This Date in Aviation History: February 5 - February 7

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn) 02/07/2020 at 12:35 • Filed to: wingspan, Planelopnik, TDIAH

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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 February 5 through February 7.

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It’s a slow day in aviation history, so only a few Short Takeoffs today.

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America’s first rocket-assisted takeoff was performed by an ERCO Ercoupe fitted with a solid propellent booster. The Ercoupe took off from March Field, California on August 12, 1941, piloted by Captain Homer A. Boushey Jr. (NASA)

Boeing B-47E Stratojet performs a rocket-assisted take off with a Lockheed F-80 flying chase (US Air Force)

A Martin PBM Mariner performs a rocket-assisted takeoff in 1944 (US Navy)

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Short Takeoff

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February 5, 1982 – Laker Airways ceases operations. One of the first low cost, “no frills” airlines, Laker Airways was founded by British entrepreneur !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! in 1966 and began operations on July 29 of that year from its base at London Gatwick Airport. The airline started with two former !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (BOAC) !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! turboprops, and eventually expanded to include !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , and others. Laker’s business model was designed around making the flights as inexpensive as possible for the airline through fuel-saving measures such as using reduced thrust on takeoff and faster climbs to cruising altitude. They also worked to reduce weight by limiting passenger luggage, and offered passengers meals that could be purchased on board. By the 1970s, Laker was offering transatlantic flights as part of their Skytrain service, but the airline fell on hard times when other major airlines began to reduce their ticket prices to offer direct competition. Though Laker Airlines did not survive, the stage was set for follow-on discount carriers such as Ryanair and EasyJet.

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(NASA)

February 6, 1971 – NASA astronaut Alan Shepard drives two golf balls on the Moon. !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! was the eighth manned mission of the Apollo program, the third manned mission to land on the moon, and the first after the near-disaster of !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Mission Commander !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and Lunar Module Pilot !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! spent two days on the lunar surface, while Command Module Pilot !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! remained in orbit around the Moon. The astronauts collected rocks and carried out several experiments, but the TV highlight of the mission occurred when Shepard struck two golf balls in the reduced gravity of the Moon using a makeshift golf club he had brought from Earth. Shepherd said the ball traveled “miles and miles and miles,” though it’s unlikely that his shot traveled much more than one mile. Had he struck the ball perfectly, though, it could have traveled 2.5 miles and stayed aloft for 70 seconds, as the Moon’s gravity is only 1/6 that of Earth’s.

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February 6, 1958 – A British European Airways Airspeed AS-57 Ambassador crashes on takeoff from Munich-Riem Airport, killing 20, including 11 players and coaches of the Manchester United football club. Known as the Munich air disaster, the crash occurred when the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! was making its third attempt to take off after engine trouble caused two aborted takeoffs. Under pressure to remain on schedule, the captain attempted a third takeoff, only to have the plane slowed by an accumulation of snow and slush at the end of the runway. Robbed of takeoff speed at a critical moment, the aircraft overran the runway and struck a house. Twenty of the 44 passengers were killed outright, while three more succumbed to injuries after being hospitalized. The crash decimated the powerful Man U club during their attempt to become the third team to win three consecutive championships, and it would be years before the team again rose to prominence.

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(SDASM)

February 7, 2001 – The death of Anne Morrow Lindbergh, the wife of famed aviator !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and an accomplished aviator herself. Born on June 22, 1906, she became the first American woman to earn a glider pilot license in 1930 and, with her husband, explored and charted intercontinental air routes. For this work, she and Charles were awarded the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! by the National Geographic Society and the US Flag Association Cross of Honor. The mapping trip covered 40,000 miles of flying and included visits to five continents. Lindbergh was inducted into the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! in 1979, as well as the International Women in Aviation Pioneer Hall of Fame.

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Connecting Flights

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If you enjoy these Aviation History posts, please let me know in the comments. You can find more posts about aviation history, aviators, and aviation oddities at !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > ttyymmnn 02/07/2020 at 12:45

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Rocket assisted takeoff: My main strategy to getting poorly designed behemoths off the ground in Kerbal

user314 > ttyymmnn 02/07/2020 at 13:00

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I love the idea of some future human explorer finding those two golf balls and being utterly, utterly confused.

Future next gen S2000 owner > ttyymmnn 02/07/2020 at 13:04

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The moon is 1/6th the gravity of Earth, not 5/6.

ttyymmnn > Future next gen S2000 owner 02/07/2020 at 13:40

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Oops. Looks like I got that backwards. Thanks for pointing that out.

Dakotahound > ttyymmnn 02/07/2020 at 13:51

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As I am reading this, and looking at the B-47E Stratojet, the house is experiencing intermittent rumbling. They must be testing something really big at the P inecastle Impact Range today (it is a practice bombing range) . Pinecastle is about 30 miles from our house. About three times a year, we can feel the impacts.

Pinecastle is interesting to see o n Google Maps. Type:

29.118550, -81.718139

and set it to sa tel lite.

ttyymmnn > Dakotahound 02/07/2020 at 13:55

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So, who’s Fred?

Dakotahound > ttyymmnn 02/07/2020 at 13:58

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I’ve wondered about that myself. The image has been updated several times over the past few years, and some of it has changed (there used to be more tanks), but FRED is always there.

ttyymmnn > Dakotahound 02/07/2020 at 14:07

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You should send that to Tyler Rogoway over at The War Zone. He may know, or else he’ll get to the bottom of it.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone

glemon > ttyymmnn 02/07/2020 at 14:16

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Maybe Boeing needs to look into less software assist and more rocket assist for takeoffs.  Didn't know rocket assist was ever used in commercial passenger air travel.

Chariotoflove > ttyymmnn 02/07/2020 at 14:30

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So often h istory repeats itself. Legend airlines out of Love Field was squashed in a similar way.  When American couldn’t block them operating around the Wright Amendment in court, they opened their own terminals at Love to undercut their business.