Newsgroups: rec.aviation.military From: wb9omc@constellation.ecn.purdue.edu (Duane P Mantick) Subject: D21 Summary: From Bill Sweetman Keywords: accident Organization: Purdue University Engineering Computer Network Date: Fri, 1 Apr 1994 19:26:40 GMT There was some evident confusion about the accident during a D21 release from an M-12 Blackbird. Here is what Bill Sweetman says about it in his book, "Aurora - The Pentagon's Secret Hypersonic Spyplane". (some other general D21 info added as well) Sweetman writes that the D21 was designed to be launched AT Mach 3 and had a range of more than 10,000 miles at Mach 3.8. He adds that the D21 became operational in 1970, but was retired in 1972 for "political and technical reasons after $2 billion had been spent". He notes "...as Lockheed found with the A12/D21 combination, the airflow above a delta wing is uniform and benign even at Mach 3 and conducive to a clean separation. (The notorious A12/D21 collision was due to different factors.)". According to Sweetman, operationally the A12 would launch the D21 at almost Mach 3, at around 80,000 feet. "The D21 would accelerate and climb to near Mach 4 and 100,000 feet as fuel burned off....." "It was a shock to observers when, at a 1987 meeting, Skunk Works chief Ben Rich discolsed that the D21 had an endurance of no less than four hours at Mach 3.8 (2,520 MPH), translating into a total range of 10,000 miles." Here comes the accident part. "In May 1966, on the SIXTH launch attempt, a D21 suffered a control failure and collided with the A12 mothership." So in response to comments about aerodynamic problems being the cause of the D21 problems, it is clear that Sweetman does not agree, based on his sources. Duane From rec.aviation.military From: schnars@umcc.umcc.umich.edu (Kathyrn Schnars) Newsgroups: rec.aviation.military Subject: D-21 Date: 2 Apr 1994 14:08:14 -0500 Organization: Absolute Software Yesterday I received "Lockheed's Skunk Works - The First Fifty Years" "The Official History..." by Jay Miller, published by Aerofax in my mail. It has a lot pictures of U-2, A-12, M-21, D-21, YF-12, SR-71, XST, F-117 and others, many of which I never saw before (especially of D-21 and XST/'Have Blue'). I am not sure if this is a copyright infringement, but here are some parts of this book. The text in [brackets] are my comments: (...) Chapter 10: Senior Bowl and Tagboard "The airplane met its performance and its radar cross-section goals but we had difficulty with some of the detailed equipment. It was still an outstanding feat to make a ramjet operate for two hours." Ben Rich [so much about the endurance: 2 hours] (...) By October, the Q-12's overall configuration had been finalized and the equally difficult task of defining the A-12 launch system and its configuration were nearing an end. By now, the somewhat unusual M-21 designation had been assigned [to] the carrier A-12. "M" stood simply for "Mother". Concurrent with this, it was decided to rename the Q-12 [the D-21 was known as Q-12 till then], D-21 -- thus making it the "Daughter" aircraft [and I always thought it meant "Drone"]. The numerals "1" and "2" of A-12, Q-12, etc., were simply reversed so as not to confuse the "mother/daughter" combination with other "-12" variants. [very intersting how they applied designations] (...) The fourth launch, attempted on July 30, 1966, was a disaster. The second M-21, piloted by Bill Park and with Ray Torick in the launch systems operator's position, was lost over the Pacific Ocean off Point Mugu, California when D-21 #504 collided with the carrier moments after release. Observed by the first M-21 -- which was flying chase -- the D-21 and M-21 were seen to make contact at the moment of drone release. At Mach 3.25, as the M-21 pitched up, its nose broke off. Park and Torick ejected, but by the time a rescue helicopter arrived on the scene, Torick had drowned because his suit had filled with water. Park was recovered 150 miles at sea after floating for an hour. [so it was the fourth flight, and the D-21 was launched at Mach 3+ and they ejected succesfully above Mach 3] Though additional studies of the M-21/D-21 combination were conducted, after the accident it was concluded that Mach 3 launches of a large vehicle like the D-21 were difficult to justify from a saftey standpoint. The Interim studies calling for the use of boosters to accelerate the D-21 to ramjet ignition speed (ala' the X-7) now were given renewed emphasis. On August 15, after returning from a trip to Washington wherein the accident was discussed primarily with the Air Force, Johnson noted, "I proposed going to the B-52 and I believe we will get a go-ahead on this program." The D-21 now was grounded for a year while the new launch system was developed. [so much about the accident and why they went back to Kelly Johnson's earlier proposal to use the B-52H] (...) Appendix A: Production, Specification, and Performance Tables (...) D-21/D-21B Specifications/Performance Construction: titanium (Beta-120/Ti-13V-11Cr-3A1) monococque w/some super- high-temperature plastics General: Titanium and composite construction Length: 42 feet 10 inches Wingspan: 19 feet 1/4 inch Wing Area: Height: 7 feet 1/4 inch Empty Weight: ? Max. Gross Takeoff Weight: 11,000 pounds Maximum Speed: Mach 3.35/Mach 3.25 cruise at 80,000 to 95,000 feet Operational Ceiling: 95,000 feet Maximum Unrefueled Range: 3,000 n. miles Fixed Armament: none Powerplant Data: Marquardt RJ43-MA-11 ramjet rated @ 1,500 pounds thrust [range of 3,000 nm ('unrefueled' only to be consistent with the other aircraft