BOMBS AT BIKINI 



exposing as many types of Army equipment as pos- 

 sible to the explosions and determining the damage 

 produced. 



Task Group 1.5, the Army Air Group, was com- 

 manded by Brigadier General R. M. Ramey. It was 

 responsible for all operations by Army planes. Its Air 

 Transport Unit, comprising ten C-54's each capable 

 of carrjdng 54 persons, flew thousands of tons of Cross- 

 roads personnel and freight between Kwajalein and 

 the United States. Its Tactical Operations Unit, com- 

 prising 13 B-29's, flew the bomb-carrying plane used in 

 Test A and also flew weather and radiological recon- 

 naissance planes. Other units operated photographic 

 planes, scientific instrumentation planes, and radio, 

 press, and observer planes. The Drone Unit was unique 

 in aviation history; it successfully operated 6 B-17 

 Flying Fortresses as drones. With no one aboard, these 

 great planes were radio-guided through their pre- 

 scribed flights across the target area, a unique and im- 

 pressive feat.* 



*A number of Army Air Forces officials believe that the drone- 

 plane program midertaken for Crossroads advanced the science 

 of drone-plane operations by a year or more. To be sure, a few 

 ivar iveary B-17's had been flown ivithout crews during the latter 

 part of the recent war, but they and their cargoes of explosives were 

 deliberately crash-landed. Also, a few B-17's had been landed by 

 remote control; but pilots were aboard, ready to take over control 

 in case of trouble. Operation Crossroads was the first operation in 

 which take-off, flight, and landing were accomplished with no one 

 aboard. The feat was an impressive one; many experts had thought 

 it could never be accomplished with planes of this size. 



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