"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
08/16/2016 at 12:35 • Filed to: planelopnik, planelopnik history
8
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"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
08/16/2016 at 12:35 • Filed to: planelopnik, planelopnik history | 8
| 16 |
Welcome to This Date in Aviation History , getting of you caught up on milestones, important historical events and people in aviation from August 13 - August 16.
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August 13, 1932 – The first flight of the Gee Bee Model R. Aviation came into its own during the First World War, but following the war, most people still saw airplanes solely as part of the military. But soon, barnstormers were dazzling spectators with feats of skill and daring, and the airplane firmly established itself in the imagination of the world. The interwar period became known as the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , and rapid technological developments in aircraft design left the fabric-covered open frames behind and replaced them with metal monoplanes of increasing size, strength and speed. And just as the first automobile drivers pitted themselves against each other in contests of speed, airplane races became all the rage. Contests of speed such as the the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! drew entrants from around the world, and helped spur ever more experimentation and innovation. Starting in 1920, the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! were created by publisher !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , which included the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! races, sponsored by Thompson Products (the company that would eventually become !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ), which saw planes racing around pylons, and the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , a race for the fastest time between two points. In the quest for the fastest aircraft possible, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! built a series of powerful racers beginning with the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! in 1930. All the aircraft featured low cockpits, relatively short wings, and enormous radial engines. The planes were definitely fast, but they were also notoriously difficult to fly. Most of them crashed, claiming the life a number of pilots, including Zantford Granville, one of the five Granville brothers. Undeterred, the remaining Granville brothers forged ahead in 1931 with the Gee Bee (as in GB, or Granville Brothers) Model Z, which was essentially a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! supercharged radial engine with wings. The stubby design was fast, winning the Thompson Trophy in 1932, but with its stubby wings and minimal vertical stabilizer, it was also extremely difficult to fly, and a crash while attempting a world speed record killed pilot Lowell Bayles. Though the crash caused significant damage to the reputation of the Granville Brothers, they followed the Model Z with the Model R, perhaps the best known of the Gee Bee aircraft.
Jimmy Doolittle pilots the Model R to victory in the Thompson Trophy race in 1932
The Model R was 2 feet longer, and featured a refined fuselage shape that its designers hoped would be more aerodynamic. The wings were lengthened slightly, but the cockpit was placed even further back on the diminutive fuselage, and it was driven by a still more powerful
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radial engine providing 800 hp. The Model R continued to be a very difficult airplane to fly, even in the hands of experienced aviators. But the new design, with a top speed of nearly 300 mph, also allowed the pilot to lap the racing pylons in a knife-edge turn without losing altitude and, in the hands of famed aviator
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the Model R won the Thompson Trophy in 1932. Doolittle would retire from air racing after his win, but would go on to a storied career in the US Army Air Forces, where he commanded the audacious
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on Tokyo in April 1942. None of the original Gee Bee aircraft exist today, but some replicas are still flown by brave pilots in the quest for speed.
(Aircraft photo author unknown; Doolittle photo via
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August 14, 1974 – The first flight of the Panavia Tornado. In the history of jet fighter development, there have been various schools of thought on how best to employ the warplanes. In WWI, aircraft started out purely as observation planes, but then transitioned to dedicated fighter aircraft. By WWII, there were dedicated fighters, but also dedicated !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! aircraft, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . These basic categories continued into the jet age, but by the 1960s, designers began to investigate the concept of the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! fighter, one plane that could do the job of several different aircraft, thus eliminating the need to develop and maintain multiple types. At the same time, designers in the United Kingdom began investigating the benefits of variable geometry fighter aircraft, one that could sweep the wings out for lower speed flight while sweeping them back for high speed flight. Various European allies were all working towards the same goal of a new multirole fighter, and it soon became apparent that working together would be more efficient. In 1960, four nations—the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands—agreed to form a multinational company, called !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , to work together on the development of a Multirole Combat Aircraft (MRCA) capable of carrying out tactical strike missions, reconnaissance, air defense, and maritime patrol and attack. Britain was hoping to replace the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , while West Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and Canada were looking for a replacement for the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . After the Netherlands pulled out, the consortium decided on the Panavia 200, a swing-wing aircraft that would be developed into the Tornado.
