This Date in Aviation History: January 30 - February 2

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
02/02/2016 at 12:35 • Filed to: planelopnik, planelopnik history

Welcome to This Date in Aviation History , getting you caught up on milestones and important historical events in aviation from January 30 through February 2.

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January 31, 1958 – The first flight of the North American T-2 Buckeye. Learning to fly is one thing, but learning to fly a jet is quite another. And if you want to add significantly to the level of difficulty, try landing your airplane on a moving aircraft carrier deck. If you joined the US Navy at any time from the late 1950s to 2004, you would have received your initial jet training in a North American T-2 Buckeye. Following WWII, and the introduction of jet-powered aircraft to the US Navy inventory, the Navy needed a new trainer to familiarize its pilots with the characteristics of jet aircraft, and to learn how to operate from carriers. Following initial training in the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , pilots transitioned to the Buckeye before moving on to full-fledged fighters. The Buckeye features a straight wing for better low speed handling characteristics, and student and teacher sit in a tandem configuration. While the original Buckeye, the T-2A, was powered by only a single engine, North American outfitted later variants with two in the T-2B, and with the T-2C, the Buckeye was powered by a pair of !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! turbojets that could push the trainer up to 522 mph. The wing was taken from another North American aircraft, the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , which had the distinction of being the first operational Navy jet fighter. In order to help ease the transition from the propeller powered Trojan, North American made the cockpit of the Buckeye similar enough that it would be familiar to the new pilot, an important selling point for the Navy. And North American also made the Buckeye tough enough to endure the pounding of inexperienced pilots slamming down on the deck for the first time. Though the original Buckeye was unarmed, it did come with strongpoints under the wings to carry bombs, rockets or gun pods for armament training. Forty Buckeyes were exported to Greece, where they served with the Hellenic Air Force. These aircraft, designated T-2E, were outfitted with six stations under the wings that could carry up to 3,500 pounds of ordnance, and also had extra armor on the fuel tanks to protect them from ground fire. The 50-year run of the Buckeye came to an end in 2008 when the Navy retired the T-2 from its training duties and replaced it with the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , though a handful remained in service for testing duties or to serve as a director aircraft for aerial drones. The final operational flight of the Buckeye took place on September 25, 2015. September 25, 2015. (US Navy photo)

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February 1, 2003 – The loss of Space Shuttle Columbia . In an airplane, the most critical parts of any flight are takeoff and landing. These are the times when any problem with the airplane becomes an immediate problem, and there’s precious little time to do anything about it. Space flight is similar, but when you’re sitting on top of a barely controlled explosion during liftoff, or hurtling through the atmosphere on re-entry, the chances for something going horribly wrong are considerably greater. Space Shuttle Columbia launched on January 16, 2003 on STS-107, the 113th flight of the Space Shuttle program, with a crew of seven: Shuttle Commander Rick Husband, pilot William McCool, and Mission Specialists David Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Michael Anderson, Laurel Clark, and Ilan Ramon, Israel’s first astronaut. During the launch of previous Shuttles, it was not uncommon for pieces of the foam insulation covering the external fuel tank to break off, sometimes hitting the orbiter. In all previous launches, the foam didn’t cause significant damage to the Shuttle. But when Columbia launched on that January morning, a large piece of insulation broke off the external tank and struck the left wing of the orbiter, making a hole in the leading edge of the wing. It was not until Columbia was in orbit that a routine review of launch footage revealed the foam strike, but it was impossible to detect the extent of the damage. Shuttle engineers on the ground requested that the Department of Defense provide imagery of the Shuttle in orbit that might have indicated the extent of the damage, but NASA managers blocked those requests. And it was highly risky for the astronauts to assess the damage themselves. On this mission, Columbia did not carry the Canadarm remote manipulator arm, and assessing the damage would have required an unplanned spacewalk. And even then, the astronauts would have had to make a patch out of materials at hand, and there’s no procedure for that, or assurance of success. At the time NASA took the position that warning the astronauts of the damage would do no good, since there was nothing that could be done about it. If the damage was determined to be catastrophic, there was no way to rescue the astronauts in space. Returning to Earth was the only option, though the investigation following the disaster did find that the Shuttle Atlantis could have been readied for a rescue mission, but even then, there were questions of risking another crew on an untried mission. After completing its 15-day mission, Columbia and the crew began re-entry to the Earth’s atmosphere. The leading edges of the wings reached a temperature of more than 2,800º F as the orbiter reached a speed of Mach 24.1, and as superhot atmospheric gases entered the damaged wing the orbiter began to break up. As re-entry continued over Texas and Louisiana, Columbia finally broke up completely. Pieces of the Shuttle were found over a huge swath of east Texas and west Louisiana, as well as body parts of the crew. Following the loss of Columbia , Shuttle missions were put on hold for two years, and construction of the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! was halted. The foam insulation on the external fuel tank was redesigned, and many of the large pieces that had been prone to breaking off in the past were removed. NASA instituted inspections of the Shuttle once it reached orbit, and a designated rescue mission was made ready in the event that severe damage was found. The final 22 Shuttle missions were flown to the ISS so the crew could wait there for rescue if damage during launch rendered the orbiter unsafe for re-entry. Only one mission was undertaken that didn’t go to the ISS, and that was flown to make repairs on the Hubble Space Telescope. (NASA photo)

