Tim Frakes Productions Inc. Tour a Cold War Era Atlas Missile Silo
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 พ.ย. 2011
- Along a lonely stretch of blacktop in rural, Central Texas, my friend Larry Sanders takes me on a tour of a partially restored Atlas missile site.
At the height of the Cold War, Curtis Lamay and the Strategic Air Command, built and deployed the first Intercontinental Ballistic Missile System. www.frakesproductions.com
My dad worked for General Dynamics Convair in the 50's to early 60's. We were in Oklahoma near Altus AFB while he was doing the installations and checkout of the launch systems before turning them over to the USAF & US Government. I do remember we witnessed a dry run of sorts near Sentinel OK as a child: the silo doors opened, the missile was raised up on the elevated platform ready to go, remained there for about 3 minutes, then was lowered back down into the silo. I remember those days well, even though I was very young.
Daniel Neuenschwander I was born and raised near Altus and vividly remember seeing the Missile raised up out of the silo. I know where many of the old sites are still there.
I was also a power production specialist at Dyess on the Atlas F, at Beale in California with the Titan 1, and Bitburg, Germany on a Mace CGM 13 B missile Launch Crew. A lot of years under ground. Yes, we were on high alert when Kennedy was killed. I stood for 4 hours ready to push my button to allow launch sequence. It was a scary day. I was on a titan 1 Crew in California then. Eight years with USAF. I helped buy the Dyess sites from General Dynamics Corp. there were 12 sites that were up to 50 miles from the Base. Hard work then. Good friends also.
Nice I didn't know we were at that alert level during the Kennedy assassination until about ten years ago. Not many people discussed that aspect of the event publicly!
@@TheBuckwoody I know. There was also a bombing at a radar site in Wyoming on the same day. That and the assassination led leaders to believe there was an attempt to destroy America from within. Those were the events that led to the alert status. There are many such stories throughout the years I spent with the USAF.
@@kenbarthelette8079 leaders believing there was an attempt to destroy America from within? That would never happen nowadays.
@@hamaljay I hope your being facetious. Look around you what is happening today. I think I felt safer that day than I do today, or even worse on January 20th.
@@kenbarthelette8079 It's obvious he is being sarcastic
I worked on the Atlas sites in 62 and 63 when the USAF took them over. I was on a launch crew at Dyes AFB from 63 to 65 as the power production operator, I took care of the power supply for the silo in case of a launch. I was on launch crew 37. It is great to see these pictures. Things got pretty intence during the Cuben missel crisses and when Kennedy got shot.
+Pat Candelmo Might make for an interesting documentary. The history of the Atlas Missile Program. I'll have to think about that. Thanks for your comment. Tim
When Kennedy was shot you guys went on alert ?
That's crazy. Where there any times you were at a higher DEFCON level or on some sort of high alert?
I see they forgot to teach you how to spell.
@@jamesjonathanbrowne9528 Still better than a Marine or soldier!
At 4:43, the narrator states that the Atlas ICBM carried a 30 megaton (MT) warhead and that it was "approximately 3 to 4 times" as powerful has the Hiroshima bomb. This is totally incorrect. First, the United States never had a 30 MT nuclear weapon; its largest were the Mk-17 and Mk-41 (a.k.a. B41), both of which were 25 MT gravity bombs that could only be carried by the B-36 intercontinental bomber. The bomb dropped on Hiroshima (code-named "Little Boy") had a yield of 15 kilotons (KT). The fictional 30 MT warhead would have been 2,000 times the yield of the Hiroshima bomb.
The Atlas ICBMs carried either a W49 thermonuclear weapon with a yield of 1.44 MT or a W38 thermonuclear warhead with a yield of 3.75 MT which was fuzed for either air burst or contact burst.
References:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SM-65_Atlas
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapon_yield
Well, thats what they thought anyway. Until they found out that Lithium-7 wasn't really inert. So maybe your right. They thought the same thing until Castle Bravo and Ivy Mike. Teacher always said, ''Carry the zero.''
Hmmmm yes, bombs
@@whalesexist5630 😆
noticed that too. didnt know the exact numbers but knew it wasnt 30mt and knew it was 3 or 4 times more powerful. good spot mate
Just in Math, there is a big difference between 30 and 1.4 unless you're talking about something microscopic. A Plane, Truck, House...big difference.
