The FReeper Foxhole Remembers Capt. Glen Edwards and The Flying Wing (1946 - 1949) - Mar. 17th, 2004

www.edwards.af.mil ^

[SAMWolf]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.

...................................................................................... ...........................................

U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues

Where Duty, Honor and Country
are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.

Our Mission:

The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans.

Welcome to "Warrior Wednesday"
Where the Freeper Foxhole introduces a different veteran each Wednesday. The "ordinary" Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine who participated in the events in our Country's history. We hope to present events as seen through their eyes. To give you a glimpse into the life of those who sacrificed for all of us - Our Veterans.

To read previous Foxhole threads or
to add the Foxhole to your sidebar,
click on the books below.

Capt. Glen Edwards
and
The Flying Wing

In many ways, Glen Walter Edwards was very typical of his generation.

Born when the First World War was entering its final stages, he entered adolescence in aviation's Golden Age of the 1930s, when most young people of his age looked eagerly to the skies. He came to maturity as the war clouds were gathering in Europe for the second time, and it was foreordained that his generation would face the second cataclysm.

Capt. Glen Edwards

Bright, well-educated, and with a singularly engaging personality, Edwards had much to offer to his society in World War II, and especially during the dynamic postwar years which followed.

Capt. Edwards was born in the windswept Canadian prairie town of Medicine Hat, Alberta, on March 5, 1918.

His boyhood was spent in a rural environment of farming and ranching, and he developed a lifelong love of outdoor sports. In 1931, his American-born parents moved the family to Placer County, Calif., entitling him to dual Canadian and American citizenship. The family settled near the town of Lincoln, a flat rural area in the fertile San Joaquin Valley.

The young teenager excelled in the local schools, several times being chosen president of his class. Graduating from Lincoln Union High School in 1936, he passed through Placer Junior College two years later and earned a Chemical Engineering degree from the University of California at Berkeley in 1941.



Soon after graduation, Capt. Edwards enlisted in the Army Air Force at McClellan Field. America’s pilot training pipeline was already moving into high as the nation rearmed itself. Edwards soon found himself with other fledglings, learning to fly light training planes at Cal-Areo in Ontario, Calif.

Basic and advanced training soon followed at Luke Field (now Luke Air Force Base) in Arizona, and the newly-qualified pilot was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Army Air Corps in February 1942. From there, he learned to fly the Douglas A-20 Havoc, a speedy light bomber which its pilots claimed could be handled like a fighter.

Lt. Edwards and the 86th Bombardment Squadron (Light) (47th Bombardment Group) were sent into combat in October 1942.

Following the successful conclusion of Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of North Africa, the unit established itself at Mediouna, French Morocco; from there it set about attacking Axis ground targets and providing air support to the U.S. Army forces moving against Rommel.



The desperate battle of Kasserine Pass, when the Germans smashed through the mountains hoping to drive the brash Americans into the sea, proved to be a baptism of fire for the 86th Squadron. The undermanned and undersupplied bombers flew 11 missions against the German column in one day, winning a Distinguished Unit Citation in the process. The A-20s were based so close to the battle line that Edwards could claim a record: he completed a combat mission in 19 minutes, from takeoff to landing. Following the Kasserine Pass crisis, he was decorated for improvising a skip bombing technique which was successful against the German Panzers.

Kasserine Pass proved to be a turning point in the Mediterranean Theater; from then on, the Allied forces never turned back. The pilots of the 86th harassed the Fascist armies across the face of North Africa, into and out of Sicily, and into the Italian peninsula itself.


Douglas A-20 Havoc

During the next 10 months, the Havocs continually shifted from one makeshift air base to another: two in Algeria, three in Tunisia, to Malta, then Sicily, and finally to Grottaglie on the Italian mainland.

It was there, in September 1943, that Edwards completed his combat tour. With 50 missions, four Distinguished Flying Crosses and six Air Medals under his belt, he prepared to return to the United States for a new assignment.

