Spirit Testbed

This aircraft, 60-0377, started out as a standard C-135A Stratofreighter. It was converted to the NC-135A configuration when it was adapted to be the B-2 avionics testbed, on which the radar and navigation systems were tested and validated, with over 300 sorties, before the B-2 took to the air. (In some sources, it's referred to as an NC-135A and a C-135E, but there's no indication that these are correct). After the B-2 program came to an end, the aircraft was retired and put into storage at Edwards AFB for eventual restoration and inclusion in the Air Force Flight Test Center Museum.

The C-135A started out as a stop-gap logistical transport that the Air Force bought to use until the C-141 Starlifters came on line. After an initial three were converted from KC-135s by having their refueling booms removed, the Air Force bought fifteen production Boeing 717-157s which they designated as C-135A (yes, Boeing has indeed re-cycled the 717 designation). A 1966 view of 60-0377 can be seen here.

In this undated photo, 377 flies over the U.S. Borax Mine that sits just north of Edwards and Rogers Dry Lake. The mine, which opened in 1957, is the largest open-pit mine in California and the largest borax mine in the world.

Kawasaki Gunner

Sometimes when I pick up one of these old photos that are devoid of any notations or discernible history, I have to wonder how in the world it got from where it was snapped to where I found it. Take this one: a portrait of a proud Imperial Japanese Army gunner, taken probably sometime in the 1930s, and found in a pile in a Palmdale, Calif. antique store some 80 years later. To make matters even more odd, it is printed on French photo postcard paper.

The plane that this anonymous gunner is standing in is a Kawasaki Ki-3, the last biplane light bomber built by Japan. The Ki-3, which first flew in March 1933, was designed by German engineer Richard Vogt (who went on to become chief engineer for Blohm und Voss) and was powered by a liquid-cooled BMW IX V-12 engine. Production ran from January 1934 through March 1935, and Ki-3s saw service in Korea and Manchuria.

Black Widows

Two P-61As are depicted on this Northrop-issued postcard. Compare to the
same depiction on a press 8x10 further below. 

The MojaveWest Archive recently had the opportunity to obtain two small collections of Northrop- and Air Corps-issued publicity/press photos of the Northrop P-61 Black Widow. The first is a set of three real-photo postcards issued by Northrop, presumably as publicity giveaways, and the second collection is are press-release 8x10 photos that were collected by some unknown individual (they came from an estate via an intermediary, so the origin has been lost), although I suspect that this person was a retired Northrop graphic artist.

The lurid 1940s hype shines through in the description: "Big, venomous,
secretly equipped, the BLACK WIDOW has what it takes to lurk in the darkened skies."

The P-61 Black Widow was a fighter that, like so many other planes built by Jack Northrop, just didn't quite fit the image that people had about fighters. While most such aircraft were single-seaters, the P-61 had a three-man crew: pilot, gunner and radar operator. It had almost the same length and wingspan, as a B-25, and more powerful engines and had a heavier empty weight than the Mitchell. Yet the P-61 had no bomb bay (it did have under-wing hardpoints, though). Instead, the Widow's bite was its four 20mm cannon it its belly, as well as four .50 caliber Browning machine guns in a dorsal turret, which could be aimed and fired remotely by any one of the three-man crew - at least that's how it was designed. After the first 37 aircraft were delivered with turrets, delivery issues with the turret led to the next 363 aircraft to be delivered without them, as the turret shared critical components with those used in B-29s, which were considered a higher priority aircraft. The aircraft that came without the turret also had the gunner position eliminated.

The real secret of the Black Widow, however, was that it could see in the dark. In fact, it's sole intended mission was to serve as a night interceptor, finding and eliminating the enemy in the dark. To do that, it was equipped with the SCR-720 radar system, which was steerable by a radar operator, who initially sat in the aft section of the aircraft; on aircraft without a dorsal turret, the radar operator was moved up to the gunner's position. The radar system had a range of about five miles and when the operator identified a target, he would vector the pilot towards it. When the Widow got closer, the pilot could navigate using a small radar scope on the instrument panel.

The rest of the images, below are all accompanied by the text of the mimeographed cut lines pasted to the backs.

This appears to be a factory new plane; note lack of any markings other than the
insignia, and the lack of an upper turret.

