Apollo 11/Saturn V (AS-506) and its Mobile Launch Platform on one of the two Crawler–Transporters at Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida, 20 May 1969. (NASA)
20 May 1969: The Apollo 11 Saturn V (SA-506) “stack” was rolled out of the Vehicle Assembly Building aboard a Mobile Launch Platform, carried by a Crawler-Transporter, and moved to Launch Complex 39A. The rocket would be launched for the Moon at 13:32:00 UTC, 16 July 1969.
The two Crawler-Transporters are the world’s largest self-propelled land vehicles. They were designed and built by Marion Power Shovel Company, Marion, Ohio, and were assembled on Merritt Island. (The Crawlerway connected the island to mainland Florida, so that it now forms a peninsula.) They are 131 feet (39.9 meters) long and 113 feet (34.4 meters) wide. The height is adjustable from 20 feet (6.1 meters) to 26 feet (7.9 meters). The load deck is 90 feet × 90 feet (27.4 × 27.4 meters). The transporters weigh 2,721 metric tons (3,000 tons).
A Crawler-Transporter carrying a Mobile Launch Platform. (NASA)
The Crawler-Transporters were powered by two 10,687.7-cubic-inch-displacement (175.1 liters) liquid-cooled, turbosupercharged, American Locomotive Company (ALCO) V-16 251C 45° sixteen-cylinder 4-cycle diesel engines. This engine produced 2,750 horsepower. The engines drive four 1,000 kilowatt electric generators. These in turn supply electricity to sixteen 375 horsepower traction motors.
Two 1,065 horsepower White-Superior eight-cylinder diesel engines provide electrical and hydraulic power to operate the crawlers’ systems. The hydraulic system operates at 5,200 p.s.i.
The maximum loaded speed is 0.9 miles per hour (1.4 kilometers per hour).
Since the time of the Apollo and Space Shuttle Programs, the Crawler-Transporters have been upgraded to handle the Space Launch System (SLS) heavy-lift rockets. The original ALCO locomotive engines have been replaced by two Cummins QSK95 16-cylinder diesel/C3000-series 1,500 kW power generation units. The new engine displaces 5,797 cubic inches and produces a maximum 4,200 horsepower at 1,200 r.p.m. The QSK95 has 46% less displacement than the old ALCO, weighs 39% less, but produces 57% more horsepower. The generators also double the electrical output.
Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building, a Cummins power generation unit is lowered into a Crawler-Transporter. (NASA)
The Saturn V rocket was a three-stage, liquid-fueled heavy launch vehicle. Fully assembled with the Apollo Command and Service Module, it stood 363 feet (110.642 meters) tall. The first and second stages were 33 feet (10.058 meters) in diameter. Fully loaded and fueled the rocket weighed 6,200,000 pounds (2,948,350 kilograms). It could lift a payload of 260,000 pounds (117,934 kilograms) to Low Earth Orbit.
A Saturn V S-IC first stage being lifted inside the Vehicle Assembly Building. (NASA 68-HC-70)
The first stage was designated S-IC. It was designed to lift the entire rocket to an altitude of 220,000 feet (67,056 meters) and accelerate to a speed of more than 5,100 miles per hour (8,280 kilometers per hour). The S-IC stage was built by Boeing at the Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans, Louisiana. It was 138 feet (42.062 meters) tall and had an empty weight of 290,000 pounds (131,542 kilograms). Fully fueled with 203,400 gallons (770,000 liters) of RP-1 and 318,065 gallons (1,204,000 liters) of liquid oxygen, the stage weighed 5,100,000 pounds (2,131,322 kilograms). It was propelled by five Rocketdyne F-1 engines, producing 1,522,000 pounds of thrust, each, for a total of 7,610,000 pounds of thrust at Sea Level. These engines were ignited seven seconds prior to lift off and the outer four burned for 168 seconds. The center engine was shut down after 142 seconds to reduce the rate of acceleration. The F-1 engines were built by the Rocketdyne Division of North American Aviation at Canoga Park, California.
