The Al Williams Saga - Part II

Al Williams excelled at any task he tackled because of his unbridled enthusiasm. He left a legacy that stimulated worldwide interest in aviation and in the importance of air power.
     Most young men are satisfied with proficiency in one profession during their lifetime; however, Al Williams engaged in a myriad of professions that included speed record smasher, author and columnist, world-famous acrobat, inventor, tactician, lawyer, radio personality, research engineer, baseball player, educator, aircraft designer and U.S. Navy Chief Test Pilot. His story is contemporaneous with the period of swift and significant technical advances in the aeronautical sciences to which his remarkable contributions are truly outstanding and are still commonplace in our time. Part I, appearing in the Spring 2002 Journal, traced his boyhood and early career—including his Navy years. Part II continues the Al Williams saga.

The Crosswind Landing Gear Ercoupe

In the Spring 2001 issue of the AAHS Journal, 1 Scott Thompson referred to an Ercoupe used in a CAA Crosswind Landing Gear project. I can provide more information on that airplane. I flew it on that project.

     Early in 1950 the Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory (later Calspan and now Veridian Engineering) in Buffalo entered into a contract whereby the Laboratory would test and evaluate the crosswind landing gear which had been installed on a Civil Aeronautics Administration Ercoupe. W. F. Milliken and W.O. Breuhaus, who were responsible for the Laboratory's Flight Research Department at that time, remember that the CAA's John Geisse said that the CAA had the Ercoupe with the crosswind gear but didn't quite know how to evaluate it, and also that they didn't have any money for such a project. Apparently T.P. Wright had suggested that the Cornell Laboratory might be able to help. Walt Breuhaus told me recently that "Milliken and Breuhaus, being suckers for odd ball projects, said they would see what they could do." 2 The project was funded as Laboratory Internal Research, meaning company money of a not-for-profit corporation, and this dictated a very limited evaluation.
     The airplane was located at a small airport at Falmouth, Massachusetts, so the first thing to do was to ferry the airplane to Buffalo. I was an engineer and test pilot for the Lab and I was the one with the most familiarity with little airplanes, and besides, I had flown an Ercoupe when I was in graduate school at Cornell. So for a few days I knocked off flying with Johnny Seal, our chief pilot, in the twin Mustang we had for a project and off I went to fetch the airplane. 
     That turned out to be an adventure. The Ercoupe, NX 142, was an early prewar one with a 65-hp Continental. Juptner " says that the first four were delivered to the CAA and this may have been one of them. I had been informed that the airplane . . . . . .

Utah Gliding History 1927-1950: Part III 1939-1950

    JOE LAMBERT'S CAFE— Occasionally, after a long hot day of soaring or when the anticipated north winds failed to blow, and if someone had a little spare cash left, the glider-gang would load up and head a mile or so down the Provo highway to Joe Lambert's sandwich counter and gas station. There, hangarflying sessions were continued in earnest over hamburgers and soda pop. Joe had been consoling tired Point-of-the-Mountain glider pilots for years and was resigned to not selling gasoline for motorless airplanes —- some tow car fill-ups at best!
     Another significant Lambert event occurred from time-to-time. As pilots became more skillful at making modest cross-country flights, as compared to today's standards, and they were forced to land in some remote cow pasture or stubble hayfield due to the loss of updrafts, it became standard procedure to somehow telephone Joe's establishment. Once the errant pilot had pinpointed his location, the retrieval crew would set out from Lambert's with car and trailer to return the glider and pilot to the takeoff site, if the sun had not already set. Looking back on it all, those were the good old days!
     POWEBED AIRPLANE COMPETITION, 1930—Strange as it had seemed to the Salt Lake gliding faithful, there were at least three others in the area who had become addicted, not to gliders, but to construction and flying of powered airplanes ... "stinkpots," as Frank Kelsey often described such flying machines. One such unworthy individual had even dared to install a small gasoline engine on his home-built biplane glider. We never saw it fly - narrow escape!
     Also, two brothers, Fred and Cort Rosenhan, operated an automobile repair garage in Midvale. They constructed a beautiful Corben Baby Ace  . . . . . .

