Bell 525 Relentless N525TA makes its first flight, 1 July 2015. (Bell Helicopter)
1 July 2015: Bell Helicopter’s new medium transport helicopter, the Model 525 Relentless, N525TA, made its first flight at Bell’s assembly plant in Amarillo, Texas. Test pilots Troy Caudill and Jeff Greenwood were in the cockpit.
The Bell 525 is the first helicopter to use fly-by-wire flight controls. Side stick controllers replace the customary cyclic and collective controls. For the first time for Bell, the 525 uses a five blade main rotor and four blade tail rotor.
Bell 525 Relentless prototype, N525TA.
The helicopter is designed to be operated by two pilots and carry up to 18 passengers. It is powered by two General Electric CT7-2F1 turboshaft engines, each rated at 1,714 shaft horsepower, maximum continuous power, and 1,979 shaft horsepower for takeoff.
N525TA during a test flight.
The Model 525 is the largest helicopter built by Bell. It has an overall length of 64.81 feet (19.75 meters) with rotors turning. The fully-articulated main rotor has a diameter of 54.50 feet (16.62 meters) and rotates counter-clockwise, as seen from above. (The advancing blade is on the helicopter’s right.) The mast tilts forward 5°. The four bladed tail rotor is mounted on the left side of a pylon and rotates clockwise when viewed from the helicopter’s left side. (The advancing blade is below the axis of rotation.) It has a diameter of 10 feet (3.05 meters). The pylon is canted to the left at 15°. The 525 Relentless has a maximum gross weight of 20,000 pounds (9,072 kilograms).
The Model 525 has a maximum cruise speed of 160 knots (184 miles per hour/296 kilometers per hour), and maximum range of 580 nautical miles (1,074 kilometers). At its maximum gross weight the helicopter can hover in ground effect (HIGE) at 10,700 feet (3,261 meters), and out of ground effect (HOGE) at 8,100 feet (2,469 meters).
The prototype Bell 525 Relentless, N525TA, in cruise flight. (Bell Helicopter)
N525TA was destroyed during a test flight approximately 30 miles south of Arlington, Texas, 11:48 a.m., 6 July 2016. While conducting a test to determine never exceed speed (VNE) for single-engine flight, the 525 was flying 185 knots (213 miles per hour/343 kilometers per hour) at 1,975 feet (602 meters), the main rotor blades “departed their normal plane of rotation” and struck the nose and tail. The two test pilots on board, Jason Cori Grogan and Erik Allan Boyce, were killed. Both were majors in the United States Marine Corps Reserve, assigned to HMLA 773. Each pilot was a graduate of the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that the Probable Cause was:
A severe vibration of the helicopter that led to the crew’s inability to maintain sufficient rotor rotation speed (Nr), leading to excessive main rotor blade flapping, subsequent main rotor blade contact with the tail boom, and the resultant in-flight breakup. Contributing to the severity and sustainment of the vibration, which was not predicted during development, were (1) the collective biomechanical feedback and (2) the attitude and heading reference system response, both of which occurred due to the lack of protections in the flight control laws against the sustainment and growth of adverse feedback loops when the 6-hertz airframe vibration initiated. Contributing to the crew’s inability to maintain sufficient Nr in the severe vibration environment were (1) the lack of an automated safeguard in the modified one-engine-inoperative software used during flight testing to exit at a critical Nr threshold and (2) the lack of distinct and unambiguous cues for low Nr.
There are currently three 525s undergoing flight testing. The Federal Aviation Administration certified the Bell 525’s CT7 engines in March 2019.
The number three Bell 525 Relentless prototype, N525BN, first flew 22 April 2016.
Boeing RB-47H-1-BW Stratojet 53-4288. This is the same type aircraft as 53-4281. (U.S. Air Force 090824-F-1234S-002)
1 July 1960: A United States Air Force Boeing RB-47H-1-BW Stratojet, 53-4281, assigned to the 38th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron, 55th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, based at Forbes Air Force Base, Kansas, was conducting an electronic reconnaissance mission in international airspace over the Barents Sea, north of the city of Murmansk, in the northwest part of the Soviet Union. The RB-47 had departed from RAF Brize-Norton, in Oxfordshire, west northwest of London, England. The mission was code-named BOSTON CASPER.
