This Date in Aviation History: Speed Round

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn) 06/02/2015 at 10:05 • Filed to: planelopnik, planelopnik history

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This is today’s Aviation History Speed Round , getting you caught up on milestones and important historical events in aviation from May 30 through June 2.

May 30, 2003 – The final commercial flight of the Air France Concorde. The Concorde was a marvel of its age, whisking passengers across the Atlantic Ocean in about three hours while a traditional subsonic airliner took seven to eight hours. But from a business standpoint, the Concorde rarely turned a profit. The engines consumed huge amounts of fuel, and the noise of the aircraft limited the number of airports that would accept them. And while some elite passengers were willing to spend roughly $6000 for their seat, the plane only carried 128 passengers in its slender fuselage, while a 747-100 would normally carry about 366. The death knell for the Concorde sounded on July 25, 2000, when an Air France Concorde crashed after departure from Charles de Gaulle Airport, killing all 100 passengers and crew, plus 4 on the ground. While the Concorde did fly again, its days were numbered, and the plane was completely retired from service in 2003. (Photo by Alexander Jonsson via !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! )

May 30, 1974 – The Airbus A300 enters service with Air France. In 1966, American Airlines executive Frank Kolk stated a requirement for a new airliner to replace the Boeing 727, one that would seat up to 300 passengers in a twin-aisle configuration and use only two engines as opposed to three or four. Airbus, a consortium of European aerospace manufacturers, offered the A300, which took its maiden flight in September of 1972, and became the world’s first twin-engined wide-body airliner. Unlike traditional aircraft manufacturing, where the entire airliner is manufactured in one place, Airbus pioneered the process of “just-in-time” aircraft manufacturing, where different elements of the A300 were produced by partners around Europe, with assembly taking place in Toulouse, France. In 1977, the A300 became the first airliner to be ETOPS compliant, meaning that it was approved for extended operations over water, 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!!! )

May 30, 1958 – The first flight of the Douglas DC-8. At the end of WWII, aviation was on the cusp of the jet age. And while early jet designs such as the de Havilland Comet were showing some success, Douglas was still committed to the piston engine, with great commercial success, starting with the DC-2 in 1934 and continuing through the DC-7. By 1952, Douglas began studying the idea of a jet transport, hoping to get a share of an Air Force tanker contract, but that went entirely to Boeing with their design that would become the 707/KC-135. Despite the loss of the contract Douglas continued with their plans, and the DC-8 was announced in 1955. The airliner entered service with Delta and United in 1959, but Douglas’ refusal to offer the DC-8 in different lengths and configurations led to reduced orders. While the DC-8 was faster than the 707 (a DC-8 broke the sound barrier in a dive in 1961), and could carry slightly more cargo, airlines preferred the flexibility of the 707, and DC-8 orders dropped. Douglas eventually relented, and started offering stretched variants, but they never did catch up to the 707 in total sales. Ultimately, 556 DC-8s were produced in a varying configurations. And while the 707 has been retired from commercial service (with some exceptions), about 35 DC-8s continue to fly as cargo carriers.

June 1, 1953 – The US Air Force Thunderbirds are activated. The Thunderbirds trace their lineage back to the first Air Force demonstration squadron, the Acrojets,flying the Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star and based at the USAF Fighter School at Williams AFB in Arizona. The Acrojets were disbanded in 1950 with the onset of the Korean War. At about the same time, another demonstration team, the Skyblazers, entertained crowds in Europe from their base at Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base in Germany. Two members of the Skyblazers would go on to form the nucleus of the Thunderbirds, which was formed in 1953 as the 3600th Air Demonstration Team at Luke AFB in Arizona. The team takes its name from a legendary bird found in native North American cultures, and the current livery reflects traditional Native American imagery of the Thunderbird. The Thunderbird’s first aircraft was the Republic F-84G Thunderjet, and they have since transitioned through most frontline USAF fighters, and currently perform in the Lockheed Martin (formerly General Dynamics) F-16 Fighting Falcon.

June 1, 1939 – The first flight of the Focke-Wulf 190. Two years before the outbreak of WWII, the German Air Ministry requested a new fighter that would complement the Messerschmitt Bf 109 out of concerns that newer allied designs might surpass the abilities of their current frontline fighter that first flew in 1935. For the new fighter, designer Kurt Tank chose a radial engine, a powerplant that was not widely used by European designers at the time, as they believed that the bulky engine would have a negative impact on aerodynamics and speed. But Tank saw the success of American radial engine designs and was convinced that radials could be used effectively. The choice of a radial would also eliminate the competition for the inline engines needed for Bf 109 production. The Fw 190 entered service with the Luftwaffe over France in 1941, and its performance proved to be superior in most ways to to the RAF’s frontline Spitfire Mk. V, and it maintained that superiority until the introduction of an improved Spitfire in 1942. The only drawback of the original Fw 190 was its high-altitude performance, but that was rectified in 1944 with the D model, when the radial engine was swapped for a Junkers Jumo 213 inline engine. Over 20,000 Fw 190s were produced, and served the Luftwaffe until the end of the war.

