Word: pilots
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...real attempt has been made to formulate the principle in this matter. Congress must make sure it is on the right grounds constitutionally, and come to proper decisions." Added Boston's Roman Catholic diocesan weekly, The Pilot : "Plainly we have been moving on the edge of this large question for many years but we have never probed it. Now is the time for Congress to take the initiative and seek a definitive answer...
...allow for a full night's sleep. (The crewmen's physical condition is attested by the fact that they must be able to run a reasonably fast 250-yd. dash and perform five chin-ups and 33 sit-ups.) The planes carried an extra pilot on the first alert flights because flight surgeons were fearful that fatigued pilots might err fatally on delicate landings after 24 hours aloft. But tests proved that they could bear up with no serious fatigue, and the extra pilot was scratched...
...through a series of guards until he arrives at intelligence headquarters. There he picks up his Combat Mission Folder, which is really a box containing his charts and maps and the arming devices for the bombs ("blivits") that are secured in the airplane's bomb bay. Together, pilot and intelligence officer unlock the orange box, take an inventory, lock it up again. The pilot signs for it, and the box is hauled to his plane, where it is chained to a post in the cockpit...
Catgut & Catnap. The six-man crew climbs aboard with its frozen TV lunches, its printed forms (27 of them have to be filled in during and after the flight), and 100 Ibs. or so of survival gear apiece. One pilot, Major Adelbert Gionet, a SAC plane commander for eleven years, carries toothbrush and mouthwash along, as well as a surgical needle and catgut ("If I ever rip any of me, I want to be able to put myself together"), and a flask of whisky. They all carry knives, since a knife has proved to be the most durable and versatile...
Unlike other SAC crews that are continuously making training flights and simulated bombing attacks, the airborne alert crew flies a casual course-"high-speed loitering"-that keeps it within striking distance of its targets. On the 24-hour orbit that will range across 11,000 miles or so, the pilot maintains a 400-knot "endurance speed," avoiding sharp turns and other nonessential maneuvers to conserve fuel. SAC's planners calculate that he is within reach of his target for 21 hours-known as "effectiveness time." In the remaining three hours, he is low on fuel and making a scheduled...