Gemini 7, as seen from Gemini 6A, 15 December 1965. (Thomas P. Stafford/NASA)
15 December 1965: At 13:37:26 UTC, Gemini 6A, with NASA astronauts Captain Walter M. Schirra, Jr., United States Navy and Major Thomas P. Stafford, United States Air Force, on board, lifted off from Launch Complex 19 at the Cape Kennedy Air Force Station, Cape Kennedy, Florida. During its fourth orbit, Gemini 6A rendezvoused with Gemini 7, carrying Major Frank F. Borman II, USAF, and LCDR James A. Lovell, Jr., USN.
This was the first time that two manned space vehicles had rendezvoused in Earth orbit.
The two spacecraft remained together for 5 hours, 19 minutes before separating to a distance of approximately 10 miles (16 kilometers).
Gemini 7 as seen from Gemini 6A, 15 December 1965. (NASA)
Gemini 7 had been in orbit since 4 December. Gemini 6, then 6A, had been postponed several times before finally launching on 15 December. It would return to Earth the following day, landing in the North Atlantic Ocean. Gemini 7 remained in orbit until 18 December.
The two-man Gemini spacecraft was built by the McDonnell Aircraft Corporation of St. Louis, Missouri, the same company that built the earlier Mercury space capsule. The spacecraft consisted of a series of cone-shaped segments forming a reentry module and an adapter section. It had an overall length of 18 feet, 9.84 inches (5.736 meters) and a maximum diameter of 10 feet, 0.00 inches (3.048 meters) at the base of the equipment section. The reentry module was 11 feet (3.353 meters) long with a maximum diameter of 7 feet, 6.00 inches (2.347 meters). The Gemini re-entry heat shield was a spherical section with a radius of 12 feet, 0.00 inches (3.658 meters). The weight of the Gemini spacecraft varied from ship to ship. Gemini VII had a gross weight of 8,076.10 pounds (3,663.26 kilograms) at launch. It was shipped from St. Louis to Cape Kennedy in early October 1965.
The Titan II GLV was a “man-rated” variant of the Martin Marietta Corporation SM-68B intercontinental ballistic missile. It was assembled at Martin’s Middle River, Maryland, plant so as not to interfere with the production of the ICBM at Denver, Colorado. Twelve GLVs were ordered by the Air Force for the Gemini Program. The GLV-7 first and second stages were shipped from Middle River to Cape Kennedy on 9 October 1965.
The Titan II GLV was a two-stage, liquid-fueled rocket. The first stage was 70 feet, 2.31 inches (21.395 meters) long with a diameter of 10 feet (3.048 meters). It was powered by an Aerojet Engineering Corporation LR87-7 engine which combined two combustion chambers and exhaust nozzles with a single turbopump unit. The engine was fueled by Aerozine 50, a hypergolic 51/47/2 blend of hydrazine, unsymetrical-dimethyl hydrazine, and water. Ignition occurred spontaneously as the components were combined in the combustion chambers. The LR87-7 produced approximately 430,000 pounds of thrust (1,912.74 kilonewtons). It was not throttled and could not be shut down and restarted. Post flight analysis indicated that the first stage engine of GLV-7 had produced an average of 462,433 pounds of thrust (2,057.0 kilonewtons). The second stage was 25 feet, 6.375 inches (7.031 meters) long, with the same diameter, and used an Aerojet LR91 engine which produced approximately 100,000 pounds of thrust (444.82 kilonewtons), also burning Aerozine 50. GLV-7’s LR91 produced an average of 102,584 pounds of thrust (456.3 kilonewtons).
The Gemini/Titan II GLV-7 combination had a total height of 107 feet, 7.33 inches (32.795 meters) and weighed 346,228 pounds (157,046 kilograms) at ignition.
Gemini 7 as seen from Gemini 6A, 15 December 1965. (NASA)
Major Joseph W. Rogers, U.S. Air Force, in the cockpit of Convair F-106A Delta Dart 56-0467, at Edwards AFB, 15 December 1959. (U.S. Air Force)
15 December 1959: At Edwards Air Force Base, California, Major Joseph William Rogers, United States Air Force, flew a Convair F-106A Delta Dart all-weather interceptor, serial number 56-0467, to a new Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) World Record for Speed over a 15 Kilometer-to-25 Kilometer Straight Course, breaking the record set two years earlier by Major Adrian E. Drew with a modified McDonnell F-101A Voodoo.¹
At an altitude of 40,000 feet (12,192 meters), Rogers made two passes over the straight 11 mile (17.7 kilometers) course, once in each direction, for an average speed of 2,455.736 kilometers per hour (1,525.924 miles per hour)—Mach 2.31. For his accomplishment, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the FAI’s Henry De La Vaulx Medal, and the Thompson Trophy.