Now a captain, Edwards could have expected to become a flying instructor, passing on his combat techniques to student pilots. Instead, he was sent to the Pilot Standardization Board at Florence Army Air Field, S.C. Late in 1944, he was assigned to Wright Field, Ohio, where his precision flying skills would soon be put to use in the Flight Test Division.

First, however, those skills had to be honed, and the young combat veteran trained in the flight data measurement techniques necessary for the evaluation of modern aircraft. He was among the first to graduate from the Air Technical Service Command’s newly-created Flight Performance School (now known as the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School). Edwards found himself in good company. Some of the Army Air Force’s most outstanding pilots were fellow students: Richard Bong, Francis S. Gabreski, and Don Gentile, among others. Lockheed test pilot Tony LeVier was a classmate, as was Daniel H. Forbes. Upon graduation, Edwards was placed in the Bomber Test Operations Section.



Although the Flight Test Division was still located at Wright Field in Ohio, Edwards spent much time at Muroc Army Air Field in California’s high desert.

It was an exciting time to be a test pilot.

America’s manufacturing strength was at its wartime peak, and new models of bombers and fighters were emerging from its giant air industry. Jet aircraft were beginning to appear, pushing the frontiers of flight into new and largely unknown directions. Throughout 1945 and 1946, Edwards flew anything he could lay his hands on, through the sheer love of flying. Test sorties, business trips, proficiency and demonstration flights saw him at the controls of a variety of aircraft: B-24s, B-25s, C-46s, C-47s, AT-6s and even P-51s and the jet-powered P-59. Light planes such as the Stinson L-5 and civilian Taylorcraft served when nothing else was available.

His personal diary reflected his exuberance at the test projects that came his way. "Flying is a great game--if only I could get more of it."

There were B-29 checkouts, a stability measurement project with a B-25, and a project to launch JB-2 "buzz bombs" from a B-17.



Yet there was more to the young pilot than a mere love of flying, and Glen Edwards was much more than a good stick-and-rudder man. In fact, he typified the first of an entirely new generation of test pilots: carefully-trained flight test engineers who knew the science of flight as well as their airplanes themselves. Col. Albert Boyd, chief of the Fight Test Division, was carefully assembling a team of aeronautical professionals who could not only fly well, but understood just what was happening to an airplane in the air and could translate that experience into useful engineering data.

Edwards’ future soon was pointed toward the evaluation of experimental prototype aircraft. The first such assignment was to the XB-42 Mixmaster, a sleek medium bomber powered by two counterrotating pusher propellers. In this highly innovative airplane, he and Lt.Col. Henry E. Worden established a new transcontinental speed record in December 1945, flying from Long Beach, Calif. to Bolling Field in Washington, D.C., in just 5 hours and 17 minutes.

Following this feat, Edwards was selected to be the principal project pilot for Convair’s all-jet XB-46 bomber. On Feb. 12, 1946, he was named chief test pilot for the bomber section.

Thanks to my partner Snippy About It for suggesting this thread

[SAMWolf]

It was during this period that Capt. Edwards began his association with the flying wings.

John K. "Jack" Northrop had long pioneered the flying wing concept, all-wing aircraft totally lacking a conventional fuselage and tail. Such a design, he calculated, would free an airplane from the weight and drag penalties associated with a conventional fuselage and tail assembly. Moreover, the payload of an all-wing airplane would be distributed evenly along its entire span, eliminating the heavy structural bracing necessary in conventional designs. The result would be an aircraft which would be both lighter and faster, yet capable of larger payloads as well.



Northrop had begun researching the concept in the 1930s with a series of small, tailless experimental planes. His company, Northrop Aircraft, Inc., developed two designs for tailless fighters during the war years: the XP-56 Black Bullet and the revolutionary XP-79 Flying Ram. Neither proved to be successful, but Northrop was convinced that the flying wing concept would come into its own as a bomber.

