This Date in Aviation History: September 26 - September 28

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn) 09/28/2018 at 12:35 • Filed to: wingspan, planelopnik history, Planelopnik

8

24

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Welcome to This Date in Aviation History , getting of you caught up on milestones, important historical events and people in aviation from September 26 through September 28.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

A US Navy A-7E Corsair II from Attack Squadron 146 (VA-146) “Blue Diamonds” in 1974. (US Navy)

September 26, 1965 – The first flight of the LTV A-7 Corsair II. Throughout the history of military aviation, there have been a handful of aircraft that were named after successful predecessors, such as the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , which took its name from the potent !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! fighter and ground attack aircraft of WWII, and the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , which continued the use of ghostly aircraft nicknames that started with the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! in 1945. So, when !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (LTV) needed a nickname for their new hard-hitting ground attack aircraft, they found inspiration in the rugged and deadly !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! of WWII and Korea, one of the preeminent fighters of the piston era.

In 1962, the US Navy began a search for a new attack aircraft to replace the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , hoping to improve both the range and payload provided by the diminutive A-4. The Navy also required that the new attack aircraft show improvements in target accuracy in order to reduce the costs associated with bombs that missed their mark. By 1963, the Navy finalized their requirements and announced the VAL (heavier-than-air, attack, light) competition and, to save money, they stipulated that the aircraft be based on an existing design. Vought turned to their !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , a supersonic air superiority fighter that entered service with the Navy in 1957. But the Crusader was built for speed, with a long narrow fuselage and afterburning turbojet engine, and ground attack missions call for subsonic speeds closer to the ground. So Vought shortened and broadened the fuselage and removed the variable incidence wing that helped lower the Crusader’s landing speeds. They also increased the wingspan and replaced the Crusader’s afterburning turbojet with an !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! turbofan that had no afterburner, since there would be no need for the A-7 to fly at supersonic speeds. Vought gave the A-7 an !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! radar that offered better targeting than the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , and also installed a head-up display (HUD), the first for a US fighter. The Navy selected the A-7 as the winner of the VAL competition in 1964, and it received the nickname Corsair II a year later.

By 1967, Navy A-7s were in action over Vietnam, flying from the aircraft carrier USS Ranger (CVA-61). However, the hot humid conditions of Southeast Asia limited the amount of power available to Navy pilots, and they could not carry a full load of weapons and fuel. The lack of power led pilots to nickname the Corsair II “SLUF,” which stood for Short Little Ugly Fucker. The Corsair II was also pressed into service with the US Air Force when they identified the need for a robust subsonic ground attack aircraft to support US Army troops. Reluctant at first to take the Navy airplane, the Air Force relented under pressure from Secretary of Defense !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , with the stipulation that their version would have a still more powerful engine and an !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! rotary cannon rather than the two single-barreled 20mm cannons on the Navy version. This aircraft was designated the A-7D, and was later adopted by the Navy as the A-7E. All told, the Navy and Air Force flew more than 100,000 A-7 sorties during the war.

A US Navy A-7E Corsair II from attack squadron VA-72 Blue Hawks passes over a ruined fort in the Saudi desert during Operation Desert Shield in 1990. (US Navy)

By the end of the Vietnam War, the Air Force began passing the Corsair II over to the Air National Guard (ANG) in favor of the F-4 Phantom II, but the Navy continued flying A-7s, and they saw action over !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and Libya, and limited use in the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . The Air Force and Navy retired their A-7s in 1991, while the ANG finally retired their Corsair IIs in 1993. The Greek Hellenic Air Force flew the A-7 until 2014, 47 years after the type’s maiden flight.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

(Author unknown)

September 27, 1964 – The first flight of the BAC TSR-2. By the 1950s, the general doctrine of aerial bombardment, either nuclear or conventional, was to penetrate enemy territory by flying as high and as fast as possible, beyond the reach of enemy fighters and interceptors. In England, the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , which first flew in May 1949, had a service ceiling of 48,000 feet, and could fly over enemy territory with relative impunity. But the arrival of the surface-to-air missile (SAM) changed the conventional bombing doctrine practically overnight, and a new breed of attack aircraft came to the fore, known as !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Since radar-guided SAMS of the era worked on line of sight to track incoming targets, the new bombing method was to fly as low as possible, under the radar, and use terrain features to further mask the attacking aircraft. These high speed, ground-hugging aircraft could carry either conventional or nuclear weapons and, at the time, their interdictor role called for them to fly deep behind enemy lines and destroy logistics targets such as airfields and railroad hubs, thus preventing the enemy from bringing troops and supplies to the front lines.

