The two Astronauts had been on the surface of the Moon for 3 days, 2 hours, 59 minutes, 40 seconds. During that time they made three excursions outside the lunar lander, totaling 22 hours, 3 minutes 57 seconds.
Apollo 17 was the last manned mission to the Moon in the Twentieth Century. Gene Cernan was the last man to stand on the surface of the Moon.
© 2016, Bryan R. Swopes
Flying a slightly modified Lockheed F-104C-5-LO Starfighter, 56-885, (the aft fuselage had been replaced by one from a two-place F-104B, which had larger tail surfaces), Jordan released the brakes at Edwards Air Force Base, and 15 minutes, 4.92 seconds later he reached 30,000 meters (98,425 feet) establishing an Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) world record for time-to-altitude.² The Starfighter continued the zoom climb profile, peaking at 103,389 feet (31,513 meters) ³ and going over the top at 455 knots (843 kilometers per hour). While accelerating for the zoom maneuver, Jordan’s F-104 reached Mach 2.36.
Fédération Aéronautique Internationale rules required that a new record must exceed the previous record by 3%. The Starfighter beat the Phantom II’s peak altitude by 4.95%. Captain Jordan was credited for his very precise flying and energy efficiency. For this flight, Captain Jordan was awarded the Harmon International Trophy, which was presented to him by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Joe Bailey Jordan was born at Huntsville, Texas, 12 June 1929, the son of James Broughtan Jordan, a track foreman, and Mattie Lee Simms Jordan. Jordan graduated from Sweeney High School in 1946, then studied at the University of Houston. He entered the United States Air Force in 1949, trained as a pilot and received his pilot’s wings 15 September 1950. He flew more than 100 missions during the Korean War, and received two Distinguished Flying Crosses and two Air Medals. He then served as a flight instructor at Laredo Air Force Base, Laredo, Texas. In 1961 he was stationed at Bitburg Air Base in Germany. Jordan was a graduate of both the Air Force Test Pilot School and the Air Force Fighter Weapons School. He became a project test pilot on the F-104 in 1956.
Jordan married Dolores Ann Craig of Spokane, Washington, 8 February 1958, at Santa Monica, California. They had two children, Carrie and Ken.
Colonel Jordan was the first Western pilot to fly the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 interceptor and his evaluations allowed U.S. pilots to exploit the MiG’s weaknesses during the Vietnam War.
While testing General Dynamics F-111A 65-5701, Jordan and his co-pilot were forced to eject in the fighter’s escape capsule when the aircraft caught fire during a gunnery exercise at Edwards AFB, 2 January 1968. His back was injured in the ejection.
After Jordan retired from the Air Force in 1972, he became an engineering test pilot for the Northrop Corporation’s YF-17 flight test program.
Lieutenant Colonel Joe Bailey Jordan died at Oceanside, California, 22 April 1990, at the age of 60 years. His ashes were spread at Edwards Air Force Base. Jordan Street on the air base is named in his honor.
The F-104C was powered by a single General Electric J79-GE-7 engine, a single-spool axial-flow afterburning turbojet, which used a 17-stage compressor and 3-stage turbine. The J79-GE-7 is rated at 10,000 pounds of thrust (44.482 kilonewtons), and 15,800 pounds (70.282 kilonewtons) with afterburner. The engine is 17 feet, 4 inches (5.283 meters) long, 3 feet, 2.3 inches (0.973 meters) in diameter, and weighs 3,575 pounds (1,622 kilograms).
The F-104C could carry a 2,000 pound weapon on a centerline hardpoint. It could carry up to four AIM-9B Sidewinder missiles.
On 9 May 1961, near Moron AFB, Spain, Starfighter 56-885 had a flight control failure with stick moving full aft. The pilot was unable to move it forward, resulting in an initial zoom climb followed by unrecoverable tumble. The pilot safely ejected but the airplane crashed and was destroyed.
A short Air Force film of Joe Jordan’s record flight can be seen at:
¹ FAI Record File Number 10352
² FAI Record File Number 9065
³ FAI Record File Number 10354
© 2018, Bryan R. Swopes
“On 14 December 1931, Douglas Bader flew to Woodley airfield near Reading. After lunch someone said, ‘I bet you won’t roll at nought feet.’ Bader did, and the graceful little Bulldog ended up in a shapeless ball of twisted metal. After hovering at death’s door Bader lost both legs. At Cranwell he remembered the Commandant had admonished him, ‘The RAF needs men, not schoolboys.’ Now he was neither, and the RAF would not need him anymore.”
