February 2018 FLYPAST 109Germany capitulated.
Major William F Barns flew 210
sorties during his two combat tours
in the European theatre, collecting
338.5 hours of operational
flight time. He received the
Distinguished Flying Cross with
various decorations, the Air Medal
with eight clusters and the Silver
Star Medal. He returned home in
October 1945 as a decorated and
revered war veteran.
His commander in the 316th FS,
Major George L Duwe, stated: “It
is my firm opinion that his combat
record tells the story of Lt Barns
better than words. Whatever may
be the job assigned him, he has the
mental, physical and moral fibre
to see it through. His present rank
does not reflect his true worth to the
squadron as an officer and a man.”
S o m e a p l a n e!
Barns continued to serve America
as a test pilot, gradually rising to the
ranks of the elite aircraft pioneers.
By October 1945, he was stationed
at Perrin Field in Sherman, Texas,
where most of his initial work was
with the North American AT-6
Texan.
His work in the trainer prepared
him for his initial jet experience
in the Lockheed P-80 Shooting
Star. On March 26, 1946 he took
it up for the first time, reporting
in his logbook: “It flew
beautifully.
Cruised at 450mph.” At March
Field in California, he continued to
fly the P-80 in its various stages of
development.
Barns also served as plant liaison
between the US Air Force and
Lockheed and travelled extensively
in that capacity. On one of his trips
in 1946, he stopped in Chicago,
Illinois, to purchase a ticket to
Dayton, Ohio. The ticket agent he
met there, Mary Louise ‘Marylou’
Hamilton became his wife a year
later.
Statuesque and beautiful, she
completed what his friends Marilyn
and Robert Larson described as
a “golden couple. Bill’s charisma
and talent drew people to him”. A
son, William, and daughter, Terrie,
followed over the next few years.
Bill and Marylou remained married
until his death in 1995.
In the late 1940s, Barns became
one of the chief test pilots for the
new generation of aircraft, which
included fighters, trainers and
transports. He developed proficiency
in aerobatics, establishing the
limits of the new jets and tested the
North American F-6D, a photo-
reconnaissance version of the P-51
Mustang.
On April 1, 1949, he fulfilled the
assignment of familiarisation on
the North American F-86 Sabre,
America’s fastest jet fighter. He
wrote in his flight log about his one-
hour flight: “Checked out in F-86
finally — some airplane!” Over the
next few months, he continued to
fly this fighter, noting in his log
ever higher altitudes
and more
challenging
manoeuvres.I n need of
a ‘ w i n’
In 1953, the
United States
was still waging
war on the Korean
peninsula, facingSoviet MiGs and determined
Russian, Chinese and North
Korean pilots. The Cold War was
at its height. Russia possessed
the atomic bomb and ended the
West’s thermonuclear monopoly in
December.
America’s economy struggled
through the loss of jobs, especially
related to shipping and ports.
The stock market slumped,
and politicians called for better
management of the defence
procurement policy. Beset by threats
at home and abroad, America
needed ‘wins’ to demonstrate its
continued pre-eminence. Aviation
offered a theatre in which to achieve
one such win. The World Absolute
Speed Record, the oldest ongoing
standard for pilots and aircraft,
offered the chance to demonstrate
American prowess.
Barns’s flight logs from 60 years
ago demonstrate that he was
preparing for a mission — setting
the World Absolute Speed Record.
He spent months testing nothing
but iterations of the F-86, ensuring
that every system worked at
whatever speed he flew. Sometimes
he flew individual aircraft five or six
times a week, occasionally twice in
a day.
In the summer of 1953, Research
and Development Command
prepared for a second consecutive
speed record with the F-86D Sabre.
Captain Slade Nash had set a mark
of 698.5mph (1,124.0km/h) on
November 19, 1952. Air force
specialists wanted to take
advantage of temperature
conditions
between
May and
October to
set a new
record.
During
those
months,
desert
temperaturesOpposite page,
top to bottom
Astride his P-40 ‘Miss
Waikiki’, Bill Barns
with a canine friend,
Italy, June 1944.Barns in front of his
P-47 Thunderbolt ‘Miss
Waikiki III’, France,
1944.Captain Bill Barns
on leave, showing a
map of the European
combat theatre to his
parents, Claude and
Nellie Barns, Honolulu,- FRIEND OF CLAUDE
AND NELLIE BARNS
Below
Bill Barns in the
cockpit of his Sabre
51-6145 during the
breaking of the World
Absolute Speed
Record, July 16, 1953.
USAF