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Short Take Off

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January 30, 2001 – The death of Johnnie Johnson, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! & !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , a fighter pilot with the Royal Air Force during WWII. Johnson entered the war in 1941 flying the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , and over the course of 700 operational sorties he scored 34 individual victories and 3 probable shared victories. He was also credited with damaging a further 10 Luftwaffe aircraft, as well as destroying one on the ground. His tally of victories made him the highest scoring Allied fighter ace versus the German Luftwaffe of WWII. He continued flying in Korea in the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , though he scored no further victories. For his service in Korea, he was awarded the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! from the United States. (UK government photo)

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January 30, 1948 – The death of Orville Wright. Along with his brother !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , Orville Wright is credited with helping to invent and construct the world’s first successful powered and controlled airplane, and the first to achieve sustained heavier-than-air flight. It was Orville who made the famous First Flight on December 17, 1903. When Wilbur died unexpectedly in 1912, Orville took over the business of securing patents for their creation, further developing their flying machine, and marketing it to the US military, though he sold their company in 1915. Orville served on the board of the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (NACA, the predecessor to NASA) for 28 years, and on April 19, 1944, Orville took his last ride in an airplane, a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! piloted by !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . During the flight, Wright commented that the wingspan of the Connie was longer than his first flight. Orville’s death came soon after the first supersonic flight, marking an incredible span of aircraft development from the first flight to breaking the sound barrier in the lifetime of one man. (US Library of Congress photos)

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January 30, 1933 – The first flight of the Curtiss T-32 Condor II, a biplane airliner and bomber that was also used by the US Army as an executive transport. Production aircraft were outfitted as 12-passenger luxury night sleeper transports and served with Eastern Air Transport and American Airways. The US Army Air Corps purchased two Condors which received the designation YC-30, and one was fitted with extra fuel tanks and took part in the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , Admiral Richard Byrd’s third exploration of the Antarctic. Curtiss also produced eight armed bomber versions which were exported, and a cargo version for Argentina. Curtiss produced a total of 45 Condor IIs. (US Air Force photo)

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January 31, 2011 – The death of Charles Huron Kaman, an American inventor who developed a line of helicopters that are known for their use of dual, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! that counter-rotate, thus eliminating the need for a tail rotor. After working for Igor Sikorsky, Kaman developed his first helicopter, the K-125, and the improved !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! became the first helicopter powered by a gas turbine engine. Kaman went on to develop more helicopters for the US military, such as the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , which flew more rescue missions in Korea than any other helicopter. The !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , a traditional helicopter design, saw extensive use with the US Navy, and the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , a medium lift utility helicopter that has also been developed for the US Marine Corps as an unmanned remote control helicopter for resupply missions into dangerous landing zones. Kaman was also a musician, and founded the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! guitar company. (Kaman photo via National Air & Space Museum Archives; HH-43 photo via US Air Force)

