This Date in Aviation History: July 2 - July 5

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
07/05/2016 at 12:35 • Filed to: planelopnik, planelopnik history

Welcome to This Date in Aviation History , getting of you caught up on milestones, important historical events and people in aviation from July 2-July 5.

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July 2, 1937 – Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan disappear over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to circumnavigate the globe. The history of aviation has many important contributors, but in a large part, those contributions were made by men. Not because men were more capable of building or flying aircraft, but simply because society didn’t believe that flying was an appropriate endeavor for women. The Wright Brothers refused to train female pilots, and the British aviation pioneer !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! went so far as to say, “...women lack qualities which make for safety in aviation. They are temperamentally unfit for the sport.” The fact that Grahame-White saw flying as a sport is telling, but he was not alone in his views. Still, many women fought for their rightful place in the field, and some gained notoriety that helped open opportunities for others. Amelia Earhart was smitten with aviation at a young age, and took her first flying lessons in 1921. Soon after, she purchased her first airplane, a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! biplane that she named The Canary . She became celebrity in 1928 as the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, though she was merely a passenger and did no piloting. On arriving in Wales, Earhart told a reporter, “...maybe someday I’ll try it alone.” She did just that in 1932, when she piloted a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! from Newfoundland to Ireland, and was awarded the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! for the feat. Earhart made subsequent solo flights and set numerous records, but the great feat that had not yet been accomplished by a female pilot was a circumnavigation of the globe. She made one attempt in March 1937, but that flight ended in Hawaii following engine trouble.

Earhart and Noonan on June 11, 1937

For her second attempt, Earhart teamed with experienced navigator Fred Noonan, and the pair began their effort with an unpublicized flight from Oakland to Miami. Flying a modified !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , they departed from Miami on June 29 and made stops in South America, Africa, India and Southeast Asia, before arriving in Lae, New Guinea on June 29 after covering roughly 22,000 miles. The Pacific Ocean was the last big obstacle. Departing Lae on July 2 at midnight GMT, they headed for !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , a tiny speck of land 2,556 miles away. The Coast Guard cutter !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! was on station at Howland to guide them by radio for the final part of their flight. As they approached Howland, Earhart and Noonan made contact with the Itasca , but due to communication difficulties, the crew of Itasca could hear Earhart but Earhart and Noonan could not hear Itasca. The ship was sending out tracking signals, but the fact that Earhart didn’t home in on them indicates that there may have been a problem with the Electra’s direction finder. At one point, Earhart radioed, “We must be on you, but cannot see you—but gas is running low,” and her final transmission indicated that they believed they were near Howland; however, they had likely missed it by as few as five miles. Unable to contact the plane by radio, Itasca sent up smoke signals from the ship’s boilers in hopes that they would be seen, but to no avail. After those few radio calls, Earhart and Noonan were never seen nor heard from again. Search efforts lasted until July 19, and despite the best efforts of the Coast Guard and Navy, no trace of the pilots or their aircraft was ever found. Some believe that Earhart and Noonan simply ran out of fuel and crashed in the Pacific. Another theory is that they landed at Gardner Island, now Nikumaroro, in the Phoenix Islands and were stranded there until their death. Searchers have turned up evidence that they claim are parts of Earhart’s Electra, and even a skeleton and a shoe. But the evidence is circumstantial and the mystery remains unsolved. (Earhart Electra photo via NASA; Earhart Noonan photo author unknown)

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Wiley Post with his Lockheed Vega “Winnie Mae” at Floyd Bennet Field in New York

