"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
06/03/2016 at 12:35 • Filed to: planelopnik, planelopnik history | 5 | 4 |
Welcome to This Date in Aviation History , getting of you caught up on milestones, important historical events and people in aviation from June 1 - June 3.
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June 1, 1939 – The first flight of the Focke-Wulf Fw 190. In the years leading up to WWII, the German !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (Ministry of Aviation) was working hard to develop new military aircraft in an effort to rebuild their air force. In the mid-1930s, the Ministry held a competition to develop a new single-engine fighter, a competition that was eventually won by the Messerschmitt Bf 109. The 109 would go on to become one of the most highly produced warplanes in history, but even as it entered development and production, the Ministry indicated that it wanted a second fighter to complement the 109, since it was feared that, as good as the 109 was at the time, future foreign designs might soon outclass it. !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , the head of the design department at Focke-Wulf, took on the task of designing the new fighter, but unlike most fighter aircraft of its era that used inline engines, Tank chose the BMW 801 radial engine. Conventional wisdom in Europe at that time was that radial engines were too bulky for fighters, and that the size of the flat disk at the front of the plane would create too much drag and slow the fighter down. But Tank had seen the success of American radial-engined aircraft and, based on that experience, he chose the radial not only for its power but for its relative ease of maintenance. As it turned out, pilots also appreciated that huge hunk of metal at the front of the fighter, as it afforded an extra measure of protection while attacking Allied bomber formations. Tank also sought to make the new fighter as rugged—and simple—as possible, so that it could operate from rough, undeveloped airstrips and could be easily maintained in the field. To counter the problems often found with stretched cables that worked the control surfaces, Tank instead used a series of solid linkages that provided excellent control and longevity. To keep the large radial engine cool, Tank initially fitted a vented spinner that covered the entire engine, with cooling air introduced through a hole in the center of the spinner. This was eventually abandoned in favor of a more conventional spinner and a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! over the engine that accelerated air flow over the hot cylinders. The Würger (shrike), as the Fw 190 was known, entered service with the Luftwaffe over the Western Front in August 1941. At first, Allied pilots were confused by the sight of the new fighter, as they had never encounter a radial-engined German fighter before. But the 190 soon got their attention, as it proved superior to the British !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! in all regimes of flight except for turning radius. And its superior firepower soon clawed its way into air superiority over the British. It wasn’t until the RAF captured 190 that they could analyze it and develop a version of the Spitfire, the Mk. IX, to deal with it. Over the Eastern Front, Fw 190 pilots scored huge victories over less experienced Russian pilots, with German ace !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! claiming 267 victories, many of them coming at the controls of a 190. As Allied advances in fighter design continued, Focke-Wulf worked to stay ahead of, or at least on par with, Allied fighters. The D model was fitted with a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! V-12 engine in an effort to increase high-altitude performance, and though it proved a match for the most modern Allied designs, it came too late in the war to affect its outcome. Despite attempts by Allied strategic bombers to eliminate German aircraft factories, production of the 190 continued throughout the war, and eventually over 20,000 aircraft were built. Today, only one original Fw 190A, complete with its original BMW 801 engine, is owned by the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! in Everett, Washington. They also own the only existing Fw 190D to have survived the war. (US Air Force photo)
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June 3, 1973 – The first production Tupolev Tu-144 supersonic airliner crashes at the Paris Air Show. During the Cold War, competition between East and West was commonplace, whether it was in the sporting arena, space, or aviation. There was significant prestige to be garnered by having more gold medals, being the first in space, or, in the case of the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , being the first to offer commercial supersonic air travel. The Tu-144 took its maiden flight on December 31, 1968, and while it bore a significant resemblance to its Anglo-French competitor, the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , it was different in a number of ways, most notably the use of forward canards behind the cockpit to increase lift at lower speeds. Though it was the first SST to fly, the Tu-144 eventually entered service in 1977, almost two years behind Concorde. But at the time of the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! in 1973, the Russians had a lot to prove about their new SST, and wanted to show it to the world. The Paris Air Show is one of the largest events of its kind in the world, where millions of dollars can be made—or lost—in sales of civilian and military aircraft. It was paramount for Tupolev, and the Russian government, to put on a good show. After all, they had beaten the Concorde into the air by two months, and both aircraft were being displayed and demonstrated at Paris. On the final day of the show, Concorde flew first. Observers said that the demonstration was not terribly exciting, and perhaps the Russians saw their opportunity to one-up the British and French. Before taking off, Soviet pilot Mikhail Kozlov reportedly said, “Just wait until you see us fly....Then you’ll see something.” After taking off, Kozlev, along with co-pilot Valery Molchanov and four others, appeared to be making a landing approach to Le Bourget Airport, with landing gear down and canards extended, when he suddenly moved the engines to full throttle and climbed rapidly. The Tu-144 appeared to stall, and as it pitched over and Kozlev tried to regain control, the aircraft broke up and hit the ground, killing all on board as well as 8 people on the ground (film of the accident can be seen !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ). The cause of the crash remains hotly debated to this day. One theory is that a French !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! fighter, hoping to photograph the Tu-144 and its innovative canards, got too close and caused the pilot of the Tu-144 to take evasive action which led Kozlev to lose control of the airliner. A second theory is that Kozlev, hoping to outperform the Concorde which had flown earlier in the day, simply flew beyond the limits of the aircraft as he tried to show up his rivals. And a third theory is that Tupolev officials enabled experimental controls to increase maneuverability, possibly without telling the flight crew. Despite the crash, and continuing problems with manufacturing and operation, the Tu-144 continued flying, though unreliability and economic factors ultimately lead to the project’s cancellation in 1983. (Photo by RuthAS via !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! )
