Quiktrip - Type 3

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And Sunday evenings at RVS can definitely be pattern-busy.  Especially since you in essence have three flight schools on the airport, and a smaller fourth.

It's been really quiet lately.  Way to hot out to spend much time waiting on the ground. I left the pilot's side window open most of the time.  I was the only one in the pattern for most of the 0.7 hrs.  I did get switched to 19L from 19R in the beginning (my hangar is in the NW Tees) and then back to 19R.  I only had to extend downwind once to 71st St to let 2 departures go.  The 150 slows down to 70 mph easily to spend time and not distance allowing departures. Not bad for a Sunday afternoon.

[Hoss]

It's been really quiet lately.  Way to hot out to spend much time waiting on the ground. I left the pilot's side window open most of the time.  I was the only one in the pattern for most of the 0.7 hrs.  I did get switched to 19L from 19R in the beginning (my hangar is in the NW Tees) and then back to 19R.  I only had to extend downwind once to 71st St to let 2 departures go.  The 150 slows down to 70 mph easily to spend time and not distance allowing departures. Not bad for a Sunday afternoon.

I'm a tad too large for the 150, and the 172 is sometimes a little cramped.  But I can remember coming back in from the west one night right at dusk and marveling at the number of wing lights I could see in the pattern.  It was awesome.

[bacjz00]

Riverside is a cool airport...I could see the area around it continuing to grow.  Why anyone thinks someone would move near it expecting anything other than normal traffic and airplane noise is beyond me.  I live somewhat close and have small planes coming and going overhead, it makes no difference to me.  If I wanted to hear nothing but wind all day, I wouldn't live in the middle of town...I'd live in Owasso, surrounded by children of the corn.

[dbacks fan]

I lived most of my life in Tulsa in the final approach pattern for TIA at 26th & Memorial from birth to the mid 80's, and then from 1991 to 1998 at Pine and Memorial, and the only thing that bothered me in the seven years at Pine & Memorial were the winter time touch and go's by the C-135's or KC-135's taking off going north on 35R. Growing up, we had everything from 707's, B-47's, B-52's, F100's and A-7/F-8, F-4, and F-15's so I guess that I became used to the noise issue. Where I lived in Phoenix was just south east of Deer Valley Airport, (DVA) which was home to three flight schools, Phoenix Police, MCSO Department, and three medical helicopter services. It was never a bother to me about the noise, other than what I said earlier. A military K/C-135 taking off is one of the worst.

[Hoss]

I lived most of my life in Tulsa in the final approach pattern for TIA at 26th & Memorial from birth to the mid 80's, and then from 1991 to 1998 at Pine and Memorial, and the only thing that bothered me in the seven years at Pine & Memorial were the winter time touch and go's by the C-135's or KC-135's taking off going north on 35R. Growing up, we had everything from 707's, B-47's, B-52's, F100's and A-7/F-8, F-4, and F-15's so I guess that I became used to the noise issue. Where I lived in Phoenix was just south east of Deer Valley Airport, (DVA) which was home to three flight schools, Phoenix Police, MCSO Department, and three medical helicopter services. It was never a bother to me about the noise, other than what I said earlier. A military K/C-135 taking off is one of the worst.

Haha, that tells me how long ago it's been for you.  I live near the traffic circle now, fairly close, but lived at 16th and Memorial for many years, right down finals for 36R (they renumbered the runways some years ago).

Oh how I remember from my youth Saturday morning ANG runs...

[heironymouspasparagus]

Seems like we all lived in the same part of town....

I remember stories about an airplane crash just south and west of the 21st Memorial area back in the late '50s.  Didn't get there until couple years later, and always hoped it wouldn't happen again.  The 707's were the loudest ones I remember - sounded like they were gonna land in your lap!

In high school, we used to go up to the airport during winter or in a rain storm to watch planes land and take off.  Where the gates are now used to be outdoor roof with seating.  Could sit out there and watch the planes through a light (or heavy) snow - it was magical!!

[dbacks fan]

The plane crash was in 1957 and it was a B-47 that broke up in mid air and rained debris all over that area. My parents had just moved to that area from Santa Monica, my dad worked for Douglas then. The nose of the plane with the bombadier still in it land in a back yard between 26th court and 25th street between 75th and 77th east ave's. The house I grew up in was across the street. At the time of the crash my parents lived about three blocks south of that house. It was mid March.

[heironymouspasparagus]

That's the one.  Sucked big time.

[dbacks fan]

13 Mar 1958
TB-47B
50-0013
19 BS
3520 CCTW
McConnell AFB, KS
Soen, Albert J.
KCRMF
5
over Tulsa, OK

http://okwreckchasing.org/database.htm

I was off by a year it was 1958

[dbacks fan]

http://okwreckchasing.org/database.htm

I was off by a year it was 1958

TB-47B Stratojet 50-0013 3520 FTW, ATC, McConnell AFB, KS The aircraft was on a normal training mission with the student in the

front seat and the instructor pilot  was in the back seat. The student was given unusual positions. During the recovery from the second unusual position, a 30 degree right wing low descent, the pilots heard a thump or crack. They then flew two steep turns. Then as the pilot was establishing a 45 degree bank the pilots heard what was described as a thump, rumble, muffled explosion, or a crack. The control column was pushed forward and the student pilot noted flames. He then pushed the alarm bell and ejected. The instructor had not completed the ejection sequence when the aircraft began to tumble and gyrate. He unbuckled his safety belt and dropped free when the aircraft went into inverted flight. Both the pilot and instructor survived but the pilot occupying the navigator's seat did not eject. The investigation revealed that the left wing failed at Butt line 35 due to fatigue cracks that had existed for an undetermined period of time. This was the first in a series of crashes that led to the Milk Bottle Inspection and Repair As Necessary, IRAN, mod program.