July 4, 1927 – The first flight of the Lockheed Vega. The Wright Brothers made their famous First Flight in 1903, and soon after the airplane became a common sight in the skies over WWI battlefields. But it was in the period between WWI and WWII that aviation moved from the purview of the military into the civilian world, and aviation reached its Golden Age in the 1920s and 1930s. Barnstorming pilots crisscrossed the countryside offering rides and flying demonstrations, air races pushed technological advances in speed and handling, and daring aviators assaulted the record books, each trying to set the next mark in distance, speed or altitude. The fabric-covered biplane gave way to the all-metal monoplane. There were many great—and some not-so-great—airplanes that came out of this era, but one aircraft in particular, the Lockheed Vega, became an icon of the Golden Age, a rugged airplane with long range that was the preferred aircraft for some of the age’s best known aviators. The Vega was designed by Lockheed’s !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , both of whom would go on to start their own successful aircraft companies in later years. At first, the Vega was designed as a four-seat airliner that would serve on Lockheed’s passenger routes. It would need to be rugged enough to operate from grass fields and unimproved airstrips, but they also wanted it to be fast, and when the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! radial engine was fitted in the Vega 5 in 1929, it’s maximum speed was an impressive 185 mph. The !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! fuselage was constructed of laminated plywood shaped in a concrete mold, with each half of the fuselage shaped separately and then assembled over a metal tube frame (as many as 10 later Vegas were built by the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! with an all-metal fuselage, though they retained the original wooden wings). In order to maintain the strength and integrity of the fuselage, the cantilever wing was mounted on top rather than passed through the fuselage. To improve aerodynamic efficiency, a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! was placed over the engine and streamlined spats were mounted on the fixed landing gear. The Vega was introduced in 1928, but it proved too small for airline service. However, it soon found a home with private owners, and by the end of the year Lockheed and built 68 of the eventual 132 aircraft they would produce. The Vega also leapt into the record books, with stunt pilot Arthur Goebel setting a new coast-to-coast record of 19 hours and completing the first nonstop west to east flight in the process. In 1929, pilots of the Vega won every speed award in the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! in Cleveland. In 1932, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! made her historic solo crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in a Vega 5b that had been modified by !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! by increasing the fuel capacity to 420 gallons. But there was really nobody like !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! when it came to getting the most out of the Vega. Flying a Vega 5C named Winnie Mae , Post won the National Air Race Derby in 1930, flying from Los Angeles to Chicago in 9 hours 8 minutes 2 seconds, setting a record that Post trumpeted by having it painted on the side of his Vega. The following year, Post and co-pilot !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! established the first record for circumnavigating the globe in a fixed-wing aircraft when they departed Roosevelt Field in New York in Winnie Mae and returned in 8 days after traveling 15,474 miles. Then, in 1933, Post beat his own record, making the global flight alone in 7 days. But Post and his Vega weren’t done. In 1934, Post began work on developing the world’s first practical pressure suit for pilots. In September 1934, Post flew Winnie Mae to 40,000 feet, then 50,000 feet, and discovered the existence of the jet stream as an added bonus. Like so many great aircraft, technological advances would soon surpass the Vega, and only a handful remain in museums (the National Air and Space Museum is !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! to Winnie Mae ), and as of 2014, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , though !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! is currently undergoing restoration. (Photo via Smithsonian Institution)

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July 5, 1917 – The first flight of the Fokker Dr.1 Dreidecker . When war broke out in Europe in 1914, aviation was still in its infancy. The Wright Brothers had made their First Flight just 11 years earlier, but the remarkable pace of aviation development meant that the airplane was ready to join the fray, though they were first used only as observation planes, called scouts, that performed the same reconnaissance duties of their horse-borne predecessors. But soon the crews were taking pistols and rifles into the air, and the friendly wave between opposing pilots was was replaced with shooting. Dedicated fighter planes followed, and the aerial dogfight was born. But any fighting air force is only as effective as its best plane, and now the race was on to produce ever more powerful and maneuverable fighters in an effort to gain control of the skies over the battlefield. In 1916, the first British !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! began to appear over the Western Front, and the new fighter was immediately better than the older, slower German !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! fighters then in use by the Deutsche Lufstreitkräfte (German Air Force). Dutch aviation pioneer !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! immediately began work to develop a triplane for the Germans that could counter the Sopwith, and he started by converting one of his biplane designs already in development. The new fighter was designated the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , but initial results were poor. So Fokker revised the design, altering the ailerons and elevators and using a longer wing span to help improve roll control. The new aircraft was designated V.5, and though only three of these intermediate designs were produced, one was evaluated by !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , better known as the Red Baron, in September 1917. Despite its the V.5's shortcoming, Richthofen claimed his 60th victory. The !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (also called the Fokker F.1) incorporated struts between the wings to minimize the wing flexing that hampered the performance of the earlier triplane. The final production version, which would be called the Dr.1 Dreidecker (triplane), was very similar to the V.5, but now it incorporated stepped wings, giving the aircraft its iconic shape. Two prototypes were ordered and delivered to Belgium in late August 1917 to be evaluated again by Richthofen. Within the first two days, he downed two enemy planes, and reported that the Dreidecker was clearly superior to the Sopwith Triplane. Richthofen recommended that all fighter groups be outfitted with the new plane as soon as possible, and he won his last 19 victories in a Dr.1 before his death in April 1918. Despite continuing difficulties with the fighter, including wing failures and problems with visibility, 320 aircraft were built, and the new plane was used to good effect. The Dr.1 was inherently unstable, and while that trait could prove difficult for novice flyers, it also lent to the fighter’s exceptional maneuverability. Though it was slower than contemporary fighters, the Dr.1 made up for that with excellent climb and roll rates. Towards the end of the war, shortages of castor oil for the engines hampered the fighter’s readiness rate, and the use of synthetic oils resulted in numerous engine failures. Only 3 aircraft are known to have survived the war, and one of the aircraft flown by Richthofen was held in a German museum until it was destroyed by Allied bombs during WWII. Only a few artifacts remain today, though many replicas and reproductions have since been built and are flown today. (Photo of replica Dr.1 by Alan Wilson via !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! )