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Short Take Off
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June 1, 2009 – The crash of Air France Flight 447, a regularly scheduled flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. The !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (F-GZCP) took off on schedule and, due to the length of the flight, there were three pilots—one captain and two first officers—who would take shifts in the cockpit. With the captain out of the cockpit, the plane encountered icing conditions which led to the auto-pilot and auto-thrust being automatically deactivated. The pilot in command initiated rolling maneuvers, and an eventual unnecessary pitch up, which continued until the aircraft stalled and fell into the Atlantic Ocean. The final report cited inconsistent speed readings from iced pitot tubes, failure of the crew to recognize the attitude of the airplane or follow proper procedures for loss of auto-pilot, and lack of practical training for manual high altitude flight. (Photo by Pawel Kierzkowski via !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! )
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June 1, 1953 – The US Air Force Thunderbirds demonstration team is activated. The Thunderbirds trace their lineage back to the first Air Force demonstration squadron, the Acrojets, who flew the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and was 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 !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , and they have since transitioned through most frontline USAF fighters, and currently perform in the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . (US Air Force photo)
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June 2, 1998 – The launch of Space Shuttle Discovery on the final Shuttle mission to the Russian Mir space station. Beginning in 1994, the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! was a joint effort between NASA and the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (Roskosmos) in which Russian cosmonauts flew to !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! on the Space Shuttle, while American astronauts flew abroad !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! spacecraft. The goal of the program was to help the Americans gain experience on long-duration spaceflights in preparation for the transition to the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (ISS). A total of 11 Space Shuttle missions were flown to Mir and, with the transfer of astronaut Andy Thomas to Discovery , it marked a total of 907 days in space logged by 7 different astronauts. Discovery returned to Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 12. (NASA photo)
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June 2, 1910 – Charles Rolls becomes the first man to make a non-stop, double crossing of the English Channel. Charles Rolls is best known to aviation and automotive history as one half of the famed Rolls-Royce engine manufacturing company, which he formed with !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! in 1906. But Rolls was also a pioneering aviator, first in ballooning then in airplanes, when he purchased of a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! in 1909. While not the first to cross the English Channel, Rolls was the first to make the trip across and then immediately back again, also becoming the first to cross the Channel flying eastward. For the feat, Rolls received the Gold Medal of the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Sadly, Rolls would achieve another, more infamous first, when he became the first Briton to die in an airplane accident following the crash of his Wright Flyer in 1910. (Rolls photo author unknown; Wright Flyer photo via US Army)
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June 3, 1975 – The first flight of the Mitsubishi F-1, the first supersonic military jet to be developed and produced by Japan following WWII. Developed from the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! trainer, the F-1 was a joint project of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Fuji Heavy Industries after the Japanese government decided to build their own aircraft rather than procure aircraft from other countries. The F-1's primary mission is maritime surface attack, but it can also serve in the ground attack role and has limited air-to-air capabilities. The F-1 was flown exclusively by the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , and was retired after completion of 77 aircraft. It was replaced by the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , a development of the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . (Photo by Rob Schleiffert via !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! )
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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!!! .
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Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
> ttyymmnn
06/03/2016 at 12:52 | 0 |
Tu-144: Oops.
RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
> ttyymmnn
06/03/2016 at 12:55 | 2 |
But the 190 soon got their attention, as it proved superior to the British Supermarine Spitfire Mk. V in all regimes of flight except for turning radius.
Generally true, but with one exception: I believe the Spit V variants fitted for medium and high altitude were better at altitude due to their supercharging. Early 190s had only one supercharger variant with a tune for low to medium altitude, and with their weight they lost performance as altitude increased. It had a governing system for good performance within that envelope, but it had limits. The Spit supercharger was also single stage in early varieties, but in three separate tunes for intended service altitude - later going to a two-stage.
Bottom line, engaging with an Fw 190 close to the deck was stupid.
As to Kurt Tank, he later designed a very advanced Mach 2 fighter for India, which was then equipped with a very weak engine that left it only barely transonic.
vondon302
> ttyymmnn
06/03/2016 at 12:57 | 1 |
I wonder how you say hold my vodka and watch this in Russian.
user314
> vondon302
06/03/2016 at 20:26 | 1 |
Da svidania, rodina.