Lieutenant Jack W. Mathis, Air Corps, United States Army. (American Air Museum in Britain UPL-22691)
MEDAL OF HONOR
FIRST LIEUTENANT JACK WARREN MATHIS
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, U.S. Army Air Corps, 359th Bomb Squadron, 303d Bomb Group.
Place and date: Over Vegesack, Germany, March 18, 1943.
Entered service at: San Angelo, Tex. Born: September 25, 1921, San Angelo, Tex.
G.O. No.: 38, July 12, 1943.
Citation:
The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pride in presenting the Medal of Honor (Posthumously) to First Lieutenant (Air Corps) Jack Warren Mathis (ASN: 0-727110), United States Army Air Forces, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action with the enemy over Vegesack, Germany, on 18 March 1943, while serving with the 359th Bombardment Squadron, 303d Bombardment Group (H), Eighth Air Force. First Lieutenant Mathis, as leading bombardier of his squadron, flying through intense and accurate anti-aircraft fire, was just starting his bomb run, upon which the entire squadron depended for accurate bombing, when he was hit by the enemy anti-aircraft fire. His right arm was shattered above the elbow, a large wound was torn in his side and abdomen, and he was knocked from his bomb sight to the rear of the bombardier’s compartment. Realizing that the success of the mission depended upon him, First Lieutenant Mathis, by sheer determination and willpower, though mortally wounded, dragged himself back to his sights, released his bombs, then died at his post of duty. As the result of this action the airplanes of his bombardment squadron placed their bombs directly upon the assigned target for a perfect attack against the enemy. First Lieutenant Mathis’ undaunted bravery has been a great inspiration to the officers and men of his unit.
The Medal of Honor and Purple Heart awarded to 1st. Lt. Jack W. Mathis are displayed at the National Museum of the United States Air Force.
Jack Warren Mathis was born 10:30 p.m., 25 September 1921, at San Angelo, Texas. He was the second of three children of Rhude Mark Mathis, a salesman, and Avis Cannon Mathis.
Mathis enlisted as a private in the United States Army, 12 June 1940, at Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, Texas, and was assigned to the 1st Field Artillery at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. After six months service, he was transferred to the Air Corps as an aviation cadet and sent to Goodfellow Field, southeast of his hometown of San Angelo. He trained as a bombardier, as did his older brother, Rhude Mark Mathis, Jr.
Jack Mathis was commissioned as a second lieutenant on 4 July 1942. He deployed to Europe in September 1942. Mathis was promoted to first lieutenant in January 1943.
Capt. Harold L. Stouse’s combat crew, June 1942. 2nd Lt. Jack W. Mathis is in the back row, far right. (U.S. Air Force)
Lieutenant Mathis was assigned to the combat crew of a Boeing B-17F-25-BO Flying Fortress, 41-24561, of the 359th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 303d Bombardment Group (Heavy) at RAF Molesworth. The ship, named The Duchess, was under the command of Captain Harold L. Stouse. It carried fuselage identification markings BN T.
Boeing B-17F-25-BO Flying Fortress 41-24561, The Duchess. Left to right, lower, Sgt. Clyde L. Dewald and Sgt James C. Hicks. Upper, Cpl. Charles H. Stoner. (Roger Freeman Collection, American Air Museum in Britain FRE4205)
Because of the severe effect that German submarines were having against transatlantic merchant convoys, U-boat pens and construction yards were a high-priority target for bombers of the 8th Air Force.
On 18 March 1943, the 8th launched Mission No. 24 against the Bremer-Vulkan-Vegesacker Werft submarine construction yard on the River Weser at Bremen-Vegesack, Germany. The attack force consisted of 76 B-17s and 27 B-24 Liberators. Each bomber was loaded with six 1,000 pound (454 kilogram) M44 high-explosive bombs. The plan called for bombers to drop from 24,000 feet (7,315 meters). Each squadron would release their bombs simultaneously.
Mission No. 24 was Jack Mathis’ fourteenth combat mission. He was the lead bombardier of the 359th, the second element of seven B-17s of the 303d Group. The bombardier controlled the heading of the B-17 through adjustments to his Norden bomb sight. The squadron’s bombing accuracy was dependent on the skill of the lead bombardier.
The B-17F at the bottom of the image is The Duchess, 41-24561. (Roger Freeman Collection, American Air Museum in Britain, FRE 4264)
As the American bombers approached the target, Mathis took careful aim at the target 24,000 feet below and opened the bomb bay doors. With his eye pressed to the Norden bombsight, Mathis was less than one minute away from releasing his bombs when an antiaircraft shell exploded near the right nose of his B-17, named The Duchess. Fragments from the shell shattered the Plexiglas nose, nearly severed his right arm above the elbow, and caused deep wounds in his side and abdomen. The concussion threw him to the rear of the nose section. Nevertheless, Mathis went back to his bombsight and accurately dropped his bombs before collapsing dead over his bombsight.
