This Date in Aviation History: April 4 - April 7

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn) 04/07/2020 at 12:35 • Filed to: wingspan, Planelopnik, TDIAH

6

13

!!! 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 April 4 through April 7.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

April 4, 1957 – The first flight of the English Electric Lightning. When the Cold War began in 1947, the militaries of the world were still fighting with a World War II mentality despite the recent arrival of the jet engine. The intercontinental ballistic missile was still 10 years away, and the long-range bomber remained the primary means for delivering nuclear weapons. By the mid-1950s, surface-to-air missile systems were just beginning to enter service, and defense against nuclear-armed bombers relied on high-speed interceptor aircraft. An interceptor of the 1950s was essentially a missile-armed fighter that could fly at great speed to meet the incoming bombers and shoot them down as far away as possible from their intended targets. As there was no expectation that the interceptor would have to engage in a dogfight with other fighters, extreme maneuverability was sacrificed for all out speed.

The Short Brothers SB.5 was built to test the steeply swept wings and tailplane for the English Electric P.1 (Author unknown)

Work on these interceptor aircraft began almost immediately after the war and in 1947, the British Air Ministry issued Specification ER.103 which called for an experimental research aircraft that would be capable of !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! 1.5 with a ceiling of 50,000 feet. !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , the man responsible for the remarkable !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! bomber, led the design team that created the English Electric P.1, a twin-engine interceptor with a radically swept wing, first 40 degrees, then increased to 60 degrees. Since nobody had ever built an aircraft with such a highly swept wing, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , better known as Shorts, was hired to build the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , which had wings that could be moved on the ground between 50, 60 and 69 degrees of sweep. The SB.5 also allowed engineers to evaluate different tail configurations. Designers ultimately settled on a 60-degree wing sweep and a low horizontal stabilizer. But the innovation of the P.1 was not limited to its wings. English Electric also took the unique approach of stacking the two engines one atop the other, rather than the more traditional method of placing them side by side. This arrangement kept the fuselage as narrow as possible to reduce drag.

The first developmental aircraft, the P.1A, took its maiden flight on August 4, 1954 and, even without afterburners (or “reheating,” as the British call it) the P.1A officially reached Mach 1 just one week after its first flight, though analysis of testing data showed that it had actually broken the sound barrier on its first flight. A misaligned Mach meter failed to indicate the correct speed. The next step in the development of the Lightning was the P.1B, which featured new !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! reheating turbojet engines. Now the Lightning showed its true speed potential when it reached Mach 2 and became the world’s first aircraft capable of supersonic flight without the use of afterburners, known as !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . However, that speed came at a cost. The Lightning was a very thirsty aircraft, and the duration of many of its missions was determined simply by the amount of fuel it could carry.

An RAF Lightning escorts a Soviet Tu-95 bomber (Author unknown)

The Lightning entered RAF service in 1960, and soon took on its intended role by intercepting high-flying Russian bombers such as the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! as they probed the edges of British airspace. With such tremendous power coming from the Avon engines, the fighter could reach an altitude of 36,000 feet in less than three minutes, and though its official ceiling was a closely guarded secret, sorties were flown to intercept the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! spy plane flying as high as 65,000 feet. Understandably, this capability was also kept secret. The Lightning was armed with two 30mm !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , along with hardpoints both over and under the wings and on the fuselage for mixtures of missiles, rockets or bombs. Cameras could also be housed in a ventral weapons bay. While the RAF was the primary operator of the Lightning, a number of the 337 aircraft produced were exported to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. The RAF retired their Lightnings in 1988, but a small number of aircraft remain flying in the hands of private pilots.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

A US Army Air Service SPAD S.XIII at Romorantin Aerodrome, France in 1918 (US Air Force)

April 4, 1917 – The first flight of the SPAD S.XIII. When WWI broke out on July 28, 1914, the airplane was still in its infancy. The Wright Brothers first flight had taken place a mere 11 years earlier, and military planners were only just beginning to find a role for airplanes in combat. Initially, they were used solely for reconnaissance, known as scouts. But the scout plane crews soon began carrying pistols and rifles into the air to take shots at enemy aircraft, and the concept of the dedicated fighter plane soon followed. Development proceeded rapidly and all of the belligerents in the war began fielding nimble fighter planes, and one of the greatest of those was the SPAD S.XIII.

