Unfortunately in science what you believe is irrelevant.
"I'm an old-fashioned Southern Gentleman. Which means I can be a cast-iron son-of-a-***** when I want to be."- Robert A. Heinlein.
Unfortunately in science what you believe is irrelevant.
"I'm an old-fashioned Southern Gentleman. Which means I can be a cast-iron son-of-a-***** when I want to be."- Robert A. Heinlein.
What is and what is the story on that tiny little jet that is sitting under the wing of the B-36? It looks like it has a hook on it so it must have hung under a larger plane.
That 36 is amazing, do they have one at Dayton?
XF-85 Goblin. Parasite fighter, was designed to be carried by the Peacemaker to have its own fighter cover.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_XF-85_Goblin
Ron Wanttaja
As it happens, I also took photos of the Goblin!
Not only that, but we interviewed one of the engineers who worked on the XF-85 for the Timeless Voices program a few years ago (video quality is not the best, but it does include some cool archival footage of the plane hooking up):
http://www.eaavideo.org/video.aspx?v=79295117001
Last edited by Zack Baughman; 02-07-2014 at 04:31 PM.
I knew a former B-36 Aircraft Commander back in the seventies. He was a Reservist with no unit of assignment and flew for retirement points. He would take one our Base's trainers (and the gov credit card) for a long weekend. Ops would call me on monday morning to ride with him to his home in Lubbock and then bring the ship back. Wasn't hard at all to get me out of my office on mondays and I enjoyed his B-36 stories.
He said 36 hour unrefueled missions were normal. BTW, FE normaly handled power. In addition to the 6 recip throttles, there was a 7th that synced the others. Pilots or FE could handle 6 with one lever. They would depart central US for the eastern seaboard. Conduct training up and down the coast, then meander over to the Pacific. Once in the Warning Areas off the coast, they did air to air gunnery with towed targets. Each gun in turn would devote several hours. It took all day to expend all ammo from all guns. Then head home. Oh, they also conducted practice bombing several times wherever there were ranges. SAC B-36 units had masseurs and all hands had a good post flight rub down. I lived in southern Maine when I was a teen. Frequently, B-36s passed over head well below 10,000 enroute to Loring AFB, a SAC base in northern Maine. Many times, they were low enough to see one or more props feathered. The crews were facing the dreaded 8 or 9 engine approach on arrival when they were down to their last eight hours of fuel.
Interesting B-36 facts: There were "light weight" models and there were "feather weights." Also RB-36s. Did you know that a feather weight could turn inside a MIG-15 at 50,000? After a couple of months of B-36 ground school (in the air), I was convinced that all I needed was three touch and goes and I could be signed off.
There used to be a XC-99 parked near the front gate of Kelly AFB in San Antonio. This is a one-of-a-kind transport version of the B-36. A veterans group was custodian and for a couple of bucks,you could have the run of the plane. I even climbed the ladder up inside the vert stabilizer. This could also be done in flight. It had little windows and I think was pressurized.
I asked how did this LTC train on weekends? He had a Vet supply business and he served his customers at their ranch strips. Statue of limitations have since elapsed.
Bob
Zack, the Gobblin looks like it would be an "interesting" plane to fly. On several levels. The National Museum of Naval Aviation here in town had an earlier parasite, the F9C SparrowHawk. I think it is a lot prettier than F-85. Broke my heart when they sent it to Udvar-Hazy.
I feel you pain…but living in Northern Virginia with son son who is nuts about Zeppelins, he is glad for the opportunity to see it from time to time. (One of these days I have to get him to the museum in Zeppelinheim, near Frankfurt.)
By the way, you do not have to go to the NMUSAF. The B-36 and other objects can come to you!
http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/fac...eet.asp?id=360
Click the links below the picture on the right.
Here's a video of the best buzz job ever. The background story is that the aircraft commander was supposed to do a low flyby for some brass at Carswell. He elected to extend the flyby a bit beyond the base and put on a little show for his neighborhood.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCViKu9XlbQ