A Saturn V S-II second stage being positioned above the S-IC first stage. (NASA MSFC-67-58331)
The S-II second stage was built by North American Aviation at Seal Beach, California. It was 81 feet, 7 inches (24.87 meters) tall and had the same diameter as the first stage. The second stage weighed 80,000 pounds (36,000 kilograms) empty and 1,060,000 pounds loaded. The propellant for the S-II was liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. The stage was powered by five Rocketdyne J-2 engines, also built at Canoga Park. Each engine produced 232,250 pounds of thrust, and combined, 1,161,250 pounds of thrust.
A Saturn V S-IVB third stage with its Rocketdyne J-2 engine. ( NASA)
The Saturn V third stage was designated S-IVB. It was built by McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Company at Huntington Beach, California. The S-IVB was 58 feet, 7 inches (17.86 meters) tall with a diameter of 21 feet, 8 inches (6.604 meters). It had a dry weight of 23,000 pounds (10,000 kilograms) and fully fueled weighed 262,000 pounds. The third stage had one J-2 engine and also used liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen for propellant. The S-IVB wou place the Command and Service Module into Low Earth Orbit, then, when all was ready, the J-2 would be restarted for the Trans Lunar Injection.
Eighteen Saturn V rockets were built. They were the most powerful machines ever built by man.
Saturn V SA-506 travels the 3.5 mile “crawlerway” from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Complex 39A, 20 May 1969. (NASA)
Boeing 367-80 N70700 is rolled out of the final assembly building at Boeing’s facility at Renton Field, 14 May 1954. (Boeing)
14 May 1954: The Boeing Model 367-80 prototype, N70700, was rolled out at the Boeing plant at Renton Field, south of Seattle, Washington. Boeing’s founder, William Edward Boeing (1881–1956) was present. The prototype made its first flight 15 July 1954 with Boeing test pilots Alvin M. “Tex” Johnston and Richard L. “Dix” Loesch. It is painted yellow and brown.
Originally planned as a turbojet-powered development of the Boeing KC-97 Stratotanker, the Model 367, the 367-80 was the 80th major design revision. It is called the “Dash 80.”
Boeing had risked $16,000,000 in a private venture to build the Dash 80 in order to demonstrate its capabilities to potential civilian and military customers, while rivals Douglas and Lockheed were marketing their own un-built jet airliners. Put into production as the U.S. Air Force KC-135A Stratotanker air refueling tanker and C-135 Stratolifter transport, a civil variant was also produced as the Boeing 707 Stratoliner, the first successful jet airliner. Though they look very similar, the 707 is structurally different than the KC-135 and has a wider fuselage.
Cutaway scale model of the Boeing 367-80 showing interior arrangement. The woman on the right is Gloria Durnell, a secretary at Boeing. (Boeing)
The prototype Boeing Model 367-80 was operated by a pilot, co-pilot and flight engineer. The airplane’s wing was mounted low on the fuselage and the engine nacelles were mounted on pylons under the wing, as they were on Boeing’s B-47 Stratojet and B-52 Stratofortress. The wings and tail surfaces were swept to 35° at 25% chord, and had 7° dihedral. The Dash 80 was 127 feet 10 inches (38.964 meters) long with a wingspan of 129 feet, 8 inches (39.522 meters) and overall height of 38 feet (11.582 meters). The tail span is 39 feet, 8 inches (12.090 meters). The empty weight of the 367-80 was 75,630 pounds (34,505 kilograms) and the gross weight, 190,000 pounds (86,183 kilograms).
Boeing 367-80 N70700. (San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives)
N70700 was powered by four Pratt & Whitney Turbo Wasp JT3C engines. This engine is a civil variant of the military J57 series. It is a two-spool, axial-flow turbojet engine with a 16-stage compressor and 2-stage turbine. The JT3C-6 (used in the first production 707s) was rated at 11,200 pounds of thrust (49.82 kilonewtons), and 13,500 pounds (60.05 kilonewtons) with water/methanol injection). The JT3C is 11 feet, 6.6 inches (3.520 meters) long, 3 feet, 2.9 inches (0.988 meters) in diameter, and weighs 4,235 pounds (1,921 kilograms).
These gave the 367-80 a cruise speed of 550 miles per hour (885 kilometers per hour) and a maximum speed of 0.84 Mach (582 miles per hour, 937 kilometers per hour) at 25,000 feet (7,620 meters). The service ceiling was 43,000 feet (13,106 meters). Its range was 3,530 miles (5,681 kilometers).
