This Date in Aviation History: May 11 - May 13

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn) 05/13/2016 at 12:35 • Filed to: planelopnik, planelopnik history

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Welcome to This Date in Aviation History , getting you caught up on milestones, important historical events and people in aviation from May 11 - May 13.

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May 13, 1949 – The first flight of the English Electric Canberra. The history of aviation is marked by incredibly rapid technological development. Following the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! First Flight in 1903, it took only 44 years for !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! to break the sound barrier in the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Then !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! set foot on the Moon just 22 years later. Aircraft that are cutting edge technology when they take their first flight are regularly eclipsed by newer designs in only a few years, and some are obsolete the first time they turn a wheel. But a handful of aircraft have proven to be so rugged, so reliable, and so adaptable to changing mission requirements that they reached and surpassed the remarkable milestone of 50 years of active service. The English Electric Canberra was one of them. The Canberra arose from an Air Ministry requirement for a bomber to replace the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , a piston-powered, multi-role fighter bomber that served with distinction during WWII. Though several well established manufacturers made proposals, English Electric was named a finalist, even though they had a very sparse history of aircraft manufacture. Up to that point, their entire experience was producing the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! bombers under license during the war. But English Electric took cues from de Havilland and adopted the design ethos of the Mosquito—put the most powerful engines available into the lightest, most aerodynamic airframe you can design and provide the greatest possible space for weaponry. They produced an aerodynamically clean airframe airframe with no fuselage protrusions, and powered the bomber with two !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! turbojet engines mounted inside the large wings. Though designers considered swept wings, they chose instead to use wings that tapered outboard of the engine nacelles, since its mission requirements did not call for great speed, and maneuverability was considered of greater importance. In some regards, the Canberra actually resembled a scaled up !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . The Air Ministry ordered four prototypes, and, by the time the first prototype made its first flight, orders had already been placed for 132 aircraft. And despite their lack of experience, English Electric produced an aircraft that was so easy to fly that new pilots required only twenty of hours of jet training on the Meteor followed by a mere three hours of training in the dual-control Canberra trainer. The Canberra entered service with the Royal Air Force in 1951 and quickly became a very effective platform, capable of outrunning contemporary jet fighters until the introduction of the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . While the Canberra had been envisioned as a tactical nuclear bomber, early nuclear bombs were too large for it to carry, and early variants of the bomber suffered from relatively short range. Therefore, initial missions included tactical conventional bombing and reconnaissance. By 1957, changes in nuclear bomb design finally allowed the Canberra to take on the tactical nuclear attack mission, and bombers were soon stationed in Germany, Cyprus and Singapore to serve as a nuclear deterrent to the Soviet Union. The Canberra also became a popular export aircraft, and when the US Air Force found themselves in dire need of a tactical bomber in Korea, they took the rare move of adopting the British-designed Canberra as the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , with the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! building and modifying just over 400 bombers. The B-57 would earn the distinction of being the first American jet bomber to drop bombs in combat. As a testament to the Canberra’s adaptability, no less than 27 variants were produced, plus 7 variants developed by Martin. The Canberra has also proven to be an excellent research aircraft, and though the USAF retired their B-57s by 1983, NASA still operates 3 WB-57Fs for high-altitude research, earth science and mapping missions. The Royal Air Force retired their last Canberras in 2006 after a remarkable service life of 59 years. (Photo via !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! )

