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   SCA/Columbia ferry test flights in 1979

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Author Topic:   SCA/Columbia ferry test flights in 1979
LM-12
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Posts: 3912
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010

posted 09-16-2021 04:37 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for LM-12     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Before the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft delivered Columbia to KSC in 1979, there were ferry test flights at Edwards Air Force Base on two dates: March 9 and March 20.

Then there is this photo described as a Columbia ferry check out flight. The caption has a March 17, 1979 date.

Was there also a ferry test flight on March 17, or does the photo show the March 9 test flight?

LM-12
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Posts: 3912
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010

posted 09-16-2021 11:31 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for LM-12     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
There is this description of the March 9 ferry test flight from Astronautics and Aeronautics 1979-1984 on page 14-15:
The 15-minute test flight Friday of the orbiter-747 combination resulted in extensive damage to the protective-tile surface of the orbiter, said former astronaut Deke Slayton, NASA’s manager for orbiter flight tests.

As the 747 took off down the runway at Edwards, parts of the dummy tiles, some as long as 2.5 feet began to fall off the spaceship. When that flight ended, Columbia had lost not only some of the plastic-foam dummy tiles attached by tape to the areas around the windows, fuselage sides, wings, and midtail, but also some of the 26,000 actual protective tiles bonded to the spaceship at the plant.

“When the dummies began to fall off, the tape which was attached to them started to swirl around and damage some of the real tiles,” said Slayton, who flew one of two chase planes to keep an eye on the orbiter-747 test flight.

NASA had decided to send Columbia to KSC without about 8,000 tiles that could be installed there; dummies had been used to cover areas where in-flight problems might arise, but after seeing the test results, engineers decided that not all the dummies were needed.

Slayton said that the orbiter-747 assembly was now scheduled to depart for Florida on Monday, March 12. The 3,000-mile ferry flight had originally been set for Friday, March 9, but a problem arose in mounting the orbiter on the 747, caused by misalignment of the orbiter to the three struts atop the 747, and the test flight was delayed until Friday afternoon, after which the tile problem occurred.

Although NASA engineers said March 10 that the combination could still fly cross country March 12, a later report said that 34 dummy tiles were lost and 39 damaged; 7 real tiles were destroyed or lost and 100 damaged.

Replacement of missing tiles would delay the trip at least to Saturday, March 17; NASA planned to complete the fix without removing the orbiter from its carrier aircraft.

The SCA/Columbia ferry flight eventually departed Edwards AFB on March 20, and landed at Kennedy Space Center on March 24.

oly
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Posts: 1470
From: Perth, Western Australia
Registered: Apr 2015

posted 09-16-2021 11:56 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for oly   Click Here to Email oly     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I wonder how many collectors over the years searched the flight path to chance finding a fallen tile?

LM-12
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Posts: 3912
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010

posted 09-17-2021 11:47 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for LM-12     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
That is Rogers Dry Lake in the background. There is a T-38 almost hidden behind the 747.

There is an April 1981 photo that shows NASA 905 under an orbiter at the mate-demate device at Edwards AFB. There are 11 post-ALT mission markings on the side of the 747. That might be a clue.

I have 10 post-ALT ferry flights in that period (not including March 17, 1979):

1977:

  • November 15 - ferry test flight with Enterprise
  • November 16 - ferry test flight with Enterprise
  • November 17 - ferry test flight with Enterprise
  • November 18 - ferry test flight with Enterprise
1978:
  • March 10 - ferry flight with Enterprise
1979:
  • March 9 - ferry test flight with Columbia
  • March 20 - ferry test flight with Columbia (a.m.)
  • March 20 - ferry flight with Columbia (p.m.)
  • April 10 - ferry flight with Enterprise
  • August 10 - ferry flight with Enterprise
Was March 17 that 11th flight?

LM-12
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Posts: 3912
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010

posted 09-26-2021 05:31 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for LM-12     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Here is another photo dated March 17, 1979. It has this caption:
View of the Orbiter Columbia atop NASA 905, ready for departure for her initial delivery to Kennedy Space Center (March 17,1979)

mmcmurrey
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Posts: 184
From: Austin, TX, USA
Registered: Jun 2012

posted 09-27-2021 09:30 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for mmcmurrey   Click Here to Email mmcmurrey     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by LM-12:
There is a T-38 almost hidden behind the 747.
You've a keen eye to spot the T-38 flying aft of rudder inline with NASA!

heng44
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Posts: 3731
From: Netherlands
Registered: Nov 2001

posted 09-27-2021 12:10 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for heng44   Click Here to Email heng44     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
There was no March 17 flight. The photo shown above is from March 9. On March 17 Columbia and SCA were in the hangar getting replacement tiles installed.

LM-12
Member

Posts: 3912
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010

posted 03-23-2024 06:15 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for LM-12     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
On March 20, 1979 there was a ferry test flight in the morning, and then a ferry flight from Edwards AFB heading to Florida in the afternoon. Photo S79-30472 shows the latter:
Columbia atop the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft takes off from Dryden to begin the cross-country ferry flight.

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