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Chasing the Demon

Page 29

by Dan Hampton


  North American A-36 Apaches, 91–94, 95, 96–100, 293n

  North American F-82 Twin Mustangs, 229, 235–36

  North American F-86 Sabres (XP-86), 192, 209, 227, 234

  Chilstrom and, 209, 210, 212, 245, 249, 250, 264

  design and development, 170, 184, 201–2, 213

  Welch and Mach 1 flight claim, 235–40, 244–45, 248–50, 251

  Welch test flights, 213, 228–31, 234, 235–40, 244–45, 248–50, 251

  North American F-100 Super Sabre (NA-180), 252–53, 261–63

  North American FJ-1 Furys, 201, 251

  North American P-51 Mustangs, 92–94

  design and development, 92–94, 135–36

  flight test variants, 160, 173, 185–86

  operational history, 145, 150, 154, 155

  P-51D and National Air Races, 194–95

  North American T-6 Texans, 251

  North American T-28 Trojans, 251

  North American X-15, 251, 256–57

  North American XSN2J, 229

  Northrop Grumman X-47B, 260

  Northrop YB-49, 257–58

  Northwest African Photographic Reconnaissance Wing, 94n

  Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF), 94

  Northwest African Tactical Air Forces (NATAF), 94

  Nuremberg Laws, 70

  Oberursel UR.II, 42

  Ohain, Hans Joachim Pabst von, 71–72, 74, 77, 126

  oil, and Iran crisis of 1946, 196–97

  oil campaign of World War II, 80, 137, 139

  Operation Tidal Wave, 103–5

  Okeechobee hurricane of 1928, 55

  Olds, Robin, 193–94, 194n, 196

  “On Aerial Navigation” (Cayley), 20

  Opel, 137–38

  Operation Avalanche, 107–10

  Operation Barbarossa, 79–80, 137

  Operation Bodenplatte (Baseplate), 146–49, 152–57

  Operation Corkscrew, 95–100

  Operation Husky, 99–103, 233

  Operation Linebacker, 154n

  Operation Lusty, 5, 167–68

  Operation Nordwind (North Wind), 152–53

  Operation Overlord, 143–44

  Operation Paperclip, 5, 172

  Operation Sea Lion, 132–33

  Operation Tidal Wave, 103–5

  Operation Torch, 87–91, 95, 293n

  Operation Wacht am Rhein (Watch on the Rhine), 149–52, 149n

  Orazio, Fred D., 188

  ornithopters, 26

  Orteig, Raymond, 49

  Orteig Prize, 49–50

  Osoaviakhim, 70

  Pacific Borax Mining Company, 223

  Palmer, Millie, 232–33, 234, 236, 237

  Panic of 1893, 216

  Panic of 1930, 64

  Pantelleria Island, 95–100

  Panzer Division Hermann Göring, 100, 102–3, 104, 105, 110

  parasite drag, 279

  Paris in World War II, 144

  Pasteur, Louis, 18

  patent law, 51n

  Patton, George, 100, 101–2

  Peenemünde Army Research Center, 113, 133

  Peiper, Joachim, 150, 150n

  Petrie, Chris, 159, 168

  Philadelphia, USS, 109, 110

  Phillips, Horatio, 19, 25, 277

  Pilcher, Percy, 30

  pilot position, 284–85

  piston engines, 42–43

  pitch, 273, 281–82

  Plane Crazy (movie), 55

  Pleasence, Donald, 157n

  Poage, Bud, 249

  Poland, invasion of, 78, 80

  Post, Augustus, 49–50, 50n, 290n

  Post, Wiley, 66–67, 68

  post–World War I, 36–39, 52–55

  post–World War II, 167–73

  economic expansion, 174–84

  Potez 506, 68

  Power Jets Limited, 76

  Power Jets W.1, 191

  Prandtl, Ludwig, 50, 71–72, 114

  Pratt truss, 27

  Pratt & Whitney, 171, 252, 265

  Preddy, Bill, 155n

  Preddy, George, 155, 294n

  pressurized cockpits, 169

