Warbird Information Exchange

I found an interesting short film on YouTube about three QF-80 drones that were flown through a live nuclear test:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_8plbxmNpQ
So I pulled some stills to send to Forgotten Jets:







Unfortunately, unlike normal buzz numbers, the QF- numbers on these don't seem to line up with any known QF-80 serials. 077 wouldn't be 44-85077; it was w/o in 1949. 301 isn't 44-85301 (w/o in 1947) or 45-8301 (w/o at Wright-Patterson in 1951). 311 isn't 45-8311 (w/o in a midair in 1951) or 44-85311 (not listed as a QF).

Does anyone have the correct serials for these?

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All right, Mister Dorfmann, start pullin'!
Pilot: "Flap switch works hard in down position."
Mechanic: "Flap switch checked OK. Pilot needs more P.T." - Flight report, TB-17G 42-102875 (Hobbs AAF)

I'm just curious, did anyone ever test fly drones through a nuclear blast as it was occurring (at a distance)? I've seen countless films of everything from trees, houses, vehicles and even railroad cars reacting to the initial pressure wave of a blast, but never direct effects against an airplane, either on the ground or in the air.
Of all the tests they did, you'd think they'd have wanted film of a plane being ripped apart by the blast effects.

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Life member, 91st BG Memorial Association
Owner, 1944 Willys MB #366014
Former REMF (US Army, O3)

Sorry for the triple post - Scott, please delete the other two; I swear I hit "Post" once; it timed out so I closed the tab, opened WIX in a new tab, and this was the result.

_________________

All right, Mister Dorfmann, start pullin'!
Pilot: "Flap switch works hard in down position."
Mechanic: "Flap switch checked OK. Pilot needs more P.T." - Flight report, TB-17G 42-102875 (Hobbs AAF)

Both: airborne effects with QF-80s, QT-33 etc and ground tests with anything from F-47 and B-17, to XF-86 and XF-90.

An old posting but I thought people may find the answer interesting;

Three QF-80As were used during Shot Met (one of the 14 Operation Teapot nuclear tests) which took place on April 15th, 1955.

44-85311/QF-311 QF-80A 080-1334
44-85077/QF-077 QF-80A 080-1100
45-8301/QF-301 QF-80A 080-1525

44-85077 wasn't written off in 1949, it was listed in the Air Force inventory for 1955 as a QF-80A. 44-85311 was also listed as a QF-80A at that time. The only questionable one was QF-301, however a picture of 45-8301 sitting on the Nevada Test Site ramp at the time of the tests exists.

Thanks Boneyard! Looks like a mystery solved. What was your source for the info?

I did some more sleuthing; AAIR lists '077 as a Category 4 damage fatal crash (Cat. 5 would be a total loss):
http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/ ... Submit4=Go

'301 was in a Category 3 accident, so it was more likely repaired:
http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/ ... Submit4=Go

Maybe the Air Force was choosing rebuilt wrecks to use for drones?

_________________

All right, Mister Dorfmann, start pullin'!
Pilot: "Flap switch works hard in down position."
Mechanic: "Flap switch checked OK. Pilot needs more P.T." - Flight report, TB-17G 42-102875 (Hobbs AAF)

Maybe the Air Force was choosing rebuilt wrecks to use for drones?[/quote]

Interestingly, it appears that they did. Both of the aircraft records you found show two incidents each at different bases that the test, many years before it took place:
301 in 1946 and 1951, 077 in 1948 and 1949

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Always looking for P-51D parts.

I have the official U.S. Air Force records for around that time. Unfortunately I don't currently have access to records for late 40's/early 50s, if I did I would like to check on those crash details and dates on that aviation archaeology web site. It should be easy enough to establish, if they were truly written off, how they eventually became QFs.

Four QF-80s in Teapot by the looks of it:

Some good information.

Here is a quality write-up of Nuclear testing, including Operation Teapot, (https://www.osti.gov/opennet/manhattan-project-history/publications/DOENTSAtmospheric.pdf), including a pretty cool picture of another QF-80 (45-8599) during take off with the drone director DT-33A.

Another shot of '599: I think this may be from Upshot-Knothole, when 4 QF-80s flew with animals (monkeys & mice) aboard). 1 DT-33 was detailed as chase, so likely ties in with the above photo/ref.

I hadn't realized how disastrous that Teapot operation was - at least as far as the QF-80s were concerned: all suffered accidents on the day of the detonation they had been planned to support - 15th April 1955!

44-85311 (Drone 1/Position 1) had previously been the spare a/c but was brought forward as Drone 1 after '096 was sidelined - see below. '311 survived the 'Met' Shot detonation but its nose-leg collapsed on landing back at Indian Springs AFB.

45-85077 (Drone 2/Position 2) also survived the detonation but was damaged; it crashed during an emergency lake bed landing.

45-8301 (Drone 3/Position 3) survived the mission but was written off in mountainous terrain during an emergency landing at Pork Chop Dry Lake.

44-85096 (the original Drone 1/Position 1 aircraft) crashed on take-off from Indian Springs AFB on the 'Met' Shot mission.

Very interesting times.

This is the pic of the Flight Controller found at 45-8301 crash site.

Would you be able to post pics of the rest of the site and the hike? That’s an awesome discovery...