I wasn't in the Air Force but in the Navy. The two-man rule is familiar as one of the weapons we used to have to load onto the P-3C Orion was a B57 nuclear depth bomb. The plane would be surrounded by marines, everything exactly by the checklist, no rushing and two man rule in effect the entire time. But what these guys in the Air Force had to do was ridiculous. Much respect & wish I could have gotten to go down in one of those whiel they were active. Once I saw War Games I thought that it was the coolest thing. Thanks for your service!
Seeing the sites built in NY around Plattsburgh, knowing that the ground is bedrock, and what it took to dig these out is absolutely incredible.
You're guaranteed to have 0 bars in the Faraday Box.
lmfao
I insulated my house with closed cell foam and mylar, works great but having mylar on all 6 sides of each room...no signal (unintended consequences)
@@JimKJeffries oops ...
jim jeffries - Now all you need is a barn cupola _ WX forecasting & ☎️ signal bars!
@@JimKJeffries how's the urban weed farm life treating you?
“Skybird, this is Dropkick with a red dash alpha message in two parts...”
Hotel crazy horse license plate dish soap.
Well played sir
JimorJames Smith ???
Amazing video of the Lawn site. I didn't realize someone had cleaned it up this much.
Very interesting, Brilliant presentation. Thanks to all!
What an informative tour and piece of history.
Excellent video. Larry Sanders is an admirable hombre.
Great video. My grandfather was involved with the Atlas program at the now defunct Schilling AFB. Thanks for sharing!
You're lucky to have been able to visit the bottom of the silo. Years ago I visited one of the ring of 12 Atlas F silos around Plattsburgh AFB, and when those sites were deactivated they scuttled them by filling the bottom half (90 feet or so) with water and sold them as private acreage.
Me too, I grew up near the abandoned site in Ellenburg Depot. I was born just before they were decommissioned.
Good God, the engineering and construction logistical efforts that went into designing and building these installations. And ALL of 'em in the middle of nowhere. It's staggering! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
John Olive and it will one day be a holding spot america has it coming to it Pearl Harbor was cute 9/11 was a test when they start dropping bombs on cities....it will like seeing heaven on earth
Amazing stories. I thoroughly enjoyed and really hope you have more video's to watch as I notice this is 8 years old.
Freaking awesome! I actually watched this video because I was trying to find out what would happen if a silo was bombed because I was wondering if the crew would be buried alive. Thank you so much for this video. Nailed it!
Very watchable and informative. Thanks
Great video and commentary. Thank you.
Mindbogelling engineering thanks for the interesting tour
Wonderful informative video. Great job
My dad was a power production technician on the Atlas F during the Cuban Missile Crisis. He actually served at this very site in Lawn, Texas.
I so loved watching MooMoo chase Michelle as she was skating! That was so cool! I love the decals. Onward Bound!!!
Interesting video. Amazing that this actually exists still :)
This was informative. I worked for B&V for almost 2 years and had no idea about their involvement with this project.
Very interesting, thanks for sharing.
Great tour; definitely enjoyed that.
very well done!!
Super vidéo très bien présenté par ce monsieur 👍
"How do we keep the crew from messing around in the escape hatch? put a lock on it? alarm maybe?"
"Nah, they'll figure out a way to mess with that"
"How about we completely fill it with sand?"
"You're on to something there, Johnson."
The sand was to slow down people from entering.
You must be fun at parties Andrew.
@@harrier331 there are some version that have a closing mechanism that shuts when increased pressure wave hits. But the sand does help.
Great video production and very informative.
Gee, I haven't heard that theory before about the faraday box. Thanks for sharing:)
Thats pretty cool thanks for posting
There is an Atlas Missile display at San Diego Air & Space Museum's annex at Gillespie Field, El Cajon,Ca. My kids came home one day full of missile stories.
excellent video
I remember Schilling AFB in Salina Kansas and McConnell AFB use to control the Missile Silos in my area.
Very informative video thanks for sharing
Very Interesting Video!
Impressive. This guy's tour is way better than the others I've seen. He obviously knows his stuff!
Other than the size of the warhead. The U.S. never fielded a 30 MT warhead. The largest was 9.6 MT on the Titan II. Atlas had a 4MT.
Nice presentation.
What a cool video!
In multiple places, this video refers to Curtis LeMay as being in charge of Atlas missile deployment. That is not really true...LeMay was in command of SAC until 1957, but after that, it was commanded by Thomas S Power from 1957 until 1964. All of the deployment of the various versions of the Atlas ICBM were supervised by General Power, not Curtis LeMay. Of course, Curtis LeMay was first Vice Chief, and then later Chief of Staff of the Air Force...so he was in overall command, but after he left SAC, LeMay was not really in direct control of Atlas development or deployment.