—Excerpted from A Test of Courage: 1st Lt. Jack W. Mathis, an article from the National Museum of the United States Air Force, 1 May 2015
Reconnaissance photographs later revealed that seven enemy submarines and two-thirds of the shipyard had been destroyed in the attack. For his extraordinary effort, 1st Lt. Jack W. Mathis posthumously received the Medal of Honor, the first awarded to an 8th Air Force Airman.
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombers leave contrails at high altitude. (United States Air Force)
Jack Mathis’ older brother, Lieutenant Rhude Mark Mathis, Jr., was at RAF Molesworth awaiting his brother’s return from the mission. He was present when The Duchess landed. Mark Mathis requested a transfer to the Captain Stouse’s crew with 359th to take his brother’s place. Tragically, on his fourth mission, he, too, was killed.
First Lieutenant Jack Warren Mathis was buried at Fairmount Cemetery, San Angelo, Texas. His brother, First Lieutenant Rhude Mark Mathis, Jr., is buried at the Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial, Margraten, Netherlands.
Mathis Field (San Angelo Regional Airport, or SJT) was named after the two Mathis brothers.
Lieutenant Jack W. Mathis’ Medal of Honor is displayed at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.
The Duchess survived 59 combat missions. It was returned to the United States after the war in Europe came to an end. The bomber was scrapped in August 1945.
Boeing Model 307 Stratoliner NX19901 taking of at Boeing Field, Seattle, Washington. (San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives)
18 March 1939: At 12:57 p.m., Pacific Standard Time (19:47 G.M.T.), the Boeing Model S-307 Stratoliner, NX19901, took off from Boeing Field, Seattle, Washington, on Test Flight No. 19. Julius Augustus Barr was the pilot in command.
The S-307, Boeing serial number 1994, was a prototype four-engine, pressurized commercial airliner. It had first flown on 31 December 1938, with Boeing’s Chief of Flight Test, Edmund Turney (“Eddie”) Allen, as first pilot (the Pilot in Command), and Julius Barr as his copilot. Allen had flown the first eighteen flights. “The performance of aircraft NX 19901 on flights prior to Test Flight No. 19 had either met or exceeded the manufacturer’s estimates.”
Julius Barr was employed by Boeing as a test pilot, 16 November 1938. Following Flight Test No. 15, Allen approved Barr to act as first pilot on the Model 307. He first served as the pilot in command of NX19901 on 21 January 1939. This was a taxi test, with the Stratoliner never leaving the ground. Barr first flew the airplane nearly two months later, 16 March 1939, with copilot Earl Alvin Ferguson. Barr made two more flights on 17 March. Harlan Hull, Chief Pilot of Transcontinental and Western Air, Inc., flew as copilot.
At takeoff on 18 March 1939, Barr had only 2 hours, 6 minutes as pilot in command of the Boeing 307; and 17 hours, 55 minutes as second in command. He had flown as an observer aboard NX19901 for 1 hour, 52 minutes.
There were ten persons on board the Stratoliner for Test Flight No. 19. In addition to Julius Barr as P.I.C., the designated copilot was Earl Ferguson. There were two alternate copilots, Harlan Hull and Benjamin J. Pearson, an assistant sales manager for Boeing. Ralph LaVenture Cram was first aerodynamcist, assisted by John Kylstra. William C. Doyle served as oscillograph operator, and Harry T. West, Jr., was the engineering officer. These were all Boeing employees. Pieter Guillonard, technical director of Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V. (KLM Royal Dutch Airlines), acted as recorder and photographer, while Albert Gillis von Baumhauer, an engineer with the Luchtvaartdienst (the Dutch Aviation Authority), acted as an assistant aerodynamicist.
Albert G. von Baumhauer
Specialized test equipment had been installed at the copilot’s position. For this reason, Von Baumhauer, rather than the designated copilot, Ferguson, was in the copilot’s seat during this test flight. (Von Baumgartner held a Dutch private pilot certificate, issued 28 November 1931. Since that time, he had flown only 116 hours, and had no experience flying multi-engine aircraft. He was not qualified to act as copilot.)
Guillonard and Von Baumhauer had recommended a series of tests to be conducted on Test Flight No. 19, including observing the airplane’s behavior following an engine cut on takeoff with no rudder input; a series of side slips and stall tests. Von Baumhauer had emphasized “complete stalls” rather than initiating recovery when stall was detected.
After takeoff, NX19901 climbed to 10,000 feet (3,048 meters) and at 140 miles per hour (225 kilometers per hour) a series of static longitudinal stability tests were performed. According to the test flight plan, side slips were to be investigated next.
