Chasing the Demon

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Chasing the Demon Page 27

by Dan Hampton


  Ken’s P-80 was powered: Ibid. A unique story that I have never seen fully recorded anywhere. Ken remembers the incident clearly and, even then, knew it was historical. He did not think much of Wright’s rudeness and was personally unimpressed with the man himself.

  Three P-80s from: Ibid. Another great story from a man who participated in the race itself. To hear him matter-of-factly discuss aviation legends like Robin Olds and Gus Lundquist was amazing and worth a book all by itself.

  “Everyone who mattered liked Robin Olds”: Ibid. For further reading on Olds, whom I also regard as a fighter pilot’s fighter pilot, read Christina Olds’s marvelous account of her father in Fighter Pilot. I also included several sections about the man in Lords of the Sky, pp. 346–352 and pp. 459–468.

  On December 9, 1946”: Miller, The X-Planes, p. 27.

  For certain, Al Boyd was no: Too little has been written about this man. His flying skills were matched by his administrative talents and political instincts. See Chilstrom and Leary, Test Flying at Old Wright Field, p. 257, plus numerous other personal recollections in various accounts. He is also mentioned in Bob Hoover’s Forever Flying, Chuck Yeager’s Yeager, and extensively in Richard Hallion’s Test Pilots.

  By late 1946: Read Kenneth Werrell’s excellent Sabres Over MiG Alley, pp. 3–14.

  In other words, the United States: And so it began. The combination of military strength and political will on both sides created a five-decade arms race. As the post–Great War generation inherited a mess of economics, vengeance, and artificial borders so have we inherited the detritus from the Cold War.

  Though he was a career: Interview with Ken Chilstrom, December 2017.

  In a 1989 interview: It is worth restating that either Jack Woolams or Chalmers Goodlin could have taken the X-1 supersonic anytime in 1946 if this had been desired and contracted.

  “My own choice”: Fred Ascani, quoted in Yeager and Janos, Yeager, p. 127.

  “I didn’t want it”: Interview with Ken Chilstrom, November, 2017.

  According to James Young: Meeting the Challenge of Supersonic Flight, p. 46, by James Young. A very instructive read by the head of the Air Force Flight Test Center History Office.

  Chapter 9: The Demon

  Naked, except for a pair of: Lauren Kessler, The Happy Bottom Riding Club, p. 17. A wonderful book: well researched, entertaining, and informative. I intended to use it only for occasional reference and could not put the book down. Pancho and her ranch were central to the end of this story of chasing the demon because all these men, from their diverse backgrounds, war experiences, and flying careers came together here. They were, pardon the phrase, in orbit around Pancho’s place; it was really their only leisure and social outlet in an otherwise dismal setting. I would surmise that Pancho knew more about what was happening in both the XP-86 and X-1 programs than Al Boyd or Stuart Symington.

  He was not a happy man: According to Ken Chilstrom, this is an understatement. According to Yeager, Boyd said, “Chuck, if you let me down and do something stupid out there, I’ll nail you to the cross.”

  Bell’s X-1 was finally up: Miller’s X-Planes has an excellent timeline of events, pp. 21–36.

  Like the Me 262: This horizontal tail is basically the same used today in modern fighters and represents a synthesis of wartime aerodynamic lessons, wind tunnel data, and validations through flight test.

  While ferrying the plane: Blackburn, Aces Wild, pp. 136–137.

  They all agreed that if: Ibid., p. 136.

  He had a hostess friend: Much of the personal information on George Welch comes from Al Blackburn, who was a contemporary of both Yeager and Welch. Blackburn knew the same people, hung out at the same places, and heard all the stories. I realize this is anecdotal, but it agrees with characteristics of the man himself, and the time in which he lived.

  According to the NAA flight test report: North American Aviation merged with Rockwell during the early 1970s and most of the company was acquired by Boeing in 1996. I was able to procure copies of George Welch’s 1947 XP-86 Flight Test Reports, courtesy of Michael Lombardi, Boeing’s Corporate Historian. There are enough odd discrepancies and missing pages, along with credible secondhand accounts of October 1947, to produce very reasonable doubts about the USAF insistence that the X-1 flew supersonic first.

  The next few days: See Yeager and Janos, Yeager, pp. 140–162, Miller, X-Planes, p. 28, and the National Air & Space Museum’s synopsis of the program. Ken Chilstrom also provided much insight on the program management aspects of that month, and the difficulties encountered then solved.

  By this time, B-29: Official transcript courtesy of Dr. Alex Spencer, National Air & Space Museum. July 2017 interview.

