A color transparency of the Boeing XB-15 in flight near Floyd Bennett Field, Long Island, New York, circa 1941. (Rudy Arnold Collection, National Air and Space Museum)
30 July 1939: Major Caleb Vance Haynes, Air Corps, United States Army, with Captain William D. Old, Master Sergeant Adolph Cattarius and Staff Sergeant William J. Heldt, flew the Boeing XB-15 experimental long range heavy bomber to a Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) World Record for Greatest Payload Carried to a Height of 2,000 meters. The XB-15 carried 14,135 kilograms (31,162 pounds) to an altitude of 2,000 meters (6,562 feet) over Fairfield, Ohio.¹ The flight set a second record by carrying 10,000 kilograms (22,046 pounds) to an altitude of 8,228 feet (2,508 meters).² Both records were certified by the National Aeronautic Association, the American organization representing the FAI.
Major Caleb V. Haynes, Captain William D. Old, Master Sergeant Adolph Cattarius and Staff Sergeant William J. Heldt, crew of the record-setting Boeing XB-15. (FAI)Boeing XB-15 35-277 at NACA Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, 13 September 1938. (NASA)Boeing XB-15 35-277
The Boeing Model 294, designated XB-15 by the Air Corps, was an experimental airplane designed to determine if a bomber with a 5,000 mile range was possible. It was designed at the same time as the Model 299 (XB-17), which had the advantage of lessons learned by the XB-15 design team. The XB-15 was larger and more complex than the XB-17 and took longer to complete. It first flew more than two years after the prototype B-17.
Designers had planned to use an experimental 3,421.194-cubic-inch-displacement (56.063 liter) liquid-cooled, supercharged and turbosupercharged Allison V-3420 twenty-four cylinder, four-bank “double V” engine. It produced a maximum of 2,885 horsepower at 3,000 r.p.m. The engine was not available in time, however, and four air-cooled Pratt & Whitney R-1830 (Twin Wasp) engines were used instead. With one-third the horsepower, this substitution left the experimental bomber hopelessly underpowered as a combat aircraft. (The Douglas XB-19 was retrofitted with V-3420s in 1942, and re-designated XB-19A.)
Boeing XB-15 35-277, a prototype long-range heavy bomber. (U.S. Air Force)Boeing XB-15 35-277. (U.S. Air Force)
The XB-15 was a very large four-engine mid-wing monoplane with retractable landing gear. It was of aluminum monocoque construction with fabric-covered flight control surfaces. The XB-15 had a ten-man crew which worked in shifts on long duration flights.
The prototype bomber was 87 feet, 7 inches (26.695 meters) long with a wingspan of 149 feet (45.415 meters) and overall height of 18 feet, 1 inch (5.512 meters). The airplane had an empty weight of 37,709 pounds (17,105 kilograms) and maximum takeoff weight of 70,706 pounds (32,072 kilograms)—later increased to 92,000 pounds (41,730 kilograms).
A ¼-scale model of the Boeing XB-15 inside the Full-Scale Wind Tunnel at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, Hampton, Virginia. The model has a wingspan of 37.3 feet (11.37 meters). (NASA)
The XB-15’s wings used a symmetrical airfoil and were very highly tapered (4:1 from root to tip). They had an angle of incidence of 4½° and 4½° dihedral. The total area was 2,780 square feet (258.271 square meters). A contemporary aeronautical publication wrote, “The airfoil provides constant center of pressure, minimum profile drag with flaps up and high maximum lift with flaps down.” The XB-15’s wings were adapted by Boeing for the Model 314 Clipper flying boat.
As built, the XB-15 was equipped with four air-cooled, supercharged, 1,829.39-cubic-inch-displacement (29.978 liter) Pratt & Whitney R-1830-11 (Twin Wasp S1B3-G) two-row 14-cylinder radial engines with a compression ratio of 6.7:1. The R-1830-11 was rated at 850 horsepower at 2,450 r.p.m. and 5,000 feet (1,524 meters), and 1,000 horsepower at 2,600 r.p.m. for take off. They turned three-bladed controllable-pitch propellers through a 3:2 gear reduction. The R-1830-11 was 4 feet, 8.66 inches (1.439 meters) long with a diameter of 4 feet, 0.00 inches (1.219 meters), and weighed 1,320 pounds (599 kilograms).
