor to the Viggen, the cover art in color. Includes bonus color Collections, JAS 39 Gripen (Griffin), a close-coupled delta Aerocatures™ suitable for framing: PBY canard designed to satisfy a Swedish military Catalina & aerobatic aircraft. Color prints, Questions answered by books, & commissions also available. rtal live aviation nuts wh{i'II that, as one parliamentarian put it, "wants a (Beady late Fall 2004; some subjects may change.) gladly answer questions and Mercedes, but can only afford aVolkswagen." Kcnd \ou a free briitluirc Calendar is $15 each + S3 S&H (US & Canada) per Passing its flight tests in December 1996, the order. Maryland residents add 5% SALES TAX. Prices for Gripen offers a fourth-generation jet fighter shipping outside the US and Canada and wholesale orders available on request. Not respor^ble for shippwng 800-289-3167 that can change directly to the attack and re- damage. Sorry, no cash, CODs, or credit cards. Orders email: RIOHl IlEKi: connaissance role by means of its upgradable must be tn US dollars redeemable through a US agent. contacitis^aircraftmodels.coni computer software. What is now called the ForeFeather^'" Enterprises Collectors Airniodel C^ompany 44618 Rolling Oak Lane - Dept. AH Saab Aircraft Division of Saab-Scania has California, MD 20619 USA 10232 Maria Dr., fort Worth, Texas 76108 gone a long way since its failed direct transi- www.aerocatures.com Fax; 817-246-6111 tion from the piston to the jet age, the ]21. "t"

18 AVIATION HISTORY NOVEMBER 2004 People & Planes

Douglas Mawson and his 'Wingless Wonder' headed for the Antarctic in 1911.

BY BETHANY ROBINSON

Modified to serve as an "air tractor sledge," the Vickers monoplane—minus wings—is tested while held stationary via a barrel roped to one ski.

gaining international acclaim for his role in the BAE, be became one of the fore- most scientific figures in , well known for leading two subsequent ex- peditions to , championing environmental conservation and power- ing national-level Australian scientific re- search, education and policy. He was knighted in 1914, and today his likeness can still be seen on Australian currency. In 1911 Mawson began planning his cwn expedition, tJie Australasian Antarc- tic Expedition (AAE), to map the Antarc- I tic coastline directly south of Australia. g The AAE would depart from Australia in a m i December 1911 in the expedition ship Aurora. Under the command of Captain THE THREE MEN WERE YOKED like pack animals to John King "Gloomy" Davis, the ship would return to re- a sled carting their supplies. They suffered from unre- trieve the expedition in early 1913. Tbe AAE was primari- lenting frostbite, trudging along through the ice and snow, ly supported by the Australian scientific community, a carrying with them only enougli food to barely sustain group long on enthusiasm but sbort on funds. Tbis did life. Along the perilous route, hidden crevasses threatened not stop Mawson from ambitiously planning to be tbe to swallow them, and their objective was elusive. Ex- first to take an airplane to the Antarctic. hausted by hunger and cold, the youngest man confided But the fates were against him—his plane would never in his diary: "The Prof had talked of returning down coast fly in Antarctica. In fact, 18 years would go by before in Jan, when much ice out, at average rate of 20m[iles| per anyone actually fulfilled that dream. Mawson's plane did day. I guess I would like to see [us| fly" not even arrive in Antarctica intact. It did, bowever, help It was 1908, and the writer was Douglas Mawson, a 26- to save his life. year-old Australian professor at the University of Adelaide, Mawson's plans called for an aircraft that was durable in Antarctica as part of the 1907-09 British Antarctic Ex- and reliable enougb to witbstand the harsh Antarctic pedition (BAE) led by Sir Ernest Shackleton. Together with conditions. In May 1911, he had made an unsuccessful Edgeworth David ("the Prof") and A. Forbes Mackay, bid on a Breguet . 1 lis unidentified agent sent him Mawson journeyed 1,260 miles in 122 days to ascertain this message: "Here is the Breguet—this is a very fine ma- the position and directional movement of tbe south mag- chine, I think about as good as any biplane—but I know netic pole. no one in connection with it and therefore could get no Mawson's wry comment about flying was not just fa- reduction in price....I greatly recommend a monoplane tigue-induced sarcasm. An engineer and geologist, but not a Bleriot, their only advantage is that they are fast Mawson was fascinated with emerging technology and and you don't require that. There's a lot of jobbery in tbe scientific advances. Always an innovator, throughout his aeroplane market, tbat it is scarcely safe to take anyone's life (1882-1958) he displayed a breadth of technical skills, advice. One should really rather fly lit]." including engineering, industrial and architectural Later, assisted by noted British aviator Claude Grabam- design. He patented advances in ore processing, and pi- Wbite, Mawson purchased a Vickers 1 monoplane, one of oneered techniques in forestry and erosion control. After Continued on page 71

20 AVIATION HISTOHV NOVEMBER 2004

ritish Squadron Leader Lance C. Wade, ONE OF BRITAIN'S nesses. But Johnson claimed that the RAF had leading a group of eight Supermarine credited Wade with 25 confirmed victories. Spitfire MarkVIIIs, was not expecting MOST DECORATED 1 listened to the bookstore owner's story, still to encounter enemy aircraft as his in doubt, then told lohnson I was not familiar RoyaBl Air Force patrol neared the Italian coast AND HIGHEST SCORING with any pilot named Wade and asked if he knew near Termoli on October 3,1943. Suddenly the of any books about him. Johnson explained that RAF fiierssighte d FockeWulf Fw-19OAs at 12,000 FIGHTER PILOTS WAS A because Wade remained in the RAF after the feet. Wade led his fighters from 6,000 feet in a United States joined the war, and be died in a climbing turn in hopes of approaching the FORMER MULE SKINNER fiying accident before the conflict ended, the enemy planes from their blind spot in the rear young pilot's achievements had not been widely and below. After gaining tbis position and ap- FROM EAST TEXAS. puhlicized after his death. proaching unseen to within 200 yards. Wade de- When I returned home, I could not get John- stroyed the rearmost Fw-190 witb a burst of son's tale off my mind. Going to my booksbelves, cannon fire. He then moved behind the next I picked up Edward H, Sims' The Greatest Aces, By Michael D, Montgomery fighter, and with another hurst sent the enemy which contains the semiofficial records of air plunging earthward. warfare, As expected, I did not find Lance C. Wade The remaining German pilots broke in all di- listed in the American aces ofWorld War II, nor rections, trying to escape. Diving after a fieeing in the listing of RAF aces. But then I spotted a Fw-190, Wade heavily damaged it, but he did not footnote at the bottom of a page; "This list does see it crash. German records subsequently re- not contain one of the Royal Air Force's greatest vealed that III Gruppe of Schlachtgeschwader fighter aces. Lance C. Wade, an American who (battle wing) 4, or III/SG.4, had lost at least one of volunteered in 1940 to fly and fight for England." its Fw-190 fighter-hombersi n that fight,an d the pilot. Ser- geant 1st Class Peter Pellan- der, had been killed. With the confirmadon of those two vic- tories. Wade ended his second comhat tour. His score had p^., risen to 25, making him the leading Allied fighter ace of the Mediterranean Theater of Operations at that point, I first encountered Lance Wade by accident several years ago, when I was search- ing for World War II history books and visited a used book store owned by Henry Johnson. That day turned out to be lucky for me in more than one way. 1 found several new hooks for my li- brary, and I also learned ahout an American-born ace who had slipped through the cracks in hooks ahout World War II. As I was rummaging through works on the Euro- pean air war, Johnson said to tne: "My Uncle Bill Wade's son was a Royal Above: Royal Air Force ace Lance Sims added that Wade was one of the highest-scoring Air Force fighter pilot in World War 11. His C. Wade was photographed in the Americans in the air war, witb 25 confirmed kills, also name was Lance Wade, and he shot down fall of 1943, while serving as noting that he died in an accident in 1944. over 40 Axis aircraft." I listened politely but commander of No. 145 Squadron. A product of the east Texas hill country who came of initially attached little credibility to his Opposite: In Mark Postlethwaite's age during tbe Depression, Lance was born in 1915 claim, for I had already been studying the air painting, Wade downs a in Broadus, a small farming community near the war for many years and thought I could Messerschmitt Me-109—likely Texas-Louisiana border. Tbe second son of Bill and readily recognize the names of high-scoring piloted by a Sergeant ErtI of 3 Susan Wade, he was actually given the name L.C. at Allied fighter aces. Johnson went on to tell Staffel, JagdgeschwaderSZ— birth. In fact, he became Lance C. Wade only after the me that the 40-pius kills were in Wade's log- over Medenine, Tunisia, while RAF demanded that he list a name rather than ini- book, hut not his official record. He also ex- flying a Supermarine Spitfire tials—he called himself Lance Cleo Wade just to sat- plained that these were not confirmed, as Mk.Vbon March 1,1943. isfy regulations. In 1922 the family moved to a small Wade had flown in the desert war of North farm near Reklaw, Texas, where he went to school and Africa, and many of his kills had lacked wit- helped v^ath the farm work. Family members recalled

NOVEMBER 2004 AVIATION HISTORY 23 that whenever an airplane flew over, Wade would FAMILY MEMBERS of American volunteers. In the course of their stop whatever he was doing and say, "Someday I service, members of the Eagles destroyed 73I/' will fly." in 1934 at age 19, Wade traveled to RECALLED THAT Axis aircraft and earned 12 Distinguished Flying Tucson, Ariz., to take advantage of a New Deal Crosses (DFCs) and one Distinguished Service program, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), WHENEVER AN Order (DSO). The battle-tested Eagles also pro- which provided johs for young men. For Wade, vided the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) vdth however, the CCC work turned out to he much AIRPLANE FLEW OVER, valuable combat experience after the United like the farm work he thought he had left States joined the war. Wade, however, did not hehind—driving a team of mules, huilding roads WADE WOULD STOP serve with the Eagle squadrons but witb the and planting trees in a national forest. regular RAF squadrons, and as a result his awards With war clouds looming. Wade earned a WHATEVER HE WAS and victories are not included in the Eagle tally pilot's license and acquired 80 hours of flying Soon after being accepted in the RAF, Wade DOING AND SAY, time. License in hand, he tried to join the U.S. was sent to No. 52 Operational Training Unit (OTU). Units such as these provided pilots a few Army Air Corps, only to be turned down because 'SOMEDAY I WILL FLY.' of his lack of education. Undeterred, he was soon weeks' training in the aircraft that they would fly plotting to join the RAF. in combat—in Wade's case, the Hawker Hurri- Due to heavy losses during the Battle of Brit- cane. After completing his OTU training. Wade ain, the RAF had started recruiting American flew a land-based Hurricane Mark I ofl'flie British pilots for its war effort. Fearful that he might he aircraft carrier Ark Royal to the beleaguered rejected again. Wade suhmitted a flctitious island of Malta. His was one of 46 Hurricanes resume in which he claimed that he had learned sent as reinforcements to the island. Because of to fly at age 16, when he and three friends had the need for flghters in North Africa, 23 Hurri- purchased a plane and a World War I flying buddy canes were flown to Egypt, where Wade joined No. 33 Squadron in Septem- ber 1941 as a pilot officer. After the unit received re- placement pilots and aircraft, it was deployed to Giarahuh airfleld, located in the Libyan desert, a fly-infested waste- land of sand, rocks and hrush. The mission of No. 33 Squadron was to provide close air support for the up- coming British offensive, duhhed Operation Crusader, scheduled to he launched on Novemher 18, 1941, against the Cerman Afrika Korps. Numher 33 Squadron was equipped with the Hurricane Mark I and later the Mark II. Hurricanes were the work- horses of the RAF during the Batfle of Britain, responsible for attacking German bomher forces while the more ad- vanced Spitflres took on the enemy fighters. The Hurri- cane was a transitional flghter, vifitb thick wings and of his father's had taught them to fly.Wad e also A consignment of Hawker a steel-and-wood frame covered with fabric. The said that his father had heen an ace in World War Hurricanes undergoes flight- lack of streamlining resulted in a design that had 1. Years later, on hearing that story. Wade's cousin testing before being sent to little room for improvement; even equipped Henry Johnson laughed and said that the high- the Middle East. Wade used the with more powerful engines the Hurricanes did est Uncle Bill (Wade's father) had ever been was "Hurri" to score his first victories— not show a dramatic improvement in their per- the top rail of his fences, and that the family was two Italian Fiat C.R.42s over the formance. In fact, the Hurricane of the desert unaware of Wade's ever owning an airplane. Libyan desert on November 18, war was nearly 100 mph slower than the Luft- Whatever the facts, in December 1940 Wade was 1941—and became an ace wajfe's Messerschmitt Me-109E accepted by the RAF. the following week. The "Hurri" was not without good points, Britain's recruitment program resulted in 240 however. Many pilots believed a Hurricane American pilots who flew and fought for Fng- could outturn the Me-109, and it was a stable land. Most of those men served with Nos. 71,121 gun platform—whicb made it easier for Hurri- and 133 "Fagle" squadrons, which were made up cane fliers to achieve hits on opposing aircraft.

24 AVIATION HISTORY NOVEMBER 2004 The Hurricane's wide-tracked landing gear also FIGHTING TO KEEP HIS the nickname "Wildcat Wade," He destroyed one made takeoffs and landings on unimproved S.M.79 and teamed up with another pilot to desert fields safer. PLANE IN THE AIR, WADE bring down a second. On November 24, Wade and The key to success in the war in North Africa his wingman intercepted a flight of S.M.79s with was controlling the airspace. The RAF faced two STRUGGLED ON FOR C.R.42 escorts and, in a low-level fight over the experienced and well-equipped foes: Italy's Regia desert. Wade notched up another S.M.79. That Aeronautica and the German . Many ABOUT 20 MILES afternoon he shot down another C.R.42, thus Italian pilots had been flying combat since the achieving ace status in his first week of combat. Spanish Civil War, and their equipment was BEFORE SETTING DOWN On the morning of December 5, 1941, No. 33 equal to that of the RAF. Luftwaffe aircrews were Squadron was ordered to make an early morning considered the best in the world; they included IN THE DESERT. attack on the Axis landing field at Agedabia. The many veterans of the Spanish Civil War and ear- squadron mounted its attack from the east so lier campaigns of World War II. One of No. 33 that the glare of the morning sun offered some Squadron's principal opponents was the Luft- protection fi:om groundfire. As Wade approached waffe's Jagdgeschwader 27, a fighter wing com- the enemy landing field, he concentrated his fire manded by Captain Fduard Neumann, one of on an S.M.79 parked near the fiightline . When Germany's outstanding air combat leaders. Fur- he roared over the damaged enemy bomber, it thermore, the pilot many Luftwaffe leaders con- exploded and heavily damaged his Hurricane. sidered the best fighter pilot of the war, Hans Fighting to keep his plane in the air, Wade strug- Joachim Marseille, flew with I/IG.27. Marseille gled on for about 20 miles before setting down destroyed 158 British and American aircraft. in the desert. In an attempt to help. Sergeant H.R Commanded by Squadron Leader I.W. Mars- Wooler landed his own aircraft nearby, but den, No. 33 Squadron had been brought up to Wooler's Hurricane was damaged during the strength with replacement planes and pilots to support Operation Crusader. The of- fensive's purpose was to re- lieve the British Tohruk gar- rison and to destroy Axis armored forces commanded by German Maj. Gen. Erwin Rommel, the famed "Desert Fox." Crusader was sched- uled to begin early in the morning of November 18, and No. 33 Squadron's as- signment was to attack El Frg airfield, located deep in the Libyan desert. As the Hurri- canes approached the enemy airfield, three Italian Fiat C.R.42S jumped them. De- spite the fact that the C.R.42 was one of the most ad- vanced and maneuverable biplane fighters ever pro- duced, with a top speed of 270 mph. Wade managed to shoot down two of the Italian planes, while the other C.R.42 was downed by his British airmen examine the landing, and he was unable to take off afterward. squadron mates. wreckage of a Junkers Ju-87B Now there were two British pilots stuck in the Four days later, on November 22, nine Junkers in Italian markings, shot down desert without food or water. Fortunately, the JU-88A bombers of I Gruppe, Lehrgeschwader by a Hurricane pilot on the Desert Air Force was prepared for such an emer- (training wing) 1, with supporting Me-109s, at- Libyan battlefront. gency. If stranded airmen could be located, they tacked Allied airfields in the area. Given warning were supplied with essential rations by air. The of that attack. No. 33 Squadron managed to fliers were given directions on where to head, scramble six Hunicanes to intercept the enemy and if the men could find firm sand to facilitate formation. The squadron destroyed two Ju-88s, a landing by another aircraft, a plane would be while Wade heavily damaged another Ju-88 in sent in to rescue them. Wade and Wooler were that same fight. After landing and servicing its among the lucky ones, as they were quickly fighters. No. 33 was ordered to intercept another spotted and supplies were airdropped to them. enemy formation, this time made up of Italian After walking hack to base, Wade and Wooler of- Savoia-Marchetti S.M.79 trimotor bombers. Dis- ficially became members of the "Late Arrivals playing the aggressiveness that soon earned him Club," which meant they could wear a special

NOVEMBER 2004 AVIATION HISTORV 25 patch on the left breast of their flying suits. DURING WADE'S FIRST touring the big city. Wade returned to east Texas During Wade's first tour of duty from Septem- to a hero's welcome. An auto dealership offered ber 1941 to September 1942, the Desert Air Force TOUR OF DUTY, THE him the use of a new car during his leave, which took heavy losses due to the limitations of its out- he politely refused, and be also received invita- dated Hurricanes. But despite his plane's obvious DESERT AIR FORCE TOOK tions to speak throughout the region. shortcomings, Wade's victory total continued to During his time at home. Wade spoke to his rise. He also hecame the unofficial deputy com- HEAVY LOSSES DUE TO brother Oran ahout some of bis experiences in mander of No. 33 Squadron. the desert war. Oran later recalled hearing how Wade's last week of his tour came during a THE LIMITATIONS OF on one mission Lance had become separated period of intense air comhat. That action started from bis flight hy three Me- 109s and in a swirling on September 11,1942, with a large dogfight be- ITS OUTDATED low-level dogfight had shot one down and dam- tween Hurricanes of Nos. 33 and 213 squadrons aged another. He reportedly lost the third by and the Me- 109s of I/JG.27 and n/JG.27 that were HURRICANES. flying down a desert gully Tbere had apparently escorting Junkers Ju-87s on a dive-bombing mis- been no witnesses to confirm what had hap- sion. The Hurricanes were supported by the two pened, however. He also told Oran that enemy new Spitfire squadrons, Nos. 145 and 610. In a pilots seemed to have recognized his aircraft swirling fight, Wade destroyed a Ju-87 on the during the last half of his tour and started avoid- 11th. Five days later, he tangled with a highly ing him. Tbat may have heen thanks to the fact

skilled Italian pilot flying a Maccbi M.C.202, who Wade had borrowed this Spitfire tbat Wade's Hurricane was distinctive—deco- damaged bis Hurricane. This was the first time Mark Vb from his wing leader, rated with bis ovm design, a fighting cock, or an enemy pilot bad hit Wade's fighter in a year of Wing Commander Ian R. Gleed, on rooster, standing in front of an American flag. air combat, and he conceded that the enemy February 26,1943, the day he Tbat same aggressive-looking hird would later pilot was good. As his tour came to an end. Wade damaged an Me-109—and then be adopted as tbe emblem of the U.S. Army Air was sent home for a well-deserved rest. His score crash-landed after being hit by Forces' 4th Fighter Group, which included many then stood at 15 confirmed kills. British anti-aircraft fire. former Eagles in its ranks. The Texan RAF pilot's exploits had heen widely Wade was next sent to Wright Field to test new reported in U.S. newspapers, and now the Ameri- American fighters. He later reported to tbe RAF can press corps clamored to meet the man who delegation in Washington and was introduced bad become a bigh-scoring ace and also been in- to President Franklin D. Roosevelt at the White vited to tea with Britain's royal family Upon his House. arrival in New York, be held a press conference at Wade eventually returned to North Africa to Rockefeller Center and was featured in the Octo- take command of No. 145 Squadron, which was her 14, 1942, issue of The New York Times. After equipped with Spitfire Mark Vbs. By the time he

26 AVIATION HISTOHY NOVEMBER 2004 joined the squadron in January 1943, he had been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and a bar [representinga second DFC). The squadron's assignment was to keep enemy fighters from at- tacking the Hurricanes and Cur- tiss P-40 fighter-bombers. His new unit was made up of pilots of many nationalities: Britons, New Zealanders, Argentines, Trinidadians, Canadians, South Africans and Australians. Also attached to the unit was the Polish Fighting Team, made up of 15 expert pilots who had been fighting the Cermans since the beginning of World War II. Led by Stanislaw Skalski, Poland's leading ace of the war, that group had a reputation for being difficult to manage, But under Wade's leadership, the squadron developed into a highly success- ful combat unit. Throughout the Nordi Afiican campaign, fighter units were commonly based near the front lines so that they could respond to ground units' requests quickly Sometimes enemy ground units broke through Allied lines and overran the landing fields where the fighters were assigned. On February 25, 1943, German ar- tillery' fire began hitting the air- field where No. 145 Squadron was stationed. In a hasty scram- hle to save aircraft and person- nel. Spitfires, jeeps and trucks raced from the field. The squad- ron managed to escape with all its aircraft except for one that had been under repair. Even so, Wade's own fighterha d its star- board wing damaged by an ex- ploding shell, but he flew the damaged plane to El Assa and somehow came down safely. As March 1943 ended. No. 145 Squadron had Top: Wade {second from right) bar to his DFC. developed into an effective fighter unit, credited poses with other leaders of In September 1943, No. 145 Squadron pro- with 20 enemy aircraft destroyed for the month. No. 244 Wing after Desert Air vided support for the invasion of Italy. It was (In comparison, all the RAF units in the Mediter- Force Spitfires destroyed 30 during the Italian campaign that Wade took part ranean theater were credited with 59.) The enemy vehicles in one day's in what may have heen his most notable aerial month also marked a turning point in the air war, operations. Above: During the combat. That battle occurred on November 3, with enemy aircraft becoming increasingly diffi- Italian campaign in the fall of 1943, while he and a wingman were patrolling cult to find. Wade had started the month off by 1943, Wade was photographed the front lines and encountered a large flight of downing an Me-109 over Medenine that was con- with 145 Squadron adjutant Fw-190s of II/SG.4 attacking a target. Wade ra- firmed later—probably killing a Sergeant Ertl of Flight Lt. Norman Brown (left). dioed for help but did not receive a response. 3/IG.53. Nevertheless, he and his wingman decided to He went on to take out another Me-109 north attack the enemy formation. In the dogfight that of Mareth on the 22nd and two south of Sfax on followed, an Fw-190 crossed in Wade's front, of- the 23rd. During that same period he also re- fering him a brief opening, and with a burst of ceived news that he had been awarded a second cannon fireWad e shredded the German plane.