Panavia Tornado prototype
The resulting design featured wings that swept between 25 and 67 degrees with hard points under the wings that swivel as the wing swept. The Tornado is powered by a pair of !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! afterburning turbofans which provide a top speed of Mach 2.2, is armed with a single 27 mm !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! cannon, and has the ability to carry 19,800 pounds of external bombs and missiles. A tandem cockpit, with pilot and navigator/weapons officer, was included to reduce pilot workload. The flight of the first prototype took place in West Germany in 1974, and the Tornado entered service with the Luftwaffe in July 1979, eventually forming the backbone of the aerial attack and defense air forces of Britain, Germany, Italy and Saudi Arabia. German Tornados took part in the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (1992-1995), the first combat operations by the Luftwaffe since WWII. British and Italian Tornados saw action as part of the NATO force in !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , and the RAF flew scores of missions during the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , eventually being supplemented by older Blackburn Buccaneers which were used as target definition aircraft. A total of 992 Tornados of all variants were built by the time production ended in 1998, and continuing upgrades will ensure continued service for years to come. (Photo by Cpl Neil Bryden, Royal Air Force; prototype Tornado photo by !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! via !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! )
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August 16, 1948 – The first flight of the Northrop F-89 Scorpion. When fighter aircraft first flew in WWI, and throughout most of WWII, they were limited to daylight operations in good weather. Rain or fog made many missions impossible, and it wasn’t until the introduction of aerial radar that planes could fight effectively at night. But following the war, the emphasis on high-flying strategic bombers, and later ones that could carry nuclear weapons, called for a new type of large interceptor, one that could fly day or night, and in all weather conditions. The Northrop F-89 Scorpion would be the US Air Force’s first interceptor designed specifically for the all-weather mission, and it traces its origins back to 1945, when the US Army Air Forces (soon to become the US Air Force in 1947), began looking for a replacement for the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! night fighter. The specification for the new interceptor called for a twin-engine aircraft that was heavily armed with six guns—four in the front and two in the rear—that would be set in flexible mounts and capable of being aimed by radar. Additionally, it must be armed with air-to-air rockets stored internally and capable of carrying 1,000 pounds of bombs, plus external rockets, for ground attack. While the USAAF did not specify that a jet engine be used, the top speed requirement could only really be achieved with jet power. The USAAF received proposals from Bell, Consolidated-Vultee, Douglas, Goodyear, Curtiss-Wright, and four submissions from Northrop. They chose two finalists, the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , and one of the Northrop designs, the N-24. The Air Force chose the N-24, which spelled the end of Curtiss-Wright, but the N-24 bore little resemblance to the final F-89. It was originally designed with a swept wing, but Northrop redesigned the fighter after the Air Force expressed concerns about early mock ups, and instead adopted a thin straight wing to allow the aircraft to carry greater weapons loads while making it more stable at lower speeds. The pilot and radar operator, which were originally housed in separate cockpits, were moved together into a tandem position under a single cockpit, and permanent wingtip fuel tanks were added. By this time, the Air Force also dropped the requirement for a rear gun. Production of the F-89A was approved in 1949, but development continued at a rapid pace and only 18 of the A models were produced before the introduction of the F-89B. Later upgrades saw the introduction of the F-89D, which added wingtip pods that carried fuel as well as 52 !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (FFAR, also known as Mighty Mouse) per wing. This was the major production model of the Scorpion, and 682 were built out of a total of 1,050 of all variants. With the F-89D, the nose guns were removed in favor of a Hughes fire control system and a reliance on air-to-air missiles and rockets. The Scorpion entered service in 1951, and the final derivative, the F-89J, was capable of carrying a pair of Genie nuclear rockets. The Scorpion was the first aircraft to fire such a weapon, and it served with the Air Defense Command until 1959. After its removal from frontline service, the Scorpion served the Air National Guard until its retirement in 1969. (US Air Force photo)
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Short Takeoff
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August 13, 1962 – The first flight of the British Aerospace 125, a twine-engine corporate jet originally developed by de Havilland as the DH.125 Jet Dragon and designed as a replacement for the de Havilland Dove. Following the purchase of de Havilland by !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , the 125 entered production as the Hawker Siddeley HS.125, while later models were known as the Hawker 800. One of the earliest business jets, the 125 found a wide open market for executives and government agencies, including the US Air Force, where it was known as the C-29, and the Royal Air Force, who flew it as a navigation trainer designated the Hawker Siddeley Dominie T1. A 125 was also owned by Formula 1 driver !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . More than 1,600 aircraft were produced from 1962-2013. (Photo by Aktug Ates via !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! )