Very good sir!
Mr. Sanders is INcorrect regarding the explosive yield of the Atlas ICBM warhead, he cites it as a 30 Megaton weapon, which if true would be 2,000 times the 15 Kiloton yield of the Little Boy bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The W49 warhead had a nominal yield of 1.44 Megatons, or 1.44 Million tons of TNT. This is 96 times the hiroshima weapon. The largest nuclear weapon deployed by the United States was the B41 gravity bomb, with a yield of 25 Megatons, deployed on the B-52G and I believe possibly also the B-58 in the centerline weapons pod. The B41 was replaced by the B53, yield of 9 megatons, deployed as a Gravity Bomb dropped from B-52 series aircraft as well as an ICBM Warhead on the Titan II. These weapons recently completed their demilitarization process at Pantex and are now out of the inventory.
absolutely agree with you. I also figured out he was wrong about it. The icbm with the most powerful warhead the u.s. ever deployed was Titan II with around 10 megaton.
I was USAF Intelligence from 1969 to 1975...and that is the first time I have seen the innards of an Atlas Facility.
Was the facility sold back to a private owner by then? I’ve seen pictures of a Plattsburgh site in the late 60’s that seemed to have been “mothballed” since it’s decommissioning in 1965 (still under lock & key, plastic over electronics, power still on etc).
Edit: I found it, the photos are from 1968, about halfway down this page:
atlasbases.homestead.com/HistoricPhotos.html
These things are so cool
By the dimensions he said for that silo, you could turn the silo into about 18 separate floors with a floor space of 2,123sqft each. That's with each 10ft ceilings. That's a bit of floor space, on top of that being so far underground it would probably stay cool with very little cooling. I want to see someone turn one of these into a house.
there is a site probably kansas where theyhave done just that
Interesting video. Black and Veatch are headquartered where I live here in the Kansas City. I am aware of the large numbers of missile silos we had nearby in Missouri, I was not aware of that company's involvement until just now.
I was active duty USAF NORAD, 82 - 85. I remember all these things quite well, even then.
Hey Robert Did you catch the inaccuracy he made on the Mark 4 re entry vehicle warhead yield at 4:33 in the video?
He said it was 30 megatons and about 3 or 4 times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hisorshima.
From what I have read the Mark 4 carried a 3.75 MT warhead and was more like 250 times more powerful than the bomb dropped I was in the US Army and i also worked with nuclear weapons. Mine was a Bottle Rocket compared to your haha.
I was in the US Army and i also worked with nuclear weapons.
I was a section chief in a Lance Missile Firing Platoon. Lance was a tactical nuke stationed predominantly in West Germany.
You remember the Neutron bomb we claimed we did NOT have? Hehe.
@@Bill23799 No, I totally missed that. Good catch. NORAD doesn't really have anything to do with ICBM nukes, other than we sound the alarm should they be needed. Back then, I believe it was SAC (Strategic Air Command) that controlled the ICBMs. At NORAD, our direct nuke involvement only extended to fighter jet launched nuclear A2A or A2G missiles.
I lived near an abandoned site that had been operated by Plattsburgh Air Force Base when I was a kid.
So naturally we explored it up top, but it was sealed tight. We wondered what the concrete tube jutting up was for, with ladder rungs inside it. There were a couple of small metal out buildings, 2 large Quanset huts, and toilets that appeared to incinerate waste. A large black pipe (airshaft?) about 2 feet in diameter came out of the ground next to the concrete stairway, rose 4 feet in the air before curving down in a U shape.
There were stainless steel connections coming up from around the silo, and heavy gauge screens over parts of the silo, with water way down below. It must have been flooded.
There is another site in this area that has a home built over it, and of course the underground has been remodeled. It even has its own airstrip.
Thanks for this, I'm still fascinated by these sites, even 50 years on.
Interesting video
There is an Atlas on display at the US Space & Rocket center in Huntsville. They have an air compressor constantly running to keep it inflated. It helps that they have it displayed on its side. It is the only Atlas I can recall ever seeing in person. Very cool video at a world that was long secret to us.
Something tells me that little piece of heaven smelled of damp steel and a 50 year old bag of Doritos.
Asbestos and government paperwork
You know they didn't HAVE Doritos 50 years ago,,,, Dammit.