Boeing XB-15 35-277
The experimental airplane had a cruise speed of 152 miles per hour (245 kilometers per hour) at 6,000 feet (1,829 meters), and a maximum speed of 200 miles per hour ( kilometers per hour) at 5,000 feet (1,524 meters). The service ceiling was 18,900 feet (5,761 meters) and maximum range was 5,130 miles (8,256 kilometers).
The bomber could carry a maximum of 12,000 pounds (5,443 kilograms) of bombs in its internal bomb bay, and was armed with three .30-caliber and three .50-caliber machine guns for defense .
Only one XB-15 was built. During World War II it was converted to a transport and re-designated XC-105. In 1945 35-277 was stripped and abandoned at Albrook Field, Territory of the Canal Zone, Panama.
28 July 1976: A U.S. Air Force Lockheed SR-71A, serial number 61-7958, flown by Captain Robert C. Helt and Major Larry A. Elliott, USAF, set an Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) World Record for Altitude in Horizontal Flight, at 85,068 feet (25,929 meters).
FAI Record File Num #3496 [Direct Link]
Status: ratified – retired by changes of the sporting code
Region: World
Class: C (Powered Aeroplanes)
Sub-Class: C-1 (Landplanes)
Category: Not applicable
Group: 3 : turbo-jet
Type of record: Altitude in horizontal flight
Performance: 25 929 m
Date: 1976-07-28
Course/Location: Beale Air Force Base, CA (USA)
Claimant Robert C. Helt (USA)
Aeroplane: Lockheed SR-71 “Blackbird” (USAF)
Engines: 2 Pratt & Whitney J-58/JTD11D-20A
On the same day, Captain Eldon W. Joersz and Major George T. Fuller, Jr., flew 958 to 2,193.17 miles per hour (3,529.56 kilometers per hour) over a 15/25 kilometer course at Beale Air Force Base, California, setting an FAI World Absolute Speed Record.
FAI Record File Num #8865 [Direct Link]
Status: ratified – retired by changes of the sporting code
Region: World
Class: C (Powered Aeroplanes)
Sub-Class: C-1 (Landplanes)
Category: Not applicable
Group: 3 : turbo-jet
Type of record: Speed over a straight 15/25 km course
Performance: 3 529.56 km/h
Date: 1976-07-28
Course/Location: Beale Air Force Base, CA (USA)
Claimant Eldon W. Joersz (USA)
Aeroplane: Lockheed SR-71 “Blackbird”
Engines: 2 Pratt & Whitney J-58/JTD11D-20A
FAI Record File Num #8879 [Direct Link]
Status: ratified – current record
Region: World
Class: C (Powered Aeroplanes)
Sub-Class: C-Absolute (Absolute Record of classes C, H and M)
Category: Not applicable
Group: Not applicable
Type of record: Speed
Performance: 3 529.56 km/h
Date: 1976-07-28
Course/Location: Beale Air Force Base, CA (USA)
Claimant Eldon W. Joersz (USA)
Aeroplane: Lockheed SR-71 “Blackbird”
Engines: 2 Pratt & Whitney J-58/JTD11D-20A
De La Vaulx Medal
The previous day, the same airplane flown by Major Adolphus H. Bledsoe, Jr., pilot, and Major John T. Fuller, RSO , set the World Absolute Speed Record of 2,092.29 miles per hour (3,367.22 kilometers per hour) over a 1,000 kilometer closed circuit. Captain Joersz and Major George Fuller’s record superseded the one set by Bledsoe and John Fuller.
All six airmen were awarded the Henry De La Vaulx Medal by the FAI.
Today, 61-7958 is on display at the Museum of Aviation, Warner-Robins, Georgia. 32 of these long range strategic reconnaissance aircraft were built by the Lockheed Skunk Works.
Lockheed SR-71A 61-7958 at Beale AFB, 28 July 1976. (U.S. Air Force)
27 July 1976: Major Adolphus H. Bledsoe, Jr., pilot, and Major John T. Fuller, RSO, flew a Lockheed SR-71A, 61-7958, to a Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) Absolute World Record Speed of 2,092.29 miles per hour (3,367.22 kilometers per hour) over a 1,000 kilometer closed circuit.
