This Date in Aviation History: August 15 - August 17

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn) 08/17/2018 at 12:35 • Filed to: wingspan, planelopnik history, Planelopnik

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Welcome to This Date in Aviation History , getting of you caught up on milestones, important historical events and people in aviation from August 15 through August 17.

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(US Air Force)

August 16, 1948 – The first flight of the Northrop F-89 Scorpion. When fighter aircraft first flew in WWI, and throughout much of WWII, they were limited to daylight operations in good weather. Rain or fog made most missions impossible or, at the least, very dangerous, and it wasn’t until the introduction of airborne radar sets that warplanes could fight effectively at night. But following WWII, the continued use of high-flying strategic bombers, and later ones that could carry nuclear weapons, called for a new type of interceptor, one that could fly day or night, and in all weather conditions.

An early F-89A Scorpion of the 126th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron. (US Air Force)

The Northrop F-89 Scorpion was the US Air Force’s first interceptor designed specifically for all-weather operations, and it traces its origins back to 1945, when the US Army Air Forces (soon to become the US Air Force in 1947) began started 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 would be armed with air-to-air rockets stored internally and be 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 realistically be achieved with jet power.

An F-89H Scorpion armed with Falcon air-to-air missiles mounted on the wingtip fuel tanks. (US Air Force)

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. When the Air Force ultimately selected the N-24 over the Blackhawk, it spelled the end of Curtiss-Wright as an airplane manufacturer, but Northrop’s N-24 bore little resemblance to the final F-89. The N-24 was originally designed with a swept wing, but Northrop redesigned the fighter after the Air Force expressed concerns about early mock ups. At the behest of the Air Force, Northrop 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 canopy, 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 original A models were produced before the introduction of the F-89B with improved avionics.

Loaded for Bear(s): An F-89D of the South Dakota Air National Guard displays a fully-loaded wingtip rocket pod. Also worth noting is the sheer size of the Scorpion. (US Air Force)

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. These missiles were intended to be fired into a formation of bombers, but in practice they were used mostly for ground attack. The F-89D also had its nose guns removed in favor of a Hughes fire control system, which signaled a shift in Air Force doctrine from guns to a reliance on air-to-air missiles and rockets. The F-89D was the major production model of the Scorpion, and 682 out of a total of 1,050 of all variants were built to these specifications. The final derivative, the F-89J, was first aircraft capable of carrying a pair of !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! nuclear rockets which, like the FFARs, would have been used to destroy bombers by detonating the nuclear warhead in the middle of the formation. The Scorpion entered service in 1951, 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.

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Short Takeoff

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(US Navy)

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 !!!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, following 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.

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(Artist unknown)

August 15, 1944 – The first aerial victory is scored by a jet-powered fighter. Development of the turbojet engine began separately in Germany and Great Britain before WWII, but it was the German Luftwaffe who fielded the first operational jet fighter with the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ( Swallow ). The first missions flown by the 262 took place in April 1944, and they were flown primarily against large formations of American bombers taking part in daylight bombing raids. As a member of !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , the world’s first operational all-jet squadron, Feldwebel Helmut Lennartz shot down a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , one of a total of eight victories he scored flying the Me 262. By war’s end, Schwalbe pilots had claimed a total of 542 victories against Allied aircraft.

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(US Air Force)

August 15, 1935 – The first flight of the Seversky P-35, an all-metal monoplane fighter designed for the US Army Air Corps by !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , who later designed 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 hampered its performance against more modern designs. It was originally armed with one .30 caliber and one .50 caliber machine gun, with thirty 10-pound bombs 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.

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Will Rogers and Wiley Post photographed shortly before their fatal accident (Author unknown)

August 15, 1935 – The death of Wiley Post and Will Rogers. Born on November 22, 1898 in Van Zandt County, Texas, Post was one of the giants of the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and began his flying career as a parachutist for a traveling circus before he lost his left eye in an oilfield accident in 1926. The money he received from the settlement allowed him to purchase his first airplane. Post eventually became the first person to fly solo around the world in 1933, and he experimented with the first pressure suit for pilots, and his high altitude flights helped verify the existence of the jet stream. He became good friends with famed American humorist !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , and they often traveled together, with Post piloting while Rogers worked at his typewriter. While flying from Fairbanks to Point Barrow, Alaska in an experimental aircraft Post had cobbled together from parts scavenged from a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , the pair became lost and crashed while taking off after landing to ask for directions.

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August 16, 1987 – The crash of Northwest Airlines Flight 255. Northwest 2 55 was scheduled !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (N312RC) service that originated in Minneapolis, Minnesota with stops at Detroit Metropolitan Airport and Phoenix Sky Harbor before terminating at John Wayne Airport in California. On departure from Detroit, the airliner failed to gain altitude on takeoff and crashed onto a roadway roughly 3,000 feet from the end of the runway. Of the 155 passengers and crew, only one passenger survived, four-year-old Cecelia Cichan. Though a plan had been filed for the flight to depart from one of the airport’s longer runways, it was instead directed to the shortest runway, and analysis of the cockpit voice recorder discovered that the flight crew had failed to go through the taxi checklist and had neglected to extend the flaps and slats for takeoff. The alarm that would have alerted them to an incorrect takeoff configuration failed to sound due to an undetermined electrical fault. At the time, it was the second deadliest aircraft accident in the US, and the worst involving an MD-82 until !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! in 2005.