Boeing 307 Stratoliner NX19901 with both propellers on right wing feathered. Note the rudder deflection. (Boeing)
At 1:12 P.M. (PST) a radio message was transmitted from NX 19901 to the Boeing Aircraft Company radio station located at Seattle, Washington, which message gave the position of the aircraft as being between Tacoma Washington and Mount Rainier at an altitude of 11,000 feet. Some two or three minutes later, while flying at a comparatively slow rate of speed in the vicinity of Alder, Washington, the aircraft stalled and began to spin in a nose down attitude. After completing two or three turns in the spin, during which power was applied, it recovered from the spin and began to dive. The aircraft partially recovered from the dive at an altitude of approximately 3,000 feet above sea level, during which recovery it began to disintegrate. Outboard sections of the left and right wings failed upward and broke entirely loose from the aircraft. Major portions of the vertical fin and portions of the rudder were carried away by wing wreckage. The outboard section of the left elevator separated from the stabilizer and both fell to the ground detached. The right horizontal tail surface, being held on by the fairing long the top surface and also by the elevator trim tab cables, remained with the fuselage. The No. 1 engine nacelle also broke loose from the aircraft and fell to the ground separately. The main body of the aircraft settled vertically and struck the ground in an almost level attitude both longitudinally and laterally at a point approximately 1,200 feet above sea level. Watches and clocks aboard the aircraft, which were broken by the force of the impact, indicated the time of the accident at approximately 1:17 p.m. (PST).
—AIR SAFETY BOARD REPORT, at Pages 34–35.
Diagram of probable flight path of NX19901 from Air Safety Board report.
All ten persons aboard were killed in the crash. The Stratoliner was destroyed. Because of the water ballast in the main fuel tanks, there was no post crash fire.
Wreckage of Boeing Model 307 Stratoliner NX19901, right rear quarter.Wreckage of Boeing Model 307 Stratoliner NX19901, right front quarter.Wreckage of Boeing Model 307 Stratoliner NX19901 near Alder, WashingtonWreckage of Boeing Model 307 Stratoliner NX19901 near Alder, Washington. (SDASM)Wreckage of Boeing Model 307 Stratoliner NX19901, left front quarter.
During the crash investigation it was found that two B-17s had previously been spun. The first,
. . . while flying with a gross load of about 42,000 pounds at an altitude of 14,000 feet, went into an inadvertent spin and made two complete turns before recovery was effected. During the pull-out from the ensuing dive, permanent distortion occurred in the structure of both wings, necessitating the installation of new wings on the aircraft.
In the second of these experiences, a similar ship was intentionally permitted to enter a spin following a complete stall. The controls were immediately reversed and the aircraft responded promptly, enabling the pilot to effect recovery after three-fourths of a turn in—
Evidence indicated that power was used in recovery from the spin in the case of NX 19901. It should be noted that in the two instances above described recovery from spin in similar aircraft was accomplished without the employment of power. In one of these cases, permanent distortion occurred in both wings.
—AIR SAFETY BOARD REPORT, at Pages 48 and 49.
Diagram of wing failure under load. (Air Safety Board Report)
PROBABLE CAUSE
Structural failure of the wings and horizontal tail surfaces due to the imposition of loads thereon in excess of those for which they were designed, the failure occurring in an abrupt pull-out from a dive following recovery from an inadvertent spin.
—AIR SAFETY BOARD REPORT, at Page 56
Crash site diagram. (Air Safety Board Report)Boeing Model 307 Stratoliner NX19901. The engine cowlings have been removed. The inboard right engine is running. The arrangement of passenger windows differs on the right and left side of the fuselage. (San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives)
The Boeing Model 307 was operated by a crew of five and could carry up to 33 passengers. It was the first pressurized airliner and, because of its complexity, it was also the first airplane to include a flight engineer as a crew member. It could maintain a cabin pressure equivalent to 12,000 feet (3,650 meters) to a pressure altitude of 19,000 feet (5,791 meters).
The Model 307 used the wings, tail surfaces, engines and landing gear of the production B-17B Flying Fortress heavy bomber. The vertical fin and rudder were of the same design as the B-17B’s, though somewhat larger. The fuselage was circular in cross section to allow for pressurization. It was 74 feet, 4 inches (22.657 meters) long with a wingspan of 107 feet, 3 inches (32.690 meters) and overall height of 20 feet, 9½ inches (6.337 meters). The wings had 4½° dihedral and 3½° angle of incidence. The empty weight was 29,900 pounds (13,562.4 kilograms) and loaded weight was 45,000 pounds (20,411.7 kilograms).
The airliner was powered by four air-cooled, geared and supercharged, 1,823.129-cubic-inch-displacement (29.875 liter) Wright Cyclone 9 GR-1820-G102 9-cylinder radial engines with a compression ratio of 6.7:1, rated at 900 horsepower at 2,200 r.p.m., and 1,100 horsepower at 2,200 r.p.m. for takeoff. These drove three-bladed Hamilton-Standard Hydromatic propellers through a 0.6875:1 gear reduction in order to match the engine’s effective power range with the propellers. The GR-1820-G102 was 4 feet, 0.12 inches (1.222 meters) long, 4 feet, 7.10 inches (1.400 meters) in diameter, and weighed 1,275 pounds (578 kilograms).