FAI Record File Num #3928 [Direct Link]
Status: ratified – retired by changes of the sporting code
Region: World
Class: C (Powered Aeroplanes)
Sub-Class: C-1 (Landplanes)
Category: Not applicable
Group: 3 : turbo-jet
Type of record: Speed over a closed circuit of 1 000 km without payload
Performance: 3 367.22 km/h
Date: 1976-07-27
Course/Location: Beale Air Force Base, CA (USA)
Claimant Adolphus Bledsoe (USA)
Aeroplane: Lockheed SR-71 “Blackbird” (17958)
Engines: 2 Pratt & Whitney J-58/JTD11D-20A
FAI Record File Num #3929 [Direct Link]
Status: ratified – retired by changes of the sporting code
Region: World
Class: C (Powered Aeroplanes)
Sub-Class: C-1 (Landplanes)
Category: Not applicable
Group: 3 : turbo-jet
Type of record: Speed over a closed circuit of 1 000 km with 1 000 kg payload
Performance: 3 367.22 km/h
Date: 1976-07-27
Course/Location: Beale Air Force Base, CA (USA)
Claimant Adolphus Bledsoe (USA)
Aeroplane: Lockheed SR-71 “Blackbird” (17958)
Engines: 2 Pratt & Whitney J-58/JTD11D-20A
FAI Record File Num #3930 [Direct Link]
Status: ratified – superseded since approved
Region: World
Class: C (Powered Aeroplanes)
Sub-Class: C-Absolute (Absolute Record of classes C, H and M)
Category: Not applicable
Group: Not applicable
Type of record: Speed
Performance: 3 367.22 km/h
Date: 1976-07-27
Course/Location: Beale Air Force Base, CA (USA)
Claimant Adolphus Bledsoe (USA)
Aeroplane: Lockheed SR-71 “Blackbird” (17958)
Engines: 2 Pratt & Whitney J-58/JTD11D-20A
De La Vaulx Medal
The following day, the same airplane, flown by two different crews, set a World Record for Altitude in Horizontal Flight at 85,068 feet (25,929 meters) and a World Record for Speed Over a Straight 15/25 Kilometer Course, 2,193.17 miles per hour (3,529.56 kilometers per hour). This second speed record became the new Absolute Speed Record, superseding the record set on this date by Alphonsus Bledsoe and John T. Fuller.
All six airmen were awarded the Henry De La Vaulx Medal by the FAI.
Today, 61-7958 is on display at the Museum of Aviation, Warner-Robins, Georgia. 32 of these long range strategic reconnaissance aircraft were built by the Lockheed Skunk Works.
Lockheed SR-71A 61-7958 at Beale AFB, 28 July 1976. (U.S. Air Force)
Aérospatiale SA 3210 Super Frelon F-ZWWE with Roland Coffignot, Jean Boulet and Joseph Turchini. (Aérospatiale)
FAI Record File Num #9963
Status: ratified – superseded since approved
Region: World
Class: E (Rotorcraft)
Sub-Class: E-1 (Helicopters)
Category: General
Group: 2 : turbine
Type of record: Speed over a 3 km course
Performance: 341.23 km/h
Date: 1963-07-19
Course/Location: Istres (France)
Claimant Jean Boulet (FRA)
Crew Roland COFIGNOT
Rotorcraft: Aérospatiale SA 3210 “Super Frelon”
Engines: 3 Turbomeca Turmo
LCOL William F. Barns with his North American Aviation F-86D-35-NA Sabre 51-6145, after his record-setting flight, 16 July 1953. (U.S. Air Force)
16 July 1953: Lieutenant Colonel William F. Barns, United States Air Force, set a Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) absolute World Record for Speed Over a 3 Kilometer Straight Course at the low-altitude course at the Salton Sea, California. ¹
Colonel Barns flew this North American Aviation F-86D-35-NA Sabre, serial number 51-6145, a radar-equipped all-weather interceptor. Lieutenant Colonel Barns was the Air Material Command’s pilot representative at the North American Aviation Los Angeles plant. The Sabre was a standard production airplane, the first Block 35 model built. It was fully loaded with twenty-four 2.75-inch (70 millimeter) aerial rockets.