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August 16, 1984 – The first flight of the ATR 42, a twin-turboprop regional airliner developed through a partnership between between France and Italy known as !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , which stands for both Avions de transport regional and Aerei da Transport Regionale , both of which translate as Regional Air Transport. The ATR 42 can accommodate 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 the variant, and served as the basis for the enlarged !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , which first flew in 1988. As of 2014, 436 have been built, and the airliner remains in production.

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August 16, 1980 – The first flight of the Embraer EMB 312 Tucano. In an effort to reduce dependence on foreign aircraft, the Brazilian government established Empresa Brasileira de Aeronáutica ( !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ) in 1969. In 1977, work began on a two-seat aircraft powered by a turboprop engine for both pilot training and counterinsurgency (COIN) missions. The 312 was the first purpose-built turboprop to have jet flight characteristics, and its raised rear seat provides unobstructed views for the rear seat pilot or instructor pilot. The 312 features ejection seats for both crew members, and combined controls for combined throttle and torque control to mimic jet fighter flight. The Tucano was widely exported, and a total of 624 were produced from 1980-1996.

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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. 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 unknown reasons, 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, and was the first loss of a 727.

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(US Air Force)

August 16, 1960 – US Air Force captain Joseph Kittinger sets a world record for the highest parachute jump and longest freefall. In order to test a parachute system for pilots operating from high altitudes, the US Air Force initiated !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! in 1958. During the program, Captain !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! made three jumps from a stratospheric balloon, each from a higher altitude. The third jump was taken from an altitude of 102,800 feet, breaking a previous record set by Major !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! during !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! in 1957. Wearing a pressure suit, Kittinger fell 85,400 feet before deploying a small stabilizer parachute, setting another record for the longest freefall of 4 minutes 36 seconds. Kittinger’s record stood until 2012, when !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! leapt from 128,000 feet, a record that stood for just two years before it was broken by !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , who jumped from 135,890 feet in 2014.

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August 16, 1952 – The first flight of the Bristol Britannia, a medium- to long-range airliner built in response to requirements set forth by the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! to develop civilian air transport in postwar England. The Britannia was originally designed to be powered by !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! radial engines, since early turboprops were still relatively unreliable. But during development, Bristol instead opted for !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! turboprops, which proved troublesome and delayed the Britannia’s entry into service. Once the engine problems were solved, however, the Britannia arrived at the dawn of the jet airliner age, and only 85 copies of the turboprop airliner were built before production ended in 1960. Still, the Britannia, which came to be known as “The Whispering Giant,” proved popular for its quiet operation (at least on the outside of the cabin), and the design was subsequently sold to Canadair who developed it into the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and the CP-107 Argus maritime patrol aircraft.

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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 around the world as a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . During the design phase, DHC sought input from famed bush pilot !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and others, all of whom 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 an international standard drum (45 Imperial gallons, 55 US gallons). Pratt & Whitney Canada 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. A total of 1,657 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.

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August 17, 1978 – The crew of the Double Eagle II makes the first transatlantic crossing by balloon. Balloonists had been trying to cross the Atlantic Ocean for more than 100 years, but it wasn’t until 1978 that balloonists Ben Abruzzo, Maxie Anderson, and Larry Newman reached France after departing from Presque Isle, Maine on August 11. Newman had planned on hang gliding down to European soil after the crossing, but the glider had to be jettisoned as ballast during flight. After crossing the Irish coast, French officials offered to let them land at Le Bourget Airport, where !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! landed in 1937, but the crew instead chose to land in a field in the suburbs of Paris. The gondola of the balloon is now on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Washington, DC.

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(US Air Force)

August 17, 1956 – The first flight of the Boeing C-135 Stratolifter, a transport aircraft that was developed alongside the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Boeing had developed the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , better known as the “Dash 80,” in response to a US Air Force request for a jet-powered tanker. Though the vast majority of the 820 aircraft were built as KC-135 tankers, a number were built as transport aircraft, with the C-135A having accommodations for 126 passengers. The C-135B received more powerful engines, and five were designed for VIP transport as the VC-135B. Other variants were flown for weather reconnaissance, and a number were sold to France as tankers. The C-135 received the internal Boeing designation 717, though that number was later given to the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! after the two companies merged.

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(US Air Force)

August 17, 1918 – The first flight of the Martin MB-1, a large biplane bomber built for the US Army Air Service and the first purpose-built bomber produced in the United States. Martin designed the MB-1 in response to the similarly-sized !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , and it was powered by two !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! twelve-cylinder liquid-cooled engines that gave the bomber a top speed of 105 mph. The MB-1 could carry a total of 1,040 pounds of bombs and was armed with five .30 caliber defensive machine guns. The MB-1 was configured for both reconnaissance and bombing missions, and was also developed as a torpedo bomber variant for the US Navy and US Marine Corps. The US Postal Service also flew the MB-1 as a mail plane. A total of 20 were built.

