This Date in Aviation History Speed Round: September 12 - September 15

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn) 09/15/2015 at 11:35 • 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 September 12 through September 15.

September 12, 1945 – The first flight of the Northrop XP-79B. In many ways, Jack Northrop was an aircraft designer who was too far ahead of his time. His giant !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! flying wing bomber was a radical departure from traditional aircraft of the day, and came close to being adopted by the Air Force. His vision would come to fruition in 1989 with the flight of the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . But the YB-49 was not Northrop’s first foray into an aircraft that was all wing. Following the discovery of German rocket-powered designs during WWII, Northrop was the first American designer to actively pursue a fighter that used liquid-fuel rocket power. In late 1942, Northrop developed a small flying-wing fighter, and in the following year, orders were placed for three prototypes and given the designation XP-79. Not only was the design radical, but new techniques of metal fabrication were developed, including methods of welding magnesium, and the prone position of the pilot meant that he could withstand 21 g’s in flight. Just two months after the order was placed for the rocket planes, the decision was made to substitute two Westinghouse turbojets for the rockets, with the jet-powered version given the designation XP-79B. The magnesium construction of the airframe made for a very strong aircraft, and some thought was given to using it as an aerial battering ram, with the wings used to slice wings and tails off of enemy bombers. More traditional armament of .50 caliber machine guns was also planned. Ground testing proved troublesome, but the XP-79B eventually took to the air on September 12, 1945. However, upon reaching 7000 ft the aircraft started a roll from which the pilot, Harry Crosby, could not recover. He bailed out of the aircraft, but was struck by the turning wing and was unable to open his parachute and died. The XP-79 crashed and was consumed by a fire that was in part fueled by its magnesium structure. Soon after, the second prototype, and the entire program, were cancelled. (US Army Air Force photo)

September 14, 1939 – The first flight of the Sikorsky VS-300. The idea for vertical flight goes all the way back to 400 BC, when Chinese children played with toys that had a wing on a stick that could be spun in their hands. The first design for a vertical flying machine can be found in the works of the Renaissance artist and engineer Leonardo da Vinci. Ever since those earliest times, the dream of vertical flight has been chased by aircraft designers, but it was not until Igor Sikorsky developed his VS-300 that the dream became a reality. Other designers at the time had made strides, particularly with autogyros and hybrid aircraft designs, but it was Sikorsky who is credited with creating the helicopter as we know it today. The VS-300 went through numerous configurations, particularly in the tail rotor, before Sikorsky settled on the single, vertical tail rotor to control aircraft yaw and negate the torque produced by the main rotor, with a cyclic control that tilted the spinning rotor disc to impart motion in a desired direction. In order to test his design safely, Sikorsky took a series of tethered flights, with the first liftoff taking place on September 13, 1939. Following refinements to the control system, the first untethered flight took place in May of the following year. Where other designers had used multiple engines to power the two (or more) rotors of their helicopters, the VS-300 was the first in the US to use a single lifting rotor, the first to use a single vertical tail rotor, and the first to use a single engine to power them both. The system of controls that Sikorsky developed has become the standard control system on most helicopters to this day. Sikorsky later developed the VS-300 into the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , which was purchased by the US Army and became the world’s first mass produced helicopter.

September 15, 1991 – The first flight of the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III. Napoleon Bonaparte famously said, “An army marches on its stomach,” meaning that without food and supplies, an army goes nowhere. The entire history of warfare has revolved around getting supplies to the army, no matter how far from home it is. The airplane made that task significantly easier, and as the US Air Force looked at the logistics problem in the 1970s, they knew they needed a cargo jet that could haul more goods farther but also land on shorter, rougher runways. The Air force created a set of requirements as part of its Advanced Medium STOL Transport program (AMST), and evaluated two designs, the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Both aircraft took design cues from the Lockheed C-130 Hercules, having a high, straight wing with two or four engines and a raised tail to allow cargo loading in the rear. However, the AMST program was canceled before a winner was chosen, and it wasn’t until 1980 that the Air Force revisited the concept, now designated the C-X program, but with new requirements that included the necessity for midair refueling capability. McDonnell Douglas updated their earlier YC-15 design, and their aircraft was chosen by the Air Force and given the designation C-17. The name Globemaster III reflects two earlier airlifters that carried the name, the Douglas !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . And it seems that the Air Force’s decision to wait has paid off. During testing, the C-17 set 33 world records, including a record for STOL capability in which a C-17 took off in less than 1400 ft, carried a payload of 44,000 pounds to altitude, and then landed in less than 1400 ft. In 1998, the C-17 was awarded the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! for achievement in aeronautics. 279 Globemaster IIIs were built before production ended in May 2015, and they serve the US Air Force, the RAF, the RAAF and the Indian Air Force. (US Air Force photo)