NOVEMBER 2004 AVIATION HISTORY 27 As tbe engagement continued. Wade damaged two WHATEVER CAUSED THE After the war, one of Wade's friends visited more Fw-190s before making a low-level escape. Both his family and expressed his belief that he and his wingman survived the fight. Wade bad CRASH MAY NEVER BE Wade's plane had been sabotaged, Whatever been too hard pressed to really determine what caused the crash may never be known, since became of the enemy planes he hif, so they were KNOWN, SINCE SOME some RAF crash records of World War II are credited to him as "three damaged," but II/SG.4 sub- still classified. Shortly after Wade's death, sequently reported that Sergeant Georg Walz had RAF CRASH RECORDS news was received that he had been been killed by Spitfires nearTermoli. awarded the Distinguished Service Order. As Wade's second tour drew to a close, a ceremony OF WORLD WAR II ARE In less than three years. Lance Wade, a was held in his honor. Air Vice Marshal Harry Broad- former mule skinner from Texas, rose like a hurst, air commander for the RAF's Mediterranean STILL CLASSIFIED. meteor to become the leading ace of his thea- theater and himself a high-scoring Hurricane ace ter. After his first tour. Wade bad been offered from the , reviewed No. 145 Squadron higher rank and more pay to transfer to the on that occasion. In his remarks, Broadhurst pointed USAAF. But he had declined at the time, out that Squadron Leader Wade was the most suc- saying, "Thanks, that's mighty fine, but I'd cessful commander of No. 145 Squadron from both rather keep stringing along with the guys I World War I and World War II. Wade was subsequently have been with so long now." As The New promoted to wing commander, with the rank of lieu- York Times wrote, "He strung along with tenant colonel, and posted to Broadhurst's staff. them to the end"—the end of his life.

Wade's future looked bright at that point, given Wade's funeral procession at I^nce Cleo Wade was buried in a quiet coun- his new rank and assignment. His private life was Foggia, Italy, after he crashed on try cburcbyard just down tbe road from bis boy- also prospering, as he had become engaged to takeoff. The recipient of a Distin- hood farm near Reklaw. Even in bis bometown, marry a young British woman. Sadly, all that guished Flying Cross and two there are no markers to honor his remarkable bright promise was about to come to a tragic and bars, the Texan RAF pilot was the accomplishments, and that seems a terrible premature end. top-scoring Allied fighter pilot in shame, given his immense contribution to the Missing his old squadron mates. Wade decided the Mediterranean theater at the Allied air war. "t" to pay diem a visit. On January 12,1944, he flew a time of his death. twin-engine Austerlightbomberfrom the theater First-time contributor Michael D. Montgomery headquarters to No. 145's base at Foggia, Italy. At writes from Haughton, La. For additional read- the end of his visit. Wade climbed into the Auster ing: Aces High; A Tribute to tbe Most Notable and took off again. But as bis plane climbed from Figbter Pilots of the British and Commonwealth the runway, it suddenly went into a spin and i^orcesofWlor\(i\NArU, by Christopher Shores and crashed. Wade was killed instantly. Clive Williams.

28 AVIATION HISTORY NOVEMBER 2004 Build Your Own Supermarine Spitfire Mk.Vb

s the Battle of Britain raged, Reichs- commander Wade's Spitfire did not have the org/SqnMarkl45-150.htm. marchall Hermann Goring report- clipped wings common to some Spitfires I sprayed a coat of Testor's Glosscoat over Aedly asked Luftwaffe ace Adolf Gal- used in the desert for low-level attacks, the entire aircraft to provide a smooth finish land if there was anything he needed to There are two types of air-and-sand filters for the decals. The kit decals were used for make the Nazi campaign go more smoothly. provided in the kit. Since Wade's aircraft ar- the roundels and finflashes . The "ZX E" air- Major Galland is said to have responded, rived in North Africa by way of the British air craft codes and "ES-252" aircraft serial "Give me a squadron of Spitfires." base at Aboukir, Egypt, I chose the "Ahoukir" number came from an old decal sheet of Galland's response was only one indica- air-and-sand engine filter developed by the British squadron markings from HisAirDec, tion of the reputation that Supermarine 103rd Maintenance Unit at that base. (The Inc. (1 found this 6 x 9-inch sheet of letters Spitfires attained on both sides of the war. kit also contains the larger Vokes filter,use d and numbers at a recent model swap meet When they were sent as replacements for on some desert Spitfires and Hurricanes.) for 25 cents.) Since these decals were quite Hawker Hurricanes as the front- line fighter, the contrihution of "Spits" reached iegendar>' pro- portions in the defense of Malta and the desert war in North Africa. American wing com- mander Lance Wade, who joined the RAF in 1940 and soon became an ace, flew a Mk.Vh Spitfire in North Africa, and his aircraft is our model project for this issue, The Mk.V Spitfire was a Mk. I or II airframe fitted with an up- graded Merlin 45 engine. The "h" suffix indicated that the air- craft was armed with two 20mm cannons and four Browning .303-caliher machine guns. Tamiya produces an excellent Mk.Vh Spitfire in l/72nd scale. The cockpit consists of seven pieces, and should he painted Model Master "RAF Interior Green." The instrument panel, £ which has a decal provided for 3 the faces, is semigloss black. The I Spitfire's seat, according to sev- eral sources, was made from Bakelite and Finish the basic mode! construction by old, I brushed on a coat of MicroScale's when left unpainted was a deep reddish attaching the horizontal stabilizers and ce- liquid decal filmbefor e using them, (liquid color. I painted mine Gunze Sangyo's "red menting the radiator cover and oil cooler decal film coats the printed images and brown," No. 47. Another decal, depicting the shroud to the bottom of the wings. Check all keeps them from "shattering" when placed pilot's harness, can be applied at this time. the seams, then sand and fill where neces- in water.) Cement the fuselage pieces together and sary. The undersides of British desert Spit- The wheels should be painted "tire black" slip the completed cockpit into place fires were painted "Mediterranean blue" or and then attached to the landing gear legs through the space in the bottom. The in- "Azure htue." I airbrushed the topsides with and undercarriage doors. The canopy and structions next call for the placement of the Gunze Sangyo's "middle stone," No. 71, and windscreen in this kit are very small. A exhaust stuhs. Hold off on this step until "dark earth," No. 72, in the standard British steady hand and a triple zero artists' brush youVe completed the painting. They can, camouflage pattern. will work well for painting the frames. however, be painted "rust" and set aside to Wade's No, 145 Squadron painted the Use a light coat of dulling spray to simu- dry Glue the wings together and attach spinners of their propellers hright red. The late the weathering that commonly took them to the fuselage. prop blades are Model Master "aircraft in- place in the desert. When all is dry, attach Since this kit will allow you to build either terior black" with yellow tips. The paint the clear pieces with white glue, and your a standard Mk.Vh or a Mk.Vh tropical ver- schemes and markings for No. 145 Squad- Spitfire is ready for action against the Afrika sion, you'll have to select the standard or ron from Novemher 1941 to February 1942 Korps and the Luftwaffe. clipped wingtip parts at this time. Squadron can be found at the Web site www.rafweb. Dick Smith

NOVEMBER 2004 AVIATION HISTOnV 29 IN THE

Hard-pressed aircrews of the 11th Aero Squadron who flew Liberty D.H.4s in America's first hombing campaign during World War I learned most of their skills from combat experience—if they survived. BY JON GUTTMAN

30 AVIATION HISTORV NOVEMBER 2004 Far left: First Lieutenant Clifford W. Allsopp stands third from left among pilots and observers of the 11th Aero Squadron (Courtesy of Jon Guttman). Top: An American-built 'he great bomber armadas of World War II saw tbeir precur- Libeily engine de Havilland D.H.4 sors in WorldWar I. By 1918, German, Frencb, British and Ital- carries two 155- ian bomber groups were disrupting enemy supply lines and pound bombs on staging areas, while multiengine strategic bombers struck at each underwing rack. The cutaway enemy cities and industrial centers, although the damage they did was fabric beside the generally more to morale than material. fuselage gave the The U.S. Army Air Service (USAS) sent its own bomber force into the crew a measure of downward visibility fray in September 1918--only to discover that it had a lot of catching up (National Archives). to do. One of the four squadrons making up that pioneer bombing Above left: The group was the 11th Aero Squadron, and its short but costly combat "lucky swastika" on 2nd Lts. John L career typified the difficult learning process that all the first American Garlough and bomber units had to undergo. Robert C. Payton's The optimism with which the United States entered World War I on 0.H.4 must have worked—the April 6,1917, soon subsided in the USAS. For one thing, it had nothing plane miraculously comparable to the fighters, bombers and reconnaissance aircraft that got through 16 missions undam- the European powers had developed in the crucihle of three years of aged (Lafayette war. While designers and manufacturers struggled to create competi- Foundation). tive military aircraft. Colonel Raynal C. Boiling led a technical com-

NOVEMBER 2004 AVIATION HISTORV 31 mission to evaluate the latest European designs for license production as an interim measure. Of the four types he selected—the Bristol F.2B, S.E.5 and Spad 13 fighters, and the de Havilland D.H.4 homber- reconnaissance plane—only the D.H.4 went into production in time to serve over the front. The first D.H.4 arrived in the United States on July 27,1917. The airframe was delivered without its 250- hp Rolls-Royce Eagle engine, but the Americans al- ready knew that the plane was compatible with their new 400-hp Liberty V-1650. The Liberty engine ver- sion underwent its first test flight on October 29 and then was quickly contracted out to three manufac- turers. The Dayton-Wright Company of Dayton, Obio, built 3,106 D.H.4s, the Fisher Body Division of in Cleveland huilt 1,600 and the Standard Aircraft Corporation of Patterson, N.J., built 140. Of that total of 4,846 planes, 1,213 were even- tually shipped to and 696 reached the Zone of Advance, but only 196 actually saw frontline combat with the USAS, as well as with the combined U.S. Navy and Marine Northern Bombing Group, based Major John L. Dunsworth (right) supervises the loading of a Breguet 14B.2 on the Belgian coast. of the 96th Aero Squadron on July 29,1918. In September the D.H.4-equipped The first "Liberty' D.H.4s," as they came to be called, 11 th and 20th Aero squadrons joined the 9eth to form the 1 st Day reached the U.S. Army depot at Romorantin, France, Bombardment Group under Dunsworth's command. on May 11,1918, but they were in such poor condi- tion that they had to be reworked by the ground crews. The plane's normal armament was two for- ward-firing synchronized .303-caliher Marlin machine guns and twin menced, the Germans had moved one of their most seasoned fighter Levds machine guns on a British Scarff ring for the observer. Some vdngs, Jagdgeschwader II, to help defend the sector from airfields at Liberties had an additional Lewis or Marlin mounted in a "tunnel Tichemont and Giraumont. Commanded by 1st Lt. Oskar Freiherr gun" position under the fuselage by the ground crewmen, fired by von Boenigk, JG.II was equipped with the superb Fokker D.VII, sup- means of a Bowden cable. Cameras, fiares and a wireless radio could plemented by a handful of fast-climbing Siemens-Schuckert D.III be carried in the cockpit, while wing racks could cany up to 12 and D.IV interceptors. All of the wing's aircraft had blue bombs, weighing a total of 322 pounds. and tails, vdth each of its four Jagdstajfeln or Jastas (squadrons) Twelve of the new planes, attached to the 135th Aero Squadron, identified by a different color on the nose—white for Jasta 12, green flew their first reconnaissance mission on August 9, 1918. More for Jasta 13, red for Jasta 15 and yellow for Jasta 19. D.H.4S were rapidly allocated to corps observation squadrons and The 11th and 20th Aero squadrons only fought for21^ months, but later to bombing units, the Uth and 20th Aero squadrons. their combat tours made up for the short time span with intensity— The observation outfits seemed relatively happy with their in what a surviving pilot of the 11th, Clifford W.Allsopp, described D.H.4S, but the bomber crews soon had the demoralizing impres- as "the dirtiest aerial missions of the war." Born in Newark, N.J., on sion that they were not being sent into battle with the best equip- March 18,1896, Alisopp joined the New Jersey National Guard in ment. That fact became apparent after September 10, 1918, when 1916 and patrolled the Mexican border later that year. He transferred the lltb and 20th joined the 96tb Aero Squadron at Amanty and the to aviation in 1917 and graduated from the Princeton University three units were formally amalgamated into the 1st Day Bombard- School of Military Aeronautics on September 15. Alisopp went on ment Group, under the command of Major lohn L Dunsworth. The to primary fiight training at the 8th Aviation Instruction Center (AJC) 96tb, which had been operational since mid-June, was equipped at Foggia, Italy, and advanced training with the 3rd AIC in France. with the French-buCt Breguet 14B.2. The Breguet, powered by a 300- He was then assigned to the 11th Aero Squadron, commanded by hp Renault EE.V engine, was superior to the D.H.4 in overall per- 1st Lt. Thornton D. Hooper. formance, bomb capacity, handling qualities and communication The USAS decreed that its squadrons could not apply unit in- between crewmen. The Breguet's airframe, made of oxy-welded alu- signias until they had at least a month of frontline service, so the minum alloy tubing, could also take more punishment than could llth's D.H.4S were initially marked only with white individual iden- the wood-framed D.H.4's. tification numbers on the fuselage sides. A few pilots added per- sonal markings, usually on the engine cowling. Eor example, the he 1st Day Bomhardment Group had been hastily organized to right cowl of D.H.4 No. 17, crewed by 2nd Lts. John L. Garlough and rsupport the first American-commanded offensive of the war. Robert C. Payton, bore a small white swastika for luck—which must General John J. Pershing's drive to eliminate the German salient have worked, because No. 17 was the only D.H.4 to get through the around St. Mihiel. The group's primary mission was to strike at rail llth's entire combat tour without any battle damage. centers, staging areas and other key positions in the German trans- The first frontline missions fiown by the 11th and 20th Aero portation system. In addition to having less than the best in aircraft, squadrons were probably the brainchild of an officer who was car- however, the group was so incompetently led in its first weeks that ried away by propaganda regarding the Liberty D.H.4's versatility. crewmen came to refer to it as "The Bewilderment Group." Both units were ordered to fly "barrage patrols" when the St. Mihiel Those factors had to be balanced against the deadly opposition offensive began on September 12—in essence, providing bigb-alti- that awaited the bombers. By the time the St. Mihiel offensive com- tude fighter escort for the single-seat Spad 13s of the 1st Pursuit

32 AVIATION HISTORV NOVEMBER 2004 able Breguets of the 96th pressing on to their target more often than the D.H.4s. The third, a raid on Gonfians, ran into the yellow-nosed Fokkers of 2nd Lt. Oliver Frd/ierrvonBeaulieu-Marconnay'sMra 19, resulting in the loss of four aircraft, with six crewmen killed and two taken prisoner. At that point the 96th, which between combat and operational losses had lost 14 aircraft and 16 aircrews in four days, had to be withdrawn. No flying took place on September 17. Then on the 18th, the Uth and 20th Aero squadrons were ordered to bomb La Ghaussee. Seventeen D.H.4s took off, but one crashed soon after takeoff, and 10 did not reach the objective. Of the six Liberties of the 11th that made it to La Chaussee, only one came back. "This was the day I had been sent to pick up a new plane," Allsopp recalled, "and re- Reserve 2ncl Lt. Hans Besser's Fokker D.Vil sports the Prussian blue fuselage of turned to hear the had news that our JagdgeschwaderW and the white nose of JagdstaffelM, along with his personal marking— major had ordered the raid at 5,000 feet!! a broom to "sweep the sky" of enemy planes. Besser shot down a D.H.4 of the 11th Aero What a bastard!!" Squadron on September 18,1918, and one from the 20th on September 26. The 11th had been ambushed by the white-nosed Fokkers oijasta 12, com- manded by Reserve 2nd Lt. Hermann Becker. One of his pilots, Reserve 2nd Lt. Group. The absurdity of that experiment was best summed up by Hans Besser, described what ensued: an observer of the Uth:" Wben it was demonstrated that the D.H.4s could not keep up to pursuit planes, let alone protect them, the The earth was almost completely covered by balls of clouds and squadron was sent back to its proper work of day bombing." the holes in between were very hazy. We were high above it, at 4,000 All three squadrons of the 1st Day Bombardment Group flew meters, and searched the sky for enemies. The weather looked to bombing missions on September 14. Striking at the rail yard at Gon- us as if it had been made for bombing attacks, for it allowed a cov- flans, the 11th ran into its first aerial opposition in the form of red-nosed ered approach between the clouds. And really, we had not been Fokker D.VIIs. The bomber crews claimed to have downed one enemy mistaken. Cleverly they flew around ever>' mountain of cloud and fighter in flames—the pilot of which nevertheless seems to have sur- stayed in the valleys, thereby using the change of light and shadow vived—but two D.H.4S were lost. First Lieutenant FredX Shoemaker, as camouflage. The colorful cockades, however, had betrayed them 2nd Lt. Robert N. Groner and 2nd Lt. Horace Shidler were brought to us and we dove vertically down onto them. What happened was down, all wounded and taken prisoner, while Shidler's observer, 2nd within a matter of seconds. We fell onto the formation like a hail- Lt. Harold Sayre, was killed. The D.H.4s were credited to 2nd Lt. storm and the observers hardly had time to fire at us. We used the Georg von Hantelmann and Staff Sgt. Theodor Weischer ofjasta 15. Fokker's speed to hang immediately at their tails. Almost all of us The Uth and 20th were detailed to bomb Bayonville on the fol- had an enemy in front of us. Becker and myself fire almost simul- lowing day, during which each of the D.H.4s carried 400 pounds of taneously at two Americans. But mine waits to take fire while bombs. That proved to be a mistake—although no aircraft were lost Becker is so fast he has already produced the first torch in the sky. in combat, only six of the 20 bombers that started—four from the Almost at the same moment Becker's second victim is also on fire, 20th, and Hooper's and 1st Lt. Gyrus J. Gatton's from the Uth—man- as is my American. aged to complete it. One plane of the 20th crashed on takeoff, in- juring the observer and killing the pilot, 1st Lt. G.B. Stephens Jr., in cker and his flight landed to a jubilant reception at Giraumont, a manner that highlighted another reason for the D.H.4's unpopu- then drove to Gonfians to examine their victims. Becker's were larity. The 67-gallon main fuel tank was vulnerable-earning the 1st Lts. Lester S. Harter, McGrea Stephenson, John G. Tyler and Uany D.H.4 its nickname of "Flaming Coffin"—and its location between H. Strauch, all dead. Besser had downed D.H.4 No. 14, killing its crew, pilot and observer distanced them from one another, making com- 1st Lt. Edward B. Gomegys and 2nd Lt. Arthur B. Garter. A German munication difficult. The landing gear had been set too far back on flier named Wilke brought down 1st Lts. Roger F Chapin and Glair the original British plane, and the heavier American engine only B. Laird, who were captured. The Germans found one more D.H.4 served to make noseovers upon landing all the more frequent—on forced down at St. Jean by Reserve 2nd Lt. Alfred Greven, the crew which occasions the fuel tank was prone to break loose and fall for- of which—1st Lts. Hooper and Ralph Root—were wounded and ward, crushing the pilot, as was the case vrith Stephens. taken prisoner. Hooper, for one, had learned the folly of overloading D.H.4s, and The only D.H.4 to return was No. 12, crewed by 1st Lt. Vincent P. when nine of his D.H.4s set out on a second raid against Longuyon Oatis and 2nd Lt. Ramon Guthrie. The pair managed to shake off that day, they carried only two UO-pound bombs each. Eventben, their pursuers by skillful dodging through the clouds and employ- five planes dropped out and made forced landings in the French ing some desperate gunnery. They got lost, were shot at by anti-air- countryside. craft batteries and were hounded across the lines by one more Three missions were flown on September 16, with the more reli- German fighter, but they crash-landed in Allied territory and even-

