B-52 testing progresses in 1952

The Boeing Airplane Company used Larson Air Force Base for some of the B-52 testing, but before the bomber’s first flight, there was ground testing at Boeing Field in Seattle. Read on.

E-mail from Cheryl

Facts from the past gleaned from the Moses Lake Herald, Columbia Basin Herald and The Neppel Record by Cheryl (Driggs) Elkins:

From the Columbia Basin Herald on Feb. 14, 1952:

Second B-52 due to make first flight

Taxi tests of the eight-jet XB-52 have started at Boeing Field in Seattle, the Boeing Airplane Co. announced last week. The tests are the second part of a ground proving program for the heavy bomber before the first flight of a second B-52. The program includes tests of steering, braking, engine acceleration and control-surface action.

After these tests are completed, the second Boeing Stratofortress, now nearly ready, will be returned to the factory for installation of equipment not available when the plane was rolled out in November.

The second Stratofort, meanwhile, will undergo ground tests and then will be prepared for flight, becoming the first new model to fly. No announcement has been made as to the expected date of flight and location of the flight testing program which will follow.

Boeing also announced that the second Stratorfort has been designated the YB-52. The Air Force uses the letter “y” to denote that the plane will act as a service-tested craft for production models. The prefix “X” denotes an experimental model.

Chamber will hear Parker

H.A. Parker, district manager of the Bureau of Reclamation, will be the speaker at a Chamber of Commerce meeting Tuesday night in the Central School cafeteria, according to Darrell Ries, chamber president. He will illustrate his talk with slides of construction in the Columbia Basin.

Gloyd Loop bid to Oregon man

Tony Garcia, Medford, Ore., contractor, has been awarded a contract for building 7.7 miles of the Gloyd Loop Road in Irrigation Block 40, it was announced last week by the state highway department after nine bids were opened. Garcia’s bid was $92,895.44, well under the engineer’s estimate of $130,000.

Carl Honer of Spokane submitted a bid of $84,894.66, but neglected to quote a figure on one of the 19 items in the bid form and his offer was disqualified. High bid of 183,430.53 was turned in by J.A. Terteling & Sons of Boise.

Blood drawing by Red Cross here Monday

The opportunity to donate blood for men overseas and civilian hospital use will be open in Moses Lake Feb. 18. A bloodmobile from Yakima Red Cross Processing Center will set up shop in the housing project from noon until 4 p.m.

Mrs. S.E. Larson, whose phone is 145-R, is recruitment chairman. She and her volunteers plan to ring every telephone in town this weekend as a reminder, and to offer an easy chance to register.

During the three years since the bloodmobile started coming to Moses Lake, every quotas asked has been met, Mrs. Denise Womack, county Red Cross secretary, said this week. She hopes the record will be maintained.

Warden church is remodeled

Remodeling of the Baptist Church building in Warden is nearly finished and services already are being held there by the Evangelical Methodist Church, according to the Rev. Harold Terpening, pastor.

The ceiling was lowered four feet, plasterboard was installed, ceiling tile was put in and a new chimney was added. The building will get a new roof and an exterior paint job as soon as the weather permits, the pastor said. All work was donated by members of the congregation and interested friends in the community.

Youth banquet Feb. 25

A “Youth for Christ” banquet will be held at Feb. 25, in the Moses Lake Grange Hall, according to the Rev. Harold Terpening, pastor of the Warden Evangelical Methodist Church. Admission will be by ticket only.

Grange fund $80.50

The grange box social Saturday night put $80.50 into the grange building fund, Master Bryan Miller reported this week. The money will be used to build permanent restrooms into the hall. Honor winners were Mrs. Chet Rolly and Mrs. Minnie Shong, canasta; with Waco Cordell and D.P Fuller for pinochle.