The maximum speed of the Model 307 was 241 miles per hour (388 kilometers per hour) at 6,000 feet (1,828.8 meters). Cruise speed was 215 miles per hour (346 kilometers per hour) at 10,000 feet (3,048 meters). The service ceiling was 23,300 feet (7,101.8 meters).
Boeing Model 307 Stratoliner NX19901 with all engines running. (San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives)
As a result of the crash of NX19901, production Stratoliners were fitted with a vertical fin similar to that of the B-17E Flying Fortress.
Pan American Airways’ Boeing 307 Stratoliner NC19903, photographed 18 March 1940. Note the new vertical fin. (Boeing)
Julius Augustus Barr was born at Normal, Illinois, 6 December 1905. He was the son of Oren Augustus Barr, a teacher and school superintendent, and Margaret M. Wallace Barr. He grew up in Pittsburg, Kansas. He attended the Kansas State Teachers College at Pittsburg in 1925. He was a member of the Alpha Gamma Tau (ΑΓΤ) fraternity, of which he was the treasurer.
Julius Augustus Barr
Barr enlisted in the Air Corps, United States Army, and was trained as a pilot at Brooks and Kelly Fields, San Antonio, Texas.
On 1 July 1928, Julius Barr married Miss Effie Hortense Roberson at Pittsburg, Kansas. They would have two children, Jo Anne Barr, and Gene Edward Barr.
In 1930, Barr and his family lived in Cheyenne, Wyoming. He flew as an air mail pilot, and was employed by Boeing Air Transport.
During the mid 1930s, the Barr family traveled to China, where he acted as manager of the airport at Hankow, and conducted flight training. He then flew as the personal pilot of Zhang Xueliang (also known as Chang Hseuh-Liang), (“The Young Marshal”). Zhang and another of other communist generals arrested Chiang Kai-Shek in the Xi’an Incident, December 1936. Chiang was released after two weeks, and Zhang placed under house arrest for the remainder of his life. (The others were executed.) Julius Barr then served as the personal pilot for Soong Mei-ling (“Madame Chiang”), and helped General Chang with the air defense of Shanghai during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
Barr and his family departed Hong Kong aboard S.S. Empress of Russia, which arrived at Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, 14 November 1938. He then went to work as a test pilot for Boeing two days later.
Julius Barr had flown a total of approximately 5,000 hours. Of these, 2,030 hours were in single-engine airplanes, 2,240 hours in twin-engine, and 765 hours in 3 engine.
Julius Augustus Barr was buried at the Mount Olive Cemetery, Pittsburg, Kansas.
Amelia Earhart arrives at Wheeler Field, Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, 18 March 1937. The airplane is Lockheed Electra 10E Special NR16020. (Hawaii’s Aviation History)
18 March 1937, 5:40 a.m.: Amelia Earhart and her crew sighted Diamond Head on the island of Oahu, Hawaiian Islands. The Electra landed at Wheeler Army Airfield, Honolulu, after an overnight flight from Oakland, California, completing the first leg of a planned around-the-world flight in 15 hours, 47 minutes.
The airplane was Earhart’s Lockheed Electra 10E Special, registration NR16020. Also aboard were Paul Mantz, Amelia’s friend and adviser, as co-pilot, navigator Captain Frederick Joseph Noonan, formerly of Pan American Airways, and Captain Harry Manning of United States Lines, also a close friend of Amelia’s, acting as radio operator and navigator.
About an hour after takeoff from Oakland, California, the Electra overtook the Pan American Airways Hawaii Clipper, which had departed San Francisco Bay an hour-and-a-half before Earhart. She took photographs of the Martin M-130 flying boat.
In her log, Amelia Earhart described the sunset over the Pacific Ocean:
“. . . golden edged clouds ahead, then the golden nothingness of sunset beyond. . . The aft cabin is lighted with a weird green blue light, Our instruments show pink. The sky rose yellow. . . Night has come. The sea is lovely. Venus is setting ahead to the right. The moon is a life-saver. It gives us a horizon to fly by. . . .”
— Amelia: The Centennial Biography of an Aviation Pioneer, by Donald M. Goldstein and Katherine V. Dillon, Brassey’s, Washington and London, 1997, Chapter 18 at Page 171.
On arrival at Hawaii, Earhart, saying that she was very tired, asked Paul Mantz to make the landing at Wheeler Field.
