E.A. "Ed" Gillespie, 
The World's Oldest Test Pilot

     Edward Allan Gillespie was born July 28, 1928, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to Arthur and Rhea Gillespie. An Eagle Scout, Ed graduated from Ann Arbor High School, was president of his class and lettered in swimming, track and football. His flying career began at the age of 12, with a neighbor, who was a photographer. Young Ed would hold the Piper Cub steady while his neighbor took aerial pictures. Ed worked evenings and weekends at the University of Michigan to earn money for flying lessons at the local airport. He soloed September 8, 1944, at the age of 16. While still in high school, he joined the Navy's very selective Holloway Plan Midshipman Program. Ed attended Syracuse University where he studied engineering and later transferred to Western Michigan College at Kalamazoo. He entered flight training as an Aviation Midshipman at Pensacola in Class 17-48 receiving his wings May, 1950. Ed, as a member of the Navy's Red Rippers (VF- II), served on aircraft carriers around the world including 80 combat missions flying McDonnell's F2H Banshee in Korea. After his tour of combat duty, Ed was accepted at the Navy's Test Pilot School at Patuxent River, Maryland, and graduated February, 1953. He has been an active test pilot ever since. The ancient expression, "There are no old, bold pilots " certainly does not apply to Ed Gillespie. Since Test Pilot's School, he has accumulated 10,000 plus hours flying single cockpit, relatively short, very intense flights in high performance airplanes. He has been on continuous flight status in military airplanes for over 50 years. He is a Fellow of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. After ten years of active military duty and 26 years in the Naval Reserves, Ed retired as a Captain. Currently, he is Consultant Test Pilot with the Sabreliner Corporation and performs all test flights and deliveries of the Navy's T2C Buckeye.

Dryden Flight Research Center

     Motoring along the desert highway in Southern California's Kern County, your anticipation grows as you approach the main gate at Edwards AFB. Beyond the guard gatelies the Dryden Flight Research Center - a NASA facility that shares this desert outpost with other famous tenants who collectively advanced the state of aviation during war and in peacetime.
     However, the 100-mile drive from Orange County does not end at the main gate. The small guard shack appears as an oasis among sand and sagebrush. It's only by keen observation that buildings appear in the distance. After what seems to be another lengthy drive, road signs appear, directing the driver to the area of choice. Finally, you reach your destination...

The Dryden Flight Research Center

     The Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC) became a permanent National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) facility in 1947. Responsible for this distinction was the newly appointed Director of Aeronautical Research, Hugh L. Dryden. When NACA became part of the new National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 1958, Dr. Dryden remained a deputy administrator until his death in  February 1965. For his pioneering efforts in aeronautical research, the center was named in his honor in March 1976.
     Projects at Dryden over the past 50 years have led to major advances in the design and capabilities of numerous civilian and military aircraft. Their primary focus includes civil aviation, aeronautics, and space transportation technology. A partial list of past and present projects is shown in the Chart. . . . .

Aircraft of the FAA and its Predecessors: Part V 1959-1967

          Legislation establishing the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) was signed into law by President Dwight Elsenhower on August 18, 1958. The new law created the FAA as an independent federal agency, thus removing it once and for all from the jurisdiction of the Department of Commerce. The form, function, and authority of the Civil Aeronautics Administration were transferred to the new agency, which became effective on January 1, 1959.
     The new agency was conceived to have federal authority over both civil and military aviation as they participated in the national airspace system, thus removing some of the civil-military jurisdictional disputes in air traffic control, navigation systems, policies, and procedures that often conflicted with each other.
     The first Administrator of the FAA was Pete Quesada, a retired USAF general, who was nominated on September 30, 1958, and subsequently confirmed by the Congress. Quesada organized the agency to take advantage of the nucleus provided by CAA personnel, 28,000 of whom became FAA employees on January 1, 1959. All CAA facilities, offices, equipment, and inventory became the responsibility of the new agency. The fleet of CAA aircraft, numbering nearly 90 aircraft, wasalso transferred to the FAA.
     The aircraft continued to support four missions for the FAA as they had for the old CAA: airway flight inspection; research and development; proficiency training for agency pilots; and administrative transport.
     The FAA flight inspection fleet was diverse in types through the 1960s. When the FAA came into being low altitude and instrument approach flight inspection was conducted with DC-3s, mid- . . . .