The Northrop company’s XB-35 Flying Wing was initiated early in the war, and by 1946 was attracting a great deal of attention in the aviation community. Strikingly clean and sleek, the XB-35 was powered by four Pratt & Whitney R-4360 engines, each driving a pair of counterrotating pusher propellers. The plane was designed to carry a bomb load of some 52,000 pounds for a distance of 7,500 miles, at an altitude twice that of most World War II bombers.

First, however, must come test and evaluation.



Edwards was assigned to the project, and began with a careful assessment of the last of Northrop’s small concept demonstrator planes, the N-9MB. This was a one-third scale model of the XB-35, a single-seat plane with a 60-foot wingspan and powered by two small pusher engines. Such an airplane involves lots of compromises and the craft was definitely underpowered; nevertheless, Edwards liked it. He evaluated the N-9MB a month before the larger airplane’s first flight, and found that it was stable to fly, yet very maneuverable. Even though he described his first takeoff as "…an experience not soon to be forgotten," the small plane lived up to its promise and served its purpose well.

Edwards’ work continued to attract the attention of his superior officers. When Maj. Robert L. Cardenas became Chief of the Bomber Operations Section on July 1, 1946, Edwards was appointed assistant chief. Cardenas was his mentor as well as supervisor, and soon nominated him for a dazzling assignment: pilot of the Bell X-1 rocket plane, which would soon probe the frontiers of supersonic flight. Boyd passed over this recommendation in favor of another of his pilots, Capt. Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager, but Edwards was clearly in the first rank at the Flight Test Division. Boyd selected Cardenas to fly the B-29 used to launch the X-1, and Edwards was sent to Princeton to study the new field of aircraft stability and control. In June 1947, he was awarded his master of science degree in aeronautical engineering.


3 years late and 400 percent over budget, the first XB-35 is ready for test flights

The month of May 1948 found the young test pilot at Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio, hard at work with a series of tail flutter tests on the XB-46 and evaluating air-to-air refueling techniques with the B-29.

The bomber section was experiencing a temporary shortage of pilots, leaving Edwards and his remaining pilots busier than ever. "[May 4] Things are sure in a squeeze. We’ve got so many projects and so few pilots to perform same. If we don’t get some relief pretty soon I may be forced to stay here while the B-45A service tests are going on! How horrible. Got to get to Muroc." Two weeks later, his wish came true. On May 18, he wrote: "…this evening all heck broke loose. Seems like I’m bound for Muroc tomorrow by fastest means possible. Plan to run stability on the YB-49, performance on B-45A and Phase II on XB-35—What fun! Sounds like I’ll be there for awhile. Packing like mad tonight."



By then, it was apparent that Air Force interest in the propeller-driven XB-35 had peaked, and that the future of flying wing development lay in the big bomber’s jet propelled derivative, the YB-49. Compared with this futuristic aircraft, the B-45 Tornado would seem to be a docile and unexciting workhorse. But like many airplanes on the cutting edge of science, the sleek jet also brought with it a number of problems. Converting a piston-engine design to jet power involves far more than a simple swapping of power plants, and the aerodynamics of all-wing technology had not yet been fully explored.

Two days after getting his new assignment, Edwards had his first flight in the YB-49. "[May 20] Got a short flight in on the YB-49 today—flew in the co-pilot seat with Bob [Cardenas] at the controls. Air speed [indicator] went out. So we landed using an A-26 as pacer. Plan to fly again tomorrow." The flight took place as scheduled. "[May 21] Got off another flight today. This time I flew the airplane, and must confess it is something of an experience. Stability is poor all around—landing is peculiar. Has a great tendency to float."


Maj Robert Cardenas completing walk-around inspection before first flight in the YB-49.

Indeed it did. Whenever the YB-49 neared touchdown, it compressed the air between its huge wing area and the runway; aviators were just beginning to appreciate the phenomenon of "ground effect" upon all-wing aircraft.