NOVEMBER 2004 AVIATION HISTORV 33 Above: D.H.4 crewmen of the 166th Aero Squadron, which under the experienced leadership of Captain Victor Parks Jr. had a remarkably successful combat debut on October 18,1918 {Lafayette Foundation). Right: Bombs from 96th Aero Squadron Breguets rain on an already burning Montmedy during the 1st Day Bombardment Group's last raid, on November 4.

tually made it bacic to Amanty. out brakes. Chastened by his losses. Major Dunsworth called a con- The 11 th dropped a message streamer in the German lines some- ference with all flight leaders to improve the group's tactical doc- time later, asking. "What happened to our squadionl" Jasta 12 soon trine. Larger formations were the obvious answer, but numbers sent a reply, "Come and look for it!" The Geschwader log remarked, alone, even when backed by escorting fighters,coul d not prevent "It surely gave/asta 12 grim satisfaction to have achieved such a con- heavy casualties at the hands of the crack German Jastas. "Lack of siderable success, for although one couldn't deny the Americans' radio and teamwork had accounted for much of this," remarked Ali- dash, these insolent characters had daily hombed the German trains sopp, who added: "The fighters could turn hack if the odds were packed with men going on furlough." against 'em, but we had to continue over the lines to our objectives No. 1, No. 2 or No. 3." he loss of five planes and 10 men in one day sank morale in the Tbe 96th had replaced most of its lost aircraft, but had not yet r Uth to an ail-time low. Individual markings were no longer ap- replaced its experienced aircrews. Dunswortb therefore farmed out plied to aircraft—nobody expected them to last long, anyway And, pilots and observers of the 11 th and 20th Aero squadrons to the 96th. as Alisopp expressed it, "September 18th was also the day I stopped Tbe two depleted D.H.4 units also flew their remaining aircraft to- writing in my diary and many of us made out our wills!!" gether. Alisopp and his gunner made up one of 22 teams from the Such was the situation when 1st Lt. Charles L Heater arrived to Uth Aero Squadron that were temporarily assigned to the 96th, take command of the squadron on September 21. Heater went to flying two of bis 12 wartime missions in that unit's Breguets. Britain in October 1917 and flew D.H.4s with No. 55 Squadron of the The Americans launched their offensive into the Argonne Forest Royal Air Force's Independent Force. He had been awarded the on September 26, and eight Breguets of the 96th started the bomb- British Distinguished Flying Cross before transferring to the USAS. ing campaign with a sortie to Dun-sur-Meuse. Only six planes made "Coming to the American forces from ten months of very active it to the target and came back, with one observer, 1st Lt. Paul J. participation in long-distance bombing with No. 55 Squadron, RAI; O'Donnell, dead. I found that American formation flying was most haphazard," The Uth, on its first combat mission since September 18, joined Heater wrote. "I tried to impress upon the pilots of the 11th that tight tbe 20th on a second strike, but 1st Lt. Gatton, unable to keep his formations warded off attacking fighters and saved lives. On the first formation together, aborted the mission. One D.H.4 pilot who did raid after I took command, I elected to fly the rearmost position, but not come back with him was 1st Lt. William W. Waring, who—vrith warned that I would move forward any time there was an opening the squadron operations officer, 1st Lt. Sigbert A.G. Norris, as his ahead of me that would permit it. Before we started back from the observer—pressed on to join up with the 20th's formation, target, 1 had moved all the way up to the leader! On the next raid, I Its numbers raised to seven, the flight dropped 8,864 pounds of came home in the tail position!" bombs on tbe road and railroad junction west of Dun-sur-Meuse, After St. Mihiel, the 1st Day Bombardment Group moved to but then it ran into the same Jasta 12 pilots who had mauled the Maulan, a smaller airfield on a narrow ridge, surrounded by wooded 11th eight days earlier. One of the D.H.4s was hit and began strag- glens—hardly a reassuring location for aircrews flying aircraft with- gling, butWaring dropped out of formation, positioned himself over

34 AVIATION HISTORV NOVEMBER 2004 lucky, as Ward really knew the sector." The 96th's target was St. Juvin, which it bombed from an altitude of 14,000 feet. "We went over in for- mation of course," wrote Allsopp, "and carried only 125 pound bombs, as we flew in a 'protective posi- tion.' We were directly over our objective and dropped our load as other machines let theirs go, and then suddenly the motor went dead." At that moment, eight Fokker D.VIIs pounced on the lone straggler. Five Germans held back to give the other three room to maneuver, and the chase was on. "I sure got a good look at the two E.A. [enemy air- craftl on my right, as our wings almost touched sev- eral times and 1 clearly saw their faces—helmets, gog- gles, etc.," Allsopp continued. "But it was no time to salute! I was calling 'em every name unmentionable and ducking their tracers. I'll swear to this day I saw my wings start to bend as I'd come out of a steep dive and then pull up and turn right into them. With no motor it was quite a trick, but all 1 could do to give Ward a chance for a good shot at them. I only saw the one on our tail once—as 1 glanced back." The German on Allsopp's tail was Jasta 19's 20-year- old commander, 1st Lt. Oliver von Beaulieu-Mar- connay, who eventually sent the Breguet crashing into Allied lines. Had it not been for Ward—and the back-to-back proximity of the Breguet's — the two Americans might have ended up in enemy hands instead. "My compass was spinning and useless," Allsopp recalled. "At last Ward got a fine burst into the re- maining Boche and he turned off^'out of control' the cripple and escorted it home, while Norris brought down a Ward then shouted to me, 'Turn south, boy! For God's sake, go Fokker. For their selfless act of heroism, Waring and Norris were hoth south!' and indicated to my right with his arm. We landed over a awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. road and turned up on our nose in a shellhole. I looked back at Ward Ironically, the rest of the 20th Aero Squadron suffered a fate similar and thought he was wounded—there was blood on his face—hut it to that meted out to the U th. Two D.H.4s were shot down by Becker, was only a scratch from the jar of landing. I then took out my 'pride another by Besser and a fourth by Staff Sgt. Otto Klaiber, resulting and joy' and pissed all over the compass, etc. The Breguet was rid- in the deaths of six crewmen and the capture of two others, 1st Lts. dled with holes and I am convinced I would not be here today if I Merian C. Cooper and Edmund C. Leonard. Lieutenant Creven forced had been shot down in a D.H.4. a fifth D.H.4 to land with a punctured fuel tank, bringing about the "We requested an Army captain to put a guard on our crashed capture of 2nd Lt. Guy Brown Wiser and 1st Lt. Glenn Richardson. Breguet, but he refused and said the Germans were in control where Golonel Thomas DeW. Milling, chief of Air Service, First Army, ar- we landed and he was 'moving up' after them. We located a huge rived at Maulan and conferred that evening with the 1st Day Bom- dugout headquarters and phoned the First Army and told 'em bardment Group's squadron commanders regarding Major where we had crashed, etc. The damn fool never relayed our mes- Dunsworth's leadership. Aside from some officers of the 96th, with sage to our 1st Day Group. Hence, we were reported 'missing in whom Dunsworth had flown combat missions prior to his promo- action' for two weeks in my home papers. This was why our lousy tion, the general appraisal was negative. Milling and Dunsworth had major claimed we were AWOL, etc." been classmates at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., Allsopp paid a visit to his infantryman brother, Edward E. Allsopp, but as a consequence of his visit. Milling relieved Dunsworth of on the way back to rejoin the 11th at Maulan. Ward joined a new command on October 2. He replaced him with another West Point D.H,4 outfit, the 166th Aero Squadron, commanded by Captain classmate. Major Thomas S. Bowen, whose experience harkened Victor Parks Ir. Parks had previously flown Breguet 14B.2s in French back to the 1st Aero Squadron's earliest reconnaissance missions Escadrille Br. 123, and like Heater of the 11th, he did a good job of in- against PanchoVilla in Mexico in 1916. stilling a sense of teamwork in his pilots and observers. On that same day. Cliff Allsopp had his closest brush with death The 11th took part in a strike on Grandpre on October 3. Ten or capture—not in a D.H.4, but in a 96th Aero Squadron Breguet. "1 Breguets of the 96th—five of which carried crews from the 11th— can assure you that 1st Lt. Lawrence Ward was a very modest and struck at Dun-sur-Meuse the next day and fought their way home lionest 'old man,'" Allsopp said of his observer on the mission. through 15 Fokkers. A pilot from the Uth, 1st Lt. loseph R. Pearson, "Ward was called the 'old man' because he was 29 at the time, and was hit in the leg, and his enlisted observer. Private Cedric J. Newby, because he had seen previous service with the French, in Escadrille was seriously wounded, but Pearson managed to crash-land within Br.l29. My regular gunner or observer, George Perry, had his face Allied lines. badly frozen on a previous flight with me. So Lieutenant Ward was Bad weather brought on a few days of inactivity after October 6. The assigned to me... .1 had made one previous raid with the 96th with 11th marked more than 30 days at the front during that rest period, Lieutenant Morton F Bird, who was a lousy gunner. Turned out which qualified it to apply a squadron insignia to its aircraff. Its chosen

NOVEMBER 2004 AVIATION HISTORV 35 leading to claims by both sides. The 166tb's Cap- tain Parks, with Lawrence Ward as his gunner, shared credit for a Fokker with 1st Lts. Russell H. Pedler and John H. McKeon, although7fl5/a 15 lost no planes that day. Lieutenants Josef Veltjens and Georg von Hantelmann claimed two D.H.4s; in fact, three of the 166th's planes were forced to land in Allied lines, but no crewmen were wounded, and all three planes were soon repaired. The 20th Aero Squadron may have encountered JG.I over Buzancy on the morning of October 23, with the D.H.4 of 1st Lts. J.H. Weimer and H.E. Turner probably falling in flames to Reserve 2nd Lt. Uirich Neckel, commander of Jasta 6. During a second raid that afternoon, German fighters at- tacked all four squadrons. The Germans concen- trated on the still-green 166th's shaky-looking for- Allsopp's Liberty Bell marking is visible on the cowling of his Dayton Wright-built mation, but the 11th moved into position above it D.H.4 No. 23 after 1 st Lt. Harlan L. Shrader landed it on top of a D.H.4 that was to provide extra protection, and the team of 1 st Lt. taking off on November 23,1918. The other plane's observer, 2nd Lt. Lawrence J. Walter A. Stahl and 2nd Lt. Hassell D. Archer was Bauer, was killed in the accidenL credited with a Fokker. The 96th accounted for two more, while 1st Lts. Karl G. West and William F Frank of the 20th were credited vrith another. Sev- eral aircraft were badly shot up, and Frank was symbol was the long-suffering husband in the popular comic strip wounded, but all the Americans made it back—a tribute to their im- about "Maggie and liggs." "While we were at Maulan," Allsopp recalled, proved teamwork, not only within each squadron, but also as a group. "a contest for a unit emblem was won by two enlisted men, Hal L. The 11th led a four-squadron raid against German facilities at Green and Lawrence D. Larsen. These produced a white disc bearing Briquenay on October 27. All six of the llth's D.H.4s reached the 'Jiggs' with a bomb tucked under his arm (going home to Maggie?}." target, then had a running fight with 12 Jasta 19 Fokkers, one of which Personal markings began to reappear, a sign of improving morale. was driven down out of control by 1st Lt. Dana E. Coates and 2nd Lt. Regarding his own plane. No. 23, Allsopp said: "I had my mechanic Loren R. Thrall. First Lieutenant Donald C. Malcom's riddled D.H.4 paint the 'Liberty Bell' fin Philadelphia) in a light blue circle ap- dropped out of formation with his observer, 2nd Lt. LewW. Springer, proximately 12 inches, with a dark blue-gray bell, approximately 10 wounded in the shoulder. Reserve 2nd Lt. Max Kliefoth was trying inches, with a black crack in the bell....six inches ahead of Jiggs." to force Malcom to land in German territory when he was attacked D.H.4 No. 12, crewed by Oatis and Guthrie, had a marking on the leff by a Spad 13 flown by Captain Edward V Rickenbacker, commander side of the cowling depicting the upper part of a seductive cigarette- of the 94th Aero Squadron. Malcom crash-landed near the Ameri- smoking French "femme fatale" in a red dress. "Another was a beau- can hospital at Froidos, while Kliefoth ended up being forced to land tiful 'Parisian' girl," Allsopp recalled, "practically naked—standing behind Allied lines by the American ace of aces. Cliff Allsopp recalled in a large wash basin (or bowl) taking a spongebath—or whatever." this as one of only two cases when be saw fighters help the II th. Yet another was a green four-leaf clover on the nose of D.H.4 No. 2, The 11 th's final losses occurred on November 4,1918, when Stahl crewed by 1st Lt. George Spear and 2nd Lt. lohn |. Curtin. and Archer led five aircraff to bomb Montmedy—and encountered Meanwhile, on October 8, new German fighter reinforcements the Flying Circus. The D.H.4 of 1st Lts. Cyrus Gatton and George E. arrived at Marville airfield. Jagdgeschwader I, comprised oijastas4, Burres fell behind and amid anti-aircraft fire—which their squad- 6,10 and 11, and under the command of 1st Lt. Hermann Goring, ron mates thought caused their deaths. They were attacked by three was already well-known—and feared—as the "Flying Circus" of the Fokker D.VIIs of JG.I's Jasta 11, flown by Reserve 2nd Lts. Friedrich late "Red Baron," . Noltenius, Julius Schulte-Frohlinde and Friedrich August Freiherr von Kockeritz. Noltetiius described what happened: he 1st Day Bombardment Group resumed operations on Octo- rber 9, with growing success. First Lieutenants Bruce C. Hopper ... I saw bursts at the Maas [Meuse]. A bomber formation! I hurried and Arthur H. Kelly of the 96th led a raid on Bayonville on October in its direction, saw a two-seater returning and cut off its retreat 18 that involved an unprecedented total of 42 aircraff from all four by diving in front of it. He shot desperately with the gun protrud- squadrons. Even Major Bowen took part, as an observer in 1st Lt. ing through the bottom of the fuselage, but without taking aim, of David H. Young's Breguet. Thanks to the dedicated efforts of the course (Because of the speed, he was iinahle to aim properly at ground crews, most of the D.H.4s flew to the target and back; even me). 1 scored a hit in his fuel tank. Meanwhile, Schulte had ap- in the 166th, flying its first combat mission, eight out of 10 of its proached from the other side and was now closer than I as be did planes made it over the lines. not have to evade the enemy's fire. The D.H. 12 \sic\ went dovrain The 96th encountered about 20 Fokkers of IG.II, but the Ameri- flames. As soon as I saw it burning, I turned off in the direction of cans' tight formation prevented the enemy from pressing home the main formation, where we met head-on over Carignan. Weav- their attack. Five Germans milled around the llth's flight, led by ing heavily, I passed by the ten D.H.s and with a smart turn posi- Oatis and Guthrie, but the Americans held them off until a flight of tioned myself behind the rearmost one. In a longer battle I first 93rd Aero Squadron Spad 13s pounced on the Fokkers, shooting shot him smoking, and then shot his engine to pieces. This slowed down two, The entire group dropped its bombs square on target, him down: then 1 got nearer and shot him down in flames [21st and French intelligence later claimed that they killed or wounded confirmed victory]. Thereupon I immediately attacked the next 900 German troops. Jasta 15 attacked the 166th on the way back, Continued on page 60

36 AVIATION HISTORV NOVEMBER 2004 he time, 1002 hours. The date, August 16, 1944. what tbey took to be the overdue American fighter escort ap- 'Riirty-five B-17 Flying Fortresses of the 91st proaching ftom out of tbe sun at 6 o'clock. It was actually the Bomb Group, flying out of"their home base at Bass- Forty Seconds Over German fighters.Wbil e still out of range of the bombers' machine ingbourn, England, were approaching Eisenach on guns, the fighters began lobbing 20mm and 30mm cannon shells the way to the Siebel aircraft factory at Halle, Ger- with timed fuses into the formation. Puffs of grayish-white smoke many. The ta^et was one hour and eight minutes from exploding shells suddenly appeared, and shells began hitting Tavray. The American fighters that escorted the group to this point tbe bombers. The figbtersbarrele d at full throtlJe right into the 324th had turned back two minutes earlier, but the fighter group assigned Squadron in flights of two, three and fiveabreast . The ensuing gun to take over as escort was late. Lacking fighter cover, the 91st's duel would last only 40 seconds, but to tlae participants, it would Fortresses were vulnerable targets in enemy airspace. Just how vul- seem like 40 lifetimes. nerable would be made clear within the next few minutes. In Fearless Fosdick, tbe tail gunner. Staff Sgt. Patrick!. Walsh, fired The 324th Bomb Squadron of the 91st Group was flying as high at tbe oncoming fighters for such a long time that he burned out his squadron, to the right of and slightly above the lead 323rd Squad- During a disastrous mission to a German aircraft factory, the 91st guns. The flight engineer, Staff Sgt. Russell W. Wilson, managed to ron. The 324th was led by No. 890, Fearless Fosdick, with lst Lt. fire off a few rounds from the top turret at fighters attacking tbe Robert E. Crans as pilot and squadron lead, flying at the apex of the Bomb Group lost six B -17s in less than a minute. bigber No. 2 element before they passed under bis plane. Next an three-plane V-shaped lead element. On the right wing, in the No. 2 Fw-190 came in on The Wild Hare, riddling the tail. A piece of rudder position, was 2rid Lt. Edward L. WTitty and his crew in No. 515, The fabric began fiapping over tbe vwindows of die tail gunner. Sergeant Wild Hare. On the left wing, in the No. 3 position, was No. 000 witii : " BY LOWELL L GETZ : , Joseph M. Albury, who reached out and tore away tbe canvas so he 2nd Lt. Reese W. Lindsay Jr. and his crew. could see. Tlie three-plane second element, flying above and to the ri^t of WhenanFw-]90camedirectlyinontbe tailofNo. 000, tbetail the lead element, was led by No. 126, with 2nd Lt. John "Jack" L. gunner. Sergeant Lewis C. Morgan, fired at the fighter, causing it to LesUe serving as the deputy squadron lead. On his right wing. Flight flare up and away, with its belly toward his turret. No. 000 was raked Officer Louis C. Marpil and his crew were in No. 613. The No. 3 po- by cannon fire all along tbe right wing from the tip to up next to the sition was filled by No. 085, Yankee Belle, piloted by lst Lt. John R. fuselage. The gas tank between the No. 3 and 4 engines caught fire, McCombs. The third element, flying below and to the left of the lead sending flames streaming 30 feet to the rear. No. 000 pulled up element, was led by No. 012and2ndLt.VincentA. Fonke. There was almost vertically and exploded about four seconds later. Only tbe no plane in the No. 2 position. Second Lieutenant Royal E. Manville tail section remained intact, floating dovmward in a flat spin. and No. 088, Redwing, had been assigned this slot. But when Morgan tried to go out through the opening where the tail was Manville became lost in the overcast and could not find the 91st for- cut off but became entangled in the shredded metal. He finally man- mation, he spotted the 457th Group coming together and—follow- aged to pull free, kick the tail batch open and drop out, pulling his ing standing orders—joined up with it to fly on to the target at ripcord at 600 feet. Tbe cbute opened so late that Morgan hit the Schkeuditz. The No. 3 position in the third element was filled by No. ground bard, breaking his left heel and leg. An old man gathering 673, Lassie Come Home, with 2nd Lt. Leonard E Figie and his crew. vegetables put Morgan in a cart and took him to a nearby town, The fourth element, flying directly behind and below the lead el- where he placed tbe American in tbe care of some Catboiic nuns. ement, was led by 1st Lt. Freeman C. Beasley in No. 128, Dear Becky. Tbe next day, bowever, Morgan became a POW. The remaining eight Second Lieutenant Lawrence N. Gaddis in No. 333, Wee Willie, had crew members had been killed when No. 000 exploded. started out in the No. 2 position, but he became ill and had to return Number 126 took several cannon hits, setting its No. 4 engine on to base. A spare. No. 634, Texas Chubby—The f'villejolter, piloted by fire and starting a fire in the bomb bay The waist gunner. Staff Sgt. 2nd Lt. Halsted Sherrill, moved into his slot in the formation. In the Douglas Btintin, was badly wounded in the cbest and face. Tbe tail No. 3 position, known as the "coffin comer" because it was the most gunner. Staff Sgt. Louis Kos, was also hit by cannon fire,whic h tore exposed in the squadron, was No. 996, Boston Bombshell, with 2nd a gaping wound in his chest and injured bis face. Lieutenant Leslie Lt. John E Dunlap and his crew. called over tbe Intercom for tbe radioman. Tech Sgt. James I. Mid- For most of tbe mission the 324th Squadron had been running dleton, to get back in tbe waist and man a gun. By tbe time be un- into beavy prop wasb from the 381st Group flying directly in front hooked his oxygen system, plugged in a "walk-around" oxygen of tbe 91st. The squadron loosened up and fell behind. As the bottle, discormected the intercom system and got back to a waist bombers approached Eisenach, flak bursts began appearing near gun, Middleton had time to fire off only a few ineffective rounds at Fearless Fosdick. Lieutenant Crans glanced down at the map taped the Germans. * to his leg to confirm the location. As he did so, tbe navigator, 2nd Lt. Number 126 was going down. Kos tried to crawl from his tail po- Carl R. Phifer, yelled over tbe intercom, "Lead, lead!" Crans looked sition back into tbe fijselage. Although badly wounded himself, up and saw that the group lead aircraft wras making a turn to tbe left. Buntin went back to aid-Kos. Neither had on bis chute. At tbe same Crans began bis own turn, with tbe rest of the high squadron fol- time the fiightengineer . Tech Sgt. Joseph H. Godfrey, jumped down lowing, but the delay in response threw them farther behind. Tbe from tbe top turret and wenj:int6 ,the cockpit. Leslie yelled to tbe 324tb was also on the outside of tbe tum and had a longer route to co-pilot, 2nd Lt. Jobn E. Savage, "It looks bad." Savage answered, fiy, causing tbe squadron to fall even more out of position. "Yes." Lieutenant Leslie ordered tbe crew to get ready to jump. He tben said he was going to crash-land, since the wounded men could Forty Seconds of Terror not jump. Godfrey said tbat he would "ride it down," Before the turn, a gaggle of German fighters, mostly heavily armed ^ The navigator, 2nd Lt. Stanley Koss, had just dropped through tbe and armored Focke Wulf Fw-190A-8 Sturmbock ("storm-rams") of s nose escape batch. Leslie called the bombardier. Flight Officer Karl W the IV [Sturm) Cruppe of Jagdgeschwader (fighter wing) 3, or IV (Smrm)/JG.3,alongwithMesserschmittMe-109GsofI/JG.302,had drifted back down alongside tbe bomber stream. As tbey moved The crew of Boeing B-17G Lassie Come Home, of ttie 324th past the formation, the German pilots saw tbere was no fighter Squadron, 91st Bomb Group, including pilot 2nd Lt Leonard F. escort covering the 91st and that the high squadron was lagging Figie (kneeling at left). Figie and three others would end up POWs, behind. Shortly thereafter tbe 324th Squadron's tail gunners saw while another three would be killed.