Convair F-106A Delta Dart 56-0467, FAI World Speed Record holder, parked on Rogers Dry Lake at Edwards AFB. Note the jettisonable external fuel tanks. (U.S. Air Force)A copy of Joseph W. Rogers’ Diplôme de Record from the FAI. NOTE: The signature of LE PRÉSIDENT DE LA F.A.I. at the lower right of the document. (f-106deltadart.com)The Thompson Trophy
Major Rogers was the Air Force F-106 project officer assigned to Convair. He first attempted the record with another F-106A, 56-0459, but when that Delta Dart developed uncontrollable compressor stalls, 56-0467 was substituted. (This has led to confusion over which aircraft actually set the record, but in an interview, Colonel Rogers confirmed that it was 467.)
Joseph William Rogers was born at Chillicothe, Ohio, 28 May 1924. He grew up on a farm, and attended West High School, graduating in 1942. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1943 and trained as a pilot. From 1944 he was assigned as a flight instructor in California. Rogers remained in the Air Force after World War II.
During the Korean War, Joe Rogers got the nickname “Whistlin’ Joe” when he put whistles on the wings of his North American Aviation F-51D Mustang in an effort to frighten enemy troops. 1st Lieutenant Rogers was awarded the Silver Star for his actions of 8 October 1950, in close support of a British infantry unit, which was surrounded on a hilltop by the enemy.
Though not officially credited, it is widely accepted that on 8 November 1950, with his Mustang Buckeye Blitz VI, he shot down an enemy Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 jet fighter. An aerial victory of a piston-engine fighter over a jet fighter was a very rare occurrence. Rogers was one of a group of “The American Fighting Man” named Man of the Year by TIMEMagazine. He flew 170 combat missions in the F-51 and another 30 in the Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star.
Captain Joseph W. Rogers in the cockpit of his North American F-51D Mustang, Buckeye Blitz VI, assigned to the 36th Fighter Bomber Squadron, 8th Fighter Bomber Group, Korea, 1950. Note the red dive bombing stripes on the upper surface of the Mustang’s left wing. (Photograph by Lieutenant Colonel William J. O’Donnell, commanding officer, 36th FBS, via ww2color.com)
Rogers was a 1954 graduate of the Air Force Test Pilot School and worked as a test pilot on the North American Aviation F-86D Sabre radar-equipped interceptor, and then the Convair F-102 Delta Dagger and F-106 Delta Dart.
From 1960 to 1964 Rogers commanded the 317th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, which was, at that time, the largest squadron in the United States Air Force. In 1963, he flew a F-102 in the annual William Tell competition at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, which he won, and was named the Air Force’s “Top Gun.”
Colonel Joseph W. Rogers with a Lockheed SR-71A. (U.S. Air Force)
Next, Rogers he commanded the Lockheed SR-71A and F-12A Test Force at Edwards Air Force Base. He is one of the few pilots to have ejected from an SR-71A, when 61-7953 went out of control, 18 December 1969. Both he and Radar Intercept Officer Lieutenant Colonel Gary Heidelbaugh safely escaped the doomed Blackbird.
Colonel Rogers was Vice Commander of the 3d Fighter Wing, flying the McDonnell F-4 Phantom II during the Vietnam War. After serving as Assistant Deputy Commander of the 7th and 13th Air Forces, he was appointed Chief of Staff for Operations at the Aerospace Defense Command Headquarters, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado. Rogers retired from the Air Force in 1975 after 32 years of service.
Joe Rogers worked for Northrop Aerospace for the next 13 years, marketing the company’s F-5 and F-20 fighters.
During his service in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, Colonel Rogers was awarded the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit with two Oak Leaf Clusters, Distinguished Flying Cross with two Oak Leaf Clusters, and Air Medal with thirteen Oak Leaf Clusters.
Joe Rogers was married to the former Charis Tate. They had three children. Mrs. Rogers passed away in 2003.
Colonel Joseph W. Rogers died at Healdsburg, California, 6 August 2005, at the age of 81 years. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery, alongside his wife.
Convair F-106A Delta Dart 56-0467 after setting World Speed Record. Note the missing paint on vertical fin as a result of the high speed flight. (U.S. Air Force)
The Convair F-106A Delta Dart was the primary all-weather interceptor of the United States Air Force from 1959 to 1988, when it was withdrawn from service with the Air National Guard. It was a single-seat, single engine delta-winged aircraft capable of speeds above Mach 2. The airplane was a development of the earlier F-102A Delta Dagger, and was initially designated F-102B. However, so many changes were made that it is considered to be a new aircraft.