(Left) "Closeup of the deadly Northrop Black Widow, world's largest pursuit plane, designed specifically for night fighting, now in increased production at Northrop Aircraft Inc., Hawthorne, California. The Black Widow P-61 is quick and easy to 'spot' in flight or on the ground. Distinguishing features are the long nose of the crew nacelle and twin 2,000 horsepower Pratt and Whitney engines. Twin tail booms supporting two rudders are connected by a stabilizer and elevator group. The plane is as large as a medium bomber; it carries a crew of three fighting specialists. Photo by Northrop Aircraft Inc."

This serial 41-18876, the third aircraft built and the first of 13 YP-61 service test
aircraft. Note that the aircraft paint crew seems to have been somewhat dyslexic,
having labeled the tail incorrectly as 11867. Also note the early experimental radar
antenna on the side of the fuselage.

(Left) "The Army Air Forces' deadly night fighter, the Northrop P-61 'Black Widow', is doing yeoman work in the Philippine Theater, where the Japs are attempting to destroy our B-29 and fighter airbases, supporting General MacArthur's re-conquest of the Islands. Jap attempts to night bomb our airfield have met disaster in the 'Black Widow's' sting with its four 20 millimeter cannon and four .50 calibre machine guns. Darkness moans nothing to the 'Black Widow', for with its special detection instruments it can spot planes from afar, sneak up on them in the dark and blast them to pieces. 14 Feb. 1945. Photo by Air Technical Service Command."

The press print version of the post card includes lots of clouds, but somehow,
the angles all seem wrong to me, as if a photo of the planes taken from the ground
was superimposed on a photo of clouds. Thoughts?

(Right) "Northrop Black Widows soar gracefully through the sky in test flights daily over Northrop Field, Hawthorne, California. These deadly night interceptors, now in increased production, are the world's largest and most powerful pursuit planes and were designed specifically for night fighting. The Black Widow P-61 is easily identified in flight. Look for the long nose of the crew nacelle extending far in front of the plane's two 2,000 horsepower Pratt and Whitney radial engines, and riding between twin booms. Capable of blasting apart anything that flies, the Black Widow packs 20 mm cannon and 50 cal. machine guns. Photo by Northrop Aircraft Inc."

Tail number 42-5501, the 16th A-model built. 

(Left) "First official photo of the top turret of the Northrop Black Widow P-61 night fighter. While much of the equipment of the Black Widow is still highly restricted by the War Department, permission was granted to show the lethal, revolving turret, on top of crew nacelle, housing four .50 caliber machine guns. In addition to this armament, the Widow carries 20 millimeter cannon, a combined fire-power greater than that of any other fighter in the world and capable of blasting out of the sky anything that can fly. It is this terrific fire-power PLUS the inherent maneuverability and safety of the Black Widow that has enabled it to shoot down the best the Japs and Nazis could throw against it, without a single Black Widow being compromised or shot down in combat. Official Army Air Force Photograph."

P-61A-1 42-5507

The photo on the right is clearly not the same photo, nor the same aircraft, as shown above, but carries the exact same caption on the back, with the exception of the photo credit being given to Northrop. Which was first? Were they released on the same day? Well, who's counting. What is intriguing to me is the motivation for releasing two photos of early-production A-models, which were built just before the turrets became unavailable - and unused - on the next 363 aircraft. Could it be a little bit of psych-warfare, wanting the enemy to fear a weapon that was not actually available?

Serial 42-39486 was a B-model, and had an 8-inch longer nose. Like many of the
A-models, the first 200 (out of 450) B-models built didn't have an upper turret,
the lack of which might have been one reason this plane was shot from the bottom.

(Right) "Newest photo of the Black Widow P-61 night fighter, Army's most powerful, and still highly secret pursuit plane. Picture was taken to show the exceptional rate of climb of the Black Widow which takes off steeply and swiftly, as well as landing at low speeds, permitting it to be used on small airfields. In [this] picture, the Black Widow has attained considerable altitude although its landing wheels have barely started to retract. The plane is made by Northrop Aircraft, Inc. Hawthorne Calif., creator of the Flying Wing. Photo by Northrop Aircraft Inc."

P-61B

The last photo is not part of the above collection, but is an 8x10 film positive that has been in the Archive for a while; the image itself is one of the more common P-61 photos out on the web. There is no caption accompanying it.