On board the RB-47 were a crew of six: Major Willard George Palm, aircraft commander; Captain Freeman Bruce Olmstead, co-pilot/gunner; Captain John Richard McKone, navigator/photographer; and three electronic intelligence officers (known as “Ravens”): Major Eugene E. Posa, Captain Dean Bowen Phillips, and Captain Oscar Lee Goforth.
RB-47 crew 3, left to right: Palm, Posa, Olmstead, Goforth, McKone, PhillipsCaptain Vasily Ambrosievich Polyakov
At Monchegorsk Air Base on the Kola Pennisula, Captain Vasily Ambrosievich Polyakov, 174th Guards Red Banner Fighter Aviation Regiment (Boris Feofontovich Safonov) was on strip-alert in the cockpit of his Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19 interceptor. Captain Polyakov was interviewed in 1995 and described being “scrambled” to intercept the American reconnaissance plane. Vectored by radar controllers, he flew north-northwest until he located the B-47.
Polyakov said that he waggled his wings at the bomber—an international signal for the intercepted aircraft to follow the fighter. He saw no response. Controllers then ordered him to shoot down the American airplane.
Captain Polyakov made a firing pass and fired two bursts with the MiG’s three 30 mm autocannon, for a total of 111 rounds expended. He saw the B-47 roll inverted and disappear into the clouds below. He did not see any parachutes, nor did he observe the aircraft crash. Polyakov then returned to his base.
Chart showing track of RB-47H 53-4281 and Soviet Air Force fighter response, 6 July 1960. (National Security Agency)
The RB-47’s navigator, Captain McKone recalled that he had just taken a radar fix of their position when the MiG-19 attacked. 53-4281 was flying at 28,000 feet ( meters) at 425 knots, 50 miles to the north of Cape Holy Nose, the northern end of the Kola Peninsula. Their course was 120° (southeast). McKone had given Captain Palm two minor course corrections, both to the left, away from Soviet air space. The American reconnaissance was definitely in international air space. (The Soviet Union claimed a 12 nautical mile territorial limit.)
The RB-47H was being tracked by NATO ground based radar (probably from Norway). The chart shown above is an “accurate radar plot of the RB-47’s ground track obtained from a ground-based radar tracking facility.” ¹
Captain Olmstead later reported that he had returned fire with the two 20 mm autocannon in the B-47’s tail, expending “two-thirds of my ammunition,” or about 462 rounds. The MiG’s cannon fire knocked out two of the three engines on the left wing.
The bomber entered a spin but Palm and Olmstead were able to recover. After Polyakov’s second firing pass, though, the crew ejected. Now derelict, 53-4821 righted itself and continued to fly to the northeast for approximately 200 miles (322 kilometers).
According to Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, the RB-47 “was still in the air twenty minutes later, over the high seas, 200 miles from the point alleged by the Soviet Union and flying in a northeasterly direction.”
A Russian source indicated that this was the first air combat victory for the MiG-19.
A National Security Agency SECRET SPOKE document states “After the shoot down, probably all six crewmen bailed out, but only two men, the co-pilot and navigator, survived the splashdown into the icy waters of the Barents.” ²
After six hours in the freezing water, Captains Olmstead and McKone were rescued. McKone had a crushed vertebra as a result of the ejection. The body of Major Posa was also recovered. Major Palm’s body was recovered on 4 July. Captain Goforth and Captain Phillips were never found and were presumed to have died.
The Lubyanka building, former headquarters of the Soviet KGB. (James Offer)
Olmstead and McKone were imprisoned in the notorious Lubyanka Prison by the Soviet security service, and interrogated extensively. It wasn’t until 15 July that McKone received medical treatment for his broken back. He would spend the next 97 weeks in traction.