  Principia Mathematica (Newton), 15–16

  Prohibition, 37, 69–70

  Project Extraversion, 160

  Projekt 1065, 126

  propellers, 42–43, 117

  “psychological warfare,” 132

  Pulitzer, Joseph, 192

  pulse jet engines, 133

  Purdue University, 80

  Queen Elizabeth, MS, 86

  radar technology, 254

  radio shows, 54–55

  Raid on Los Baños, 233

  railways, 139–40, 140n

  Raines, Ella, 194n

  ramjet, defined, 273

  ram pressure, 202, 237

  Rancho Oro Verde, 223–24

  Ranger, USS, 88, 91

  Raskob, John Jakob, 57

  Read, Albert Cushing, 16, 39

  real estate, 55–56, 177

  Reaper, HMS, 168

  reciprocating engines, 72, 73

  “Red Scare,” 197

  Regia Marina, 106

  Remarque, Erich Maria, 57

  Republic P-47 Thunderbolts, 135, 151, 153, 154, 156

  Rheims Air Meet (1909), 48

  Rice, Ray, 252

  Richthofen, Manfred von “Red Baron,” 40

  Rickenbacker, Eddie, 40

  Ridley, Jack

  background of, 211

  update on, 260–61

  at Wright Field, 210–11, 225–26, 239–41, 244

  X-1 and Yeager, 225–26, 239–41, 243, 244

  Ridley, Nell, 260

  “ripples,” 247–48

  Roaring Twenties, 52–58

  Robbins, Lionel, 63

  Roberts, J. O., 263

  Robins, Benjamin, 115, 280

  Rodriguez Mining Company, 121

  Rogers Dry Lake, 121–22, 122–23, 213, 223

  roll, 196, 282

  Rolls-Royce, 94, 124, 161, 171

  Rolls-Royce Derwent V, 171

  Roma, 106–7

  Romans, ancient, 15

  Rømer, Ole, 19

  Rommel, Erwin, 87–90, 91

  Roosevelt, Eleanor, 161

  Roosevelt, Elliott, 94n

  Roosevelt, Franklin Delano, 67–68, 69–70, 161, 162, 178

  Roosevelt, Theodore, 28

  Roosevelt, Theodore, Jr., 36n

  Roosevelt Field, 40, 66–67

  Root, Amos, 45–46

  Rosamond Dry Lake, 121, 222

  Rosengarten, Nate, 201

  rotary engines, 41–42

  Royal Aircraft Factory, 50, 161

  Royal Air Force (RAF), 76, 84–85, 92n, 94, 124, 132, 135, 142, 143, 144

  Royal Canadian Air Force, 194

  Royal Hawaiian, the, 81, 126

  Roybal, Ed, 68n

  Rundstedt, Gerd von, 149

  Rusk, Dean, 198

  Russia. See Soviet Union

  Ryder, Charles, 89

  Sabres. See North American F-86 Sabres

  Salerno, Italy, 107–10

  Sangamon, USS, 89

  Santa Fe Railroad, 121

  Santee, USS, 89

  Santella, Gene, 158

  Santos-Dumont, Alberto, 46–47, 46n, 287n

  Savannah, USS, 109

  Savant, Marilyn vos, 115n

  Schairer, George, 172

  Schirra, Wally, 255

  schlieren photographs, 118, 118n

  Schmidding SG 34, 3–4

  Schmued, Ed, 252

  Schneider Cup, 71

  Schreiber, Alfred, 134n

  Schwartz, George Lewis, 54

  Scientific American Trophy, 47

  Sea Power in the Pacific (Whittle), 72n

  Second World War. See World War II

  Selvin, Ben, 58

  semimonocoque, 283

  Serviceman’s Readjustment Act of 1944, 176–77

  Seychelles-Kilimanjaro Air Transport, 259

&nb
sp; shadowgraphs, 115–16, 118

  Shell Oil, 71

  Shenandoah, USS, 40n

  Shepard, Alan, 255, 256

  Shicklgruber, Anna Maria, 247

  shock waves, 7, 116, 186–87, 227, 229–30, 237, 273

  Sicily, Allied invasion of, 95–96, 99–103, 104–6

  Sieber, Lothar, 2, 5–6, 157

  Sieckenius, Rudolph, 108–9

  Simpson, Eber Eugene, 153–54, 153–54n

  Sinatra, Frank, 174–75

  16th Panzer Division, 108–9

  skin-friction, 278

  Skorzeny, Otto, 111n, 294n

  “Skunk Works,” 124–25

