Comments:
A note from our newly found cousin Lynn Morgan (on the Hubbard side):
Date: Fri, Mar 9, 2012 at 9:19 PM Subject: Re: HVH memorial web posting
Hi Linda, The website is beautiful.
What a wonderful tribute! I loved reading his biography and started watching the videos.
Did you take the videos? They are priceless. I love hearing him talk about his life.
How old was he when they were filmed? He is very articulate. I'll see more before the memorial.
I'm glad the photos I sent helped show his early years. I look forward to
learning more about music and family. Bye for now, Lynn
OLD HARRY
He was a pilot of his time
a flyer of great renown
So it was sad to see him
at the end
struggling on the ground
His memory faded
to a mix
of people, places, things
Once his awesome stories soared
now they fell on butterfly wings
It's hard to let Old Harry go
he knew more than we'll ever know
The next time you hear Mozart
or see a shooting star
Most likely it's Old Harry
inquiring how you are
Reimann 2/12
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NEWS ARTICLE FOR HARRY'S OBITUARY
Vol. III No. 24. Reg. No. L5015
Delhi, Thursday February 22, 1945.
Super-Fort Modifications Made Between Combat Missions
20TH BOMBER COMMAND BASE, INDIA - Of the Army's B-29 Super-Fortress, it has been said that it was the first plane in aviation history to go directly from the drawing table into combat. When the Air Force called for a bomber to carry the war to Japan before the end of the long, bitter road of island-hopping was reached, there was not time for the usual extensive tests. Super-Forts were needed in a hurry; they were provided.
Much of the experimentation which all new weaponsmust undergo, was made on the B-29 in combat. Modification was accomplished between missions. The only way this could be possible was through the closest teamwork between personnel of the air service and maintenance stations in the United States, and personnel of the 20th Bomber Command in this Theater of Operations.
Pilots and crews, flying B-29's deep into the vitals of Japan, carried destruction to industrial and military centers long before the time-table of the Japanese General Staff gave them any right to be there. And always, over the target, on the long flights back to their India and China bases, crews observed the performance of their airplanes as carefully as the mother robin watches her young on the first test flight. Each kink was pounced upon, tabulated, recorded. Some were ironed out at the Bomber Command's Air Depot, others forwarded to the tables and workbenches of the experts at factories and experimental stations in the States. The experts fired back their answers in modifications. The Super-Fort grew as it flew.
One of the first major problems discovered under combat test was the serious overheating of the big 2,250-horsepower Wright engines designed to pull the great bomb-load on the long run to Japan. Though the Super-Forts were doing an excellent job, the lif expectancy of the engines and the frequency of necessary changes threatened to reduce the striking power and effectiveness of the airplane. Overheating, it was discovered, was caused in insufficient lubrication and mis-directed air-flow. It was a big problem, and it called for a quick answer.
At the direction of Lt. Gen. Barney M. Giles, Chief of Air Staff, two Army engineering experts were appointed to supervise a program of research at Oklahoma City Air Depot. It was their job to arrive at some method of engine modernization which could be adopted without changing existing technical plans and which could be adopted in the field, without interruption of combat missions. The Army's experts were Col. Erik H. Nelson and Lt. Col. Harry V. Hubbard, both technical advisors to Gen. Hap Arnold.
The entire Depot of the Oklahoma City Air technical Command and its personnel were put at their disposal. After six weeks of intensive work, they arrived at the answer. The huge engines were modernized by baffling cylinders and installing ducted baffles to provide proper distribution of air and to improve cooling. Crossover tubes were installed between rocker boxes to furnish the needed lubrication. Rocker arms were reworked, drilled and gouged out to allow free passage of oil. Nacelles were modified by shortening the cowl flaps, which increased the air flow and reduced drag. The two upper flaps which had been fixed in position, were made moveable to reduce drag further.
Results were startling. The Super-Fort's amazingly high speed, comparative to the swiftness expected only of fighter planes, could be maintained with reduced power settings, and fuel consumption was thus reduced considerably. A "guinea-pig" ship was modified for exhibition at other depots in the United States as a model for personnel who would have the job of making similar modifications on other Super-Forts.
In Oklahoma, work was started on a series of combat planes ready to receive the engine and nacelle modernizations. First ship to roll off the line was B-29 No. 265208. The combat crew took her over, named her "Andy's Dandy," and took off for an Air Depot of the 20th Bomber Command in India. To this Air Depot also came Nelson and his staff, to supervise the important job of modification which the Depot was to undertake.
Under Col. Arthur V. Jones, Jr., Depot Commander, and Lt. Col. Ainsley E. Stuart, Depot Chief of Maintenance, mechanics and engine specialists started work on the Wright engines and the nacelles. New engines are placed on combat planes between missions. Total completion of all modifications is now being neared, and results are encouraging.
The India-Burma Theater, as well as the China area, is marked by great supply difficulties and operational hazards. In the face of such difficulties, the conservation of vitally-needed fuel and the longer life of Super-Fort engines, bring tremendous advancement to a deadly weapon carrying the battle to Japan and victorious conclusion of the war months earlier than would otherwise have been possible. Credit teamwork - the men overseas and the men and women at home, working together towards a speedy victory.
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