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August 13, 1939 – The first flight of the Vickers Warwick, an aircraft designed and built by !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! originally as a bomber to complement the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . The Warwick went through a long and difficult development process, and was ultimately deemed to be redundant by the time it entered service in 1942, and only 16 were delivered as bombers. The rest of the nearly 850 aircraft produced still found roles to fill, serving as transports, maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine patrol, and for air-sea rescue. Most of the production Warwicks were fitted with a deployable lifeboat (see photo) which was dropped to the crews of downed bombers over the English Channel or North Sea. (Photo author unknown)
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August 14, 1933 – The first flight of the Tupolev ANT-14, the first all-metal aircraft produced in Russia and the flagship of the Soviet propaganda squadron. The ANT-14 was an enlarged version of the three-engine !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , and was powered by five !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , two on each wing and one in the nose. Capable of carrying 36 passengers, the ANT-14 never entered production, as there was no need at the time for such a large passenger aircraft. Consequently, it was named Pravda (Truth) and carried out sightseeing flights over the Russian capital of Moscow, carrying over 40,000 passengers before it was retired in 1941. (Ukrainian Government photo)
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August 15, 2006 – The first flight of the Boeing EA-18G Growler, a carrier-based electronic warfare aircraft developed from the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! as a replacement for the Northrop !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Development of the Growler began with an F/A-18F two-seat Super Hornet fitted with the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! electronic warfare system, and with the success of that aircraft, the US Navy ordered the EA-18G into production in October 2004. The Growler is capable of flying in consort with F/A-18 attack aircraft in all phases of combat missions, providing electronic suppression of enemy radar and the ability to destroy enemy radar sites with radar-guided missiles. The Growler entered service in 2008, and currently serves with both the US Navy and Royal Australian Air Force. (US Navy photo)
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August 15, 1935 – The first flight of the Seversky P-35, an all-metal monoplane flighted designed for the US Army Air Corps and designed by !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , the designer of the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! after Seversky became !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . The P-35 featured semi-retractable landing gear, a feature that would hamper its performance against more modern designs. It was originally armed with one .30 caliber and one .50 caliber machine gun, and thirty 10-pound bombs could be carried on under-wing hardpoints. Following the outbreak of WWII, the P-35 was upgraded to the P-35A, with a more powerful !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! engine and standardized armament, but it was outclassed by the Japanese fighters it faced and was quickly retired. Just under 200 were built. (US Air Force photo)
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August 16, 1984 – The first flight of the ATR 42, a twin-turboprop regional airliner developed as part of a partnership between between France and Italy known as !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , which stands for both Aerei da Trasporto Regionale (Italian) and Avions de transport régional (French), which translates as Regional Air Transport. The ATR 42 can accommodate from 40-52 passengers, and it entered service with Air Littoral of France in 1985. It is powered by two !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , PW121 or PW127 engines depending on variant, and served as the basis for the enlarged !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , which first flew in 1988. As of 2014, 436 had been built, and the airliner remains in production. (Photo by Laurent Errera via !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! )
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August 16, 1965 – The crash of United Airlines Flight 389, regularly scheduled !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! service from New York City to Chicago and the first loss of a 727. The aircraft, a 727-22 (N7036U), had only been in service with United for two and a half months before the crash, and had completed only 138 cycles (landing and takeoff). The aircraft was descending from 35,000 feet to 6,000 feet on approach to O’Hare Airport when, for some unknown reason, the pilots failed to level of and simply flew into Lake Michigan. Weather was not a factor, and the aircraft was functioning properly. The official !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! was unable to determine the exact reason for the crash, though some have surmised that the pilots misread their 3-point altimeter by 10,000 feet. The crash killed all 30 passengers and crew on board. (Photo—not crash aircraft—by Dmitry Avdeev via !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! )
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August 16, 1947 – The first flight of the de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver, a high-wing monoplane developed specifically for !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (STOL) performance and used widely around the world as a bush plane. During the design phase, DHC sought input from famed bush pilot !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and others, who all requested an aircraft with a huge amount of power and STOL capability. Full-sized doors were fitted on either side of the aircraft for ease of loading and unloading, and are large enough to fit a 45 Imperial gallon drum (55 US gallons). !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! supplied surplus !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! engines that provided all the power the pilots requested and more. Initial sales were slow, but improved significantly when the US Army purchased hundreds of Beavers as the U-6A, and they are still flown today. A total of 1,657 Beavers were built, and many remain flying, though parts are becoming difficult to find for the WWII-era engines, leading some to upgrade the old airframe with more modern engines or even turboprop engines. (Photo by Robert Frola 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
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.