Amelia Earhart, with flower leis, on her arrival at Wheeler Field, Oahu, Territory of Hawaii, 18 March 1937. (Hawaii’s Aviation History)
Major Robert Michael White, United States Air Force, with a North American Aviation, Inc., X-15 hypersonic research rocketplane, at Edwards Air Force Base, California, 19 November 1959. (Arnold Newman)
Robert Michael White was born 6 July 1924, in Manhattan, New York City. He was the first of two sons of Michael Augustus White, a baker, and Helen (Karoline) Butz White, an immigrant from Austria. He attended a vocational high school in The Bronx where he studied to be an electrician. After school and on weekends, White worked as a telegram messenger for Western Union.
White enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces as an Aviation Cadet in November 1942. When he completed flight training in February 1944, White was commissioned as a second lieutenant. He had been trained as a fighter pilot and was sent to England to join the 354th Fighter Squadron, 355th Fighter Group, at RAF Steeple Morden in Hertfordshire. He first entered combat during July 1944 flying the North American Aviation P-51 Mustang.
In this photograph, Lieutenant Robert M. White is on the right, with Lieutenant F. Mark Johnson (left) and Major Lee G. Mendenhall (center), all of the 354th Fighter Squadron, 355th Fighter Group. Lieutenant Johnson’s fighter, “Sweet Dosey II,” is a North American Aviation P-51D-10-NA Mustang, 44-14089. (Little Friends)North American Aviation P-51B/C Mustangs of the 354th Fighter Squadron. Lieutenant White’s fighter was coded WR-V. (U.S. Air Force)
On his 52nd combat mission, 23 February 1945, White, call sign “Falcon Green One,” was strafing Neuberg Airfield in Germany, when his North American Aviation P-51C-10-NT Mustang 42-103795, WR-V, Dutchess of Manhattan, was hit by ground fire. Too low to bail out, he crash landed in a forest clearing near Boehnfeld. (MACR 12398)
MACR 12398, statement of Falcon Green Two.
White was captured and held as a prisoner of war. He was moved around to various POW camps in Germany before being taken to Stalag III-D in Berlin. A railroad train on which he was being moved was strafed by American P-51 fighters. Many passengers were wounded or killed, but White was unhurt. As the Allies advanced, this camp was evacuated and the prisoners were marched 110 miles (177 kilometers) to Stalag VII-A in southern Bavaria. Stalag VII-A was the largest POW camp in Germany, with more than 130,000 Allied prisoners.
“Aerial view of German prison of war camp Stalag 7A near Moosburg, Bavaria, Germany, where thousands of USAAF prisoners of war were imprisoned along with thousands of allied prisoners of various nationalities. Most AF prisoners arrived here from Stalag Luft III, Sagen Germany about 4th Feb 45. This photo was taken 20 days before the camp was liberated by US ground forces. The German guard garrison was housed in the group of long barrack buildings in the right centre of the photo. Parked in the parade ground are 22 white GI trucks which delivered thousands of red cross food parcels to the hungry POW’s. 9th April 1945.” (American Air Museum in Britain UPL 36313)
Stalag VII-A was liberated by Combat Command A, 14th Armored Division, Seventh Army, on 29 April 1945. White was taken to a relocation center in France, then eventually returned to America aboard a Liberty ship. Lieutenant White was released from active duty at Fort Dix, New Jersey, but retained an officer’s commission in the USAAF Reserve.
While attending New York University (NYU), he made regular currency flights at Mitchel Field, flying a North American Aviation AT-6 Texan.
Identical to the Inglewood, California-built North American Aviation P-51B Mustang, this is a Dallas, Texas-built P-51C-1-NT, 42-103023. (North American Aviation, Inc.)
At 11:00 a.m., on Saturday, 7 February 1948, Bob White married Miss Doris M. Allen at the Holy Name Church in New York City. The bride wore a mink brown satin dress with a matching hat and accessories. Miss Allen had served in the Women’s Army Medical Corps. They would have four children.
Bob White graduated from NYU in May 1951 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering (BSEE).
During the Korean War, White was recalled to active duty, assigned as a pilot and engineering officer, 514th Troop Carrier Wing, Mitchel AFB, New York. In February 1952 he was sent to the 40th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, 35th Tactical Fighter Wing, at Johnson Air Base near Tokyo, Japan, flying F-51 Mustangs. As the unit transitioned to jet fighters, Lieutenant White received 50 hours of training in the Lockheed T-33, and was then assigned to fly F-80 Shooting Stars. He applied for a commission as a regular officer in the U.S. Air Force, which was approved, and he was promoted to the rank of captain. After 18 months overseas, he returned to the United States to attend the Squadron Officer’s School at Maxwell AFB, Alabama. He finished first in his class.