The floating tendency was harmless — forty years later, the B-2 Spirit would experience the same thing — but the marginal stability was more of a problem. "[May 27] Got two flights off today with doubtful success. Darndest airplane I ever tried to do anything with. Quite uncontrollable at times. Hope to be more favorably impressed as time goes on."

Others, however, shared his doubts. The final entry in Glen Edwards’ diary, on June 3, was both ebullient and thoughtful: "What a wonderful day this has been! Got off two flights on the YB-49, a lovely flight on the DC-6, one on the C-74—and I’m bushed…Col. Boyd flew the YB-49 for the first time today and wasn’t too impressed. We all share the same views. A passable airplane in ideal circumstances."

That was the last entry in the diary. Two days later, on June 5, 1948, Edwards and four others were killed in the crash of their YB-49.


YB-49 had same wingspan as current day B-2 Stealth bomber-- 172 feet

Just before 8 a.m. on that Saturday morning, a motorist on State Road 466 saw huge pieces of metal plummeting to earth northwest of Muroc Air Force Base.

YB-49 s/n 42-102368, undergoing a series of performance evaluations, had departed controlled flight and experienced a catastrophic failure in the air.

The center section containing the cockpit and crew stations crashed within view of the base; the outer wing panels fluttered to earth some distance away.


A wing tip came down a few miles from the main crash site and led to the belief that the crash was cause by a structural failure.

Capt. Glen W. Edwards and Maj. Daniel H. Forbes Jr. were the pilots that day; 1st Lt. Edward L. Swindell, Mr. Clare C. Lesser, and Mr. C.H. LaFountain were also aboard. The exact chain of events leading to the bomber’s loss of control remains a matter of some controversy.

Any person is much more than the sum of his professional accomplishments, and Glen W. Edwards was no exception.

That he was a highly skilled airman was only to be expected — then as now, that was the norm at the base that now bears his name. But the memories of those who knew him, his letters, and the personal diary that he penned over many years, give intriguing dimension to the portrait of the proficient test pilot.


Height of the YB-49 was 15 feet, 2 inches.

What emerges is a consistently good-natured person who loved life, freely and enthusiastically. He enjoyed a number of enthusiasms, of which flying was barely the first. Outdoor activities ran a close second, and Edwards exhausted himself skiing, swimming, skeet shooting and hunting whenever he had the chance. If he could manage to borrow an airplane and fly a great distance to his sport, he was supremely happy. He eagerly followed indoor sports as well. He was a tiger on the dance floor, even by the standards of the Jitterbug Era; one professional dancer urged him to give up flying and head to Hollywood. It follows, then, that he was an exacting judge of swing bands, and in the privacy of his diary he freely critiqued each of his dance partners according to their ability.


The main crash site was just a mass of melted aluminum and twisted metal. Oxygen tanks were about the only thing left that was recognizable

His good looks and dancing skills seem to have cut a wide swathe through the ranks of femininity.

Youthful pilots seldom lack for dates, but Edwards seems to have set new standards for off-duty activity. It must be said that he was impartial in his gallantry. Evening after evening ended on a note of wholehearted praise: "Swell kid!; Really a nice kid!; Great gal!; A neat little dancer!" Over the years, only the names changed… For a time there was a fairly contrived relationship with Hollywood actress Joan Leslie and her press agent. There were other occasional favorites, but none long-term, and his last days found him still not ready to settle down.


Glen Walter Edwards


Daniel Hugh Forbes, Jr


Edward Lee Swindell


Charles H. LaFountain


Clare C. Leser

Unlike many younger men, Edwards was an accomplished cook and baker, and prided himself each time that he produced a "world-class sour cream pie" or "the apple pie of a lifetime." He seldom commented upon books that stirred him, nor discussed his aviation work in detail. Instead, he cherished his friends, his family, and the numerous encounters of a busy and active life.

By all accounts, Glen Edwards was a man one would have liked to know.

[SAMWolf]

The product of a long period of experimentation and development by one of the aviation community’s most noted designers, the XB-35 was America’s first attempt at an all-wing heavy bomber.


