Third Quarter (Jul - Sep) 2008 Volume 21, Number 3 The Newsletter of the War Eagles Air Museum Editorial here are several different ways that fans of warbirds, historic T aircraft and big, round, noisy en- gines can satisfy their interest. One way, of course, is to visit War Eagles Air Mu- seum or some of the many other fine avi- ation museums in the country, where you can see these impressive machines “up close and personal.” Another way is to watch contemporaneous movies that fea- ture lots of flying action. Some examples are the classic films Command Decision, released in 1948, and Twelve O’Clock High, released the following year, which both portray the experiences of American airmen in England and their daring day- light bombing missions over occupied Europe. When these films were made just after World War II ended, plenty of sur- plus Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses and other wartime aircraft were readily avail- S Project ZELMAL, one of aviation’s more unusual projects, involved rocket-launching able for the filmmakers to use, so the fly- Featured Aircraft Republic F-84G Thunderjets from a mobile ing scenes are “the real thing.” But what trailer and landing them wheels-up on an in- about the small screen? Are any old tele- he Republic Aviation Corpora- flated rubber mat. This attempt to improve vision shows available for those interest- tion, of Farmingdale, Long Is- the survivability of NATO aircraft under So- ed in real historic aircraft action? Yes— T land, New York, was known for viet attack was not conspicuously successful. there’s great news for aviation enthusi- building strong aircraft. Its World War II asts of all ages with the release on DVD P-47 Thunderbolt could absorb incredible this summer of the outstanding 1958-59 battle damage and still get home. In Viet television show Steve Canyon. Nam, its F-105 Thunderchief could carry Contents Steve Canyon was a character creat- such a huge under-wing bomb load that it ed by Milton Caniff (1907-1988), widely seemed unable to fly. In between was the Editorial......................................1 regarded as America’s finest cartoonist, rugged F-84 Thunderjet, an airplane with Featured Aircraft........................1 whose dramatic artistic style and unparal- enough structural strength to survive the From the Director.......................2 leled storytelling brilliance influenced punishment of a desperate, bizarre, Cold virtually every cartoonist who followed War test program called ZELMAL. Historical Perspectives ..............6 Membership Application ............7 Steve Canyon (Continued on Page 5) Featured Aircraft (Continued on Page 2) 1 www.war-eagles-air-museum.com Plane Talk—The Newsletter of the War Eagles Air Museum Third Quarter 2008 Featured Aircraft (Continued from page 1) SOLVING THE PROBLEM From the Director BACKGROUND Air Force planners didn’t have to here’s much more to War Eagles look far for a possible solution. Under a Air Museum than just airplanes. It was early 1953. Europe was divid- March 1946 contract, the Glenn L. Mar- T Our collection of more than 30 ed by what Britain’s Prime Minister Win- tin Company, of Baltimore, Maryland, historic World War II and Korean War ston Churchill famously called the “Iron was building a cruise missile called Mat- military and civilian aircraft is, of course, Curtain.” The Cold War was in full ador. Resembling a conventional aircraft, the biggest draw for visitors. But many swing, and the real shooting war in Korea Matador was fired from a towed trailer people are surprised to learn that we also was in its third year. While armistice called a “zero-length” launcher. The term display a large collection of classic auto- talks ground on at a glacial pace, United “zero-length” meant that all of the mis- mobiles. We have more of them, in fact, Nations and Chinese-backed North Kore- sile’s mounting supports released at the than aircraft. You could spend hours in an troops battled in the mud. In the frigid same time when it was fired. The initial the Museum looking at these major exhi- sky high over the Yalu River, American Matador A version entered Air Force ser- bits. But there’s more to see. If you have and communist jet pilots sparred. vice in late 1952. the time, be sure to check out all the arti- The Communist Party of the Soviet facts, posters, newspaper clippings, docu- Union seemed set on its putative goal of ments, aircraft engines, uniforms, scale world domination. The memory of Soviet models, paintings and other memorabilia. intransigence during the Berlin Blockade Also, as the home of the El Paso Avia- was still fresh. East and West each dis- tion Hall of Fame, we display more than trusted the other, and the odds of a mili- 50 plaques commemorating distinguished