The FReeper Foxhole Studies "Big Fella" the XC-99 - June 12th, 2004

see educational sources

[snippy_about_it]

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.


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Big Fella



XC-99

USAF built only one XC-99, in 1947. Soon, this enormous aircraft will have a new home at the US Air Force Museum.

In the 1940s and 1950s, the Air Force explored the potential of a super cargo carrier by flying its one-of-a-kind XC-99 on regular, often record, transport runs. It also was touted as a possible prototype for a new generation of commercial air carriers. The experiment lasted 10 years. Then, for almost 50 years, the airplane was left open to wind and weather in a Texas field.

Now the big bird—one of history’s largest airplanes—will soon have a fitting place in Air Force history. It is to be reassembled, restored, and enshrined at the US Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio.

“The XC-99 may have to go on display outside for a short time initially,” said museum spokesman Chris McGee, but the museum’s long-term plan for construction will open “lots of space,” much of which will be used to display experimental aircraft. “The XC-99 will go into that [experimental aircraft] building eventually,” said McGee.

Everything about the XC-99 was huge. Its tail fin stood the height of a five-story building, some 57.5 feet. Its double-decker interior had 16,000 cubic feet of useable payload space, enough to carry 400 fully equipped troops or 50 tons of cargo. (The largest transport aircraft of the day—the C-97, which was based on the B-29 bomber—could only carry about 100 troops and less than half of the tonnage.) The XC-99 carried 21,000 gallons of fuel. Its gross weight was 322,000 pounds, which was distributed over 10 tires, making it possible for the huge aircraft to land on any 5,000-foot runway that could support the weight of the much smaller C-54. (A C-54 had a gross weight of only 73,000 pounds.)



A company news release noted that the six engines of the XC-99 developed as much horsepower as five locomotives. The engines weighed more than 10 tons. The release also noted that the aircraft had more than 60,000 square feet of sheet metal, more than one million rivets, and more than 25 miles of wiring.

The XC-99 had various nicknames, among them “Aerial Goliath” and “Queen of the Skies.”

The XC-99 grew out of the B-36 bomber, which was conceived and developed in the midst of World War II, when America feared that England might fall to Germany and the US would need to fly direct combat missions from its own shores. The B-36 was to be a truly intercontinental bomber that could carry 10,000 pounds of bombs more than 5,000 miles and return. Until then, no aircraft had even approached the proposed range of 10,000 miles.

In October 1941, the Army Air Forces selected a Consolidated Aircraft Corp. (later Convair) proposal, designated Model 35, as the most promising candidate. In November 1941, Consolidated received a contract for two experimental aircraft to be designated XB-36.

The first XB-36 was to be delivered by May 1944, but when the war situation in Europe improved, the program lost some momentum. The XB-36 did not make its first flight until August 1946.


The XC-99 comes in for a landing during its November 1947 maiden flight out of Lindbergh Field, Calif. It was, at the time, the world’s largest land aircraft. The transport required a 3,000-foot runway to take off and a 5,000-foot runway to land.

The bomber had a wingspan of 230 feet. It was 163 feet long and stood more than 46 feet high. Its gross weight was 265,000 pounds. It was powered by six Pratt & Whitney R-4360-25 radials; each pusher-type engine generated 3,000 horsepower as they turned 19-foot propellers. The wings were large enough for the crew to walk upright down a catwalk to reach the engines for in-flight maintenance. It had a maximum speed of 346 mph at 35,000 feet and a cruising speed of 216 mph.

It was the heaviest and largest land airplane to fly up to that time. It was also the first very large aircraft to be produced in any quantity. The initial production contract called for 100 bombers. The full production run would be 385 aircraft.

The first production B-36A aircraft flew in August 1947. Strategic Air Command’s 7th Bomb Group received its first B-36A in June 1948 for crew training. The first combat-ready production version—the B-36B—flew in July 1948, almost a year after the Air Force became a separate service.