To that end, the British government issued Operational Requirement 399 (GOR.399) in 1956, an extraordinarily ambitious list of requirements for a new light bomber that could fly at supersonic speeds in all weather conditions, be capable of carrying both tactical nuclear weapons and conventional weapons, have either short takeoff and landing (STOL) or vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) capabilities, and be able to perform both bombing and reconnaissance missions. In January 1959, the Ministry of Supply selected a consortium of !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (which, along with the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! were forced into a merger in 1960 to form the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , or BAC) to produce what would be called the TRS-2 (Tactical Strike Reconnaissance, Mach 2). The new aircraft was designed around the strengths of each company, with Vickers-Armstrongs building the front half of the aircraft and wings, while English Electric built the rear.

Aircraft XR219 in flight, the only TSR-2 to fly. Twenty-four test flights were made over a six-month period before the project was canceled. (Author unknown)

The TSR-2 was powered by two !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! afterburning turbojets developed from those used on the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , engines which would later power the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . It was capable of a sustained cruise of Mach 2.05, with a dash speed of Mach 2.35, and a theoretical top speed of Mach 3. In an effort to save money, no prototypes were built. The first tranche of aircraft were supposed to be finished production aircraft, and testing commenced with the first two completed aircraft. Despite some early mechanical difficulties, test pilots reported that the TSR-2 flew well. Still, the initial requirements had to be reworked to reflect the realities of the TSR-2's performance. Though the first aircraft was supposed to be a finished production airframe, the sophisticated radars and other electronics had yet to be installed, and the costs of the aircraft continued to climb.

With some in the British government believing that the TSR was made obsolete by the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , the cost and complexity, as well as delays in development, led to the project’s cancellation on April 6, 1965, the day scheduled for the maiden flight of the second aircraft. Following contentious debate, the British government announced that it would procure the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! rather than develop their own interdictor, even though considerable money and effort had already been put into the TSR-2. And, to add insult to injury, the British government later rescinded their order of F-111s when that program ran into it own costly delays. Within six months of cancellation, all uncompleted aircraft, plus all tooling, were scrapped. Only two aircraft survived, neither of which is complete. The two finished aircraft, including the one that took part in testing, were destroyed to test for weaknesses in the airframe to gunfire and shrapnel. Only one completed aircraft survived, and is housed at the RAF Museum, Cosford. A second airframe, much less complete, resides at the Imperial War Museum Duxford.  

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Short Takeoff

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

September 26, 1951 – The first flight of the de Havilland Sea Vixen, a twin boom, twin-engine, all-weather, carrier-based fighter developed for the British Royal Navy !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Development of the Sea Vixen began in 1946 as the DH.110, and its twin boom design was borrowed from the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . While the Venom was constructed of a composite of wood and metal, the Sea Vixen was of all-metal construction. The Sea Vixen was powered by two !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! axial flow turbojets and was the first British fighter capable of supersonic speeds. It could be armed with a mixture of missiles, bombs, or rockets, but carried no internal gun. The Sea Vixen entered service in 1959 and, while it never saw combat, it was dispatched to flashpoints around the world throughout the 1960s wherever a show of military power was required.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

(US Library of Congress)

September 26, 1912 – The death of Charles Voisin.   Born on July 12, 1882, Charles Voisin was  early French pioneer of aviation who founded an aircraft manufacturing company with his brother !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! named Appareils d’Aviation Les Frères Voisin in 1906. The Voisins built airplanes to order for wealthy customers and used these aircraft to further their understanding of controlled flight. Their 1907 biplane, flown by !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , made the first heavier-than-air flight in Europe of more than one minute, and that aircraft, known as the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , formed the basis of their fledgling company. Voisin died from injuries sustained in an automobile accident on September 25, 1912, but the company continued under his brother’s leadership, and produced aircraft for the French during WWI.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

