Convairiety, Volume 12, Number 21, October 14, 1959 Page: 3 of 8
8 p. : ill. ; 44 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Wednesday, October 14, 1959
CONVAIRIETY
Page 3
FROM 40,000 FEET—This is what Possum Kingdom Lake, near Fort Worth, looked like from return-
ing B-58.
\ °4L.
vandenberg afb
N. MEX.
OKLA
£ L.A,
phoenix
CARLSBAD
PT. WORTH
BIG SPRING
EL PASO
HERE'S THE ROUTE — This is zig-zag route B-58 followed in low-level flight to coast. On way home,
at altitude, it took bee-line.
Non-Stop, Non-Refueled, Elusive B-58
Hedge-Hops' to Coast, Returns Home
The Air Force’s B-58 Hustler
supersonic bomber can evade
enemy defenses by flying many
hundreds of miles “on the deck”
—that is, at a height of less than
500 feet and at speeds of more
than 700 miles an hour.
This was disclosed at Convair
Fort Worth after a B-58 com-
pleted a series of dramatic on-
the-deck simulated bombing mis-
sions over the Southwestern Uni-
ted States.
Frank W. Davis, manager of
Convair Fort Worth, said the low-
level demonstration proves that
the t w i c e-the-speed-of-sound
bomber has enemy penetration
Rattlesnakes and communica-
tions difficulties plagued Convair
Fort Worth ground movie crews
as they filmed the recent “on-
the-deck” B-58 Hustler flight
from selected spots on the Fort
Worth to California flight path.
But they came up with 11 min
utes and 16 seconds of color mov-
ies to be delivered to the Air
Force as part of the contract.
Photographers were stationed
at Carswell AFB, Possum King-
dom Lake, Guadalupe Pass and
Salt Flat, Texas. George Chyka,
Dept. 6-6, had been stationed at
Pismo Beach, Calif., but visibility
prohibited the Hustler passing
there. Perry King, motion pic-
ture department supervisor at
FW, was behind the B-58 part
of the way, in a chase plane.
Jack Smith, Jerry Ratliff and
Bob Bruce, all Dept. 6-6, and
Jimmy Hicks, Dept. 17-2, caught
the takeoff at Carswell. Frank
Funk and John Taylor, Dept. 6-6,
were at Possum Kingdom and
grabbed 10 seconds of film as the
Hustler whizzed past. At Guada-
lupe were Nick Mertes, Bill Wat-
son, and Warren Jaynes, Dept.
6-6, while Shields Mitchell was
the photographer at Salt Flat.
Because of the B-58’s speed
(it kept up with its own sound),
photographers had to .know the
exact time of arrival or they
capabilities which exceed those
of any other aircraft now in ex-
istence.
He pointed out that ground
radar stations cannot effect-
ively spot low-flying planes.
B. A. Erickson, manager of
flight at Convair Fort Worth
and pilot of the B-58 during the
series of ground-hugging mis-
sions, said a recent flight took
the Hustler from Fort Worth to
the Pacific Coast at less than
500 feet above the ground and at
more than 700 miles an hour
ground speed. The airplane re-
turned home without landing or
refueling.
would never see it coming soon
enough to get pictures. The only
way was to keep in touch with
flight operations at Fort Worth.
This was tough at Possum
Kingdom, where the telephone
was two miles away, but tougher
at Guadalupe, where there were
no commercial phone lines at all.
Solution came from C. L. Perkins,
executive vice president of the El
Paso Natural Gas Co., who gave
permission to tap into a private
company phone line.
The Federal Aviation Agency,
along with El Paso Natural Gas,
set up communications for the
Salt Flat camera station.
Jaynes, at Guadalupe, had a
close call when he found himself
standing alongside a rattlesnake.
He “froze” and eventually the
snake wriggled away and was
later killed.
"Are you sure he was wearing shoes
when he came in?"
The B-58 sped from Carswell
Air Force Base to Edwards Air
Force Base in California in one
hour and 46 minutes and contin-
ued westward to the Pacific
shoreline, completing a total run
of more than 1,400 miles in two
hours flat.
“That’s faster than a bullet
comes out of the muzzle of a
.45 caliber pistol,” Erickson
commented.
Convair observers stationed on
the ground at three different
points along the flight path re-
ported it virtually impossible to
identify the bomber as it streaked
along, even though they knew to
the second when the B-58 would
pass overhead.