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May 12, 1936 – The first flight of the Messerschmitt Bf 110 Zerstörer . When Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933, he already had his sights set on expanding German territory, and he immediately set about rebuilding the German air force which had been dismantled by terms of the Treaty of Versailles following WWI. Though international development of the single-seat fighter had been proceeding, short range was becoming the Achilles heel of fighters of the pre-WWII era. In an effort to make a flying fighting machine with greater range, designers began to consider twin-engine designs that could offer greater range, with the added benefit of greater firepower. In 1935, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! was appointed as the head of the fledgling !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and became a vocal champion for the concept of the Kampfzerstörer (battle destroyer), a heavily armed aircraft that theoretically could smash through enemy fighter screens while also providing protection for larger bombers. Focke-Wulf, Henschel, Arado and Messerschmitt (the Bf 110 is often incorrectly referred to as the Me 110; “Bf” comes from Bayerische Flugzeugwerke , where !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! was chief designer) submitted prototypes for the new fighter-bomber, and even though Messerschmitt omitted the internal bomb bay in order to increase range and speed, his design was selected the winner. Though it wasn’t the most maneuverable aircraft, its high speed allowed it to outrun the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! fighter variants in service at the time. Initially, the Zerstörer was produced in three basic variants: The B-1, which was armed with four 7.92 mm !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! machine guns and two 20mm !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! cannons; the B-2 reconnaissance version, which replaced the two cannons with cameras while keeping the machine guns; and the B-3, which served as a trainer. The cannons in the B-3 were also removed to make way for more radio equipment. Though the Bf 110 was fast for its time, and had good range, Luftwaffe planners knew that it would not last long given the pace of aircraft development. Even as Bf 110s were taking part in the invasion of Poland at the outbreak of the war in 1939, its successor, the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , was ready for flight. However, the Me 210 suffered from serious teething problems, particularly with its aerodynamics, and was never produced in significant numbers. The Bf 110 was forced to soldier on throughout the war, where its weaknesses quickly became apparent. Though it served effectively in the Polish, Norwegian and French campaigns, the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! proved that the Zerstörer was by no means a fighter, and it suffered bitterly as its pilots tried to protect German bombers attacking England. It was entirely unable to dogfight with the more agile !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , and its single defensive machine gun proved to be ineffective in fending off attackers. Though these weaknesses were mitigated by tactics such as diving on unsuspecting fighters from high altitude, the Kampfzerstörer concept proved effective only on paper. On August 15, 1940, in one day of combat, almost 30 Bf 110s were lost, and 23 more were lost over the next two days. But despite these difficulties, the Bf 110's days were not over. While it was eventually withdrawn from daylight fighting, the advent of the aerial !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! meant that Bf 11os could now be turned into potent night fighters, and it would become the primary weapon of the German Nachtjagdgeschwader (night fighter wing). To deal with incoming British bombers, some night-fighting 110s were armed with upward firing twin cannons, nicknamed !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Since the British bombers had no ventral turret, the 110s would fly underneath the unsuspecting bombers and fire directly upward. In one instance, a Luftwaffe pilot dispatched four RAF bombers in just 30 minutes using this system. Though the Luftwaffe was ultimately unable to stop all the British bombers during their nighttime missions, radar-equipped Bf 110s exacted a heavy toll, with Germany’s top night fighter ace Major !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! claiming 121 victories with Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 and 4. In all, over 6,000 Bf 110s were produced, and while it never lived up to its original billing, the Zerstörer still played a vital role in the German Luftwaffe throughout the war in every theater of operations. (Photo author unknown)

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Short Take Off

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May 11, 1934 – The first flight of the Douglas DC-2, a twin-engine airliner that was developed by the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! to compete with the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . When rival airline !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! monopolized the purchase of the 247, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (TWA) sought their own metal monoplane airliner. Douglas responded with the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , which was quickly improved with more powerful engines and room for 14 passengers. The DC-2 proved to be successful, but was ultimately overshadowed by its successor, the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , which would be one of the greatest aircraft in history. Just under 200 DC-2s were built and operated by airlines and militaries around the world. (Photo author unknown)

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May 11, 1932 – The airship USS Akron takes three ground crewmen into the air in a landing accident. During an attempted landing at Camp Kearny in San Diego, a sudden gust of wind caused the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (ZRS-4) to rise suddenly and, to avoid a catastrophic nose-stand, the mooring lines were cut. As Akron ascended, four inexperienced groundcrew members clung to a mooring line and were taken aloft. One quickly let go and fell roughly 15 feet, suffering a broken arm, while another two tried to hang on but fell to their death. The third, Seaman Apprentice Bud Cowart, managed to secure himself to the line and was eventually hoisted aboard the airship after an hour spent clinging to the line. !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! captured the accident, and the death of the two crewmen. The incident served as the inspiration for the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! of the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! television program starring !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . (US Navy photo)

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May 11-14, 1926 – Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen departs to make the first airship flight over the North Pole. Amundsen headed a 16-man expedition to cross the North Pole flying an Italian-built semi-rigid airship named !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . After leaving Spitzbergen, Norway, the team reached the North Pole at 01:25 (GMT) on May 12 and dropped Norwegian, American and Italian flags onto the polar ice below. They had planned to continue to Nome, Alaska, but ice build up on the propellers forced them to land in Teller, Alaska. While others, including !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! all claim to have reached the Pole before Amundsen, those claims remain subject to dispute. Only Amundsen’s flight has been officially verified. (US Library of Congress photos)

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Jackie Cochran with Chuck Yeager following her supersonic flight

May 11, 1906 – The birth of Jacqueline Cochran, a pioneering American aviatrix who set numerous records for flight during her lifetime. Cochran was born in Muscogee, Florida and learned to fly after just three weeks of instruction. During the 1930s, Cochran was the only woman to compete for the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , won five !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , and still holds more speed, distance and altitudes records than any other pilot, male or female. During WWII, Cochran helped establish the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (WASP), in which women pilots were trained to ferry military aircraft in the US to free up male pilots for war duty. After the war, Cochran continued setting records in jet aircraft, becoming the first woman pilot to break the sound barrier while piloting a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! in 1953. She was also the first woman to land and take off from an aircraft carrier. Cochran died in 1980 at the age of 74. (US Air Force photo)

