American X-Vehicles Monograph

AMERICAN X-VEHICLES (An Inventory—X-1 to X-50)
Centennial of Flight Edition by Dennis R. Jenkins, Tony Landis, and Jay Miller
NASA Monographs in Aerospace History No. 31. Dated June 2003.

Click here to download monograph (1.2 Megs)

Apollo - A Retrospective Analysis Monograph

Apollo - A Retrospective Analysis from NASA’s Monographs in Aerospace History, # 3. Dated July 2004 for the 35 anniversary of Apollo 11.

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Lockheed C-141 Starlifter Training Handbook–Revised

Jim Hantsch found a better copy of this manual from the C-141 Heaven website and i have substituted their copy for mine. Thanks Jim!

Click here to download new copy (21.7 Megs)

North American F-86F Flight Manual

North American F-86F Flight Manual TO 1F-86F-1, dated 30 April 1971 (Change 10).

Click here to download manual (122 Megs)

Lockheed C-141 Starlifter Training Handbook

Lockheed C-141 Starlifter Training Handbook. Unknown date.

Click here to download handbook (21.7 Megs)

Aviation Week SR-71 Article

A nice article by Robert Ropelewski on the SR-71 aircraft. Lots of detail and photos. Credit: Aviation Week and Space Technology from May 18 1981.

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Lockheed SR-71 Company Article

A company article from the Lockheed Horizons magazine written by Clarence “Kelly” Johnson, himself. Dated Winter 1981/82.

Click here to download article (30 Megs)

SR-71A Flight Manual (Declassified)

A copy of the SR-71A-1 (Declassified) Flight Manual for the Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird aircraft, dated 31 July 1989. Credit: Scribd.com

This is over 90% of the actual SR-71 DASH-1 manual. The sole section that remains classified is the section on the ASARS-1 Synthetic Apeture Radar, which I believe is still being used by the U-2 aircraft.

Click here to download manual (153.3 Megs)

F-4E Armament Systems Handbook

McDonnell Douglas F-4E Armament Systems Handbook (P.S. 859), dated 1 June 1974.

Click here to download handbook (108.7 Megs)

F-4B/J Ordnanceman's Handbook

McDonnell Douglas F-4B/J Ordnanceman's Handbook (P.S. 196), dated 15 May 1968.

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Rolls Royce Spey Engine for F4H-1 Phantom II

A report on the Spey RB.l68-25R
By-Pass and Afterburner engine for the McDonnell F4H-I Phantom II
Dated November 1964.

From the Preface: “

This brochure has been prepared to assist in the evaluation of the Rolls-Royce RB.l68-25R as a propulsion engine for the McDonnell FAH-1 Phantom II.
The contents of this document give details of the engine and afterburner systems together with their performance and availability.”

Click here to download report (16.2 Megs)

The 1945 Aircraft Year Book

A copy of the The 1945 Aircraft Year Book from Aeronautical Chamber of Commerce of America, Inc.  Dated 1945 (The 27th annual edition). Very interesting WWII book with many photos, illustrations and old ads. Credit: The Aerospace Industries Association (AIA)

Click here to download book (46.9 Megs)

F/TF-15 Crew Chief's Handbook

McDonnell Douglas F/TF-15 Crew Chief's Handbook (P.S. 918), dated May 1976.

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F-4C/D/E Armament Systems Handbook

  McDonnell Douglas F-4C/D/E Armament Systems Handbook (P.S. 217), dated December 1967.

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Partners In Freedom

Monographs in Aerospace History Number 19, by Joseph R. Chambers from the The NASA History Series on the Contributions of the Langley Research Center to U.S. Military Aircraft of the l990’s. (NASA SP-2000-4519 Partners in Freedom). A number of references to McDonnell Aircraft. AV-8B. T-45, C-17, f-4, F-15, F-18 and many more types of aircraft.

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Fifty Years of NASA Aeronautical Research

A NASA publication on their first fifty years of aeronautical research. Lots of info and photos.

From the introduction:
“It is fifty years since the first symbolic shovels full of earth were lifted
above the soil of Langley Field to signal the start of construction of
the first research laboratory for the National Advisory Committee for
Aeronautics.
Those shovels of Virginia ground symbolized more than the construc-
tion of a research laboratory. They were tangible proof that this coun-
try was determined to build an aeronautical research establishment
second to none in the world, aimed at regaining and then maintain-
ing the lead in aeronautics which had been given to America by
Orville and Wilbur Wright less than I4 years before.”