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Short Take Off

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July 2, 1959 – The first flight of the Kaman SH-2 Seasprite, an all-weather, high-speed helicopter designed to fulfill the role of anti-submarine warfare, search and rescue, light cargo and liaison. In a design departure for Kaman, which was best known for their dual, intermeshing rotor designs that eliminate the need for a tail rotor, the original Seasprite was powered by a single !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! turboshaft engine with an anti-torque rotor at the rear. After entering service in 1962, the Seasprite was found to be underpowered, so Kaman added a second turboshaft engine, with both engines housed in external pods. Nearly 200 Seasprites were produced, and they served primarily with the US Navy and the Royal New Zealand Air Force before being retired by the US Navy in 1993. (US Navy photo)

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July 2, 1943 – Lt. Charles Hall becomes the first African-American pilot to shoot down a German plane. A native of Brazil, Indiana, Hall was a member of the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and part of the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Following the deployment of his unit in support of the Allied invasion of Sicily in 1943, Hall’s squadron was tasked with escorting a flight of !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! bombers in an attack on Castelvetrano in southwestern Sicily. When the flight was attacked by !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , Hall turned his !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! to intercept them and downed one, the first of three victories he would score in service with the 99th. After returning to the US, Hall reached the rank of major in the US Air Force before his retirement in 1967. Hall died in 1971. (Photo author unknown)

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July 2, 1900 – Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin flies the first rigid airship. Perhaps inspired by his time in the US during the Civil War, observing the balloon camp of !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! Zeppelin first expressed his ideas about building rigid airships in 1874, and after a stint in the military he devoted all his time to their development. Zeppelin built and flew the first rigid airship, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , from a floating hangar on Lake Constance in southern Germany. Constructed using a cylindrical metal framework covered with cotton cloth and lifted by 17 gas cells made from rubberized cotton, the LZ 1 was small by later standards, and only carried five passengers. Its first of three flights covered a distance of 3.7 miles in 17 minutes before a malfunction led to a forced landing. But Zeppelin started a revolution of airship flight, and by 1914, his airships had transported over 37,000 passengers on over 1,600 flights without incident. (Zeppelin photo via Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin; LZ 1 photo via US Library of Congress)

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July 3, 1988 – The US Navy cruiser USS Vincennes shoots down Iran Air Flight 655 over the Persian Gulf. While operating in the Persian Gulf to protect civilian shipping during the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , the US Navy !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! cruiser !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (CG-49) detected an Iran Air !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (EP-IBU), operating in Iranian territory on a scheduled route and issuing squawks that identified it as a civilian aircraft. Believing it to be an Iranian !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! on an attack mission, Vincennes shot down the airliner with two missiles, killing all 290 passengers and crew. The US never officially apologized for the incident, though it did formally express regret and paid $62 million dollars to the families of the victims. In 1989, a pipe bomb detonated in a van driven by the wife of Captain !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , the commanding officer of Vincennes at the time of the attack, though no evidence was ever found to determine that the act was in retaliation for Iran Air incident. Rogers’ wife was unhurt. (Photo by Khashayar Talebzadeh via !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! )

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July 3, 1973 – The death of Laurens Hammond. Born on January 11, 1895, and best known for his invention of the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , and the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , the world’s first !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! music synthesizer, Hammond still holds an important place in aviation history. Following service in WWI as an engineer, Hammond again served his country as an inventor during WWII by developing bomb and missile guidance systems. He was awarded patents for infrared and light-sensing bomb guidance systems, developed a new gyroscope that was less sensitive to the cold of high altitude, as well as controls for a gliding bomb, the forerunner of our modern guided missile. (Photo author unknown)