@Patrick Ancona well, sadly, I have to report that after doing the necessary research, Doritos were in fact, documented later, the same year I was born, so, we HAVE had them for 53 years,,,, I am at once, surprised, bummed and encouraged.
Febreeze. lol
this was quite interesting
Would love to live in one after a few up grades... That's a peepers dream house! Great video thank you!!
I would think a peepers dream house would have a lot more windows
Thank you.....
There were silos in the Adirondacks in NY- never knew that until the Syracuse paper reported it. Some guy had developed a way of closing them since they'd been left open after the missiles were removed. He loaded them with hay bales and set them on fire, the heat would loosen the doors and they could be swung closed and welded shut.
I wish someone would restore a Titan 1 silo, these were impressive sites and a restored Titan 1 power house would be a marvelous sight to see with its 4 generators and other equipment.
Great tour, but just so you know, the Atlas never had a 30mt warhead. No nuclear weapon in the US inventory was that large. The Atlas had either a 1.44mt (early life) or 3.75mt (late life) warhead.
The biggest nuke ever actually weaponized by the US was a 9mt bomb, which was the size of a car (with the weight of a bus) and could only be carried on the B-36 Peacemaker or the Titan II missile.
The biggest bomb was 25 mt, b41 bomb i think, 9 megaton was the largest missile warhead US deployed tho
Alex Tocqueville He was way off there.
@suny123boy1 It's called recorded history...
Seems like you don't know much about anything...
Agames 12 50mt actually, Tsar Bomba (Russian test)
ajeoae
In excess of 100 MT theoretical full yield for that design. They tested at reduced yield, in 1961. Guaranteed to completely obliterate a large city such as NY or LA. Part of what became the ‘MAD’ philosophy put into practice, I guess. But the Soviets ended up sticking to smaller weapons - presumably realising that this was beyond stupid, even for the Cold War mentality.
A vertical Atlas launcher! Wonder if any of the earlier horizontal sties are getting restored. I went to TMM in Green Valley, AZ, and I hope to tour Oscar Zero at some point. I really hope they get an Atlas simulator for that site!
That's so cool they used surplus Atlas's to boost satalites
I love secret cold war facilities :)
This shouuld have way more views
Dad was Atlas Base Activation Supervisor for Site #5, Schilling AFB, McPherson, KS, 1962. It can still be seen on Google Earth at 1500 Pueblo Rd., McPherson, KS 67460
I’d love to come out and see this! I just got back from Abilene and had driven out to what used to be the entrance to one at Lake Phantom Hill (private property). Let me know, I’ll pay!
So, equally as interesting, is i live in a city in ohio, where we have numerous old "nike" sites that all appeared at this same time. They have all been turned into public parks, and about 10-15 yrs ago they came through them all and recycled and burned the top layers of soil. I remember as a kid still being able the see the stairwell to lead to the underground living before they filled it in. Most of it remains underground even today. Because we never saw them remove it, and just built stuff like tennis courts over the underground magazine, and basketball courts over the launch pads. The rear dirt blast hill still remains, and barbed wire in the woods around the park. The one i am by is listed as cl-69. All decommisioned around 67-69 if i remember.
Where at in ohio?
CantonOhio 330 i live in north olmsted, but the park i grew up playing in is tri-city park in westlake/fairview park. But over the years i have found more of them in parma, and lordestown, and couple others i dont remember, but also close like middleburgh hts/berea area. You can search cl69. That was the number of the base closest to me, and the one i spent time growing up around.
Central Texas? Do you mean Abilene, Tx? I've been inside a few of the Atlas F sites around Abilene. I was a Titan II missilieer back in the 70's. This was really fun duty.
+Bbendfender Correct! Just south east of town.
+Tim Frakes I've been in the site down at Oplin a time or two. The guy who owns/owned it is a really nice guy. I really appreciated him showing me the site from top to bottom and he appreciated my experience as a former crew member in the Titan II. I have also been to the site south of Anson and the one a Corinth. Brings back so many memories.
*opens blast door* - cola machine
nuka cola intensifies
The B41 (MK41) had a yield of 25 Mt. It was deployed in, 61 or 63 I forget when and retired in 1976. Rumor has it that the B41 could produce a higher yield than it's advertised yield, but that's just a rumor.
I realize this is a very old video, but does anyone know the current situation with this site? The only vids I've found on YT about it, it was half-cleaned out and the silo had about 95' of water in it. Appreciate the virtual tour, btw!