Short Take Off

September 12, 1971 – The first flight of the Bede BD-5. The BD-5 was part of a series of homebuilt aircraft developed by Jim Bede. Initially powered by a propeller, the BD-5J introduced a Sermel TRS-18-046 turbojet engine, and held the Guinness World Record for the smallest jet aircraft for 20 years. The diminutive BD-5J also appeared in the James Bond movie Octopussy in 1983. (Photo by Steve Fitzgerald via !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! )

September 12, 1934 – The first flight of the Gloster Gladiator. The last biplane fighter to be fielded by the RAF in WWII, and quickly rendered obsolete by newer monoplane designs, the Gladiator was still flown with good effect and saw action in almost every theater of the European war. (UK Government Photo)

September 12, 1916 – The first flight of the Hewitt-Sperry Automatic Airplane. Designed in part by Elmer Sperry, who developed the world’s first autopilot system in 1912, the Automatic Airplane was controlled by radio signal and stabilized by a gyroscope of Sperry’s design. The Navy hoped to load the airplane with explosives, making what is essentially the world’s first cruise missile, though it never undertook such a mission.

September 13, 1994 – The first flight of the Airbus Beluga. Developed from an Airbus A300-600 airliner, the Beluga was created to transport parts and structures of Airbus airplanes to their final assembly point in France, Germany or Spain. Originally called the Super Transporter, the Beluga is slated to be replaced by a larger aircraft, called the Beluga XL, in 2020. (Photo by Laurent ERRERA from L’Union, France via !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! )

September 13, 1986 – The first flight of the Piaggio P.180 Avanti, an Italian-made business aircraft notable for its use of twin turboprop engines in a pusher configuration, while also employing a traditional tail and forward canards. The Avanti can up to 9 passengers at a cruising speed of 458 mph. (Photo by Tibboh via !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! )

September 14, 2003 – The crash of USAF Thunderbird No. 6 at Mountain Home AFB. Immediately after takeoff, Thunderbirds pilot Captain Chris Stricklin attempted a Split S maneuver after incorrectly entering the mean-sea-level of the air base into his altimeter. Coming out of the maneuver too low, Stricklin ejected two-tenths of a second before impact and suffered only minor injuries. His aircraft was destroyed. Following the crash investigation, procedures for the Split S were changed to add 1000 ft more altitude before attempting the maneuver. Annotated video of the crash can be found !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Video with pilot radio can be found !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . (US Air Force photo)

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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!!! .

Unless otherwise credited, all photos are, or are believed to be, Public Domain, ownership could not be determined, or were taken by the author.

ttyymmnn > ttyymmnn 09/14/2015 at 16:50

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British author Roald Dahl , himself an RAF pilot, fighter ace and wing commander during WWII, had this to day about the Gloster Gladiator:

Those old Gladiators aren’t made of stressed steel like a Hurricane or a Spit. They have taut canvas wings, covered with magnificently inflammable dope, and underneath there are hundreds of small thin sticks, the kind you put under the logs for kindling, only these are drier and thinner. If a clever man said, ‘I am going to build a big thing that will burn better and quicker than anything else in the world,’ and if he applied himself diligently to his task, he would probably finish up by building something very like a Gladiator.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > ttyymmnn 09/15/2015 at 11:38

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Jim Bede died back in July. Quite an interesting legacy he left.

Jcarr > ttyymmnn 09/15/2015 at 11:41

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Nice quote I read recently about Jack and the B-2:

By 1981, Jack Northrop’s health and personal finances were failing. Confined to a wheel chair and unable to speak, the Air Force briefed him on their new, highly classified, Northrop-built B-2 Spirit bomber. Built in a flying wing configuration and incorporating many of Jack Northrop’s design innovations, the B-2 has evolved into the most capable bomber in aviation history. Upon seeing the drawings and a scale model of the aircraft, Northrop reportedly wrote on a sheet of paper in a shaky, feeble hand, “Now I know why God has kept me alive for 25 years.” Ten months later he was dead.

ttyymmnn > Jcarr 09/15/2015 at 11:42

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I’m so glad he got to see it.