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January 31, 1966 – The launch of Luna 9, an unmanned spacecraft sent to the Moon as part of Russia’s !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! to orbit and land on the lunar surface. When Luna 9 made a soft landing on the Moon on February 3, 1966, it became the first spacecraft to touch down safely on any planetary body other than Earth. Once Luna 9 became operational, it beamed back nine images of the lunar surface, including five panoramas. The Russians did not release the images immediately, but British scientists recognized and intercepted the signals being sent from the Moon and published the images around the world. While the only scientific instrument on Luna 9 was a radiation detector, the landing did demonstrate that the surface of the Moon could support a lander. (Photo by : via !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! )

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January 31, 1961 – The launch of Mercury-Redstone 2 with Ham the Chimp on board. As part of the American !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! space program, Ham, whose name is an acronym for Holloman Aerospace Medical Center at Holloman AFB in New Mexico, was trained to do simple tasks to assess a human’s ability to function safely in space. Ham was launched from Cape Canaveral on a suborbital flight, and he performed his tasks flawlessly before splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean. Ham spent the next 17 years in the National Zoo in Washington, DC. Following Ham’s death, initial plans were to have his body stuffed and put on display as the Russians had done with their space dogs. However, Ham’s remains, minus his skeleton, were buried at the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! at Alamogordo, New Mexico. (NASA photo)

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January 31, 1958 – The launch of Explorer 1, the first satellite placed in orbit by the United States. Explorer was launched as part of the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , a project that attempted to open a scientific dialogue between the East and West during the Cold War. Following the successful launch of the Russian satellites !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , Explorer 1 was launched from Cape Canaveral and was the first spacecraft to confirm the existence of the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Explorer 1 continued to return useful data for nearly four months until its batteries gave out, and it stayed in orbit until 1970. Explorer 1 was the first of more than 90 spacecraft missions of the ongoing !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . (NASA photo)

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February 2, 2001 – The first flight of the General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper. A development of the earlier !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , a vehicle that was only designed to perform aerial surveillance. With the Reaper, the US Air Force now has the capability to perform both surveillance and attack missions either through remote piloting or autonomous flight. The Reaper is larger and heavier than the Predator and can carry up to 2,400 pounds of external stores, including !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! air-to-ground missiles, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! laser guided bombs, and GBU-38 !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (JDAM). The Air Force is also testing the ability to carry !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! air-to-air missiles. The Reaper has flown against targets in Iraq and Afghanistan, serves with NASA as a research aircraft (where it is called Altair), and with the Department of Homeland Security for border reconnaissance. (US Air Force photo)

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February 2, 1944 – The first flight of the Republic XP-72, an interceptor that was a development of the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . The XP-72 was powered by a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! four-row radial engine, one which would see widespread use in large cargo aircraft and bombers. A supercharger was placed behind the pilot. After the maiden flight was made with a standard four-bladed propeller, the XP-72 was fitted with a contra-rotating propeller and the interceptor displayed exceptional performance. The Army initially ordered 100 aircraft, but by this late stage in the war the US no longer needed a high-altitude interceptor, and with the advent of jet-powered fighters on the horizon, the Army canceled the order. Only 2 XP-72s were built. (Photo via San Diego Air & Space Museum)

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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!!! .

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DISCUSSION (17)

A slushbox can be fun, too! > ttyymmnn
02/02/2016 at 12:44

Som should we blame NASA for such catastrophe? It’s sad to lose such crew when it seems like it could have been avoided

ttyymmnn > A slushbox can be fun, too!
02/02/2016 at 12:47

That’s a tough call. I think NASA certainly shares part of the blame, but when a situation has occurred in the past with no serious repurcussions, can you blame for taking the risk another time? Spaceflight will never be 100% safe. It’s about calculated risks.

Jcarr > ttyymmnn
02/02/2016 at 12:49

I think the Wasp Major is my second favorite piston aviation engine, behind the Merlin. What a beast. There’s a Corsair that I see at shows frequently that has one. Used to be two, but the other was involved in a fatal crash a few years back if I recall.

A slushbox can be fun, too! > ttyymmnn
02/02/2016 at 12:49

I don’t know much and you could correct me with the matter. :) Perhaps I need to read mpre about this

For me, it felt like they were on a death sentence on the way home.