The SPAD S.XIII ( SPAD is an acronym for !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ) was a development of the earlier, highly successful !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! which, by 1917, had been outclassed by newer German designs. In response to the calls for greater speed, engine manufacturer !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! raised the compression on the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! to create the 8A, and this 180hp engine was first used in the S.XIII. Later, the improved 8Be engine provided 220hp, and gave the fighter an impressive rate of climb and a top speed of 135 mph. Though the geared engines proved to be somewhat unreliable, the Allies considered it a price worth paying when weighed against the S.XIII’s increased performance. Subsequent development of the engine, and improved construction methods, helped improve reliability. The S.XIII proved to be faster than its contemporaries such as the British !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and the German !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , and could outclimb them as well.The S.XIII was also larger than its S.VII predecessor, and its armament was doubled by the fitting of two Vickers machine guns in place of the single machine gun of the earlier fighter.

American ace Eddie Rickenbacker with his SPAD S.XIII. Note the Hat-in-the-Ring squadron logo on the side of the fuselage (US Air Force)

Following its first flight, the S.XIII was quickly introduced to frontline units the following month. Though deliveries were slow, the SPAD S.XIII eventually outfitted a total of 74 !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!   (squadrons), nearly every combat unit in action at the time. Fifteen of the sixteen American squadrons fighting in WWI flew the S.XIII, including the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , better known as the Hat-in-the-Ring Squadron, where !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , America’s top ace of the war, notched 26 confirmed victories, many coming at the controls of an S.XIII. The US and French were the primary users, but S.XIIIs also served with the Royal Flying Corps and the air forces of 16 other nations. Nearly 8,500 were produced, and an additional 10,000 more were slated for construction but were canceled following the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! that ended the war. Despite the development of newer, more advanced fighters in the latter stages of the WWI, the S.XIII remained in service with the US until 192o, and with France until 1923.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

P-39C-BE assigned to the 40th Pursuit Squadron at Selfridge Field (US Air Force)

April 6, 1938 – The first flight of the Bell P-39 Airacobra. At the beginning of WWII, the Bell P-39 Airacobra was the principal fighter aircraft in US Army Air Corps service. But the Airacobra often gets criticized as ineffective when with compared with later fighters such as the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . The Airacobra’s lack of a turbo-surpercharger certainly rendered it ineffective as a high altitude interceptor or fighter, but despite the criticism, the Airacobra was still a very effective warplane, and proved its mettle against ground targets and low-flying bombers, particularly in the hands of Soviet pilots.

A diagram showing some of the internal components of the P-39 (Author unknown)

In 1937, the USAAC issued the most ambitious requirements to date for a new fighter. They called for 1,000 pounds of heavy armament including a cannon, a tricycle landing gear, a level airspeed of at least 360 mph and the ability to reach 20,000 ft in less than six minutes. The requirements also called for a turbo-supercharged Allison engine for high-altitude performance. With all the weaponry the Army requested, particularly the large cannon, Bell had to find a way to fit it all inside the airframe. So they decided on the innovative !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! of placing the engine behind the pilot, with a drive shaft that passed under the cockpit and turned the propeller through a gear system. The placement of the engine helped with the fighter’s center of gravity and, though some pilots voiced concerns about the drive shaft running underneath the seat, the system proved safe and reliable.

Bell XP-39 prototype. Note the air intake for the turbo-supercharger on the side. This was removed after NACA wind tunnel testing. (San Diego Air and Space Museum)

With the engine placed behind the pilot, the nose of the Airacobra was empty. So Bell filled it with 37mm !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , a weapon specifically designed for the Airacobra and manufactured by Oldsmobile. Because of its heavy recoil, the cannon had to be placed on the aircraft’s centerline, and it fired through the center of the propeller spinner, an arrangement that was made possible by by the geared propeller and drive shaft below the center of the propeller hub. In addition to the cannon, the Airacobra was armed with two .50 caliber machine guns in each wing and two more in the nose firing through the propeller.

The Airacobra bares its fangs. Machine guns fire from the wings and ahead of the cockpit, while the cannon fires from the propeller spinner. (US Air Force)

When testing of the XP-39 prototypes commenced, initial speed results were disappointing. The Army ordered that the aircraft be evaluated in a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (NACA) wind tunnel to see if the fuselage shape could be made more streamlined to increase speed, and it was here that the history of the Airacobra took a significant turn. The turbo-supercharger for the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! V-12 engine was cooled by a scoop on the left side of the aircraft, and NACA said the ducting had to be redesigned to eliminate the scoop to reduce drag. However, there was simply no place to move the scoop in the tightly packaged fuselage. So !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! made the controversial decision to continue development of the P-39 with the turbo-supercharger removed, instead using only a single-stage supercharger. While speeds did increase with the improved aerodynamics, the lack of the turbo-supercharger effectively limited the Airacobra to service below 12,000 feet, rendering it ineffective as an interceptor or high-altitude fighter. And, once armor plating was added, the weight increase put a further drag on the Airacobra’s performance.

