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Home , Antonov, Eugene Bullard, Museum of Flight, Orteig Prize, Reconnaissance aircraft

MUSEUM HIGHLIGHTS

A Significant Addition Birmingham’s The World’s to the Blue Angels Biggest Bi-Plane ! Early Aviation Hanger How can a winged The Spirit of St. Louis (Registration: The SMF’s new A-4F “Skyhawk” is a hover like a , FLIGHT N-X-211) is the custom-built, single veteran of the Vietnam conflict and even fly backwards engine, single-seat monoplane flown having served with Navy Attack under certain conditions? by on May 20– Squadron VA-164 'Ghostriders' while 21, 1927, on the first solo non-stop assigned to the aircraft carrier USS The SMF has such an aircraft now transatlantic flight from , Hancock. Additionally, the aircraft awaiting its opportunity for restoration. , to Paris. Lindbergh won was also assigned to the US Navy's The Antonov An-2 Colt is a large bi- the $25,000 Orteig Prize for this Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN). plane with a 9-cylinder radial engine 2019 FEBRUARY accomplishment. Known as the The aircraft’s last service was with the that was developed from the Wright "Ryan NYP” (for New York to Paris), 'Challengers’, VF-43 which was R-1820. This aircraft has remarkable the plane was named the "Spirit of St. based at NAS Oceana, VA. durability and high lifting power. The A PUBLICATIONLINES OF THE SOUTHERN OF FLIGHT BIRMINGHAM, AL Louis" in honor of Lindy’s supporters An-2 was designed back in 1947, and WWW.SOUTHERNMUSEUMOFFLIGHT.ORG from the St. Louis Raquette Club in manufactured until 2001. The An-2 his then hometown of St. Louis, MO. was the longest produced aircraft in the world but now that title belongs to the C-130. The An-2 remains in service with and civilian operators around the world today.

The Quonset Air Museum transported the aircraft from Oceana to their location in Rhode Island and Lindbergh took off in the Spirit from restored the aircraft in striking Blue Roosevelt Airfield, Garden City, New Angels livery. York, and landed 33.5 hours later at The key to the plane’s ability to hover, Aéroport Le Bourget in Paris, , Heavy snowfall during the winter of and even fly backwards in the right a distance of 3,600 miles. One of the 2015 collapsed the museum’s roof conditions, is due to the control best known aircraft in the world, the and the building was condemned. surfaces on the . Leading edge Spirit was built by Ryan Airlines in Following an unsuccessful search for slats and flaps bring down the San Diego, California. The Spirit is a new home, the museum announced aircraft’s speed and also increase lift now on permanent display at the on the 16th of December 2016 that it by altering the shape of the wing. Smithsonian Institution's National Air would not reopen and the aircraft in With a headwind of 15 to 20 knots, a and Space Museum in , their collection would be transferred pilot can “hover” the airplane, and if D.C. to other . The SMF was the headwind is strong enough, the fortunate to acquire this aircraft on aircraft can move backwards very This Spirit of St. Louis monoplane loan from the National Naval slowly. A pilot can still fly the plane was acquired by the SMF from the Museum, Pensacola, FL and under full control at around 25 mph. In Octave Chanute received the Skyhawk from Quonset fact, the flight manual does not have a Museum at Rantoul, IL where their in July 2017. published stall speed! museum volunteers painstakingly constructed the static replica of this Although the striking paint scheme Over 20,000 An-2s were built and the famous historical aircraft. It is now a lends impressive credibility to this number still airworthy is unknown but centerpiece of the SMF’s Early aircraft, it never actually flew with the believed to be at least 2,000. Aviation Hanger. Blue Angels. THE B-25 & A 2,200 MPH NEW ADDITIONS Approximately 5 are flown as Come visit this fine replica and be But one can imagine! in the USA and Europe. TUSKEGEE DRONE? TO THE INVENTORY impressed. Page 2 Page 3 Page 4

Page 4 MUSEUM HIGHLIGHTS MUSEUM HIGHLIGHTS

The Museum’s B-25 Planning For A Famed In May 1950, after several stateside Lockheed’s The First Black Tuskegee Connection Tuskegee Airman To assignments, McGee was assigned as Base Operations Officer, Clark “GTD-21B” Drone Military Aviator Reunite With “His” B-25 Field in the Philippines. In June 1950, the Korean War broke out. McGee he B-25 medium was n August of 1917, Eugene soon found himself back in a Mustang Jacques Bullard, an American one of America's most famous and in combat. During this tour, he I T volunteer in the French army, became airplanes of World War II. It was used flew 100 bombing and strafing the first black military pilot in history. by General Doolittle for the "Tokyo missions. Returning to Clark Field, Raid" on April 18, 1942. More than Born in Columbus, GA on Oct. 9, McGee took command of the 44th 1894, Eugene Bullard left home at the 9,800 B-25s were built during World Fighter-Bomber Squadron, and flew War II. age of 11 and by 1913, he had settled the F-80. in France as a prizefighter. When

This Mitchell bomber, delivered to the WW I began, he enlisted in the French In 1953, McGee graduated from the Foreign Legion and rose to the rank of USAAF on 7 February 1945, is very Air Command and Staff College at special to Alabama and the SMF with . For his bravery as an Maxwell Air Force Base, and later infantryman in combat, he received its connection to the Tuskegee flew F-89 Scorpions with the Air Airmen. the . Defense Command.

