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Posted on 03/09/2006 7:15:31 PM PST by alfa6
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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| 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. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support. The FReeper Foxhole hopes to share with it's readers an open forum where we can learn about and discuss military history, military news and other topics of concern or interest to our readers be they Veteran's, Current Duty or anyone interested in what we have to offer. If the Foxhole makes someone appreciate, even a little, what others have sacrificed for us, then it has accomplished one of it's missions. We hope the Foxhole in some small way helps us to remember and honor those who came before us.
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 "Be Quick, Be Quiet, And Be On Time" I knew I wanted to design airplanes when I was 12 years old" says Johnson. "I read every Tom Swift novel I could get my hands on. I read "Tom Swift and his Airplane"; "Tom Swift and his Electric Car" ; "Tom Swift and his Submarine" and I said that's for me." A native of Michigan, Johnson was born in the remote mining town of Ishpeming on November 27, 1910 to immigrant Swedish parents. Kelly was born seven years after the Wright Brothers made their first successful flight. While attending grade school, Kelly was chided by some classmates for his name; Clarence. The other boys started calling me "Clara". One morning while waiting in line to get into a classroom, one boy named Cecil started with the normal routine of calling me "Clara". Kelly tripped the boy so hard it broke his leg. The boys then decided that I wasn't a "Clara" and looking for a new nickname started calling me "Kelly". The nickname came from the popular song at the time.."Kelly With the Green Neck Tie". From that time forward it would always be "Kelly Johnson". After making his decision at the age of 12 to design aircraft, he went ahead to design his first airplane. Kelly called his first design "The Merlin 1, Battle Plane". Several weeks later he saw his first airplane; a World War I Jenny. His decision was confirmed. He later moved to Flint where his father had a construction business. Kelly graduated from Flint High School, working summers with his father and in the motor test section of the Buick Motor Car Company. By graduation he had saved up $300. He tried to give it to an Instructor at the Flint Airport in exchange for flying lessons, but the Instructor shook his head and probably changed the entire course of Kelly's life. "I've always had the greatest respect for that man," Kelly said later. "He needed that money more than anything else in the world. But instead of taking it, he said, "Look kid..save that money and go to school." Kelly graduated from Flint Junior College and completed his education at the University of Michigan, where he received His Bachelor of Science Degree in 1932. Kelly Johnson worked his way through school by picking up scholarships, washing dishes and helping a professor; Edward Stalker, as a Teaching Assistant. He went on to received his Master of Science Degree in Aeronautical Engineering in 1933. During this period he picked up small teaching fellowships and augmenting his income by renting the University's wind tunnel to run tests as a consultant on models of Indianapolis racing cars, trains and aircraft. "I made more more money that year than any of the first 10 years I worked for Lockheed." Kelly grins. After graduating froom the University of Michigan in 1932 Kelly Johnson wenr out West to look for work in the aircraft industry. No work was to be found. Ther only encouragement Kelly recieved was from the Lockheed Company which had just come out of bankruptcy. No jobs were available at the time but engineering executive Richard von Hake suggested to Kelly. "Why don't you go back to school and come out again next year? I think we'll have something for you." So back to the U of Michigan for a year to get a Masters in Aeronautical Engineering. Kelly's tuition was paid in part by a $500 fellowship grant and lots of hours at the wind tunnel. Among the projects that Kelly helped with in the wind tunnel was a model of the Lockheed Electra. The aircraft had some stability problems but the university professors and Lockheed execs thought that they were. Kelly Johnson thought otherwise.  He left college in 1933 with a master's of science degree, a used car, and plans to return to Lockheed and the promised job in California. Lockheed executive Cyril Chappellet and Chief Engineer Hall Hibbard hired the young Johnson as an $83 a month tool designer until there was an opening in engineering. Kelly Johnson was asked his opinion of the Electra, the plane that the newly reorganized Lockheed Compamy was banking it's future on. Kelly never one to hide his light replied,"Practically the first thing I told Chappellet and Hibbard was that their plane was unstable and that I did not agree with the university's wind-tunnel report." Back to Michigan U went Kelly Johnson to see if he could do better. It took 72 wind tunnel test but Kelly was able to improve the Electra. The result was the classic twin tail of the Electra line. Also in the design of the Electra was the introduction of "Fowler Flaps that enhanced low speed stability and braking and helped to improve the aircrafts speed in flight. The design of the Fowler Flap earned Kelly Johnson the first of over fifty awards that he would gather over his carrer.In 1937 at the age of 27 Kelly Johnson was awarded by the Institute of Aeronautical Sciences the Lawrence Sperry Award for "important improvements of aeronautical design of high speed commercial aircraft". The Sperry award was given annually "for outstanding achievements in aeronautics by young men."  