perfomance data in this appendix) not 10,000 nm, and the longest round course ever flown was 1,550 nm from M-21 and 2,972 nm from B-52H] D21/D21B Production/Disposition Model/ Designation: Manu. # Comment: none/D-21 501 After manufacture, modified to D-21B standard; accidentally dropped on September 28, 1967 from B-52H; no mission flown none/D-21 502 After manufacture, modified to D-21B standard; stored at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona following D-21 program termination none/D-21 503 Launched on March 5, 1966 from M-21 and flew a total distance of 150 nautical miles; Lockheed crew was Bill Park and Keith Beswick none/D-21 504 Launched on July 30, 1966 from M-21; immediately collided with carrier aircraft ending M-21 program; Lockheed crew was Bill Park and Ray Torick none/D-21 505 Launched on June 16, 1966 from M-21 and flew a distance of 1,550 nautical miles; Lockheed crew was Bill Park and Keith Beswick none/D-21 506 Launched on April 27, 1966 from M-21 and flew a total distance of 1,120 nautical miles; Lockheed crew was Bill Park and Ray Torick none/D-21B 507 Launched on November 6, 1967 from B-52H and flew a total distance of 134 nautical miles none/D-21B 508 Launched on January 19, 1968 from B-52H and flew a total distance of 280 nautical miles none/D-21B 509 Launched on December 2, 1967 from B-52H and flew a total distance of 1,430 nautical miles none/D-21B 510 Stored at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona following D-21 program termination none/D-21B 511 Launched on April 30, 1968 from B-52H and flew a total distance of 150 nautical miles none/D-21B 512 Launched on June 16, 1968 from B-52H and flew a total distance of 2,850 nautical miles; hatch was recovered but no camera was carried none/D-21B 513 Stored at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona following D-21 program termination none/D-21B 514 Launched on July 1, 1968 from B-52H and flew a total distance of 80 nautical miles none/D-21B 515 Launched on December 15, 1968 from B-52H and flew a total distance of 2,953 nautical miles; hatch recovered; fair photos none/D-21B 516 Launched on August 28, 1968 from B-52H and flew a total distance of 78 nautical miles none/D-21B 517 Launched on November 9, 1969 from B-52H and flew a total distance of ? nautical miles; this was the first operational mission; the hatch with camera was not recovered none/D-21B 518 Launched on February 11, 1969 from B-52H and flew a total distance of 161 nautical miles none/D-21B 519 Launched on May 10, 1969 from B-52H and flew a total distance of 2,972 nautical miles; hatch recovered; fair photos none/D-21B 520 Launched on July 10, 1969 from B-52H and flew a total distance of 2,937 nautical miles; hatch recovered; good photos none/D-21B 521 Launched on February 20, 1970 from B-52H and flew a total distance of 2,969 nautical miles; hatch recovered; good photos none/D-21B 522 Stored at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona following D-21 program termination none/D-21B 523 Launched on December 16, 1970 from B-52H and flew a total distance of 2,448 nautical miles; second operational mission; hatch not recovered none/D-21B 524 Stored at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona following D-21 program termination none/D-21B 525 Stored at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona following D-21 program termination none/D-21B 526 Launched on March 4, 1971 from B-52H and flew a total distance of 2,935 nautical miles; third operational mission; hatch not recovered none/D-21B 527 Launched on March 20, 1971 from B-52H and flew a total distance of 2,935 nautical miles; fourth operational mission; hatch not recovered; last mission of D-21 program none/D-21B 528 Stored at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona following D-21 program termination none/D-21B 529 Stored at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona following D-21 program termination none/D-21B 530 Stored at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona following D-21 program termination none/D-21B 531 Stored at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona following D-21 program termination none/D-21B 532 Stored at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona following D-21 program termination none/D-21B 533 Stored at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona following D-21 program termination none/D-21B 534 Stored at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona following D-21 program termination none/D-21B 535 Stored at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona following D-21 program termination none/D-21B 536 Stored at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona following D-21 program termination none/D-21B 537 Stored at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona following D-21 program termination none/D-21B 538 Stored at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona following D-21 program termination (...) ------------ So much about the book. The interesting part is, that the D-21 program never resulted in any useful pictures. The hatch with camera and pictures was lost in all four operational missions (where ? SEA ?). I would be interested to know the serials of the two converted B-52H and why the D-21 manufacturer number sequence started at 501 (BTW, why did the F-117 manufacturer/serial/article number started at 780 ???). -- Andreas --- --- Andreas & Kathryn Gehrs-Pahl schnars@umcc.ais.org 313 West Court St. #305 Flint, MI 48502-1239 Tel: (810) 238-8469 --- --- **E-O-F**