This Date in Planelopnik History: Speed Round

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn) 04/03/2015 at 10:00 • Filed to: planelopnik, planelopnik history

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Here is today's Planelopnik History Speed Round , getting you caught up on milestones and important historical events in aviation from the past few days.

April 1, 2001 – An American Lockheed EP-3 Aries II electronic surveillance plane collides with a Chinese Shenyang J-8IID fighter, leading to a diplomatic standoff between the two countries. Known as the Hainan Island Incident, the collision resulted in the death of the Chinese pilot, and the damaged Aries was forced to land on the Chinese island of Hainan. The American crew of 24 was held for 10 days before being released. The Chinese government would not allow the Aries to be flown off the island, so it was dismantled and flown out on a chartered Antonov An-124.

April 1, 1949 – The Boeing 377 Stratocruiser enters service with Pan American World Airways. The Stratocruiser was developed from the C-97 Stratofreighter, which itself was a derivative of the B-29 Superfortress. With two passenger decks and a pressurized cabin, it could carry up to 114 passengers. More expensive to operate than its rivals, and plagued by poor reliability from its Pratt & Whitney Wasp Major radial engines, only 55 were produced.

April, 1, 1948 – The first flight of the Convair XF-92. The world's first full delta-winged airplane to enter service , the XF-92 was conceived as an interceptor, though it was used purely as a research aircraft. Based on its work with the XF-92, Convair would use the delta-wing design successfully on future aircraft such as the F-102 Delta Dagger, F-106 Delta Dart, the B-58 Hustler and the F2Y Sea Dart.

April 1, 1939 – The first flight of the Mitsubishi A6M Zero . Introduced early in WWII, the Zero was one of the preeminent fighters in the world at the time, featuring long range and excellent maneuverability. In the early days of the war, the Zero enjoyed great success against inferior Allied fighters. By 1942, however, improved tactics and better aircraft allowed the Allies to fight the Zero on equal terms. The Zero was obsolete by 1944.

April 1, 1935 – The first flight of the North American T-6 Texan. The Texan served as an advanced trainer for pilots of the US Army Air Forces, as well as the US Navy, who gave it the designation SNJ. It was also flown by the Royal Air Force and other air forces of the British Commonwealth, where it was known as the Harvard. Rugged and powerful, the T-6 provided training in gunnery and formation flying until the early 1970s. Over 15,000 Texans were produced, and many are flying to this day.

April 3, 1933 – After encountering severe weather off the coast of New Jersey, the United States Navy airship USS Akron (ZRS-4) crashes into the Atlantic Ocean. Commissioned in October of 1931, the Akron was the world's first purpose-built flying aircraft carrier. Seventy-two crew members were lost in the crash, making it the largest loss of life in any airship crash. Among the dead was Rear Admiral William A. Moffett, a leading proponent of the use of airships. The loss of the Akron marked the beginning of the end for the use of airships by the Navy.

Jcarr > ttyymmnn 04/03/2015 at 10:08

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Funny that the Texan and the Zero share a first flight date (although years apart) since the T-6 is often used to simulate a Zero in airshow reenactments.

doodon2whls > ttyymmnn 04/03/2015 at 11:25

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In 1/4 Scale:

ttyymmnn > doodon2whls 04/03/2015 at 12:17

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Holy crap. I'd be afraid to fly that.