  Slayton, Deke, 255

  “slow” wings, 28

  Smeaton, John, 277

  Smith, Lowell, 154

  Smith, Martin, 190n

  Smithsonian Board of Regents, 51

  Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, 64

  socialism, 9, 179–80, 181, 197

  Solomon Islands campaign, 83–84, 85

  Sopwith Pup, 285–86

  Soucek, Apollo, 66, 66n

  Sound and the Fury, The (Faulkner), 57

  sound barrier, xiii–xv. See also speed of sound

  use of term, xiii, 209

  South Pole, 58

  Soviet Union

  Cold War, 9, 182, 196–98, 202–4

  German invasion of, 79–80, 137

  Iran crisis of 1946, 196–97

  jet aircraft designs, 171, 253

  post-war period, 174, 179–84

  Space Race, 254–55, 256

  during World War II, 79–80, 87, 88, 105, 132, 143, 153, 162

  Spaatz, Carl “Tooey,” 94

  Space Race, 254–56

  Spanish-American War, 28

  Späte, Wolfgang, 125, 127

  Specht, Günther, 147–48, 148n

  speed of sound, 15–16, 247–48

  Ba-349 Viper, 3–4

  basic concepts, 115–17, 119, 236–37

  defined, 273

  Mach number and, 115–16, 136–37

  Messerschmitt Me 262, 7–8

  Welch’s XP-86 flight claim, 235–40, 244–45, 248–50, 251

  Yeager’s X-1 flight, 238–39, 241–45, 248, 249–51

  Speer, Albert, 139, 140

  Spencer, Alex, 241–42

  Spirit of St. Louis, 208

  Sputnik 1, 254–55

  stabilizers, 227–28

  Stack, John, 118, 185, 187

  Stalag Luft 1, 145, 157, 173, 174

  Stalag Luft III, 148n, 157n

  Stalin, Joseph, 9, 87, 162, 181–82, 183

  stall, 273, 280

  Stanley, Robert, 123, 207–8

  “Star-Spangled Banner, The,” 66

  stationary engines, 42

  Stearns, John, 153n

  Stewart, Jimmy, 40, 40n

  Stringfellow, John, 22

  Suez Canal, 87–88

  Sullivan, J. E., 193, 196

  Supermarine Spitfires, 76, 93, 94, 106, 135, 136, 145, 259

  supersonic, defined, 273

  supersonic airflow, 114–19, 185–86

  supersonic wave drag, 186–87

  Suwanee, USS, 89

  Svenska Kullagerfabriken (SKF), 138

  Sweeney, Charles W., 163n

  swept wings, 114–19, 141, 169, 172, 201–2

  Swing, Joe, 86, 233–34, 239, 243, 248

  Symington, Stuart, 207, 208, 226, 234, 239, 248, 250

  symmetrical airfoils, 276

  Syria, 197

  Tarzan the Terrible (Burroughs), 37

  TAS (true air speed), defined, 273

  Task Force 34, 88–89

  Task Force 545, 100, 101–2

  Taylor, Ken, 81, 82–83, 263

  Teapot Dome scandal, 37–38

  Technische Universität München, 8

  Tedder, Arthur, 94

  Temple, Félix du, 19

  Texas, USS, 88

  30th Bombardment Group, 122

  31st Fighter Group, 94

  33rd Fighter Group, 90–91, 99

  36th Fighter Squadron, 84–86

  thrust, 19–22, 24, 41–42, 74, 278

  Tibbets, Paul W., 163n

  Tinidur, 77

  titanium, 253

  total drag, 279

  transatlantic flight, 39–40

  Transavia, 259

  transonic, defined, 273

  transonic region, 116–17, 119, 172, 185–86, 210, 237

  Truman, Harry S., 161, 163, 163n, 178, 203–5, 234, 248

  Truman Doctrine, 203–5, 297n

  truss bridges, 27

  tuition, for veterans, 177

  Tunisian Campaign, 88–90, 95–96

  turbines, 72, 74

  turbojet engines, 72–78

  turbulence, 116, 117–18

  Turkey, 197, 202–3

  Turner, Roscoe, 68–69, 222

  Tweedie, William Lang, 74

  Twenty-First Amendment, 69

  27th Bombardment Group (27th Fighter-Bomber Group), 95, 99, 100–101, 106, 107–8, 108n, 110, 158