  There was then, as now: Yeager admitted this himself. “There should’ve been a bump on the road, something to let you know you had just punched a hole in the sound barrier”: Yeager and Janos, Yeager, p. 165. He was quite correct; I have been supersonic thousands of times in my own career and it is a nonevent. Yeager was also correct in stating, “The real barrier wasn’t in the sky but in our knowledge”: He had, in one sentence, summed up the essence of the demon.

  “Slick Goodlin was a much better”: Interview with Ken Chilstrom, December 2017.

  Appendix: Aerodynamics 101

  For those wishing to delve deeper into this particular field, NASA is an excellent place to begin. The website is easy to navigate and has explanations at various levels that deal with all aspects of aerodynamics and propulsion. Of particular interest to those just beginning in the science is the “Dynamics of Flight” section; all the forces are openly discussed, as are the pertinent laws of motion and control.

  In 1738, Swiss mathematician: Bernoulli’s Hydrodynamics, Sir George Cayley’s Aerodynamics by Gibbs-Smith, and Lancaster’s Aerodynamics are all interesting reads for background purposes, though, lacking the benefits of modern wind tunnels, testing, and test pilots, the older texts are often incomplete. Still, through the reading one can gain a sense of the greatest questions and challenges from each era.

  In any event, the properties: da Vinci was really the first to understand and quantify lift, as it applies to human flight. Even though the act was observed daily, and always had been, aerodynamic lift and other forces were not truly understood until the Tuscan-born polymath applied his magnificent talents to the issue. Among his writings and journals, the Codex Trivultianus and Codex Atlanticus both discuss aspects of flying and related principles. The eighteen folios of da Vinci’s Codex on the Flight of Birds are extremely interesting, particularly Number 7, which goes into great detail on wingtip control. There is no doubt that later aviation pioneers, especially those advocating wing warping, took their ideas from these early works.

  This is still not flying: Any discussion of flight, as we understand it in the modern sense, must include Dr. John Anderson’s A History of Aerodynamics. He has named Part I of this seminal work “The Incubation Phase” and it covers what was known, postulated, and perceived from antiquity through Cayley and the early nineteenth century. Part II is the “Infancy of Aerodynamics” and describes, in great detail, man’s increasing understanding of cambered airfoils, flow, and the differences between theoretical and applied aerodynamics.

  Index

  The pagination of this digital edition does not match the print edition from which the index was created. To locate a specific entry, please use your ebook reader’s search tools.