Barns made the FAI-required four passes—two in each direction—in the Sabre interceptor. His four passes were timed at 720.574, 710.515, 721.351, and 710.350 miles per hour. (1,159.651, 1,143.463, 1,160.902, and 1,143.198 kilometers per hour).
Lieutenant Colonel William F. Barns, the Air Material Command’s pilot representative at the North American Aviation Los Angeles plant, in the cockpit of a brand-new North American Aviation F-86D-30-NA Sabre, 51-6112. (Jet Pilot Overseas)
Barns averaged 715.745 miles per hour (1,151.88 kilometers per hour) at only 125 feet (38 meters) above the surface. The air temperature was 105 °F. (40.5 °C.)
The surface of the Salton Sea is -236 feet (-71.9 meters)—below Sea Level. Barns’ Sabre was flying at -111 feet (-33.8 meters). Under these conditions, the speed of sound, Mach 1, was 794 miles per hour (1,278 kilometers per hour), so the margin between the record speed and the onset of transonic compressibility effects was increased. Barns’ Sabre reached a maximum 0.91 Mach under these conditions.
North American Aviation F-86D-35-NA Sabre 51-6145, FAI World Speed Record holder.
The Associated Press reported the event:
Air Force Colonel Breaks Record
THERMAL, Calif. (AP)—An Air Force colonel flashed to a new air speed record of 715.7 miles per hour Thursday in a north American F-86D Sabre Jet.
Skimming over the hot beach of Southern California’s Salton Sea, Lt. Col. William F. Barns, 32, broke the record set last Nov. 19 over the same run by Capt. J. Slade Nash of Edwards Air Force Base.
On his first try, Barns averaged 713.6 miles per hour, a record performance, but came back a half hour later to beat that.
The airplane could not exceed 500 meters altitude (1,640 feet) at any time after takeoff on the trial, and the 3-kilometer dash had to be made below 100 meters (328 feet).
—The Daily Illini, 17 July 1953, Vol. 82, Number 189, at Page 1, Column 2.
The same F-86D, 51-6145, flown by Captain Harold E. Collins, set an FAI World Record for Speed Over a 15/25 Kilometer Straight Course of 1,139.219 kilometers per hour (707.878 miles per hour) at Vandalia. Ohio, 1 September 1953. ²
William Frederick Barns was born 30 August 1920 at Baltimore, Maryland. He was the son of Claude Cox Barns and Nellie C. Hedrick Barns. The family moved to the Hawaiian Islands in 1925. He attended Theordore Roosevelt High School, in Honolulu. In 1940, William was employed as a clerk at the Bishop National Bank.
Barns began civilian flight training at John Rodgers Field near Honolulu in 1941, and was at the airfield during the attack on the Hawaiian Islands by the Imperial Japanese Navy, 7 December 1941. Barns enlisted in U.S. Army Air Corps 13 April 1942. He had brown hair and eyes, was 5 feet, 10 inches (1.78 meters) tall, and weighed 138 pounds. After qualifying as a pilot at Luke Field, Arizona, Barns was commissioned as a second lieutenant, U.S. Army Air Forces.
During World War II, Barns flew 210 combat missions with the 324th Fighter Group. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Silver Star.
Major and Mrs. William F. Barns, Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaiian Islands, 1949.
Colonel Barns married Miss Marylouise Hamilton at the Flyer’s Chapel of the Mission Inn, Riverside, California, 18 August 1947. They had two children, Terrie and Bill. At the time of Barn’s world speed record, the family resided in Palos Verdes Estates, a few miles south of the North American factory.
Colonel Barns retired from the U.S. Air Force, 31 May 1966. He died in Phoenix, Arizona, 17 April 1995.
North American Aviation F-86D-1-NA Sabre 50-463. (North American Aviation, Inc.)
The F-86D was an all-weather interceptor developed from North American Aviation F-86 Sabre day fighter. It was the first single-seat interceptor and it used a very sophisticated—for its time—electronic fire control system. It was equipped with radar and armed with twenty-four unguided 2.75-inch (69.85 millimeter) diameter Mark 4 Folding-Fin Aerial Rockets (FFAR) carried in a retractable tray in its belly.