Also in 1937 Lockheed won the a design contract that would lead to the P-38 Lightning. It was Kelly Johnson's work in the wind tunnel that helped to solve the problems of compressibilty that threatened to end the Lighting program. Lockheed went on to build almost 10,000 P-38s whixh fought in all theaters of the war amd was flown by the two top aces of the United States. In 1938 with Hitler threatning war in Europe the British sent a purchasing commission to the United States to lookk for aircraft to help re-arm England. Among the planes the comission was looking for was a coastal patrol bomber/antisubmarine aircraft. With only commercial aircraft in production Lockheed was not on the original schedule for the British comission. A change of plans however led the British to Lockheed with only five days notice to Lockheed. With only five days to come up with something to present to the British Purchasing Commission Lockheed engineers and shop personell, using the Electra Model 14 as a starting point produced a full scale wooden mockup of a medium reconnaissance bomber. The British were so impressed by the enthusiasm of the Lockheed employees and their mockup that Lockheed was invited to send a group of people to England to confere with the Air Ministry on the proposed bomber. Of course Kelly Johnson was a member of this team. At the meeting with the Air Ministry in England new specifications were requested that would require a major redesign of the proposed bomber. Working for three straight days over a holiday weekend, taking the occasional catnap Johnson redesigned the proposed bomber to meet the new specifications. The British were astounded that the plane could be redesigned in such a short time, especially by such a young engineer. After a week of additional discussions the British called Courtland Goss of to the side to inquire as to wether or not Lockheed would stand behind their young engineer. Courtalnd Goss recalled the conversation thusly... "Mr. Goss, we like your proposal very much, and we very much would like to deal with Lockheed. On the other hand, you must understand that we're very unused in this country to dealing--especially on transactions of such magnitude--on the technical say-so of a man as young as Mr. Johnson. And, therefore, I'll have to have your assurance . . . that if we do go forward, the aircraft resulting from the purchase will in every way live up to Mr. Johnson's specifications." Of course Goss assured the British that Lockheed had every confidence in the capabilities of Kelly Johnson and that the Air Ministry would not be dissapointed with the new aircraft. On June 28, 1938 the British Air Ministry signed a contract worth $25,000,000 dollars for 200 of the proposed bomber plus as many more that could be built and delivered by December of 1939 up to a total of 250 aircraft. At the time it was the largest single order for aircraft that an American aircraft company hed seen. The proposed new bomber was the Hudson, the progenitor of the Venura and Harpoon that came later in WW-II.  In 1943 the "Skunk Works" was born. Lockheed had a contract with the Army Air Forces to develop a jet fighter built around British DeHavilland jet engine in only 180 days. The rush was in response to repoert that the Germans were flying a jet aircraft. Kelly Johnson with the approval of Lockheed President Robert E. Goss, Johnson formed a team of 23 engineers and 103 shop personnel that were mostly pirated from other projects. The team worked in a small assembly shed at the Lockheed plant in Burbank. Some reports indicat that an old circus tent was used owing to the lack of available secure space due to the need of wartime production demands. In a 143 days, 37 days less than the contracted amount the P-80 Shooting Star made it first flight on January 8th, 1944. The Advanced Development Projects team had it's first succes. The nickname "Skunk Works" came from the Al Capp comic strip "L'il Abner" where the denizens of Dogpatch would throw in skunks, old shoes and who knew what else to make that fearsome brew "Kickapoo Joy Joice". The folks at Lockheed started to refer to the building where Kelly Johnson's crew was working as "The Skunk Works" because who knew what they where building.  