left in ignorance of Russian activities.'
The memo recommended that the CIA develop the CL-282, then set up a task force to operate the aircraft, make the overflights, and analyze the photos. Cost for six aircraft, training, and operations would be $22 million. The memo stressed time was of the essence — soon the Soviets would develop radars, interceptors, and guided missiles able to reach 70,000 feet.[34]
On November 24, 1954, a meeting was held with President Eisenhower.
Present were Allen Dulles, Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, Defense Secretary Charles Wilson, Air Force Secretary Harold Talbott, and Air Force Generals Nathan Twining, Donald Putt, and C. P. Cabell. Eisenhower agreed to production of thirty 'special high-performance aircraft.' Initial funding would come from a special CIA fund. The air force would buy the special high-altitude version of the J57 engines. Total cost was $35 million. Once the aircraft was ready, he would decide on the overflight program.[35]
Eisenhower was very specific about how the program was to be run. The aircraft 'should be handled in an unconventional way so that it would not become entangled in the bureaucracy of the Department of Defense or troubled by rivalries among the services.' This meant the air force would provide support, but the CIA would have control of the program. By having the CIA make the overflights and analyze the photos, the intelligence would not become entangled with the internal politics of the air force. Additionally, as a 'civilian' aircraft, it could be 'disowned' if shot down.
The initial contract for twenty airplanes at a cost of $22 million was signed on December 9, 1954. Unlike an air force contract, there was not a long list of technical specifications. The CIA listed only performance specifications. The project was given the initial code name 'Aquatone.' Later, this was changed to 'Idealist.' To the Skunk Works, the aircraft was 'the Article' or 'the Angel.'
Johnson quickly assembled a group of twenty-nine engineers to develop the aircraft. They were warned that the project was so secret that their employment record might have a two-year gap. Dick Boehme was named chief engineer, and Art Viereck was head of manufacturing. The
The Angel was a much more refined aircraft than the original CL-282 design. The fuselage was lengthened and widened to accommodate the J57 engine. Dimensions were now 49.72 feet long with an 80.17-foot wingspan.
The XF-104's 'T' tail was replaced by a conventional unit. The emphasis was on weight control — its empty weight was only 12,000 pounds. (This was equivalent to the X-16's fuel load!) The aluminum skin was only 0.02 inches thick and lacked the structural stiffeners of conventional aircraft.
Johnson said at one point that he would 'trade his grandma' for several pounds of weight reduction. (After this, every pound saved was a 'grandma.') The tail was held on with three five-eighth-inch bolts. The Angel was stressed for only plus-1.8 gs and negative-0.8 gs in some flight conditions.
The cockpit, unlike the original CL-282 design, was pressurized. It was very cramped, especially as the pilot had to wear a partial-pressure suit for protection in case pressurization was lost. Rather than a stick, it had a large control yoke, like that on a transport. On the instrument panel was a driftsight-sextant. This allowed views of ground landmarks (and any fighters trying to intercept the plane), and of the sun and stars for navigation.
There was no ejector seat.
Behind the cockpit was the pressurized 'Q-bay' which held the camera.
Three camera systems were originally developed for use on the Angel. The 'A camera' was a set of three twenty-four-inch focal-length cameras, one vertical and two oblique. The 'B camera' had a thirty-six-inch focal- length lens. The lens assembly pivoted to provide panoramic coverage. The camera was loaded with two rolls of film, each nine inches wide and five thousand feet long. Both rolls were exposed during each shot, forming an eighteen-by-eighteen-inch frame. As each shot was taken, the B camera moved forward slightly to compensate for the aircraft's angular motion over the ground. The resolution of the camera was two and a half feet from 70,000 feet. The B camera was the embodiment of Dr. Land's vision. The 'C camera' used a sixty-six-inch focal-length lens and was to be used for high-resolution technical intelligence.[36]
Unlike the original CL-282, this plane was fitted with bicycle landing gear. Two 'pogos' kept the wings level during taxi and takeoff. When the plane left the ground, the pogos fell out. When the plane landed, the pilot would have to keep the wings level through touchdown and rollout. When it came to a stop, the plane would tip and come to rest on one wing-tip skid.