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HammerheadFistpunch
> ttyymmnn
08/16/2016 at 12:51 |
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My mom went to Alaska and brought me back a shirt that said “let us rebuild your beaver” with a picture of a De Havilland beaver on it because she thought it looked nice. I just smiled and laughed and now I wear it working on my cars.
MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner
> ttyymmnn
08/16/2016 at 13:08 |
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With your lead image, this is all I could think of:
BringBackTheCommodore
> ttyymmnn
08/16/2016 at 13:30 |
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There are a lot of historic “First flight” milestones here - the Gee Bee is one that I appreciate the most, though, as it’s a whimsical aircraft. Flying one of those must have been interesting to say the very least.
Jcarr
> ttyymmnn
08/16/2016 at 13:32 |
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I saw Delmar Benjamin fly his Gee Bee replica at Oshkosh a few times in the 90s. Fascinating aircraft, but takes some balls to fly I imagine.
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Jcarr
> ttyymmnn
08/16/2016 at 13:42 |
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NW Flight 255 coming later this week or just not enough time/space?
LongbowMkII
> ttyymmnn
08/16/2016 at 13:53 |
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The GB’s were amazing. Like twin supercharged Cobras that flew.
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LongbowMkII
> MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner
08/16/2016 at 13:54 |
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That's the reference.
carzcarzcarz
> MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner
08/16/2016 at 14:19 |
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Lead image made me think of The Rocketeer, with the Model Z.
Rock Bottom
> ttyymmnn
08/16/2016 at 14:31 |
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Fun Fact #1: My first job out of college was as an aeronautical engineer at Hawker-Beechcraft where I worked on the replacement design for the Hawker 9/8/7 line (which included the 750, 800, 850, 900, and 900XP). We were getting pretty good at building carbon composite airplanes by then (about 10 years ago) and this thing was going to look super cool, especially next to the train-wreck-jets from Brand C! A few of us rogues were doing everything we could to give this plane a heaping helping of “Ramp Appeal”, as the market was/is flooded with cookie cutter jets that all look the same. We wanted this new one to look distinctive and futuristic, and we were almost there... aaaand then the company didn’t survive the Great Recession and I had to move on to greener pastures. Swing and a miss!
Fun Fact #2: The wing deicing system on the 125/9/8/7 was glycol based, and didn’t use hot bleed air like most other jets today. The leading edge of the wings was porous and would ooze out a thick glycol liquid which prevented ice from forming. After landing, some rich guy in a nice suit (or a young engineer) would lean against the wing and get a bunch of that goo on his sleeve!
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ttyymmnn
> Jcarr
08/16/2016 at 15:50 |
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No, I just missed it. I remember that accident, though.
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Jcarr
> ttyymmnn
08/16/2016 at 15:54 |
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I was only a few years old so I don’t remember, but reading the wiki, it sounds pretty horrific.
gmctavish needs more space
> ttyymmnn
08/16/2016 at 16:20 |
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Half the reason I wanted, and still want a pilots license is to fly a Beaver. I love them and I’m not even sure why. I see them everywhere, a couple seaplane companies fly them between Vancouver and Victoria, they have Otters too.
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MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner
> LongbowMkII
08/16/2016 at 16:59 |
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Oh I’m sure. Just bringing up planes is all.
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ttyymmnn
> gmctavish needs more space
08/16/2016 at 18:14 |
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It’s a classic design. Almost like the Lockheed Vega of the Great White North.
You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much
> HammerheadFistpunch
08/16/2016 at 21:42 |
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My mom once gave me a shirt that came from a fabricating or forging show. It was a really nice polo that had the phrase “heat it and beat it” embroidered on the front breast. I wore it to work for a while until one of the guys hinted that the VP of operations may not have particularly cared for the innuendo.
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HammerheadFistpunch
> You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much
08/16/2016 at 21:58 |
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probably best to avoid these bumper stickers from Beaver utah