MonkeePuzzle > ttyymmnn 09/15/2015 at 11:48

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pushers, so weird. they just FEEL wrong.

look good though. like the sort of thing an evil genius would have to ferry him to his volcano island lair

ttyymmnn > MonkeePuzzle 09/15/2015 at 11:50

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The Avanti is also a very, very loud airplane. It makes a very distinctive sound.

MonkeePuzzle > ttyymmnn 09/15/2015 at 11:51

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“even before he left the ground the accident sequence had begun”

the annotated video is fascinating, and well worth the ~3 minute watch

MonkeePuzzle > ttyymmnn 09/15/2015 at 11:52

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how particularly unpleasant for a business jet

ttyymmnn > MonkeePuzzle 09/15/2015 at 11:55

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Indeed. And the one with the radio is interesting when you hear the team get the “Thunderbirds knock it off” call, and hear all the jets report in (except for No. 6).

ttyymmnn > MonkeePuzzle 09/15/2015 at 11:57

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That’s the thing about most aviation accidents. Barring a single catastrophic event, such as a bomb, most accidents are a sequence of related events, a chain that can be broken at any point in the sequence. That’s why inspections and maintenance are so important.

ttyymmnn > MonkeePuzzle 09/15/2015 at 11:58

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I can’t imagine it’s all that bad on the inside, though. Otherwise, they wouldn’t sell.

Jayhawk Jake > ttyymmnn 09/15/2015 at 12:34

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This thing was insane. Who needs guns when you can just ram enemy bombers out of the sky?

ttyymmnn > Jayhawk Jake 09/15/2015 at 12:57

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Yeah, but is that really a practical idea?

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > ttyymmnn 09/15/2015 at 13:05

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Little bit of trivia I really like:

If it weren't for the C-5 competion we wouldn't have the 747 design. Without Juan Trippe, Boeing's C-5 would never have been converted to passenger use. Without the 747 showing the way, widebody jets wouldn't have showed up for a lot longer.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > ttyymmnn 09/15/2015 at 13:07

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On the other hand, in competent hands it was a remarkable plane.

ttyymmnn > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer 09/15/2015 at 13:18

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It was, and it fought well, long after it should have been retired. It shows sort of an interesting overlap between the end of the biplane era and the beginning of the monoplane era.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > ttyymmnn 09/15/2015 at 13:23

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Wasn't the Gladiator part of the same competition as the Hurricane, and put into production because it could be ready sooner? I feel like I'm muddling up my facts here...

ttyymmnn > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer 09/15/2015 at 13:34

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I did not come across any mention of such a competition. I’m pretty sure the Hurricane was an in-house project to develp a monoplane fighter (it was Hawker’s first), and while it flew just one year after the Glad’s first flight, the Hurry was a nascent project while the Glad was at the end of an era. The Hurricane, however, was pushed into production ahead of the more advanced Spitfire, as war was looming and the RAF was concerned that the Spit was more complex and couldn’t be produced fast enough. At that point, they needed quantity more than quality, and the Hurry and the Glad held their own. Interestingly, though, both the Hurricane and the Gladiator entered service in 1937.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > ttyymmnn 09/15/2015 at 13:44

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Found what I was looking for. Not a competition as such, but the Gladiator II was updated to meet Secification F.36/37 and entered service in 1937. The Hurricane was built to meet F.36/34, so they were built to meet the same requirements. I believe (sort of guessing), based on the fact that the Gladiator II was designed in 1937 (got into service the same year since it was just a redesign) and the Hurricane design was from 1934 (clean sheet) that the last numbers refer to the year.

ttyymmnn > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer 09/15/2015 at 13:48

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I should hire you as a fact checker. Thanks for the info.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > ttyymmnn 09/15/2015 at 13:49

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NP, I like digging :)

The Powershift in Steve's '12 Ford Focus killed it's TCM (under warranty!) > ttyymmnn 09/15/2015 at 13:56

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One of these flew over my fiance’s house last time I was there. The sound was distinctive, even compared to other turboprops, and of course it looked like a UFO. It’s a pity very few other aircraft have been built in this configuration.

ttyymmnn > The Powershift in Steve's '12 Ford Focus killed it's TCM (under warranty!) 09/15/2015 at 14:02

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Honestly, I’m surprised there aren’t more pusher planes out there. The Beech Starship was a commercial dud, the unducted fan never took off (commercially). For general aviation, it gets the dangerous props out of the way of the passengers. I’d like to know if there is a sound aeronautical reason behind their lack of popularity, beyond the fact that they just aren’t “standard.”

