Word: chidlaw
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Four-Star Flyer. Benjamin Wiley Chidlaw, 54, a sturdy six-footer, is accustomed to terse orders and tough assignments. Once, during World War II, the late General H. H. ("Hap") Arnold asked him: "What do you know about designing and building a jet airplane?" He replied, "Nothing much-does anyone?" "Well, Ben," said General Arnold, "you'd better find out. I've decided to put you in charge of the job." Chidlaw pioneered in developing America's first jet (the P-59, with a Bell air frame and General Electric engine). He was given a year...
...closest calls came long before the war, when his two-seater pursuit plane caught fire during a training flight in Florida. The sergeant-observer was slow to hit the silk; by the time Chidlaw helped him out and jumped himself, the plane was so low that his chute barely had time to open. He hit hard, broke a leg. He still puts in a lot of time in the air. To check up on his command last year, he logged 739 flying hours in his carpeted, wood-paneled command C-54-enough mileage to cross the U.S. coast-to-coast...
...Figure it out for yourself," said Chidlaw. "More than 3,000,000 square miles of territory to protect, 10,000 miles of border to guard, and a fence to build ten, eleven or twelve miles high." He has, however, a growing supply of fence-including stakes and spikes:¶ More than 100 radar warning stations staffed by 10,000 airmen. ¶ Some 13,000 ground-observer posts manned by 370,000 civilian volunteers. ¶ Fifty-odd fighter squadrons equipped with more than 1,200 jet interceptors in the 600-m.p.h. class...
...regional radar and observer net (including Mother Goose). Carrot identifies planes through flight plans, airfield reports and other means, including IFF ("Identification Friend or Foe,' electronic gadgets emitting special signals). No plane can remain unidentified for more than two minutes-the maximum is fixed by General Chidlaw's order-without the air controller at Carrot ordering a jet scramble...
Fifteen Seconds to Alaska. Reports of every unidentified aircraft spotted over North America flash through the Air Defense network to the blockhouse in Colorado Springs, General Chidlaw's command post. On the great Plexiglas map, from six to a dozen unknown aircraft are being plotted at almost any time; as one is identified by the scrambling fighters, another is reported elsewhere...