Final Approach

this is an aircraft of the 22nd bomb LNG in serious trouble I'm major George Gilman officer in charge of the 22nd bomb Wings command post these men have been flying a disabled aircraft for almost 18 hours they're exhausted but they're about to try them man which requires every ounce of that strength a maneuver which many experts consider impossible [Music] this is an instrument of flight fire trucks stand by at every landing and take off in the emergency you are about to see a firet TR plays a unique role this is the story of a b47 and its crew cre three men who faced an unusual test of endurance and courage it starts at March Air Force Base California a base of the Strategic Air Command the time is 230 Zulu or 12:30 p.m. local time the three men aircraft Commander Captain Robert Powell first lieutenant Charles E miles The Observer and the co-pilot first lieutenant Hank Kitchener take off on what should have been a routine training [Music] Mission 22nd command post ma Gilman here yes sir we have one bird up 23 Celestial navigation to Boise radar navigation Lake to Sacramento radar navigation to Arrowhead he should be starting his practice run on hour ahead now [Music] yes sered AC change course to a headen of 210 deg Roger changing course AC to Observer on course Roger coming up on the bomb run give me second station AC to Observer you have second station 10 seconds 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 one zero bombs away woo Right On Target now that's what I call a bomb run time they compute our score they're going to make us a select crew I told you fellas stick with me I'll make you famous let's go home La control this is 23 I've completed RBS work returning to [Music] Mayor hey you want to run into Riverside tonight and see that Bridget BAU picture I can't Chuck they'll have dinner started by now how about you Hank You're Just Married wouldn't your wife like you to AB Braden your education afid not all right go on home and get fed and domesticated you married guys let your stomach trap you you're death jealous of the trap a mainard approach banjo 23 over thermal on initial at 46 past the hour and Roger understands thermal on initial gear coming down starting descent half Main and both Outrigger gears down and locked can't get a light on the forward main mayard tower this is Banjo 23 unable lower my gear we will hold that thermal and maintain VFR Roger banjo 23 cleared a hole east of Thermal vard Tower I'm going to my control room frequency uh rocket you're clear contact us on this channel when ready for your approach Hank there's a lot of drag with that rear gear down you better retract it Chuck try the emergency landing gear extension I just knew you'd need a strong Southern boy [Applause] [Applause] [Music] this [Applause] Captain the hell just stuck it won't work great it's not helping Chuck banjo control this is Banjo 23 banjo 23 this is Banjo control major Gman George our forward main gear won't extend we've tried the elge no luck it won't work what's your fuel 15,000 lb well first we' better get you some juice I'm going to try a gentle dive if it's in the well door that might free it negative on the dive the gear is still stuck we have have a b47 in trouble will you scramble your tanker immediately octane we have banjo 23 over thermal with 15,000 lb here difficulty you see our plan in out Roger estimate v 15 minutes at 8,000 rendevu v 15 minutes at 8,000 have you check the red pages of your dash one and if you recycled your gear affirmative on boat Colonel Ray's here H Ford main gear won't extend he's tried the L recycled the gear and tried to dive it down are you sure your bomb spoiler doors are closed yes sir I've checked the alternate door system fuel tank is on its way I better get the tech rep over here try to look at Owens the technical representative Mr Palama Owens is an engineer of the aircraft manufacturer attached to Strategic Air Command as a consultant on the b47 at the appointed time both tanker and b47 arranged their Rendevous according to CR plan n Alpha the heavy tanker climbed to 8,000 ft while the v47 descended from from 27,000 to meet it then for an exhausted crew began the tickless job of inflight refueling ahead 20 ft sir I had 15 [Music] that's 40,000 all right Octan we've got it now thanks mayard Tower this is Banjo 23 completed refueling climbing back to 35,000 VFR on top request permission to remain in local area bfr until further notice can you hold it but his present off Jude 8,000 is going to burn up an awful lot of jp4 going to cost them 10,000 lb of fuel just to climb back to cruising altitude there ought to be a visual check of that gear it's a long shot but there's just a possibility there could be an instrument malfunction banjo controller banjo 23 banjo 23 B Mr Owens the tech rep is here He suggests you check the gear visually through your crawlway before you get back altitude all right fellas you got yourself a volunteer again Roger we'll de pressurized [Music] it's up all right staring me in the face banjo 23 the banjo control gear is up and in place I better start my climb now [Applause] [Music] [Applause] hello Fay George George Gilman yeah look F I'm calling about Bob no he's fine but he is having a little trouble with his landing gear so we're holding him in the area so we can figure out a way to get him down now this's nothing to worry about he's got plenty of fuel we've got a tanker here and he can stay up indefinitely it's just that there's no telling how long it's going to take to get that gear operating properly so if you've got supper on it may get a little cold thanks George and and will you let me know if there's any news of course thanks a lot the moment I'm stuck let me get our chief engineer see what ideas he's got George Thomas minut it switch give me witch time to Priority three Mr George Thomas at the Boeing CL banjo 23 from banjo control I've alerted P thanks George with you ask her to call Sally tell her to be gentle Sally's a little new at this Roger hello may I speak to Mr Thomas please he is you know where this is z at mayard all right thanks he's in huo on vacation the Royal aian man it s get me Honolulu priority three try Mr George Thomas at the Royal Hawai [Music] no no not if he's done all that get marks are at a plan tell him to pull the blueprints on the forward Maine set up a conference call it's 