From B-36 to XC-99

In 1942, as it was developing the huge bomber, Consolidated began preliminary studies for turning out a transport version. The Army Air Forces wanted to explore whether a supersize aircraft would be practical for rapid transport of large numbers of troops and much more cargo than was possible with contemporary airlifters.



AAF in December 1942 gave the company a formal contract to produce a test aircraft, dubbed XC-99. Because its development took a backseat to the B-36 bomber, however, the XC-99 was not completed until 1947.

Early that year, the company announced that the huge aircraft had been moved outdoors for completion. “No building at Consolidated Vultee ... is high enough to house the giant plane with its main landing wheels installed, or wide enough to house it with outer wing panels in place,” stated the release. The XC-99 had the same wingspan as the bomber, but it was 20 feet longer and its tail was 10 feet higher.

Despite its huge size, aircrews that flew it said that, once airborne, the XC-99 handled with ease. On land, its reversing propellers and tricycle landing gear made it possible to back easily into parking areas. It had a top speed of 300 mph and a maximum range, with minimum load, of 8,100 miles.


The XC-99, shown on a flight line alongside B-50s—the Air Force’s workhorse bomber of the time—was derived from the B-36, but it was 20 feet longer, with a tail 10 feet taller. XC-99 dwarfed its contemporary aircraft.

The Air Force took formal delivery of the XC-99 in May 1949. It first went to the 7th Bomb Wing at Carswell AFB, Tex., because the unit had experience with the B-36 bomber. On June 9, 1949, Capt. Deane G. Curry piloted the first Air Force flight of the huge transport, making six landings during the mission. Curry subsequently made five more flights, including a night mission and an emergency landing at Kelly AFB, Tex., where it underwent repair and engine modifications.

In September 1950, the XC-99 was transferred from Carswell to Kelly to begin its formal operational test program. According to an Air Force news release, it was one of the few experimental aircraft to clear its initial development costs. Yet, its days were numbered as the jet age approached.

Breaking Records

During its relatively short life, the XC-99 flew numerous missions, setting several records along the way. It flew its first cargo mission to Kelly in July 1950, with Col. Frederick Bell as pilot. That mission, known as Operation Elephant, delivered 101,266 pounds of cargo, including engines and propellers for B-36s, from San Diego to Kelly and was the first record-shattering flight of the XC-99. In another record flight, the XC-99 would lift 104,000 pounds from an airfield at 5,000-foot elevation.

The XC-99 test program routinely involved twice weekly runs from Kelly to the aircraft depot at McClellan AFB, Calif. The aircraft would return by way of other bases or depots, making pickups and deliveries.

In addition, the Air Force tasked the huge transport with special missions, such as the emergency transport of 42 C-54 aircraft engines to McChord AFB, Wash., during the Korean War. The C-54s were flying round-the-clock missions to resupply forces in Korea, so time was critical. Col. T.W. Tucker, the first XC-99 chief pilot and project officer, delivered the engines—27 on the lower deck and 15 on the upper—on a single flight and landed at McChord where he taxied the monster aircraft down a 48-foot-wide strip with only one foot of clearance on either side of the aircraft.

From July 1951 to May 1952, an Air Force record shows, the behemoth flew 600 hours and airlifted seven million pounds of equipment and supplies. About half of that went to support forces in Korea. One of its primary missions was to resupply SAC units that flew the B-36 bomber. In that role, the XC-99 flew thousands of hours around the US and to SAC locations in the Caribbean.


The XC-99’s ample cockpit accommodated a sizeable crew. When the airplane was in service, USAF noted that the pilot and flight engineer were responsible for overseeing more than 250 gauges, switches, and levers.

In August 1953, the XC-99 made its longest flight—12,000 miles—to Rhein–Main AB, Germany, by way of Bermuda and the Azores. It carried more than 60,000 pounds each way. At every stop, it attracted much attention from the public and the press. During 1953, the aircraft flew 200 missions at an average cost of 13 cents per ton-mile, less than half the ton-mile cost of its contemporaries.