Transatlantic Coronados

     From May 17/18, 1944, in the run-up to "D-Day" on June 6, a fleet of four-engined. Consolidated PB2Y Coronado flying-boats added urgent passenger and cargo capacity across the North Atlantic to Britain. The U.S. Navy PB2Y-3R 'boatswere flown by Pan American and American Overseas Airline crews. And RAF crews from 231 Squadron, flew the PB2Y-3Rs.
     The first record of a transatlantic flight by a U.S. Navy Coronado was recorded on September 14/15, 1941, when a XPB2Y was flown from Argentia, Newfoundland, to Stranraer, Scotland carrying the Harriman Party to Britain.' Here, the American and British agreed the level of war supplies that would be made available to Russia, following its invasion by German forces in June. Averill Harriman and Lord Beaverbrook took the Anglo-American Supply Mission to Moscow on September 22 aboard HMS London.' he XPB2Y returned to Argentia on September 28/29.
     It is recorded that 31 U.S. Navy PB2Y Coronados were contracted to the Atlantic Division of Pan American Airways and American Export. Engineers had to make 96 modifications to the fleet of flying boats for their new transport roles, including removing guns and bomb racks, faired-over turrets and passenger and cargo accommodation.
     The first transatlantic service by PB2Y Coronados was operated by the U.S. Navy Naval Air Transport Service from New York to Sandv Bav. Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland, via the flying-boat base at Botwood in Newfoundland. Here, a meteorological officer, Hugh Lacey, kept a diary of many of the arrivals and departures through the base. His log reveals that at 1610 hours on May 17, 1944, a PB2Y BuNo. 7219, flown by Captain Durst, alighted from New York. It departed that day . . . . .

The Pirate of the Everglades and his Airline of the Stars

      A stocky and bellicose man with a belligerent looking jaw that added to an appearance of being rough, was the exterior of a man called Ted Baker, the founder and legend behind National Airlines.
     Through years of stiff competition. Baker ruled with an iron hand. He could have been Bob Six's (Continental) clone! They both ruled with a no-nonsense, two-fisted manner, in a way, typical of the airline CEO back in the early years.
     National was the only major trunk carrier in the U.S. that started service in the '30s without being a branch of another airline.
     Ted Baker, who at one time repossessed cars, then ended up financing them along with boats, lived and worked in Chicago. He became interested in flying after he took a ride with a barnstormer at Midway Airport. Then he also added airplanes to his financing business.
     The National Airlines Air Taxi System surfaced after the "Market Crash" of 1929. Baker owned two Ryans, repossessions from his finance business.
     His customers were mainly those who wanted to fly to Canada for liquor, which was legal and inexpensive.
     He bid on two mail contracts, one from Cleveland to Nashville and the other from St. Petersburg to Daytona Beach. . . . . .

The Boeing P-26 Peashooter: The first all-metal U.S. Army Fighter Aircraft

       Throughout most of 2001, Boeing Aircraft Company and Lockheed-Martin Aircraft Company were locked in a fierce competition to win a huge military aviation contract to build America's next generation fighter, the Joint Strike Fighter or JSF. The new design, either by Lockheed-Martin's X-35 or Boeing's X-32, was to replace many current U.S. fighters. It will be able to take off as a current fighter and also operate as a vertical takeoff aircraft. In October 2001, Lockheed-Martin's design won the right to build the JSF, which eventually could lead to the production of from 3,000 to 5,000 aircraft for the U.S. military and America's allies. Boeing is best known for the production of large commercial aircraft, as well as bomber and military aircraft, like the KC-135 tanker. But in the 1930s, it was an innovator in the transition from the biplane to the low-wing monoplane for the United States Army (USA). Both the P-26 and the X-32 ended along the same lines, although Boeing did win a limited production of the U.S. Army's first low-wing, monoplane fighter, the P-26, but not for its X-32 fighter.
     After World War I (WWI), the USA lived off equipment and supplies not consumed during the "Great War." This was equipment and supplies remaining in the production pipeline or warehouses when the fighting in Europe ended. However, by 1920, most of this equipment was worn out, most of the expendable surplus supplies consumed, or deteriorated as to be useless. Adding to this shortage was the effect of the "Great Depression" in the United States beginning in October 1929. The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) fought desperately to survive as a viable combat organization, while attempting to replace obsolete aircraft and equipment. The USAAC required a minimum annual operating budget of $54 million, but in 1931, it only received $36 million. This was reduced even more during the following years, aggravated by the growing impact of the "Great Depression" on the United States. The 1930s created a terrible economic shock to USAAC plans to modernize and begin the transition to more modem and capable military aircraft. This transition was to go from the stick-wire-fabric covered aircraft used during WWI, to metal framework aircraft covered with fabric, finally to all-metal monoplane fighters, bombers, transports, and utility/training aircraft (many Word War II cadet pilots learned basic flying in biplane trainers). During the limited . . . . . .