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Connecting Flights

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

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For Sweden > ttyymmnn 08/17/2018 at 12:47

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Also worth noting is the sheer size of the Scorpion.

Would you say that you are in awe at the size of the lad?

Just Jeepin' > ttyymmnn 08/17/2018 at 12:48

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Amusing seeing those two first-flight photos back to back at the end. Less than 40 years!! My grandmother turns 95 this week, and it’s simply astonishing how much the world has changed in her lifetime.

And that first F-89 photo definitely makes me want to seek one out at a museum.

Mainly, though, I’m amazed that I didn’t know Will Rogers died in a plane accident.

KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time > For Sweden 08/17/2018 at 12:49

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Absolute Unit

user314 > Just Jeepin' 08/17/2018 at 12:54

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There’s actually quite a few on display .

ttyymmnn > For Sweden 08/17/2018 at 12:58

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This has been the morning of references going over my head.

For Sweden > ttyymmnn 08/17/2018 at 13:04

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https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/absolute-unit-meme/

ttyymmnn > For Sweden 08/17/2018 at 13:07

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I just can’t keep up any more.

Just Jeepin' > user314 08/17/2018 at 13:07

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I’m not surprised to see there’s one at Wright-Patterson. Only about an hour from here, really need to make the trip sometime.

facw > ttyymmnn 08/17/2018 at 13:10

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The crash of Northwest Airlines Flight 255. Northwest 155...

Slight disconnect on the flight number there.

ttyymmnn > facw 08/17/2018 at 13:12

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Derp. Thanks. 

user314 > ttyymmnn 08/17/2018 at 13:19

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facw > ttyymmnn 08/17/2018 at 13:29

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At least you didn’t try to take off without deploying the flaps...

ttyymmnn > facw 08/17/2018 at 13:38

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I remember that accident very clearly. To this day, I look out the window when I’m taking off. At least I know I’m likely to die if I see the plane not configured correctly. 

Kiltedpadre > ttyymmnn 08/17/2018 at 14:55

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Mmm, I do like me some Beaver..

Yes , I have a juvenile sense of humor, but a Beaver on amphibious floats is one of my favorite planes.

ttyymmnn > Kiltedpadre 08/17/2018 at 14:57

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There was an episode of Letterman (or one of the other late night hosts) with Harrison Ford. As you may know, Ford is painfully shy when it comes to live interviews. He is also a pilot (of sorts). Anyway, he was talking about his flying experience and about his Beaver. It got very humorous from there. 

WilliamsSW > ttyymmnn 08/17/2018 at 15:38

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LOL - same here, and I generally sit in a window seat where I can see the wing, too . Pretty sure I’d get up and run up to the cockpit screaming if everything was retracted and we took the runway...

ttyymmnn > WilliamsSW 08/17/2018 at 15:45

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When we flew into CLT last month on SWA, the pilot was absolutely hauling ass around the taxiways. As we walked to baggage, we overtook the pilots and I said, “Were you our pilots from Austin? Man, you really left it all on the track.” Dude kind of smiled, said something about getting home . A few years ago I arranged to have my son’s birthday party at the airport fire station. As we were outside watching the taxiing planes, the fire captain said that the planes are supposed to have a speed limit of 30mph while taxiing, but that the SWA pilots always haul ass. I guess that’s what happens when they only get paid when the wheels are turning .

WilliamsSW > ttyymmnn 08/17/2018 at 16:24

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Ha, yeah - the SWA pilots always do haul ass on the taxiways. RJ pilots often do, too, and once in a while, the mainline pilots will, if they’re running just a few minutes late.

What you *won’t* see often is a widebody taxiing quickly...

Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero > ttyymmnn 08/18/2018 at 17:17

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A few years ago I arranged to have my son’s birthday party at the airport fire station.

hold up...thats a thing that can be arranged? my son would get a kick out of that

ttyymmnn > Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero 08/18/2018 at 23:27

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I don’t know if it’s a normal thing or not. I called airport operations to see if we could get a tour of the airport. They said they don’t do those, and suggested I call the fire station, which is run by the Austin Fire Department. They said it’s not usual, but they said yes. We had to submit a list of attendees since it was in a secure area of the airport, and I brought along a stack of pizzas for the firefighters. It was a great time. They gave us a tour of the station, showed us the trucks and let the kids climb inside. Then they took one of the trucks out and sprayed some water from the roof-mounted canon.  It never hurts to call and ask. All they can say is “no.”

Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero > ttyymmnn 08/20/2018 at 11:25

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Thats super cool! I wonder if CFD at Midway or ohare would be as accommodating lol

ttyymmnn > Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero 08/20/2018 at 11:35

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You never know. As I said, it never hurts to ask.