The Ghost of Oppo > ttyymmnn
02/02/2016 at 12:50

Does the N in NASA stand for negligent? How in the hell by 2001 did NASA not have some sort of rescue mission procedure?

ttyymmnn > A slushbox can be fun, too!
02/02/2016 at 12:52

Did you ever see Apollo 13 ? There’s a scene where one of the engineers gives a list of things that could go wrong, and Gene Kranz says, “Is there anything we can do about it?” No. “Then they don’t need to know.” That said, the investigation indicated that pilot McCool had activated the APU and was trying to fly Columbia home at Mach 20. They never gave up.

ttyymmnn > The Ghost of Oppo
02/02/2016 at 12:53

You’d have to ask NASA. After Columbia , they did.

OPPOsaurus WRX > ttyymmnn
02/02/2016 at 13:02

I like all the space stuff this week.

do ‘this week in space history’ !!!

Jayhawk Jake > The Ghost of Oppo
02/02/2016 at 13:15

They had a rescue procedure in place for the Hubble missions, I imagine it could have been implemented for Columbia but it’s doubtful another shuttle was ready for a launch.

ttyymmnn > OPPOsaurus WRX
02/02/2016 at 13:20

It’s all aviation to me, just different kinds. Next week is Boeing Day.

RallyWrench > ttyymmnn
02/02/2016 at 13:42

I learned some disturbing things about the Columbia disaster. I knew about the tiles, of course, but had no idea NASA denied requests for images and seemingly brushed the issue under the rug.

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > ttyymmnn
02/02/2016 at 14:17

I just read a fascinating article on ars technica about the possibility of a rescue mission to save the crew of the Columbia. The short version says that it was theoretically at the outside limits of possibility to rescue the crew. Success was theoretically achievable assuming they were able to significantly shorten the time needed to get a shuttle ready and that there were absolutely no problems prepping the Atlantis for launch.

The complexity of the transfer of the astronauts from Columbia to Atlantis would have been mind boggling and truly taxed everyone’s abilities and stamina to the limit. Besides that, Atlantis may not have been able to carry enough OMS fuel to even allow for close proximity flying for as long as would have been needed to complete the transfer.

ttyymmnn > You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much
02/02/2016 at 14:43

I made a brief mention over on FA about this story, and somebody replied that regardless of whether they could even get to Columbia, there wouldn’t have been enough seats for all the astronauts. In retrospect, I think the only viable thing NASA could do was roll the dice, and sadly, it came up snake eyes.

ttyymmnn > RallyWrench
02/02/2016 at 14:47

I have to believe that they wanted to operate from a position of “ignorance is bliss.” From all I’ve read and heard, there was no reliable way to fix it (this isn’t the scenario of the CO2 scrubbers on Apollo 13), they couldn’t go up and get them, so they just covered their ears and eyes, crossed their fingers and hoped for the best.

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > ttyymmnn
02/02/2016 at 16:02

The article does mention that there would not have been enough seats and that some people would have been sitting on the floor for reentry. While it may have been theoretically possible if everything went perfectly, the practicality of it is that the chance of a rescue mission having been successful was tiny and the chance of destroying two orbiters, the original crew and a rescue crew was quite large.

At the end of the article there are a couple of promoted comments by someone using the handle STS_Engineer. He claims to have worked on the planning for rescue mission STS-400 and says that took 18 months to plan. The chances of prepping and planning a rescue mission that needed to be completed in less than 30 days from Columbia’s launch was infinitesimally small. The chances of that mission getting approval to go from NASA would have been nonexistant.

I think you are correct in saying that NASA had only one realistic option. They didn’t have any way to repair the wing even if they knew how badly it was damaged, so it didn’t make sense to request imagery from OGA’s. The only real option was to gamble that the damage was survivable.

ttyymmnn > You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much
02/02/2016 at 16:13

I think the time to be hard on NASA is before the launch, not after the gimmicks went rotten. It’s all Monday morning quarterbacking at that point. But we have to remember that there were 22 more missions that went off safely.

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > ttyymmnn
02/02/2016 at 16:21

I’m not trying to pile on NASA, and hopefully it didn’t come off that way. Based on their past experience foam coming off the tank was a known problem that hadn’t caused catastrophic failures in the past. Unfortunately what looks obvious in hindsight isn’t always visible when you’re trying to peer into the future.