
The
53rd WRS
moved to Burtonwood in
November 1953 & used
the ‘C’ type hangars on
Mary Ann site, with a
complement of 8
converted B-29 bomber’s
to WB29’s & later
replaced with WB-50’s.
They
were assigned to
collecting weather data
for (MATS) which stands
for ‘Military Air
Transport Services’.
Each
day they flew triangular
patterns known as
‘Falcon Flights’
covering about 2,600
miles & averaging 16
hours each flight over
the Atlantic.
‘Delta
Flights’ left each day
at Burtonwood at: 0700
hrs GMT & flew a
track to the Azores -
then South of Greenland
– then set course East,
back to home base at
Burtonwood.
The
flight was 3,686 miles
long & the average
flying time was 15
hours.
The
weathermen on the
aircraft recorded data
such as: Pressure,
Temperature, Wind Speed,
Humidity, Cloud
Conditions &
Visibility.
The
53rd WRS left
Burtonwood for
re-assignment to
Alconbury in
Cambridgeshire in April
1959.
53rd
WRS Crash at
Lupton Fell (Nr
Kendal in the Lake
District)
On
the 25th of
October 1955 Falcoln
Flight WB-29-44-61600
Superfortress developed
engine failure on
engines 1,2 & 4 at
3,200 feet &
crashed.
All
11 crew safely landed by
parachute & the
aircraft was abandoned.
The
very next day, personnel
from Burtonwood arrived
at the crash site &
began to investigate
what caused the aircraft
crash & too remove
all of the wreckage.
Earlier
this month (May 2012) we
were lucky enough to
make contact with
someone who was actually
involved with the 53rd
WRS.
His
name is ‘Dennis
Sullivan’ & he
served at Burtonwood
from Feb/1954 till
Feb/1957.
Here
in Dennis’s own words is
what his role was in the
53rd & a
little about the system
that they used whilst on
these long missions:
“My
job was a Ground Crew
Chief (I was Staff Sgt.)
in charge of the
airborne radar systems
for 4 of our 8 planes.
There were three systems
on each plane.
Navigation
(this was the familiar
circular display that
depicts the land mass
below), the second
system was LORAN which
gave you three points of
reference which then
enabled you to determine
your position.
The
last was a radio
altimeter which gauged
your altitude.
The
normal complement of
crew was ten. I was not
a crew member on flying
status. I was only on a
flying crew if there was
a malfunction in the air
that wasn' t apparent
when airborne.”
Below
are photos that Dennis
has kindly emailed to us
from his own private
collection (please NO
copying without
permission from Dennis
himself).


Boeing WB50 Super
Fortress Landing at
Burtonwood

Boeing WB50 Super
Fortress on one of
the 'Open' Days in
the 1950's.
(Note
the weather sampling
turret on top of the
fuselage)

Boeing WB50 Super
Fortress on Mary Ann
Site Next to one of
the 'C' Type
Hangars.
(Bold
Power Station Cooling
Towers Can Clearly be
Seen in the
Background)

53rd
Weather
Reconnaissance on a
Falcon Alpha Mission
1957 Over the Ice
Pack.