Aircraft History of Chicago and Southern Airlines 1933-1953

     Chicago and Southern Air Lines (C & S) started life as Pacific Seaboard Air Lines, which was organized on June 15, 1933. The first service was on June 23 in Carleton Putnam's Bellanca CH-300 "Miss San Jose." Putnam held a Transport Pilot's license. Three Bellanca CH-300s were used in the California operation. The new airline only flew passengers on the West Coast of California on "The Scenic Route." This route was up the coast of California from Los Angeles (Grand Central Air Terminal at Glendale) to San Francisco'sMills Field. Stops were made at seven cities near the Pacific Ocean. For a short period, Pacific Seaboard Air Lines flew from San Francisco to the capital of California, Sacramento. The competition, on the LA-SF route, was United Airlines with twin-engine, ten-passenger, Boeing 247s. United, who flew the valley route, had the Air Mail contract and more comfortable aircraft. Putnam decided the only way he could stay in business was to get a U.S. Air Mail contract. In four months and oneweek, 1113 passengers were carried.
     On February 9, 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt canceled all the U.S. Mail contracts. The U.S. Army operated the air postal service for a few weeks and then the government called for a new bidding of the Air Mail routes. Mr. Putnam bid on and received the Air Mail route between Chicago and New Orleans by way of Peoria, Springfield, St. Louis, Memphis and Jackson (Air Mail Route 8). Two more Bellanca CH-300s were purchased, bringing that fleet to five aircraft. He had to start service in 30 days or he would forfeit his $50,000 performance bond. Air Mail service started June 3, 1934, and passenger service started June 13 with the five Bellancas on "The Valley Level Route." The airline changed its name to Chicago & Southern Air Lines in 1935. This name was more appropriate for a Mississippi Valley airline. Putnam had bid 17.5 cents per mile on the mail contract...but in his first six months the cost ran at 35 cents per mile. The passenger revenue did not make . . . . . .

Chicago & Southern recieved this DC-3, NC12927 msn 4998 fleet #33 on April 27, 1945. 
(AAHS Hufford Collection).

YB-60: Convair's Also-Ran Jet Bomber

    Undoubtedly, the sleekest B-36 of all the variants was the proposed B-36G model. Sleek was a word usually not associated with describing the B-36 bomber. But if any B-36 deserves such a compliment, it is the YB-36G, later redesignated YB-60. The swept-wing, all-jet version originated from a formal proposal by Convair on August 25, 1950, to develop the new configuration from the B-36F. Although this proposal called for the design to be equipped with turbojets, it would also be capable of accepting turboprops as well. 
     Six turboprop engines were to be the powerplants of choice for the swept-wing B-36F, but it became apparent that eight jet engines of the same J-57 type to be used on the XB-52 were the most promising powerplants. Previously, there had beenconcern about poor fuel economy related to turbojets, but the new Pratt & Whitney J-57s were a considerable improvement. A letter, rather than a formal agreement, supplemented the current B-36 production contract. On March 15,1951, the Air Force authorized Convair to convert two B-36Fs into prototype B-36Gs. Production aircraft numbers 151 and 165 at the Fort Worth plant were to become YB-36Gs. They both were to be equipped with J-57 jets but still could be adapted to turboprops if required. The first YB-36G was to be ready for flight testing in December 1951; the second, two months later. Because of the striking change in appearance of the YB-36G and the expected greater improvement in performance over a conventional B-36, the Air Force determined that the plane should have a totally new bomber designation, the B-60. 
     The YB-60 prototype differed significantly from the B-36 by featuring graceful swept-back wings and swept-back tail surfaces. Wing span was 206 ft. - some 24 ft. less than its predecessor, but it was longer and higher than the B-36F, having a length of 171 ft. and a height of 60 ft. 5 in. to the top of the rudder. The fuselage from aft of the cabin to near the end of the tail remained thesame. The nose was lengthened to accommodate more equipment and tapered to a needle-like instrument probe. With the probe, actual length of the YB-60 was 175 ft. 2 in. A wider center chord on the new wing increased the wing area to 5,239 sq. ft. compared to 4,772 sq. ft. A wing sweep of 37° was accomplished by inserting a wedge shaped structure at the extremity of the center portion of the center wing. It was necessary to put a cuff on the leading edge of the center wing to continue the sweep line to the fuselage. . . . . . .

Selfridge: 
A Story of Airpower from WWI to the New Millennium

     Following the success of Wilbur and Orville Wright in launching the first powered airplane on December 17, 1903, Detroit area realtor Henry B. Joy aspired to join the growing ranks of air-minded adventurers who made the world of flight an alluring domain. He converted 641 acres of mud flats northeast of the town of Mount Clemens into a primitive landing site known as Joy Aviation Field. Given the site's low elevation and proximity to Lake St. Clair, the transformation of the old bog into an operational airfield proved daunting. Despite the unaccommodating features of the local terrain, the wide open space and remote location drew planes and pilots. In fact, the Packard Motor Company used the airfield to test its 12-cylinder Liberty engine. 
     America's entry into World War I was destined to change the face of this fledgling airport. Gearing up for combat in foreign skies, the government leased the land. Just accessing the place was a challenge for construction vehicles and trucks laden with building materials. The main road to the swampy airfield simply gave out. Even a specially built plank road, comprised of four-inch oak timbers, collapsed. For a time, the answer was having big tractors drag almost all of the essential delivery vehicles from Mount Clemens. Herculean efforts and engineering innovations eventually brought the base to operational status. Even then, upkeep was not easy. The expansive grassy tract was maintained by horse-drawn mowers. On July 1, 1917, with the arrival of Company G of the 33rd Michigan National Guard, the military would begin its permanent association with this seemingly inauspicious piece of real estate. At that time, the name was changed to Selfridge Field in honor of First Lieutenant Thomas Etholen Selfridge, a pioneer aviator and the first Army airman to perish in an aircraft accident. 
     Flight training at Selfridge Field commenced on July 16th, only three months after the United States plunged into the maelstrom of war. The base's first contingent of military flyers . . . . . . .

