Carolina To California /'1OL. Robert G. Williams, commander of ^ the Ninth Tactical Reconnaisance Squadron at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina, reports that an RB-660 recently made the trip from California to the East Coast in three hours and twenty-seven min utes. This is the fastest known time for a coast-to-coast crossing in an RB-660, and one of the fastest crossings by any aircraft. The RB-660 is the reconnaisance version of Tactical Air Command’s newest bomber. Captain Arthur F. Smith was the com mander who flew the 2,3000-miles from Calfornia to South Carolina in less than three and a half hours. The pilot took ad vantage of high speed tail winds at a very high altitude, which were found in what is called a jet stream. The RB-660 carried a crew of seven. Ut ilizing the same kind of jet streams which brought it from California to the East Coast in three hours and twenty-seven min utes, the bomber could have crossed from the northeastern tip of the United States to London in about the same time. One can see what passenger travel to Europe will be in a few years when such aircraft are put into commercial service. A business man will be able, to leave Boston early one morning, have lunch in London, spend a few hours at business and return to his home in Boston that night.

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