June 2, 1948 – The Convair B-36 Peacemaker enters service. The idea for an intercontinental bomber capable of reaching Europe from North America was first considered prior to America’s entry into WWII amid concerns that England might fall to the Germans and make forward staging of bombers impossible. The Peacemaker was developed with this mission in mind, and while it came too late to see service in WWII, the B-36 formed the backbone of the Strategic Air Command’s nuclear deterrent force in the 1950s, though it never dropped a bomb or fired a shot in combat. The Peacemaker was mainly used for reconnaissance missions, where its ceiling of 50,000 feet was thought to be impervious to antiaircraft missiles, and its 10,000 mile range allowed it to probe the edges of Soviet airspace. Typical training missions were flown in segments of 24 and 40 hours, and with additional fuel tanks, single reconnaissance missions of up to 50 hours were possible. Maintenance of the huge bomber was a serious chore. With six engines, each having 56 spark plugs, major engine service required the changing of 336 spark plugs, usually out in the elements, since the B-36 was too large to fit in a hangar. The B-36 began to be phased out in 1956 in favor of the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, and of the 384 Peacemakers produced, all but five were scrapped by 1959, the rest going to museums.

Short Take Off

May 30, 1972 – The first flight of the Northrop YA-9 , the unsuccessful contender to the Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II in the Air Force A-X competition.

May 30, 1971 – The NASA space probe Mariner 9 launches from Cape Kennedy on a mission to Mars, becoming the first man-made spacecraft to orbit another planet.

May 30, 1942 – The first 1000-bomber raid on Germany. Dubbed Operation Millennium , it was hoped that the attack on Cologne would destroy both German industry and morale and hasten the end of the war. Neither goal was achieved.

May 30, 1912 – Wilbur Wright dies of typhoid fever. Wilbur and his brother Orville are credited with flying the world’s first successful airplane in 1903. Wilbur Wright was 45.

May 31, 1946 – London Heathrow Airport opens. Today, LHR is the busiest airport in the UK, and both the busiest in Europe and the third busiest in the world based on passenger traffic. In 2014, 73.4 million passengers passed through the airport.

June 1, 1948 – The first flight of the Cessna 170. Produced between 1948-1956, the 170 helped popularize civilian aviation. Over 5000 aircraft were produced, and more than 2000 remain flying today.

June 2, 1910 – Charles Rolls becomes the first man to make a non-stop, double crossing of the English Channel. Rolls would later partner with Henry Royce to form the Rolls-Royce automobile manufacturing company, but he would also be the first Briton killed in an airplane accident when his Wright Model A broke and crashed in 1910.

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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!!! .

All photos are Public Domain or taken by the author unless otherwise credited.

Racescort666 > ttyymmnn 06/02/2015 at 10:25

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You can use my FW-190 and Concorde pics if you'd like. Actually, any of my aircraft pics you can use.

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > ttyymmnn 06/02/2015 at 10:59

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I never knew they made a V-12 powered version of the Fw-190. They look strange with the long nose.

ttyymmnn > Racescort666 06/02/2015 at 11:03

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I love that pano shot of the Concorde. My family is going back to DC next month, and I hope to spend a few hours at the Udvar-Hazy Center.

ttyymmnn > You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much 06/02/2015 at 11:14

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If you think that’s weird, check out this one. It’s the Fw 190D, modified for high altitude work against bombers. Longer wingspan, pressurized cockpit, inverted V-12 engine. The front of the plane still looks like a radial because the put an annular radiator ahead of the engine.

user314 > ttyymmnn 06/02/2015 at 14:22

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And a little more than four years later, a B-36H based at Carswell Air Force Base lost its forward fuselage to a tornado, and was rebuilt into the NB-36H , which carried (but was not powered by) a nuclear reactor.

ttyymmnn > user314 06/02/2015 at 14:34

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They sure made the cockpit look better with that B-36N. And the all-jet powered YB-60 is a pretty damned good looking airplane too. They only ever built one, though. The B-52 was too good.

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > ttyymmnn 06/02/2015 at 14:38

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I assume the pic I tagged is the radial powered version. Wikipedia has some pics of the V12 powered variant and the nose looks strange, more like the pic in your reply.

ttyymmnn > You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much 06/02/2015 at 14:41

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I believe it is a radial in the article photo. Wiki identifies it as a Fw 190A. Note that you don’t see any exhaust pipes coming out of the cowling as you do in the 190D.