On 25 July, Major Palm’s body was returned to the United States for burial. Major Posa’s was sent to Severomorsk, then on to Moscow. Eventually his remains were buried in an unknown cemetery. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) lists his status as unknown, non-recoverable.
Following the inauguration of U.S. President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Premier Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev of the Soviet Union released Captains Olmstead and McKone as a good will gesture. They arrived back in the United States on 27 January 1961.
27 January 1961. Left to right, Gail Olmstead, Captain Freeman Bruce Olmstead, Captain John McKone, Connie McKone. (Abbie Rowe. White House Photographs. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum AR6299-A)
Boeing RB-47H Stratojet
Boeing RB-47H-1-BW Stratojet 53-4296, 55th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing. (U.S. Air Force)
Designed by Boeing, the Stratojet was a high-subsonic speed strategic bomber and reconnaissance aircraft, in service from 1951 until 1977. When it was introduced, the B-47 could fly higher and faster than jet fighters of the time, and it was also highly maneuverable.
The RB-47H Stratojet (Boeing Model 450-172-52) was an electronics reconnaissance variant of the B-47E strategic bomber, designed to detect, identify and locate electronic signals. It was flown by a two pilots in a tandem cockpit. A navigator was located at a station in the nose. Three electronics intelligence officers were in a reconnaissance compartment. The RB-47H Stratojet is 108.7 feet (33.132 meters) long with a wingspan of 116.3 feet (35.448 meters), and an overall height of 28.0 feet (8.534 meters). The wings are shoulder-mounted with an angle of incidence of 2° 45′, and their leading edges are swept aft to 36° 37′. There is no dihedral, but the wings are very flexible and move considerably during flight. They have a total area of 1,428 square feet (132.67 square meters). The RB-47H had an empty weight of 89,230 pounds (40,474 kilograms)—nearly 10,000 pounds (4,536 kilograms) heavier than the B-47E bomber. Its maximum takeoff weight was 218,728 pounds (99,213 kilograms). Once airborne, the maximum weight could be increased to 221,000 pounds (100,244 kilograms) with inflight refueling.
The RB-47H was powered by six General Electric J47-GE-25 turbojet engines in four nacelles mounted on pylons below the wings. This engine has a 12-stage axial-flow compressor, eight combustion chambers, and single-stage turbine. The -25 has a normal power rating of 5,320 pounds of thrust (23.665 kilonewtons) at 7,630 r.p.m., at Sea Level; Military Power, 5,670 pounds (25.221 kilonewtons) at 7,800 r.p.m.; and Maximum Power, 7,200 pounds (32.027 kilonewtons) at 7,950 r.p.m. with water/alcohol injection. (As of July 1964, there were no time limits on Military or Maximum Power.) The J47-GE-25 has a maximum diameter of 3 feet, 1 inch (0.940 meters) and length of 12 feet, 0 inches (3.658 meters) and weighs 2,653 pounds (1,203 kilograms)
The RB-47H had a basic speed of 419 knots (482 miles per hour/776 kilometers per hour) at 35,000 feet (10,668 meters); combat speed of 460 knots (529 miles per hour/852 kilometers per hour) at 37,200 feet (11,339 meters), and maximum speed of 516 knots (594 miles per hour/956 kilometers per hour) at 15,000 feet (4,572 meters). The service ceiling was 45,000 feet (13,716 meters).
RB-47H inflight refueling. (U.S. Air Force) 090824-F-1234S-003
The combat radius of the RB-47H was 1,520 nautical miles (1,749 statute miles/2,815 kilometers. Ferry range with 18,402 gallons (69,659 liters) of fuel was 3,403 nautical miles (3,916 miles/6,302 kilometers).
For defense, the RB-47H was armed with two M24A1 20 mm autocannons with 350 rounds of ammunition per gun. The remotely-operated tail turret was controlled by a radar-computing A-5 fire control system, operated by the co-pilot, whose seat could swivel to allow him to face rearward.
The forward bomb bay was modified to incorporate a pressurized compartment for the electronic intelligence operators’ stations.