Northrop XB-35

In the darkest days of World War II, when it appeared that Nazi Germany might well conquer Great Britain and the Soviet Union, the Army Air Forces saw the need for a large bomber with intercontinental range. Such a plane, based in the United States, must be able to cross the Atlantic and hit Germany with a large bomb load. Jack Northrop saw this formidable requirement as made-to-order for his flying wing concept. Only a flying wing, freed of the weight and drag of a conventional fuselage and tail, could have the performance necessary to meet that need. Northrop began work on a full-scale version of his earlier designs. At about the same time, the rival Consolidated Aircraft Corporation began work on its own design, destined to become the Convair B-36.

Jack Northrop’s XB-35 was a marvelous aircraft. Required to carry a 10,000-pound bomb load a distance of 10,000 miles, the futuristic plane was huge for its day: with a wing span of 172 feet and a length of only 53 feet, it stood 20 feet off the ground.


The Northrop plant was too small to build these airframes indoors so most of the manufacturing happened outside if at all possible

Its dramatically-swept shape (the same span and degree of sweepback of today’s B-2 bomber) was thrilling to see in the skies, particularly to a generation raised on aircraft of the 1930s and '40s. Seen from the side, it resembled a silver teardrop; viewed directly from the front, it nearly disappeared.

Four Pratt & Whitney R-4360 engines mounted internally, close to the leading edge. Each engine drove a pair of counter-rotating four-bladed propellers by means of a long extension shaft and a complex gearbox. Engines roaring and propellers churning, the bomber was a majestic sight in the air, but the complicated drive train proved to be its undoing.



The XB-35’s first flight, on June 25, 1946, was a success and Max Stanley later said that he would never have known that he was piloting a flying wing if he hadn’t looked behind him.

But that was about the only trouble-free flight the bomber was ever to have. Numerous equipment failures had already delayed the plane’s development by more than a year, and a host of gearbox and drive train problems plagued the flight test program. Only three B-35s were completed (two X-model and one Y-), and they accumulated only a modest number of hours in the air. In order to save the program, the government ordered the remainder of the initial service test models to be converted to jet power.

---

Popular folklore among aviation enthusiasts holds that Northrop’s futuristic Flying Wing was a wonder plane which was smothered in its cradle — a jet-powered marvel of fantastic performance which could have revolutionized postwar aviation "if only" it had been given a fair chance.


Northrop YB-49

The fact that the plane was canceled amid rumors of high-level conspiracy, and replaced by the more conventional — if equally awesome — B-36, only added to the legend.

In point of fact, the YB-49 had great promise, but flight testing soon revealed that it also had a lot of things wrong with it.

Most prototypes do, particularly those designs that push hard against the boundaries of aeronautical possibilities. And it was certainly true that the concept of a jet powered flying wing offered many possibilities: increased range and speed for the same power; more efficient airframe; substantial weight-lifting capability; and smaller aircrew. Its payload could be distributed evenly along the entire span, eliminating heavy internal bracing. Similarly, bomb bays no longer had to be confined to a narrow fuselage tube, but could be spread across the underside of the wing. From a strictly design standpoint, these advantages are indisputable.


Convair B-36

Many of the YB-49’s problems lay in its engineering design, and the compromises necessary in converting a piston engine design to jet propulsion. The Flying Wing’s basic airfoil section might have been optimum for the XB-35, but was clearly inadequate for the higher speeds needed for a jet bomber. Thus, the YB-49 cruised nearly 100 mph slower than the XB-47. The XB-35 never achieved its hoped-for bomb load, and its jet derivative fared no better.

Even worse, the bomb bays were simply too small for the nuclear weapons of the day. The cockpit layout was horrible: the pilot had a one-man bubble affording good visibility, but it could not be opened. There were no ejection seats. To leave his position, the pilot had to rotate his seat 90 degrees, lower it several feet, and walk to a hatch 15 feet away. The co-pilot’s position was buried in the leading edge; he had a very poor view that prevented him from taking off or landing the aircraft.