Boeing continued to use the 367–80 for testing, finally retiring it 22 January 1970. At that time, its logbook showed 2,346 hours, 46 minutes of flight time (TTAF). It was flown to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Tucson, Arizona, and placed in storage. In 1990, Boeing returned it to flyable condition and flew it back it to Renton where a total restoration was completed. Many of those who had worked on the Dash 80, including Tex Johnston, were aboard.
Boeing 367-80, N70700, in storage. (San Diego Air & Space Museum)
The pioneering airplane was presented to the Smithsonian Institution and is on display at the National Air and Space Museum, Steven V. Udvar-Hazy Center. The Boeing 367-80 was designated an International Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
820 of the C-135 series and 1,010 Model 707 aircraft were built from 1957–1979.
The Boeing Model 367-80 is on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy center, Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum. (Photo by Dane Penland, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution)
Highly recommended: Tex Johnston, Jet-Age Test Pilot, by A.M. “Tex” Johnston with Charles Barton, Smithsonian Books, Washington, D.C., 1991
XB-70A-1-NA 62-0001 rollout at Air Force Plant 42, 11 May 1964. (North American Aviation, Inc.)
11 May 1964: At Air Force Plant 42 near Palmdale, a small city in the high desert of southern California, the first prototype North American Aviation XB-70A-1-NA Valkyrie, 62-0001, was rolled out. More than 5,000 people were there to watch.
In August 1960, the U.S. Air Force had contracted for one XB-70 prototype and 11 pre-production YB-70 development aircraft. By 1964, however, the program had been scaled back to two XB-70As and one XB-70B. Only two were actually completed.
“Ride of the Valkyrs” by John Charles Dollman, 1909. In Norse mythology, the valkyries were immortal female figures who chose who among those who had died in battle were worthy of being taken to Valhalla.
The B-70 was designed as a Mach 3+ strategic bomber capable of flying higher than 70,000 feet (21,336 meters). Like its contemporaries, the Lockheed Blackbirds, the Valkerie was so advanced that it was beyond the state of the art. New materials and processes had to be developed, and new industrial machinery designed and built.
The XB-70A is a very large aircraft with a canard-delta configuration, built primarily of stainless steel and titanium. It has twin vertical fins combining the functions of stabilizers and rudders. The XB-70A Valkyrie prototype is 193 feet, 5 inches (58.953 meters) long, including the pitot boom, with a wingspan of 105 feet, 0 inches (32.004 meters) and overall height of 30 feet, 9 inches (9.373 meters). The canard span is 28 feet, 10 inches (8.788 meters). The canard has flaps, while the delta wing used multiple separate elevons for pitch and roll control.
North American Aviation XB-70A-1-NA Valkyrie takes off at Edwards Air Force Base, 17 August 1965. (NASA)
The delta wing has an angle of incidence of 0° and its leading edges are swept to 65.57°, with 0° sweep at the trailing edge. The wings have a maximum of -2.60° of twist. The wings of 62-001 have no dihedral, but the second B-70, 62-0207, had 5° dihedral. The total wing area is 6,297.8 square feet (585.1 square meters).
The canard also has 0° of incidence and dihedral. Its leading edge is swept aft 31.70°, while the trailing edge sweeps forward 14.91°. The canard has a total area of 415.59 square feet (38.61 square meters). The canard flaps can be lowered to 20°.
The vertical fins have a height of 15 feet (4.572 meters). The leading edges are swept 51.77° and the trailing edges, 10.89°.
The B-70 was designed to “surf” on its own supersonic shock wave (this was called “compression lift”). The outer 20 feet (6.096 meters) of each wing could be lowered to a 25° or 65° angle for high speed flight. Although this did provide additional directional stability, it actually helped increase the compression lift, which supported up to 35% of the airplane’s weight in flight.
North American Aviation XB-70A-1-NA Valkyrie 62-0001. (U.S. Air Force)
The first prototype, 62-001, had an empty weight of 231,215 pounds (104,877 kilograms), and its maximum takeoff weight was 521,056 pounds (236,347 kilograms).