Just a few of the military aircraft to come out of the Skunk Works ere the T-33 trainer variant of the F-80. The T-33 probanly traiined more pilots to fly jets than any other aircraft. The F-104 Starfighter, the "missle with a man in it" of the late 1950's. The P2V Neptune naval patrol bomber. It was a P2V, the Truculent Turtle, that etablished a non-stop distance record from Perth, Australia to Columbus,Ohio in 1946 of 11,235 miles. Another Lockheed aircraft to benefit from Kelly Johnson's work was the Constellation. The Constellation was a civil airliner that was taken over by the military when WW-II broke out. After the war in became one of the premier piston engined airliners before the advent of the jet airliner. It also was used by the United States military in various forms as well.  It was the 1950s that saw the development what could arguably be two greatest designs of the Skunk Works, Driven by a need to conduct overflight reconnaissance of the Soviet Union in order to collect data on the Soviet military and misasle work the U.S. goverment turned to Kelly Johnson and the Advanced Development Project team. In 1955 the Skunk Works rolled out the long winged U-2. The U-2 could fly at over 70,000ft with a range of 4,000 miles. The U-2 was also a money saver. Johnson's team returned $2,000,000 of the $20,000,000 contract. Lockheed also built 26 of the U-2 aircraft instead of the 20 airctaft that was in the contract.  The other great aircraft to come out of the Skunk Works was of course the SR-71 Blackbird. in 1960 the U.S. Air Force gave the Skunk Works the go ahead to design and build what would become the SR-71. The idea of designing a plane that could fly at sustained speed in excess of Mach 3 was the most difficult challenge thast Kelly Johnson and the Skunk Works team would face. An aircraft that could fly at these speeds would take a whole host of inovations that at the time were basically unknown. Metals, fuel, plastic and wiring were just a few of the problems the the Skunk Works team had to overcome. It all came together however and in 1962 the first of the A-12s made it's maiden flight. The YF-12A flew in 1963 with the SR-71 making it's first flight on December 22, 1964. The SR-71 in the 1970s went on to set records for speed (2,193 mph), altitude (85,069 feet). A New York to London flight of 3,470 miles was accomplished in one hour and fity four minutes. London to Los Angeles a distance of 5,463 miles only took three hours and forty seven minutes. In March of 1990 for it's retirement the SR-71 streaked across the United States in 68 minutes in a 2,400 mile coast to coast flight.  |
Good morning to everyone at the Freeper Foxhole.
Thanks Neil, I will go into the template and get that changed. I was gettingf ready to ask snippyu if she new what was up with the VETSCOR image.
Have a great day
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
I had not heard of the kangaroo on the "Turtle" but I do recall hearing about the RS vs SR flap.
Wings/Airpower magazine did a four part series on the A-12/YF-12A/SR-71 a few years ago. Very intersting stuff.
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
Your welcome, it only took me a month or so to get my act together on this.
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
Good evening PE.
Good evening Iris7.
I like your post. I read through it last night but couldn't take time to add to your thread at the time.
Where I live there is a Kelly Johnson Parkway. They say that when he was immersed in the F-104 project he was approached with Air Force specs for a new plane and the company's corresponding proposal.
Johnson hated the whole thing but signed off on the design because Lockheed had promised the Air Force it would bid on the project and the design was up to Lockheed standards. He just objected to the company getting into the trucking business.
Ironically, Lockheed was awarded the project and the prototype first flew in August, 1954 with Kelly Johnson flying chase in a P-2.
Since then, the C-130 has been in longer continuous production than any other military aircraft, more than fifty years now.
Back to local roads, there are three streets intersecting Kelly Johnson Parkway; they are Constellation Road, Hercules Street, and Aurora Drive.
Carl Kotchian, President of Lockheed at the time, noted in a memo as Johnson's retirement approached, "...It is Kelly as a person I think we will miss most...His absolute honesty, his dedicated patriotism, he may be the most honored engineer in history, but many of the things he has done for his country will never be told, and his unswerving support for people who worked for him. It is not probable that we will see Kelly's like again..."
1. West Virginia is the only state in the Union to have acquired its sovereignty by proclamation of the President of the United States.
2. West Virginia is considered the southern most northern state and the northern most southern state.
3. Mother’s Day was first observed at Andrews Church in Grafton on May 10, 1908.
4. West Virginia has the oldest population of any state. The median age is 40.
5. Jackson's Mill is the site of the first 4-H Camp in the United States.
6. The world's largest sycamore tree is located on the Back Fork of the Elk River in Webster Springs.
7. The first state sales tax in the United States went into effect in West Virginia on July 1, 1921.
8. On January 26, 1960 Danny Heater, a student from Burnsville, scored 135 points in a high school basketball game earning him a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.