38 AVIATION HISTORV NOVEMBER 20D4 NOVEMBER 2004 AVIATION HISTORY 39 Donley, over the intercom and told him, "Come up and get Godfrey eral of the navigation maps were sucked out of tbe aircraft. Number and push him out." Donley came up to the cockpit and took Godfrey 613 started losing altitude rapidly. The oxygen system had heen down into the nose, shoved him through the escape hatch and bailed ptinctured and drained. Flight Officer Marpil knew he needed to get out after him, followed hy Savage. Leslie remained at the controls. the plane down to where the crew could hreathe. As the aircraft Almost as soon as Savage jumped, the plane exploded and broke started dropping. Pine, wbo had seen other B-17s in the formation in two, killing Leslie, Buntin and Kos. Middleton, who was still in the exploding in tbe air, crawled into the rear of tbe fuselage, where he waist of the aircraft, was knocked out by the explosion, but when he saw that Tyson bad been killed and Peters was lying wounded on the regained consciousness he was floating in the air_ with his chute floor of his compartment. When he sensed tbe plane was dropping open. He landed in a field, where several civilians held him until he rapidly and saw that tbe No. 2 engine was out. Pine assumed they was taken prisoner. Koss was shot and killed by an elderly civilian were going down. He snapped on the spare chest chute tbe crew after the landing. Savage was not injured before he bailed out, but kept by tbe rear escape batch, kicked open the door and bailed out. he did not survive. It is not known how be died. Marpil finally leveled off No. 613 at 14,000 feet, feathering tbe wind- The flight engineer of No. 613, Sergeant loseph B. Nealon, saw milling No. 2 engine. Tbe main gas tank to No. 4 engine had heen bit, fighters approaching the squadron fromth e rear and called over the and tbat engine also stopped. Nealon pumped gas into the No. 4 tank intercom, "Look at the P-47s." The tail gunner, Sei^eant Clem J. Pine, and got the engine going again, although it was running rough. yelled back, "Hell, those are Fws!" Almost immediately cannon fire Marpil then went back into the fuselage to check out the damage from the German fighters started raking the plane, knocking out the and to give aid to Peters. At about tbe same time. Staff Sgt. Truely S. No. 2 engine. The waist gunner, Sergeant Clayton 0. Tyson, was bit Ponder tried to come up out of the ball turret, but he bad difficulty in the head and throat and killed by tbe first rounds slamming into because Tyson's body was lying on top of the batch. When he finally tbe plane. The radio operator, Sergeant Gerald ]. Peters, was hit in got out, Ponder went forward to the radio compartment and gave tbe ankle and knocked to the floor of the radio room. Pine, in the Peters a morphine shot, then poLired sulfa powder into the radio op- tail, was firing at the oncoming fighterswbe n a shell exploded in the erator's ankle wound. Marpil turned No. 613 for home. tail compartment, shredding bis chute, wounding him in the left Large puffs of whitish smoke from exploding 20mm and 30nim thigh and throwing bim back onto the tail wheel cover. shells erupted all around Yankee Belle. Approximately 20 boles ap- At the sound of exploding shells, the navigator, 2nd Lt. Elliot H. peared in the aircraft, and the hydraulic system was shot out. Amaz- Winston, bad started to get up to man his gun when the nose was ingly, there was no major structural damage to the bomber, and none hit. Tbe Plexiglas above the bombardier's position blew out, and sev- of the crew was hit. Yankee Belle remained on course and at altitude.

40 •AVIATION HISTORY NOVEMBER 200-1 Earlier, as No. 012 had reached 10,000 feet headed for the coast, give Morrison aid, put an emergency chute on him and try to help the crewmen went on oxygen and manned their positions. In his him bail out. haste to get into position in the ball turret, Sergeant Charles F. Brudo Texas Chubby pitched up and then dropped off on its right wing. forgot his chute. The radio operator. Sergeant Wendeil Meenach, As the aircraft went down, it just missed another B-17 that was drop- noticed it was missing. "Chariie, your chute," he yelled as he tapped ping down with fire streaming from the engines. Sherrill said, "I his chest. Brudo reached hack for the parachute and snapped it on guess it's time to go, we can't do a damn thing about it," and then as he took up his position;- rang the hail-out bell. The first indication the cockpit crew had that they were under The navigator, 2nd Lt. William M. Porter, had been hit in the head attack was the sudden appearance of grayish-white smoke all by shrapnel fromth e first shells. His oxygen mask filled with blood, around the front of their plane. At the same time, the tail gunner. and when Sherrill rang the bail-out bell and told the crew to leave Sergeant Willard M. Hoiden, calied over the intercom that fighters' the plane. Porter took off his face mask, buckled on his chest pack were "coming in on the tail" and that he was "firing at them." Hoiden chute and made his way to the nose. But because of his wounds and yelled out: "Shoot at him! Shoot at him!"—his last words. lack of oxygen, he became disoriented before reaching the exit. A^ Almost immediately, 20mm cannon shells struck the No. 2 Gilligan moved down between the seats, he saw Porter fumbling at engine, knocking it out, as well as the right wing, between the No. 3 the escape hatch door. Gilligan crawled forward to the door and and 4 engines and in, the inboard wing tank. The right wing, along pulled the emergency handle, then Porter tumbled out. The bom- with the No. 4 engine, liecame engtilfed in fire. Part of the elevator bardier, 2nd Lt. Nicholas J. Weber, had his chute on and was turn- was shot off at the same time. Number 012 nosed over, Thanks to ing around to move to the escape hatch. the combined efforts of Fonke and the co-pilot, 2nd Lt. FredW. Van Gilligan went back to the cockpit and stooped down to retrieve his Sant, the plane started leveling out after dropping about 5,000 feet. own chute frombetwee n the seats. He looked up to see Sherrill stand- Hoiden had been killed by the first rounds of cannon fire. Brudo, ing over him. Sherrill asked, "Are you still here?" Then everything in the bail turret, was wounded in the lower right leg, just above the became chaos—noise, flashes, flying debris. The next thing Gilligan ankle, in the crotch and in the ieft huttock. Another carmon shell hit knew, it was quiet. He saw blue, green, blue, green, blue—then he the turret, knocking Brudo unconscious. When he came to, he was realized he was alive and tumbling end-over-end, seeing sky, vegeta- floating free; his chute had aheady opened on its own. Meenach's tion, sky, vegetation, sky. Finding that he still had his chute in his reminder about the parachute had saved Brudo's life. hands, he snapped it on and pulled the ripcord. As he floated down Exploding cannon shells hit the waist gunner. Sergeant William over a small village, he saw Volkssturm (home guards) and Hider J. Weaver, in the face, blinding him in both eyes and blowing away Youth running toward the spot where he would land in a farmer's his intercom mike. When Meenach looked out fromth e radio com- field. They held him prisoner at the farm until the authorities arrived. partment and saw Weaver lying on the floor with his face bloody, he When the order to bail out came over the intercom, the tail gunner. told Fonke that Weaver was dead. Sergeant ChesterW. Mis, started to go hack into the fuselage to leave Fonke rang the bail-out bell and yelled over the intercom for through the side hatch. Just then Texas Chubby exploded in a fiery everyone to leave the ship. Top turret gunner Staff Sgt. Raymond V ball, throwing Mis out of the plane. Lieutenants Sherrill and Weber Prange, the navigator 2nd Lt. RobertW. Simcock Ir., bombardier 2nd and Sergeant Morrison did not escape. Lt. Herbert Carlson and Lieutenant Van Sant left through the nose John F Wallaszek, tail gunner, was the first crewman in Lassie hatch. Meenach went out the waist door. As soon as he felt the crew Come Home to spot the German fighters coming at the formation had had time to clear the aircraft, Fonke went into the nose and from the rear. Almost immediately the tail position was hit by bailed out. Almost immediately No. 012 exploded. "It sounded like cannon shells, wounding Wallaszek over the right eye and throwing the whole world had blown up when she exploded," recalled Weaver, him back into the fiiselage. As be tried to crawl back into his posi- who was alive but knocked unconscious as No. 012 disintegrated. tion, tbe next flight of fighters fired into the tail, wounding him in When he came to, be still could not see because of blood in his eyes, tbe lefr leg. The B- 17s interior became a fiery inferno, and Wallaszek, hut he sensed that he was parachuting down. though blinded by blood, made it to the escape hatch under the tail Just before the German fighters started their attack. Lieutenant and bailed out. He was shot in the right arm by civilians while Sherrill in Texas Chubby decided to try to get out of the prop wash coming down, but he landed without further injury. by moving fromth e fourth element into No. 2 position in the third Ball turret gurmer Sergeant Frederick D. Baldwin, radio operator element, which was left open when Redwing got lost. He asked the Sergeant Edmund J. Mikolaitis and co-pilot 2nd Lt. Dale W. Whitson co-pilot, 2nd Lt. Frank J. Gilligan, to take the controls, since the po- were all killed when 20mm cannon shells hit Lassie. Baldwin was sition was on his side of the plane. As they moved into the new slot, partially blown from the turret. Whitson was thrown forward onto tbe taii gunner, Sergeant Chester W. Mis, called up on the intercom the control column. Mikoiaitis lay on the floor near the radio com- and said, "Our fighter cover is here.. .no, they're not!" partment, which was a blazing inferno. The fiames soon spread to Texas Chubby immediately took several hits from German the left wing of Lassie Come Home. cannon fire. The instrument panel was shot to pieces, and the en- The waist gunner. Staff Sgt. Walter Salo, was hit by exploding gines started running away Sberrill flipped on the autopilot. Noth- shrapnel from the cannon shells. Seeing the flames, Salo moved to ing. SheCs exploded in the top turret, killing the gurmer, Sergeant the waist escape hatch, snapped on his chest pack chute, pushed Vemon E. Bauerline, who slumped down in the turret. The ball turret open the door and tumbled out. In the nose, the bombardier. Ser- took several direct 20mm cannon hits, killing Staff Sgt. Enrique T. geant Harlon B. Wiliiams, saw a fighter flash by the plane, grabbed Perez. Both legs of the waist gunner. Staff Sgt. Joseph R. Morrison, the right nose machine gun and fired at it. The fighter expioded in were blown off by exploding shells. He did not have his chute on, front of Lassie Come Home. Williams' victim was possibiy 1st Lt. and the radio operator, Staff Sgt. Richard J. Munkwitz, went back to Ekkehard Tichy, commander of the 13 [Sturm] Staffel of IG.3, who had run out of ammunition and decided to ram the B-17. Tichy was credited with bringing down his quarry, for his 25th and last victory. At the 91 st Bomb Group's base at Bassingbourn, England, an Just as Lassie crewmen started shouting, "You got him," the intercom operations officer briefs crewmen for their next mission, a raid went dead and cannon shells began exploding in the nose com- on Berlin on September 9,1943. partment. Williams was hit several times in the head and lefr leg by

NOVEMBER 2004 AVIATION HISTORY 41 shell fragments. The navigator, 2nd Lt. Frederick Seihie, was also hit The pilot was staring straight ahead, apparently intent on tbe B-17 in the legs. He yelled, "They got me!" Almost immediately, before that was his target. Sergeant Jack M. Alford, manning the right waist Williams could get the firstai d kit and move back to help him, more gun, fired a long burst into the fighter, which exploded. Alford then cannon shells exploded in the nose, killing Seihie. Williams, who saw began firing on another Fw-190 that also plunged to the ground and that the oxj'gen system was on fire, realized the plane was doomed. exploded. The pilot, 2nd Lt. Karl-Heinz MuUer of 2/JC.302. was Technical Sergeant Walter L. Carpenter dropped down from the wounded but bailed out safely northwest of Eisenacb near Kassel. top turret and went into the cockpit. By then the pilot, 2nd Lt. Figie, But for Dear Becky, the damage was done. A right-wing tank bad knew the plane was irretrievably out of control He and Sergeant been bit and began spewing fuel out bebind tbe wing. Tbe exhaust Carpenter went down through the fiery inferno into tbe nose and on tbe No. 2 engine was also bit, knocking out tbe supercharger and fell out of tbe plane, followed hy Williams a few seconds later. Tbe causing the prop to run away, which slowed tbe plane so mucb that crew had barely left Lassie Come Home when it blew up in an it dropped about 600-800 yards behind the rest of the squadron. Re- orange-and-blackcloud.Williams was knocked unconscious by the alizing he could not stay in formation with a full payload. Beasley explosion, but suffered no more injuries upon landing. told tbe bombardier, 2nd Lt. Bruce D. Pardue, to jettison the bombs, Lieutenant Beasley warned Dear Beck's crew that tbere were which be did. Dear BecAy struggled to stay with the formation. bandits in tbe area and the escort had not sbown up. A moment later The navigator of Boston Bombshell, 2nd Lt. Hubert B. Carpenter, Staff Sgt. Walter H. Keirsey III, in the tail, spotted a large number of was working on tbe mission log as tbe action began to unfold. Tbe Fw-190s and Me-109s closing in on the squadron from the rear. He togglier. Sergeant Leslie D. Algee, yelled at bim tbat he thought be saw yelled out, "Here they come, and they ain't ours!" Sergeant Keirsey fighters. At that instant, cannon fire raked Boston Bombshell from and Staff Sgt. Alvin E Desisto, in the baU turret, began firing at two one end to tbe otber. The left wing was set ablaze between tbe No. 1 attacking planes. Keirsey's target, an Fw-190, blew apart, wbile tbe and 2 engines, and the Fortress immediately started spinning down- Me-109 that Desisto fired on also went down, exploding when it hit ward. Algee raised up out of bis seat to leave tbe aircraft. Carpenter tbe ground. snapped on bis chest pack chute, and held onto the brace above tbe Figbters continued to flasb past Dear Becky on botb sides. An nose hatch to steady himself as be moved to tbe opening. Tbere he Fw-190 flew alongside on the right, not more than 70 yards away. saw Lieutenant Dunlap lying on the catwalk. Just then Dunlap came

42 AVIATION HISTORY NOVEMBER 2004 to and told Carpenter to open the escape hatch. Carpenter kicked Background: A ball turret gunner's-eye view of Bomber Dear it open and jumped, followed by Dunlap. Almost immediately, of the 323rd Squadron. Insets: Fearless Fosdick survived the Boston Bombshell blew up. Only Carpenter and Dunlap survived. August 16,1944, fight; Texas Chubby—The J'vUle Jo/terdid not. The Wild Hare an6 Bomber Dear A\SO came back from the mission The Downward Dive but were lost in November (Photos: Courtesy of Joe Harlick). At the end of their 40-second attack runs on the American high squadron, most of the German fighters rolled over and dived. As they roared down through the 323rd Squadron, the fighters made sight creased Tech Sgt. Carl A. Dickson's face. It was a superficial frantic passes at a number of bombers in the first three elements. wound, but blood flovi^ed down over his face. Meanv^ile the radio op- Only No. 234, Bomber Dear, the lead plane of the second element, erator. Tech Sgt. James B. Knaub, hooked on a walk-around oxygen flown by 1st Lt. L.C. Basinger, was hit, and the damage was minor. bottle, then went to the tail gun position and dragged Barker back into The fourth element was less lucky. Their 20mm cannons blazing, the fuselage. He applied a bandage to Barker's wounded leg and would two Me-109s and an Fw-190 dived down on No. 579, Betty Lou's have given him a shot of morphine, but there wasn't a morphine Buggy, in the No. 2 position, with 1st Lt. Walter Reese Mullins and syrette in any of the first aid Idts on board the aircraft. Betty Lou's his crew aboard. Both the No. 3 and 4 engines were knocked out, Buggy was now flying on only VA engines. Lieutenant Mullins had and the No. 2 engine was also hit, and thereafter could only deliver the bombardier. Flight Officer Orville G. Chaney, jettison the bombs about half power. Tail gunner Staff Sgt. Mabry D. Barker, waist as they continued on alone, under and north of the 91 st formation. gunner Staff Sgt. Robert D. Loomis and ball tunet gunner Staff Sgt. First Lieutenant Arvin 0. Basnight's bomber. No. 298, White Kenneth L. Blackburn all got off bursts at the fighters but did not Cargo, flying as lead plane of the fourth element, was hit by flak just score hits. A 20mm shell hit the tail gun position, knocking Barker before the fighters swept through the formation. Although the off his seat. Fragments went through his right leg, leaving a hole the enemy knocked out two of his engines, Basnight managed to keep size of a silver dollar. He quickly pulled himself back onto his seat White Cargo in formation all the way to the target. in case other enemy aircraft came at them. None did. Because of evasive action taken as they hurtled through the lead At the same time, splinters from a shell that hit the top turret gun squadron, only a few of the German fighters were able to line up

NOVEMBER 2004 AVIATION HISTORV 43 a minute, 31 men had been doomed to die, and another 25 were on their way to be- coming prisoners of war. The Germans thought they had done even more damage. They credited six B-17s to IV(Smrm)/JG.3 and another four to I/JG.302.

