-oO™. ¢ Z cok ooN, ‘\L 7 Ney 2.3.1 Aircraft Operation Overcast cloud conditions prevented aircraft flight in close formation except for the last flight pattern. The B-29 aircraft were flown at 30,000 ft MSL on a bearing from Ground Zero to the telemetry ground station based on the USS Oakhill. The correction of the target point for parachate-borne-canister wind drift was 4000 ft. At H—540 sec both B-29 aircraft were 1 sec ahead of scheduled time and were approximately 1000 ft east of the planned course line. Both aircraft deployed a payload of six canisters. Each payload was a backup for the other to pre- vent loss of data if (1) one aircraft had to abort or (2) telemetering equipment failed either in the canister or at the ground station. Both aircraft commanders reported the following inter- esting effects: (1) the free-air temperature rose 2°C by H+5 sec at a range of approximately 30 nautical miles from Ground Zero ¢.id (2) both aircraft were approximately 55 nautical miles from Ground Zero when the blast wav.: passed the aircraft at H+295 sec. The rate-of-climb indicator showed an apparentrate of « escent of 1000 ft/sec, and the altimeter showed an apparent decrease in altitude of 500 ft. oth instruments settled to normal conditions 15 sec after the passage of the blast wave. No turbulence was observed by any of the aircraft crew. Figure 2.3 shows the canister array and the intended canister positions compared with the attained positions. 2.3.2 Canister Operation Pressure data were recorded from all canisters except Nos. 1 and 6. The large parachutes failed to open on canister No. 1, and the RF carrier fatled in canister No. 6. Thermal data were recorded from the five canisters having the shortest slant range from Ground Zero. The operation of the dual-parachute assemblies was very successful since only canister No. 1 incurred a free fail. The operation of the triple-parachute assemblies could not be determined; however, no loss of data could be attributed to these assemblies. The laboratory for canister maintenance and calibration at Kwajalein was installed with air conditioning and dehumidification equipment for protection against corrosive effects to instrumentation. Corrosion due to high humidity and salt particles in the air was extremely damaging to relay contacts and other components which contained electrical switching contacts. Two of the thirty canistera taken to the test site eventually became corroded beyond repair. It is emphasized that air conditioning and dehumidification were invaluable in controlling corro- sion of instrumentation. 2.3.3 Radio Telemetry Operation The radio telemetry ground station was based on the aftersection of the UES Oakhill, LSD, located 30.4 nautical miles southeast of Ground Zero. The facilities on the LSD were exceptionally satisfactory, especially with regard to parking space for the ground station and to the forward position of the LSD superstructure. The radio telemetry equipment was housed in two type K-35 trailers. Laboratory work space and photographic facilities were housed in a third trailer. Electrical power was obtained from four PE-95 power units. Corrosive effects of high humidity and salt particles in the air were minimized by operating the electronic equipment almost continuously so that the dissipation of the heat from transformers and electronic tubes kept the equipment hot and dry. The LSD, during the operation, established a course of 180° eo that the directional anternas mounted on the telemetry trailers faced the direction toward Ground Zero and werenot affected by intervening superstructure. The canister RF carriers were recorded from the time of deployment from the aircraft to approximately H+5 min. 2.4 KING SHOT The operational problems in King shot were identical to those in Mike shot. 16 RESTRICTED cata “Gage: SECURITY INFORMATION