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NEW YORK. May 16— CAP) — A powerful fleet of 101 super-fort-ress bombers winged over key eastern seaboard cities in a simulated combat mission today, the first rendezvous of the two air forces which make up the Strategic Air Command.Millions of residents along the coast lined streets, leaned from building windows and climbed to roofs to catch a glimpse of the huge planes as they roared overhead.The armada hit New York City-key objective in today's “operation Pacific”—on the dot at 11:30 a. m„ j (KST) but not in the force originally scheduled.| About 130 of the B-29 s were to jhave formed a panoply over the city, its sky-reaching building* enveloped In a low hanging ha*e, but 'only 68 of the four-engined craft*| reached here on time. A secondiwave of 33 droned over 15 minutespMWW- *.ir ■ .C■General George C. Kenney, com-| mander of the Army Air Forces (Strategic command, who led the i formation, explained that other j planes from Tucson, Anz., ran into “very bad weather’* and were di-i j verted to MacDill Field, Tampa,Fly Over AcademyShimmering in the sun, the , B-29* appeared out of the haze i over the lower harbor and madei their ••run’* over Manhattan fromsouth to north. Some watchers inthe city’s canyons expressed disappointment at their brief look at the formation. -tilThe superfortresses continued north to Brewster and Newburgh, N. Y., then flew over the United States Military Academy at West Point, 40 miles up the Hudson, before wheeling south for forays over Newark, Philadelphia, Wilmington, Baltimore and Washington. The vanguard reached Washington a half hour ahead of schedule.The 130-plane armada assembled for “operation Pacific.” a name Kenney said was chosen because ‘‘peace will be our mission,” represented every B-29 available in the United State* for operational work at present.Kenney said the full fleet could have delivered 1,350 ton* of bombs and termed it the most powerful bombing armada ever ordered assembled in the United States.However, if New York had been an actual target and atomic bombs were to be used, he said, “we could send down two or three planes and save the others for the rest of thecountry.'* XVThe B-29’* flew up to 2,000 miles from their bases before rendezvousing at Cape May, N. J., for the mock attack. They came from Selfridge Field, Mich., Fort Worth, Tex Roswell, N. M -, Sal ins, Kas„ and MacDill Field. ” PH
Newspaper Details
Uniontown Morning Herald
Uniontown, Pennsylvania, US
Sat, May 17, 1947
Page 14
Full Page
Clipped by
Bruce M.
MS, USA 17 Jul 2020
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