_- (C
four of the reciprocating engines vere lit for four seconds.
When
the shock wave arrived, the aircraft was described as "free-floating"
and flexible.
It was believed that considerable bending resulted
from the passage of the shock wave.
The reciprocating engines varied
plus or minus 300 rpm from the cruise setting of 2100 rpm.
A maximmm
reading of twenty milliroentgens for 10 to 15 seconds was recorded.
Visual thermal damage was similar but more severe than that received
on BRAVO.
The entire elevator and teb areas were covered with paint
blisters ranging from one quarter to two inches in diameter, most of
which were torn or blown away from the airstream.
Where the paint
was missing the color of the elevator surface was dark gray.
At four
places on the elevator the paint was completely missing over areas of
fifteen square inches.
Permanent skin buckling was noticed at three
places, the most severe occurring on the right elevator, where two
places were about 3/6,ths of an inch deep.
No buckling’ was observed
in areas where the white paint was more or less intact.
Blast damage
vas similar to BRAVO, but of the same degree as ROMEO, On 10 May, General Estes, Colonel Fackler and Colonel Hawley
visited Bikini to inspect the operational capability of the TARE strip.
It was found that waves caused by the YANKEE detonation had washed in
from the lagoon and made the runway unsafe for heavy use.
Ditches and
holes had been washed in the shoulders and there were numerous holes in
the runway itself.
The rumway could have been used by C-47 type aircraft
in an emergency but not for day-to-day operation.
However, since YANKEE
was the last shot scheduled for the Bikini area, no action was taken to
repair the runway.
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