William Lorenzo Zirbes

Bill’s Top Secret (Compartmentalized) Life
A Hero with a Slide Rule

After Bill’s wonderfully moving Service, oh so many months ago, I felt there was something missing from the Service. Something that he could never share with others, even his loved ones. But I had a window into this secret world he had been living.

Because I was a geek who followed the Military Aerospace World, Bill discussed with me the following projects (in no particular order) over the many years:

THE JIG IS UP

I asked Bill what he was most proud of in his Engineering Career in the Defense Industry. He did not hesitate in his answer: Aircraft Jig.

The aircraft construction teams were having difficulty in constructing a very complex fighter aircraft, because of difficulty in lining up the many components. The assembly line was experiencing subtle variations from air frame to air frame in the fabrication process. The prototype aircraft presenting problems had movable “swing wings” and was having trouble keeping the variable geometry correct.

Bill’s solution was to construct a Jig, the size of the aircraft, with surveying equipment built in to the rig. This would create a pattern that was totally repeatable from airframe to airframe. At any point in the Assembly, the engineers and craftsmen building the plane had a common construction “language” to which they could refer.

THIS IS THE PROCESS all major manufacturers of airplanes, the World over, use to this day. The original model for this Process was developed by Bill.

THE BIG BONE

One of Bill’s projects was working on one of the most important Bombers in the American Arsenals. This was the Rockwell B 1 Heavy Bomber nicknamed “The Bone” by pilots.

Bill recounted to me how he worked on the original prototype 1-A (Lancer) Bomber. His specialty task seemed to deal with the “swing wing” design. This project was very controversial and went through many phases of design. Depending on which U.S. President was in charge, the project was either in full speed, or fully shut down. This proved to be nerve wracking for the design teams and contractors. The final design was worked out in the Reagan Administration, and remains one of the backbone bomber aircraft in the U.S. Airforce.

The plane has exhibited its great design by remaining today an important element of the Strategic Air Command. In every conflict since it went into service in 1977, it has done its job and shown itself to be very adaptable to different strategies. One moment it is flying below radar, 200 ft above the ground at 700 mph, and at another moment flying high altitude for huge distances, using Smart munitions.

FLIGHT OF THE VALKYRIE

One of the greatest Bomber Aircraft never built was the North American Aviation XB 70 Valkyrie. This was to be the penultimate Bomber capable of flying three times the speed of sound. Bill seemed to be involved with the structural team.

The story he told was of how difficult it was to have a plane reach such extreme speeds, because of huge temperature changes as a result of air friction. The plane would expand and contract so much that when it landed, the paints had blistered off the fuselage.

Bill also mentioned that they used exotic materials that were both strong and light. The manufacturer used a honeycomb aluminum skin that was very resilient, but almost impossible to manufacture and work with.

Bill was there for the test flights, and observed the plane on the runway after the early flights. There were two prototype planes built, with one of the prototypes tragically crashing after a collision with a chase Lockheed F-104 Starfighter. The surviving prototype is in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Washington, D.C.

The production of the Valkyrie was cancelled because Russian missile technology was starting to endanger high-altitude bombing. This Bomber is still considered the Zenith of bomber design. No other bomber was nearly as fast as Bill’s prototypes. And nothing today equals the airframe design.

AARDVARK WITH BROKEN WINGS

The General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark was a very controversial airplane developed in
the mid 1960s. It was an odd combination of fighter aircraft, structured more like a bomber, and huge with swing wings, and wickedly fast speed. Bill was called in to fix some of the issues with the swing wings after the plane had been developed.

Bill said the fighter had major issues with the swing wings not keeping their aerodynamic qualities because of defective parts. He said it was not uncommon to see bungie straps used to keep the parts in place during flight. He was brought in to figure the fix.

The Program was scuttled when the airforce decided to phase out the plane. The plane itself gained legendary status as the “first in” to any scuffle this country fought in, from the 1970s to the 1990s. It served with great distinction.

MX PEACEMAKER

The Boeing MX Peacemaker missile was developed in the 1970s to be the ultimate nuclear missile with 10 warheads on every rocket. It was the most ferocious deterrent we still use to this day. It is also still the most secretive project this country has ever developed.

Bill obviously could not tell me details, but he was involved with the most extraordinarily precise guidance system existing to this day. Moreover, the Command and Control system used by NORAD was developed in part by Bill.

This project was at the end of his career.

HALCYON TIMES

Bill worked at a time when legendary engineers quietly, and without fanfare, built planes and weapons that kept our country safe. Our primacy in the world is built literally by these engineers and fabricators.

I was, and am, honored, that Bill told me a little of what he did.