  Abadan oil fields, 80, 197

  acceleration, 41, 117, 271

  ace-in-a-day, 85, 85n, 292n

  Aces High (Blackburn), 236, 239

  Ackeret, Jakob, 118

  Ader, Clément, 22–23, 22n

  Ader Éole, 22–23

  Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (ACA), 51

  AEA June Bug, 47–48

  AEG Siemensstadt, 132

  aerial circumnavigation of the globe, 66–67, 68

  Aerial Experiment Association (AEA), 47–49

  aerial s
team carriage (the Aeriel), 22

  aerial warfare, 40, 134–35

  aerodrome, 28n

  aerodynamic coefficients, 25

  aerodynamics, xiii, 19–22, 28, 30, 32, 111–29, 169, 171–72, 271, 275–86

  Aeronautical Annual, 31

  Afrika Korps, 87–88

  aftermath of World War I, 36–39, 52–55

  aftermath of World War II, 167–73

  agriculture, 56, 64, 177–78

  Aguilera, Diego Marín, 18

  Aichi D3A, 81–82

  ailerons, 44–45, 271, 287n

  Airacobras. See Bell P-39 Airacobras

  Airacomets. See Bell P-59 Airacomets

  Airbus 320, 22, 22n

  Air Corps Air Technical Service Command (ATSC), 200

  airflow, 115–19, 185–86

  airfoils, 19, 20, 21, 24, 25, 275–77

  Air Force, U.S. (USAF), 207, 228, 235n

  Air Ministry, 74–75, 126

  air pressure, 202, 237, 276

  Air Research and Development Command (ARDC), 258

  Air & Space Magazine, 207

  air speed records, 199–200, 250–51

  Alcock, John, 39–40

  Allied Mediterranean Air Command, 94

  Allied Powers, defined, 271

  Allison J35s, 201, 228, 230, 238, 250

  “Allotment Annies,” 176

  All Quiet On The Western Front (Remarque), 57

  American Automobile Association (AAA), 49

  American Civil War, 215–16

  American Expeditionary Force, 36

  “American look,” 175

  Anderson, John D., 20, 32n, 93, 300–301n

  angle of attack, 25, 28, 271, 279–80

  anti-aircraft artillery (AAA), 104, 145–46, 154–55

  anti-Semitism, 70

  Appalachian Trail, 37

  Apt, Milburn “Mel,” 254

  Arab-Israeli War, 259

  Arado Ar 234, 161, 168

  area rule, defined, 271

  Argus Motoren, 133

  Armistice of 11 November 1918, 36

  Armistice of Cassibile (1943), 105–6

  arms race, 198, 255

  Armstrong, Louis, 58

  Army, U.S., unity of command, 205–7

  Army Air Force, U.S. (USAAF), 80, 122, 125, 206–7, 226, 228, 271

  aircraft designations, 235n

  Army Air Forces Statistical Digest, 128

  Army Board of Ordnance and Fortification, U.S., 28

  Arnold, Henry “Hap,” 120, 183–84, 188

  Ascani, Fred, 169, 208–10

  aspect ratio, 271, 280–81

  atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, 9, 163–64, 163n

  attack on Pearl Harbor, 72n, 76, 81–83

  Automobile Club of America, 49

  Avco Lycoming, 259

  Axis Powers, defined, 271

  Azerbaijan Crisis, 196–97

  azimuth, 3

  Babel, John, 190n

  Bachem Ba 349 Natter (Viper), 2–6, 141, 168

  Badoglio, Pietro, 105–6

  Baikonur Cosmodrome, 256

  Bailey, G. W., 188

  Baker, Bob, 263

  Baldwyns Park, 23

  Ballistic Research Laboratory, 187n

  Banking Act of 1933, 67

  Bär, Heinrich, 6–8

  Barcelona Landing Ground, 106

  Barnes, Calvin Rankin, 217

  Barnes, Pancho. See Lowe, Florence Leontine “Pancho Barnes”

  Barnes, William Emmert, 217–18

  Baruch Plan, 203

  Battle of Anzio, 143

  Battle of Britain, 132–33, 135–36

  Battle of Cantigny, 36

  Battle of Casablanca, 88–91

  Battle of Dunkirk, 132

  Battle of Guadalcanal, 84–85, 87, 120

  Battle of Midway, 84

  Battle of Stalingrad, 87, 87n

  Battle of the Bulge, 147–52, 148n, 160, 188

  Battle of the Coral Sea, 84

  Battle of the Eastern Solomons, 83–84, 85

  Baugher, Joe, 249

  Beaumont, Roland “Bee,” 250

  Bell, Alexander Graham, 49

  Bell, Larry, 188, 212, 234, 235

  Bell Aircraft, 6, 120, 123, 124–25, 171, 187–91, 226, 234, 251–52

  Bell ASM-A-2/B-63, 251

  Bell GAM-63 RASCAL, 251–52

  Bell P-39 Airacobras, 84–85, 85n, 120, 159, 194

  Bell P-59 Airacomets (XP-59), 187–88, 235

  design and development, 120–21, 120n

  flight testing, 120–21

  operational service, 123–24, 125, 183–84, 187–88

  Bell P-63 Kingcobras, 120, 182, 194

  Bell X-1 (XS-1)

  aircraft designation, 188n

  design and development, 188–90, 211

  Goodlin test flights, 198–99, 207–8, 219–20

  test program and flights, 211–13, 219–20

  X-1A, Yeager and Mach 2 plus, 253–54

  Yeager and Mach 1 flight, 238–39, 241–45, 248, 249–51

  Yeager’s selection for test flights, 209–10, 226

  Yeager’s test flights, 224–28

  Bell X-2 Starbusters, 254

  Bendix Trophy, 71

  Bennett Trophy, 48

  Benz Bz.IIIb, 41

  Bergamini, Carlo, 106–7

  Bergius process, 43n

  Berlepsch, Georg Freiherr von, 110–11n, 294n

  Berlin, 162, 183

  Bernoulli, Daniel, 276

  Berrechid Airfield, 91

  bicycles, 30–31

  bienenwabe, 1

  biplanes, 27, 45, 114, 272

  bird flight, 17, 18, 20, 21, 25, 26, 30–31

  Birdflight as the Basis of Aviation (Lilienthal), 25

  Birdseye, Clarence, 66

  birth of modern flight, xi–xiii, 15–33, 40–52

  birth rates, post-World War II, 176

  Blackburn, Al, 236, 239, 299n

  Blériot, Louis, 48, 48n

  Blériot XI, 48, 48n

  Blitz, the, 135–36n

  blitzkrieg, 294n

  Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses, 3, 4, 96, 131, 138, 155–56

