File:Boeing B-29 TomTom.jpg

Original file (827 × 550 pixels, file size: 151 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)

Summary

Description

Project MX-1016 Tip Tow: A Boeing ETB-29A (s/n 44-62093) with two Republic EF-84D Thunderjet fighters on 20 October 1950.
This photo is NOT of Project Tom Tom as the photo title states. Project Tom Tom utilized a Convair B-36 and two Republic RF-84F Thunderflash aircraft, and was also a "tip tow" experiment.
One of the more interesting experiments undertaken to extend the range of the early jets in order to give fighter protection to the piston-engined bombers, was the provision for in-flight attachment/detachment of fighter to bomber via wingtip connections. One of the several programs during these experiments was MX106 done with a B-29 mother ship and two F-84D "children", and was code named "Tip Tow" (not Tom Tom as stated above) A number of flights were undertaken, with several successful cycles of attachment and detachment, using, first one, and then two F-84s. The pilots of the F-84s maintained manual control when attached, with roll axis maintained by elevator movement rather than aileron movement. Engines on the F-84s were shut down in order to save fuel during the "tow" by the mother ship, and in-flight engine restarts were successfully accomplished. The experiment ended in disaster during the first attempt to provide automatic flight control of the F-84s, when the electronics apparently malfunctioned. The left hand F-84D-1-RE 48-641 rolled onto the wing of the B-29, and the connected aircraft both crashed with loss of all onboard personnel.

The pilot of the right-hand F-84D-1-RE 48-661 wrote of the Tip-Tow experiments in an article entitled Aircraft Wingtip Coupling Experiments published by the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. The photo above was taken during the longest "hookup" on 20 October 1950.
Date Taken on 20 October 1950
Source U.S. Air Force photo [1] from the USAF Aeronautical Systems Center History Office [2]
Author US Air Force

Licensing

Public domain
This image or file is a work of a U.S. Air Force Airman or employee, taken or made as part of that person's official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image or file is in the public domain in the United States.

العربية  беларуская (тарашкевіца)  català  čeština  Deutsch  English  español  eesti  فارسی  suomi  français  italiano  日本語  한국어  македонски  മലയാളം  မြန်မာဘာသာ  norsk bokmål  Plattdüütsch  Nederlands  polski  português  português do Brasil  русский  sicilianu  slovenčina  slovenščina  српски / srpski  svenska  Türkçe  українська  Tiếng Việt  中文(简体)  中文(繁體)  +/−

Captions

Add a one-line explanation of what this file represents

Items portrayed in this file

depicts

20 October 1950

image/jpeg

ffccf1a812a78cd55c283c46c22abd5f76348ba6

155,051 byte

550 pixel

827 pixel

File history

Click on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time.

Date/TimeThumbnailDimensionsUserComment
current19:13, 3 October 2010Thumbnail for version as of 19:13, 3 October 2010827 × 550 (151 KB)Cobatforclearer version
09:11, 4 May 2006Thumbnail for version as of 09:11, 4 May 2006800 × 602 (252 KB)Il palazzo{{Information| |Description=Project Tom Tom: Boeing B-29 with Republic F-84 Thunderjet |Source=taken from a book published before 1986 |Date=~1952 |Author=US Air Force |Permission={{PD-USGov-Military-Air Force}} |other_versions= }} [[Category:Experimenta

The following 4 pages use this file:

Global file usage

The following other wikis use this file:

Metadata