The YB-49 had eight Allison J35-A-5 engines with 4000lbs of thrust each. Pilot's position was in the bubble canopy. He sat three feet higher than the copilot.

Some of these problems could have been corrected, but others could not be. The designers had not been able to anticipate the critical control requirements needed for a large all-wing airplane, especially for a system that could anticipate and correct problems before the pilot was aware of them. That, of course, would have to wait for the computer age. The Air Force’s flight evaluators soon found that the YB-49 was sloppy in turns, and took too long to steady up for an effective bombing run. Its 1940s control technology was inadequate to the big plane’s needs. Worse, it could not provide the necessary margin of flight safety.


YB-49 was 53 feet and one inch from nose to the vertical fin. Bomb load was 16,000lbs

Perhaps it is fair to say that Northrop’s design concepts were solid, but the means to implement them were still several decades away. The YB-49 was simply a generation ahead of its time.

Additional Sources:

www.kstope.ang.af.mil
www.check-six.com
home.att.net/~jbaugher2
www.yourzagi.com
www.globalaircraft.org
www.volny.cz
www.hobby.fbi.cz
www.pilotfriend.com
www.military.cz
1000aircraftphotos.com
www.fleetairarmarchive.net

[SAMWolf]

The YB-49 was in competition with the Convair B-36 for consideration as the next long-range strategic bomber for the USAF. The Air Force decided to order the B-36D (with six piston engines and four jets) to meet the requirement for a long-range strategic bomber, and the contract for 30 new RB-49A aircraft was canceled in April of 1949. In November of 1949, the conversion of the existing YB-35 airframes to jet-powered configuration was also cancelled. The surviving airframes were ordered destroyed. In 1952, Jack Northrop abruptly retired from the company he had founded and divested himself of all interests. He was personally devastated by the cancellation and destruction of his pet project.



The reasons for the abrupt cancellation of the B-49 project remain uncertain even today, and many of the details are still classified. The chronic stability problems, plus the series of accidents that seem to dog the project at every step along the way certainly must have played a role. In addition, the YB-49 carried its bomb load in a series of bomb bay cells, each of which was too small to accommodate the Mk III and Mk 4 atomic bombs of the day, which were 5 feet in diameter, 10 feet long, and weighed 10,000 pounds. In contrast, the weapons bay in the B-36 was cavernous and could carry almost anything.



In 1980, Jack Northrop finally told his side of the story to the press. He claimed that the YB-49 program had been cancelled by the Air Force not because of any insoluble technical problems but because he refused to obey an order to merge Northrop with Convair. He said that he had kept quiet all these years because he feared that the Pentagon would boycott his company if he disclosed the story to the public. He claimed that Air Force Secretary Stuart Symington had issued the merger order slightly after Northrop had won the RB-49 contract in June of 1948. Symington claimed at that time that the Air Force could not afford to support any new aircraft companies on its declining post-war budget, and that unless Northrop agreed to the merger, the flying wing bomber would not be built at all. Jack Northrop did meet with Floyd Odlum, head of Atlas Corporation, a Wall Street holding company for Convair, to discuss a possible merger, but the talks went nowhere. Jack Northrop said later that he had built up his company over the years and owed a debt of loyalty to his employees and was not about to have his flying wing built by anyone other than his people working at the Northrop factory in Hawthorne, California. Shortly thereafter, Secretary Symington abruptly ordered that the flying wing program be cancelled. As part of the cancellation order, the Air Force ordered that seven of the Flying Wings then under conversion be destroyed.



