.
=x.
were expected to be off the assembly line by the end of 1953,
=
Moreover,
the limited range of the aircraft without bomb bay tanks made flight
from the West Coast to Hawaii impossible.
Range was limited also by
excessive oil consumption and a small oil reservoir,
Therefore, water-
lift would be required to get the B-57 to the Proving Ground.
Acces=
sories for the aircraft were totally inadequate and mission-required
modifications would be extremely difficult and costly.
Flight and
maintenance personnel for the aircraft were decidedy scarce.
The Task
ty
Group 7.4 staff study clearly indicated that the B-57 had too many
"bugs" to risk its use in CASTLE. Had later tests proven the B-57 a
better aircraft, the Air Task Group would have recommended the use of
one on a limited basis during the latter stages of the operation.
¢
On
this basis the decision was made to use featherweight B-36's for high
altitude cloud sampling.
B.
SAMPLER CONTROL
Originally scheduled for CASTLE participation was one B-36 effects
aircraft, two B~36 featherweight controller=-samplers, possibly a B-47
effects aircraft, and an RB-50 for photography.
The question arose as
to how to control the F-84 samplers should one B=36 fail to get air=
borne.
At Los Alamos on 13 August, General Estes, Colonel Kesling and
Dr. Graves discussed the number of B-36's needed for the operation.
LASL had written JTF SEVEN requesting an additional B-36 for control
purposes, feeling that any substitute such as an RB~50 would be unsatisfactory.
During Operation IVY this situation had arisen.
At that time
the RB-50 was already considered marginal due to its inability to attain
2)