—Duel of Eagles by Group Captain Peter Wooldridge Townsend, CVO, DSO, DFC and Bar, RAF, Castle Books, Edison, New Jersey, 2003. Chapter 6 at Page 82.
Pilot Officer Douglas Robert Steuart Bader, Royal Air Force, caught the wingtip of his Bristol Bulldog Mk.IIA, K-1676, and crashed at Woodley Aerodrome, approximately four miles east of Reading, Berkshire, England. The airplane was damaged beyond repair.
Bader suffered major injuries requiring amputation of his right leg, followed by amputation of his left leg several days later. He was fitted with prosthetic legs with which he was soon able to walk without assistance. Pilot Officer Bader was medically retired and received a 100% disability pension.
In 1939, feeling that war with Germany was imminent, Bader applied to the Air Ministry for reinstatement. He was turned down, but was told that if there was a war his request might be reconsidered.
The Air Ministry did reconsider Douglas Bader’s request for reinstatement and after a medical evaluation and other tests, he was sent to refresher flight training where he was evaluated as “Exceptional,” a very rare qualification.
Group Captain Sir Douglas R. S. Bader, Royal Air Force, C.B.E., D.S.O. and Bar, D.F.C. and Bar, F.R.Ae.S., D.L., a legendary fighter pilot of the Royal Air Force during World War II, was born at St. John’s Wood, London, England. He joined the Royal Air Force in 1928 as a cadet at the Royal Air Force College Cranwell and was commissioned as a Pilot Officer in July 1930.
Credited with more than 20 aerial victories while flying Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire fighters, Bader was himself shot down while flying his Spitfire Mk Va, serial W3185, marked “D B”. His prosthetic legs caught in the cockpit and made it difficult for him to escape, but he finally broke free and parachuted to safety.
Bader was captured and held as a prisoner of war. He was initially held at a hospital in occupied France and it was there that he met and became a life long friend of Adolf Galland, also a legendary fighter pilot—but for the other side! After arrangements were made for replacement legs, Bader escaped. He was recaptured and taken to the notorious Offizierslager IV-C at Colditz Castle where he was held for three years.
Douglas Bader is the subject of Reach For The Sky, a biography by Paul Brickhill, and a movie based on that book which starred Kenneth More.
Sir Douglas was invested Knight Bachelor, 12 June 1976, for his service to the disabled. He died suddenly of a heart attack, 5 September 1982.
The Bristol Bulldog Mk.IIA was powered by an air-cooled, supercharged, 1,752.79-cubic-inch-displacement (28.72 liter) Bristol Jupiter VIIF nine-cylinder radial engine which was rated at 440 horsepower up to 12,000 feet (3,658 meters). This was a left-hand tractor engine which drove a wooden two-bladed fixed-pitch propeller through a 2:1 gear reduction.
The airplane had a maximum speed of 174 miles per hour (280 kilometers per hour) at 10,000 feet (3,048 meters) and a service ceiling of 29,300 feet (8,931 meters).
The Bristol Bulldog Mk.IIA was armed with two synchronized Vickers .303-caliber machine guns with 600 rounds of ammunition per gun.
© 2018, Bryan R. Swopes
13 December 1972: At approximately 22:26 UTC, NASA Astronauts Eugene A. Cernan and Harrison H. Schmitt began the last of three moon walks, or EVAs, on the surface of the Moon at the Taurus-Littrow Valley.
“Bob, [Robert A.P. Parker, Astronaut, Houston Mission Control Cap Com] this is Gene, and I’m on the surface; and, as I take man’s last step from the surface, back home for some time to come — but we believe not too long into the future — I’d like to just [say] what I believe history will record. That America’s challenge of today has forged man’s destiny of tomorrow. And, as we leave the Moon at Taurus-Littrow, we leave as we came and, God willing, as we shall return: with peace and hope for all mankind. Godspeed the crew of Apollo 17.”
