Controversial 2,000-MPH RS-70 Will
Make Its Roaring Debut Next Month
By Ralph Dighton
LOS ANGELES UP> — The techni
cal problem that has kept the
RS-70 bomber grounded months
past it original flight date has been
solved, its builders say, and the
wierd-looking monster should fly
late next month or in April.
When — or if — it flies, the
huge craft’s 2,000-mile an hour
wind-stream is expected to fan
to new fury the flames of contro
versy ignited when the adminis
tration decided the RS-70 has been
outmoded by missiles.
The problem that delayed the
RS-70’s first flight, scheduled for
last December, was a fuel tank
leak that showed up in tests simu
lating the stresses of flying more
than three times the speed of
sound.
Such acceleration would throw
the jet fuel against the rear of the
tanks with a pressure several times
greater than that experienced in
conventional aircraft.
In conventional jet aircraft, a
slight leak probably would not be
dangerous. The fuel — a highly
refined kerosene — would evapo
rate before it became a problem.
In the RS-70 the slightest leak
could mean disaster.
Skin Could Heat to 600 Degrees
The buffeting of air molecules at
high speed is expected to heat
some areas of its skin to 600 de
grees Fahrenheit. If its jet fuel,
or even fumes, came in contact
with these super-heated area, fire
or explosion could result.
“We have solved the problem—
found the right materials for the
sealant,” said a spokesman for
North American Aviation, Inc.
“The actual repair work is being
done right now. When you see the
RS-70 roll out of its hangar in the
next few months you will know
the leak has been whipped.”
Even when it has been brought
up to design specifications, made
capable of carrying 50 megatons of
nuclear destruction to any point
on the globe at twice the speed
of today’s fastest U.S. bomber, the
RS-70 faces a gloomy future.
Contend Already Obsolete
Defense planners say the RS-70
is obsolete, that its job can be
done better and more cheaply by
missiles, and that the real need is
for an advanced craft that can fly
both in the air and in space.
Supporters of the RS-70 insist
that it would be useful for at least
another 10 years and that failure to
put it into production will leave
the United States lagging behind
the Soviet Union in a vitally need
ed type of aircraft
Because of this controversy there
may be no public ceremony when
the RS-70 sticks its pointed nose
out 'of its hangar at Palmdale,
Calif.
Here again leakage will be a
factor — leakage not of fuel but of
information.
1 “It’s quite possible,” says a
source close to the RS-70 program,
“that if the roll-out could be kept
secret there are some who would
want to do so.
“A public roll-out would give
opponents another excuse to at
tack the administration’s decision,
but at the same time everybody
knows you can’t keep a thing like
the RS-70 hidden.”
For more than a year 1,000 en
gineers and technicians have been
hand-crafting three RS-70s in a
huge hangar 70 miles north of here
on the Mojave Desert. Only one
is close to completion. When it rolls
out for pre-flight tests of its 30,000
pound thrust engines, it will be
visible from a major highway.
The first flight will be no secret,
either. The RS-70 will fly only 30
miles, from Palmdale to the Air
Force Research Center at Edwards
Air Force Base, but its noise and
its shape will alert thousands.
Ground-Shaking Roar
There will be* a ground-shaking
roar as the J-93 engines, each the
size of an automobile, rev up for
take-off. As residents of this air
craft-conscious area begin scanning
the skies, there will soar into view
an apparation out of science fic
tion: 250 tons of titanium and
steel, fabricated into a pencil
bodied vehicle 185 feet long with a
triangular wing, 100 feet across,
where the tail normally is.
If the RS-70 performs well on
its first flight the administration
can expect new demands to put it
into mass production.
Once there were plans for 150 of
these behemoths at a cost of $10
billion. This has been cut back
to three, at a total cost, including
research and development of $1.3
billion.
When the huge airplane was con
ceived it was designated the B-70,
with the B standing for bomber.
Recently it was downgraded to
RS-70. The RS stands for recon
naissance-strike, a mission current
ly assigned to pursuit craft.
Industry sources hold little hope
that the RS-70 will be mass pro
duced. At best, they say the three
now being built will become fly
ing laboratories to help in the de
velopment of future aerospace
planes.
“Someday civilian travelers may
want to fly 2,000 miles an hour,
span oceans in 90 minutes,” says
one industry source. “If they do,
the prototypes are already built.”
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DIAL 2591
Vincent Kunnuk Was One
Of 12 Behind-the-Lines
Observers In Timber Line
EXERCISE TIMBER LINE —
“That tank turned off the road
and came about 30 feet from us,”
Sgt. Vincent Kunnuk said. “We
took off up the hill, but the tank
didn’t follow us. I guess he didn’t ;
see us, ‘cause they never spotted
us all the time we were there.”
Sgt. Kunnuk kicked at the snow
with his mukluk and grinned. “Wo
were never more than 1,000 feet
from the supply road, but they
never knew we were there.”
The Eskimo sergeant was tell
ing of spending 11 days on an in
telligence outpost deep behind
enemy lines in the central Alaskan
exercise Timber Line. He was one
of 25 Eskimo National Guardsmen
who worked as military intelli
gence men during the maneuver.
In all they manned 12 observa
tion posts; six each behind Ag
gressor and Friendly lines. None
of the OPs were discovered.
During his 11 days in enemy
territory Sgt. Kunnuk and a lone
companion acted as eyes and ears
in their sector. They radioed re
ports back to the maneuver intelli
gence office, where they were re
layed to the Friendly side.
Scouts manning the other 11 OPs
worked the same way. The men
never traveled alone, nor did they
venture far from their hideaways.
Their job was to look, listen and
report; not to fight.
Exercise Timber Line was the
first maneuver for Sergeant Kun
nuck, and he smiled when he talk
ed about what he had done.