  U-boat projects, 137

  United Nations (UN), 162, 174, 196–97

  United Nations Charter, 174

  United Nations Security Council, 174

  unity of command, 205–7

  University of California, Berkeley, 71, 169

  University of Göttingen, 71–72

  University of Heidelberg, 114

  University of Oklahoma, 211

  V-1 flying bombs, 133–34

  V-2 flying bombs, 133, 171, 229–30

  Valiant, HMS, 110

  van Leeuwenhoek, Antonie, 18

  Variable Density Tunnel, 93

  VE Day (May 8, 1945), 162

  Vejtasa, Stanley “Swede,” 84, 85

  vertical tails, 169, 170, 188, 202, 262, 283

  Vichy France, 88–90

  Vickers Vimy, 39–40

  Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, 103

  Vietnam War, 154n, 194n, 257n

  Virden, Ralph, 136

  Virgin, Ed, 160, 173

  Voigt, Woldemar, 126

  Volstead Act, 37

  Volta Conference (1935), 118, 172

  von Kármán, Theodore, 114, 118, 119, 172, 185, 230, 234, 261

  Vostok 1, 256

  Vulcan, 133

  Wall Street Crash of 1929, 58–60, 290n

  Walter HWK 109-509, 4

  Warburton, Ernest K., 159

  Warsitz, Erich, 77–78

  Warspite, HMS, 110

  Watson, Harold, 168–69, 168n, 200

  Watt, James, 44, 44n

  wave drag, 186–87

  Weinberg, Gerhard, 156–57

  Weissenberger, Tony, 230

  Welch, George

  death of, 263–64

  early life of, 53–54, 66, 70

  education of, 70, 80

  at Happy Bottom Club, 232, 243

  at National Air Races, 194–95

  test pilot at North American Aviation, 159–60, 173, 184, 213

  update on, 261–64

  during World War II, 80–86, 126, 159

  XP-86 and Mach 1 claim, 235–40, 244–45, 248–50, 251

  XP-86 test flights, 184, 213, 228–31, 234, 235–40, 244–45, 248–50, 251

  Welch, Giles, 239–40

  Welch, Janet Williams, 86, 159, 173

  Weltanschauungskrieg, 132

  Wendel, Fritz, 126–27

  Wenham, Francis, 19

  Western Airlines, 218

  West Side News, 30

  Wheeler Field, 81, 82, 83

  whips, 15

  White, Bob, 256–57, 257n

  White, Case, 78

  Whitten-Brown, Arthur, 39–40

  Whittle, Dorothy May Lee, 75

  Whittle, Frank, 72–76, 72n, 119, 124, 171, 185, 191

  Williams, Walt, 211–12, 225, 230, 234

  wind tunnel testing, 2, 19, 30, 32, 117, 119, 186–87, 201

  wing area, 201, 273

  wing aspect ratio, 271,
280–81

  wing loading, defined, 273

  wingspan, 273, 280

  wing warping, 31–32, 31n, 43–44, 47–48

  Winter Olympics (1924), 38, 38n

  women, in post–World War II period, 175–76

  women’s suffrage, 37

  Wood, Bob, 248

  Woolams, Jack, 189–90, 194, 199, 243

  World War Foreign Debt

  Commission, 53

  World War I

  aftermath of, 36–39, 52–55

  America’s first victory at Cantigny, 36, 36n

  Armistice of 11 November 1918, 36

  combat aviation during, 40–45, 51–52

  reparations, 52–53, 53n

  World War II, 79–164. See also specific battles and military operations

  aftermath of, 167–73

  aircraft losses, 79, 128, 132, 156

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

  end of, 162–64

  invasion of Poland, 78, 80

  jet fighter designs, 113–29

  military casualties, 87n, 105, 156, 163n

  strategic bombing during, 137–45

  war breaks out, 78, 79–80

  Wright, Milton, 30

  Wright, Orville, 29–33, 45–49, 51, 264n

  meeting Ken Chilstrom, 191–92, 298n

  Wright, Ray, 186–87

  Wright, USS, 264, 264n

  Wright, Wilbur, 29–33, 45–49, 51

  Wright Aeronautical, 58

  Wright brothers, 29–33, 45–47, 288n

  business disputes and patent wars, 31n, 43, 45–49, 51

  early research, 29–32

  European skepticism, 45–46, 50

  first powered flight at Kitty Hawk, xii, xiii, 32–33, 46

  ideas about control, 29–31, 45, 46–47, 50

  pilot’s proper position, 284–85

  Wright Company, 51

  Wright Cycle Exchange, 30

  Wright Field, 120–21, 122–23, 158–59, 167–69, 185

  Wright Flyer, xii, xiii, 16, 32–33, 284–85

  Wright-Martin, 51

  Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, 257, 264

  Wright-Patterson Fighter Test Division, xii

  Wright Whirlwind J-5C, 58n

  Wright XF3W Apaches, 66

  WSM Barn Dance, 54

  Wunderwaffe, 131–32, 134

  XP-86. See North American F-86 Sabres

  X-plane experimental program, 260. See also Bell X-1

  Yankee Stadium, 38

  yaw, 274, 282

  Yeager, Charles Elwood “Chuck”

  birth of, 38

  early life of, 65–66, 67–68

  Glennis and, 173, 188

  at Happy Bottom Club, 231–32, 240

  personality of, 243–44

  selection for X-1 test flights, 209–10, 226

  update on, 259–60

  during World War II, 86, 144, 151, 160

  at Wright Field, 173–74, 191, 209–10, 213, 219–20, 224–28

  X-1 and Mach 1, 238–39, 241–45, 248, 249–51

  X-1 test flights, 224–28

  X-1A and Mach 2 plus, 253–54

  Yeager, Glennis Dickhouse, 173, 188, 231, 240

  Yorktown, USS, 84

  Young, James, 212, 224

  Zemke, Hubert “Hub,” 157n

  Zeppelin Company, 114

 

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