Boeing P-26 Peashooter

Dive Bomber

     During the early months of 1941, Warner Brothers began making their epic motion-picture Dive Bomber, staring Errol Flynn, Ralph Belamy, Fred MacMurry, and many other of the popular actors and actresses of that era.
     The film was made at North Island Naval Air Station, San Diego, Calif., and aboard the carrier U.S.S. Enterprise, CV-6.
     The script called for a popular Navy pilot to be grounded because of fatigue from too many flying hours. Actor Regis Toomey played that part. He resigned his commission and joined the Royal Canadian Air Force. Naturally, he had to fly down to North Island to show off his "hot" RCAF fighter.
     The following photographs show how a Ryan STA sport trainer became a "state of the art" RCAF fighter:

     Aviation at San Diego began in 1883 with John J. Montgomery and his glider. Powered aeroplanes first took off at San Diego in 1910. By 1923 aviation was 40 years old in the little coastal city with a population of about 90,000. Local aviation got real busy in June 1923.
     An introduction to aviation at San Diego shortly before June 1923 is necessary. The oldest active airfield by 1923 was on North Island located at the entrance to San Diego bay. Army aviation had arrived on North Island in 1912 then began sharing it with the Navy in 1918. The civilian airfield area that became most well known was on Dutch Flats, a long, wide salt flat where several aviators leased land for their flying services. T. Claude Ryan was one of those aviators in 1923.
     North Island dominated the aviation scene. Naval Air Station, San Diego, was the shore base for Aircraft Squadrons, Battle Fleet, orASBF, commanded by Captain Albert Marshall. He was learning to be an aviator, as well. His flagship was USS Aroostook (CM-3), a wartime minelayer converted to a seaplane tender. Captain T.T. Craven commanded the Naval Air Station. Buildings included land- and seaplane hangars, a tall administration building, and a landmark lighter-than-air hangar without lighter-than-air craft.
     The Pacific Air Force consisted of Fighting Squadron One flying various types of Vought VE-7s, two observation squadrons, VO-I and VO-2, flying DH-4Bs and VE-7s, and Torpedo Squadron Two with Douglas DTs, F-5Ls and Curtiss N-9s. . . . . . 

Brodie System

     When the United States entered World War II, one of the main priorities was the reduction of German submarine attacks on coastal shipping and North Atlantic convoys. The U.S. Navy was unable to provide adequate convoy protection from U-boats and wolfpacks along the convoy's routes. Many ideas were considered which might quickly provide daylight air observation ahead of the convoy, so that all of the U-boats lying in wait on the surface might be detected and the convoy diverted away.
     Someone suggested a baby carrier. Simply build a small flight deck onto an LST. This runway would be the LST's main deck. However, it was intended for takeoffs only. The aircraft would have to land on a deck only a couple of hundred feet long. About a dozen or so Piper L-4s could be carried and operated off of the improvised deck. This idea never reached fruition, due to its obvious limitations. A more complex solution, however, the Brodie system, was developed and used successfully for a time.
     The Brodie System was one such concept designed to provide air observation for a convoy, by basing liaison aircraft on one or more of the convoy's ships. Lieutenant James H. Brodie, U.S. Army Field Artillery, developed an operable system that could be utilized on almost any environment.
      By early 1943, in New Orleans, T rinisi~na RTPR T t Tirnrilp rlPvPlnnPrl thP ation of liaison aircraft from ships or from jungle or similarly inhospitable terrain. It consisted of a cable, 500 feet long, and strung between two masts. A "hook" mounted on top of the aircraft permitted the liaison aircraft to takeoff and land while suspended some 50 feet minimum above the ground or ocean surface. A trolley with an attached sling underneath caught the hook mounted above the center-of-gravity of the airplane. The trolley ran along the cable and allowed landing and takeoff runs. The airplane was raised from or lowered to the deck by tightening or slackening the cable. The planes could take off as well as land using the Brodie device. . . . . . .