The YB-49 cancellation story became part of a congressional investigation that took place in June of 1949 in the wake of the awarding of the strategic bomber contract to the B-36, with charges of undue influence and favoritism toward Convair being aired. At that time, the Secretary of Defense was Louis A. Johnson, who had replaced James Forrestal on March 28, 1949. On April 23, 1949 Secretary Johnson abruptly cancelled the large aircraft carrier, the *United States*, which had been ordered by his predecessor to provide the Navy with strategic bombing capability, and went ahead with plans for a fleet of B-36D long-range strategic bombers. The Navy was enraged at the cancellation of its supercarrier, but the Air Force insisted that strategic bombing was strictly an Air Force responsibility. At that time, both President Harry Truman and Defense Secretary Johnson were under severe budgetary constraints, and felt that the government could not afford both new strategic bombers and a new carrier force. However, there were doubts expressed that the B-36 could defend itself against Soviet jet fighters, and there were concerns that the Air Force had spent a fortune on what would turn out to be a sitting duck.


Unfortunately - the remaining YB-49s ended up being cut up and sold for scrap. Not a single example remains today

There had been rumors in the press that Secretary Symington had been tapped to be the head of the new firm that would have been created from the merger of Convair and Northrop. Jack Northrop had been a witness at the B-36 hearings, and at that time he denied that there had been anything suspicious about the cancellation of the YB-49. Many years later, Northrop admitted that he had lied under oath at the hearings, fearful that Symington might completely obliterate his company in reprisal. Symington later went on to serve in the US Senate for 24 years, and he unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1960. He retired from the Senate in 1977. Symington has always denied that there is any truth to Jack Northrop's claim. It is interesting, though, to note that the production of the F-89 Scorpion interceptor commenced during this same time period, indicating that Jack Northrop's problems with his flying wing project did not prevent his company from being given other major defense contracts. The true story of what really happened with the YB-49 may never be known.

[SAMWolf]

Veterans for Constitution Restoration is a non-profit, non-partisan educational and grassroots activist organization. The primary area of concern to all VetsCoR members is that our national and local educational systems fall short in teaching students and all American citizens the history and underlying principles on which our Constitutional republic-based system of self-government was founded. VetsCoR members are also very concerned that the Federal government long ago over-stepped its limited authority as clearly specified in the United States Constitution, as well as the Founding Fathers' supporting letters, essays, and other public documents.

---

Tribute to a Generation - The memorial will be dedicated on Saturday, May 29, 2004.

---

Actively seeking volunteers to provide this valuable service to Veterans and their families.

---

Iraq Homecoming Tips

~ Thanks to our Veterans still serving, at home and abroad. ~ Freepmail to Ragtime Cowgirl | 2/09/04 | FRiend in the USAF

---

The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul

Click on Hagar for
"The FReeper Foxhole Compiled List of Daily Threads"

[snippy_about_it]

FALL IN to the FReeper Foxhole!



Good Wednesday Morning Everyone

Happy Saint Patrick's Day
from
The FReeper Foxhole.



If you would like added to our ping list let us know.

[Aeronaut]

Good morning Snippy.

Dayton-Wright RB-1 (1920)

[steveegg]

Good morning, and Happy St. Patrick's Day. The B-35/49 was a very interesting aircraft. I seem to recall a program on Discovery Wings a while ago about it, and it mentioned a planned civilian version with theater-type seating and a good part of the wing glassed so the passengers could get abetter view forward.

[steveegg]

Now that plane takes the cake. That certainly is a strong wing, but forward visibility leaves something to be desired to say the least.

[Aeronaut]

...but forward visibility leaves something to be desired to say the least.

Note the side "bubbles" in the upper picture.

[StayAt HomeMother]

Today, on St. Patrick’s Day, it is appropriate to remember at least a few of Irish immigrants who have fought in every major (and most of the minor) engagements of the US military.