tary confrontation between the world’s inductees. I’m sure you’ll be fascinated only two superpowers seemed very high. to read the citations describing the contri- The U.S. Air Force maintained a butions of these aviation pioneers. precarious presence in western Europe. Let’s not forget our Gift Shop, which Airfields dotted the Federal Republic of carries a good selection of books, videos, Germany (West Germany). U.S. and NA- S The Glenn L. Martin Company’s TM-61 DVDs, music CDs, toys and models. You TO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) Matador cruise missile was essentially an are sure to find a good souvenir of your aircraft patrolled the skies, or waited on unmanned, remote controlled aircraft. visit there, and you can also peruse the the ground—fueled, fully armed and on many laminated newspaper articles about hair-trigger alert. Powerful radars cease- Why not, the Air Force thought, use past Museum events and activities. The lessly scanned eastwards for the first tell- Matador-type launchers to get its aircraft knowledgeable Gift Shop staff will glad- tale electronic “blips” of a massive aerial into the air after an attack? Getting them ly answer questions, or they’ll put you in attack. At jet aircraft speeds, NATO’s back on the ground afterwards, of course, touch with someone who can help you. airfields were just minutes away from was another matter. One concept to do so Be sure to mention if you would like to Warsaw Pact bases in Czechoslovakia, had been around since the mid-1940s, become a Museum member, or if you are the German Democratic Republic (East when the British Royal Aircraft Estab- interested in volunteering, or if you have Germany) and Poland. lishment (RAE) had looked at eliminat- a donation to offer. Thanks a lot, and I Air Force leaders feared that a sur- ing the landing gear from jets to increase hope you enjoy your visit. prise Soviet attack would catch their air- their fuel capacity. After considering sev- craft on the ground and destroy them be- eral ideas, RAE engineers settled on the Skip Trammell fore they could take off. Even if some re- idea of landing wheel-less aircraft on a vetted or camouflaged aircraft survived, giant, inflated rubber mat. When its ar- their airfields probably would not. One resting hook snagged a cable, the plane Plane Talk thing they could do was disperse the air- would be snatched out of the sky and Published quarterly by: craft off of their permanent bases. In that slammed down onto the mat, hopefully bygone era before spy satellites and pre- with no ill effects other than maybe some War Eagles Air Museum cision-guided weapons, the thick forests scraped paint. 8012 Airport Road just outside the fences of many airfields The RAE modified two DeHavilland Santa Teresa, New Mexico 88008 could conceal and protect entire squad- (575) 589-2000 Vampires to prove the concept. It was a rons of aircraft. But the problem of how good thing they modified two, because Author/Editor: Terry Sunday to get them airborne remained. NATO’s one was totally destroyed in the first test Chief Nitpicker: Frank Harrison defensive aircraft needed long runways (fortunately without injury to the pilot). Final Proofreader: Kathy Sunday to take off and land. What if the runways [email protected] were destroyed? Featured Aircraft (Continued on page 3) www.war-eagles-air-museum.com 2 Third Quarter 2008 Plane Talk—The Newsletter of the War Eagles Air Museum Featured Aircraft (Continued from page 2) full fuel, the Thunder- jet would not overload The next try, on December 29, 1947, was either the launcher or successful, and within the next ten years the landing mat. nine pilots made over 200 gear-up mat As defined in Au- landings. Many of the tests took place at gust 1953, ZELMAL sea on a 142-foot-long, 27-inch-high mat had three phases, all to on the flight deck of the Royal Navy car- be accomplished at Ed- rier HMS Warrior. An American Navy wards Air Force Base, pilot participated in the sea trials, gaining California. Phase I was some firsthand experience in the pioneer- one unpiloted launch of ing British concept that was useful when a stripped F-84G from the Air Force adopted the idea. a slightly modified Ma- tador trailer, with no PROJECT ZELMAL recovery. Phase II in- volved 10 launches of With its Matador experience, Martin piloted “lightweight” was the logical contractor to tackle the Thunderjets, each with Air Force program called ZELMAL. The a conventional landing. acronym stood for “Zero-length Launch Phase III involved 30 and Mat Landing.” The purpose of the piloted launches, at in- program, according to Air Research and creasing gross weights, Development Command (ARDC) Test with, ideally, also 30 Directive 5292-F1, dated September 14, mat landings.