"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
04/01/2015 at 10:00 • Filed to: planelopnik, planelopnik history
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"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
04/01/2015 at 10:00 • Filed to: planelopnik, planelopnik history | 5
| 9 |
This is today’s
Planelopnik History Speed Round
, getting you caught up on milestones and important historical events in aviation from March 28 to March 31.
March 28, 1981 – Air France flies its last Sud Aviation Caravelle service from Amsterdam to Paris . Introduced in 1955, the Caravelle was the first short to medium range airliner in the world, and one of the most successful European first-generation jetliners. Its aft-mounted engines and clean-wing design heavily influenced future airliner designs. 282 were built, and the Caravelle was finally retired for good in 2004.
March 28, 1931 – Boeing Air Transport, National Air Transport, Varney Airlines and Pacific Air Transport combine to form United Air Lines , providing transcontinental passenger and mail service. United is now the world’s largest airline when measured by the number of destinations it serves. In 1933, a cross-country flight in a Boeing 247 (above) took 20 hours.
March 29, 2001 – The Boeing X-32B Joint Strike Fighter Concept demonstration aircraft makes it’s maiden flight . The X-32 was the unsuccessful entrant in the Joint Strike Fighter competition, losing out to the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II.
March 29, 1960 – The first flight of the Tupolev Tu-124 . Introduced in 1962, the Tu-124 was the world’s first turbofan-powered jetliner and carried up to 56 passengers for short-range flights. A total of 164 were produced, serving mostly with the Soviet Union and its Eastern Bloc allies.
March 29, 1912 – Hanna Reitsch, German test pilot, is born . Reitsch was a test pilot for Nazi Germany, and the only woman to be awarded the Iron Cross First Class. She was a test pilot for the Junkers Ju 87 Stuka, the Dornier D0 17, and famously flew the Focke-Achgelis Fa 61, the first fully controllable helicopter, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! in Berlin in 1938. Reitsch died in 1979.
March 30, 1934 – The first flight of the Sikorsky S-42 . Designed by Igor Sikorsky and Charles Lindbergh, the S-42 served as a long-range, transoceanic flying boat exclusively for Pan Am on Pacific Ocean routes. Ten were built, and were given memorable, seafaring names such as “Flying Clipper” and “Pan Am Clipper.”
March 31, 1956 – The Douglas A3D Skywarrior enters service with the US Navy . Operating until 1991, the Skywarrior was one of the longest-serving carrier aircraft in history, and was also the heaviest aircraft to operate regularly from a carrier. Designed originally as a strategic bomber, the Skywarrior’s main role was as an electronic warfare or tactical air reconnaissance platform, as well as an aerial tanker. The US Air Force also operated the Skywarrior as the B-66 Destroyer.
MrPseudonym
> ttyymmnn
04/01/2015 at 10:05 |
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You know what's dumb: Boeing doesn't make more DreamLifters.
They have the largest cargo hold in the world! Add a couple engines, and you have something to compete with the An-225. They would sell so many of them!
Jayhawk Jake
> ttyymmnn
04/01/2015 at 10:06 |
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Still one of the prettiest jetliners of all time.
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Jayhawk Jake
> MrPseudonym
04/01/2015 at 10:08 |
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What makes you think they would sell that many of them?
The Antonov 225 doesn't even work enough to justify finishing a second one. There isn't much demand to carry cargo that large.
whoarder is tellurium
> ttyymmnn
04/01/2015 at 10:16 |
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14 years later... the JSF F35 program is still far from mission ready status.
Sorry, had to bring it up. Hah.
planelopnik ftw.
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ttyymmnn
> whoarder is tellurium
04/01/2015 at 10:20 |
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I wish Boeing had had it's act together on the X-32. They weren't quite ready for the competition. I always wondered, though, if the Pentagon brass went with the F-35 just because it looked more like a "normal" airplane. Same with the F-22 vs. the F-23. By some accounts, the F-23 was a better plane, but it didn't look "normal."
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ttyymmnn
> Jayhawk Jake
04/01/2015 at 10:21 |
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Gorgeous, and I find it's cockpit resembles the 787 rather strikingly.
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ttyymmnn
> Jayhawk Jake
04/01/2015 at 10:23 |
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Also, that Tu-24 is pretty sexy, too. Looks fast sitting still, even if it wasn't.
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whoarder is tellurium
> ttyymmnn
04/01/2015 at 10:29 |
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Yes I think both looks and contracts/politics had everything to do with it.
Also, due to the fact that all 3 forces (usaf, navy, usmc) have so many requirements from the start.. it's really like building 3 whole new aircraft at once.
I still like to believe that Boeing could've done a better job.
Also, the YF23 should have been spared as a bomber imo. Seems that's all we do now anyways.
Jcarr
> ttyymmnn
04/01/2015 at 10:36 |
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The F-23 was so much more attractive to my eye.