9. The first federal prison exclusively for women in the United States was opened in 1926 in West Virginia.
10. Cecil Underwood is the nation's oldest governor. He turned 77 on November 5, 1999.
11. The New River Gorge Bridge near Fayetteville is the second highest steel arch bridge in the United States. The bridge is also the longest steel arch bridge (1,700 feet) in the world. Every October on Bridge Day, the road is closed and individuals parachute and bungee cord jump 876 feet off the bridge. Its West Virginia's largest single day event and attracts about 100,000 people each year.
12. The first major land battle fought between Union and Confederate soldiers in the Civil War was the Battle of Philippi on June 3, 1861.
13. One of the nation's oldest and largest Indian burial grounds is located in Moundsville. Its 69 feet high, 900 feet in circumference, and 50 feet high. An inscribed stone was removed from the vault and is on display at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.
14. West Virginia's nickname is the Mountain State and its motto is "Mountaineers Are Always Free."
15. Some famous individuals from West Virginia include: Pearl Buck (author), Peter Marshall (television host), Chuck Yeager (test pilot /Air Force General), Don Knotts (actor), Mary Lou Retton (Olympic gold medallist for gymnastics), and Kathy Mattea (country music singer).
16. Nearly 75% of West Virginia is covered by forests.
17. West Virginia covers about 24,000 square miles and has a population of about 1.8 million.
18. 15% of the nation's total coal production comes from West Virginia.
19. According to the crime index for 1997, West Virginia had the lowest crime rate in the country.
20. West Virginia’s Memorial Tunnel was the first in the nation to be monitored by television. It opened November 8, 1954.
21. The first rural free mail delivery was started in Charles Town on October 6, 1896, and then spread throughout the United States.
22. West Virginia was the first state to have a sales tax. It became effective July 1, 1921.
23. The first steamboat was launched by James Rumsey in the Potomac River at New Mecklensburg (Shepherdstown) on December 3, 1787.
24. A naval battle was fought in West Virginia waters during the Civil War. United States Navy armored steamers were actively engaged in the Battle of Buffington Island near Ravenswood on July 19, 1863.
25. On February 14, 1824, at Harpers Ferry, John S. Gallaher published the "Ladies Garland," one of the first papers in the nation devoted mainly to the interests of women.
26. Organ Cave, near Ronceverte, is the third largest cave in the United States and the largest in the state.
27. A variety of the yellow apple, the Golden Delicious, originated in Clay County. The original Grimes Golden Apple Tree was discovered in 1775 near Wellsburg.
28. West Virginia has an mean altitude of 1,500 feet, giving it the highest average altitude east of the Mississippi.
29. The first iron furnace west of the Alleghenies was built by Peter Tarr on Kings Creek in 1794.
30. One of the first suspension bridges in the world was completed in Wheeling in November 1849.
31. Outdoor advertising had its origin in Wheeling about 1908 when the Block Brothers Tobacco Company painted bridges and barns with the wording: "Treat Yourself to the Best, Chew Mail Pouch."
32. Moundsville is the site of the continent’s largest cone-shaped prehistoric burial mound. It is 69 feet high and 900 feet in circumference at the base and was opened on March 19, 1838.
33. The first electric railroad in the world, built as a commercial enterprise, was constructed between Huntington and Guyandotte.
34. On September 10, 1938, the Mingo Oak, largest and oldest white oak tree in the United States, was declared dead and felled with ceremony.
35. Coal House, the only residence in the world built entirely of coal, is located in White Sulphur Springs. The house was occupied on June 1, 1961.
36. The world’s largest shipment of matches (20 carloads or 210,000,000 matches) was shipped from Wheeling to Memphis, Tennessee, on August 26, 1933.
37. Daniel Boone made his last survey of Charleston on September 8, 1798. He left the state in 1799.
38. William Tompkins used natural gas to evaporate salt brine in 1841, thus becoming the first person in the United States to use natural gas for industrial purposes.
39. The last public hanging in West Virginia was held in Jackson County in December 1897.
40. The first glass plant in West Virginia was at Wellsburg in 1815. The first pottery plant was in Morgantown in 1785.
41. In May 1860, the first well in the state for producing crude oil was drilled at Burning Springs.
42. Stone that was quarried near Hinton was contributed by West Virginia for the Washington Monument and arrived in Washington in February 1885.
43. West Virginia University was established on February 7, 1867 under the name of "Agricultural College of West Virginia."