Revolutionary War: Commodore John Barry, “Father of the American Navy,” was born in a thatched cottage in County Wexford, Ireland, and rose from humble cabin boy to senior commander of the United States fleet. See The FReeper Foxhole Profiles Commodore John Barry - Aug. 9th, 2003
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-vetscor/960949/posts

Civil War: An estimated 170,000 men born in Ireland joined the Union Army, and another 40,000 joined the Confederate Army. Thomas F. Meagher, born in County Waterford, Ireland, who had been exiled to Tasmania in 1849, fled to the United States in 1852 and joined the Union Army where he was promoted to brigadier general and commanded the famed 2nd "Irish Brigade,” lst Division, 2nd Corps, Army of the Potomac. See The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The Irish Brigade - Mar. 17th, 2003
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-vetscor/866520/posts

Plains Wars: Myles Walter Keogh born near the village of Leighlinbridge, County Carlow, was the senior captain among the five companies wiped out with Custer at Little Bighorn on June 25, 1876.

World War II: Here are some of the Irish-born men died while serving in the US Army in Europe. These soldiers were initially interred in various US military cemeteries on the Continent, but after the War their remains were returned to Ireland for re-interment at the request of their next-of-kin.
Technician JOSEPH P. CARMODY
PFC PATRICK J. COMER
PVT FRANK J. FINNERTY
PVT PATRICK J. FITZGERALD
PVT MARTIN J. KELLY
PVT JAMES KEVANE
PFC MICHAEL J. LYONS
SGT THOMAS McARDLE
PFC PATRICK J. McDONAGH
1/LT EDWARD J. McKEON
PVT THOMAS MOLONEY
S/SGT THOMAS MORAN
PVT PATRICK J. MORRIS
PFC THOMAS J. MORRISROE
PVT THOMAS O'BRIEN
SGT M. J. O'SHAUGHNESSY
SGT JOHN O'SHEA
SGT EDWARD SMITH

Korea: Among the Irish immigrants to lose their lives while serving in the US forces in Korea were Mark James Brennan of Kiltamagh; Co Mayo, John Corcoran of Millstreet Co Cork and John Canty of Lixnaw Co Kerry.

And in Vietnam, Irish-born military whose names are on the Vietnam Wall include:
BERNARD ANTHONY FREYNE, L/CPL Marine Corps, born BALLAGHADERREEN, ROSCOMMON 
PATRICK GALLAGHER, CPL Marine Corps, born BALLYHAUNIS, MAYO
PETER MARY NEE, L/CPL Marine Corps, born GALWAY/CONNERMARA
PATRICK CHRISTOPHER NEVIN, SGT Army, born CLAREMORRIS, MAYO
and a nurse: PAMELA DOROTHY DONOVAN, 2/LT Army Nurse Corps, born THE WIRRAL MERSEYSIDE, UK (DUBLIN)

Source: http://www.illyria.com/irish/irishwar.html

[E.G.C.]

Good morning, Snippy and everyone at the Freeper Foxhole.

Good luck to OU as they take on LSU in the first round of the NIT tonight.

The weather's nice here in SW OK. Forecast to reach 70 today.

[snippy_about_it]

Able to withstand 12 G's. LOL. Good morning Aeronaut.

[snippy_about_it]

Thanks to my partner Snippy...

No thanks needed since you supply at least half my ideas. ;-)

I just thought we should remember our test pilots lesser known than folks like Yeager. Good job on the thread Sam, thanks.

[The Mayor]

By You I have been upheld from birth . . . . My praise shall be continually of You. —Psalm 71:6

Whatever the season of life, attitude makes all the difference.

[steveegg]

Noted. I still wouldn't want to try to fly it.

A couple of years ago, the EAA offered rides in their replica of the Spirit of St. Louis, with the passenger sitting way back where Lindbergh sat on his trans-Atlantic flight. Between the (non-)view out the front and the VERY heavy controls, I have no idea how Lindy made it to Paris (I'll leave out the noise and the fumes that must've been coming from the cockpit gas tank, which thankfully was replaced by the pilot).

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning EGC. It's only going to be 28 today. :-(

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning Mayor.

[The Mayor]

Mornin Snippy

looking at about 10 inches of dandruff and only 22
Spring where is spring??

[E.G.C.]

Folks, please be sure to keep your anti-virus software upated.

[snippy_about_it]

Spring? We've been skipping that the last few years. We now extend winter and just jump right into August it seems.