Interesting video.
I've watched most informative videos concerning icbm's and I believe that the largest we deployed was a 9 megaton weapon. We had a 15 megaton that weighed 45 thousand pounds but was carried by a b36 bomber with 10 engines. A 15 megaton will produce enough heat to cause fatal burns up to 20 miles.
Wouldnt vitrification happen to the sand from the heat from the bomb. ? Great video, very informative!
Yes and no. There has been a nuclear test in a desert. The sand there formed small stones, around a centimeter in diameter.
I like this guy
Actually, we had an Atlas rocket on display for many years in Canada. It was just removed in 2015 as there was no way to salvage or move it because all supporting equipment is long gone.
Has restoration of this silo been completed yet? Would love to drive to Abilene for the tour. Best Atlas video on u tube, Thanks!!!
I live 2 hours east and would also love to visit this site.
Weren't the E's and F's also used for Project Murcury, starting with Glenn's flight?
No, they were all Atlas D's.
He mentioned the Atlas E and F missiles were reused as satellite well the Atlas Ds were too. He said the Atlas F carried a 30MT warhead this is incorrect it carried the W38 which had a design yield of 3.75MT.
Whatever happened to the control stations and electronics? They are long outdated, but would be fun to see as museum pieces in place.
All of the Atlas F LCC’s and silos were left intact, structurally. However, they’re all in varying states of salvage. Some of the Nebraska sites looked as if the Air Force just locked the door and walked away and left all of the infrastructure, while some of the Texas sites have been totally stripped down to concrete tubes.
Interesting!
Looks like one of the ones I got to scuba dive in last year. Matter of fact looks like the one I did dive it. Outside of Abilene.
That must have been awesome.
It was amazing
This was very fascinating to watch. My only complaint is that it wasn't long enough
That's what SHE said.
The silo used to have several platforms surrounding the missile for maintenance, obviously missing here, probably scrapped.
9:00 The Missile Silo is 185 feet tall. You could use it as a Rock Climbing Gym or a Scuba Diving Training Pool.
The Atlas F used a W38 warhead with an approximate yield of 3.75 MT. The gentleman probably meant 3MT instead of 30MT. Titan II's had a W53 warhead with about a 9 MT yield.
Did he say the RV was 30 megatons? I'm sure he meant 3...they were just under 4.0 megatons @ 3.7 MT I believe. Otherwise a very good presentation!!!
Also," 3-4 times more destructive than Hiroshma weapon". Little Boy was 15 Kilotons.
sometimesgood yea the minuteman 2 was 66 times more destructive than Hiroshima and it had a smaller warhead.
yea its a H bomb not an atomic bomb
Simple mistake, just said the wrong thing. I'm sure he knows
Titan II's Mk VI was +9 Meg.
I commanded a Titan II crew out of McConnell
That would make a great man cave / home.
fucking amazing, love this stuff!
2:00 check out that old-school Coke machine. Probably installed when the facility was built
Believe me, as one who spent almost 4 years of his life in this hole, or one of the other 11 nearby, there were NO coke machines anywhere near this place.
In that case it mustve been brought there for these guided tours much later. I was under the impression it was part of th crew comforts and stuff.
They need a Pepsi one.
Put a redbull cooler in that bih'
Here's one on site:
th-cam.com/video/RZ9B7owHxMQ/w-d-xo.html
Funny though, the coke restocker guy has a Russian accent...
This is my AFSC in the Air Force. Fun...
interesting stuff
I would love to buy one of these places
In high school we explored a silo near winters, tx. Is this one close to yours?
he is wearing a USAF Weapons School Hoodie! Wonder if he came through Nellis as a pilot or...
Now, where can I find those guys who built them? I want them to build me something ;)
well now I know somebody who's never flying in an airplane again...
@@neal5186 I think his point was he'd like it built yesterday.
id much rater see these restored and preserved than scrapped and or left to the elements. really wishi had the money to buy one id see to it that as much as possible would be saved.
The springy thing you mentioned are called snubbers. If you touch one you must report it.
WAY COOL!!
FOR SURE!
In Canada we just ran to our out-houses.
Working in a missile silo seems like fun. Just sit around all day and get payed for it.
You commented about building 72 at once, were they not also building 54 titan II and minuteman silo at the same time?
No, the 54 Titan II missiles were done 1960 - 1962. Not sure when the Minuteman I missiles were constructed.