Requiem for a Neptune Crew

Tanker 11 flying from Fox Field on the 2009 Station Fire.

We learned today that Neptune Aviation's P2V Neptune Tanker 11 crashed yesterday, Sunday June 3, in southern Utah, with the loss of both of her crewmembers. They were flying against the White Rock Fire near the Nevada-Utah border. We mourn their loss, and our thoughts and prayers go out to their families and the Neptune Aviation and USFS crews that worked with these brave pilots. You will not be forgotten.

Tanker 11 flying from Fox Field on the 2009 Station Fire.

75 Years of Silvaires

There isn't a story of major historic significance behind today's photo, but I found it intriguing anyway. NC45449 is a Luscombe Silvaire, and the fact that it is on floats caught my eye when I was going through a stack of photos at an antique store recently. Luscombe began building the Model 8 in 1937, and with the introduction of the deluxe model 8C in 1940 came the name "Silvaire".

Luscombe went out of business in 1949, but the tough little two seat aircraft had developed an extremely devoted following, and additional airframes have been produced by successor companies over the years, and even today, 75 years later, there are still efforts to build more, the most recent being Renaissance Aircraft, who are aiming at the FAA's Light Sport Aircraft category. As a means of personal transportation, the Silvaire is appealing: at 6,000 feet and 75% power, the Silvaire turns a respectable 128 mph while burning a mere five gallons an hour. Add a 44 mph stall speed and a 600 foot takeoff roll, and you have a whole lot of fun!

As for the plane in our photo, there's no trace of the registration number that I can find (that number is currently held by a CE150). There is, however, an intriguing reference to the Orlando Aviation Country Club, which appears to have been in existence from about 1945 through 1950, in the April 9, 1985 edition of the Orlando Sentinel. In an article about adventurer/photographer Tom Turner  IV and his participation in a polar expedition long with Sir Edmund Hillary and Neil Armstrong, the paper gives a bit a background on Turner's father, Tom Jr.: "After the war, Tom Turner Jr. launched the Orlando Aviation Country Club on Winter Park's Lake Killarney. 'We had a lot of fun out there until about 1950 -- people water-skiing behind airplanes, that sort of thing,' he said. 'Fox Movietone came in to shoot a 20-minute film. Paramount, too.'"

It's not at all clear from the photo if it was taken on Lake Killarney or at one of the other many lakes in the region, but one thing is certain: the Google Earth view of Lake Killarney shows a very different landscape, a lake completely surrounded by urban sprawl. Oh for those simpler days when you could get away from it all and waterski behind a Silvaire!

California Patrol: August 6, 1930

Somewhere over California, 3:30 pm, 8/6/30: "Asst. Sect. of War Directing
Operations from Bomber"

The MojaveWest Vintage Photograph Archive was privileged to be able to recently acquire this amazing set of four 8x10 photographs from 1930, featuring stunning images of U.S. Army Air Corps fighters and bombers on patrolling maneuvers over California.

The four images have no markings on their reverse side, but came from an estate along with a large number of aerial survey photos showing landmarks and features in California, and these had a purple rubber stamp on their back that says "Official Photo, 15th Photo Section, Air Corps, U.S. Army, Crissy Field, Presidio, San Francisco Calif." It is presumed, then, that our four photos also were taken by the 15th.

The four images are all dated 8/6/30, and even have the time taken detailed in the hand-written captions. The first, taken at 3:30 pm, is of the Curtiss B-2 Condor bomber (right), which was carrying Assistant Secretary of War Frederick Huff Payne, who was directing the exercise.

Payne, who was described as a "Lt. Colonel of the Ordnance Reserve" by a contemporary newspaper, had just been appointed by President Hoover to the post in May, filling a spot vacated by Col. Patrick J. Hurley, who had been promoted to Secretary of War upon the untimely death of James W. Good.

Curtiss built 13 Condors (an XB-2 prototype and a dozen production aircraft) from 1929-1930, and all were flown by 11th Bomb Squadron, 7th Bombardment Group, based at Rockwell Field, at the far southern end of California. The Condor normally carried a crew of five, the two pilots, a bombardier, and two gunners, who manned aft-facing Lewis machine guns mounted in the back of each engine nacelle (obscured by the upper wing tip in our photo). When you consider the noise and exhaust from the Curtiss Conqueror V-12 engines, the gunner's position had to be less that comfortable!

