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Contact Info
Home Town Jacksonville Beach
Last Address 345 Orchis Road St. Augustine South, St. Augustine, FL 32086
As a Weapons Control Tech I Flight Followed and aided Controllers in conducting air to air refueling missions over the East China Sea for F-105 Squadrons deploying to SE Aisa while stationed on Kume Jima (Treefrog Control). The interesting aspect of refueling the '105 from a prop driven tanker was the stall speed of the '105 was very close to the top speed of the tanker. When the air over the wing is near stall speed; directional control is lost in all three axises of motion. The "fix" was to put the tanker in a shallow dive (to increase speed of the tanker), hook up, pump like mad and break contact at about 5,000' ASL, repeat as needed. This was clearly work for the young at heart, no "nerves nellies" need apply!
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KB-50 Superfortress Details
Aircraft/Missile Information
General characteristics
* Crew: 8: Pilot, co-pilot, flight engineer, radio/electronic countermeasures operator, two side gunners, top gunner and tail gunner * Length: 99 ft 0 in (30.2 m) * Wingspan: 141 ft 3 in (43.1 m) * Height: 32 ft 8 in (10.0 m) * Wing area: 1736 ft² (161.3 m²) * Empty weight: 80,610 lb (36,560 kg) * Loaded weight: 121,850 lb (55,270 kg) * Max takeoff weight: 173,000 lb (78,470 kg) * Powerplant: 4× Pratt & Whitney R-4360 radial engines, 3,500 hp (2,600 kW) each
Performance
* Maximum speed: 395 mph (343 kn, 636 km/h) * Cruise speed: 244 mph (212 kn, 393 km/h) * Combat radius: 2,100 NM (2,400 mi, 3,860 km) * Ferry range: 5,000 NM (5,760 mi, 9,270 km) * Service ceiling 36,650 ft (11,170 m) * Rate of climb: 2,225 ft/min (11.3 m/s) * Wing loading: 70.19 lb/ft² (343 kg/m²) * Power/mass: 0.115 hp/lb (193 W/kg)