Click here to download booklet (33.7 Megs)

The Smell Of Kerosene

The story of a NASA Test Pilot’s Odyssey. Written by pilot Donald L. Mallick (with Peter W. Merlin) on his 11,000 hours of flight time in more than 125 different aircraft. Mallick was involved in an extremely wide variety of test programmes and flew many different aircraft during his USN and NASA careers. The book has 252 pages and many photos. Credit: NASA/Dryden via Jeff Rankin-Lowe

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XV-1 Model 82 Report - #2

McDonnell Aircraft Corp Report No. 1920, dated 8 December 1950. The preliminary report on what would become the XV-1 Convertiplane! All the specs, rotor info and many diagrams. Credit: Greater St. Louis Air and Space Museum

Click here to download report #2 (17.3 Megs)

XV-1 Model 82 Report – #1 here

XV-1 Convertiplane additional info here

A Tribute to James S. McDonnell Article

An article written as a tribute to James S. McDonnell (Mr. MAC) by his son, John F. McDonnell. This article first appeared in the 2001Carving Our Destiny: Scientific Research Faces a New Millennium magazine (Essays of the James S. McDonnell Centenial Fellows). Credit: Google Books via Jack Abercrombie
Click here to download article (13.6 Megs)

Mr. MAC and the McDonnell Aircraft Company

An article on the life and times of James S. McDonnell (Mr. MAC) and McDonnell Aircraft Company. This article first appeared in the Gateway Heritage, the Quarterly Magazine of the Missouri Historical Society, Summer 2003, Vol 24, No. 1.  Written by Sanford (Sandy) McDonnell (A nephew of Old Man MAC). Credit: Missouri Historical Society via Jack Abercrombie

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F-4B/J and RF-4B Plane Captains' Handbook

McDonnell Douglas F-4B/J and RF-4B Plane Captains' Handbook (P.S. 110), dated 1 May 1967. These handbooks are McAir Product Support publications.

Click here to download handbook (167.4 Megs)

F-4(B/C) Plane Captains' Handbook

McDonnell Douglas F-4(B,C) Plane Captains' Handbook (P.S. 61-1), dated 1 February 1964.

Click here to download handbook(190.5 Megs)

F-4K/M Plane Captains' Handbook

McDonnell Douglas F-4K/M Plane Captains' Handbook (P.S. 454), dated 1 April 1968.

Click here to download handbook (100.1 Megs)

F-4B/J Plane Captains' Handbook

McDonnell Douglas F-4B/J Plane Captains' Handbook (P.S. 110), dated 1 January 1970.

Click here to download handbook (132.3 Megs)

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The Eagle Flies Article

A first person article by McAir test pilot Irv Burrows on the first flight of the F-15 Eagle at EAFB. Great F-15 background and first flight from takeoff to landing! This article first appeared in the Gateway Heritage, the Quarterly Magazine of the Missouri Historical Society, Summer 2003, Vol 24, No. 1. Credit: Missouri Historical Society via Jack Abercrombie

Click here to download article (34.9 Megs)

Polikarpov Po-2 Technical Manual

The basic Polikarpov Po-2 Technical Manual, dated 1946. Identification, capibilities and construction of the aircraft.

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Polikarpov Po-2 BC Flight Manual

The Polikarpov Po-2 BC Technical Flight Manual, dated 1946.

The Polikarpov PO-2 BC was a Russian utility biplane which first flew in 1927 and was produced between 1928 and 1952. As well as the training role it was also used in the ground attack, reconnaissance and liaison roles. Known as “Bed Check Charlie” in the Koren war.

Click here to download manual (103.4 Megs)

F-15 First 100 Flights Article

 

A fascinating first hand account of the F-15 Eagles first flights and the problems that had to be solved. This narrative is part of Jack Abercrombie’s memoirs. Jack was an Aerodynamics Project Engineer from 1971 to 1978. The first picture above shows most of the engineers at Edwards who supported the F-15 first flight. Credit: Jack Abercrombie

On a personal note, I ran one of the wind tunnel tests at Langley that resulted in the “Snag” horizontal mentioned in this memoir!

Click here to download this article (2.3 Megs)

Northrop A-9 and Fairchild A-10 Videos

Two videos made during the Northrop A-9 and Fairchild A-10 competition fly-off. Poor quality; but, unique! Credit: YouTube

Click here to download videos in one Zip file (37.5 Megs)

Fairchild A-10 Thunderbolt II Photos

A number of photos of the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II prototype and production aircraft. The A-10, of course, won the A-9/A-10 compition for production. Credit: Fairchild, USAF and as marked.

Click here to download photos in a Zip file (41 Megs)

A-10 Flight Manual here

Fairchild A-10 Facts and Figures article here

Boeing YC-14 Photos

 

A number of photos of the Boeing YC-14. This was the aircraft in competition with the MDC C-15. Credit: Boeing and as marked.

Click here to download all photos in one Zip file (20.3 Megs)

Martin Marietta HGM-25A Titan I Tech Manual

A copy of USAF Model HGM-25A Titan I Missile Weapon System Technical Manual, T.O. 21M-HGM25-1. Dated 10 October 1964. Missile, silo and operations information.

Click here to download manual (77.4 Megs)