In May 1955, the transport ferried cargo from Dover AFB, Del., to Keflavik, Iceland, destined for the Distant Early Warning Line project. (See “A Line in the Ice,” p.64.) It flew six round-trips, delivering 380,000 pounds of cargo. The aircraft carried alternating crews and 31 maintenance technicians from Kelly. The technicians were able to make the few repairs needed during the 30,000 miles of flying under extreme weather conditions.

The big bird was also seen at various air shows and open houses around the country. One anecdote sums up the wonder the aircraft evoked at every stop. During an exhibit at Wright–Patterson AFB, Ohio, a woman asked Capt. Jim C. Douglas, the XC-99 pilot, how he got the aircraft off the ground. He replied: “We fly it, lady.” To which, the woman retorted, “Young man, what kind of a fool do you take me for?”

The Death Knell

The XC-99 had proved it could operate economically if given long-distance routes that would have 60,000 to 80,000 pounds of cargo for transport at each end of the run. However, while that was possible during the Korean War, such loads were infrequent after combat operations ceased.


The image at left shows one of the two huge tires initially used for XC-99 landing gear. The image at right shows one set of the four-wheel system—used on production B-36s—that was retrofitted to the XC-99.

By 1955, the Air Force was focused on producing jet aircraft, so it dropped plans to start serial-production C-99s. With the phaseout of the B-36—rapidly being replaced by the B-52—parts common to both aircraft became scarce, and XC-99 maintenance became more expensive. In March 1957, the Air Force canceled XC-99 operations and declared the aircraft to be surplus.

Only 11 years later, the Air Force’s current supersize transport, the turbojet C-5 Galaxy, made its first flight. The C-5 has a 223-foot wingspan, seven feet less than that of the XC-99, but the C-5 is longer, taller, and has twice the gross weight and cargo space. And, in the 1980s, the XC-99 lost the title to the largest land airplane when the Soviet Union introduced the Antonov An-225 with a wingspan of 290 feet—60 feet longer than that of the XC-99. Overall, the An-225 is 48 feet longer, about three feet higher, and can carry five times the payload.

During its brief life, though, the XC-99 added to USAF’s knowledge of airlifters and helped the service develop improved loading and cargo-handling techniques. It had flown 60 million pounds of cargo a total of 1.5 million miles—the equivalent of 59 trips around the world. It amassed more than 7,400 flying hours.

After retiring the big aircraft, the service briefly considered flying the XC-99 to the Air Force Museum, but officials decided it would cost too much to make it flyable again. It was turned over to the Kelly disposal officer for sale, but a sale date was never set because public reaction in San Antonio was so negative. Instead, the Air Force donated the aircraft to the Texas Disabled American Veterans to be used only for “display, ceremonial, and historical purposes,” according to a history of Kelly.


A double-decked cargo hold allowed the XC-99 to carry a record-breaking payload of 104,190 pounds. One month, the aircraft flew seven round-trips between Texas and California, delivering an average of 75,531 pounds of cargo per trip—for a total of more than one million pounds.

The DAV had 45 days to move the XC-99 from Kelly, where it stood on the base’s north runway. After one extension, the huge aircraft finally was moved to an off-base location, northwest of the main Kelly runway.

For some 18 years, it was the property of the DAV and served as a historic tourist attraction. One-time commander of the Texas DAV Clem Searles was one of the key players in the effort and often led tours himself.

However, in 1976, the DAV passed the aircraft to the San Antonio Memorial Air Museum, a nonprofit group that planned to raise money to build a shelter to house it and to refurbish it. The amount needed was $6 million. Just moving the aircraft—at one point the group thought it would place it on the Lackland AFB, Tex., parade ground—was estimated to cost $135,000. The plan fizzled and so did an effort by the group to get the Air Force Museum interested. At that time, the Air Force Museum considered the project too expensive.

In the interim, ownership of the XC-99 became confusing. At one point, a Tennessee businessman claimed ownership and proposed turning it into a restaurant. The San Antonio museum group maintained it still “owned” the big airplane, though.

Nothing developed, so, for years, it remained on or near Kelly, visible to passersby and exposed to effects of the weather. Remarkably, the giant aircraft is in relatively good condition, according to the Air Force Museum’s McGee.