Jayhawk Jake > ttyymmnn 09/15/2015 at 14:50

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Absolutely not. Given the time frame though it may not have seemed like a bad idea. No need to rely on weapons or carry ammunition

Jayhawk Jake > ttyymmnn 09/15/2015 at 14:53

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Because it puts the propellers in a bad spot if they fail. We can move passengers around so the blade doesn’t hit anyone if it breaks, but we can’t move hydraulic or electric lines as easily in the tailcone. Jets have the same issue (rotor non containment) but the pieces are bigger for a propellor.

The other issue is the sound. Pushers are LOUD. Not only are they loud, but the vibrations introduce some fatigue issues to the airframe.

The unducted fan never took off for commercial reasons. Passengers want to fly on a jet, the UDF looks like a prop plane (to consumers). They also had noise issues, though I believe that's been pretty well sorted out. They could make a comeback someday

Cé hé sin > ttyymmnn 09/15/2015 at 14:54

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There are five Belugas, which imaginatively are named 1,2,3,4 and 5.

We can take it that this one is 3.

ttyymmnn > Cé hé sin 09/15/2015 at 15:00

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The Europeans can be a rather precise lot.

ttyymmnn > Jayhawk Jake 09/15/2015 at 15:02

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Thanks for the detailed answer. But my next question: Why are pushers louder?

ttyymmnn > Jayhawk Jake 09/15/2015 at 15:08

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From my reading, though, it seems like the idea of a flying machete was more of an afterthought, as the magnesium construction was a concession to the rigors of rocket power and the corrosive effects of the fuel. It would be interesting, though, so see if it would have worked. I don’t think I would have wanted to be the test pilot on that flight.

Jayhawk Jake > ttyymmnn 09/15/2015 at 15:49

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It’s pretty simple: they’re spinning in turbulent air. Instead of seeing clean free stream airflow they see dirty air coming off the wing and fuselage.

I believe they also create some odd airflows when interacting with the trailing edge of the wing which makes them vibrate fore and aft. This is what gives the P180 it's very distinctive sound

ttyymmnn > Jayhawk Jake 09/15/2015 at 16:12

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Makes sense. Thanks!

facw > ttyymmnn 09/15/2015 at 18:33

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I’m really glad the Northrop N-1 survived given that so few other flying wings did:

Will be interested to see what their Ho 229 looks like once it is restored (though it sounds like they are mainly trying to stabilize it, rather than doing a full restoration):

Chteelers > ttyymmnn 09/16/2015 at 08:46

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Good thing you have a hat. Wouldn’t want your hair to get mussed.

ttyymmnn > Chteelers 09/16/2015 at 08:52

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That’s Igor Sikorsky himself. He did all the test flights of his helicopters, looking dapper in suit, tie and fedora.

Chteelers > ttyymmnn 09/16/2015 at 09:06

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This man has just become a new hero of mine. That picture is everything cool.

Gonemad > ttyymmnn 09/16/2015 at 12:17

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It looks like a larger jet, like a F-15, where the cockpit was cut off. Can’t unsee.

Gonemad > ttyymmnn 09/16/2015 at 12:28

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I got its named mixed with the Gloster Meteor... that was used to bump into wings of V1’s.

I still can’t believe that part, that it was safer to screw a V1 guidance by bumping into the wings than just shoot them.

ttyymmnn > Gonemad 09/16/2015 at 12:48

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The Spitfire also had the speed to catch up and tip V-1. I guess with those things just flying straight and level, it was easier to tip than to shoot. Saves ammo, at the least.

sunnydaysam > ttyymmnn 09/17/2015 at 08:29

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I remember reading that the reason the Spits wouldn’t shoot a V-1 is because the resulting huge explosion would take them down too.

ttyymmnn > sunnydaysam 09/17/2015 at 08:40

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I hadn’t heard that, but it makes sense.