While at Maxwell, Captain White applied to the Test Pilot School at Edwards AFB in California. He was accepted and in June 1954 began 6 months of training at Edwards. On completion of the school, he was assigned to Edwards under Lieutenant Colonel Frank Kendall (“Pete”) Everest, chief of flight test operations. He flew “chase” in the F-86 and F-100, made test flights in the Convair F-102, North American F-86K Sabre, Northrop F-89H Scorpion, the Ryan X-13, and the Republic YF-105A and F-105B Thunderchief.
Republic F-105B-1-RE Thunderchief 54-102. Captain Bob White test flew the YF-105A and F-105B Thunderchief when he was at Edwards AFB. (U.S. Air Force)
When the Air Force’s selection to test the North American Aviation X-15, Captain Iven Kincheloe, was killed, White was assigned to the X-15 hypersonic research program.
The X-15 is dropped from the NB-52 at an altitude of 45,000–50,000 feet, at Mach 0.82. (NASA)
Major White flew 16 flights in the X-15 rocket plane over a 32 month period. He was the third pilot to fly the X-15, and he was the first pilot to exceed Mach 4, Mach 5 and Mach 6. His maximum speed during the program was Mach 6.04 (4,093 miles per hour/6,589 kilometers per hour), 9 November 1961. On 17 July 1962, he flew the X-15 to an altitude of 314,750 feet (95,936 meters). He set a Fédération Aéronautique Internationale world record for altitude gain (aircraft launched from a carrier aircraft), of 82,190 meters (269,652 feet),¹ and qualified as an Air Force astronaut.
A. Scott Crossfield, Major Bob White and NASA test pilot Neil Armstrong, at the X-15-2 delivery ceremony 7 February 1961, NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards AFB,California. (AFFTC/HO/Jet Pilot Overseas)
On 28 November 1961, in a ceremony at The White House, President John F. Kennedy presented Major White with the Harmon Trophy.
President John F. Kennedy presents the 1961 Harmon International Trophy for Aviators to A. Scott Crossfield, Joseph A. Walker, and Major Robert M. White. (L-R) Harrison A. Storms; Thomas Scott Crossfield and Paul Scott Crossfield (sons of A. Scott Crossfield); Joseph V. Charyk, Under Secretary of the Air Force; President Kennedy; Joseph A. Walker; Major Alexander P. de Seversky; Major Robert M. White; Colonel Ansel E. Talbert; Colonel Bernt Balchen; William E. Schramek; unidentified man. Fish Room, White House, Washington, D.C. (The White House)
In 1962, President Kennedy presented him with the Collier Trophy.
Major Robert M. White, May 1962. (TPFLTE)Major Bob White in the cockpit of a North American Aviation X-15 hypersonic research rocketplane. (Fédération Aéronautique Internationale Record File Number 9604-1)Major Robert M. White and the X-15 (U.S. Air Force 071203-F-9999J-130)The Number Three North American Aviation X-15 hypersonic research rocketplane, 56-6672. (Fédération Aéronautique Internationale Record File Number 9604)
Major White was featured on the cover of LIFE Magazine, the most widely read magazine in America, 3 August 1962.
Major Robert M. White, U.S. Air Force, is greeted by his son after his record-setting flight into space. “Boy, that was a ride.” (Lawrence Schiller/LIFE Magazine)
After almost nine years as a test pilot at Edwards, Major White returned to operational duties, first being assigned to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, and then in October 1963, to the 22nd Tactical Fighter Squadron, 36th Tactical Fighter Wing, at Bitburg Air Base, Germany, as operations officer. The squadron was equipped with the F-105, which White had tested at Edwards.
Colonel Robert Michael White, United States Air Force, commanding officer, 53rd Tactical Fighter Squadron, 36th Tactical Fighter Wing, at RAF Northolt, 10 December 1964. (Evening Standard)
After five months at Bitburg, he was given command of the 53rd Tactical Fighter Squadron, which also flew the F-105.
Lieutenant Colonel Robert M. White with a Republic F-105 Thunderchief, Bitburg AB, Germany. (U.S. Air Force)
After his tour in Germany, White returned to the United States, and from August 1965 to 1966, attended the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in Washington, D.C. He also attended George Washington University where he earned a master’s degree in business administration. He was then assigned to the Air Force Systems Command at White-Patterson AFB in Ohio as the chief tactical systems officer in the F-111 Systems Program Office.
In May 1967, Colonel White deployed to Southeast Asia as deputy commander of the 355th Tactical Fighter Wing at Takhli Royal Thai AFB. He flew 70 combat missions in the Republic F-105 Thunderchief.
Colonel Robert M. White, United States Air Force, Deputy Commander for Operations, 355th Tactical Fighter Wing, Takhli RTAFB, 1967, with other Republic F-105 Thunderchief pilots. Colonel White is the third from the left. (U.S. Air Force)
For his actions during an attack against the Paul Doumer Bridge near Hanoi, 11 August 1967, Colonel White was awarded the Air Force Cross.
