Whoosh ... Whoosh ...

After hissing impatiently behind the scenes for 17 months, the Air Force's hottest jet bomber--the experimental Boeing XB-47 Stratojet--whipped into public view last week like a kerosene-burning skeet target. It left Moses Lake, Wash., with a whoosh of its six jet engines, skyrocketed 2,289 miles to Andrews Air Force Base, Md. (where it rolled down the runway with a fuchsia-colored parachute blossoming from its tail, to slow it down) in three hours and 46 minutes.

This worked out to an average ground speed of 607.2 miles an hour--23 miles an hour faster than the transcontinental record set three years ago by an F-80 jet fighter.

The next day the country had cause to blink again. A Northrop YB-49 eight-jet Flying Wing--a weird, batlike sky monster which is almost twice as heavy as the Stratojet--flew from Muroc, Calif, to Andrews Air Force Base in four hours and 25 minutes. Average for 2,259 miles: 511.2 miles an hour.

The Air Force watched each flight proudly--both planes had been ordered east to take part in a big, private air show for Congress this week, calculated to soften the hearts of members who are considering the Air Force Budget.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.