The B-25J served as a twin-engine Charles McGee attended the While recovering University of Illinois and in 1939 joined McGee was promoted to Lieutenant from combat trainer and was assigned to the n the 1960s, Lockheed's secret Skunk Works developed the Mach 3, A-12 the ROTC. Colonel in 1959. The McGee’s and wounds, he 2143rd AAF Base Unit (Basic/ aircraft for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) along with their three children spent the next few I accepted an Advanced Pilot School) at Tuskegee the concept of a long-range drone that used much of the A-12's technology. After Pearl Harbor in 1941, McGee years on assignments in Italy, North offer to join the AAF in July 1945. The aircraft served The drone was intended to make a one-way trip, eject its camera payload at heard the US Army was recruiting to Dakota and Missouri. By 1967, the French Air Force at Tuskegee until being transferred to the end of the mission for recovery, then self-destruct. The camera and its film train African-American soldiers as returned McGee to as a gunner, but Sheppard AAF in Texas in January magazines were carried in a “hatch” below the drone's air intake and would be mechanics at nearby Chanute Field, for combat. Leading the 16th Tactical then obtained 1946. It is a remarkable coincidence ejected at the end of the mission and snagged out of the air by a C-130. If the the expected African-American flight Reconnaissance Squadron out of Tan permission to that this impressive aircraft and Col. C-130 missed, the equipment was equipped with flotation devices so it could be program. He applied for a pilot’s slot Son Nhut Air Base near Saigon, he become a pilot. McGee may cross paths once again. recovered by ship if released over water. The Q-12, as it was identified, was to and passed the examination. In flew 173 missions in the RF-4C. After completing be air-launched from the back of an A-12. October 1942, he received his orders flight training, he and soon was at Tuskegee Army Air The Air Force next sent McGee to joined the 200 Field in Alabama to begin flight training Germany, promoting him to Colonel in Lockheed wanted to power the Q-12 with a BOMARC missile ramjet engine, other Americans with his fellow black cadets. 1969. In June 1972, he commanded modified to operate at high temperatures for at least an hour and a half at high in the Lafayette the 1840th Air Base Wing at altitudes. A full-scale mockup of the Q-12 was ready by 7 December 1962, and Flying Corps, and he flew combat On June 30, 1943, McGee graduated Richards-Gebauer AFB, near Kansas had already undergone preliminary tests to measure its cross-section. missions until November 11, 1917. He from flight school in Class 43-F. By the City, Missouri. On January 31, 1973, became known as the Black Swallow beginning of 1944, 2nd Lt. McGee had after 30 years of military service, However, the CIA was not enthusiastic about the Q-12, mostly because the of Death! joined the pioneering all-black 332nd McGee retired from the Air Force. His agency was overextended at the time. The Air Force, however, was interested Fighter Group, 12th Air Force, flying 409 aerial fighter combat missions in the Q-12 as both a reconnaissance platform and a cruise missile, and the Bullard remained in France as an P-39 Airacobras, P-47 Thunderbolts over three wars still stands is a record expatriate after the war. When WWII CIA finally decided to work with the USAF to develop the new drone. Lockheed and later, P-51 Mustangs. that still stands. began, he joined the French army, This B-25 went on to serve at other was awarded a contract in March 1963 for full-scale development of the Q-12. was wounded and returned to New training wings and was returned to the The 332nd, also known as the “Red Col. McGee’s military honors include York where he remained in relative Birmingham Modification Center in In late 1963 the project was named Tagboard. The Q-12 was re-designated Tails,” soon earned the respect of their the Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf obscurity, but in France, he remained December 1954 for its conversion to a D-21 while the A-12 version launcher became M-21 (D- for "daughter" and Luftwaffe counterparts and of the white Cluster, Distinguished Flying Cross a hero. In 1964, he was one of the TB-25N, of which only 54 versions M- for "mother"). Two of the original 18 A-12 aircraft were designated as M-21s bomber crews they protected. By with Two Clusters, two Presidential veterans chosen to light the were made. After conversion, the with serial numbers 60-6940 and 60-6941. The M-21 was a two-seat version of November, 1944, with 136 missions Unit Citations, and many others. “Everlasting Flame” at the French aircraft was transferred to the 3345th the A-12, with a pylon on the fuselage centerline between the vertical and a Focke-Wulf to his credit, McGee McGee went back to school, finally Tomb of the Unknown Soldier under Technical Training Wing at Chanute stabilizers to carry the drone in a nose-up attitude. was heading home and returned to earning that long delayed degree. His the Arc de Triumph and in 1959, the AFB in Illinois. In 1958, the B-25 was Tuskegee as a twin-engine instructor. civilian career included serving as VP French honored him with the Knight of dropped from inventory and The first actual launch of a D-21 finally occurred on 5 March 1966, followed by This is where McGee and the B-25 on of a real estate holding company, and the Legion of Honor. On October 13, transferred to Museum status. two others on 27 April and 16 June that year. These were all moderately exhibit first crossed paths. Manager of the Kansas City 1961, Eugene Bullard died and was successful, but the fourth and final M-21/D-21 launch on 30 July ended in Downtown Airport. He was buried with full military honors in the The “Tuskegee B-25” now proudly disaster. The D-21 hit the M-21's tail after separation, leading to the crash of Upon war’s end, the Tuskegee Army instrumental to the growth of the cemetery of the Federation of French takes its rightful place as part of the both aircraft and the death of one of the two M-21 crewmembers. After this Air Field was closed, and in 1946, Association. He War Veterans in Flushing, NY and on SMF’s Tuskegee Airmen Exhibit. accident, the M-21/D-21 program was terminated. McGee joined the 477th Composite remains a highly sought after speaker September 14, 1994, the Secretary of

Group at Lockbourne Air Base, near and, with his motto of “Do while you the Air Force posthumously appointed Columbus, Ohio. can,” continues to inspire young and him a 2nd Lt in the USAF. old alike. Page 2 Page 3