This Date in Planelopnik History: Speed Round

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn) 03/27/2015 at 12:00 • Filed to: planelopnik history, planelopik

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This is today’s Planelopnik History Speed Round , getting you caught up on milestones and important historical events in aviation from March 25 to March 27.

March 25, 1960 – The first flight of the rocket-powered, hypersonic X-15 , designed by NASA as a research craft to provide data used in aircraft and spacecraft design. The X-15 holds the world record for the highest speed ever reached by a manned, powered aircraft: 4,520 miles per hour (Mach 6.72).

March 25, 1955 – First flight of the Vought F-8 Crusader. The Crusader was the last American fighter armed with guns as its primary weapon, and was nicknamed “The Last of the Gunfighters.” The RF-8 reconnaissance version was instrumental in obtaining low-level photographs over Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

March 25, 1926 – Willie Messerschmitt forms the Messerschmitt Flugzeugbau GmbH. Messerschmitt is best known for his design of the iconic Bf 109 fighter, of which 35,000 were built. Messerschmitt also designed the world’s first jet-powered fighter to enter service, the Me 262.

March 26, 1950 – First flight of the Douglas A2D Skyshark . The Skyshark was a turboprop-powered attack plane built for the US Navy. While the Allison T40 engine provided twice the power of the Skyraider’s R3350 engine, problems with the development of the T40 doomed the Skyshark to cancellation.

March 26, 1940 – First flight of the Curtiss C-46 Commando . Dubbed the “Flying Whale,” the C-46 was the largest and heaviest twin-engine aircraft to see service in World War II, operating with both the US Army Air Force and the US Navy and Marine Corps. It served until 1968, and still flies today as a cargo plane, often providing service to remote or rugged destinations.

March 27, 2007 – The last Airbus A300 leaves the Airbus assembly line . Introduced in 1974 as the world’s first twin-engined wide-body airliner, almost 600 A300s were produced. While a handful remain in passenger service, the majority of those still flying are used for cargo.

March 27, 2004 – The X-43 pilotless plane breaks the world speed record for an atmospheric engine by briefly flying at 4,800 miles per hour, seven times the speed of sound . Powered first by a booster rocket, then a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! engine, the X-34 set an even greater speed record in November of 2004 when it reached 6,598 mph, more than nine times the speed of sound.

March 27, 1994 – The Eurofighter Typhoon takes its maiden flight . Designed as an air superiority, multi-role fighter by a consortium of European nations, the Typhoon entered service in 2003. It is flown by the Austrian Air Force, the Italian Air Force, the German Air Force, the Royal Air Force, the Spanish Air Force, and the Royal Saudi Air Force, and the Royal Air Force of Oman.

March 27, 1999 – A USAF Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk is shot down over Serbia during a bombing mission . Yugoslav forces discovered a way to track the F-117 by modifying their older radar systems, and downed the plane with a radar guided missile. The pilot ejected and was rescued by a US Air Force combat SAR team. The remains of the F-117 reside in a Serbian museum. ( Photo via !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! )

March 27, 1977 – KLM Flight 4805 and Pan Am Flight 1736, both Boeing 747s, collide on the runway at Los Rodeos Airport in !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . The two jets carried a total of 644 passengers and crew; 583 were killed. It remains the worst accident in the history of commercial aviation. The disaster had far reaching effects on the airline industry, leading to standardized terminology in air traffic communications and improvements in aircrew interaction, which ultimately led to the development of !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , now a global training standard for all air crews.

doodon2whls > ttyymmnn 03/27/2015 at 12:09

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WOW ! Busy couple of days in aviation history !

EL_ULY > ttyymmnn 03/27/2015 at 12:12

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I have a question for you about a plane I saw fly over my dealer really low and quick on monday

Gonemad > ttyymmnn 03/27/2015 at 12:16

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4 x 20mm autocannons. You don't want to be on the receiving side of this one.

Jcarr > ttyymmnn 03/27/2015 at 12:16

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Yesterday was the anniversary of the first flight of the B-36.

ttyymmnn > Jcarr 03/27/2015 at 12:16

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And I missed it? I'll add, if I have time.

ttyymmnn > EL_ULY 03/27/2015 at 12:17

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Okay. What's your question?

ttyymmnn > doodon2whls 03/27/2015 at 12:18

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Indeed! And apparently, I missed the first flight of the B-36.

