VOLUME Vy NUMBER 25
20 JUNE I960
D
6-17$ .RETIRED-LEGENDS UNBfi
WA3HINGT0N(-AFPS) -The gallslnt oleTB'~17 "has gone off inf o aviation history. The
Air Force has destroyed the last of the "Flying Fortresses" which it used as
missile-target aircraft, l'he Coast Guard no longer uses them as air-sea rescue*
Tndre are a few around, 'of courseo At
least, two are "still operational as crop
dustersj another is in use as a flying
aquarium® But the famous Somber'"of WWII
is considered as permanently retired®
*• Boeing instroduced the first model of
n-.he B-17"in"1935» By f he" time * the war
ended, that company and two others had
turned out 12,731" of the Big four eng
irded bombers that doomed the cities of
Nozi Germany.
'B-17ls are estimated to have dropped
about 75 percent of the"bombs delivered
to European targets- a total of 640,036
f,ons0 Although * it was a noisy, drafty
plane- at first"criticized as being too
dig/for pilots to handle-the B-17 could
take an enormous amount of punishment
often limping home on two engines with
its tail half shot away and its wings
flapping.
Probably the war fs most famous B-l?
was ‘’Alexander "which was parked on Clark
Field in the Philippines"on Dec.8,1941#
Japanese bombs messed it up badly but
because planes were needed, -Alexander
was patched together with parts f-rom
—T-SE&-B-17 -PAGE--?.- -—■
ANTI-SUB ROCKET
► .< «. • v
The Navy will unveil its newest anti
submarine weapon, Asroc, June 21 when
newsmen will see■ the first publico
demonstration of the rocket as it is
fired irom the frigate Norfolk off
Key West, Fla, -
Alfhough most of the details sur- •
rounding Asroc are classifieu, a fact
sheet lists if as"a surface to under
water solid propellant rocket torpedo
fired from surface ships,projected'to
the target area and upon water entry'
becomes an acoustic homing torpedo,”
The Asroc, a' contraction of "antisub
marine rocket” can also be armed with
a depth charge.
If is scheduled for Installation
aboard -cruisers and destroyer type
vessels, :
The rocket was developed at Minnea
polis-Honeywell Military Products Gr
oup under a research and developement
contract awarded by Bureau of Weapons,
4