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July 3, 1948 – The first flight of the North American AJ (A-2) Savage, a large hybrid-powered nuclear bomber designed to operate from US Navy carriers. The Savage was the heaviest carrier aircraft ever put in service at the time. It was powered by two !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! radial engines and one !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! turbojet in the rear, though the turbojet was only intended for use during takeoff and high-speed attack runs. The Savage entered service in 1950, but it was cumbersome to operate onboard the carriers. The size of the aircraft hampered deck operations, and folding the wings one at a time by hydraulic pump was a slow process. The Savage also served as an aerial tanker and reconnaissance aircraft, and a few were pressed into aerial firefighting duties. 140 were built, and the A-2 was retired in 1960. The sole remaining example is on display at the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Florida. (US Navy photo)

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July 3, 1937 – The first flight of the Dornier Do 24, a three-engine German flying boat built by !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! for maritime patrol and search and rescue. Dornier developed the Do 24 to meet a requirement from the Dutch navy to replace the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (Whale) that had been introduced in the same role in 1923 for service in the Dutch East Indies. The all-metal, parasol wing Do 24 entered service in November 1937. According to Dornier records, the Do 24 was credited with as many as 12,000 rescues during its time in service, and was also used used as a maritime attack aircraft and was responsible for the sinking of the Japanese destroyer !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! on December 17, 1941. A total of 279 were produced between 1937-1945, and one remains airworthy today, with its radial engines replaced by turboprops. (Photo via UK government)

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July 3, 1886 – The birth of Giovanni Battista Caproni, an Italian aeronautical, civil and electrical engineer who was known for his design of aircraft and the creation of the airplane manufacturing company in 1908 that bears his name. Starting out with the construction of aircraft engines, Caproni moved on to the production of biplanes and was an early proponent of passenger aircraft such as the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! triplane airliner. During WWII, Caproni was a major manufacturer of large aircraft for the Italian Royal Air Force ( !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ), and also developed the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , an experimental jet predecessor that was powered by a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , a precursor to modern jet engines. Caproni died in 1957 at age 71. (Photo author unknown)

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July 4, 2005 – The NASA space probe Deep Impact successfully impacts comet Tempel 1. Deep Impact was launched on January 12, 2005 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and was designed to investigate the interior composition of comet !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . After rendezvousing with the comet, the spacecraft released an impactor that collided with the comet’s !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , excavating debris from the interior of the comet and forming a crater. Deep Impact was the first probe to eject material from a comet’s surface for study. After completion of the mission, the spacecraft flew by Earth on December 31, 2007 on its way to study !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , as well as comet !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . (NASA illustration and photo)

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July 4, 2002 – The death of Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., the commander of the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! in WWII and the first African-American general officer in the US Air Force. Davis was born in Washington, DC on December 18, 1912 into a military family, his father achieving the rank of brigadier general in the US Army. The younger Davis graduated from the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! in 1936, but was denied entry to the Army Air Corps since they did not accept blacks at the time. Davis was then assigned to the first training class at Tuskegee University, and was deployed to the Mediterranean in support of the invasion of Sicily. Following the war, Davis rose through the Air Force, eventually gaining the rank of General (retired) in 1998. (Photo author unknown)

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July 4, 1997 – Mars Pathfinder lands on Mars. After landing on Mars, Pathfinder deployed a roving probe named !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , the first rover to operate outside of the Earth-Moon system. Pathfinder was launched from !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! on December 4, 1996 and bounced to a landing on what is now called the Carl Sagan Memorial Station. Pathfinder was the first in a series of rover missions to the Red Planet, and the first since successful lander since two !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! landers in 1976. Developed as part of NASA’s “faster, better and cheaper” initiative, the solar-powered rover carried out experiments on the Martian soil and took photographs of its surroundings before contact was lost two months after landing. (NASA photo)

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July 4, 1986 – The first flight of the Dassault Rafale, a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! multi-role fighter developed in the mid-1970s to replace and consolidate aircraft and missions of the French Air Force and Navy. Development began with the Rafale A technology demonstrator, a delta-wing aircraft that featured forward canards to increase maneuverability. Development lead to the Rafale C, which was both smaller and more stealthy than its predecessor, and utilized a redesigned vertical stabilizer, radar-absorbent materials, and increased use of composite materials. Production began in 1982, and more than 133 of both the one- and two-seat variants have been produced to date. The Rafale entered service in May of 2001. ( Photo by Tim Felce via !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! )

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July 4, 1975 – The first flight of the Boeing 747SP, the smallest and fastest variant of the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Development was initiated by a request from Pan Am for an airliner capable of carrying passengers from New York to Tokyo, its longest route at the time. Originally designated SB for Short Body, the name was changed to SP for Special Performance, and the airliner was created by shortening the fuselage, increasing the size of the horizontal stabilizer and simplifying the wing’s trailing edge flaps. When the SP entered service, it was the longest-range airliner available until the introduction of the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! in 1989, but Boeing received few orders and only 45 SPs were produced. Iran Air is the only airline that continues to operate the SP for passenger flights, and NASA also operates one SP to carry the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (SOFIA), with a large opening in the side of the aircraft for a reflecting telescope. (Photo by Konstantin von Wedelstaedt via !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! )