The F-106A is 70 feet, 8¾ inches (21.558 meters) long with a wingspan of 38 feet, 4 inches (11.684 meters). The total area of the delta wing is 697.83 square feet (64.83 square meters). The angle of incidence was 0° and there was no dihedral. The leading edges were swept aft 60°. The top of the vertical fin was 20 feet, 3¼ inches (6.179 meters) high. The Delta Dart weighs 23,646 pounds (10,726 kilograms) empty, and has a maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) of 38,729 pounds (17,567 kilograms).
The F-106 was powered by a Pratt & Whitney J75-P-17 afterburning turbojet engine. The J75-P-17 was a two-spool axial-flow turbojet engine with afterburner. It used a 15-stage compressor section (8 high- and 7 low-pressure stages) and a 3-stage turbine section (1 high- and 2-low pressure stages. The J75-P-17 had a maximum continuous power rating of 14,100 pounds of thrust (62.72 kilonewtons), and military power rating of 16,100 pounds (71.62 kilonewtons) (30-minute limit). It produced a maximum of 24,500 pounds (108.98 kilonewtons) with afterburner (5-minute limit). The engine was 3 feet, 8.25 inches (1.124 meters) in diameter, 19 feet, 9.6 inches long (6.035 meters), and weighed 5,875 pounds (2,665 kilograms)
The interceptor has a cruise speed of 530 knots (610 miles per hour/982 kilometers per hour). and a maximum speed of 1,153 knots 1,327 miles per hour/2,135 kilometers per hour) at 35,000 feet (10,668 meters). The F-106A had a service ceiling is 53,800 feet (16,398 meters) and a rate of climb of 48,900 feet per minute (248 meters per second). Its combat radius was 530 nautical miles (610 statute miles/982 kilometers) and the maximum ferry range was 1,843 nautical miles (2,121 statute miles/3,413 kilometers).
The Delta Dart was armed with four GAR-3A radar-homing, or -4A (AIM-4F, -4G) infrared-homing Falcon air-to-air guided missiles, and one MB-1 (AIM-2A) Genie unguided rocket with a 1.5 kiloton W-25 nuclear warhead. The missiles were carried in an internal weapons bay. In 1972, the General Electric M61A1 Vulcan 20mm cannon was added to the rear weapons bay with 650 round of ammunition. (The number of gun-equipped Delta Darts is uncertain.)
Convair built 342 F-106 interceptors. 277 were F-106As and the remainder were F-106B two-seat trainers.
Convair F-106A Delta Dart 56-0467 in flight. Because of the filter used by the photographer, areas that are actually painted bright “day-glow” orange appear to be white. (U.S. Air Force)Convair F-106A Delta Dart 56-0467 in flight, seen from left rear quarter. (U.S. Air Force)
F-106A 56-0467 was built in April 1958 and was the eighteenth production aircraft. After being used for flight testing at Edwards Air Force Base it was converted back to an operational interceptor and assigned to the 329th Tactical Fighter Squadron at nearby George Air Force Base.
Convair F-106A Delta Dart 56-0467 on display at Edwards AFB, May 1961. (Gary Abel from Marty Isham Collection via f-106deltadart.com)
On 14 August 1961, while taking off from George Air Force Base, Victorville, California, on a routine training mission, 56-0467’s right tire blew out. The pilot, James Wilkinson, flew until most of the airplane’s fuel had been exhausted, and then landed at Edwards Air Force Base because of its longer runway and available emergency equipment. After touching down, the right wheel and brake assembly caught fire. The flames quickly spread to the wing and fuselage. The aircraft slid to a stop and the pilot safely escaped. 467 was totally destroyed.
56-0459, which had been scheduled to make the speed record flights, is on display at the McChord Air Force Base Museum.
Major Joe Rogers with Convair F-106A Delta Dart 56-0459 at Edwards Air Force Base before a speed record attempt. This airplane was originally scheduled for the speed record attempt. (U.S. Air Force)U.S. Air Force public relations photograph.
Captain Alton Glenn Miller, United States Army Air Forces. (American Air Museum on Britain, UPL 27599)
15 December 1944: Major Alton Glenn Miller, United States Army Air Forces, world famous as a leader of a “big band,” and on active military duty in England, was ordered to fly to France to prepare for moving his orchestra to Paris, where it would continue its radio entertainment broadcasts.