“It was a lot of fun,” he said.
A King Islander by birth, Ser
geant Kunnuk lives in Nome where
he belongs to Headquarters and
Headquarters Company, 1st Scout
Battalion, 297th Infantry, Alaska
Army National Guard. Exercise
Timber Line was a new experience
in soldiering to him because it was '
held in hilly, timbered country.
He has belonged to the Scouts
twice, reenlisting in 1961 when he
came back to Nome after having
lived seven years in Seattle.
NOTICE OF INTENT
TO ABANDON
PUBLIC INTEREST
IN UNGALIK AIRPORT
Notice is given that pursuant to
AS 02.15.070(b), the Commissioner
of Public Works, State of Alaska,
intends to abandon the public in
terest in the Ungalik Airport. Such
interest was acquired through a
matching fund agreement pursuant
to Chapter 68, SLA 1955 between
Pal Bliss and the Territorial De
partment of Aviation on July 21,
1958. The usefulness of the airport
was destroyed by flood on or about
May 16, 1962, and the public right
to use such airport shall be con
sidered to have ceased. Any ob
jection to such abandonment rjiay
be made to Eugene G. Roguszka,
Division of Aviation, 523 Eighth
Avenue, Anchorage. Alaska, be
fore April 1, 1963.
Richard A. Downing,
Commissioner,
Dept, of Public Works,
State of Alaska
Pub: Feb. 25, March 4, 1963.
—i————
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WITH ONE CALL"
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o
Complete Dry Cleaning
and
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Proprietors
j “Ski Run” Will Be
Used to Simulate Landing
Of Gemini Spacecraft
HOUSTON, Tex. UP> — The Man
ned Spacecraft Center said Fri
day a portable “ski run” will be
used by the center to simulate land
ing of a two-man Gemini space
craft.
The spaceship will be hung on
an overhead track and fired into
water, onto soft sand, and on bare
and rocky ground.
The catapult, something like
those used to launch airplanes, will
hurl the spaceship out of the rack j
at its landing speed.
American Machine & Foundry
Co. expects to complete the test
ing device in March. It will be
turned over to the center and Mc
Donnel Aircraft Corp., builder of
Gemini.
IN THE SUPERIOR COURT
FOR THE STATE OF ALASKA
SECOND JUDICIAL DISTRICT
No. 63-5 Probate
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
In the Matter of the Estate
of
GEORGE M. HITE. Deceased
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the
undersigned. The National Bank of Com
merce. was on the 7th day of February, i
1963, by an order of the above-entitled 1
Court appointed Executor of the Estate
of George M. Hite. Deceased; that it
thereupon qualified as such Executor in
the manner required by law, and all
creditors of and persons having claims
against the said decedent are hereby re
quired to present their claims, with the
necessary vouchers, within Six (61
months from the date hereof, to the
undersigned at the office of its attorney
Thomas J. Balone, Box 111, Nome,
Alaska, which office the undersigned
hereby designates as its place of business
in all matters connected with the said
Estate.
Dated at Seattle, Washington, this 9th
day of February, 1963.
The National Bank of Commerce j
By Thomas J. Balone
Publish Feb. 11, 18, 25, March 4, 1963. '
Fine Job Printing At The Nuggei
PERMA FROST BIT
Wc have just learned of a rotary
auger bit that has been success
fully used on the DEW Line and
other northern areas of Alaska
and Canada in places where perma
frost is encountered. These bits
I have also been used in augering
and drilling coal, concrete, lime
stone and various other rock types.
The bit differs from other bits
in that the cutters are so placed
j that more of a chipping action
! takes place. The inserts or teeth
are staggered so each cuts on a
different horizontal plane.
It took 20,000 men 17 years to
erect the Taj Mahal, an Indian
poobah’s sentimental monument to
a departed wife.
UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
Fairbanks Land Office
P.O. Box 1150
Fairbanks, Alaska
NOTICE FOR PUBLICATION
Notice is hereby given that William
Herbert Cameron of Nome, Alaska, to
gether with his witnesses W. A. Gla
vinovich and C. S. Glavinovich, both of
Nome. Alaska, has filed Application to
Purchase for his Homesite Settlement
Claim. Fairbanks Serial Number 09181
for lands described as:
Lot 1. U.S. Survey No. 3646, Alaska,
situated along the right bank of the
Nome River approximately 7,000 feet
upstream from the confluence of
Dexter Creek and Nome River con
taining 4.90 acres.
During the period of publication or
within 30 days thereafter any person,
corporation, or association having or as
serting any adverse interest in or claim
to the tract of land or any part thereof
may file in the Fairbanks Land Office,
under oath an adverse claim setting forth
and nature and extent thereof; and such
adverse claimant shall, within 60 days
after the filing of such adverse claim,
begin action to quiet title in a court of
competent jurisdiction in Alaska and
thereafter patent shall be issued in con
formity with the final decree of the
court.
Robert F. Hilton,
Chief, Lands Section
Pub: Jan. 14, 21, 28, Feb. 4, 11, 18,
25, March 4, 11.
* NOTICE ’
A BAPTIST
BIBLE SCHOOL
FOR ADULTS
Will Begin Monday Evening
MARCH 4
☆
Classes Will Be Held In
The Bible Baptist Church Building
Every Monday and Tuesday Evening
from 7:00 ’til 9:00
☆
The Bible School Will Continue for 3 Months
SUBJECTS:
• Bible Doctrine
• The Life of Christ
• Personal Evangelism
• Old Testament Character Study
☆
These Classes Are Free of Charge
and Open to All People
☆
• Please Note:
All interested persons please contact Rev. Bob Leight
at the Bible Baptist Church or Phone 2451