— Astronaut Eugene Andrew Cernan, Captain, USN, at the Taurus Littrow Valley, The Moon, at Mission Time 170:40:00
This was the final EVA of the Apollo Program, lasting approximately 7 hours, 15 minutes. Then Harrison H. Schmitt and Gene Cernan climbed up into the Lunar Module Challenger to prepare to lift off the following day.
Gene Cernan was the last man to stand on the surface of the Moon.
© 2016, Bryan R. Swopes
13 December 1960: Commander Leroy Anthony Heath and Lieutenant Henry L. (“Larry”) Monroe, set a Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) World Record for Altitude¹ with an early production North American A3J-1 Vigilante supersonic attack bomber. A 1,000-kilogram payload was carried in the bomber’s tubular weapons bay.
Over Edwards Air Force Base, in the high desert of southern California, the Vigilante accelerated to approximately 1,400 miles per hour (2,253 kilometers per hour), then pulled up into a steep climb. The Vigilante zoom-climbed in a nearly ballistic trajectory and reached an altitude of 27,874 meters (91,450 feet).¹ As the aircraft went “over the top,” it had slowed to about 400 miles per hour (644 kilometers per hour). They were momentarily “weightless,” which Commander Heath described as a “pleasant sensation.”
Their new record broke the previous record by 7,418 meters (24,337 feet).²
According to an article by Greg Goebel on the web site Air Vectors,
“. . . At that altitude, the aircraft was no longer aerodynamic and tumbled onto its back as it fell down the far side of the arc, with the engines flaming out in the thin atmosphere. However, such problems had been encountered in practice flights leading up to the attempt, and the flight crew knew what to expect. Heath simply neutralized the controls; once the Vigilante reached thicker air halfway through its fall, it naturally adopted a nose-down attitude, and Heath was able to relight the engines.”
— http://www.airvectors.net/ava5.html
For their achievement, the Secretary of the Navy, William B. Franke, awarded Commander Heath the Distinguished Flying Cross, and Lieutenant Monroe, the Air Medal. Also present at the 16 December 1960 presentation were Admiral Arleigh Burke, Chief of Naval Operations, and Admiral James Russell, Vice Chief of Naval Operations.
Navy Jet Breaks Russ World Altitude Mark
Vigilante Attack Bomber Carries More Thank 2,000 Lb. Payload to 91,450.8 Ft.
A Navy Vigilante attack bomber has carried a payload of more than 2,000 lb. to an altitude of 91,045.8 ft. to break Russia’s international record of 67,096 ft., it was disclosed Thursday.
The flight was made last Tuesday from Edwards Air Force Base by a North American twin-jet A3J aircraft piloted by Comdr. Leroy A. Heath of the Naval Air Test Center, Patuxent, Md.
It was observed officially by representatives of the National Aeronautic Assn. headed by Bertrand Rhine, chief West Coast timer.
A U.S. claim for a world record altitude for a land-based jet aircraft carrying a 1,000 kilogram (2,204.62 lbs.) payload has been filed with the Federation Aeronautique Internationale, world record agency in Paris.
Awarded Medal
Comdr. Heath was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for the record achievement. His navigator, Lt. Larry Monroe, was awarded the Air Medal. The presentations were made in Washington Thursday by Navy Secretary Franke.
Following a carefully controlled flight pattern, the Vigilante’s high climb was tracked by altitude registering radars monitored by NAA representatives on the ground. The record altitude also was calibrated by a sealed barograph carried in the plane to measure and record air pressures from which height can be determined.
The flight marked the first time the United States has competed for this particular class record which requires that the aircraft carry its payload in a compartment measuring at least 141 cubic ft.
The Vigilante is a double sonic, all-weather attack plane built by North American Aviation’s Colombus (O.) division. Designed for carrier operation, it can deliver both nuclear and conventional weapons by a unique tail ejection system from very high altitude or on deck-level attack missions.
Powered by two General Electric J79 engines developing approximately 15,000 lbs. of thrust each, the Vigilante is 70 ft. long and has a wing span of 50 ft.
The previous Russian record was set July 13, 1959, by Vladimir Smirnov, flying a twin-jet RVmonoplane over Bykova Aerodrome near Moscow.
—Los Angeles Times, 16 December 1960, Page 2, Column 6, and Page 32, Column 2.