A total of 2,032 B-47s were built by a consortium of aircraft manufacturers: Boeing Airplane Company, Wichita, Kansas; Douglas Aircraft Company, Tulsa, Oklahoma; Lockheed Aircraft Company, Marietta, Georgia. 35 of these were the RB-47H variant, produced by Boeing Wichita. Three of these were further modified to ERB-47Hs.
The Stratojet is one of the most influential aircraft designs of all time and its legacy can be seen in almost every jet airliner built since the 1950s: the swept wing with engines suspended below and ahead on pylons. The B-47 served the United States Air Force from 1951 to 1977. From the first flight of the Boeing XB-47 Stratojet prototype, 17 December 1947, to the final flight of B-47E 52-166, was 38 years, 6 months, 1 day.
Boeing RB-47H-1-BW 53-4299 at the National Museum of the United States Air Force. (U.S. Air Force 050321-F-1234P-002)
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19
MiG-19 with AA-2 missiles
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19 is a single-place, twin-engine swept-wing supersonic interceptor. It made its first flight 24 May 1952 with test pilot Grigory Alexandrovich Sedov in the cockpit, and was the first Soviet production aircraft that was cable of supersonic speed in level flight.
The MiG-19 is 12.54 meters (41 feet, 1.7 inches) long, with a wingspan of 9.00 meters (29 feet, 6.3 inches) and height of height 3.88 meters (12 feet, 8.8 inches). The wings are swept aft 55° at 25% chord. The total wing area 25.00 square meters (269.10 square feet). The interceptor has an empty weight of 5,298 kilograms (11,680 pounds), and maximum takeoff weight of 7,300 kilograms (16,094 pounds). It carries 1,735 kilograms (3,825 pounds) of fuel, internally.
MiG-19. (Science Photo Library)
The first production MiG-19 was powered by two Tumansky RD-9B afterburning turbojet engines. The RD-9B is a single-spool, axial-flow engine with a 9-stage compressor and two stage turbine. It is rated at 31.87 kilonewtons, (7,165 pounds of thrust), each. The engine is 5.560 meters (18 feet, 2.9 inches) long; 668 mm (2 feet, 2.3 inches) in diameter, and weighs 725 kg (1,598 pounds).
The MiG-19 has a maximum speed of 1,452 kilometers per hour (902 miles per hour). With internal fuel, its range is 1,390 kilometers (864 statute miles) or 2,200 kilometers (1,367 statute miles) with external tanks. The ceiling is 17,900 meters (58,727 feet). The interceptor’s maximum load factor is 8 gs.
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19. (airwar.ru)
The MiG-19 is armed with three Nudelman-Rikhter NR-23 23 mm cannon. It could carry two 250 kilogram (551 pound) bombs, or two ORO-57K 32-round rocket pods.
Three-view illustration of the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19. (airwar.ru)
Mikoyan-Gurevich produced 2,172 MiG-19s between 1954 and 1968. Additional aircraft were built by China (Shenyang J-6) and Chechoslovakia.
¹ “RED TERROR IN THE SKY: SOVIET AERIAL AGGRESSION, 1946–1986,” by Major Martin C. Alvstad, U.S. Air Force. Air Command and Staff College Student Report Number 87-0095, at Page 1
² NSA DOCID: 3972010 C Q, Page 30
Recommended: The Little Toy Dog, by William L. White, E.F. Dutton & Co., Inc., New York, 1962. (Mr. White was also the author of They Were Expendable, which TDiA also recommends.)
The last Peacemaker, Convair B-36J-10-CF 52-2827, comes to the end of the assembly line at Fort Worth, Texas, 1 July 1954. (University of North Texas Libraries)
1 July 1954: The final Convair B-36 Peacemaker, B-36J-10-CF 53-2827, a Featherweight III variant, completed assembly at Convair Division of General Dynamics plant at Fort Worth, Texas. The last B-36 built, this was also the very last of the ten-engine very long range heavy bombers in service. It was retired 12 February 1959, and is now in the collection of the Pima Air and Space Museum, Tucson, Arizona.