     
Pilot Instructor
attempted ejection
made force bail out Student Pilot
ejected Pilot on Navigator's seat
did not eject[/quote]

http://www.ejection-history.org.uk/Aircraft_by_Type/B-47.htm

 

[dbacks fan]

From Tulsa TV Meories

http://tulsatvmemories.com/gb041809.html#b47

April 14 2009 at 21:12:54
Name: Michael D. Trout
Topic: B-47 explodes over Tulsa; death of Michael Todd; B-52 Skiatook crash
Email: Them Rooskies might harpoon us....
Comments: The day was Thursday, 13 March 1958. I was home sick from kindergarten at McKinley Elementary. I was out sick a lot, mostly bronchitis, for most of my time at McKinley. I was lying in bed reading. I remember it being a sunny day.

Earlier that morning, a U.S. Air Force Boeing TB-47B Stratojet training bomber took off from McConnell Air Force Base near Wichita. Assigned to the 3520th Combat Crew Training Wing, the jet's USAF tail number was 50-013, indicating the 13th aircraft accepted by the Air Force in 1950. On board were a student pilot, an instructor pilot, and an observer pilot. McConnell AFB, right next to the Boeing Wichita plant where B-47s were built, was the main training center for B-47 crews. The B-47 was the Air Force's first all-jet strategic nuclear bomber, but was really more of a medium bomber pressed into service while awaiting the much more capable Boeing B-52 Stratofortress. There were 66 TB-47B trainers, which had been converted from standard B-47B bombers. The Douglas plant in Tulsa had done 48 such modifications, while the Air Force itself did 18 mods at Tinker AFB.

At an altitude of about 23,000 feet, 50-013 flew to the Tulsa area, where it received clearance to fly within a 50 mile radius of the Tulsa aircraft radio beacon for 2 hours and 30 minutes. As the training began, the student pilot was ordered to put the plane into unusual positions, and then recover. The student achieved the first such position and recovered successfully. The second position was a 30-degree right wing low descent; as the student was recovering the pilots heard a "crack" or "thump," but nothing seemed amiss.

The student then practiced two steep turns. The first went as normal; the second was to be a left turn from a heading of 180 degrees, in a 45-degree bank at 250 knots. As the student put 50-013 into the 45-degree bank, there was a "rumble" and "muffled explosion." The TB-47 shuddered violently and the control column was abruptly yanked forward. The student noticed flames forward and below his left foot. He activated the alarm, blew off the canopy, and ejected successfully. By now the cockpit was engulfed in flames and the left wing had separated from the aircraft. 50-013 was tumbling out of control. The instructor pulled up his ejector control but, fearful of the plane's wild gyrations, elected not to eject. He waited until the plane was upside down, unbuckled his safety belt and fell clear, activating his parachute and landing safely. The observer did not escape. He made no attempt to eject, and Air Force investigators were not able to determine why.

The flames reached the enormous main fuselage tanks (the wings were too thin for fuel tanks) and the tumbling wreck exploded in a spectacular fireball over Tulsa. Our house shuddered from the impact of the violent bang, and I dove under the covers in terror. My mother, in her bedroom next to mine, looked out the south-facing window and saw the fireball, with pieces of flaming wreckage spinning earthward. Hanging from the ceiling of my bedroom were more than a dozen model airplanes my dad had built; the impact of the explosion knocked down the B-36 heavy bomber, which crashed to the floor. Like most Revell model airplane kits, this B-36 had an ugly plastic ball molded to the bottom of the fuselage, to serve as the attachment point for a plastic table stand. When the model hit the floor, the plastic ball snapped off cleanly. There was no other damage, and the B-36 model looked much nicer after my dad hung it back up. In U.S. Air Force service, the B-36 was the plane replaced by the B-47. The irony of it didn't hit me until many years later.

The explosion, over southeast Tulsa, rained debris over "at least 6 square miles of populated area" according to the Tulsa World the next day. My mom turned on the radio (I wish I could remember which station!) and people were calling in with reports of junk falling around them. I remember one terrified woman's voice: "There's an airplane wing in my back yard!" Callers were urged not to touch the debris.

The Air Force's investigation revealed that the left wing had failed, due to fatigue cracks "that had existed for an undetermined period of time." This was the first in a series of B-47 crashes due to wing cracks. This led to the "Milk Bottle IRAN" modification program. The huge attachment bolts that held the wing to the fuselage were shaped like milk bottles, and IRAN stood for Inspect and Repair As Necessary.

I went to school the next day, and we impressionable kiddies thought we could see a little piece of twisted aluminum caught in the telephone lines near Sheridan and King. Everybody was saying that the plane had blown up shortly after taking off from the Tulsa airport, which obviously was not true. There was another story, repeated by my dad, that one of the men on the plane was one of the Boggs brothers from two houses east of us on Newton Street, but I've never been able to confirm that.

The B-47 saw various improvements, eventually reaching the B-47E variant, but its operational life was relatively short. The obviously superior B-52 began to reach nuclear alert status in 1959, and B-47 units began to phase out in 1963. The last B-47 nuclear bombers were pulled from service in 1965.