USAF took formal delivery of the XC-99 in 1949 and flew the aircraft until 1957. Early in its brief tenure, the XC-99 received its upgraded landing configuration and a nose radar unit.

“Although the exterior appears to be in poor shape,” said McGee, “the aircraft remains in good overall condition, considering it’s been exposed to the elements for 46 years. The interior structure remains sound.”



Plans call for the museum, once it completes its current construction efforts, to house the XC-99 among other experimental aircraft in the museum’s R&D hangar, located on the main portion of Wright–Patterson.



These photos show the XC-99 weathered by the decades the aircraft was left exposed to the elements in Texas. The Air Force Museum plans to refurbish the giant aircraft before it goes on display.

By Bruce D. Callander


XC-99 Damaged During Wind Storm
Some time during the early 90's the XC-99 was being washed for a Air Show and fund raiser to restore the Old Girl. Sometime during the night a wind storm came up and blew the scaffolding over and into the left side of the Old Girl, damaging her nose section...Meanwhile she still awaits her move to Wright Paterson Air Force Museum, Ohio from Kelly Field in San Antiono, Texas...

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FReeper Foxhole Armed Services Links

[snippy_about_it]

XC-99 begins piece-by-piece trip to Air Force Museum


LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- The XC-99 sits on the ramp at the Kelly Annex to Lackland after Phase 1 of the dismantling process removed engines, doors, access panels, parts of the wings and tail section. (U.S. Air Force photo by 1st Lt. Bruce R. Hill Jr.)

4/22/2004 - LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFPN) -- Several parts of a historic XC-99 aircraft located at the Kelly Annex to Lackland were hauled to the Air Force Museum near Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, recently.

A C-5 Galaxy from the 433rd Airlift Wing here hauled the initial load of the three-phase dismantling project.

Disassembling began Jan. 20 by a company with a history of disassembling and reassembling large aircraft.

“The aircraft dictates when certain parts will be dismantled, so some parts may or may not be removed at given times during the process,” said Ben Nattrass, owner and operator of Worldwide Aircraft Recovery of Bellevue, Neb. “Each part has to be removed sequentially as it had been built, so we have to discover how to take the plane apart as we go.

“We’ve had a lot of outside interest, because this is a historic aircraft,” he said.

In the beginning, Army Air Forces officials wanted to develop an aircraft in the early part of World War II that would provide global airlift support beyond the scope of the existing B-36 bomber. It was not until after the war that the XC-99 was produced for its first flight, which took place Nov. 24, 1947.

Its first cargo run was into then-Kelly AFB on July 14, 1950, where most of the XC-99 flights took place.

The awkward-looking aircraft with rear-mounted props, an exception to conventional design, logged more than 7,400 hours of flying time and moved more than 60 million pounds of cargo.



The XC-99 made its final voyage March 19, 1957, and currently sits in an open area of the Kelly Annex until it is completely dismantled and relocated to its new home in Ohio. It is expected to undergo a detailed restoration process before being displayed in the Air Force Museum.

by 1st Lt. Bruce R. Hill Jr.
433rd Airlift Wing Public Affairs

Museum move


LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- Airmen from the 433rd Airlift Wing here load XC-99 engines onto a C-5 Galaxy before taking them to the Air Force Museum near Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. (U.S. Air Force photo by 1st Lt. Bruce R. Hill Jr.)


LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- The XC-99 sits on the ramp at the Kelly Annex to Lackland after Phase 1 of the dismantling process removed engines, doors, access panels, parts of the wings and tail section. (U.S. Air Force photo by 1st Lt. Bruce R. Hill Jr.)

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Today's Educational Sources and suggestions for further reading:
www.af.mil/news/story_print.asp?storyID=123007543
www.afa.org/magazine/feb2004

[snippy_about_it]

FALL IN to the FReeper Foxhole!



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[snippy_about_it]

Veterans for Constitution Restoration is a non-profit, non-partisan educational and grassroots activist organization.

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

Thanks to quietolong for providing this link.