Convair B-36J 52-2827 is one of 14 Featherweight III high altitude variants. It was built without the six retractable defensive gun turrets of the standard B-36, retaining only the two 20 mm autocannons in the tail. This reduced the crew requirement to 13. The bomber is 162.1 feet (49.4 meters) long with a wingspan of 230.0 feet (70.1 meters) and overall height of 46.8 feet (14.3 meters). The wings had 2° dihedral, an angle of incidence of 3° and -2° twist. The wings’ leading edges were swept aft to 15° 5′. The airplane’s total wing area was 4,772 square feet (443.33 square meters). The B-36J III has an empty weight of 166,165 pounds (75,371 kilograms) and its maximum takeoff weight is 410,000 pounds (185,973 kilograms).
The B-36J has ten engines. There are six air-cooled, turbosupercharged 4,362.494 cubic-inch-displacement (71.488 liter) Pratt & Whitney Wasp Major C6 (R-4360-53) four-row, 28-cylinder radial engines placed inside the wings in a pusher configuration. These had a compression ratio of 6.7:1 and required 115/145 aviation gasoline. The engines incorporated an internal single-stage supercharger, but were also each equipped with two General Electric BH-1 turbosuperchargers. The R-4360-53 had a Normal (continuous power) rating of 2,800 horsepower at 2,600 r.p.m., and Military Power rating of 3,500 horsepower at 2,800 r.p.m., with a 30 minute limit. Its maximum rating was 3,800 horsepower at 2,800 r.p.m. with water/alcohol injection for takeoff, with a 5 minute limit. The engines turned three-bladed Curtiss Electric constant-speed, reversible pitch propellers with a diameter of 19 feet, 0 inches (5.791 meters) through a 0.375:1 gear reduction. The R-4360-53 is 9 feet, 9.00 inches (2.972 meters) long, 4 feet, 7.00 inches (1.397 meters) in diameter, and weighs 4,040 pounds (1,832.5 kilograms).
Four General Electric J47-GE-19 turbojet engines are suspended under the wings outboard of the radial engines in two-engine pods. The J47 is a single-shaft axial-flow turbojet engine with a 12-stage compressor section, 8 combustion chambers, and single-stage turbine. The J47-GE-19 was modified to run on gasoline. It had a continuous power rating of 4,730 pounds of thrust (21.040 kilonewtons) at 7,630 r.p.m., and Military Power rating 5,200 pounds of thrust (23.131 kilonewtons) at 7,950 r.p.m., 30 minute limit (5 minutes for takeoff). The J47-GE 19 was 3 feet, 3 inches (0.991 meters) in diameter, 12 feet, 4 inches (3.658 meters) long, and weighed 2,495 pounds (1,132 kilograms).
Convair B-36J-10-CF 52-2827 at the Pima Air and Space Museum, Tucson, Arizona. (B-36 Peacemaker Museum)
The B-36J Featherweight III had a cruise speed of 202 knots (232 miles per hour/374 kilometers per hour) and a maximum speed of 375 knots (432 miles per hour (695 kilometers per hour) at 38,000 feet (11,582 meters). The service ceiling was 43,700 feet (13,320 meters). It had a combat radius of 3,465 nautical miles (3,987 statute miles/6,417 kilometers) with a 10,000 pound (4,536 kilogram) bomb load. The maximum ferry range was 8,200 nautical miles (9,436 statute miles/15,186 kilometers).
The B-36J III had a maximum bomb load of 72,000 pounds (32,659 kilograms), carried in four bomb bays. The bomb bay capacity was limited by the physical size of each type weapon, rather than its weight. This ranged from as many as 132 500-pound bombs, 28 2,000-pound bombs, or 4 12,000-pound bombs. It could carry a single 43,600 pound (19,777 kilogram) T-12 Cloudmaker, a conventional explosive earth-penetrating bomb, or several nuclear fission or thermonuclear fusion bombs. By combining the bomb bays, one 41,400 pound (18,779 kilogram) Mk.17 15-megaton thermonuclear bomb could be carried.