The long narrow wings were the key to the Angel's high-altitude capability. Between its high-aspect ratio, very high camber, and very low wing loading, the aircraft was given the best possible lift-drag ratio for cruise efficiency. Because the wings were shorter than those of the RB-57D or X-16, they were not affected by 'aeroelastic divergence,' a twisting of the wings caused by aerodynamic forces. (The RB-57's operational life was cut short by structural failures caused by this problem.) The long wings did create a particular problem — they generated a strong pitch force, which had to be counteracted by the tail. This was particularly evident at high speeds and in turbulence. Rather than beefing up the tail structure (and adding weight), the ailerons and flaps would be raised slightly. This moved the wing's center of lift slightly and reduced wing and tail loading. (The procedure, called 'gust control,' was later used on airliners.) The fuel carried in the wing tanks was also special. The Angel would be exposed to negative-95-degree Fahrenheit (F) temperatures for eight hours or more. Normal JP-4 jet fuel would freeze. Shell Oil developed a special kerosene that would not freeze or evaporate in the extreme cold and low pressure at 70,000-plus feet. The military called it JP-TS (for thermally stable), while Lockheed referred to it as LF-1A. The //stood for 'lighter fluid,' since it smelled very similar to that found in a cigarette lighter.
By the end of 1954, the aircraft's design was set and construction of two prototypes could begin. Johnson selected Lockheed chief test pilot Anthony W. LeVier to make the initial flights. LeVier had worked on earlier Lockheed projects such as the P-38, P-80, and XF-104. In one harrowing accident, he had bailed out of a P-80 that was cut in half by a disintegrating engine. LeVier was called into Johnson's office and asked if he wanted to fly a new airplane. LeVier asked, 'What plane?' Johnson responded, 'I can't tell you unless you agree to fly it!' LeVier agreed and was told his first job was to find a secret test site for the plane.[37]
With the extreme secrecy enveloping the project, the flight test and pilot training programs could not be conducted at Edwards Air Force Base or Lockheed's Palmdale facility. LeVier spent several days plotting a route to visit potential test sites in the deserts of southern California, Nevada, and Arizona. Scattered throughout the area are dry lake beds, ranging from less than a mile to several miles in diameter. Johnson asked him to look for a site that was 'remote, but not
The search was conducted under the same extreme security as the rest of the project. LeVier and Dorsey Kammerer, the Skunk Works foreman, told everyone they were going on a hunting trip to Mexico; they even dressed the part when they took off in the Lockheed Flight Test Department's Beech V-tail Bonanza. Once out of sight of the factory, they changed course and headed toward the desert. For the next two weeks, LeVier and Kammerer spent their 'vacation' photographing and mapping possible sites.[38]
In all, fifty possible sites were looked at. When Richard M. Bissell Jr., the CIA official selected to direct the program, and his air force liaison, Col. Osmond J. 'Ozzie' Ritland, reviewed the list, they felt none of them met the security requirements. Then Ritland recalled 'a little X-shaped field' in Nevada he had flown over many times while involved with U.S. nuclear testing. He offered to show it to Bissell and Johnson.
Soon after, LeVier flew Johnson, Ritland, and Bissell out for an on-site inspection. They did not have a clearance, so flew in at low altitude. Ritland said later, 'We flew over it and within thirty seconds, you knew that was the place… it was right by a [dry] lake. Man alive, we looked at that lake, and we all looked at each other. It was another Edwards, so we wheeled around, landed on that lake, taxied up to one end of it, and Kelly Johnson said, 'We'll put it right here, that's the hangar.'[39] Bissell recalled later that it was 'a perfect natural landing field… as smooth as a billiard table without anything being done to it.'[40] Johnson used a compass to lay out the direction of the first runway, kicking away spent shell cases as he walked.
The place was called 'Groom Lake.'