On to the Target Since he was piloting Fearless Fosdick, in the very front of the 324th high squadron and facing forward. Lieutenant Crans had seen none of the action taking place behind him. However, his tail gunner. Sergeant Walsh, spoke incoherently over the intercom, trying to describe what he saw. Crans yelled over the radio to the squadron, "Close up, close up!" But hy this time there was no squadron lefr to close up. There were only three 324th planes left at altitude. Fearless Fosdick and The Wild Hare of the lead element and Yankee Belle of the second element. Lieu- tenant McCombs moved Yankee Belle over into the No. 3 position on the left wing of Fearless Fosdick. Lieutenant Beasley in Dear Becky could not maintain airspeed and dropped down below the three planes re- maining at altitude. Beasley continued on to the target, however, since he was carrying the strike camera in his plane. Forty-five minutes after the Me-109 and Fw-190 fighters abandoned their attack, the 91st and an adjacent 305th Bomb Group for- mation were attacked by five of the newly deployed Messerschmitt Me-163 rocket- powered Komets of 1 Stajfel, 1G.400. The bat- shaped fighters streaked up through the strike force to about 60,000 feet, trailing Back at Bassingbourn, crewmen of Betty Lou's Buggy examine 20mmshell white smoke. At that altitude the Komet en- damage after an April 19,1944, mission over Eschwege. gines cut out. The fighters banked over and swooped down on the bombers. One Komet, fiown by Sergeant Herbert Straznicky, at- on bombers in the low squadron. An Fw-190 fired wildly at the lead tacked a B-17G of the 305th Bomb Group, only to be shot down by bomber of the third element. No. 504, Times A-Wastin',mih\siL\.. its tail gunner. Staff Sgt. H.J. Kaysen. Straznicky, the first combat loseph R. Lyons and his crew. His tail gunner. Sergeant Burdette E. casualty in a rocket fighter, bailed out safely but was wounded by Conner, saw the ball turret from a bomber that had exploded in the splinters in his left arm and thigh. high squadron go sailing earthward. He could even see the hapless After it went down through the 91st formation, 2nd Lt. Harimut gunner trapped within. Ryll's Me-163 leveled off behind Betty Lou's Buggy, which was flying Number 851, Qualified Quail, flown by 1st Lt. Gregory E. Good's alone well below the rest of the planes. As he neared the bomber, Ryll crew in the No. 3 position of the third element, had already been hit hegan firing at his quarry's tail, but missed. The Komet then banked hard by flak bursts and had lost its No. 2 engine. An Fw-190 came di- to the right and glided along just out of the range of the bomber's rectly at the tail gun position, its flaps down to slow its speed to that .50-caliber machine guns. Sergeant Blackburn, in the ball turret, of the Fortress, all the while drilling the bomber's wings and fuselage. asked Lieutenant Mullins to dip Betty Lou's Buggy's lefr wing so that The tail gunner. Sergeant Clarence W. Koeller Jr,, started firing at the he might be able to get off a burst at the Me-163 with his twin .50s. enemy aircraft at 300 yards, exhorted by Lieutenant Good to "Stay Just then Flight Officer Chaney, who had moved up from his bom- with liim." Koeller could see his tracers bouncing ineffectively off bardier's position to man the top turret afrer Sergeant Dickson had the Fw-190A-8's armor plate. A 20mm shell hit about two feet from heen wounded, yelled at Blackburn to hold his fire, as he watched a Koeller, knocking out his oxygen connection. He glanced down to North American P-51D Mustang dive on the enemy fighter. The reconnect the oxygen and looked up to see the fighter only 200 yards German nosed over and dived straight down, with the P-51 in pur- away Koeller fired off another burst as the Fw-190 went into a ver- suit. The Mustang pilot, Lt. Col. lohn B. Murphy of the 370th Squad- tical dive. The sergeant yelled out, "I got him—he's going down." As ron, 359th Fighter Group, hit the Me-163, and Ryll died when his he looked back for more German fighters, Koeller saw a crewman Komet crashed west of Brandis. Although Me- 163s had been in the air from another bomber hurtle past the tail with his chute on fire. since July, this was their first recorded encounter with The action was over. Less than 40 seconds had elapsed, but six bombers. Their two casualties were added to the total of 25 fighters bombers, all from the 324th high squadron, were gone. In less than Continued on page 60

44 A^nATION HISTORY NOVEMBER 2004 Lawrence Sperry GENIUS ON AUTOPILOT THE MAVERICK INVENTOR WHO CREATED THE AUTOPILOT HAD 23 PATENTS TO HIS NAME RELATED TO AIRCRAFT SAFETY WHEN HE RAN OUT OF LUCK OVER THE ENGLISH CHANNEL.

By William Scheck

HE TWO GRANDSTANDS BETWEEN PONT Bezons and Pont Argenteuil were packed with spectators, on hand to see the Concours de la Se- curite en Aeroplane (Airplane Safety Competition) being held on the banks of the Seine River. On that glorious sunny June 18, 1914, there were 57 spe- Tcially equipped planes competing, with Lawrence Sperry listed last on the program. Entries featured such improvements in aircraft tech- nology as magnetos, self-starters, carburetors and other innovations. Sperry's entry was the sole participant equipped with a gyroscopic stabilizer apparatus, designed to improve stability and control. Sperry's device was mounted on a single-engine Curtiss C-2 bi- plane with a hydroplane fuselage. Flying with Sperry was his newly hired French mechanic and assistant, Emil Cachin. Considering that Sperry spoke almost no French and Cachin was equally ignorant of

Left: Onlookers surround the Curtiss C-2 in which 21-year-old Lawrence Sperry demonstrated his Sperry gyroscopic stabilizer to win the Concours de la Securite en Aeroplane on June 18,1914. Above: Despite language difficulties, Sperry (left) and his French mechanic, Emii Cachin, put on an awe-inspiring show.

NOVEMBER 2004 AVIATION HISTORY 47 In a family portrait (left), Lawrence stands behind his father, Elmer A. Sperry. To tbe right of Lawrence is younger brother Elmer Jr., who helped him build a glider in the family home in 1910 and dismantle two bay windows (behind Lawrence in the photo below left) to take the fuselage outside.

service. The gyrocompass was immune from deviation and variation problems, which hitherto had been diffi- cult to overcome, particularly in large steel warships. The massive compensating devices required by con- ventional magnetic compasses were eliminated by Sperry's breakthrough. Since then his son, Lawrence, had developed a lightweight adaptation of the gyro- scope that could be coupled to control surfaces to main- tain the flight axes of aircraft. The firemen's band of the villages of Bezons and Ar- genteuil, spotting the aircraft of "I'Americain" ap- proaching, bravely struck up "The Star Spangled Banner." The Curtiss 0-2 flew down the river, and di- rectly in front of tbe judge's stand Sperry engaged his stabilizer device, disentangled himself from the shoul- der yoke that controlled the C-2's ailerons and passed in review with both his arms held high. The aircraft con- tinued on a straight and steady course, vdth the pilot obviously not handling the controls. The crowd was on its feet, cheering, and shouting: "Remarquable!" "Extra- ordinaire!" and "Formidable!" Sperry had stunned tbe skeptics witb his "no hands" flying. But Sperry wanted to show them what else his device was capable of. During the second pass, Cachin climbed out on the starboard wing and moved about 7 feet away from the ftiselage. Sperry's hands were still off the controls. As Cachin moved out on the wing, the aircraft momen- tarily banked due to the shift of weight, but the gyro- scope-equipped stabilizer immediately took over and corrected the attitudinal change, after which the Curtiss condnued smoothly down the river This time tbe crowd English, they seemed an unlikely team—but they had hit it off with was unrestrained in its appreciation and the firemen's band deliv- each other from the start. ered its supreme compliment—a vigorous rendition of 'La Mar- Sperry and Cachin had managed to become sufficiently conver- seillaise." sant with each other's language to bandy about phrases such as sta- Sperry elected to make one more pass—his tour de force. As they biUsateurgyroscopique and generator electrique with true GalWc flak. passed the reviewing stand, there was Cacbin on one vidng and Now their opportunity to demonstrate the feasibility of the Sperry Sperry on the other, with the pilot's seat empty. This was a demon- gyroscopic stabilizer was at hand. stration beyond the already exuberant audience's expectations. Lawrence's father, Elmer A. Sperry, a renowned American inven- There was the aircraft, flying serenely along with both its pilot and tor, accompanied by his wife, Zula, was on hand to see the results, mechanic out on the wings, airily waving to the spectators. Tbe along with the members of the Ligue NationaleAerienne de France.judge, Rene Quinton, was almost speechless. His comment mirrored

SPERRY ENGAGED HIS STABILIZER DEVICE, DISENTANGLED HIMSELF FROM THE SHOULDER YOKE AND PASSED IN REVIEW WITH BOTH HIS ARMS HELD HIGH.

With the rest of tbe hushed crowd, they waited to see if what was the feelings of the crowd: "Mais, c'est inoui!" ("But that's unheard of!"). generally thought to be an impractical gadget might actually work The military observers on hand were simply stunned by Sperry's in an airplane. performance. And when Commandant Joseph Barres of the French The elder Sperry had earned a worldwide reputation for his de- army air corps prevailed upon Lawrence Sperry for a ride, he not velopment of the gyrocompass, which had been installed on more only saw a demonstration of the aircraft's stability during straight than 30 American warships. A massive device that was practical only and level flight but also witnessed Sperry's device performing an for marine use at that time, his invention was still gaining in popu- unassisted takeoff and landing. larity and becoming standard equipment on vessels then entering Awarded first prize in the competition, Sperry received 50,000

4tt AVIATION HISTORV NOVEMBER 2004 francs ($10,000) and became famous overnight. The handsome both the Chicago Board of Trade and Tribune buildings. As an in- young American's face adorned the front pages of newspapers in ventor, Elmer Sperry was generally regarded as being almost on a Paris, London and Berlin. The New York Times was more muted in level with Thomas Edison. its reception, however. A report covering the competition appeared The Sperry clan relocated to Brooklyn, N.Y., and bought a house on page 6. In the Times of June 22, Sperry's invention was mentioned in the solid middle-class neighborhood of Elatbush. Lawrence was on the editorial page in these deprecatory terms: "Of stability com- an energetic youth, and by age 10 he had acquired a bicycle and a monly understood, no heavier than air flight vehicles will ever have newspaper route. The events at Kitty Hawk, N.C., that made the even as much as that dreadfully fragile monster, the dirigible." So front pages in December 1903 left a strong impression on him. The much for the technical expertise of TheNewYork Times staff in the ingenuity of the Wright brothers spurred young Lawrence to open summer of 1914. a bicycle, roller skate and doorbell repair shop in the basement of Lawrence B. Sperry was born in Chicago on December 22,1892, Elmer and Zula's third son. That same year the Sperry name was well rep- resented at the Chicago Columbian Exposition. At the time, Elmer was the chief executive offi- cer of tbe Elmer A. Sperry Company, v«th more than 70 patents either granted or pending. Among his developments were the Sperry Elec- tric Street Car as well as the firstar c lights (de- veloped when he was only 19), which graced

Right: Elmer Jr.—shown at right witb Lieu- tenant Marion Higgins bolding gyroscopes used in U.S, Army Air Corps field exercises— dropped out of Cornell University at Lawrence's urging. Below: Controlled by Sperry gyroscopes, a pilotless Curtiss B-2 flies over Sacramento, Calif., in May 1930.

M,

NOVEMBER 2004 AVIATION HISTORV 49 A view of the Sperry autopilot installed on an early Curtiss biplane at Hammondsport, N.Y., wbere Lawrence received his pilot's license in 1913.

Sperry Sr., upon discovering the alterations, made a reasonable decision—tbat the first earnings from young Lawrence's new flying career would be allocated to pay for repairs to the house. With the engine not yet on hand, Lav^^rence thought it might be prudent to begin flying his plane as a glider so that he could get some practice. After talking his way into using the nearby Sheepshead Bay Race Track, which had fallen on hard times, Lawrence towed the aircraft to the new proving ground with a Panhard automobile he had ac- quired. After assembly, die glider was hitched to the Panhard, and the family house. It was an instant success, and in short order he with Elmer Jr. at the wheel, the maiden fiight began. The plane had expanded his operations to include motorcycle repair. Erom an reached a height of 150 feet when the tow rope broke. Tbe glider, early age, he displayed a natural yen for mechanical devices, de- with Lawrence at the controls, proved fairly tractable in the air, al- spite a lack of formaJ training. though he did have a hard landing and received a few scrapes and The Sperrys usually traveled to Bellport, Long Island, each year bruises. The glider needed only minimal repairs. After that inidal for a summer of seaside tranquility. This absence by the rest of the hop, Lawrence was consumed by the flying bug. family was the opportunity for Lawrence and his brotber, Elmer Jr., The Sperry brothers' shiny new engine arrived the following week to make tbeir big move in 1909. Lav^rence had studied a Voisin bi- and was installed without delay. As a protective measure, Lawrence plane that he bad seen at an airshow at Mineola, on Long Island, had taken steps to prevent a noseover by installing six bicycle wheels and had made meticulous notes on its dimensions and construc- as an enhanced landing gear. Eueled up, the engine started, and then, tion. Now, with the town house empty except for servants, the sensing the moment of truth was at hand, Lawrence opened the Sperry brothers started building a glider in the basement. throttle. With his recent experience in the glider coupled with ap- First the boys built the steam box they needed to bend wood to parendy latent talent for fiying,Uwrenc e reached the respectable al- the required shapes. They also set up a jig on the floor, where the titude of 500 feet. Even more important, he made a decent landing. pliant wood could be clamped until dry, The furnace in the base- Realizing that a mostly on-the-joh education in flying was insuf- ment furnished steam for the production of the aircraft components. ficient, Lawrence decided to formalize his conquest of the air. After The boys' glider plans went out the window when an interested a few more years of academic study, he enrolled in the aviation customer, a Mr. Wilcox, asked Lawrence what he planned to use as school run by Glenn Curtiss at Hammondsport, N.Y. Sperry learned an engine. An engine? That sounded intriguing. A 5-cylinder Anzani quickly On October 15,1913, he received Eederal Aeronautics Pilot was available at a cost of $800. The Anzani could claim License No. 11 from the Aero Club of America. demonstrated reliability. It had been the power plant of the aircraft At this time Curtiss was working under the auspices of tbe U.S. in which Louis Bleriot in 1909 became the first man to fiy the Eng- Navy to develop a hydroplane. In the same shop, Sperry, the lish Channel. The Sperry brothers had only $300 in their till, but youngest licensed pilot in the United States, was soon developing

SPERRY HIT UPON THE IDEA THAT IE THE FLIGHT AXES COULD BE HARNESSED TO A GYROSCOPE, AN AUTOMATIC CONTROL SYSTEM MIGHT BE DEVELOPED.

Wilcox was willing to put up the balance so their plane could have a new interest, a gyroscopic stabilizer for aircraft. Sperry's goal was an engine. Repayment was to come from the proceeds of a soon-to- to develop an apparatus that would enahle an airplane to main- come barnstorming career by 16-year-old Lawrence—who had not tain its course and attitude under ail circumstances. yet even made it into the air. Sperry had been intrigued by the tendency of a motorcycle or bi- If nothing else, Lawrence was daring. When the plane's wings turned cycle to remain upright provided it was moving. The Wright brothers, out to be too large to fit through the doors of his parents' house, he pro- with their experience in bicycles, had also dabbled in the gyroscopic ceeded to remove two large, handsome bay windows from the bouse phenomenon but had not explored it very deeply. The principles so they could carry the semi-assembled aircraft out into the yard. of the gyroscopic effect were fairly well understood at that time, but

50 AVIATION HISTORV NOVEMBER 2004 as yet there had been no attempt to utilize the gyroscope's capabili- engine aircraft, though few fighters other than the Lockheed P-38 ties in an aircraft. Lightning retained that system by World War II. The simplicity of Sperry hit upon the idea that if the three flight axes of an aircraft- Deperdussin's control layout made it immediately popular—and yaw, pitch and roll—could be barnessed to the stability of a gyroscope, ideally suited for use with Sperry's device. an automatic control system might be developed. Yaw represented The U.S. Navy, which undervwote Sperry's research, had desig- lateral deviation from the course heading, pitch was the up and nated Lieutenant Patrick Bellinger to assist him and act as a watch- down divergence from level flight, and roll referred to lengthwise ro- dog during testing. Trials of the gyroscopic stabilizer soon shifted to tation around the axis of flight. The aircraft might wander through San Diego, Calif., to avoid the inclement weather near Lake Keuka the flight axes uithout pilot input on the controls, hut Sperr>' rea- at Hammondsport, where the Curtiss facility' was located. Although soned that a spinning gyroscope could maintain an airplane's origi- the California climate was more benign, Bellinger's confidence in nal orientation. The youthful inventor put it all together by linking Sperry's device had not increased. In flight tests with Sperry, the control surfaces with three gyroscopes, allowing flight correc- Bellinger had a tendency to grab the controls if the gyroscopic op- tions to be introduced based on the angle of deviation between the eration seemed slow or reluctant. flight direction and the original gyroscopic settings. During one test, Bellinger conquered his tendency to go for the The guidance device would perform mechanically what the pilot controls, hut this time he waited too long, and the Curtiss C-2 they performed instinctively. Sperry's control gyroscopes were designed were using as a test-bed flew full tilt into the waters of Spanish Bight. to maintain a zero setting for all control surfaces unless corrective action was required. Tbe transmission of cor- rective commands to the controls required a mechani- cal linkage to the control surfaces. The gyroscopes needed electrical power to maintain rotational rotor speed as the actuating medium. Sperry obtained power for the gyroscope motors by mounting a wind-driven generator on the upper wing, in the slipstream. He had an additional problem, however. His stabilizer was me- chanically linked to the aircraft control mechanism, but the aircraft industry was ftagmented, and different manu- facturers had different methods of operating control surfaces. Sperr>''s stabilizer required four gyroscopes rotat- ing at 7,000 rpm. As one of the gyroscopes moved in op- position to the movement of the aircraft, linkage to valves f^j^ would actuate pistons operated hy compressed air and Lawrence, who gained notoriety for daring stunts, receives a ticket from a connected by levers to the control surfaces. In addition, New York policeman after landing on a highway in his Sperry Messenger. an anemometer that could sense inadequate airspeed and incipient stall was also linked to the device and would institute corrective action. The entire device, weighing in at 40 Inexplicably, this mishap converted Bellinger into a Sperry adher- pounds, was compressed into 18 inches by 18 inches by 12 incbes— ent, Sperry managed to rescue the stabilizer, and both men suftered a small package for such a sophisticated and complex apparatus. only a dunking. Sperry had come up with a brilliant solution to the problem of a In subsequent trials, Sperry finally solved most of the problems. practical autopilot. But as always, nature sides vdth the hidden flaw. Rudder position had to be offset to overcome engine torque. Aileron Since aircraft employed unique control systems, pilots had to learn settings had to compensate for the location of tbe center of gravity a completely different cockpit layout for each different type. For ex- in each aircraft. As the work progressed, Sperry finally reached ample, in Curtiss planes the ailerons were attached to a yoke that the ultimate test. With Bellinger sitting nervously in the cockpit, fit over the shoulders of the pilot and were actuated by his moving Sperry clambered out onto the wing. The device worked as designed his upper body to the left or right. Another system in many aircraft and corrected the banking momentarily caused by the transfer of of that day had tbe ailerons linked to the armrests of the pilot's seat. Sperry's weight to the vdng, confirming Bellinger's newfound con- In both the Curtiss and armrest systems, it was difficuft to achieve fidence. the mechanical force necessary for rapid maneuvers. Some planes The Aero Club of France and tbe French War Department an- used rudder pedals or a rudder bar; otbers used an automobile nounced an international airplane safety competition, the Concours steering wheel to actuate the rudder. Some aircraft bad multiple de la Securite en Aeroplane, scheduled for |une 1914. Curtiss knew control sticks, and a few employed even more bizarre methods. It a good public relations gambit when be saw it and oftered to send was clearly impractical for Sperry to design a stabilizer for the one of his C-2s, with Sperr>' to provide his stabilizer and flying ex- unique control actuation methods employed in different aircraft. pertise. The competition was a smashing victory for Sperry. The breakthrough for Sperry came through by dint of common Witb the outbreak of World War I weeks later, Sperry's life sense. Tbe diversity of control apparatus was finally stabilized changed. He offered to serve in a French frontline squadron as an thanks to tbe universal but reluctant adoption of the Deperdussin experienced pilot, but to his dismay officials turned him down be- system, wbich has remained in use to this day. The Societe de Pro- cause he lacked a college degree. Undaunted, he returned to the duction Armand Deperdussin was a financially shaky French air- United States to continue his research. craft producer operating under the acronym of SPAD. later to So far, Sperry had flown hydroplanes almost exclusively, but he achieve fame under a different designation—Societe Pour I'Aviation began to think about creating a dual-purpose aircraft. He reasoned et ses Derives. Deperdussin had developed the modern method of that a could carry a retractable landing gear so that it using a central control stick to manipulate the elevators and could also operate from a land base. The result; The Aerial Age ailerons, with pedals or a rudder bar controlling the vertical rudder. Weekly issue of March 29, 1915, featured an article with Sperry Ailerons linked to a wheel have remained in use for large, multi- demonstrating what was the first wheeled retractable landing gear

