File:B-29 mothership with pilots - Payne, Butchart, Walker, Littleton, and Moise DVIDS701557.jpg
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DescriptionB-29 mothership with pilots - Payne, Butchart, Walker, Littleton, and Moise DVIDS701557.jpg |
English: This photo shows the B-29 in the background with Dick Payne, Stan Butchart, and Joe Walker standing in front of it, Charles Littleton and John Moise squatting. The Boeing B-29 was the first U.S. aircraft to be modified to serve as an airborne launch vehicle. Last operated by the NASA High-Speed Flight Station (now the Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California), the B-29 aircraft was used to launch the X-1 series aircraft, including the X-1-1, the X-1-2 (later redesignated the X-1E), the X-1A, and the X-1B. The B-29, which was accepted by the Air Force on Aug. 2, 1945, was operated by the NACA, NASA, the U.S. Air Force, and the Bell Aircraft Company. The Air Force transferred the B-29 to Bell Aircraft Company where it was modified to act as a carrier, or "mothership," for the first X-1. After modification, the aircraft flew to Pinecastle Army Air Base, Florida, where it made aeronautical history on Jan. 25, 1946, with its air launch of the first X-1. It then performed 10 drops of the X-1 at Pinecastle before flying to Edwards Air Force Base, California, in September 1946 where it dropped the X-1 for its first powered flight on Dec. 9, 1946. On Oct. 14, 1947, the B-29 again participated in a major aeronautical advance when it air launched the X-1 aircraft, which proceeded to exceed the speed of sound (Mach 1) for the first time. Air Force Pilot Captain Charles "Chuck" Yeager was at the controls of the X-1 that day. A mid-air explosion in the "captive" X-1A almost ended the career of the B-29 on Aug. 8, 1955. But pilot Stanley P. Butchart dropped the X-1A to its destruction in the desert after X-1A pilot, Joseph A. Walker, had scrambled back into the B-29. The B-29's 14-year career ended on July 1, 1959, when it was flown from the NASA High-Speed Flight Station to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, for retirement. The aircraft was made obsolete as a mothership by the advent of the X-15 Program, which required a larger, faster launch vehicle, the B-52. In the meantime, from 1950 to 1956, the NACA had used a P2B-1S (a Navy version of the B-29) to launch the rocket-powered versions of the D-558-2 research aircraft.
NASA Identifier: NIX-E-2666 Unit: NASA |
Date | |
Source | https://www.dvidshub.net/image/701557/b-29-mothership-with-pilots-payne-butchart-walker-littleton-and-moise |
Author | Glenn Research Center |
Location InfoField | WASHINGTON, DC, US |
Posted InfoField | 10 October 2012, 14:55 |
DVIDS ID InfoField | 701557 |
Archive link InfoField | archive copy at the Wayback Machine |
Licensing edit
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse |
This image is a work of a U.S. military or Department of Defense employee, taken or made as part of that person's official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain in the United States.
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current | 21:29, 10 June 2016 | 1,207 × 1,536 (365 KB) | Fæ (talk | contribs) | == {{int:filedesc}} == {{milim | description = {{en|1=This photo shows the B-29 in the background with Dick Payne, Stan Butchart, and Joe Walker standing in front of it, Charles Littleton and John Moise squatting. The Boeing B-29 was the first U.S. air... |
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Author | NASA, Courtesy Photo |
---|---|
Headline | B-29 mothership with pilots - Payne, Butchart, Walker, Littleton, and Moise |
Image title | This photo shows the B-29 in the background with Dick Payne, Stan Butchart, and Joe Walker standing in front of it, Charles Littleton and John Moise squatting. The Boeing B-29 was the first U.S. aircraft to be modified to serve as an airborne launch vehicle. Last operated by the NASA High-Speed Flight Station (now the Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California), the B-29 aircraft was used to launch the X-1 series aircraft, including the X-1-1, the X-1-2 (later redesignated the X-1E), the X-1A, and the X-1B. The B-29, which was accepted by the Air Force on Aug. 2, 1945, was operated by the NACA, NASA, the U.S. Air Force, and the Bell Aircraft Company. The Air Force transferred the B-29 to Bell Aircraft Company where it was modified to act as a carrier, or "mothership," for the first X-1. After modification, the aircraft flew to Pinecastle Army Air Base, Florida, where it made aeronautical history on Jan. 25, 1946, with its air launch of the first X-1. It then performed 10 drops of the X-1 at Pinecastle before flying to Edwards Air Force Base, California, in September 1946 where it dropped the X-1 for its first powered flight on Dec. 9, 1946. On Oct. 14, 1947, the B-29 again participated in a major aeronautical advance when it air launched the X-1 aircraft, which proceeded to exceed the speed of sound (Mach 1) for the first time. Air Force Pilot Captain Charles "Chuck" Yeager was at the controls of the X-1 that day. A mid-air explosion in the "captive" X-1A almost ended the career of the B-29 on Aug. 8, 1955. But pilot Stanley P. Butchart dropped the X-1A to its destruction in the desert after X-1A pilot, Joseph A. Walker, had scrambled back into the B-29. The B-29's 14-year career ended on July 1, 1959, when it was flown from the NASA High-Speed Flight Station to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, for retirement. The aircraft was made obsolete as a mothership by the advent of the X-15 Program, which required a larger, faster launch vehicle, the B-52. In the meantime, from 1950 to 1956, the NACA had used a P2B-1S (a Navy version of the B-29) to launch the rocket-powered versions of the D-558-2 research aircraft. NASA Identifier: NIX-E-2666 |
City shown | Washington |
Credit/Provider | U.S. Civilian |
Source | Digital |
Copyright holder | Public Domain |
Keywords |
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Province or state shown | D.C. |
Code for country shown | US |
Country shown | US |
Original transmission location code | NIX-E-2666 |