One of our former secretaries got a promotion to the Northrop corporate offices and she related a story from her new boss: This man was with another man supporting a classified test in Alamogordo, NM, for a couple of weeks. One security requirement was they must change hotels every day. Supposedly, this was to confuse any spies and keep from drawing attention to themselves. However, there were only two hotels in Alamogordo, right across the street from each other. After three days, locals started lining the street to watch this ritual of two guys checking out of one hotel, carrying their suitcases across the street and checking into the other hotel. Black-world security sometimes made little sense.

Our Inlet and Duct Test facility had a roll-up door, which could be opened with a chain lift. It also had an electric motor to open it with a push button. When we were testing something from the black world there, security required the chain be locked with a special padlock so it could not be used to open the door. However, the door could still be opened with the motor by pushing the “open” button. We showed them anyone could still open the door, but they didn’t care. They had followed their procedures. Go figure!

I noticed on some trips to AEDC that some test engineers had us stay at Holiday Inn, our usual hotel, but others had us stay in the Quality Inn. What was going on? Was this switching of motels some security rule? No. After a while I finally heard the story of why we stayed in the Quality Inn. It seemed that some of us had worn our welcome at the Holiday Inn.

Northrop was deeply involved with several “Black World” classified programs at the time. The crews supporting one of these large test programs at AEDC would always use one motel and crews on the other large program would use the other.

We were not supposed to be in town traveling for Northrop; we used fictitious company names like “Delta” or “Alpha” when we signed in at the motels. The only problem was we had been staying there for years, and everyone knew that we worked for Northrop.

“Good to see you all again. Now we are working for Delta (Wink. Wink.).”

Men who travel on business trips for long periods sometimes revert to their childhood days. There is often a lot of drinking, partying, womanizing, and horseplay. Finally, one of the boys told me the story of why we weren’t always welcome at the Holiday Inn. I was not there on that trip. Stan Ton was one of the Model Mechanics who often went on wind tunnel trips with us. Stan was tall enough to stoop a little passing through a door and strong as an ox.

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WIND TUNNEL TALES

One night the crew was having a party in the Test Engineer’s room at the Holiday Inn when there was a knock on the door. The boys were very jolly and welcomed anyone who wanted to join them, so they opened the door, but no one was there. Ok. The knocking was repeated several more times and always there was no one there when they opened the door. Finally—a plan! Someone filled a wastebasket with ice and water and took up a post just inside the door with it in hand, ready to toss it on the pesky knocker. Another man waited with his hand on the door knob, ready to swing

it open.

About this time, Stan decided to come over and join the party and knocked on the door. The door popped open and the bucket of ice flew out and hit Stan right in the face. One look at Stan standing there dripping wet and turning red in the face, and they slammed the door shut. Now the doors of the Holiday Inn are heavy, metal-clad doors but that didn’t slow Stan down, not at all! A couple of loud crashes and the door was broken down, and Stan joined the party. They said it took eight guys to keep Stan from killing the guy with the ice bucket.

When I stayed at the Holiday Inn after that, I noticed the metal on the door to Room 227 was bent and twisted. After that incident, the Test Engineer’s crew always stayed at the Quality Inn.