Doumer Bridge, by Keith Ferris, oil on panel, depicts Col. Robert M. White leading the strike against the Paul Doumer Bridge, 11 August 1967. (United States Air Force art collection)Air Force Cross
The President of the United States of America, authorized by Title 10, Section 8742, United States Code, takes pleasure in presenting the Air Force Cross to Colonel Robert M. White (AFSN: 0-24589A), United States Air Force, for extraordinary heroism in military operations against an opposing armed force as an F-105 Mission Commander and Pilot of the 355th Tactical Fighter Wing, Takhli Royal Thai Air Base, Thailand, in action near Hanoi, North Vietnam, on 11 August 1967. On that date, Colonel White led the entire combat force against a key railroad and highway bridge in the vicinity of Hanoi. In spite of 14 surface-to-air missile launches, MiG interceptor attacks, and intense anti-aircraft artillery fire, he gallantly led the attack. By being the first aircraft to dive through the dark clouds of bursting flak, Colonel White set an example that inspired the remaining attacking force to destroy the bridge without a single aircraft being lost to the hostile gunners. Through his extraordinary heroism, superb airmanship, and aggressiveness in the face of hostile forces, Colonel White reflected the highest credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.
Action Date: 11-Aug-67
Service: Air Force
Rank: Colonel
Company: Deputy Commander for Operations
Regiment: 355th Tactical Fighter Wing
Division: Takhli Royal Thai Air Base, Thailand
The AFC was presented to Colonel White by President Lyndon B. Johnson at a ceremony held at Cam Ranh Bay, December 1967.
In October 1967, Colonel White was assigned as chief, attack division, Directorate of Combat Operations, Seventh Air Force, at Tan San Nhut Air Base.
In June 1968, Colonel White returned to White-Patterson Air Base AFSC, Aero Systems Division, as director of the F-15 systems program.
F-15 Eagles from the 44th Fighter Squadron, Kadena Air Base, Japan, fly over the Pacific Ocean Aug. 9 during Exercise Valiant Shield. During the exercise, Air Force aircraft and personnel will participate in integrated joint training with Navy and Coast Guard forces. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Miranda Moorer)Coloenl Robert M. White, U.S. Air Force, commanding officer, Air Force Flight Test Center, 1970. (U.S. Air Force)
In August 1970, Colonel White returned to Edwards Air Force Base where he took command of the Air Force Flight Test Center.
In October 1971, he attended the U.S. Navy parachute test pilot school. In November 1972, Brigadier General White took command of the Air Force Reserve Officers Training Corps (AFROTC) at Maxwell AFB.
Major General Robert M. White, U.S. Air Force
On 12 February 1975, White was promoted to the rank of major general, with his date of rank retroactive to 1 July 1972. The following month, he took command of the Fourth Allied Tactical Air Force, based at Ramstein Air Base, Germany.
In 1980, Major General White and his wife, Doris, divorced. She returned to the United States.
In December 1980, White married his second wife, Ms. Christa Katherina Kasper (née Christa Katherina Shmenger) (b. 3 Dec. ’42, Pirmasens, Germany. Daughter: Judith Kasper)
In 1981, Major General White retired from the U.S. Air Force after 39 years of service. During his military career, he had been awarded the Air Force Cross, the Distinguished Service medal with oak leaf cluster (two awards); the Silver Star with three oak leaf clusters (four awards); the Legion of Merit with four oak leaf clusters (five awards); the Bronze Star; and the Air Medal with sixteen oak leaf clusters (seventeen awards). He wore the wings of a command pilot astronaut.
He had also been awarded the Harmon and Collier Trophies, and the NASA Distinguished Service Medal.
At Edwards Air Force Base, a street is named Bob White Drive in his honor.
In 2006, White was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame.
Mrs. Christa White died 9 January 2007.
Major Robert M. White, U.S. Air Force, with a North American Aviation X-15 on Rogers Dry Lake, 7 Feb 1961. (NASA) Flight 33. Mach 3.50, 78,150′, last XLR-11 flight. major White is wearing a David Clark Company MC-2 full-pressure suit with an MA-3 helmet.28 Nov 1961 JFKWHP-KN-C1957018 July 1962 JFKWHP-AR7365-D18 July 1962 JFKWHP-AR7365-DNASM-SI-92-13598
Major General Robert Michael White, United States Air Force (Retired), died at 11:55p.m., 17 March 2010 at an assisted living facility in Orlando, Florida. His remains were interred at the Arlington National Cemetery.
Tom Wolfe, author of The Right Stuff, described General White as “the eternally correct and reserved Air Force blue suiter.” In The Right Stuff he wrote:
“He didn’t drink. He exercised like a college athlete in training. He was an usher in the Roman Catholic chapel of the base and never, but never, missed Mass. He was slender, black-haired, handsome, intelligent—even cultivated, if the truth were known. And he was terribly serious.”