Bell P-39 Airacobra of 8th Fighter Group 36th Fighter Squadron over New Guinea in 1942 (Author unknown)

Nevertheless, the P-39 was sent to the Pacific following the outbreak of WWII, where it proved to be a potent weapon against enemy ground targets and shipping. The Airacobra also saw service in the Mediterranean, notably with the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! of the 99th Pursuit Squadron. The British found the Airacobra almost wholly unsuited to their needs, and only outfitted a single squadron with the type. The rest they sent to Russia. And it was in Russia where the P-39 found its greatest success. The Russians appreciated the heavy firepower provided by the cannon and machine guns, as well as the Airacobra’s rugged construction. They particularly liked the Airacobra’s reliable radio. Nearly half of the 9,588 P-39s built were shipped to Russia, where Soviet pilots used the Airacobra primarily in the air-to-air role. Its heavy armament was particularly lethal against German bombers, but it could also hold its own against German fighters at lower altitudes. Russian pilot !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! scored 47 of his 59 victories in an Airacobra, making him the highest scoring P-39 pilot of the war. The Airacobra was continuously developed throughout WWII into a myriad of variants, including an attempt at a navalized version called the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , and the larger, more powerful !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , which was adopted by the Soviet Air Force.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Short Takeoff

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

April 4, 1984– The death of Oleg Antonov. Born on February 7, 1906, Antonov founded an amateur aviation club at age 17 and designed a glider with which he won first place in a design competition. He worked for a time with the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! design bureau and, during WWII, he continued his work with gliders, designing a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! that could carry a full-sized tank. Antonov’s interest in large aircraft continued after the war, and he left Yakovlev to lead his own design bureau, which eventually became the company that bears his name. He specialized in very large cargo aircraft and airliners that could operate from unimproved runways. His company has produced approximately 22,000 aircraft, most famously the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , the longest and heaviest airplane ever produced.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

(NASA)

April 4, 1983 – The launch of Space Shuttle Challenger on STS-6, the sixth launch of the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and the maiden flight of the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . During the five-day flight, astronauts deployed the first !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (TDRS-1) and conducted the first spacewalk from a Shuttle, employing the new !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (EMU) spacesuit for the first time. STS-6 was the last Shuttle flight with a four-man crew which consisted of Paul Weitz, Karol Bobko, Story Musgrave and Donald Peterson. Challenger returned to Edwards Air Force Base on April 9, ending the first of its nine successful flights before the orbiter was !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! in an explosion shortly after launch on January 28, 1986 with the loss of seven astronauts.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

April 4, 1993 – The first flight of the Fokker 70, a medium-range airliner derived from the larger !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , both of which were developments of Fokker’s first airliner, the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . The Fokker 70 was designed to fit a capacity gap between the smaller !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! or !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! turboprop airliners and the larger !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! or !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . The Fokker 70 is powered by a pair !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! turbofans and can accommodate up to 85 passengers in a single-class configuration at ranges of up to 2,119 miles. A total of 47 aircraft were built before production ended in 1997, and they mainly serve shorter routes in Europe.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

April 4, 1947 – The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is founded. In the same year that the Wright Brothers made their first powered flight, the International Commission for Air Navigation (ICAN) held its first meeting in Berlin, Germany to formulate international standards for civilian aviation. By the third meeting in 1912, a system of international radio call signs was created. By 1947, the ICAO became a part of the United Nations, and currently has 192 members. The organization sets standards for many aspects of civil aviation such as !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and airline codes, baggage handling, measurement systems, safety standards, and accident investigation. The ICAO’s !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! reads: To serve as the global forum of States for international civil aviation. ICAO develops policies and Standards, undertakes compliance audits, performs studies and analyses, provides assistance and builds aviation capacity through many other activities and the cooperation of its Member States and stakeholders.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

(Tim Shaffer)

April 5, 1996 – The first flight of the Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules, the latest version of the venerable Hercules tactical airlifter and the only variant that remains in production. Upgrades incorporated into the J model include new !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! turboprop engines with six-bladed composite scimitar propellers and digital avionics. The Super Herk enjoys a 40% increase in range, a 21% increase in speed and a 41% shorter takeoff distance compared to the E and H models. The J is operated by the US Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard, as well as numerous international partners, and 400 have been produced as of February 2018.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