(US Air Force)

September 27, 1956 – The death of Milburn G. “Mel” Apt. Apt was born on April 9, 1924 in Buffalo, Kansas and joined the US Army Air Forces in 1944. Following his military service, Apt received a degree in aeronautical engineering and graduated from the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! in 1954. As a test pilot, Apt flew the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! rocket plane and became the first person to exceed Mach 3, though the record-breaking flight ended in tragedy. After the rocket motor burned out, Apt attempted to return to base, still flying at Mach 3. After initiating the turn at supersonic speed, Apt lost control of the X-2. As the aircraft tumbled through the sky, he initiated the separation of the escape capsule. While the capsule’s drogue chute opened, the main chute did not, and Apt was killed when the capsule struck the ground.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

(Author unknown)

September 27, 1946 – The death of Geoffrey de Havilland, Jr, OBE. The son of famed aircraft designer !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , Geoffrey de Havilland, Jr. was born on February 18, 1910 at Crux Easton, Hampshire. He served as the chief test pilot for the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , piloted the maiden flights of the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and the jet-powered !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , and was awarded the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! in 1945. During a test flight of the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , a radical tailless aircraft based on the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , de Havilland lost control of the aircraft before it broke up and crashed. Investigators determined that de Havilland had died when his head struck the canopy during the violent oscillations, breaking his neck.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

September 28, 2007 – The first flight of the Kawasaki P-1, a domestically-produced maritime patrol aircraft developed to replace the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . The P-1 entered service with the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! in 2013, and is outfitted with a magnetic anomaly detection boom, sonobuoys, bombs and missiles. Unlike many other maritime patrol planes that were developed from existing airliners, the P-1 was purpose-built for the maritime reconnaissance role, and is the first production aircraft to use “ !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ” technology. France is considering the P-1 as a replacement for its aging !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! turboprops, and Germany is also looking at the Kawasaki aircraft to replace their Orions.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

September 28, 1988 – The first flight of the Ilyushin Il-96, a long-haul, widebody, four-engine airliner that entered service with Soviet !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! airline Aeroflot in 1992. The Il-96 is a development of the Soviet Union’s first wide body airliner, the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , which first flew in 1976, and features a shortened fuselage, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , winglets for increased fuel efficiency, glass cockpit, and fly-by-wire control systems. In 2015, Russia stopped production of the airliner due to superior aircraft being produced by Airbus and Boeing, though production of the cargo variant continued. However, Russia is considering restarting production of the airliner to avoid dependence on foreign-built airlines. To date, 30 Il-96s have been produced.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

(Author unknown)

September 28, 1952 – The first flight of the Dassault Mystère IV, the first !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! fighter to enter service with the French Armée de l’Air . The Mystère IV was an evolutionary development of the earlier !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and, though sharing an outward resemblance to the earlier fighter, was a completely new design featuring improvements in aerodynamics and a more powerful !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! turbojet engine. The Mystère IV served from 1953 until the mid-1980s and saw action in the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! of 1956. It also served in the air forces of Israel and India.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Connecting Flights

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

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!!! . You can also find more stories about aviation, aviators and airplane oddities at !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

facw > ttyymmnn 09/28/2018 at 12:39

0

In 1962, the US Navy began a search for a new attack aircraft to replace the venerable Douglas A-4 Skyhawk 

“ venerable” may be a bit strong of a term for an aircraft that had been in service all of six years...

For Sweden > facw 09/28/2018 at 12:45

1

That was back when the Navy was buying and scrapping airplanes regularly

McMike > ttyymmnn 09/28/2018 at 12:48

2

For the longest time I thought the Sea Vixen had two identical canopies.

Nope. one is a s unroof.

ttyymmnn > facw 09/28/2018 at 12:49

2

Well, it’s venerable NOW, but I see your point. When you write this much, and on a deadline, it’s easy to fall into cliches.

facw > For Sweden 09/28/2018 at 12:49

0

True, though it’s still a pretty short time frame, and of course the A-4 didn’t end up being retired until decades later.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > ttyymmnn 09/28/2018 at 12:51

0

Il-96 is not a pretty airplane.

And A-7: last of the gunfighters.