“White had not unbent as much as one inch for the occasion. You could see them straining to manufacture on of those ‘personality profiles’ about White, and all he would give them was the Blue Suit and a straight arrow. That was Bob White.”
RMW Arlington (Anne Cady)
Recommended: Higher and Faster: Memoir of a Pioneering Air Force Test Pilot, by Robert M. White and Jack L. Summers. McFarland & Company, Inc., Jefferson, North Carolina, 2010
17 March 1969: First flight, Société nationale des constructions aéronautiques du Sud-Est test pilot Roland Coffignot and flight engineer Gérard Boutin made the first flight of the prototype SA 315A Lama, serial number 315-001. The new helicopter combined the airframe of the SNCASE Alouette II with the drive train and rotors of the Alouette III.
The helicopter was built to meet the specific needs of the Indian Air Force for operations in the Himalayan Mountains. It was required to take off and land at an altitude of 6,000 meters (19,685 feet) while carrying a pilot, one passenger and 200 kilograms (441 pounds) of cargo. The SA 315A was able to exceed this, landing and taking off in the Karakoram Mountains at 6,858 meters (22,500 feet).
315-001 was later upgraded to the SA 315 B configuration. It was registered F-BPXS. On 19 June 1972, Aérospatiale Chief Test Pilot Jean Boulet with Gérard Boutin set a Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) World Record for Altitude Without Payload at 10,836 meters (35,551 feet).¹ Three days later, 21 June, Boulet set another three World Records by flying 315-001 to an altitude of 12,442 meters (40,820 feet).²
SNCASE SA 315 B 001. (Airbus Helicopters)
The SA 315 B Lama is a 5-place light helicopter powered by a turboshaft engine. It is operated by a single pilot. The fuselage is 10.236 meters (33 feet, 7.0 inches) long. With rotors turning, the helicopter has an overall length of 12.919 meters (42 feet, 4.6 inches) and height of 3.090 meters (10 feet, 1.7 inches). The SA 315 B has an empty weight of 1,021 kilograms (2,251 pounds) and a maximum gross weight of 1,950 kilograms (4,300 pounds). With an external load carried on its cargo hook, the allowable maximum gross weight is 2,300 kilograms (5,070 pounds).
Aérospatiale SA 315 B Lama three-view illustration with dimensions. (Aérospatiale Hélicoptères)
The three-bladed, fully-articulated main rotor has a diameter of 11.020 meters (36 feet, 1.9 inches). It turns clockwise, as seen from above. (The advancing blade is on the left side of the helicopter.) Normal main rotor speed, NR, is 350–360 r.p.m. The range in autorotation ins 270–420 r.p.m. The three-bladed anti-torque tail rotor is mounted on the left side of the tail boom in pusher configuration. It is 1.912 meters (6 feet, 3.3 inches) in diameter and turns clockwise, as seen from the helicopter’s left side. (The advancing blade is below the axis of rotation.) It turns at 2,020 r.p.m.
Aérospatiale SA 315 B Lama F-BPXS, s/n 315-001, lifting an external load on its cargo hook, 1980. (Kenneth Swartz)
The Lama was initially powered by a Societé Anonyme Turboméca Artouste III B (later aircraft, Artouste III B1) turboshaft engine. This is a single-shaft engine with a single-stage axial-flow, single-stage centrifugal flow, compressor section and a three-stage turbine. The engine turns 33,500 r.p.m. and the output drive shaft turns 5,773 r.p.m. The Artouste III B1 produces a maximum 870 horsepower, but is derated to 570 horsepower for installation in the Lama. The engine is 1.815 meters (5 feet, 11.5 inches) long, 0.667 meters (2 feet, 2.3 inches) high and 0.520 meters (1 foot, 8.5 inches) wide. It weighs 178 kilograms (392 pounds).
The helicopter has a cruise speed 98 knots (113 miles per hour/181 kilometers per hour) and a maximum speed (VNE) of 113 knots (130 miles per hour/209 kilometers per hour) at Sea Level. Sideward or rearward flight (or operations in crosswinds or tailwinds) are restricted to 18 knots. The maximum operating altitude is 7,000 meters (22,966 feet). At 1,950 kilograms (4,299 pounds), the Lama has a hover ceiling in ground effect (HIGE) of 5,050 meters (16,568 feet), and out of ground effect (HOGE), 4,600 meters (15,092 feet).
Société nationale des constructions aéronautiques du Sud-Est became Societe nationale industrielle aérospatiale (SNIAS) in 1970. The company produced the SA 315 B Lama beginning in 1971. It was also built under license by Hindustan Aeronautics in India and Helibras in Brazil.
The total number of SA 315 Bs and its variants built is uncertain. In 2010, Eurocopter, the successor to Aérospatiale, announced that it will withdraw the Lama’s Type Certificate in 2020.