(Author unknown)

April 5, 1976 – The death of Howard Hughes, a famous though reclusive tycoon whose business interests included investments, filmmaking, and aerospace engineering. Born on December 24, 1905 in Humble, Texas, Hughes formed the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! in 1932 and set numerous world records in the aircraft he produced, though he was not considered a particularly skillful pilot. He is best known for building and briefly flying the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , popularly known as the Spruce Goose , the largest flying boat ever built and which held the record for the largest wingspan of any aircraft in history until the first (and only) flight of the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! in 2019. Perhaps fittingly, Hughes died on board an airplane as a passenger while flying from his penthouse in Acapulco to Houston for medical treatment. In a fitting testament to his reclusive life, even the details of his !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! remain unclear.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

April 5, 1968 – RAF Flight Lieutenant Alan Pollock flies his Hawker Hunter under the top span of London’s famous Tower Bridge. Upset by the lack of an aerial display to mark the 50th anniversary of the founding of the RAF, Flt Lt Pollock of No. 1(F) Squadron protested by beating up (flying low over) several RAF airfields in his !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! before turning towards London. There he circled the Houses of Parliament and saluted the RAF Memorial by dipping his wings, then followed that with a flight under the top span of the Tower Bridge, a feat that made him the first ever to fly a jet aircraft through the bridge. Pollock then beat up a few more airfields before returning to base inverted at 200 feet. Pollock was arrested, but never faced a court martial, as he was dropped from service on medical grounds before a trial could be held.  

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

April 5, 1959 – The first flight of the Aero L-29 Delfin, the standard !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! jet trainer throughout the 1960s and the first aircraft to be designed and produced in the former Czechoslovakia. The Delfin is a simple, rugged aircraft designed to operate from unimproved runways and is powered by a single !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! turbojet which provides a maximum speed of 407 mph. The student and instructor are seated in a tandem configuration, with the rear instructor’s seat slightly higher. In addition to pilot training, the Delfin also served as a weapons training platform carrying gun pods, bombs or rockets. A total of 3,500 were produced from 1963-1974.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

(US Army)

April 6, 1924 – The start of the first successful flight around the world. In 1923, the US Army Air Service requested that !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! develop an aircraft specifically for completing a circumnavigation of the globe. Douglas modified five !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! torpedo bombers, and four of them departed from Sand Point, Washington flying westward. Owing to crashes along the way, only two aircraft completed the journey, which covered 27,553 miles and took 175 days to complete, landing back in Seattle on September 28 after making 58 stops along the way. The success of the flight helped establish Douglas as a major aircraft manufacturer.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

(NASA)

April 7, 2006 – The first free flight of the Boeing X-37. Also known as the Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV), the X-37 is an unmanned, reusable spacecraft that is a 120% scale derivative of the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Similar to the much larger !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , the X-37 is boosted into orbit by a launch vehicle, then returns to Earth and lands as an unpowered glider. The X-37 is operated by the US Air Force and has completed five orbital missions carrying a classified payload. The fourth mission orbited the Earth for nearly 718 days, and the fifth mission was sent to the the X-37's highest orbit yet to carry out tests and deeply satellites. A sixth mission is slated for 2019.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

(NASA)

April 7, 2001 – The launch of 2001 Mars Odyssey, a robotic spacecraft launched into orbit around Mars to gather data about the Martian surface. The spacecraft mapped hydrogen distribution that led to the discovery of vast amounts of ice under the surface of the planet’s polar regions, and also took readings on the amount of radiation on the surface of the planet to help determine any risks associated with a manned landing. The orbiting spacecraft also served as a communications relay for the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! rovers on the Martian surface, and handled 95% of all data transmitted to Earth from the rovers. Imagery from Mars Odyssey will also help determine suitable landing sites for future missions.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

April 7, 1994 – The attempted hijacking of Federal Express Flight 705. Disgruntled Federal Express pilot Auburn Calloway boarded the cargo flight as a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! pilot, carrying a guitar case filled with hammers and a spear gun. He planned to kill the pilots with the hammers (using the spear gun as a last resort), then crash the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (N306FE) so his family could collect a $2.5 million life insurance policy. He chose the hammers to make the crew’s injuries appear consistent with a crash. Though the pilots were seriously injured in the attack, they managed to subdue Calloway and land safely. Calloway claimed insanity, but was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive life terms.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

April 7, 1967 – The first flight of the Aérospatiale Gazelle. Designed for light transport, scouting, and light attack duties, the Gazelle was the first helicopter to employ the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! enclosed tail rotor configuration which reduces tip vortex loss, protects the tail rotor, and also protects ground crews from the spinning rotor. The Gazelle entered service in 1973, and currently serves the air forces of 20 nations and has seen combat in !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . More than 1,700 Gazelles were produced between 1967-1996, and it remains in service today.  