The North American Aviation A3J-1 Vigilante is a carrier-based, twin-engine, supersonic bomber designed for high-altitude nuclear attacks. It is crewed by a pilot and navigator. The airplane has a high-mounted swept wing and tricycle landing gear. There are no ailerons, elevators or rudder. Control is provided by spoilers, a large moveable vertical fin and independent horizontal stabilizers.
The A3J-1 is 76.547 feet (23.332 meters) long with a wing span of 53.02 feet (16.16 meters), and overall height of 19.366 feet (5.90 meters). The wings are swept 37.5° at 25% chord. The wing area is 700 square feet (65 square meters). The bomber has an empty weight of 32,714 pounds (14,839 kilograms) and Maximum Takeoff Weight (MTOW) of 56,293 pounds (25,534 kilograms).
The A3J-1 Vigilante is powered by two General Electric J79-GE-8 turbojet engines with afterburner. The J79 is a single-spool axial-flow turbojet with a 17 stage compressor and 3-stage turbine. It is 17 feet, 4.inches (5.625 meters) long, with a diameter of 2 feet, 7.6 inches (0.803 meters). The J79-GE-8 produced a maximum 17,000 pounds of thrust (23.049 kilonewtons) at 7,685 r.p.m.
The A3J-1 had a maximum speed of 1,147 knots (1,320 miles per hour/2,124 kilometers per hour) at 40,000 feet (12,192 meters). Its combat ceiling was 52,100 feet (15,880 meters).
The Vigilante had a tubular bomb bay between the engines. Weapons were ejected rearward. It could carry a Mk 28, Mk 27 or Mk 43 thermonuclear bomb in the weapons bay, or conventional or nuclear bombs mounted on underwing hardpoints. The A3J carried no defensive weapons.
In 1962, the A3J was designated as A-5. North American Aviation built a total of 167 Vigilantes, in both attack and reconnaissance (RA-5C) variants.
Leroy Anthony Heath was born in Detroit, Michigan, 20 November 1922. He was the first of seven children of Leroy Vincent Heath, a firefighter, and Catherine Crumley Heath. He graduated from high school in 1941 then went to work for the Cadillac Motor Car Division, General Motors Corporation.
Heath enlisted in the United States Navy 7 August 1942. He had brown hair and eyes, a light complexion, was 6 feet (1.83 meters) tall and weighing 190 pounds (86 kilograms), he was selected as an aviation cadet through the V-5 Program, 3 January 1943. After completion of flight training, on 1 July 1944 Aviation Cadet Heath was designated a Naval Aviator and commissioned as an ensign, United States Naval Reserve (U.S.N.R.). Sent to the Pacific Theater, Ensign Heath flew Chance Vought F4U Corsairs from USS Lexington (CV-16). Following the end of World War II, Heath was transferred to the Regular Navy (U.S.N.). He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant, junior grade, 1 January 1946.
On 9 November 1946, Lieutenant (j.g.) Heath married his long-time girlfriend, Miss Mary Helen Garver in Detroit. They would have seven children.
Heath graduated with Class 9 of the U.S. Navy’s test pilot school at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland. He served two tours as a project officer in the Service Test Division at the Naval Air Test Center.
He was promoted to lieutenant, 5 July 1951, and to lieutenant commander, 1 November 1955.
In 1962, Commander Heath as commanding officer of VAH-7, a heavy attack squadron, flying the new A3J-1 Vigilante from USS Enterprise (CVAN-65). He later served as operations officer of USS Independence (CVA-62).
On 1 January 1965, Heath was promoted to the rank of captain. From September 1968 to December 1969, he was in command of the attack transport, USS Cambria (APA-36). (Naval aviators were often assigned as commanding officers of “deep draft” ships prior to serving as captain of an aircraft carrier.)
After a tour as Executive Director, Material Acquisitions Group, Naval Air Systems Command, Captain Heath retired from the U.S. Navy in March 1972.
After earning a bachelor’s and masters degree in education from the University of Central Florida, Heath served as an assistant professor of mathematics at the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, 1976 through 1985.
Mary Helen Heath died 28 Oct 1985. Professor Heath then married his second wife, Ms. Tamara Sue Sundbo, 20 June 1987 at Volusia, Florida.
Captain Heath died 21 February 2003.
¹ FAI Record File Number 4568
² FAI Record File Number 14658: Vladimir Smirnov, 13 July 1959. Air craft RV w/ 37V engine
© 2021, Bryan R. Swopes