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N0KFQ > TODAY 28.09.12 18:10l 58 Lines 2750 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 28962_KB0WSA
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Subj: Today in History - Sep 28
Path: IZ3LSV<IK6ZDE<VE2PKT<N4JOA<N4ZKF<N0KFQ<KB0WSA
Sent: 120928/1533Z 28962@KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA BPQK1.4.53
Sep 28, 1942:
General Arnold fights for unique bombers
On this day in 1942, Gen. Henry "Hap" Arnold gives highest
priority to the development of two exceptional aircraft--the B-35
Flying Wing and the B-36 Peacemaker--intended for bombing runs
from bases in the United States to targets in Europe.
General Arnold was a man of distinction from the beginning of his
career: Not only was he one of the first pilots in the U.S.
Signal Corps, he was taught to fly by none other than one of the
Wright brothers. During World War I, Arnold was director of
aviation training for the Army. Between the wars, he embraced a
controversial military philosophy that emphasized strategic
bombing, eliminating the need for the use of ground forces
altogether.
At the time of the United States' entry into the Second World
War, the Army Air Forces had become an increasingly distinct
military service. Arnold was made its first chief. Along with
this honor came the opportunity of a seat with the Joint Chiefs
of Staff; initially intended to boost his status to that of his
counterpart in Britain, it also increased the stature and
independence of the Army Air Forces. Arnold was able to form
alliances with British RAF allies who also favored the use of
strategic bombing in lieu of ground-force operations.
In 1942, Arnold gave the highest priority to the development of
two extra long-distance transatlantic planes that would prove
most useful to his strategic bombing game plan: the B-35 and the
B-36 transatlantic bombers. The B-35 had been first proposed in
early 1941, intended for use in defending an invaded Britain. But
the design was so radical (it was tailless), the plane was put on
the back burner. It was finally revived because of advantages the
plane afforded over the B-36--bombing range in relation to gross
weight, for example. Fifteen B-35 planes were ordered for
construction--but the first did not take flight until 1946.
Designs for the B-36 were also developed early in 1941, on the
assumption that the United States would inevitably be drawn into
the war and it would need a bomber that could reach Europe from
bases in America. It was to be a massive plane--162 feet long
with a 230-foot wingspan. But its construction lagged, and it was
not completed until after the war.
Although Hap's "high priority" could not cut through the military
bureaucracy, 1947 would see the Nation Defense Act establish an
autonomous Air Force--a dream for which he had worked. The B-35
would become the prototype for the B-2 Stealth bomber built in
1989. And the B-36 was used extensively by U.S. Strategic Air
Command until 1959, but never dropped a bomb.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: n0kfq@winlink.org
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