  Boeing B-29 Superfortresses, 163n, 183, 189, 198, 213, 220, 224, 240–41

  Boeing B-52 Stratofortresses, 260

  Boggess, Charles, Jr., 152

  Boise, USS, 110

  Bolshevism, 80

  Bonesteel, Charles Hartwell, 198

  Bong, Richard, 125n, 169, 183, 191

  Bonham-Carter, Helena, 76n

  Bonham-Carter, Maurice, 76n

  Borelli, Giovanni Alfonso, 18

  Borsodi, Fred, 160–61

  Boston Tea Party, 19

  Boulton, Matthew, 44

  Boulton, Matthew Piers Watt, 44, 44n

  Boulton Paul Defiant (“Daffy”), 44n

  boundary layer, 50, 92–93

  Boyd, Albert, 232, 256, 298n

  air speed record of, 199–200

  background of, 200, 298n

  Chief of Flight Test, 191, 200, 208–12

  Chilstrom and Sabre XP-86, 209, 210, 249, 250

  update on, 258–59

  Yeager and X-I, 191, 208–12, 220–21, 225–27, 242–43

  Boyne, Walter J., 7

  Bradley, Omar, 233

  Brahe, Tycho, 18

  Brandenberger, Erich, 149

  Briggs, Lyman, 117–18

  British Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, 50

  bubble canopies, 136, 169, 170, 201

  Burcham, Milo, 125n

  Burnelli Aircraft, 259

  Burr, Raymond, 68n

  Burroughs, Edgar Rice, 37

  Busemann, Adolf, 113, 114, 118–19, 126, 172, 200–201

  Bushell, Roger, 148n

  Byrd, Richard Evelyn, 58

  California Institute of Technology (Caltech), 185, 211

  camber, 93, 201, 272, 276–77

  cambered airfoils, 25, 27, 30

  Cambridge Universi
ty, 75

  Camina, M/S, 218–19

  Camp Miami Beach, 158–59

  Candide (Voltaire), 57–58

  Caniff, Milton, 168n

  Capaccio Airfield, 110

  capillary waves, 247

  capitalism, 9, 179–81

  Cardenas, Bob, 213, 224

  Carpenter, Scott, 255

  Carroll, Frank, 185, 187

  Casablanca Conference (1943), 87

  Castillo de Coruña del Conde, 18

  Castleman, Harry, 104

  Cayley, George, 19–20, 24, 170n

  center of gravity, 136, 272, 283–84

  Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), 179, 206

  Chain Lightning (movie), 264–65

  Chanute, Octave, 26–27, 288n

  Chanute Air Force Base, 27n

  Charter of the United Nations, 174

  Chenango, USS, 88, 90–91

  Chicago & Alton Railroad, 26

  Chilstrom, Emma, 37, 54

  Chilstrom, Glen, 265, 265n

  Chilstrom, John, 37, 54, 65, 70

  Chilstrom, John Scott, 265, 265n

  Chilstrom, Kenneth O. “Ken,” xii, 8, 207

  birth of, 37

  early interest in aviation, 70, 71, 291n

  early life of, 53–54, 55, 58, 65, 69, 70

  legacy of, 265–66

  meeting Orville Wright, 191–92, 298n

  P-80 and National Air Races, 193–96

  pilot exchange program, 264

  update on, 264–65

  during World War II, 88, 91–92, 94–112, 124, 158–59

  at Wright Field, 158–59, 167–69, 173, 188, 190, 191–92, 193–96, 200–201, 208–9, 225, 243, 264

  X-1 program and, 188, 190, 191–92, 208–9, 225, 243

  XP-86 Sabre and, 209, 210, 212, 245, 249, 250, 264

  Chilton, Bob, 235–36, 240

  China, 15, 174

  chord line, 93, 272

  Churchill, Winston, 95, 181

  Chute, Roger, 219

  circumnavigation of globe, 66–67, 68

  Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), 67–68, 68n

  Clemenceau, Georges, 53

  Cochrane, Jackie, 259–60

  Cold War, 9, 182, 196–98, 202–4

  command structure, xi

  communism, 179–80, 181, 197

  compressibility, 117, 118, 119, 136, 272

  “compressibility burble,” 118, 228

  control, 24–25, 30–31, 43, 281–82, 287n

  Convair YB-46, 257

  Coolidge, Calvin, 38, 63

  Cooper, Gordon, 255

  Cooper, Marcus, 160

  Corum, Clifford and Ralph, 121–22

 

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