4:00 here uh that'll make it 8:00 in WID he's probably home having dinner we'll have to get marer back to the plant you'll be a dinner now you know if you guys don't come up with something I've got three men that may never eat again that should spoil us out of than [Music] [Music] I wonder what Fay had for dinner I've got some lamb stew on the stove there's no sense letting it go to waste I mean you know get cold no no just some coffee thanks what time is it uh 10 minutes of nine why don't they just land them anyway without the wheels a did that once in Korea not in a b47 not on his tanks and engines at 200 knots you don't crash landine these planes and walk away from them sorry I guess I've got a lot to learn what time is it it's still 10 of n there a qu after 11 they're going to need another refueling soon hello yes it's right here hello yes George well can you pull us out we've checked out everything we can think of including the power side of the circuit the only thing we can come up with we think it's Mark are you tell them it's just possible if there's a short Downstream of the relay that's holding the actuator all right you want to hang on while we give it a try Bano control the banjo 23 banjo control this is Banjo 23 the Factory's got an idea there may be a short in the actuator gear so the power is actually pulling against the gear now if it's Downstream from the relays it wouldn't have shown up when you pulled your control circuit breakers all right what do we do turn off all generators turn off your battery switch and try the LGE well I get to volunteer again we'll be off the air when we pull the battery switch if anything goes wrong we can't even communicate I know we'll be sweating you out well then here goes all right Chuck start [Music] pumping that time now George Mark you still there no they're trying it now you think when they turn to generator off they could have caused a permanent failure in the banjo control this is Banjo 23 negative on the test hang on Captain we'll see if the Factor's got any other ideas no luck well we've ruled out jamming in the ouge mechanism and the Actuator motor gearbox so it has to be a mechanical jamming we had a failure a couple of months ago of the flyweight on the Outrigger gear never had one on the main gear that's most likely what it is and there's no way in the world of getting out of here factory stuck I can't see any way except to help them jump not for the squad Commander banjo 23 from banjo control Bob this is Colonel Ray Factory of ID I recommend you bail out this is an awful nice piece of equipment to smash up yeah I'm kind of attached to her also I'm Moy I just hate to throw away $3.5 million bjo control I've been doing some thinking can you fireproof the runway for me I'll need about 3,000 ft of foam 35 ft wide even with foam I'm afraid of that belly tank one spark and Bob I is worried about the belly tank no one's ever brought a b47 in wheels up well let's get ready for the first time give me the fire chief we'll have to wait and bring him in at dawn what time is dawn tomorrow about 5:30 hello chief anything left in the thermus negative banjo 23 from banjo control you'll get your run way foamed at first light bjo control Roger all we have to do is sit it out for another 6 hours will you send up the waiter with some coffee wish I could I will send you some juice your next tanker rendevu will be at 130 Roger understand 130 tanker rendevu Sergeant you better get some of our photographers over here however this comes out we should have a record of it I'm going to check back with the plan about techniques for better Landings for instance I've got an idea that if you hit the brake shoe just before a touchdown wait a minute hello f look we haven't been able to solve the gear problem so we're going to wait till Dawn and bring him in on the foam Runway they're coming in wheels up oh no of course he will George thanks for letting me know if you don't mind I'd like to come out what time do you think it'll be soon as possible after daylight thanks George a and if anything should change we'll be here until a quarter 5 does he does he think they'll make it all right oh sure they'll make it all right what are you talking about at the appointed time the Rendevous was made and the ship refueled for the second time [Music] then began the long monotonous hours until morning at 0500 the fire truck [Music] started starting 2,000 ft from the end of the runway a carpet of foam was laid 3,000 ft long and 35 ft wide the carpet required 300 Gall of foam and 5,00 gallons of [Applause] water finally it was ready Colonel Ray rebrief the crew on ditching positions in the event of fire on impact Split Second spell the difference between life and death it was decided to jettison the the canopy to ensure a quicker exit with all possible precautions taken the landing attempt started Bard Tower this is Banjo 23 departing 27000 tell them to put on the eggs and coffee uh banjo 23 they should have you in radar contact continue descent to 8,000 better go out [Applause] banjo 23 maintain 314 heading Runway 05 Roger I don't see anything you will mayard Tower banjo 23 10 mil out on final say I'm scared you know something I am too would you get used to it there it is mayard Tower banjo 23 now passing over V 5 mil from touchdown get set here comes the canopy he's drifting off course he must have lost contact when they blew the canopy hey look he's coming back out close one mile from touchdown get a tight grip he's over the field bound approaching end of [Applause] Runway wait he hit just short of the point [Music] let's get out there [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] he looks hardly DED a ain't nothing to it major just like ice skating get [Applause] [Applause] in go get some rest stop talking you later thanks [Music] Jordan you know major I just may have to get married so as I can get someone to drive me to breakfast I'll drive you to breakfast Lieutenant yeah but you have't shaped [Music] sir I'll be back in a moment to tell you more about banjo 23 of the B4 7 revealed no damage except paint scrapes and a few dents the aircraft was back in service within a short time because of the Ingenuity and courage of the man who saved her she remained a useful instrument of flight [Music] [Applause] [Music] a [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] I [Music]