The Falcons have left
Burtonwood. Some folk in
the north of England
will be glad. They
objected to being roused
early every morning by
the WB-50 roaring across
their rooftops. They
could not know the
connection between that
flight and the weather
forecasts they would
listen to on the radio
during the rest of the
day.
The
Falcons—the 53rd Weather
Reconnaissance Squadron,
U.S.A.F.—left Burtonwood
because the American Air
Force base is being
closed. They will be
continuing their
meteorological flights
to the North Polar
region and over the
Atlantic from their new
base at Alconbury, near
Huntingdon. But I think
we might take this
opportunity of thanking
them for the work they
did while at Burtonwood.
The
53rd is one of seven
U.S.A.F. weather
reconnaissance squadrons
stationed in various
parts of the world. It
came to England in
November 1953 from
Bermuda, where it had
become famous as the
Hurricane Hunters. The
squadron is commanded by
Col. William W. Riser,
Jr. All tracks flown by
the 53rd are named
Falcon.
The
track of the first
meteorological flights
in England was Falcon
Golf, and lay mainly
over the Atlantic. When
the B-29s with which the
squadron was equipped
were replaced by WB-50s
this daily flight was
extended and the track
renamed Falcon Delta.
This
track was flown for the
792nd and last time on
April 2. The new daily
flight, Falcon Echo, is
still made over the
Atlantic but now goes
farther south. In
addition to the daily
flight, Falcon Alfa was
flown every third day
and occasionally Falcon
Special was added, to
gain special data on a
specific system or as a
replacement for a
mission which had to
turn back.
The
53rd WRS arrived on
the 7th of November
1953 and Departed the
22nd of April 1959
The
last Falcon Echo took
off from Burtonwood on
April 22, but instead of
returning there landed
at Alconbury.
Delta mission left
Burtonwood at 0700 hr
G.M.T. every day. The
track, 3,686 miles long,
extended from Liverpool
to a point 250 miles
north of the Azores,
swung north along the
30th meridian to a point
420 miles south-east of
Greenland, and then
turned east back to
Burtonwood.
The
first leg was flown at
10,000ft, the second at
18,000ft and the third
at 30,000ft. Average
time taken was fifteen
hours. Weather
observations were made
at fixed points 150 n.m.
apart. The weatherman,
seated in the nose of
the aircraft, recorded
wind speed and
direction, pressure,
humidity, temperature,
cloud conditions,
visibility, surface
winds, and pack-ice
conditions (if any).
Radar findings were
added.
At
five of the nineteen
"obs" a radio-dropsonde
was released. Descending
at l,500ft/min, this
transmitted back to the
operator in the aircraft
readings of temperature,
pressure, and humidity
every 100ft until it hit
the sea.
Since
the aircraft was unable
to maintain direct radio
contact "Falcon Echo"
crews being briefed
FALCON ECHO with
Burtonwood, the
information gathered was
coded by the radio
operator and sent to
Croughton radio station,
near Uxbridge. From
Croughton the
information was
transmitted to the
53rd's weather monitor
at Burtonwood, where it
was decoded and
carefully checked for
transmission errors
before being sent by
direct teletype to the
Central Weather Station
at High Wycombe.
Similar
observations are made on
the Falcon Echo flight,
now being continued from
Alconbury. The track
runs down to the Madeira
Islands, then swings
northward to a point on
the 26 deg W meridian
near the Azores, then
almost due north-east
back to England. Falcon
Alfa, flown on every day
with a date divisible by
three, is also being
continued from
Alconbury.
The
track extends up the
coast of Norway into the
Polar regions and back
by Iceland and down the
west coast of
Scotland—again, out at
18,000ft and back at
30,000ft. This is the
flight that achieved
fame in the national
Press one Christmas,
when it became known
that when flying over
the North Pole the
crewmen obliged homebase
children by dropping
letters there for Santa
Claus.
I
was able to visit Burton
wood before the 53rd
left, and saw one of the
WB-50s (four Pratt &
Whitney R-4360) with
which the squadron is
now equipped. The
aircraft is large, with
a wing-span of 141ft,
and a fuselage 99ft long
and 33ft high at the
tail-fin, yet there does
not seem to be much room
inside. There are two
pressurized
compartments, connected
by a narrow tunnel
running over what was
the bomb-bay of the
original Superfort.
Instead
of bombs this now houses
a fibre tank,
jettisonable in an
emergency but necessary
to enable the WB-50 to
carry the 10,000 U.S.
gal of fuel required for
the weather flight. Most
of the space in the
forward compartment
seems to be taken up by
instruments.
To
ensure the navigational
accuracy required for
weather reconnaissance
the WB-50 carries Loran
APN-9, Nl
gyro-stabilized magnetic
compass, two ARN-7
radio-compasses, APS-23
radar, a much-used Dl
periscopic sextant,
Doppler (AN/APN-82) and
a good old-fashioned
drift-meter. As far as
the navigator is
concerned, the Doppler
consists of six dials
respectively showing
wind speed, direction,
ground speed, track,
magnetic course and up
to 50 degrees drift.
Behind
the weatherman's
position are the seats
for the two pilots, the
flight engineer, and the
two navigators. In spite
of all the instruments,
they still work out
their position by
dead-reckoning, relying
on celestial fixes most
of the time. In the rear
compartment are the two
radio operators and, in
waist-blisters, the
dropsonde operator and
extra flight engineer.
I
was told that these men
have to keep an eye on
the wings, which the
pilots cannot see, and
that they also have to
prepare the meals. For a
moment I allowed myself
to picture two men, with
aprons over their flying
suits, sitting in the
waist-blisters peeling
potatoes; but the two
hot meals of meat,
vegetables and gravy
are, of course,
pre-cooked and frozen in
metal-foil sectioned
plates and only need to
be heated in the neat
electric oven.
Supplies
of milk, coffee, fruit,
cakes and candy are also
carried. I was told that
the 53rd was proud of
the fact that it had
never once failed to
complete its mission.
Aircraft have had to
turn back with engine
trouble—one with a
seagull in one of the
carburettor intakes—and
one force-landed in
Norway. But there has
always been a WB-50 and
crew standing by to
finish the job.
The
seven American Weather
Reconnaissance squadrons
have a competition for
the Senter Award "for
excellence in weather
reconnaissance." In 1957
the 53rd won this award,
and also a M.A.T.S.
Flying
Safety Trophy for an
accident-free year. And
yet most of the
approaches at Burtonwood
had to be made under
G.C.A. Some_ people
think that every
American aircraft in
this country is carrying
a hydrogen bomb and is a
potential danger to
everyone below.
But
here is a squadron that
is making a real
contribution to the
safety of our aircraft
as well as its own. Let
us wish them good luck
as they settle down at
their new base at
Alconbury
53rd
Weather
Reconnaissance
Loading Mailbags of
Children's
Christmas Cards to
be Dropped at the
North Pole for Santa
Claus.

Dropping letters
from British orphans
and other children,
including youngsters
of American
personnel

2000
letters received
inside building 47A
on site 6, located
between technical
site police station
and the back of the
Transent Hotel.


The
B29 taking off from
Burtonwood on route to
the North Pole, on its
mail-drop of childrens
letters

Flight
engineer


Coming
up to mail drop .....


Getting
letters ready for the
mail drop ......
 |