Gonemad > ttyymmnn 03/27/2015 at 12:18

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No bird strikes on canopy for this one. No sir.

ttyymmnn > Jcarr 03/27/2015 at 12:19

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Hmm. Wiki places the first flight as 8 August 1946.

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > ttyymmnn 03/27/2015 at 12:23

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Fairey Delta 2- First airplane to break 1,000 mph. (10 March 1956).

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > ttyymmnn 03/27/2015 at 12:26

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Worth note on this one that what gives people fits on the name of this plane is that it started out with the Bayerische Flugzeugwerke before they went "Oh, hell, it's Willy's place - just change the name". So, technically, BF109 and ME109 are most correct depending on when the stinking thing was built - and they did build a lot of them. Highest production military aircraft ever, or it was at one time IIRC.

Jcarr > ttyymmnn 03/27/2015 at 12:27

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My mistake, 3/26 was the first flight of the D-model prototype with the 4 jet engines added.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > ttyymmnn 03/27/2015 at 12:29

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The adjustable angle of attack on these things is great, and they have enough thrust that at least once one was able to take off with the wingtips folded (by accident). Swing-wing is fine and all, but doesn't give you a good view of the deck.

ttyymmnn > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 03/27/2015 at 12:29

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Thanks for clearing that up. I always wondered why the different prefixes, but never bothered to look it up. I'm not exactly sure which one is pictured. I took a color shot from the web and make it BW to match the pic of Willy.

ttyymmnn > Gonemad 03/27/2015 at 12:30

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Will it blend?

EL_ULY > ttyymmnn 03/27/2015 at 12:35

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It looked like this. Odd sound. It was the size of a standard little airliner that would take you from Austin to Atlanta.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > ttyymmnn 03/27/2015 at 12:36

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If I'm not mistaken (been a long time since I read about it), Willy's original venture went tits up and he was slumming it at BF at the time. Worth noting is that they were never, ever meant to carry as heavy an armament as they ended up with - the airframe was predicated on fighter-fighter combat based on "interwar period, but better". That's why they added the wing guns late in development and had to do weird things to get the ammo belts to feed - the wing root wasn't really big enough. You'll also notice on a picture of one landing that the gear is fuselage-mounted for extra strength - but in practice poor visibility and narrow gear is a bad combination. Willy built it as an agile bantamweight, but the very first combat they saw was almost in more of a CAP role in the Spanish civil war, so yeah...

Of note there, actually, is that they were still fighting with getting the guns right, so the wing guns on those in Spain, IIRC were dummied up.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > EL_ULY 03/27/2015 at 12:45

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beechcraf… Try that.

ttyymmnn > EL_ULY 03/27/2015 at 12:51

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Sounds like a Beechcraft Starship .

EL_ULY > ttyymmnn 03/27/2015 at 12:58

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I didn't see propellers. Just 2 square, boxy things on each side. Also, it was a lot more triangle like the Typhoon or my precise drawing. It was all white.

ttyymmnn > EL_ULY 03/27/2015 at 13:04

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Well, you got me. You're sure it was a delta wing, you don't think it had propellers, it had a canard on the front, it was white. Do you think it was bigger or about the same size as the Starship pictured above?

EL_ULY > ttyymmnn 03/27/2015 at 13:08

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seemed bigger that the Starship and more triangle. It flew clear as the day was right over us (near downtown Houston) It wasn't a low flight but enough to where I can judge its size and details. She was a tad smaller than an Embraer 190 I would say. Couldn't see any tail on it from underneath passed the rear. Those 2 square things where the furthest things sticking out from the rear. It sounded sooo odd.

ttyymmnn > EL_ULY 03/27/2015 at 13:44

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OPPO FP is blowing up with your plane mystery.

Gonemad > ttyymmnn 03/27/2015 at 14:04

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If we go by Boeing standard tests on turbines, yes it will.

Or this lucky F-16 pilot. Look how it blended with the canopy in an uniform shade of red, despite the cracks. There would be no cracks, though.

Bleargh.

EL_ULY > ttyymmnn 03/27/2015 at 14:40

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oh dang lol, let me check it out. FYI, i just got back from lunch and the were some ooold school bombers flying around. Again, this is very close to downtown Houston. Over by Ellington, there is always odd things in the sky, but not in the city