Boeing B-47

Flying the Boeing B-47 required many new techniques, and one that we loved was the swift descent from altitude--as much as 6,000 feet per minute. The first time you did it you couldn't believe it, after years of letting down in holding patterns, flying around for maybe thirty minutes in a stack to get in position to land. You had to with the B-47 because of the way it gulped fuel. So it was check list, drag gear out, and down you went. You'd get picked up by approach control and vectored to a GCA approach, slick as a whistle.

Bell Airacuda

The Bell Airacuda was a brilliant attempt by Bell to break into the airplane business by building something different--a long range multi-place interceptor. The great Ben Kelsey was behind the airplane, and did the first test flights, just as he did with the P-38. He was a Lieutenant at the time, but had more authority than many generals do today. The Airacuda looked good, but it had too much drag, the engines were almost impossible to keep cool, and escape in an emergency would be problematical. Most went out of service with a handful of hours logged. Ben was a good friend of mine later in life, and a fund of information.

Emsco Flying Wing

I interviewed Charles Rochevillle about his remarkable airplanes, and he proved to be a fascinating study, filled with facts, but more interested in the future than in the past. This is his EMSCO flying wing, intended for a trans-Pacific flight. It was extremely advanced and had a version of a blown wing, in which air was ducted from the engine and fed through outlets over the wing. Rocheville said it reduced drag and added range. The airplane was supposed to have a flutter problem, which Rocheville denied, saying it was only finances that kept him from making the attempt to cross the Pacific.