“By the time they heard the
sound of the B-58 and located the
B-58 in the air, it was nearly
out of sight,” said Erickson.
He reported the flight smooth
and comfortable despite “bumpy”
air over the desert. He added that
the flight did not place any un-
usual strain on the crew.
Due to the high speed, the
“ram” air entering the Hustler’s
four jet engines was almost as
hot as boiling water, but the crew
inside was in shirt-sleeve com-
fort at 70 degrees because of
crew compartment air condition-
ing.
“These tests prove once more
the operating flexibility of the
B-58,” said Erickson, who was at
the controls of the Hustler when
it first flew three years ago.
The Air Force can operate—
and can drop a disposable pod
containing a warhead—at any
altitude from low levels to more
than 50,000-feet altitude.
Upon completing the cross-
country penetration mission “on
the deck,” the B-58 climbed into
the stratosphere and returned to
Fort Worth. Total time for the
round trip was four hours and
three minutes.
A Convair F-106 supersonic in-
terceptor helped to coordinate the
B-58’s low-level pass through the
Edwards AFB area.
In addition to Erickson, other
crew members were J. A. Roger-
son, systems engineer; and A1
Mitchell, test engineer.
Movie Crews Had Their Troubles
Filming 'On-Deck' Hustler Flight
‘‘LITTLE JOE"—Cross-country B-58 got this name from No. 22
on its side. It's crapshooter term for pair of deuces.
IN WAIT—John Taylor and Frank Funk, FW cameramen, wait for
low-flying Hustler to appear over Possum Kingdom Lake en route to
coast.
Electronics Engineers Teaching
Members of Junior Science Club
“Ham” radio clubs provide
good experience for young boys,
but they are too specialized for
some precocious minds.
This is one reason a group of
Convair Fort Worth electronics
engineers formed the Boys Elec-
tronics Club for junior high and
high school students with at least
a “C” average in math and
science courses.
Since its beginning about a
year ago, the 25-member club
has acquired numerous pieces of
electronics equipment bought with
funds donated largely by the
Convair Fort Worth Management
Club.
The city of White Settlement
has given them a building at 644
Youngblood to use as their meet-
ing place. Other help has come
from Texas Electric Service Co.,
which furnishes free service.
To join the organization, which
is not restricted to Convair fam-
ilies, a boy must have the con-
sent of his parents. A small fee
(at present it is 15 cents a week)
entitles him to membership in
either the advanced or the ele-
mentary section of the club, de-
pending on his experience and
ability.
The group meets from 7-9
p.m. each Thursday at the Young-
blood address. One hour of in-
struction is followed by an hour
of laboratory work, where indi-
vidual and group projects are
built.
Engineers sponsoring the club
are Elmer Young, Charles Car-
mouche, Bill Summers, and Allan
Cook, Dept. 6-4 and J. C. Ratliff,
Dept. 6-5.
Four to Speak
At Institute
Four Convair men will be key
speakers at a Middle Management
Institute in San Diego which
started Oct. 9 and will be held
Fridays and Saturdays until Dec.
5 in the Lafayette Hotel Terrace
Room.
Robert F. Smith, assistant to
the vice president—administra-
tion, and B. F. Coggan, SD Div-
ision manager, are scheduled for
sessions Oct. 23. Smith will dis-
cuss “Group Leadership.” Cog-
gan’s subject is “Managers in a
Social Situation.”
“Long Range Planning” will be
the topic of Dr. Neil W. Lamb,
project administrator, at a 9 a.rn.
session Oct. 24. Millard S. Lach-
man, management and engineer-
ing training supervisor, will head
a workshop on employee devel-
opment Nov. 20.
Purpose of the institute is to
provide advanced education in
management and leadership prin-
ciples. The program is presented
by UCLA, in cooperation with
civic, military, and industrial or-
ganizations, including Convair.
JUNIOR SCIENTISTS—Members of Convair FW Boys' Science
Club watch as Elmer Young, center, Dept. 6, explains operation of
gun laying system computer from B-29 bomber. All sons of Convair
FW employees, they are, left to right, Robert Razo, George May-
field, Young, Jackie Crider, Eddie Fore.
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General Dynamics Corporation. Convair Division. Convairiety, Volume 12, Number 21, October 14, 1959, periodical, October 14, 1959; Fort Worth, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1118033/m1/3/?q=%22United+States+-+Texas+-+Tarrant+County+-+Fort+Worth%22: accessed June 6, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company, Fort Worth.