LCOL Norman F. Baesell
On December 13 and 14, weather forced the cancellation of two flights, but Miller was offered an unscheduled ride with Lieutenant Colonel Norman Francis Baesell of VIII Air Service Command.
Their airplane was a Noorduyn UC-64A Norseman, serial number 44-70285 (manufacturer’s serial number 550), assigned to the 35th Air Depot Group, 2d Strategic Air Depot, at RAF Abbots Ripton (USAAF Station 547), Cambridgeshire, England. The pilot was Flight Officer John Robert Stuart Morgan.
Flight Officer John Robert Stuart Morgan, T-190776, United States Army Air Forces.
At 13:55, the Norseman departed RAF Twinwood Farm (USAAF Station 506), 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) north of Bedford, England, en route across the English Channel to Villacoublay, France.
Neither the airplane, nor the three men on board, were ever seen again.
The Battle of the Bulge began on the morning of 16 December 1944. In the resulting chaos, the disappearance of the three men on an unscheduled flight was not noticed until 18 December. Searches were unsuccessful. All three men were listed as Missing.¹
A number of theories as to their disappearance have been put forward. The most obvious is that either poor visibility or mechanical problems over the English Channel caused the plane to go down. Another popular explanation is that Royal Air Force Avro Lancaster bombers returning from a mission jettisoned unused bombs into the Channel, and the Norseman was hit by one of these.
Glenn Miller and His Orchestra, circa 1941. Miller is just to the right of center, playing a trombone. (Wikipedia)
Following the United States’ entry into World War II, Alton Glenn Miller volunteered for military service. He received commission as a captain, Army Specialist Corps, Army of the United States, 8 September 1942, and was assigned to the Seventh Services Command at Offutt Field, Omaha, Nebraska, 7 October 1942. On the orders of General Henry H. (“Hap”) Arnold, he was transferred to the United States Army Air Forces, 25 November 1942. He organized the Glenn Miller Army Air Force Band.
Major Glenn Miller conducts the Army Air Forces Orchestra. (U.S. Air Force 050811-F-1234P-028)James David Graham Niven, shown here with the British Army rank of captain.
Captain Miller deployed to England 19 June 1944 at request of General Dwight D. Eisenhower, U.S. Army, Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Forces. He was under the administrative command of Lieutenant-Colonel David Niven, British Army, Director of Troop Broadcasting Services, Allied Expeditionary Forces.
Captain Miller was promoted to the rank of major, 24 July 1944.
Major Miller was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal, which was presented to Mrs. Miller by Colonel F. R. Kerr, Special Services Division, during ceremony, 23 March 1945. The citation reads:
Major Alton Glenn Miller (Army Serial No. 0505273), Air Corps, United States Army, for meritorious service in connection with military operations as Commander of the Army Air Force Band (Special), from 9 July 1944 to 15 December 1944. Major Miller, through excellent judgment and professional skill, conspicuously blended the abilities of the outstanding musicians, comprising the group, into a harmonious orchestra whose noteworthy contribution to the morale of the armed forces has been little less than sensational. Major Miller constantly sought to increase the services rendered by his organization, and it was through him that the band was ordered to Paris to give this excellent entertainment to as many troops as possible. His superior accomplishments are highly commendable and reflect the highest credit upon himself and the armed forces of the United States.
Noorduyn UC-64A Norseman 44-70551 at Wright Field, circa March 1945.Three view illustration of Noorduyn UC-64A Norseman, with dimensions. (United States Army Air Forces)
UC-64A 44-70285 was delivered to the U.S. Army Air Forces at Newark, New Jersey, 5 July 1944. It was shipped to England on 14 July. On arrival, the Norseman was assigned to the 35th Air Depot Group, 2d Strategic Air Depot, at RAF Abbots Ripton, Cambridgeshire, England (USAAF Station 547).
The Noorduyn Norseman was designed by Robert Bernard Cornelius Noorduyn, and manufactured by Noorduyn Aviation Ltd., Montréal, Quebec, Canada. The Norseman made its first flight 14 November 1935.² It is a large, single-engine, strut-braced high wing monoplane with fixed landing gear. It could be flown by a single pilot, or a pilot and copilot.
Cockpit of a Noorduyn UC-64 Norseman. (NASM)
The UC-45A has bench seats for up to eight passengers, or four ambulance litters. A 38 gallon (144 liters) auxiliary fuel tank can be installed. There is a baggage compartment with a capacity of 10 cubic feet (0.28 cubic meter). The fuselage is constructed of welded chrome moly tubing. The wings are constructed of wood, covered in doped fabric. The leading edge, under the fabric, is covered with alclad to the first spar. The cockpit and engine are covered in removable aluminum sheet, while the aft fuselage is covered in doped fabric.