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May 12, 2001 – The death of Alexei Tupolev. Tupolev was born in Moscow on May 20, 1925, the son of !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , a pioneering aircraft designer and founder of the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Alexei studied engineering at the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and slowly worked his way up through his father’s company. He became chief designer in 1963 and assumed control of the design bureau following his father’s death in 1972. Alexei’s work on the development of the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , the world’s first truly successful jet airliner, demonstrated his knowledge of jet propulsion, which lead to his heading the design team working on the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! supersonic airliner starting in 1963. Alexei also worked on the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! supersonic bomber, and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , Russia’s attempt to build its own space shuttle. (Tupolev photo author unknown; Tu-144 photo by Lothar Willmann via !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! )

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May 13, 1940 – The Sikorsky VS-300 makes its first untethered flight. Igor Sikorsky’s quest for a viable rotorcraft lead to the development of the VS-300 in 1938. However, Sikorsky had particular difficulty figuring out a system for !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! control. So, as a safety measure, he undertook a series of tethered flights to work out the details of the control system. Once solved, Sikorsky untethered the helicopter and achieved completely controlled flight. The VS-300 became the first single lifting-rotor helicopter in the US, and the first successful helicopter to use a single vertical tail rotor. The VS-300 was also the first to employ a single engine to power both rotors. The control system devised by Sikorsky is still in use today. (Photo author unknown)

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Recent Aviation History Posts

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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!!! .

Spaceball-Two > ttyymmnn 05/13/2016 at 13:00

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One of my favorite versions of the B-57. Mini gun in the bay.

The Powershift in Steve's '12 Ford Focus killed it's TCM (under warranty!) > Spaceball-Two 05/13/2016 at 13:04

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I did not know this existed. My life is richer now that I do, because minigun turrets make everything better.

MonkeePuzzle > ttyymmnn 05/13/2016 at 13:08

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Though designers considered swept wings, they chose instead to use wings that tapered outboard of the engine nacelles, since its mission requirements did not call for great speed, and maneuverability was considered of greater importance.

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became a very effective platform, capable of outrunning contemporary jet fighters

I love that even though they weren’t aiming for speed, just by the default of being a jet it was fast.

MonkeePuzzle > ttyymmnn 05/13/2016 at 13:13

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“obviously I’ll be wearing my hat, I’m a gentleman”

RallyWrench > ttyymmnn 05/13/2016 at 13:17

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I still remember the Wings episode on the Canberra, even as a kid I thought it was cool as hell.

ttyymmnn > MonkeePuzzle 05/13/2016 at 14:19

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He was a dapper dude. Sikorsky did the flight testing on all of his helicopters, and he always did so in a suit and a fedora.

ttyymmnn > MonkeePuzzle 05/13/2016 at 14:22

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Remember the era, too. The jet engine was just coming into its own, and most jet-powered aircraft had only a single engine. So, you put two on an aerodynamic plane and it’s bound to be fast, relatively speaking.

ttyymmnn > Spaceball-Two 05/13/2016 at 14:23

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You have brilliantly illustrated my point about the Canberra’s adaptability. Still, I’d like to imagine that conversation.

“You know, we could put a mini gun in the bomb bay and really chew some shit up.”

“Man, that’s crazy. Let’s do it.”

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > ttyymmnn 05/13/2016 at 14:28

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There is a fascinating photo essay on the Buran. I would say the current state of it, but it seems the buildings they were being stored in have since collapsed and completely destroyed the orbiters.

Photo courtesy of this photo essay by Ralph Mirebs .

Spaceball-Two > ttyymmnn 05/13/2016 at 14:29

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Last time I flew into Boise on the far end of the field was a grey, black and yellow B-57. I’m not sure it was flying but it looked as though someone was putting time and money into restoring it. Hope it gets up and running soon.

ttyymmnn > Spaceball-Two 05/13/2016 at 14:33

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I couldn’t find anything on the Google satellite, but the National Guard has a pretty strong presence there, so they might be restoring it to add to their air park.

ttyymmnn > You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much 05/13/2016 at 14:34

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I have seen those photos, and yes, the orbiters are kaput.

Spaceball-Two > ttyymmnn 05/13/2016 at 14:41

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Most likely. It was under cover at the time.

ttyymmnn > Spaceball-Two 05/13/2016 at 16:13

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It’s also worth noting in that picture that where the EE Canberra had side-by-side seating, the Martin B-57 had tandem seating.