NOVEMBER 2004 AVIATION HISTORV 51 After another high-profile touchdown, Lawrence (left) poses with his Sperry Messenger near the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., in March 1922. A year and a half later he went down in the English Channel in that same aircraft. in an amphibian. principles utilized in Germany's later development of a flying bomb, The Sperry Gyroscope Company, of Brooklyn—with Elmer Sr. and the Vergeltungswaffe-1 (V-1 vengeance weapon), in 1944. The Ger- Lawrence working in tandem—soon developed an unpiloted air- mans solved the problem of unreliable power plants by using a craft that could fly to a target guided by the Sperry gyroscopic device. simple and reliable pulse-, which required an absolute But that turned out to be an idea ahead of its time. (The concept minimum of moving parts. would resurface duringWorldWar II.) While testing the Bug in March 1918, Sperry—who was serving as Lawrence traveled to Britain and returned in 1916 with a briefcase pilot—crashed, suffering a broken pelvis that immobilized him for crammed full of orders for what is now famous as the automatic pilot. three months. During his recovery he spent time on calculations At age 24, he had become a well-known inventor. In 1916 he was also that would result in a new and improved parachute. By the time he commissioned a lieutenant junior grade by the U.S. Navy and as- was released from the hospital, he knew he had invented a seem- signed as a flight instructor. ingly foolproof seat, or backpack, parachute. His design would elimi- Lawrence Sperry never rested on his laurels. Between 1915 and nate the problem of a parachute becoming entangled in aircraft 1923, he had 23 patents either pending or granted. Among his in- empennage. To test his device, he went to the roof of the Garden ventions was instrumentation that permitted aircraft to be piloted City Hotel, on Long Island, and let his parachute fill and drag him when visibility was zero. His bank-and-turn indicator and artificial from the roof. It performed as designed, and he landed safely. The horizon have remained the basic instmments for every aircraft from Sperry parachute soon entered production. the Boeing 747 to the Piper Cub. He also came up with a variety of At WWI's end the entire nation turned to civilian diversions, and other instrumentation, including an airspeed indicator, a drift in- Sperry shifted gears as well. As the result of a conversation with Brig. dicator and a significant improvement over the (British) Creaghton- Gen. Billy Mitchell, assistant chief of the U.S. Air Service, Sperry de- Osborne liquid-filled magnetic compass. signed and built an inexpensive sport plane, the Sperry Messenger, After the United States enteredWorldWar I on April 6,1917, Speny which could reach 95 miles per hour. It had a 20-foot wingspan and continued research on an aerial torpedo that was actually a guided was powered by a 3-cylinder radial engine that delivered 30 miles bomb. Working in concert with automotive inventor Charles Ket- to the gallon. tering, he produced a prototype of a pilotless aircraft rigged to fly Mitchell was so impressed by the design that the Army ordered a a preset course to a designated target. Another member of that re- dozen for general service. The Messenger was also well received by search team was 1st Lt. James Doolittle of the U.S. Army, whose name civilian aviators and appeared at airports around the country. would become a household word in the three decades to come. The Sperry used a Messenger to commute from his Brooklyn home project, called the "Bug," was not entirely successful, largely due to to the factory on Long Island. He would routinely land and take off the unreliability of the engines used. from tfie parade grounds on Parkside Avenue, adjacent to Prospect The Sperry-Kettering research, however, provided the guidance Continued on page 61

52 AVIATION HISTORY NOVEMBER 2004 Reviews

Focusing on the development of the A-10 Warthog, a new book gives an inside view of Pentagon politics.

BY WALTER J. BOYNE

THE WARTHOG AND THE Close Air Support Debate ment and interdiction. (Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, 2003, $34.95) should be The A-10 debate was required reading for every student of military history for also affected by a man three reasons. The first two reasons are alluded to in the who did more harm to the title, for author Douglas E. Campbell, a fan of the fabu- United States and its lous Faircbild A-10, provides a balanced portrait of the ad- armed services than any vantages (many) and disadvantages (relatively few) of the hostile foreign govern- Wartbog as he outlines tbe debate over close air support ment: former Secretary of that has raged since World War 11. The tbird reason is per- Defense Robert S. MacNa- haps the most important, for The Warthog and the Close mara. A brilliant self-pro- Air Support Debate also gives an extremely accurate in- moter who could out- sider's view of the way tbe Pentagon operates, with all its quantify anyone in the faults (many) and all its virtues (relatively few). Campbell's room, MacNamara had a analysis of the way the Pentagon's advocacy system works genius for insisting on the illustrates the many constituencies that operate in the wrong aircraft at the wrong five-sided building, each with its own agenda, operating time for the wrong reasons. (His genius for getting the methods and interests. The author seems to describe this United States into a ground war in Southeast Asia won't almost inadvertently as he details the background of the be covered here.) MacNamara's forte was not in listening close air support debate and the emergence of the A-10 to the generals and the admirals who had spent their lives as an initially unwanted child of the U.S. Air Force. fighting and who knew which equipment was best for Campbell writes very well, reflecting his extensive back- their services. Instead he relied on his mathematical com- ground as a Vought A-7E and A-10 pilot and his doctor- putations of which airplane would cost the least, whether ate in history from Texas Tech. It's a good thing that he it was effective or not. does, for the story he tells is immensely complicated and Among MacNamara's brilliant choices was his insis- far more involved than the title indicates. This is a story tence on his TFX program, which was supposedly going that could easily get hogged dovm in the inevitable oh- to outfit the Air Force and the Navy with a common scurity of acronyms and titles of office, as well as the nu- swing-wing, air-superiority fighter, reconnaissance and merous personalities involved. close-air-support airplane. Another was his forcing the A strong proponent of the A-10, Campbell keeps his procurement of 225 General Dynamics FB-lllAs prejudice for the airplane in check as he dispassionately (stretched and re-engined F-11 Is) as strategic bombers discusses its pros and cons against the background of the instead of the demonstrahly more efficient Rockwell great Army/Air Force debate over close air support. At the B-1 As. And in this book, we find the willful secretary de- heart of this is the hasic dilemma of the Air Force, lt wants manding a dedicated close-air-support aircraft that ahove all things to assist the U.S. Army, which would like would replace both the Air Force's Republic F-105 and the to have the organic air support enjoyed by the U.S. Marine Navy's Douglas A-4. Corps, where Marine pilots support Marine ground units. MacNamara accepted the McDonnell F-4 Phantom II And while the Air Force helieves that It can do the job of as an interim replacement but pressed for the Vought close air support best hy interdiction, i.e., the suppression A-7 as the premier close-air-support airplane, despite of enemy forces and supplies at distances far beyond the strong Air Force opposition. The opposition was based on front lines. Air Force officials know that Army units want the fact that the A-7 had no air-to-air capability. Air Force to see their close air support "down in the weeds," killing General Gabriel R Disoway, a man viith considerably more the enemy in the immediate front lines. experience in close air support than MacNamara pos- The Air Force also knows that if it does not provide such sessed, once likened the A-7 to the German lunkers Iu-87, close air support, the Army will seek to provide it and, which proved a formidable opponent to Allied aircraft so horror of horrors, do it with fixed-wingaircraf t as well as long as the Luftwaffe had air superiority. its own rotary-wing force. Under these circumstances, the The author handles the emergence of the A-10, its op- Air Force is forced into the position of allocating a portion erational use and its possible future in an engaging, in- ofits hudget to a mission tfiat it believes in—but believes formative style. Most people have an instinctive liking for in less than some ofits others, including strategic bombard- the A-10, and Gamphell's presentation makes it evident

54 AVIATION HISTORV NOVEMBER 2004 why they do. It is the kid fromth e other side of the tracks who tackles the establishment and makes good—always a heartwarming story.

ECHOES OF EAGLES: A Son's Search for His Father and the Legacy of America's First Fighter Pilots, by B LAC KBI R D Charles Woolley with Bill Crawford, Dutton, New York, 2003, S24.95. in the course of researching facts to back up BEYOHD THE SECRET MISSIONS the stories his father told him as a boy, former U.S. Air Force inteiligence officer Charles Woolley, aided by author Bill Craw- ford, has crafted a "life and times" account ofWorld War 1 fighter pilot Charies H. Wool- ley that revives a storied era in military avia- tion. In order to recount the details of Charles H. Woolley's career, Echoes of Eagles covers the history of the first U.S. Army Air Service fighter units to see combat in the spring of 1918—the 95th Aero Squadron, in which Woolley initially served; the neigh- horing 94th Fighter Squadron; the 1st Pur- suit Group of which they were part; and the 49th Fighter Squadron, which Woolley ended up commanding by the end of the Great War. In the process of telling his own father's story, the younger Charles Woolley writes of the other pilots his father knew, including aces Hamilton Coolidge, lames Knowles, Edwin Curtis and Sumner Sewell, as well as other prominent squadron mates, such as Quentin Roosevelt, son of former President Theodore Roosevelt, who was killed in action on July 14,1918. In addition to learn- ing about his father's experiences, Woolley also had the opportunity to hear firsthand the experiences of his father's surviving squadron mates, among them Knowles, Curtis, William H. Vail and John Mitchell. He gained additional details from the widow of Waldo Heinrichs and the son of Carl Menck- hoff, the 39-victory German ace whose career came to a somewhat embarrassing end on July 25,1918, when he was shot down and taken prisoner by a relative neophyte, Walter Avery of the 95th. For readers who are largely unfamiliar with World War I aviation. Echoes of Eagles provides a look at life and death among the and Spad Xlll pilots who chal- Toll-free I -800-826-6600 lenged the German air service over the Western Front. To longtime buffs who are al- [email protected] ready familiar with the 1st Pursuit Group, Osprey Direct, c/o MBI Publishing Woolley's book can offer a lot of new in- PO Box 1,729 Prospect Ave. sights and perspectives on the majiy actions Osceola.WI 54020 and airmen who contributed to its fame. FAX: 1-715-294-4448 Echoes of Eagles seems likely to re\'ive inter- est in an important pioneer period of aerial warfare, when the progenitors of the U.S. Air Force were first finding their way. Jon Guttman

QHP For additional reviews, go to www. historybookworld.com. AVIATION HISTORY NOVEMBER 2004 Letters Stephen H. King's Windkiller - an historical novel Continued from page 8 "...vivid description.s oCthe early aviation meets, of Latham and his Anloinette, and other aviators and the planes they flew. 1 like this book. Read it., and watch them flyl" --Leonard Opdycke, Author and Publisher, WWI Aero for slightly larger engines (I analyzed the This is a novel dealing with the final three years of the life engine mounts, cowling, etc.) and minor of Hubert Latham, French pioneer aviation great. It is cockpit changes. Upon America's entry to meticulously researched and the author chose to put it in novel WWII, production of the A-20 was trans- format to better showcase Latham's slide from triumph to tragedy ferred to the Santa Monica plant of Douglas. as his personality deteriorated. It makes for a wonderful and The very first A-20 was supposed to have a exciting read. spinner-fan; it didn't work out, and the first Windkitler is a 382-page paperback book, with eight pages of deliveries were designated A-2OAs. photographs. Published in 2004 by Word Association Publishers, $16.95. 1 certainly enjoy Aviation History, and Order the book directly from the writer's website: hiibertlathamwindkiller.com, or through hope other readers will enjoy my reminis- wordassociation.com/windkiller/index.htm, or from Amazon.com (enter Windkiller in your search), cences. Please keep up the good work. or by special order from your local bookstore. Edward C. Denzin Eagle River, Wis.

GULFHAWK 4TH William Vassallo's article "A Memorable Early The Model Bird" about Major Al Williams, in the July issue, was excellent. I enjoyed reading about this extremely talented man. Airplane Shop I would like, however, to correct one ref- erence to the G-58A Culfhawk LOWEST PRICES! 4th. This civilian version of the Navy F8F 1 (81?) 866-9369 Bearcat was delivered to Gulf Oil on luly 23, Over 400 desktop display models 1947, and after thorough testing by Major Domesiic/forejgn mtlJtary aircraft Williams was "christened" by Mrs. Williams Commercial, civilian, business aircraft Historicol military aircraft from araund the world in Washington. D.C., on October 11,1948. NASA aircratt/spacecrafl/missiles Gulfliawk 4th had much of its military WWW. modekiirplaneshop.com equipment removed, reducing its weight by • • **•*•• 1,300 pounds. It was powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-2800 "C" engine with water/ alcohol injection that produced 2,800 hp. At 19,000 feet Culftiawk 4th could do more than Save Your Copies Of 500 mph. The aircraft was also equipped with jet-assisted takeoff bottles, which gave the already fast-climbing Bearcat an incredible climb rate. Major Williams fiew Culfhawk 4th all over the countr>' and delighted air- show crowds with what many credit as the AVIATION ultimate piston-powered aircraft. Gulfliawk 4th was short-lived, however. nHISTORY While returning from the Miami Air Ma- These custom-made titled sh'pcases are neuvers on January 18, 1949, Williams dis- ideal for protecting your valuable copies covered he had landing gear trouble and from damage. They're designed to hold headed forSimmons-KnottAirport, in New Bem, N.C. The left landing gear collapsed on two years' worth of issues. Constructed rollout, and the auxiliary fuel tank wore with reinforced board and covered with through in a shower of sparks, igniting a trail durable leatherlike material in Patriot of leaking gasoline that soon consumed the blue; title is hot-stamped in gold. aircraft in fire. Williams escaped without injury, but Gulfliawk 4th was destroyed. There is evidence that Gulf Oil planned to ITEM: AVSC replace the aircraft, but for whatever reason. Aviation History Slipcase it never happened. Davis Gandees $14.95 Lutz, Fla. Including postage and handling.

Send letters to Aviation History Editor. Pri- media History Group, 741 Miller Drive. Suite D-2, Leesburg,VA20}75, or e-mail to Aviation Order online: www.TheHistoryNetShop.com [email protected]. Please include Or CALL: 1-800-358-6327 By mail: Aviation History Products • P.O. Box 60* DeplAV411 A •Kingstree,SC 29556 your name, address and daytime telephone Please call for slates wilh applicable sales tax. number. Letters may be edited. NOVEMBER 2004 AVIATION HISTORV 57 Enduring Heritage Local residents and tourists mostly forgot about it. Then, in 1958 the release of a movie Continued from page 14 about Lindbergh's flight—T/ze Spirit of St. INTROOUCiNG Louis, starring Jimmy Stewart—revived in- terest in Lindbergh's crate, and the souvenir HISTORIC ing for it. Those who found the crate broke hunters became active again. But it wasn't off little pieces. The thing was kept in an out- until the spring of 1960, when two young OPPORTUNITIES of-the-way spot, but people still found it. men, one with an ax and the other with a You wouldn't think that what was basically hacksaw, were chased off the property, that a large wooden box would attract so much the decision was made to move the crate to TO BUY. SELL attention." a new. secret location. By then. Holt had How did Holt end up the proud owner of become the owner. AND TRADE ONLINE. the 12-by-26-foot crate, which weighs 2 tons "We used a Land Rover and a hay trailer

The wife of Vice Adm. Guy H. Burrage, joined by a local contractor, was photographed on the front step of the guest cottage created from one of the crates in which Spirit of St. Louis was shipped home from Europe after its historic flight.

and stands 9 feet high? "I inherited it from to move the crate," recalled Derek Owen, a my grandfather," he explained. "He was Vice local farmer who served as its caretaker for Adm. Guy H. Burrage, who was on board several years. "It cost $2,000 and took an Connect with the Memphis when Lindbergb made bis return entire summer to do the job. We built a foun- trip to the United States after his flight. The dation and put in electricity. No running readers of giant crate was also on board with Spirit of water, thougb. There's a stream close by." St. Louis inside of it. My grandfather asked Concealed amid the trees in the woods, Undbergh if he could have the crate, and the the structure somehow still managed to at- flier agreed." tract souvenir hunters. "We decided to rent After the plane was taken out of the crate. the crate as a summer home," said Owen. at the newest, most Holt's grandfather shipped the box on a flat- "We figured with somebody living there, the car to Contoocook, where he had a 200'acre souvenir collectors would stay away. We targeted online farm. For a while, he left the crate standing tried, but we couldn't rent the place. That's marketplace for on his property. Word soon got around what wben we started inviting people to live the box bad held, however, and souvenir there. I suppose you could say the crate historic collectibles, hunters began showing up. "My grandfather became a guest house." memorabilia, decided something bad to be done to save Finally the structure was sold again and tbe thing," Holt recalled, "so he turned the moved to its present home in Canaan, books, and crate inside out, and made a small summer where Larry Ross initially restored it to the home out of it on land back of the main condition that Burrage bad left it in. Its new more. HISTORY house." The crate is constructed of English owner then took steps to turn this unusual pine, and even though there was no elec- artifact into an aviation tourist attraction.

WHEHF HILITORY I iVFS ON THE WES tricity or indoor plumbing, it provided ad- Lindbergh's crate has finally found a ditional sleeping space wben tbere were home—far from tbe Smithsonian, but sur- thehistorvnet.com/classified8 guests visiting the farm. rounded by a community that appreciates The crate remained intact for a while. its quirky charm and unlikely heritage, "t AVIATION HISTORY NOVEMBER 2004 TheHistoryNetShop.com Slaughter Forty Seconds Continued from page 36 Continued from page 44 WAR ON RADIO Relive the dniniatic unfolti- one. Under my shots he developed a destroyed, 14 pilots killed and five wounded wiih Ktiron petrol vapor trail, but then I caught a that the Luftwaffe recorded that day ). a rt'inarkuhlu col- bullet in the radiator and had to break off The remaining 91st Group hombers con- Itflion i)f liisioric rjdio because I cottld not see a thing in the tinued on to the target, dropping their inj! Lhe war. This timelew steam cloud. I landed on the field of bombs at 1110 hours from 25,000 feet. Flight ~^. set of di-clarations, Jagdgeschimderil. Officer Marpil, in No. 613, left the 324th addi'esses aitd first hand Squadron formation to return home alone acaiiiiiLs imm the front lines of haltle capture tlie Noltenius' victim crashed near Stenay, after the German fighters departed. eiiioUon. piUridtisni aiiii spirit of our soldiers and killing Dana Coates and Loren Thrall. Nolte- Because his maps were gone. Lieutenant .Uliet! k"aders. Rwypmre the sieadfast a's

6U AVIATION HISTORY NOVliMBtH 2004 Sperry Continued from page 52

Park, and leave his aircraft at a convenient police station at the western end of the im- Formerly the Real McCoy's promptu landing field. His home on Marl- borough Road and the site of his initial air- craft production plant were within easy walking distance. An experienced pilot with more than 4,000 hours of flight time, fully trained to fly by instruments alone, Sperry had no hesita- tion in taking off in any weather conditions. His personal aircraft was always fully equipped with instrumentation of his design. On December 23, 1923, he took off from Britain for a quick flight to France, unde- terred by the fact that the Channel was fog- hound. Somewhere en route, however, his luck ran out. Whether due to mechanical failure or inability to navigate over the Channel, he never reached his destination. The Messenger he had personally designed Type B-3 Mpt Type A-2 Jacket was found in the water. Sperry's body was recovered on lanuary 11,1924. epic, Band The Sperry aircraft manufacturing effort fit: cdUfictina did not survive the loss of Lawrence Sperry. ~^ fctfTiiedx cn^..'henticity and faithfulness-to detail Visit TJIE at: Without his vision and ingenuity, the com- pany could not cope with the increasing competition of inexpensive surplus World jwww.RealMcCOys.co.nz War I aircraft then heing sold in enormous I The Real McCoys NZ Ltd. • PO Box 4285 • Christchurch • New Zealand ^ Tel: 64 3 365-9373 • Fax: 64 3 365-9380 • emoil: [email protected] numbers hy the government. But the name Sperry lives on today—a revered imprimatur among many aircraft factories that remains part of the nomenclature of aircraft instru- OWN THE SKIES. ments to this day. The autopilot and stabi- lization system was also adapted for marine THE SAME WAY THEY DID. use. All major passenger ships plying oceans today employ a Sperry-type stabilizer actu- ating a winglike device to dampen rolling. A form of the Sperry autopilot linked to a Sperry gyrocompass is in common use today on every ship of any size. The illustrious family name is also maintained today on the nameplates of diverse navigational equip- ment produced by the Sperry Marine Cor- poration, a division of Litton Industries In- corporated, as well as the Newport News Shiphuilding Corporation of Virginia. Four new DVD sets created from new digital transfers Given Lawrence Sperry's extraordinary worthy of some of the greatest aircraft in history. productivity and fertile imagination, it seems From the incredible story of the F4F Wildcat to especially tragic that he died so young. When he went down in the Channel at age 31, he the screaming F-86 Sabre over the skies of Korea. had 23 patents related to aircraft safety in his From a spectacular 60th anniversary restored edition name. Surely had he lived longer, he would ^gttlhe Army Air Force Memphis Belle film have come up with even more brilliant ideas •^Plll largest collection of F4U Corsair footage and inventions to make flying easier, safer vailabte anywhere, the Aircraft Films lineup of DVDs and more readily available to the public, "t takes you there as never befq

Retired Lieutenant Coionel William Scheck, "...one of the hest aircraft DVDs I have yet seen." who died in 2003, served in the U.S. Army, the - Duncan Curtis, author, F-86 Sabre Air National Guard and the U.S. Maritime Service. For additional reading, try Gyro! The Life and Times of Lawrence Sperry, by www.aircraftfilms.com William W. Davenport. NOVEMBER 2004 AVIATION HISTORV 61 Art of Flight

Colorful airplane trading cards provided the public with a wealth of information.