The fixed landing gear could easily be changed to skis or floats.
The UC-45A has a length of 32 feet, 4 inches (9.855 meters), wing span of 51 feet, 6 inches (15.697 meters) and overall height of 13 feet, 9 inches (4.191 meters). The wing uses a NACA 2412 airfoil and has an area of 325.0 square feet (30.194 square meters). The chord, both at the root and the tip, is 7 feet, 3 inches (2.2098 meters). The wing has a 3° angle of incidence, 2½° dihedral, and no sweep. The airplane has a maximum gross weight of 7,400 pounds (3,356 kilograms).
The UC-64A is powered by an air cooled, supercharged, 1,343.804 cubic inch displacement (22.021 liters) Pratt & Whitney R-1340-AN-1 Wasp single-row nine cylinder radial engine with a compression ratio of 6.03:1. Burning 91-octane gasoline, this engine was rated at 550 horsepower at 2,200 r.p.m. at 5,000 feet (1,524 meters), and 600 horsepower at 2,250 r.p.m. for takeoff. The direct drive engine turned a Hamilton Standard two-blade constant speed propeller 9’1″ (2.769 m.) or three-blade 9’7″ (2.921 m.) 42-15/16″ (1.0906 m.) long, 51-7/16 (1.3065 m.) Belly compartments plywood diameter (865 pounds 392 kg) mag /878 (398 kg) aluminum)
The UC-64A’s cruise speed is 148 miles per hour (238 kilometers per hour) and it’s maximum speed, 162 miles per hour (261 kilometers per hour). The service ceiling is 17,000 feet (5,182 meters).
The UC-64A has a fuel capacity of 222 gallons (840 liters) in two wing and two belly tanks. A 38 gallon (144 liters) auxiliary fuel tank could be installed in the rear of the cabin. Its maximum range was 574 nautical miles (661 statute miles/1,063 kilometers) at Sea Level, or 825 nautical miles (949 statute miles/1,528 kilometers) at 12,000 feet (3,658 meters).
The Noorduyn Norseman was in production from 1935 to 1959. 904 were built.
Noorduyn Norseman Mk. I CF-AYO, operated by Dominion Skyways, circa 1946. (Province of Quebec Archives)
² The very first Noorduyn Norseman, CF-AYO, Arcturus, was featured in the James Cagney motion picture, “Captains of the Clouds” (1942), with the registration CF-HGO.
Apollo 17 Lunar Module Challenger at the Taurus-Littrow landing site. (NASA AS17-134-20513)
14 December 1972: At 4:54:36 p.m., CST (Houston time), the Ascent Stage of the Apollo 17 Lunar Module Challenger lifted off from the landing site in the Taurus-Littrow Valley, The Moon. On board were Mission Commander Eugene A. Cernan and the LM Pilot, Harrison H. Schmitt.
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.
The Apollo 17 ascent stage lifts off from the Taurus-Littrow Valley at 2254 UTC, 14 December 1972. The takeoff was captured by a television camera which had been left on the surface of the Moon. (NASA)
Captain Joe Bailey Jordan, U.S. Air Force, in the cockpit of his record-setting Lockheed F-104C Starfighter. (U.S. Air Force)
14 December 1959: Air Force test pilot Captain Joe Bailey Jordan, United States Air Force, established a Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) World Record for Altitude in a Turbojet Aircraft, breaking a record set only 8 days before by Commander Lawrence E. Flint, Jr., U.S. Navy, flying the number two prototype McDonnell YF4H-1 Phantom II, Bu. No. 142260.¹
Lockheed F-104C-5-LO Starfighter 56-885. (U.S. Air Force)
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.
The Harmon International Trophy (NASM)
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.
General Dynamics F-111A 65-5701. Photographed by Hervé Cariou at the Salon du Bourget (Paris Air Show), May 1967.
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.
Captain Joe Bailey Jordan, United States Air Force. (Photograph courtesy of Neil Corbett, Test and Research Pilots, Flight Test Engineers)
The Lockheed F-104C Starfighter was a tactical strike variant of the F-104A interceptor. The F-104C shared the external dimensions of the F-104A, but weighed slightly less.
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.
Captain Joe B. Jordan, USAF, is congratulated by Lockheed Chief Engineering Test Pilot Tony LeVier. Captain Bailey is wearing a David Clark Co. MC-3 capstan-type partial-pressure suit with an ILC Dover MC-2 helmet. (Jet Pilot Overseas)
A short Air Force film of Joe Jordan’s record flight can be seen at:
