This Date in Aviation History: October 28 - October 30

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn) 10/30/2015 at 12:35 • Filed to: planelopnik, planelopnik history

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Welcome to This Date in Aviation History , getting you caught up on milestones and important historical events in aviation from October 28 through October 30.

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October 28, 1954 – The first flight of the North American FJ-4 Fury. By the early 1950s, the US Navy was still operating straight-winged fighters, and experience during the Korean War showed them that they needed a new swept-wing fighter to deal with faster and more maneuverable Russian designs such as the MiG-15. The Navy had a couple of new fighters under development in the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , but those planes would not be ready in time. So, in a somewhat uncharacteristic move, the Navy looked to the Air Force to find a better carrier plane, particularly the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . The need was so urgent that the Navy ordered 200 converted Sabres, designated the FJ2, before the prototype had even flown. Modifications included the addition of an arrester hook, catapult gear, and a lengthened nose gear to increase angle of attack during takeoff and landing. The FJ2 was soon upgraded to the FJ3 when it was given a more powerful engine, and the type served the Navy well and over 700 were produced. But the modifications weren’t complete yet, and the FJ-4 would be the final development of the fighter that began as the Sabre. But this would be an entirely new design, though it still bore a resemblance to its ancestor. The new fighter would take on the role of all-weather interceptor, and for that mission it needed greater range. The wing was made thinner than the FJ-3, but it was also designed to hold fuel, a so-called “wet wing.” Additional lightness was added by removing armor and decreasing ammunition load, and the result was a 50% increase in range over the earlier fighter. The fuselage was deepened and stretched to accommodate more fuel, and the cockpit was enlarged. The Navy originally ordered 221 FJ-4s, with 71 of those aircraft converted to the FJ-4B fighter-bomber version, with provisions made to carry more external stores, including a single nuclear weapon. An additional order in 1956 brought the total number produced to 374. The FJ-4 entered service in 1955, and with the exception of one Navy training squadron, the FJ-4 was flown exclusively by the Marine Corps. The Navy trained on and operated the FJ-4B. When the Navy adopted a new system of aircraft designation in 1962, the FJ-4 became the F-1E, and the FJ-4B became the AF-1E. The Fury was eventually phased out in the 1960s, ending its service with units of the US Naval Reserve.

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October 28, 1952 – The first flight of the Douglas A-3 Skywarrior. While strategic bombing has traditionally been the purview of the US Air Force, and before that the US Army Air Corps, the US Navy decided to get involved in the strategic bombing role in the 1950s with their own large, long-range bomber, the Douglas A-3 Skywarrior. Along with the earlier !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , these were the only two strategic bombers operated by the US Navy. And while the Navy’s strategic bombing role didn’t last that long, the Skywarrior became one of the longest serving aircraft in US Navy history. By the late 1940s, the Navy began looking for a large, jet-powered strategic bomber that could operate from the new class of “super carriers” that were being developed, specifically one that was capable of carrying 10,000 pounds of weapons or a single nuclear bomb and have a loaded weight of 100,000 lbs. Douglas engineer !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! proposed an aircraft with a loaded weight of 68,000 pounds, the smallest proposal submitted to the Navy, but more importantly, it was capable of operating from existing carriers. Even though the Skywarrior was the smallest of the proposals, it was still the largest and heaviest aircraft ever to operate regularly from US carriers. In an effort to save weight, the crew of three was not supplied with ejection seats, though they were included in the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! variant produced for the US Air Force. Navy pilots joked that “A3D” meant “all three dead.” The Skywarrior was introduced in 1956, but once the Navy’s !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! submarines became operational in 1961, the Navy no longer had a need for a deep nuclear strike aircraft. But the size of the Skywarrior made it ideal for other missions. Its large internal bomb bay could carry 12,000 pounds of bombs, be filled with electronic spying equipment, or loaded with fuel. Douglas developed a reconnaissance version designated RA-3B and an electronic countermeasures variant known as the EA-3B, and both saw extensive service during the Vietnam War. An aerial refueling version was designated KA-3B. And a multi-mission version known as the EKA-3B could perform the dual role of electronic warfare and aerial refueling. The EA-3B had such a long service life that some participated in the Gulf War of 1991, but most were retired from active service by the end of that year. (US Navy photo)