The XB-70A is powered by six General Electric YJ93-GE-3 engines, grouped together in the tail. These are single-spool, axial-flow, afterburning turbojet engines, which have an 11-stage compressor section and 2-stage turbine. The YJ93-GE-3 has a normal power rating of 17,700 pounds of thrust (78.734 kilonewtons); military power, 19,900 pounds (88.520 kilonewtons); and maximum power, 28,000 pounds (124.550 kilonewtons). All ratings are at 6,825 r.p.m. and are continuous. A special high-temperature fuel, JP-6, is required. The engine is 19 feet, 8.3 inches (6.002 meters) long, 4 feet, 6.15 inches (1.375 meters) in diameter, and weighs 5,220 pounds (2,368 kilograms).
Test firing one the 62-001’s General Electric YJ93-GE-3 afterburning turbojet engines. (LIFE Magazine)
62-0001 had a cruise speed of 1,089 knots (1,253 miles per hour/2,016 kilometers per hour) at 35,000 feet (10,688 meters), and maximum speed of 1,721 knots (1,980 miles per hour/3,187 kilometers per hour) at 79,050 feet (24,094 meters)—Mach 2.97. During flight testing, the XB-70A reached a maximum of Mach 3.08 (1,777 knots) with a sustained altitude of 74,000 feet (22,555 meters).
Fuel was carried in 11 internal tanks in the wings and fuselage and the maximum capacity was 43,646 gallons (165,218 liters), giving the bomber a combat range of 3,786 nautical miles (4,357 statute miles/7,012 kilometers).
The B-70 was designed to carry two B-53 two-stage radiation-implosion thermonuclear bombs in its internal bomb bay. A maximum of fourteen smaller weapons could be carried.
XB-70A-1 62-0001 first flew 21 September 1964, and exceeded Mach 3 for the first time on its 17th flight, 14 October 1965. Its final flight was 4 February 1969.
The second prototype, XB-70A-2-NA 62-0207, was destroyed in a midair collision. The third Valkyrie, XB-70B-NA 62-0208, was cancelled before completion.
62-0001 is in the collection of the National Museum of the United States Air Force. It has made 83 flights with just 160 hours, 16 minutes, total flight time.
XB-70A-1-NA Valkyrie 62-0001 in cruise at very high altitude, 1968. (NASA)
Boeing XB-47 Stratojet rollout at Seattle, Washington, 12 December 1947. (U.S. Air Force 061024-F-1234S-065)
12 December 1947: The Boeing XB-47 Stratojet was rolled out of its hangar for public display.
The Arizona Republic reported:
Boeing’s New Jet Bomber Is The Size of Superfort
SEATTLE, Sept. 13—(AP) A new jet-propelled bomber, the size of a B-29 Superfortress and with sharply sweptback wings and tail surfaces will begin ground and taxiing tests soon.
Whether the new Boeing XB-47 Stratojet, rolled out of its construction hangar for the first public display yesterday will near or attain speeds of jet fighter planes remains undisclosed. The army air forces and Boeing, showing the plane, made no mention of its expected speed, but streamlining was carried to the extreme.
The sharply turned-back or inverted wings and tail surfaces appeared to be notable innovations in plane design. Four general Electric-built jet engines are mounted in pairs under the inboard sections of the wing, with another out near each wing tip.
The wings are also “exceptionally thin,” a Boeing spokesman said, and the plane has a tandem type landing gear with small outrigger wheels. What was also described as 18 jet-assisted takeoff units studded the rear fuselage for added power. There was only one bomb bay, compared with the two on a B-29, but it was longer than those on a Superfortress.
Compared with the B-29’s wing span of 141 feet and length of 99 feet, the XB-47’s wing span is approximately 116 feet and its length about 108 feet.
Robert Robbins and Scott Osler, chosen as the plane’s test pilots a year ago, said it would be probably a month or more before it could take to the air. They said its initial flights would be “admittedly hazardous” but believe it will be an “outstanding airplane.”
Blueprints used in planning the ship provides for two rocket motors near the tail, to be used for emergency bursts of power, experts said. It would be the first combat-type aircraft with such equipment.
The Boeing company has turned out three other new-type planes this year. They were the new B-50, the successor to the Superfortress, the first 80-passenger Stratocruiser and the XL-15 Liaison plane, being built at the Wichita, Kan., plant.