At 3:45, this pursuit formation was photographed high over a marine layer of clouds on the California Coast. The planes are Boeing P-12s.

At 4:00 pm, a formation of five B-2 Condors fly just off the coast, visible at the right edge of the image.



























The fourth image, taken at 4:35pm, shows a dozen P-12s in a "D" formation. The caption identifies them as from the 95th Squadron, which was also based at Rockewell Field. The 95th started out in WWI, and was the unit that Quentin Roosevelt was serving in when he was killed.

The big question with this photo is its location: it appears to be shot over a river where it empties into the Pacific (note the surf at the upper edge of the image). There appears to be a military base under the planes.

However, I have yet to find a corresponding river that appears this way today. The closest I can figure, this is either the San Pedro or Long Beach area before the huge reclamation projects that resulting in fill-land which changed the entire appearance of the area. If anyone has a better idea, please comment below!

Burbank Gala

The greater Los Angeles area in the late 1920s was awash in small airfields. It was the Golden Age of Aviation, and airports, as well as aviators, clamored for attention, business and supremacy. Glendale’s Grand Central Air Terminal, which opened in 1929, boasted of the west coast’s first concrete runway. Not to be outdone, the nearby city of Burbank encouraged the construction of what was then called United Airport (today Bob Hope International), which was touted as America’s first multi-million dollar airfield. It was built and operated by the United Airport & Transportation Corp, the giant conglomerate that was later broken up to become Boeing Aircraft, United Airlines and United Technologies.

While the Grand Central Air Terminal’s opening had been a big gala affair, Burbank’s had to be bigger and better. It was a three-day event, held on Memorial Day weekend, 1930 that featured a series of air races (a total of five closed-course air races held over the three days, as air racing was much more popular sport then than it is today), as well as a mass appearance of Army aircraft, fitting since it was, after all, Memorial Day.

The original Hangar 2, which has since been moved to the far
west end of BUR, where it has housed biz jets belonging to,
among others, John Travolta and Roy Disney.

The entire 95th Aero Squadron and their Boeing P-12 “Pursuits” from March Airfield as well as the 11th Bombardment Squadron, flying Curtiss B-2 Condors and Keystone LB-7 Bombers from Rockwell Field (today’s NAS North Island, in San Diego) arrived on Saturday morning, May 30th, for massed fly-bys, as well as static display of their aircraft. Our photo shows some of these parked on the field after their arrival. A program of the festivities can be seen here. Interestingly, the P-12s are named as “Wasps” and the LB-7s as “Hornets” in the program, reflecting not the name of the aircraft, but the type of engines used.

Just past the trees, you can see the dome of the Portal of The
Folded Wings at Valhalla Cemetery, where a number of aviation
"greats", including the Wright Bros' mechanic, Charles Talyor,
are buried.

The festivities kicked off on Friday afternoon with the arrival of the two army squadrons, as well as the Goodyear blimp Volunteer. Two class air races were held, and the evening finished off with an 8:30 pm “Dance on the Roof Garden, Terminal Building”. This must have been quite the swanky affair…and oh, that the vastly remodeled Burbank terminal building still had this venue!

The main terminal building, which still stands, albeit highly
remodeled. This is where, on both the Friday and Saturday
nights of the event, VIPs could "Dance on the Roof Garden."
In the distance, to the left of the terminal, is the original Hangar
One, which like Two has been moved to the west end of the
airport. It houses the US headquarters of the regional cargo
airline Ameriflight (disclaimer: proud former employee).

On Saturday morning, two additional squadrons of Navy planes arrived, and more races were held, including a two-plane-team relay race, in which a passenger had to dash from the first plane to a second waiting one after the first lap of the race. A race for women pilots, as well as an unlimited class race was also held. The final event of the day, the William E. Boeing Trophy Race was for members of the 95th Aero Squadron. At the end of the day on Sunday, all the Army and Navy planes formed up together in one giant departing formation.

This photo also gives an interesting juxtaposition on the threshold of a crucial time in aviation history: the aircraft shown here in 1930, both the fighters and the bombers, are little changed in configuration and technology from 15 years before, in the midst of WWI. And yet a mere 15 years after this photo, there were jets flying through the sky.