BY D.W. RAJECKl

A sampling of pages from the 1940s-era Album of Modern American Airplanes s\}o\NS a broad range of trading cards originally offered in cigarette packs.

was Air Stories (appearing in 1927), whose cover an- nounced it was "The First Air Story Magazine!" Soon after came War Birds (in 1928), which proclaimed itself "Tbe Oldest Air War Magazine," Not to be outdone. Airplane Stories (in 1930) touted its role as "The Biggest Sky Maga- zine." Gunnison contends, supported by examples sbown in his book, that many publishers of pulps took great pride in tbeir accurate illustrations—yet anotber reason for serious aviation aficionados to take note. Postal cards offered another bandy way to gather avia- tion lore. During World War I, companies in Gennany pro- IN THE EARLY 1940s, A SLIM BOOKLET called the duced postcards that depicted noteworthy pilots. Many Album of Modern American Airplanes was published. 1 of tliese personality cards are illustrated in Cbarles Wool- don't know bow many otber copies of the Album still exist, ley's book World War I German Aviators: The Sanke Cards. but f have one sturdy survivor on my desk. Although it The ace Manfred von Richthofen seems to have been the measures about 5 by 7 inches and bas only 17 pages of superstar among tbe celebrity flier circle of the day. Ac- content, this little cardboard archive is impressive be- cording to Woolley's estimate, 11 cards depicted the "Red cause it amounts to a capsule documentary of an impor- Baron," three of them issued after his death. tant stage of American aviation. ThroughoutWorld War 11, the picture-postcard industry The Album holds a collection of old-fashioned, give- continued to thrive in many countries, providing photos away airplane trading cards that were once offered in and paintings of—among a variety of other objects—air- packages of cigarettes. The book and its contents were planes in acdon. Many of these scenes can be viewed in tbe created as promotional devices, meant to take advantage book /'// Be Seeing You, compiled by Tonie and Valmai Holt. of the public's avid appetite for information about avia- Tbat brings me back to the art form of the giveaway tion. But given its detailed and colorful illustrations, the aviation trading card, which has affinities to the postcard- little volume quickly became a valuable source of data— as-reference-material medium. Other aviation trading-card and to this day tbe Album remains a useful collectible. sets exist, but bere the focus is on the 1940 Wings Airplanes Early reports and illustrations of real-world aeronautic "A" series, a tidy deck of 50 different pasteboards. Gredit accomplishments were available to enthusiasts not too the Brown & Williamson Tobacco Gorporation for this par- long after the advent of powered flight. A periodical ticular pack, with a nod to Popular Aviation magazine for dubbed The Aeroplane first appeared in 1911, The out- publishing assistance. Tbe A series cards were available break ofWorld War 1 in 1914 led to impressive advances in to the public as premiums in packages ofWings cigarettes. the air and mounting public interest on the ground. These Wings cards were attractive and fact-filled little docu- parallel developments were reflected, for example, in the ments. Each 1 !i-inch-by-2 i^-inch masterpiece presented profusely illustrated 1919 volume of the annual jane's All a full-color picture of a U.S. aircraft on the front and a theWorld'sAircraft.The magazine Popular Aviation came commentary with performance figures on tbe back. For out in 1927 (renamed Flyingin 1943). example, the blurb for the Gatalina flying boat read: Aviation pulp magazines, which purveyed fictional ac- counts of air adventures, were spawned in the 1920s, Consolidated PBY. U,S. Navy Patrol Bomber, Two Pratt & These energetic additions to the growing popular avia- Whitney Twin Wasp engines, each 1050 h,p. Cruising speed tion literature were plentifitl and colorful. lohn P. Gunni- 179 m,p,h. Top speed 199 m.p.h. Amphibian type has fully son's book Belarski: Pulp Art Masters allows modern-day retractable tricycle beaching gear. Has proven particularly aviation buffs to savor some of the most glamorous covers successful in long range patrol practice flights to Alaska, from those publications. The earliest of the aviation pulps Hawaiian Islands and Canal Zone.

62 AVIATION HISTORV NOVEMBER 2004 The makers of Wings also produced the Album of Modem American Airplanes, which collectors could glue their cards in. The Album presented open frames, numbered from 1 to 50, as sites for attaching specific LLMER cards. And despite any gluing, information from the backs of the minidocuments was not lost. The manufacturers thoughtfully O^ Oversize Winged Midnight reprinted that technical material next to the frames of respective cards (as shown on page 62). The Wings A series documented • 44 mm. diameter three general divisions: military aviation • German made (cards 1 -25), private aviation (cards 26-37) • Swiss automitic and commercial aviation (cards 38-50). g^gK movement Of commercial types, as many as three dif- l^mk ' Sappiiire crystal ferent cards depicted the highly successful Douglas DC-3—one each with the markings ^^ • Rotating bezei of American Airlines, Trans World Airlines and United Airlines. A card also showed the Bhck dial bas luminous obscure Douglas DC-5. The Piper Cub Coupe hands/marken was included in the private aviation group- ing, as were the and the Green dial is fully luminous stagger-wing Beechcraft D17. with Mack enamei iuads/ Advanced military aircraft of the time in- m markers cluded the Brewster F2A-1 Buffalo, Curtiss II MSRP $850 P-40 Warhawk and . Also featured were interesting but rarer de- ^ 20% off ^ signs such as the BellYFM-1 Airacuda and GNT IncorBoratgdl to Aviation History Stearman X-100, both listed as "attack i subscribers ) bombers." To my mind, the most modern- Toorder, cal! wm(mGiB mmf '^ ($680) ^ looking military plane in the Album was www.gntwatche$rcoiri shown on the very firstcar d in the A collec- t tion: the Bell P-39 Airacobra. Something Ji about the Airacobra fired the public's imagi- nation. Maybe it was because the fighter's engine was mounted behind the pilot, or Art Prints by Ardell Bourgeois maybe it was the P-39's tricycle landing gear. "Hockey in the Duff or They Just Hove lo he (. 'anadians" The remaining military landplanes in the Canada's \ciliniia! pass liiiic... Album were conventional tail-draggers— Mill c\i:n Woikl conllicl could having a tricycle landing gear did not guar- slop il troiii hcinL! p!;i\'od. antee inclusion in this series. Nose-wheel Mcmhcrs ol'a RCAI" I yphoon newsworthies that did not make the "A" list sciiiadron Uikc acKiinUisie of weretheDouglasA-20 Havoc, Consolidated Miniu 'Diiir ucaliicr ki play a B-24 Liberator, North American B-25 Liamc uliik' iwo'Lrks' look on. Mitcbell, Martin B-26 Marauder and Lock- :-2\2\ 14 s:iHK dii SI45 I'S heed P-38 Lightning. Those fivedesign s did, however, appear in the subsequent B or C iSolli i.iinilijd i.xlilions nrc series of cards, which also featured several siiiiK'd and numbered lo 55(1 Royal Air Force planes, including the and the , The On M;iR'li23. 1944.'Paper full contents of the 150 cards in the A, B and Doir and her crew were on C series are listed in American Tobacco llieir eleventh mission. Allcr Cards, compiled by Robert Forbes and Ter- lakiny liea\\ thiinaizc she ence Mitchell. dropped out ol' lormalion lo he Advances in aerodynamic research and SCI upon hy six IJt-IO^s. construction made 1940 a pivotal year. It is Shooting down one ol'llieir not surprising that planes from the 1930s lornientors, llie erew biiileil were depicted in the A series album, with several cards devoted to such as nuinllis in P.O.W, eanips. the Vought-Sikorsky SBU-1 scout bomber Signed on plate by six ol ihe and Grumman F3F-2 fighter. ercu. with all ten names To obtain all 50 A series cards, a collector iNpeset on the bottoiii border. was expected to buy as many as 50 packs of Ardi'll Koiii'<;i'ois 4?2S6 lA-noia ( rescciit. 32x24 s:.si)c dii sisnl s cigarettes. Today this might strike some as a t liilli«aik. Itt. (:iii:ul;i \2I'7( 4 I'h: (604) 7^2-1879 '" L..S. prices sLihieel ID heavy price to pay for an interest in aviation. I'-iiiail: artW'll hL'i)iM(/liotiiiailA-oiii Be that as it may. Wings cigarettes left us an interesting slice of aviation history, "t" 64 AVIATION HISTORY NOVl-MBER 2004 Airv\/are

IL-2 Sturmovik expansion packs bring new excitement to a 3-year-old sim.

BY BERNARD DY

THIS ISSUE'S "AIRWARE" CONTINUES the last in challenging opponents. It's a long trip that starts and ends stallment's look at third-party products that add life to ex- at Berlin, with stops at Moscow, Crimea, Stalingrad and isting simuiations. These two expansion packs to the Kursk. Historical information includes a brief story from high-fidelity lL-2 Sturmovik game fill the roster with more German pilot Ernst Scheufele in the manual, and most of aircraft and missions. the missions have briefing notes that relate the mission to key events in the war. If the campaign proves too gru- Operation Barbarossa eling, the expansion pack's games are also available as Operation Barbarossa ($20, requires installed copy oiIL-2 single missions, playable at any time and in any order. Sturmovik or Forgotten Battles, www.matrixgames.com) Tbere's a good variety of mission types, including recon- maintains the original IL-2 Sturmovik's focus on World naissance, strike, escort and interdiction. The pack also War II's Eastern Front. It is primarily a mission pack with comes with several new paint schemes and insignia that new scenarios, but it also adds color in the form of plane your alter ego's mount can don when fiying online in insignia. Operation Barbarossa, as one can tell from the multiplayer mode. title, is inspired hy the German invasion of . The need to purchase Operation Barharossa isn't as The expansion pack offers the piayer a few different compelling as it could be, since enterprising users can use paths. The first German campaign follows the simulated the mission-building tools available in the basic IL~2 Stur- career of a Messerschmitt Bf-109 pilot. The second starts movik package to effectively create the same sorties. The the player flying the Bf-109 but later switches the player lack of new aircraft or features doesn't help. If you're a to the formidable Focke Wulf Fw-190. Both campaigns are busy virtual pilot, however, and lack the time to engage lengthy, with more than 200 missions each and an addi- Sturmovik's mission builder, then Operation Barbarossa tional battery of 28 stand-alone single missions. Opera- is a quick way to tour the historical German endeavor. tion Barbarossa's contribution to the Allied side is less substantive, with 34 single missions fiyable as a pilot in Aces Expansion Pack the Soviet air forces. A formal add-on from II.-2 Sturmovik's developer, the Aces Getting through each scripted campaign is a tremen- Expansion Pack ($30, requires installed copy of Forgotten dous feat, as the computer adversaries are capable and Bflft/e5,Windows98/Me/2000/XRPentiumIII 800,128MB

The IS Nine, Bombs awgyj TrtsisJA. Bombs aWraji "^h« is Spie, Ta^et rm fiis; i tJB, CffeckVOLIf I,"

A Polikarpov l-16's bombs strike an anti-aircraft A cockpit view of the Supermarine Spitfire Mk. Vb, emplacement in Operation Baitarossa. courtesy of the Aces Expansion Pack for IL-2 Sturmovik.

66 AVIATION HISTORY Nf)VEMBF.R 2004 RAM, 3D video card with 32 MB RAM, www.ubi.com) is clearly a recommendabie purchase. New missions, new aircraft and DR. WINNIFRED B. CUTLER new environments headline the additions President of Athena Institute to the game, driving even more depth into its representation ofthe Eastern Front and • Ph.D., U. Penn in biology; introducing some aircraft and environ- postdoctoral at Stanford ments ofthe Pacific theater. As is often the case with expansion packs, • Author of 6 hooks and 35+ some esoteric aircraft get a chance to shine. scientific articles The Germans were known for oddities in their experimental aircraft program, and • Co-discovered human making an appearance here are late-war pheromones in 1986 (Time models also recently seen in the FirePower 12/1/86; Newsweek 1/12/87) pack for Microsoft's Combat Flight Simula- tor (see last issue's Airware) such as the Horton Ho-229 and the Focke WulfTa-152. The Americans had some funky fliers too, ATHENA PHEROMONE lO^CGETS YOU and although players still don't have an op- portunity to pilot the heavy American MORE AFFECTION FROM WOMEN bomhers, the Lockheed YP-80 Shooting Star jet is available, as are several variants ofthe North American P-51 Mustang. The Japa- nese get the classic Mitsubishi A6M Zero and the Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate. The Fiat G.50 is another flyable steed. There are new dynamic campaigns to keep players busy in addition to new single missions and online scenarios. The graph- ics receive minor improvements with new ATHENA PHEROMONE IOA^ 3D objects and continue to look excellent, unscented aftershave/cologne additive FOR MEN and the artificial intelligence, while not free Add to your cologne or aftershave. of gaffes, largely makes for a fine computer These odorless additives contain opponent. Aces doesn't change the fact that synthesized human male sex IL-2 Sturmovik requires a powerful machine pheromones. Vials of 1/6 oz, added to 2- to get the best out of it. So oniy those with 3 oz. of your fragrance, should be a 4 to faster machines and video cards will be able 6 months' supply. 10X increases your to enjoy the highest resolutions and full sexual attractiveness to women. visual details, still impressive as this simu- lation reaches three years of age. Another mark ofthe game's quality is that there is still PHEROiVIONE DISCOVERER'S FORMULA a solid community of flight sim fanatics available online for tutoring and to join Joseph (Ml) Athena Pheromone 10X A long time ago, I learned, you get what when playing the new cooperative missions reorder: "Fabulous product. I was you pay for. Weli even so, I was shocked in the/lce5pack. shocked when I first got it and tried it. I at how weii 10X works. You have a had read everything on your weh site. fahuious product, i am married and lL-2 Sturmovik made a name for itself You know, you hear all kinds of things am with my wife oniy. Weii, within 5 with its historic realism and willingness to about pheromones and don't know what days it was amazing, the affection highlight rare aircraft, and rare campaigns to believe. But you guys were very well ievei went up 20 foid. I am so are also a part of its laudable repertoire. The respected, you have gone through the grateful to you Dr. Cutler. Thank you Finnish battles against the Soviets are a wel- studies, you did the doubie hiind so much for your research!" come part of the Aces Expansion Pack, yet studies. You did the research! Actual testimonial received 6/28/04 it's understandable that Aces features more Mot guaranteed to wok (or EVERV man, since body diemistnes differ II sJiould work tor MOST. Not an aphrotSaac Patent pending. of the common aircraft like the Super- NOT IN STORES; Cali: (610) 827-2200 - Fax: (610) 827-2124 - Order online - Or send to: marine Spitfire, the P-51 and Lockheed P-38 Athena institute, Dept AVHxn, 1211 Braefieid Road, Chester Spgs, PA 19425 Lightning, and battlefields like the Ardennes and Normandy. The lure of famous aircraft PLEASE SEND ME_ __10X VIALS @ USS99.50 and/or. 10:13 Vials for women @ US$98.50 can only help the future of the franchise, and empty blue bottle (2oz screw cap) @S5.00 for a total price of US$ Enclosed which is looldng very good. is a • Check LJ Money Order payable to "ATHENA iNSTITlfTE" The next major simulation projects from Charge my 3 Visa/MC/Disc# - •. - ,Exp_ the developer target the Battle of Britain and Name Signature the Pacific theater. Those are exciting games to look forward to, but for now. Aces is an ex- cellent enhancement to an existing installa- tion of Forgotten Battles. And for those who 'PA add 6% tax. To Canada add US$7.50 each. haven't yet tried Forgotten Battles, the For- gotten Battles Gold Edition ($40) bundles www.athenainstitute.com Forgotten Battles with the Aces pack, "t" 6a AVIATION HISTORY NOVEMBER 2004 Events

The EAA's AirVenture Museum hosts a series of weekend Fantasy Flight Camps at Oshkosh.

AVIATiON ENTHUSIASTS ARE iNViTED to take pari in Proceeds will benefit Ihe Air Ibrce Association and the several upcoming Lxpcriiiu'iital Aircrafl Associalion hm- Broward Chikiren's (iMiier. For information call 954-782- lasy Fiighi (^anipsat \IJ\A headquaiters ifi Oshkosh, Wis. 7287 or visit wwvv,airfair,arg, I'acli camp takes place over a weekend, bej^inning on a i-riday evening. The camps are led hy experts, and partici • Oct.2l-23:A()PA(Aircraft Owners and Pilots A.ssociation) pants Lire allowed privileged access ti) HAA facililies and I'xpo 2()t)4, Long Beach, Calif,, (x)n\ention Center, The specialisis-Lach of the weekends culiiiinatos in a unique event will feature an exbiiiit ball, seminars and aircraft on Ilil^ht experience. Irom October 15 to 17 (he Ford Iri- dis|)lay, (^ail i-888-4r>2-397()or\isit www,aopa.org/expo/ Molor is the subjeet. represeniecl bv I'AA's 1929 example, 2004 for more. and'Vampers" will gain a new understanding and appre- ciation of Ihat eiassie aircrall, often referred to as the "Tin Oct. 23-24: N'awlins Airshow. Naval Air Station, New Or- (ioose." A two-hour flight during whie}i partieipants can leans, with the Blue Angels. Call 504-678-3710 or go lo log 0.2 hours at the C()ntn)ls ends thai weekencl. vvvvvv.mwrnewoi leans,com for information. During the December 3-5 camp, ihe Boeing H-17 Hying i-orlress will be the topic. Partieipants will be immersed Oct. 23-24: AmigoAirsho, i-| Paso, Texas, with the /buii- in (he hi.sti)ry ol'iiie honihci and ean taik willi B-17 \el- derbirds. Go to www,amigoairsho.org for details. eians, i hey will also bave the opportunity to take a 43- minuteflighi mAluniiiuini Overcast. ()nenfthefe\vH-]7s Ocl. 30-3i: Sertoma (;ajun Air k'stival, Lafayette Regional stilltlying today, Airporl, La,, will include performances by tbeThtmder- AirV'enture's Hrst l-antasy Camp, on Spirit ofSt- l.oiii.'^, birds. Visit www.seriomaair.coin for details or call 337- was scheduled lo take place f )et(tber I -3. |-LA,'Vs is ihe only B37-9H34. two-seat, dual-e{)nlrol Spirit of St. Louis I'eplica in Ihe world and the only version that flies under tiiarles Lind- Nov. 6-7: Celebrate iTeedinii Air and tiroiind Sbovv, WWII bergh's original registration number. \-X-21l. hor infor- Woodward Army Airfield, Camden, S.C^. Visit vvww,cole- mation, rates and booking assibianee on fiUureweekeiHls, l)ratefreed()nitoiindation,org lor information or call 803- rail l-8(H)-23()-48(}0or\isitwww.airventurt'niuseum.org/ 78H-6837. fligbtops/laritasycainp lor turtlier details. Nov. 7: Wings Over Wayne, Seymour Jobnson Air Lorce Oct. 15-t7; Miramar Airshow, Marine C>)rps Air Station Base, Gtildhboro, X.C. with ibeTbunderbirds, Call 9i9- Miraniar, San Diego, Calif,, will include performances by 722-2101 or go \o uww.seymourjobnson,af,mil/airsh{)w the U.S. \a\y Blue Angels, There will be three full [lublic for information, day sbdws and a twilight show on the 16th, (io to www. nilriimarairshnw.coin for details, Nov. \3-14: Aviation Nation Airsbow, Xellis Air Force Base, liisVegas, Nev., will be a saltJte to D-Day veterans and fea- Oct. l5-17:C;reat Mississippi Balloon Haee, \atehez. Miss. tures the Tluiiiderbirds, (^all the airsbow director's office Aeiivities include iwo balloon fligbts each day, live musi- at 702-813-4293 or go to www.neHisairshow.com for sched- cal enieriainineni, carnival rides and a ciiildren's activity ule and inforniaiion. area. See ww\v,natehezms,cuni/ba!lo()nrace tor more. Nov. 13-14: Visiting Nurses Association Airsbow, Stuart, Oct. 16-17: Wings Over Houston, iillington Meld, Hous- Ha., Withani Field, Demonstrations will include skydivers, ton, Texas, features Ihe U,S. Air Ibrce TbunderbJrds and and aerobatics. Vintage cars will also be on dis- civilian aerobatic denionslrations. Military demos in- play both days, (^al! 800-260-3280 or visit www,stuartair clude a B-2 siealtb bomber fly-by and an AM-B'l Apache show.eoni for furtber details, auack helicopter demo. C^all 7l3-266-'M9:^ or go to Mary Beck Desmond wwvv.wingsovei'houston.com for Information. A\ia!ion History (ceteonies submissions. Please send to: Oct. 16-17: Piimpano Beach Air l-air, at the Pompano Events Edilor, A\mio\]\\\^U}]y Magtaine. 741 Miller Drive, Beach, Ha,, Air Park lionors veterans Srom WWIL Korea, Suite 0-2. leesburg. VA 20175 or via e-mail to Avialion Vietnam, and Desert Storm and the warbirds ibev flew. ! listnrvi" tht'historvnet.conj.