No Short Days: 
The Struggle to Develop the R-2800 "Double Wasp" Crankshaft

    While the iterative work of engine designers may be lost in obscurity, the work of test engineers is nearly always recorded, and provides the best record available of the process of engine perfection. This is the story of a group of dedicated test engineers who took a design loaded with problems and refined it into one of the finest aircraft engines ever built - the Pratt & Whitney R-2800. This is not a criticism of the designers, but rather simply the nature of the engine development process itself. Contemporary engine designers make heavy use of computer simulation and they still rarely get it right the first time. Simulation only works when all of the unknowns are accounted for, and that is rarely the case when something truly revolutionary is being developed. Designers in the '30s had none of these tools, and had to depend on trial-and-error techniques of the test engineers to perfect revolutionary concepts. While this is hardly the complete account of R-2800 development, it does cover an important and historically significant story: the test engineers' efforts in perfection of the crankshaft and the triumph over vibration.   
     Gordon Beckwith is famous for leading the team that brought Pratt & Whitney's first commercial jet engine, the JT8D, to market. Despite the fact that Rolls-Royce was already flying a competitive engine, Beckwith's team produced a better engine that met the customer's noise, bleed air purity, thrust, fuel consumption, weight, and interchangeability guarantees. The engine came through ahead of schedule and under budget.
     Beckwith came to Pratt & Whitney during the summer of 1939 before his senior year in college and worked in the stock room delivering parts to the engine assembly department. When he returned the next summer as a degreed engineer, he was told he would be working as a designer. The interviewer told him, "If you take this job, you will first become a draftsman. You will have a black oilcloth cover for your drafting table. At the end of the day, when the horn blows, your left hand will roll that cover across your board, you will get up from your stool, and you will go down stairs and be done for the day." Beckwith objected, "Wait a minute . . . . .

The Navy Mosquito

       Scant documentation appears in the aviation literature regarding a de Havilland Mosquito aircraft evaluated by the U.S. Navy, and which later appeared on the U.S. Civil Aircraft Registry. 
      This Mosquito, a FB XVIII version of the FB VI, was modified to carry a single 57-mm Molins cannon in the nose, firing a six-pound projectile. An adaptation of a standard antitank weapon, the cannon fired 22 rounds in 20 seconds. The gun was intended for attacks against U-boats traversing the Bay of Biscay to-and-from the submarine pens along the French coastline. In March 1944, 248 Squadron, RAF, had a special detachment equipped with the aircraft. To counter the introduction of the cannon-armed Mosquitoes, the U-boats operated on the surface only under cover of darkness. By January 1945 the RAF withdrew the cannon equipped FB XVIII from operations because rocket-armed Mosquitoes proved more effective against shipping than the 57mm weapon. 
     In 1945, the U.S. Navy received cannon equipped Mosquito PZ467 from the RAF for test and evaluation purposes. This aircraft was built by de Havilland at Hatfield and accepted by the RAF on 5 November 1944. It went to 27 Maintenance Unit, Shawbury, on 12 December for modifications before delivery to RAF Pershore on 9 March 1945. A month later it was dispatched across the Atlantic to Dorval, Quebec, Canada, arriving 17 April. From here it was ferried to Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Maryland, on 30 April 19452 where the U.S. Navy issued the aircraft Bureau Number 91106. 
     The Mosquito, along with a cannon equipped B-25H, participated in a test program to evaluate the weapon systems . . . . . . .

The Minnesota Aviation Hall of Fame

     Any Hall of Fame commemorates the lives and accomplishments of a group of people. For whatever career, whatever contributions to mankind, whatever popular role its members are honored, it is a singular honor for the individual so nominated and inducted. To be cast as a standard, as a role model, as a hero is perhaps one of life's most cherished and hoped-for dreams. In the realm of aviation, the National Aviation Hall of Fame at Dayton, Ohio holds the premiere position. Members of the aviation fraternity fortunate enough to be deemed worthy of the highest honor in the nation can consider themselves as standards, role models and heroes, and perhaps their greatest dream has come true. 
     Several states have seen fit to create their own aviation halls of fame. Though it is hard to say with certainty, at least 18 states had established halls of fame as reported by John Sherlock of the Arizona Hall of Fame, who undertook a survey in 1997. We know that there have been others formed since that survey was taken, including the latest in the state of Delaware in 1999. Each state sought to honor its native sons - those who earned respect within their state boundaries - some who may have been involved in the National Aviation Hall of Fame as well as others, less nationnally known but having played an important role in the development of aviation locally Minnesota is one of those states. How the Minnesota Aviation Hall of Fame (MAHOF) came into being is an . . . . .