A North American Aviation, Inc. advertisement, 1953. (Vintage Ad Browser)
The aircraft was so complex that the pilot training course was the longest of any aircraft in the U.S. Air Force inventory, including that of the Boeing B-47 Stratojet.
The F-86D was larger than the F-86A, E and F fighters, with a wider fuselage. Its length was increased to 40 feet, 3 inches (12.268 meters) with a wingspan of 37 feet, 1.5 inches (11.316 meters), and its height is 15 feet, 0 inches (4.572 meters). The interceptor had an empty weight of 13,518 pounds (6,131.7 kilograms), and maximum takeoff weight of 19,975 pounds (9,060.5 kilograms). It retained the leading edge slats of the F-86A, F-86E and early F-86F fighters. The horizontal stabilizer and elevators were replaced by a single, all-moving stabilator. All flight controls were hydraulically boosted. A “clamshell” canopy replaced the sliding unit of earlier models
The F-86D was powered by a General Electric J47-GE-17 engine. This was a single-shaft, axial-flow turbojet with afterburner. The engine had a 12-stage compressor, 8 combustion chambers, and single-stage turbine. The J47-GE-17 was equipped with an electronic fuel control system which substantially reduced the pilot’s workload. It had a normal (continuous) power rating of 4,990 pounds of thrust (22.20 kilonewtons); military power, 5,425 pounds (24.13 kilonewtons) (30 minute limit), and maximum 7,500 pounds of thrust (33.36 kilonewtons) with afterburner (15 minute limit). (All power ratings at 7,950 r.p.m.) It was 18 feet, 10.0 inches (5.740 meters) long, 3 feet, 3.75 inches (1.010 meters) in diameter, and weighed 3,000 pounds (1,361 kilograms).
North American Aviation F-86D-20-NA Sabre 51-3045. (U.S. Air Force)
The maximum speed of the F-86D was 601 knots (692 miles per hour/1,113 kilometers per hour) at Sea Level, 532 knots (612 miles per hour/985 kilometers per hour) at 40,000 feet (12,192 meters), and 504 knots (580 miles per hour/933 kilometers per hour)at 47,800 feet (14,569 meters).
The F-86D had an area intercept range of 241 nautical miles (277 statute miles/446 kilometers) and a service ceiling of 49,750 feet (15,164 meters). The maximum ferry range with external tanks was 668 nautical miles (769 statute miles/1,237 kilometers). Its initial rate of climb was 12,150 feet per minute (61.7 meters per second) from Sea Level at 16,068 pounds (7,288 kilograms). From a standing start, the F-86D could reach its service ceiling in 22.2 minutes.
North American Aviation F-86D-60-NA Sabre 53-4061 firing a salvo of FFARs.
The F-86D was armed with twenty-four 2.75-inch (69.85 millimeter) unguided Folding-Fin Aerial Rockets (FFAR) with explosive warheads. They were carried in a retractable tray, and could be fired in salvos of 6, 12, or 24 rockets. The FFAR was a solid-fuel rocket. The 7.55 pound (3.43 kilogram) warhead was proximity-fused, or could be set for contact detonation, or to explode when the rocket engine burned out.
The F-86D’s radar could detect a target at 30 miles (48 kilometers). The fire control system calculated a lead-collision-curve and provided guidance to the pilot through his radar scope. Once the interceptor was within 20 seconds of its target, the pilot selected the number of rockets to fire and pulled the trigger, which armed the system. At a range of 500 yards (457 meters), the fire control system launched the rockets.
A potential adversary of the North American Aviation F-86D Sabre all-weather interceptor was the Tupolev Tu-85 long-range strategic bomber.
Between December 1949 and September 1954, 2,505 F-86D Sabres (sometimes called the “Sabre Dog”) were built by North American Aviation. There were many variants (“block numbers”) and by 1955, almost all the D-models had been returned to maintenance depots or the manufacturer for standardization. 981 of these aircraft were modified to a new F-86L standard. The last F-86D was removed from U.S. Air Force service in 1961.
After its service with the United States Air Force, the world-record-setting Sabre, 51-6145, was transferred to NATO ally, the Royal Hellenic Air Force.
North American Aviation F-86D-30-NA Sabre 51-6143, right roll over Malibu, California.