44. Bailey Brown, the first Union solider killed in the Civil War, died on May 22, 1861, at Fetterman, Taylor County.
45. On May 31, 1910, the Supreme Court held that the Maryland-West Virginia boundary was the low-water mark of the south bank of the Potomac River.
46. The first spa open to the public was at Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, in 1756 (then, Bath, Virginia).
47. The Christian Church was begun in West Virginia by Alexander Campbell in Bethany.
48. Mrs. Minnie Buckingham Harper, a member of the House of Delegates by appointment in 1928, was the first African American woman to become a member of a legislative body in the United States.
49. Chester Merriman of Romney was the youngest soldier of World War I, having enlisted at the age of 14.
50. The first brick street in the world was laid in Charleston, West Virginia, on October 23, 1870, on Summers Street, between Kanawha and Virginia Streets.
47. The Christian Church was begun in West Virginia by Alexander Campbell in Bethany.
According to the apostle Luke when he was given revelation to write the book of Acts, the Christian Church was begun in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost by the promise of God through the sacrifice of His Son.
No internet sources needed, I have The Word sitting in my lap. \o/
Never heard of it.
7. The first state sales tax in the United States went into effect in West Virginia on July 1, 1921.
22. West Virginia was the first state to have a sales tax. It became effective July 1, 1921.
You can say that again.
26. Organ Cave, near Ronceverte, is the third largest cave in the United States and the largest in the state.
According to http://www.organcave.com/ it is the second largest cave in the US.
13. One of the nation's oldest and largest Indian burial grounds is located in Moundsville. Its 69 feet high, 900 feet in circumference, and 50 feet high. An inscribed stone was removed from the vault and is on display at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.
Bears repeating, I suppose.
32. Moundsville is the site of the continent’s largest cone-shaped prehistoric burial mound. It is 69 feet high and 900 feet in circumference at the base and was opened on March 19, 1838.
47. The Christian Church was begun in West Virginia by Alexander Campbell in Bethany.
I'm not gonna touch this one.
"47. The Christian Church was begun in West Virginia by Alexander Campbell in Bethany."
They are talking about the denomination now better known as the Disciples of Christ.
Click here. http://www.disciples.org/discover/history.htm
I believe that the Church of Christ is also Campbellite.
Campbellites tend to believe that they are the only Christians and may believe that you have to be baptised in oune of their churches to be saved. So they have no compunction about calling themselves the Christian Church.
Good thing I started early tonight.
" 6. The world's largest sycamore tree is located on the Back Fork of the Elk River in Webster Springs."
Let's take a quick look.
Platanus occidentalis
Back Fork of Elk River, Webster Co.
112 Feet tall.
http://www.gasp.athens.oh.us/wvbigtrees.shtml
Tennessee lists one at 120 feet, http://members.aol.com/hdoka/trees/champtre.htm
And here's a reference to 168 feet in Indiana. http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/tree/plaocc/botanical_and_ecological_characteristics.html
Pinecrest Academy student Nicole Madda received a flag that flew over the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq after writing to a Marine; she presented it to the school on Presidents Day.
| March 11, 2006
How To Face Another Day
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World-famous cellist Pablo Casals once gave this challenging testimony: "For the past 80 years I have started each day in the same manner. . . . I go to the piano and I play two preludes and fugues of Bach. I cannot think of doing otherwise. It is a benediction on the house. But that is not its only meaning for me. It is a rediscovery of the world of which I have the joy of being a part."
If that is how a dedicated musician daily started his waking hours, we Christians—by the enabling grace of the Holy Spirit—can surely dedicate each new day to our Lord. No matter where we are or what our situation may be, each day we can resolve to dedicate the hours before us to God's praise. As David wrote, "This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it" (Psalm 118:24).
If you are facing loneliness or pain as once again you pick up your burden, you can draw on the Lord's resources and be a living testimony of His all-sufficiency. If you're filled with thanksgiving and praise, you can tell others of God's goodness.
James reminded us that we "do not know what will happen tomorrow" (4:14). All the more reason, then, to dedicate each day to rejoicing in the Lord. —Vernon Grounds
If you know Jesus, you always have a reason to rejoice.
Hi Feather.. Amen.
What a cute pic you posted.. : )
"Where the scriptures speak, we speak; where the Scriptures are silent, we are silent."
Best leave it at that . . .
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