II
76
been adapted to the B36 aircraft system, Considerable delay was ex
perlenced during the modification periods and when the aircraft was ree
turned from the modification contractor the E-l systems on the aircraft
were lacking some components and had not been checked out.
Despite sev~
eral attempts by the crews at Kirtland Air Force Base to flight check the
systems, to successful check was completed by the time the aircraft departed
for the proving ground in March 1958,
Therefore, the crews arrived at Eni-
wetok with little training or experience with their primary positioning
radars; the El; radars did not produce satisfactory results;
no established
B.36 aircraft positioning mathods were capable of development prior to”
the first proving ground rehearsals; more rehearsals than originally planned
were necessary for adequate positioning; and, alternate optical and "eye-
ball" wethods had to be developed to overcome the E-l deficiency, ‘Two
E-l; technical representatives were secured from the Zone of Interior in
an attempt to rectify the circumstance; however, this belated effort did
not result in satisfactory operation in time for YUCCA D-day,
The tvo 3-36 aircraft departed from Kirtland har Force Base on
and arrived in the proving ground on 11 March,
HARDTACK participation was begun immediately,
March,
Planning and training for
‘xcept for the malfunction-
ing of the E-] systems, the aircraft and the crews were adequately prepared for the operational phase of the test series,
AFWL/ HQ
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