Page:Aeronautics and Astronautics Chronology 1915-1960.pdf/31

 August 13: Two GB-4 glide bombs, incorporating television and radio control, were launched against E-boat pens at Le Havre, France. Four additional GB-1s were sent against targets in France and Germany between August 17 and September 13, 1944.

During August: German Me-163B Komet rocket-powered fighters first attacked American bomber formations over Europe. The Me-163 had sweptback wings, a Walther liquid-fuel rocket motor, a speed of 590 mph, and a powered flight duration of 8-10 minutes.

September 3: Torpex-laden Liberator drone flown from an airfield at Feresfield, England, by Lt. Ralph Spaulding (USN), who set radio control and bailed out, after which the drone was guided from a parent aircraft to a German airfield on Helgoland Island.

September 6: Navy awarded a contract to McDonnell Aircraft for the development of the Gargoyle or LBD-1, a radio-controlled low-wing gliding bomb fitted with a rocket booster and designed for use with carrier-based aircraft.

September 8: The first German V-2 fired in combat exploded in a suburb of Paris; the second struck London a few hours later.

September 14: Successful flight into a hurricane for scientific data was made by Col. Floyd B. Wood, Maj. Harry Wexler, and Lt. Frank Reckord in a Douglas A-20.

September 18: Navy Pelican guided missile production was terminated and the project returned to developmental status due to tactical and logistic problems.

During September: Brig. Gen. W. A. Borden, Chief of the New Developments Division of the War Department, announced that Ordnance would develop wingless ballistic-type missiles and the AAF would develop winged pilotless-aircraft-type missiles with mutual cooperation in the development of warheads and other equipment.


 * USAAF accelerated development of the JB-2 robot bomb based on the design of the German V-1.

During October: Dr. H. J. E. Reid, Engineer-in-Charge of the Langley Laboratory, became the scientific chief of the War Department's Alsos Mission charged with gathering information on the enemy's scientific research and development.

During Fall: Preliminary studies were made of velocity gradients above wings of high-speed subsonic airplanes to determine the feasibility of utilizing the wing-flow method in transonic model tests, at NACA Langley Laboratory. This led to tests of a series of small airfoil models by this method, and later to the use of rockets in flying aircraft models.

November 1: The nation's first center devoted to the research and development of rocket propulsion systems, founded at Cal Tech in 1936, was reorganized and renamed the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

November 1-December 7: Representatives of 52 nations (excluding Axis nations and U.S.S.R.) met in the International Civil Aviation Conference in Chicago; they turned down the "blue skies" legal concept and reaffirmed the doctrine of national sovereignty in air space, and established the Provisional International Civil Aviation Organization (PICAO) to regulate international air commerce.

November 7: Gen. H. H. Arnold requested Dr. Theodore von Karman to "investigate all possibilities and desirabilities for postwar and future war's development as respects the AAF." Dr. von Karman organized the AAF Scientific Advisory Group for this purpose.

November 15: Army Ordnance initiated the Hermes program for research and development of ballistic missiles with a prime contract with General Electric Co.

November 17: Navy BuAer undertook feasibility studies of the JB-2 Army version of the German V-1, which subsequently became the Loon.

During November: First flight use of a radio telemeter for transmitting research data at transonic speeds, by the bomb-drop technique at NACA's Langley Laboratory.

December 1-16: At Camp Irwin, Calif., 24 Private "A" rockets were launched by JPL, only 11 months after the start of Project ORDCIT.

Continuing with the text revision:

December 13-14: In an AAF-NACA conference, Air Force representatives indicated a strong preference for the use of rocket engines instead of jets in the X-1 research airplane project.

During December: Army Ordnance made plans under the Hermes program to study the German V-2 missile.


 * Glenn L. Martin granted $1,700,000 to the University of Maryland for the establishment of a College of Engineering and Aeronautical Sciences.

During 1944: NACA established a Special Committee on Self-Propelled Guided Missiles to recommend and coordinate research related to guided missiles.


 * USAAF VB-1 controlled-trajectory air-to-surface bomb (Azon) produced and used in European and Burma theaters.


 * Supersonic wind tunnel (Mach 1.7) completed at Aberdeen Proving Ground for use in ballistic research and development.


 * Initial contracts for rocket research aircraft development were let by the AAF for the XS-1 with Bell Aircraft and by the Navy with Douglas Aircraft for the D-558-1, with NACA providing technical support under a cooperative agreement.

During 1944-1945: The first full-scale supersonic propulsion wind tunnel (8 by 6 feet) was conceived, designed, and directed by Abe Silverstein at NACA Lewis Laboratory. Capable of accommodating full-scale supersonic aircraft engines, it was the first of its size to have a flexible-wall test section, which allowed variations from Mach 1.4 to 2.


 * Japan launched approximately 10,000 Fugo balloons (30-foot diameter) carrying incendiaries and aimed at the North American continent.

January 20: Robert T. Jones, a NACA Langley aeronautical scientist, formulated the sweptback-wing concept to overcome shockwave effects at critical Mach numbers. He verified it in wind-tunnel experiments in March 1945 prior to learning of parallel German work. It was subsequently checked by the wing-flow technique before the first NACA report was issued in June.

January 24: Germans successfully launched the A-9, a winged prototype of the first ICBM (the A-10) designed to reach North America. The A-9 reached a peak altitude of nearly 50 miles and a maximum speed of 2,700 mph.

During January: JNW created a Guided Missiles Committee to formulate a broad program of research and development in the guided missiles field. The committee consisted of two members from OSRD, one from NACA, three from the Army, and three from the Navy.

During January: The German Luftwaffe formed a special squadron of 16 Me-262 jet fighters, each armed with twenty-four 55-mm high-explosive rockets, which operated with high success against Allied bomber formations.

February 20: The Secretary of War approved Ordnance plans for the establishment of the White Sands Proving Ground (WSPG).

During February: Project Nike was initiated by Army Ordnance with the Western Electric Co. to explore a new air defense system against high-speed and high-altitude bombers beyond the reach of conventional artillery.


 * AAF contracted with Bell for the construction of three transonic flight research aircraft, to be powered by liquid rocket engines. The aircraft were designated XS-1, and later X-1.

March 8: Navy's rocket-powered Gorgon air-to-air missile was launched from a PBY-5A in its first powered test flight off Cape May, N.J. 48