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Iraq Homecoming Tips

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

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UPDATED THROUGH APRIL 2004



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

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

[SAMWolf]

Interesting aircraft. Back when they were still trying the "pusher philosophy"

XC-99 in flight with a B-36

Take-off

[snippy_about_it]

Thanks for the pics. It's been a long day 'eh? Good night Sam. Tomorrow, the ships!

[SAMWolf]

Good Night, Snippy. I say we try for the USS Lake Erie. :-)

[Aeronaut]

Good morning Snippy.

[E.G.C.]

Good morning, Snippy and everyone at the Foxhole.

[alfa6]

Another cool thread on an obscure aircraft, along similar line were the Boeing XB-15 and Douglas XB-19. (I think I recall those correctly)

Good Morning Bump to all, off to get some siding done before it rains again.

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

[Valin]

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on June 12:
1519 Cosmos de Medici art patron (Accademia del Disegno)
1771 Patrick Gass Falling Springs PA, sgt of Lewis & Clark Expedition
1819 Charles Kingsley England, clergyman/novelist (Westward Ho!)
1829 Johanna Spyri Switzerland, writer (Heidi)
1851 Oliver Joseph Lodge England, early radio pioneer
1885 Werner Josten Elberfeld Germany, composer (Jungle)
1897 Alexandre Tansman Lodz Poland, composer (Dyptique)
1897 Anthony Eden Earl of Avon (C), British PM (1955-57)
1909 Archie Bleyer Corona NY, orch leader (Arthur Godfrey)
1914 William Lundigan Syracuse NY, actor ("Men Into Space" (1959) TV Series, Col. Edward McCauley)
1915 David Rockefeller banker, international power broker
1916 Irwin Allen disaster-movie producer (Towering Inferno)
1917 Priscilla Lane US, actress (Arsenic & Old Lace)
1919 Uta Hagen Germany, actres (Boys From Brazil)/teaches acting

1924 George Herbert Walker Bush (R) 43rd VP (1981-89) 41st Pres (1989- )

1928 Vic Damone [Vito Farinola], Bkln, singer (the Street Where You Live)
1929 Anne Frank Holland, diarist/Nazi victim
1932 Jim Nabors Sylacauga Al, actor/singer (Gomer Pyle)
1941 Chick Corea Chelsea Mass, jazz musician (Delhpi I, Toy Dance)
1943 Marv Albert NYC, "Yes!" sportscaster (NBC-TV)
1943 Reg Presley rock vocalist (Troggs-Wild Thing)
1962 Ally Sheedy, [Alexandria], NYC, actress (Wargames, Blue City)

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Deaths which occurred on June 12:
816 Leo III, Italian Pope (795-816), dies
1799 William Collins, English poet (Ode to Evening), dies
1946 Count Hisaichi Terauchi, Japanese field marshal, dies
1957 James F "Jimmy" Dorsey, US orchestra leader, dies at 53
1963 Medgar Evers NAACP official, murdered in Jackson, Miss at 37
1972 Saul David Alinsky radical writer (John L Lewis), dies at 63
1980 Milburn Stone actor (Doc-Gunsmoke), dies at 75
1983 Norma Shearer Academy Award-winner, dies at 80
2003 David Brinkley (newsman)

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Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1965 HOLLAND LAWRENCE T. ALHAMBRA CA.
[EJECTED KILLED IN SHOOTOUT]
1966 HARRIS GREGORY J. SYRACUSE NY.
[USG RECORDS SAY TOLEDO OH FAMILY SAYS NY]
1972 ANGUS WILLIAM K. GOLDEN CO.
[03/28/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1972 WILEY RICHARD D. DECATUR IL.
["EXPLODE, NO PARA,BEEPERS"]



POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

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On this day...
816 St Leo III ends his reign as Catholic Pope
1665 English rename New Amsterdam, New York, after Dutch pull out
1701 Act of Settlement gives English crown to Sophia, Princess of Hanover
1775 1st naval battle of Revolution-Unity (Am) captures Margaretta (Br)
1776 Virginia adopts Declaration of Rights
1787 Law passes providing a senator must be at least 30 years old
1792 George Vancouver discovers site of Vancouver, BC
1812 Napoleon's invasion of Russia begins
1838 Hopkins Observatory, dedicated in Williamstown, Mass
1838 Territory of Iowa organized
1839 1st baseball game played in America
1845 George Abernethy becomes 1st governor of Oregon Country
1849 Gas mask patented by Lewis Haslett, Louisville, Ky
1859 Comstock Silver Lode in Nevada discovered
1867 Austro-Hungarian Empire forms
1880 1st baseball perfect game-John Richmond of Worcester beats Cleve
1885 Roof collapse kills 30 at murder trial in France
1889 Single tornado kills 119, injures 146 (New Richmond Wisc)
1897 Possibly most severe quake in history strikes Assam India. Shock waves felt over an area size of Europe. Negligible death toll
1898 Philippine nationalists declares independence from Spain to US control
1900 German Navy Law calls for massive increase in sea power
1913 "The Dachshund" by Pathe Freres, early animated cartoon, released
1917 Secret Service extends protection of president to his family
1918 1st airplane bombing raid by an American unit, France
1920 Farmer Labor Party organized (Chicago)
1923 Harry Houdini frees himself from a straitjacket while suspended upside down, 40 feet (12 m) above the ground in NYC
1934 Black-McKeller Bill passes causes Bill Boeing empire to break up into Boeing United Aircraft [Technologies] & United Air Lines
1935 Chaco War ends between Bolivia & Paraguay [?]
1936 1st 50 KW US radio station (Pittsburgh Pa)
1936 C Jackson discovers asteroid #1394 Algoa
1937 USSR executes 8 army leaders as Stalin's purge continued
1939 Baseball Hall of Fame opens in Cooperstown NY
1947 Babe Didrikson is 1st American to win Br Women's Amateur Golf Champ
1948 Eddie Arcaro becomes 1st jockey to win the triple crown twice
1952 420th kitten (record) born to cat named Dusty, Bonham, TX
1962 USAF Maj Robert M White takes X-15 to 56,270 m
1964 South Africa sentences Nelson Mandela to life imprisonment
1965 Rolling Stones release "Satisfaction"
1965 The Beatles are awarded the MBE
1967 Israel wins 6 day war
1967 Race riot in Cincinnati Ohio (300 arrested)
1967 Supreme Court unanimously ends laws against interracial marriages
1967 USSR launches Venera 4 for parachute landing on Venus
1971 T Smirnova discovers asteroid #2216 Kerch
1971 Tricia Nixon & Edward F Cox marry at White House
1977 Ground-breaking ceremonies for Pres Kennedy library
1978 David Berkowitz sentenced in NY Supreme Court to 25 yrs to life
1979 Bryan Allen flew man-powered Gossamer Albatross over English Channel in a human-powered aircraft; flight took 2 hrs, 49 min
1979 Kevin St Onge throws a playing card a record 185'
1980 Reagan said he would submit to periodic medical tests
1981 Baseball players begin a 50 day strike, their 3rd strike
1982 750,000 anti-nuclear demonstrators, rally in Central Park NYC (WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!)
1986 P W Botha declares South African national emergency
1989 Ben Johnson, Canadian Olympian, admits using steroids
1990 Oakland A's Rickey Henderson becomes 2nd to steal 900 bases
1991 The Mount Pinatubo volcano in the Philippines began erupting.
1992 In a letter to U.S. senators, Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin said the Soviet Union had shot down nine U.S. planes in the early 1950s and held 12 American survivors.
2000 50 years after the Korean War began, the leaders of North and South Korea met in Pyongyang for the first-ever series of talks.
2001 A federal court in New York sentenced Mohamed Rashed Daoud Al-'Owhali, a Saudi Arabian follower of Osama bin Laden, to life in prison without parole for his role in the deadly bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Kenya.