The World's Fastest Piston-Engined Aircraft

Recently I was talking to a test pilot friend, who is qualified in Unlimiteds as well just about anything that flies including jets or prop jobs, and I asked him what would it take to get to 500 miles per hour? He said that's simple; just get yourself down to LAX, buy a commercial airline ticket, get on the plane, and soon after you become airborne you will be at 500 mph or better. No, no I said what I mean is to get an Unlimited propeller-driven airplane to a true airspeed of 500 mph in level flight at an altitude under 7,000 feet. That's entirely different he told me and further qualified his comment by saying that, "that my boy, is very very difficult if not almost impossible. What you will need is an almost unlimited cash supply, the right airplane, the right pilot, a very talented group of the right support people, and a vast amount of good luck. This, however, will not ensure success." Sounds as if I will have to have plenty of the "right stuff" I said. "That's absolutely correct," he said, as we finished our conversation.
     This conversation got me interested in the subject of just what were the fastest, officially recognized, propeller-driven airplanes in the World. What made them different from other airplanes, how did they progress technically, and how did they contribute to our understanding of aviation over the years? A good place to start , it seemed, was the post-Great War (WWI) era when the fastest airplane speeds were just pushing the 200 mph mark.
     The chart (at the right) depicts ten of the official piston-engine propeller-driven airplane World's speed records. The chart shows the record speed measured in a three kilometer course and the year it was established. This chart covers a 70-year interval from 1920 to 1990. The World recognized Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI)' was the flight observer and grantor of all speed records. Each record holder is chronologically numbered and identified in the table at the end of this section. . . . .

     Freddie A. Laker and his company, Aviation Traders, Ltd., needed both to supplement and eventually replace their Bristol Superfreighters 32s car ferries that flew from Britain to the Continent. Laker was the managing director of the engineering and overhaul firm of Aviation Traders that also operated Channel Air Bridge. Douglas DC-4 & C-54 Skymasters were available at reasonable prices, about $110,000, and also many spare parts were available. In 1960, work was begun on a derelict KLM DC-4, PH-DBZ, which served as a full-scale mockup. Wind tunnel tests were done at the College of Aeronautics at Cranfield, using a 1/24th scale DC-4 model. Different nose shapes were tried until the lowest drag nose was discovered. The first flight of a Carvair, a former World Airways C-54B, was on June 21, 1961. The chase aircraft was Freddie Laker's personal Cessna 310D, G-ARAC. The program had a delay when, on August 28th, the aircraft was struck by a fork-lift which virtually severed the fuselage aft of the trailing edge of the wing. The rear fuselage of the mockup, PH-DBZ, was then grafted on to the prototype. After 156 hours of flight testing, the British certification was received on January 31, 1962. The U.S.'s FAA granted the Carvair a Certificate of Airworthiness in September, 1962. By mid-1962, Aviation Traders had 1,600 employees and, by the Summer of 1963, built a Carvair every six weeks.
     The forward Douglas fuselage was extended by 8 feet 8 inches, the cockpit was raised 6 feet 10 inches and the floor length was increased by 30 feet 10 inches. A hydraulic operated swing nose was hinged on the left side of the fuselage. The nose wheel retracted into an external blister under the cabin . . . . . .