Several other jet bombers are under experiment for the army and the Consolidated Vultee XB-46, powered with four engine, and the North American XB-45, also a four-engine plane, have undergone trial flights.
Boeing XB-47 Stratojet 46-065. (U.S. Air Force 061024-F-1234S-004)
The first prototype, 46-065, was powered by six General Electric J35-GE-7 axial flow turbojet engines in four pods mounted on pylons below the wings. The J35 was a single-spool, axial-flow turbojet engine with an 11-stage compressor and single-stage turbine. The J35-GE-7 was rated at 3,750 pounds of thrust (16.68 kilonewtons) at 7,700 r.p.m. (static thrust, Sea Level). The engine was 14 feet, 0.0 inches (4.267 meters) long, 3 feet, 4.0 inches (1.016 meters) in diameter and weighed 2,400 pounds (1,089 kilograms). (The second prototype, 46-066, was completed with J47 engines. 46-065 was later retrofitted with these engines.)
The XB-47 prototype had a maximum speed of 502 knots (578 miles per hour/930 kilometers per hour/0.80 Mach) at 15,000 feet (4,572 meters). The combat speed was 462 knots (532 miles per hour/856 kilometers per hour/0.70 Mach) at 35,000 feet (10,668 meters). The prototype’s empty weight was 74,623 pounds (33,848 kilograms), while its maximum takeoff weight was 162,500 pounds (73,709 kilograms). It required a ground run of 11,900 feet (3,627 meters), or 4,800 feet (1,463 meters) with JATO assist. The bomber could climb at a rate of 3,650 feet per minute (18.5 meters per second) at Sea Level, at combat weight and maximum power. The service ceiling was 37,500 feet (11,430 meters). The XB-47 carried 9,957 gallons (37,691 liters) of fuel. The combat radius was 1,175 nautical miles (1,352 statute miles/2,176 kilometers) with a 10,000 pound (4,536 kilogram) bomb load.
Planned armament (though the XB-47s were delivered without it) consisted of two .50-caliber machine guns in a tail turret, with 1,200 rounds of ammunition, and 10,000 pounds (4,536 kilograms) of bombs.
Boeing XB-47 Stratojet 46-065, the first of two prototypes, on the ramp at Boeing Field, Seattle, 1 December 1947. (U.S. Air Force)
The Stratojet was one of the most influential aircraft designs of all time and its legacy can be seen in almost every jet airliner built since the 1950s: the swept wing with engines suspended on pylons, mounted forward of the leading edge.
2,032 B-47s were built by Boeing Wichita, Douglas Tulsa and Lockheed Marietta. They served the United States Air Force from 1951 to 1977.
The very last B-47 flight took place 18 June 1986 when B-47E-25-DT, serial number 52-166, was flown from the Naval Air Weapons Center China Lake to Castle Air Force Base to be placed on static display.
XB-47 45-065 stalled while landing at Larson Air Force Base, near Moses Lake, Washington, 18 August 1951. The crew of three escaped uninjured. The airplane was damaged beyond repair. The second prototype, XB-47 46-066, is in the collection of the Air Force Flight Test Museum, Edwards Air Force Base, California.
Boeing B-52D-1-BW Stratofortress 55-0049 is rolled out of Wichita Plant II, 12:40 p.m., 7 December 1955. Three B-47 Stratojets are in the background. (Unattributed)
7 December 1955: At approximately 12:40 p.m., the first Wichita-built Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, B-52D-1-BW 55-0049, (MSN 464001) was rolled out of Plant II.
55-0049 made its first flight 14 May 1956, and was delivered to the Air Force on 26 June of that year.
On 26 September 1958, 55-0049 set two Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) world records for speed.¹
The record-setting Stratofortress was sent The Boneyard at Davis-Monthan AFB, Tucson, Arizona, 4 October 1978. It was later scrapped.
Boeing B-52D-1-BW Stratofortress 55-0049 (the first Wichita-built B-52) in flight. This is the same type bomber that set two world records 26 September 1958. (U.S. Air Force)
¹ FAI Record File Numbers 8498, 8499 (see This Day in Aviation, 26 September 1958)