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Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Finland : Helsinki Day (1550)
Phillipines : Independence Day (1898)
Turk & Cacios Island : Constitution Day
Massachusett : Children's Day(Sunday)
Paraguay : Chaco Peace Day (1935)(Sunday)
Shelby, Mich : National Asparagus Festival(Thursday)
Great Britain : Queen's official birthday (National Day)(Saturday)
National Humor Week Ends
National Fragrance Week Ends
National Bathroom Reading Week (Day 6)
Manheim, Penn : Festival of Red Rose
Portable Computer Month

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Religious Observances
Buddhist-Bhutan : Buddha's Ascension
Christian : Feast of Bl Guy of Cortona
RC : Commem of SS Basilides, Cyrinus, Nabor, Nazarius, martyrs
RC : Commemoration of St John of San Facondo, confessor

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Religious History
1458 In England, the College of St. Mary Magdalen was founded at Oxford University.
1720 Birth of Isaac Pinto, translator of the first Jewish prayerbook published in America.
1744 David Brainerd, 26, was ordained a missionary to the Indians in Colonial New England by the Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge (SPCK).
1914 The first edition of A.T. Robertson's monumental 'Grammar of the Greek New Testament' was released. Its 1400+ pages make it the largest systematic analysis of the original New Testament language ever published.
1950 American missionary martyr Jim Elliot wrote in his journal: 'Earthly blessing is no sign of heavenly favor. Behold how many wicked prosper.'

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

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Thought for the day :
"Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons. You will find it is to the soul what a water bath is to the body."

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Things To Do If You Ever Became An Evil Overlord...
The artifact which is the source of your power will not be kept on the Mountain of Despair beyond the River of Fire guarded by the Dragons of Eternity. It will be in your safe-deposit box. The same applies to the object which is your one weakness.

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Why did the Chicken cross the Road...
Homer Simpson:
"Mmmmmmmmmm...chicken..."

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Dumb Laws...
Elkhart Indiana:
It is illegal for barbers to threaten to cut off kid's ears.

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A Cowboy's Guide to Life...
The quickest way to double your money is to fold it over and put it back into your pocket.

[The Mayor]

By grace you have been saved through faith . . . ; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. —Ephesians 2:8-9

The first step to receiving eternal life is to admit that we don't deserve it.

[SAMWolf]

Good Morning Aeronaut

[SAMWolf]

Morning E.G.C. Gonna try and get downtown to see the ships of "Fleet Week" Weather looks sort of decent

[Aeronaut]

Hi Sam. That's quite an airplane they rolled out. I was also surprised at how long the C-5 has been operational. I thought they were a lot newer than that.

[SAMWolf]

Morning alfa6.

The Boeing Model 294 was originally designated XBLR-1 (Experimental Bomber - Long Range), but became the XB-15 before construction was complete. When accepted by the Army Air Corps, it was the largest bomber ever tested in the US. The XB-15 was powered by four Pratt & Whitney R-1830-11 'Twin Wasp' radial engines of 1,000 hp. each, but was still significantly underpowered. The top speed of the bomber was only 197 mph which was unacceptable and the aircraft wasn't considered for production.

The Douglas XB-19 was originally designated XBLR-2 (eXperimental Bomber Long-Range 2) and was the largest bomber built for the Army up to that time (1938). Only three aircraft were given XBLR designations: the Boeing XBLR-1 was later renamed XB-15, the XB-19, and the Sikorsky XBLR-3 was a design study which was never built.

The XB-19 was essentially used as a test bed for very large bomber construction techniques and flight characteristics. The Douglas Aircraft Company actually wanted to cancel the project because of the expense and extended construction time which made the aircraft obsolete before it ever flew. However, the Army Air Corps insisted the aircraft be completed for test use.

[SAMWolf]

1924 George Herbert Walker Bush (R) 43rd VP (1981-89) 41st Pres (1989- )

Happy Birthday, Mr President

[SAMWolf]

Hi Mayor.

[The Mayor]

Hi Sam!

[SAMWolf]

I didn't realize they were that old either. Time flies....

[GailA]

Good morning, well it's still morning for about 20 more minutes. photo essay on Ronald Reagan's funeral