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July 4, 1957 – The first flight of the Ilyushin Il-18, a four-engine turboprop airliner that proved to be one of the most successful Soviet airliners of its era. Like many Russian designs, the Il-18 was durable and rugged, with many airframes achieving over 45,000 flight hours. The Il-18 entered service in 1958, and it set 25 world records for range and altitude, earning the Brussels World Fair Grand Prix in 1958. The Il-18 was widely exported, and also served as a military transport and cargo aircraft. Just under 700 were produced from 1957-1985, and though it was superseded by the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! jetliner, the Il-18 remains in limited civilian and military service. (Photo by Sergey Riabsev via !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! )

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July 5, 2016 – NASA’s Juno spacecraft enters orbit around Jupiter. Juno is part of NASA’s !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! program, a series of missions designed to investigate the planets of our Solar System that seeks !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! to help fund and administer the exploratory missions. The other current mission in the program is !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , which launched on January 19, 2006 to study Pluto. Juno was launched on August 5, 2011, and is the second probe to orbit the Solar System’s largest planet after !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , which orbited from 1995-2003. Juno’s mission is to study Jupiter’s !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! fields, its !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , and will search for clues on how the planet formed and what the planet is made of. Following its scientific missions, Juno is set to be deorbited into Jupiter’s atmosphere in 2018. (NASA illustration)

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July 5, 1942 – The first flight of the Avro York, a four-engine transport aircraft that was derived from the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Like other postwar British airliners that were based on bombers, the York took the wings, tail and undercarriage of the Lancaster and was fitted with a larger, square fuselage that could accommodate up to 56 passengers. Powered by 4 !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! engines, the York had a maximum speed of 298 mph and a range of 3,000 miles. It entered service with the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (BOAC) in 1944, and was also used by the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Following the end of mainline service, the York continued to fly with independent airlines for both passenger and freight operations, and was finally retired in 1964. Avro produced 259 Yorks from 1943-1949. (Flickr photo 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!!! .

DISCUSSION (10)

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > ttyymmnn
07/05/2016 at 12:51

The Dr.1's braces DID prove to be useful for minimizing wing flutter, but initially they were just there for decoration. The decision to add the struts was based on the reaction by the authorities to an earlier Fokker design (V.1 iirc?), a biplane with internally braced wings and no braces. Because the plane looked too flimsy for combat they refused to buy it. Therefore all Fokker fighters afterward had wingtip braces even though they had internally braced wings.

ttyymmnn > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer
07/05/2016 at 12:55

Thanks for the extra info, as always.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > ttyymmnn
07/05/2016 at 12:56

Yeah, well, thanks for the TDIAH posts. :)

ttyymmnn > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer
07/05/2016 at 13:00

My pleasure! It’s nice writing for a knowledgeable audience. I can only fit so much in a post, and the readers always bring stuff that I either couldn’t include or just missed. I learn as much from you all that I do when I write.

HammerheadFistpunch > ttyymmnn
07/05/2016 at 13:08

The vertical stabilizer on that 747 is comically large, at least in that picture. Its like a 3rd wing tacked on the back there.

ttyymmnn > HammerheadFistpunch
07/05/2016 at 13:16

It is, but I think it’s a function of the shortened fuselage (disclaimer: I’m no aero engineer). I’m writing about the Boeing 377 for next week, and that thing had such a big stabilizer that it folded so it would fit in the hangar.

Kinja'd!!!

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > ttyymmnn
07/05/2016 at 23:07

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/bu…

curious how Iran air plays out

ttyymmnn > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas
07/06/2016 at 08:17

“If this moves forward, Boeing and terror will be intertwined,” Roskam said. “Congress will not be sitting by idly without something to say about it.”

Oh, please. No, Congress will sit idly by when other business of the country needs to be done.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > ttyymmnn
07/07/2016 at 00:10

Boeing; oh yeah, just a reminder we employ XXXX people in your district and do $XX,XXX,XXX of business with ____ supplier in the other district in your state.

....

yeah so we’re gonna sell some planes

Kinja'd!!!

ttyymmnn > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas
07/07/2016 at 00:33

Love the image. Go sell some planes, Tex! The Dash 80 is coming up next week.