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Short Take Off

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October 28, 1974 – The first flight of the Dassault-Breguet Super Étendard, an upgraded version of the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! strike fighter that first flew in 1958. The Super Étendard was essentially the same size as its predecessor, but it had more power, a more efficient wing, increased range, and the ability to carry nuclear weapons. The French Navy plans to retire all of their Super Étendards by 2016 and replace them with the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . (US Navy photo)

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October 28, 1972 – The first flight of the Airbus A300, the world’s first twin-engined widebody airliner. After entering service with Air France the A300 became the first airliner to be approved for extended operations over water ( !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ), a certification that had previously only been given to aircraft with more than two engines. Production of the A300 ceased in 2006, but the aircraft remains popular with freight carriers such as UPS and FedEx. (Photo by Steve Fitzgerald via !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! )

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October 29, 1998 – The launch of Space Shuttle Discovery , and the return to space of former astronaut John Glenn. Seventy-seven years old and a US Senator at the time of the his second trip to space, Glenn had previously piloted !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! on February 20, 1962, becoming the third person and the first American to orbit the Earth. Glenn’s return to space was controversial, with some seeing it as no more than a political favor. However, Glenn did perform useful scientific research during his nine days in orbit. (NASA photo)

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October 29, 1959 – The first flight of the Antonov An-24, a twin turboprop airliner that was designed to replace the aging !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! on short to medium range flights inside the Soviet Union. Like so many other Russian aircraft, the An-24 was designed to operate from rough or unimproved airstrips, and almost 1,400 were produced between 1959-1979, with some of those built under license in China. Both the civilian and military versions of the An-24 were !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! by a host of nations, and many remain in service today. (Photo by Gennady Misko via !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! )

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October 30, 1979 – The death of Sir Barnes Wallis at age 82, an English scientist, engineer and inventor known for his contributions to the British war effort in WWII. Wallis pioneered the use of !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! to strengthen British bombers such as the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , and designed the famous skipping bombs that were used in !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! to destroy dams in the Ruhr Valley in an attempt to cripple German military production and disrupt hydroelectric power generation. He also developed the 6-ton !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and 10-ton !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! bombs that were used against German U-boat pens and other hardened structures.

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If you enjoy these Aviation History posts, please let me know in the comments. And if you missed any of the past articles, you can find them all at !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

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RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > ttyymmnn 10/30/2015 at 12:45

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There’s an excellent set of Barnes Wallis exhibits at Brooklands, if you ever go there. The reason being Brooklands’ history with Vickers. I admire the man a great deal.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > ttyymmnn 10/30/2015 at 12:48

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I would imagine they would’ve had to strengthen it around the center as well for arrester hook landing as well, wouldn’t they? The Sabre was built in 2 parts (you can see the joint just ahead of the insignia) and they joined around the engine. Iirc on the Sabre there were only 4 bolts holding the sections together (easy maintenance) which was fine for the landplanes, but I would think the carrier landings would put a bit too much stress on it.

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > ttyymmnn 10/30/2015 at 15:47

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The rough field capabilities of the An-24 are fairly impressive.

ttyymmnn > You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much 10/30/2015 at 16:06

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Damn. That’s impressive. And terrifying.

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > ttyymmnn 10/30/2015 at 16:12

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Here is that takeoff or a similar takeoff from the passenger seat. The takeoff roll starts around 2:00 in, but you can’t see much. The taxiing gives you a pretty good idea of the mess that is the runway.

ttyymmnn > You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much 10/30/2015 at 16:14

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Calling that swamp a runway gives it too much credit.