Los Alamos Scientific Laboaratory-designed Mk.17 two-stage radiation implosion thermonuclear bomb.
For defense, the B-36J Featherweight III two M24A1 20 mm autocannons in a remotely operated tail turret, with 600 rounds of ammunition per gun.
Between 1946 and 1954, 384 B-36 Peacemakers were built. They were never used in combat. Only five still exist.
Convair B-36J-10-CF Peacemaker, 52-2827, the last B-36 built. (U.S. Air Force)
The “Silverplate” Martin B-29-40-MO Superfortress, 44-27354, “Dave’s Dream,” during Operation Crossroads, 1946. (U.S. Air Force)
1 July 1946: Operation Crossroads, Test Able. At 9:00:34 a.m., local time, a Mk 3A atomic bomb, code named “Gilda,” dropped from a Martin-built B-29 Superfortress, Dave’s Dream, flying at 28,000 feet (8,534 meters),¹ detonated over an array of warships moored at the eastern end of the the Bikini Atoll lagoon in the Marshall Islands. This was the fourth explosion of an atomic weapon.
A major purpose of Test Able was to evaluate the effects of an atomic bomb used against a fleet of warships. 93 ships ² had been moored in the lagoon as test subjects. The bomber’s target was the U.S. Navy battleship, USS Nevada (BB-36). Nevada had been painted orange to aid the bombardier in identifying it. The bomb fell 980 feet (299 meters) short and 1,870 feet (570 meters) to the left of the target. It detonated at an altitude of 580 feet (177 meters). It is suspected that a damaged fin may have caused the bomb to miss its target, though an investigation of the bomber’s crew was conducted.
Gilda had been loaded aboard Dave’s Dream at Kwajalein, at about midnight. The bomber took off from the airfield there at 5:55 a.m., 1 July, and headed toward Bikini.
Ex-USS Nevada (BB-36) was the target for the bomb in Test Able.
Gilda was a 10,213-pound (4,632 kilogram) “Fat Man”-type atomic bomb, designated Mk 3A. The egg-shaped weapon contained a 6.2 kilogram (14 pound) sphere of Plutonium Pu 239, surrounded by a high-explosive charge. The explosives were formed in “lenses” that would direct the force inward in a very precise manner. The purpose was to compress—or implode— the Plutonium to a much greater density, resulting in a “critical mass.” When this critical mass is attained, a fission chain reaction results, releasing a tremendous amount of energy. The Mk 3A was the same type weapon used against Nagasaki, Japan, 9 August 1945.
“Gilda,” the Bomb, Mk 3A, that was dropped by Dave’s Dream, 1 July 1946. (Los Alamos National Laboratory)
The yield of the Test Able detonation was 23 kilotons. Five ships were sunk, and fourteen, including Nevada, suffered serious damage. Analysis of test results estimated that if the battleship had been manned, its entire crew would have suffered a lethal dose of radiation.
Fireball of Test Able, 1 July 1946. (Library of Congress, LC-DIG-ds-02945)The shock wave of the Test Able nuclear explosion can be seen on the surface of Bikini lagoon, underneath the condensation ring.Test Able mushroom cloud climbing over Bikini Atoll.Operation Crossroads, Test Able, 1 July 1946.
Dave’s Dream was a Martin-Omaha-built B-29-40-MO Superfortress, serial number 44-27354. It was a specially modified “Silverplate” B-29, given the designation Victor 90. It had been the camera ship on the mission against Nagasaki, Japan, 9 August 1945. Following that mission, its wartime crew had named it Big Stink.
The crew of Dave’s Dream preparing for a flight.
For Test Able, Dave’s Dream was flown by Major Woodrow Paul Swancutt, U.S. Army Air Forces. The co-pilot was Captain William C. Harrison, Jr. The bombardier was Major Harold H. Wood, and radar operator, Captain Paul Chenchar, Jr. 1st Lieutenant Robert M. Glenn served as flight engineer. The radio operator was Technical Sergeant Jack Cothran, and Corporals Herbert Lyons and Roland M. Medlin were scanners.