For Sweden > ttyymmnn 09/28/2018 at 12:53

2

At the end of the day , cliches can hit it out of the park

facw > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 09/28/2018 at 12:57

2

I like the Il-96, it s big problem is that its not an efficient airplane, even after its upgrade to P&W engines.

And the A-7's big brother the F-8 is the L ast of the G unfighters, with its 4 20mm cannons (the A-7 packs a single 20mm Vulcan cannon)

AuthiCooper1300 > facw 09/28/2018 at 13:15

1

Let’s have some harmless etymological fun!

V e n e r a b l e has come to be associated mostly with old age. But that was not always the case.

In fact, it has the same Latin stem as “to venerate” (“to hold in awe, to treat with great respect, to revere”) and meant, originally, “worthy of veneration”. “Venerable”, “veneration” are also related to V e n u s (and its corresponding adjective... “venereal”); and to v e n e n u m (“venom”, which in Latin originally meant just “juice” or “potion” , not necessarily toxic).

Pretty sure Skyhawk jocks have always revered, treated with respect and been in
awe of the little hotrod !

Cé hé sin > ttyymmnn 09/28/2018 at 13:15

1

The late and great Eric Brown flew the DH 108 after the death of Geoffrey de Havilland and survived the experience, because, he said, his famously short stature meant that his head didn’t hit the canopy when the plane began its oscillations.

facw > AuthiCooper1300 09/28/2018 at 13:17

2

Good to see you got away from the giant mantises .

ttyymmnn > For Sweden 09/28/2018 at 13:18

0

*rim shot*

AuthiCooper1300 > facw 09/28/2018 at 13:22

0

That’s lovely!

( A n d y e s , I w o u l d t o t a l l y b e t h a t g u y)

user314 > ttyymmnn 09/28/2018 at 13:22

2

I’ve said it before, but I miss the SLUFs that used to be out at the ANG base at Greater Pit:

facw > user314 09/28/2018 at 13:37

3

The dark scheme is interesting. Tyler described it as unique the A-7s used by F-117 pilots to hone their flying skills while the F-117 was still under wraps:

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Looks like it got used elsewhere as well though. Looks pretty sha rp though. 

user314 > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 09/28/2018 at 13:39

0

Airliners are, on balance, rather plain looking. If anything, I’d call the Il-96 “unremarkable”, maybe “Cam ry-like”.

Maxima Speed > ttyymmnn 09/28/2018 at 13:39

2

I love the A-7 Corsair II

ttyymmnn > Maxima Speed 09/28/2018 at 13:42

0

It’s always been one of my favorites too. 

user314 > McMike 09/28/2018 at 13:50

0

Yeah, if an aircraft could be a Butterface, the Sea Vixen would be one.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > user314 09/28/2018 at 14:09

1

I don’t like the pointy nose. In the main, I like larger aircraft a lot. My favorite single is the Pilatus PC-12. The B707 was the airliner that started it all for me, as my brother and I flew them every Christmas to visit our mother. The wing on the B787/7E7 is stunning.

user314 > facw 09/28/2018 at 15:16

1

I think those are both in the standard Euro 1 scheme (FS 34102, FS 34092, FS 36081), just in different lighting. 

ttyymmnn > facw 09/28/2018 at 16:18

0

Adjective removed. 

ttyymmnn > McMike 09/28/2018 at 16:18

1

I chose that photo for the very reason that it illustrated the cockpit layout.

Hamtractor > Maxima Speed 09/28/2018 at 16:32

0

I always loved the chin intake jets, from the Sabre to the Super Sabre to the Corsair, always thought they looked like they mean business... In unrelated news, my dad always has super descriptive ways of comparing ANYTHING, or using hilarious descriptor. “ Tougher than wood pecker lips”, “ Uglier than Rosie O’Donnell riding a chainsaw” , that kind of thing. When he compared my two favorite plan es of all time, the P-51D and t he original Corsair, he always said that the Mustang looked like the aerial version of an assassin, all smooth and cool, like it wo uld dance with you before it took your life. He said the Corsair looked like a bare-knuckle fighter, that brutal grace and efficiency that comes with experience in the ring and ends in a bloo dy mess. I think the Corsair II paid a fair homage to the original, is my point, so I guess it’s a little related, lol...