7tt AVIATION HISTORV \n\ i People & Planes Continued from page 20 only eight such aircraft built by the ship- building and arms manufacturer. The Vick- ers featured a metal-fortified fuselage, MARKETPLACE making it more substantial than contempo- A listing of information from Aviation History Magazine Advertisers. rary planes. The Adelaide Register newspa- Use the coupon provided to order as many items as you wish. Enclose the per described it as being "like a large bird of amount requested for priced items plus a $1.50 handling charge. nickel steel. It had a body 34 feet long from nose to tail, was capable of remaining in the 7. COLLECTOR'S AIR MODEL air for 5 hours and could cover 300 miles in Accessories/Clothing that time." The power plant, built by French 1. THE REAL McCOYS ultimate CO. offers replicas of famous aviation pioneer Robert Esnault-Pelterie, World War II, 1/72-scale, black was likely one of his 60-hp, 14-cylinder, four- seekers flight jacket collection. row engines. The bill of sale, dated August Authenticity guaranteed. All plastic models of 1941-1945. 17,1911, was itemized for the monoplane, a jackets created to the exact Send for FREE brochure. "special ice undercarriage" and shipping specifications of the original from England to Australia. Mawson hired Frank "Bick" Bickerton as mechanic and a Army/Navy flight jackets. FREE. Miscellaneous Lieutenant Watkins as pilot, and sent them 8. From America's oldest suppher on to Adelaide with the plane. Anlinues/Reproductions of herbal remedies. The BOTANIC Before sailing to Antarctica, Mawson 2. Celehrate America with Big- CHOICE CATALOG fromIndian a planned to boost the AAF's sickly finances Bang® Carbide Cannons. Cast- with public flying demonstrations in Aus- Botanic Gardens. FREE. tralia, where civil aviation was still a novelty. iron and solid brass replicas. With Bickerton, Watkins assembled the THE CONESTOGA COMPANY, Vickers and scheduled the first demonstra- INC. FREE information. tion for October 5, 1911. A test flight was planned before the main event. Watkins took off with expedition Art/Prints member Frank Wild, but the test ended in 3. STENBERG AVIATION—We Reader Service Department disaster when the plane crashed and rolled, strive to offer the best value in P.O. Box 5284 damaging both wings and slightly injuring quality limited-edition art from Pittsfield, MA 01203-5284 the two men. Telt me more! Please send information on the Mawson's dreams of flying above the many top artists. FREE information. items circled below. I enclose $1.50 handling merciless Antarctic surface were shattered. charge plus the amount for priced item.s. There was neither time nor money for com- 4. FEIGHT STUDIOS—Inno- plete repairs. Instead he detached the dam- vative aviation art at reasonable l.FREE 5. FREE aged wings, stripped the sheathing from prices by multiple-award-winning 2,EREE 6. $8.00 most of the fuselage to conserve weight, artist Don Feight. Prints and fitted the undercarriage with outsize skis and rebaptized the plane an "air tractor originals, commissions accepted. 3. FREE 7. FREE sledge," a reference to the cargo sleds used FREE information. by polar explorers. He said that "the advan- 4. FREE 8. FREE tages expected from this type of machine were speed, steering control, and compara- Books/Documents I AM ENCLOSING: tive safety from crevasses owing to the great 5. Aviation, military and for priced item length of the runners." Western American history $1.50 for handling By late January 1912, the AAE had estab- tbtal Remittance lished itself in Antarctica, with its main base titles from SUNFLOWER NOTE: If only FREE choices are selected, handling at Cape Denison, south of Tasmania. The UNIVERSITY PRESS since charge still must be included!! No cash or credit wingless Vickers was installed in a 10-foot- 1977. FREE brochure and cards accepted. Please make check or money order in U.S funds payahle to Aviation History Magazine, and by-35-foot hangar abutting the living hut. complete backlist on request mail lo address above. Please do not use this address for Bickerton spent the polar winter there, re- change of addross or any other correspondence. Address ahove is for Reader Service information only. Please attaching the undercarriage and engine, allow 6-8 weeks for delivery which had been removed for the voyage, Collectibles Name and configuring the machine so it could 6. Full-color, 124-page, fuUy haul supplies over land during the summer Address exploration season (October 1912 to Febru- illustrated, color catalog of ary 1913). Mawson would later write of Bick- handcrafted aircraft and ship City erton's efforts:" |The air tractor sledge] spent models is now available from State Zip almost the whole year 11912] helpless and driftbound in the hangar. During those MOTION PERFORMANCE. months, Bickerton had expended a great Send $8.00, refundable. COUPON EXPIRES 01/31A)5 NOVEMBER "04

NOVEMBER 2004 AVIATION HISTORY 71 amount of energy upon it, introducing bril- Aviation liant ideas of his own.. .to adapt it to local re- GUIDE TO OVER 900 quirements." AIRCRAFT MUSEUMS Models On November 15,1912, the first trial of the U.S, & Canada. 22nd Edition air tractor sledge was made, with Bickerton • I 192 USA Aircraft Miiseiims I»O Box 4078 sitting high in the pilot's seat. The fuselage • 125 Canadian Aircraft Mu,sctim.s College Point, NY 11356 was perched about 5 feet above the ground .249 City Parks Desktop. Diecast, Balsa Kits & •59 Restaurants so that the propeller was well above any pro- • 62 Naval Museums Custom Models jecting ice. The undercarriage consisted of • 34 WWII Landmarks www.aviation-models.com struts connected to long, snowboardJike skis • 26 Rides in Aircraft to help it pass safely over crevasses. A team • 9100 Aircraft Listed Alphabetically (800)591-4823 For a copy of this 176 page book of men had to move it into position. Expedi- Send $20 postpaid (USA only) Check out our sister web site tion member Charles Laseron recorded, "on Checl* or MO to: Michael A, Blaugher Attn: AH The Aviation History a trial trip [it| roared its way up the first steep 124 East Faster Parkway slope in great style." Ft. Wayne, IN 46606-1730 Online Museum email: airmuseums@ao!.com www.aviation-historv.com Bickerton later fashioned brakes and a www.aircraftmuseums.com steering mechanism from the original land- ing gear and hand drills used by the geolo- Celebrate July 4tb & All Rvent.s Yoir Leather Jacket Will Become A gists. The machine subsequently carried Penonallied, Hand-Painted Masterpiece cargo five miles up the ice slope behind BIG-BANG® CANNON Jdl us what subject you would Cape Denison to a depot used as a gateway GREAT Gin IDEA! like on your jaclffit, we'll design to the Antarctic interior. Laseron wrote: and paint it for you. "Bick's aeroplane sledge was...doing yeo- The onlj SAFK suhstitute Wear it in memocy of man service at this period... .Its advent light- for firtworksl CjnnonN your own experiences ened the labor of all, for on every available produce a loud bang with a or in honor of someone rcalislif llaih of light. PalenleJ in 14117. Mjik ;il fM iruii occasion it took a load to Aladdin's Cave [the metal, hasy ii'ading anil firing. Great fur display when not in use. MiiJi! or a group who fought depot], not only of petrol for its own use, but in ihe USA in last a lifelime. Available in ,1 si/es; Q" canmm, $6'*.95 forourfreedorn. postpaid; 17" cannon, $I29.!I5 poNtpaid; 25" cannon [shimn lit-rei of stores for all the other sledging parties." "AiLh rapid firing and automaiii: inadin^, $159.95 postpaid. The Ijrei^r No chipping or Mawson wrote happily of its performance: the cannon Ihe loiidcr the bung! Bangsile" ammo, aboui 100 shots, peeling, guaranteed. S8.5O: 3-pack $20.00. Spark plugs, 3-pack $2.00. Order via mail, "In the execution of this work a speed of phone i>r website. Mastertard. Visa, ihett or money order aeeepted. See over 80 painted twent)' miles per hour was attained up ice Money hack guarmtce. Send for KRKE C^RLOGI jackets on website. slopes of one in fifteen in the face of a wind The Conesloga t«.. Inc, DeptAV, PO Box 405, Btthlthcm. RV tKOIh • * Call l-800-987-BAN(; ** FREE BROCHURE of fifteen miles per hour Bickerton has i-800-774-OS33WWW.peters-grQup.CQin'history w w w^bif; ba n j;c a mi o II s .CO m reason to feel highly elated with its success." The air tractor sledge's next responsibility was to haul supplies f'or a team led by Bick- Thrilling Gun Camera Mavies erton to explore the coastal highlands im- & Pilot Manuals mediately west of Cape Denison. The team We sell rare and historic aviation documents, photographs, HISTORY Classifieds left Cape Denison on December 3, with the manuals and movies. Vickers towing a caravan of four sledges. 301-947-1911 ANTIOUES/COUECTfBLES What happened next is recounted in .RareAviation.CO! Mawson's memoir. Home of the Blizzard. ORIGINAL antique aviation memorabilia for About 10 miles out, he recorded: sale. Over 800 items listed online from 1910 ... the engine developed an internal disorder COME VISIT US AT to I960, www.aviation-antiques.com or call which Bickerton was at a loss to diagnose or remedy. This necessitated pitching camp for www.TheHistory 209-962-6121. the night...at 4 p.m. next day, after drifting NetShop.com snow had subsided, the engine was started Small line ads get BIG results once more. Its behavior, however, indicated that something was the matter with one or To place a classified ad. more of the cylinders. Bickerton was on the Phone: 717-671-4100 Fax:717-671-4346 point of deciding to take the engine to •THE[Hii'IHIiViOFlV/;1H?:liJl Email: Hbg.Cla-ssifiedAdveitisint^ipriinedia.ctHn pieces, when his thoughts were brought to a This 1111 111 timt'itliil writs f\i>l(ires thf pii- sudden close by the engine, without warn- NEXT ISSUE: January 2005 oial bank's, proftlts ing, pulling up with such a jerk that the pro- ihf cottinianders and peller was smashed. A moment's examina- chrottides how war AD CLOSE: September 13, 2004 has shapt'tl ihu motl- tion showed that even more irremediable eni wortti, Cofitprised ON SALE: November 16, 2004 damage had occurred inside the engine, so of ati etio'clopedic col- there was nothing left but to abandon the ludiort of archival film VISA dating hack 10 18%, air-tractor and continue the journey man- This lantlntark series is hauling iheir sledge. availahk' in Classified Rates lx 3x 6x for ihe first lime as a complete set on DVD. Toial viewing time 22 hours, Per Word Months later. Bickerson hauled the air trac- ITEM; ACWF $n9.9'> tor sledge hack to C^ape Denison and found 20-word minimum • Rates include website exposure. that the pistons had seized and were ir- Call: 1-800-358-6327 Online SUBSCRIPTIONS: l-S00-829-«40 reparable. The culprit was the engine oil— 72 AVIATION HISTORV NOV-TMBER 2004 in those low temperatures it congealed, be- coming too thick for the pistons' tolerance. AMERICA'S AIR POWER T-SHIRTS Bickerton had tried to preempt this disaster by painting the engine and the oil tank black to absorb the sun's heat, to no avail. The aban- doned vehicle became a sort of landmark. The sledgers passed it as they came back to Cape Denison, bringing stories of their dis- coveries and their battles with the elements. In early 1913, Captain Davis and Aurora returned to bring the ME hack to civiliza- tion. But Mawson's three-man party, wbich had traveled by dog team to map the area far west of Cape Denison, was still in the field. Davis waited for Mawson as long as possi- ble, until Aurora was in danger of being iced in, then sailed back to Australia in March. Aurora would return the next year. Five men, including Bickerton, remained at Cape Denison to try and discover what had become of their expedition leader and his Navy & Marine Corps Designs: Navy Dauntless Dive Bomber and Hellcat, companions, EX. Mertz and B.E.S, Ninnis. Marine Corp Corsair Aircraft on back and unit crest on front. Mawson was the only one of the tliree who eventually returned to Cape Denison, After T-shirts are $14.95 in white (pictured), ash gray, or natural and six weeks on the trail, on December 14,1912, available in sizes S, M, L, XL and XXL (add $2.50 for XXL). S&H $4.95 for US Ninnis and his dog sled disappeared into a and Canada and $7.50 for all other destinations. We accept VISA, MasterCard, crevasse, never to be seen again. Mawson American Express, Discover, checks and money orders. and Mertz were left witli one dog team, food Other modern airtratt and WWII T-shirts, golf shirts and caps available, for a week and a makeshift tent. They im- 'ib order, ask about other aviation wear, or request the mediately turned back toward Cape Denison, NEW CATALOG, call 800-543-4820. Mawson and Mertz resorted to eating VISIT 0U!( WEBSITE: wwvv.aviationmilitary.com their sled dogs as they died, finding the liver RGI • P.O. Box 2069 • Peachtree City, GA 30269 to be the most palatable. However, as proved 60 years later, Husky liver contains toxic amounts of vitamin A. Both men became dangerously ill with diarrhea, hair loss, peel- ing skin, disorientation and crippling head and hody pain. Mertz succumbed to the "Marlin's Milieu" ' poisoning on January 7,1913. The Martin P5M Martin was the follow-on Staggering, sometimes crawling, Mawson to the PBM Mariner and was the Navy's continued alone. His technical skills proved last operational flying boat. Primarily to be his salvation, as he modified bis gear designed as a sub hunter, the Marlins were used in Vietnam mainly for patrol to compensate for his weakening state. He work. The last P5Ms were retired in 1966 miraculously found a food cache on lanu- ary 29, allowing him to make it to Aladdin's A 22"x28" limited edition print of 500, Cave. There he was trapped by a week-long signed and numbered. blizzard, surviving on supplies previously hauled by the air tractor sledge. On Febru- ary 8 he made his way down the ice slopes "P-Boat: One, U-Boat: Nothing" to Cape Denison, using ice-sboes fashioned The Martin PBM Mariner flying boats were from the remnants of a wooden hox. Bick- workhorses during WWM, They were used erton was the first to reach the forlorn figure. in the Atlantic and Pacific for anti- He knocked the ice from around the man's submarine work as well as patrol, hood and saw Mawson's emaciated face, bombing, rescue, and transport duties. patcby skin and sunken eyes. "My Cod," PBMs also saw ASW work in the Korean Bickerton blurted, "which one are you?" war with mining as a secondary role. Undaunted, Mawson returned to Antarc- A 22"x28" limited edition print of 500, tica in 1929 in the expedition ship Discovery. signed and numborwi. During that trip, he was finally able to view Antarctica from the air when he flew as a passenger in a de Havilland Moth float- $48 each Feight Studios plane. He wrote about his first flight on lanu- +$7.00 shipping/handling 8044 S, Race Way ary 5, 1930: "As we rose, a wider and wider (VISA, Master Card, Am Express, Littleton. CO 80122 view of the land unfolded. A black rugged check or money order) (303)730-2340 Mountain appeared to the east of the rising Visit our website to see the entire Naval ASW print series plateau slopes." Mawson bad finally risen Web site: www.feightstudio5.coni/ e-mail: [email protected] above the white hostility of Antarctica, "t-

NOVEMBER 2004 AVIATION HISTORY 73 Legacy of Flight

BY NAN SIEGEL

Decked out in invasion stripes, U.S. Army Air Forces Martin B-26 medium bombers prepare to take off in June 1944, headed for airfields and transportation targets in Europe.

deemed a high number of training accidents—thanks to instability at low speeds during landings and takeoffs be- cause of the plane's short wings ajid high wing loading. As a result, the Marauder garnered a handful of unpleasant nicknames, including "Widow-maker," "The Flying Coffin," "B-Dash-Crash" and "The Flying Prostitute" (no visible means of support). Modifications were soon implemented (including a 6- foot wingspan increase and a taller tail) to eliminate that problem, and during World War II the B-26 would in fact record the lowest attrition rate of any American aircraft serving in the Ninth Air Force. With an original maximum bombload of 5,800 pounds, a top speed of 315 mph, rangeof 1,000 miles, and a serv- NOVEMBER 25,1940, BALTIMORE, MD.-TheB-26Marauder, ice ceiling of 19.800 feet, the B-26 was widely employed for close Glenn L. Martin Company's response to a U.S. Army Air Corps tactical grotmd support in the Pacific as well as the Mediterranean. request for a high speed medium bomber, made its maiden A total of5,157 were huilt in a total of 20 variants, and the Royal flight piloted by chief engineer William K. Ebel. Air Force acquired 522 through Lend-Lease. There is reportedly The new bomber featured an unusual cantilever shoulder wing only one B-26 that is still in fiyable condition today, in the col- design, and early on in its career B-26 crews suffered what was lection of tbe Fantasy of Flight Museum at Polk City, Fla. "1"

74 Years Ago This Month

DECEMBER 8, 1930, BOLLING FIELD, WASHINGTON, of powered aircraft, legitimate customers forTexacos fuel and D.C.—The Franklin PS-2 glider Texaco Eaglet soared aloft one oil. In the course of the transcontinental flight, which began last time before formally being handed over to the Smithson- March 30 at Lindbergh Field and ended on April 6 in New York ian Institution. At its controls that day was Frank M. Hawks, City's Van Cortlandt Park, Hawks and Jernigin landed at air- who earlier that year had piloted tbe unpowered aircraft across fields several times each day, and Hawks put on an aerial tbe United States. During its last flight demonstration at most every stop. as well as in the course of their eight- The PS-2—with a wingspan of 45 day, 2,860-mile journey from San Diego feet, 20 feet 11 inches long and weigh- to New York, the glider was towed by ing 300 pounds—had been designed J.D. "Duke" Jernigin Jr. in Texaco No. 7, by University of Michigan mechanical aWaco 10 biplane. engineering professor R.E. Franklin The idea of making a transatlantic and his brother Wallace. Texaco Eagle fs glider flight had originated with Hawks, never-exceed speed was set at 125 mph, renowned as a World War I pilot, a with a stall speed calculated at 15 mph. former barnstormer and speed king Thanks in part to tbe publicity gener- turned corporate spokesman. He bad ated by tbe transcontinental flight, as managed to talk Texaco executives into well as their own work to promote tbe authorizing the purchase of tbe PS-2 towing of gliders by automobile, the and sponsoring the stunt after he saw Best known for his record-setting flights PS-2 became America's most popular an earlier model Franklin glider, tersely in powered aircraft, Frank Hawks made a training glider in the mid-'30s. As of dubbed 9491, wowing crowds at the transcontinental glider flight in 1930. this writing, Texaco Eaglet is at tbe Paul Detroit Glider Carnival in 1929. Con- E. Garber Preservation, Restoration & sidered today from a strictly profit- Storage Facility in Maryland. minded perspective, it seems remarkable that an oil company Hawks went on to set a string of distance records in a Travel- would be willing to invest in an unpowered aircraft to promote air and a Nortbrop Gamma. He also found time to publish an its products; but in 1930 Texaco viewed gliding as a compelling autobiography. Speed, in 1931—seven years before he died on means of attracting more of the public to aviation as a sport. August 23, 1938, while piloting a Gwinn Aircar near East They also believed that glider pilots would likely become fliers Aurora, N.Y.

74 AVIATION HISTORY NOVEMBtR 2004