The Silverplate B-29s differed from the standard production bombers in many ways. They were approximately 6,000 pounds (2,722 kilograms) lighter. The bomber carried no armor. Additional fuel tanks were installed in the rear bomb bay. The bomb bay doors were operated by quick-acting pneumatic systems. The bomb release mechanism in the forward bomb bay was replaced by a single-point release as was used in special British Lancaster bombers. A weaponeer’s control station was added to the cockpit to monitor the special bomb systems.
The Silverplate B-29s were powered by four air-cooled, supercharged, 3,347.662-cubic-inch-displacement (54.858 liter) Wright Aeronautical Division R-3350-41 (Cyclone 18 787C18BA3) two-row 18-cylinder radial engines with direct fuel injection. The R-3350-41 had a compression ratio of 6.85:1 and required 100/130 aviation gasoline. It was rated at 2,000 horsepower at 2,400 r.p.m. at Sea Level, and 2,200 horsepower at 2,800 r.p.m, for take-off. The engines drove four-bladed Curtiss Electric reversible-pitch propellers with a diameter of 16 feet, 8 inches (5.080 meters), through a 0.35:1 gear reduction. The R-3350-41 was 6 feet, 2.26 inches (1.937 meters) long, 4 feet, 7.78 inches (1.417 meters) in diameter and weighed 2,725 pounds (1,236 kilograms).
With the exception of the tail gunner’s position, all defensive armament—four powered remotely operated gun turrets with ten .50-caliber machine guns—were deleted. Their remote sighting positions were also removed. The Silverplate B-29s carried 1,000 rounds of ammunition for each of the two remaining Browning AN-M2 .50-caliber machine guns in the tail.
With these changes, the Silverplate B-29s could fly higher and faster than a standard B-29, and the fuel-injected R-3350-41 engines were more reliable. They had a cruising speed of 220 miles per hour (354 kilometers per hour) and a maximum speed of 365 miles per hour (587 kilometers per hour). The service ceiling was 31,850 feet (9,708 meters) and its combat radius was 2,900 miles (4,667 kilometers).
¹ OPERATION CROSSROADS 1946, DNA 6032F, Final Report, Defense Nuclear Agency, Washington, D.C., Page 87
² OPERATION CROSSROADS 1946, DNA 6032F, Final Report, Defense Nuclear Agency, Washington, D.C.Page 84
Full Disclosure: TDiA’s father, Ensign Bart R. Swopes, SC, USN, was present at Bikini Atoll during Operation Crossroads, aboard the aircraft carrier USS Shangri-la (CV-38).
Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan with Mr. Jacobs, at Lae, Territory of New Guinea. (Wichita Eagle)
1 July 1937: Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan are delayed another day at Lae, Territory of New Guniea.
“July 1st. ‘Denmark’s a prison,’ and Lae, attractive and unusual as it is, appears to two flyers just as confining, as the Electra is poised for our longest hop, the 2,556 miles to Howland Island in mid-Pacific. The monoplane is weighted with gasoline and oil to capacity. However, a wind blowing the wrong way and threatening clouds conspired to keep her on the ground today. In addition, Fred Noonan has been unable, because of radio difficulties, to set his chronometers. Any lack of knowledge of their fastness and slowness would defeat the accuracy of celestial navigation. Howland is such a small spot in the Pacific that every aid to locating it must be available. Fred and I have worked very hard in the last two days repacking the plane and eliminating everything unessential. We have even discarded as much personal property as we can decently get along without and henceforth propose to travel lighter than ever before. All Fred has is a small tin case which he picked up in Africa. I noted it still rattles, so it cannot be packed very full. Despite our restlessness and disappointment in not getting off this morning, we still retained enough enthusiasm to do some tame exploring of the near-by country.”
1 July 2015: Bell Helicopter’s new medium transport helicopter, the Model 525 Relentless, N525TA, made its first flight at Bell’s assembly plant in Amarillo, Texas. Test pilots Troy Caudill and Jeff Greenwood were in the cockpit.
