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on "X" day.
When studying these two charts it mst be borne in mind that there
are five distinct missions being performed by the aircraft.
The mission
of collecting air samples from the atomic cloud, plus the collection of
blast date, is accomplished by the drone aircraft.
Aerial photography
for scientific and documentary coverage is performed by the photographic
aircraft.
The mission of collecting meteorological data and tracking
the atomic cloud is performed by the weather aircraft.
The collection
of certain scientific data after the blast is accomplished by the helicopters.
Air Rescue Service is provided by both Army. and Navy Aircraft.
During the operations on "X" day, all air operations proceeded on
schedule with three exceptions.
Thepilot of Imitation Two, a weather
aircraft, noticed a sudden drop in the oil pressure on No.
which prompted him to decide to feather the propeller.
engine
However, before:
this feathering could be accomplished,the propeller ran away, the
engine froze, but the propeller "windmilled".
Excessive vibration
occurred, and the generation of extreme heat was evidenced by the white
hot. appearance of the nose section of the engine.
Finally the propeller
fell free and visual evidence of heat disappeared.
With the danger of fire no longer existant and control of the air-
craft assured, General iy» than directed the aircraft to return to
Kwajalein.
The second exception to the planned operations was the loss of
the drone aircraft operating at 14,000 feet.
Section VIII
At just two minutes before
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