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

April 7, 1922 – The first mid-air collision between two airliners. One of the aircraft, a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (G-EAWO), was flying mail from Croydon in England to Le Bourget in France. On board were the pilot and a young steward. The second aircraft, a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (F-GEAD), was flying in the opposite direction with a pilot, mechanic, and three passengers. With low clouds and drizzle, the pilots were flying just below the clouds and following a road, but the British pilot was keeping the road to his right, while the French pilot was keeping the road to his left, putting them on a head-on collision course. The aircraft collided 60 miles north of Paris, killing all seven occupants. As a result, rules were adopted to agree on a right-side offset when following roads, and official air lanes were adopted for heavily travelled routes.

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

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

For Sweden > ttyymmnn 04/07/2020 at 12:37

5

April 6, 2020: I taught a widebody captain how to use two computer monitors.

facw > ttyymmnn 04/07/2020 at 12:44

0

the H-4 Hercules , popularly known as the Spruce Goose , the largest flying boat ever built, with the largest wingspan of any aircraft in history 

...until recently. T he Stratolaunch has almost 20m on it.

user314 > ttyymmnn 04/07/2020 at 12:59

0

Give Me Operations

Author unknown, Air Force traditional

CHORUS:
Give me operations way out on some lonely atoll
For I am too young to die; I just want to grow old

Don’t give me a P-39; the engine is mounted behind
She’ll tumble and roll, and she’ll bore a deep hole
Don’t give me a P-39

———————————————————————————-

OTV- 6 for the X-37B is now scheduled for 2nd quarter of 2020, and is supposed to be launched on an Atlas V

———————————————————————————-

EE Lightning in polished metal with overwing tanks and Red Tops on the side rails:

ttyymmnn > facw 04/07/2020 at 13:03

0

Oof...

ttyymmnn > facw 04/07/2020 at 13:07

1

I fixed it.

ttyymmnn > user314 04/07/2020 at 13:09

1

I read an article and wrote about how ill-suited the Lightning was to the European war. It didn’t like the cold temps at high altitude, and the pilots were not thoroughly trained. It really came into its own in the Pacific. 

facw > ttyymmnn 04/07/2020 at 13:20

1

Regardless, not bad to hold the biggest wingspan record for 71 years, especially considering the limits of the tech used on the Spruce Goose.

user314 > facw 04/07/2020 at 13:26

0

Of course, both airplanes flew only once as technology had passed them by.

facw > user314 04/07/2020 at 15:49

0

Sounds like Stratolaunch will fly again to do hypersonic missile testing.

user314 > facw 04/07/2020 at 15:55

1

Yeah, I saw the article over on Ars; color me dubious, but the whole thing sounds like a solution in search of a problem. Then again, Stratolaunch has always  been searching for a profitable niche, so that’s not a surprise. 

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > ttyymmnn 04/08/2020 at 21:45

0

“ They particularly liked the Airacobra’s reliable radio.”

last week I was reading an interesting article, “With the zeros superior charecteristics, why didn’t the japanese clear teh skyin 1942,” and one thing was that a significant (don’t know if majority) of pilots were so annoyed with unreliable performance, they’d strip them out. An aspect that isn’t mentioned is tha after the initial melee, the Japanese pilots would be in a free for all, vs the A mericans acting as a group and picking of straglers.

ttyymmnn > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas 04/08/2020 at 22:13

0

If you read Stephen Ambrose’s D-Day and Citizen Soldiers, one of the things he talks about is how well the American soldier was able to improvise (adapt and overcome). Germans and Japanese were very rigid in their thinking, and didn’t know what to do when the plan went awry. Americans, on the other hand, could more easily adapt to a changing situation and quickly adopt new tactics. That flexibility was a tremendous asset in battle. 

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > ttyymmnn 04/08/2020 at 22:58

1

I mostly meant in terms of communication, but rigid training didn’t always help. Last fall i went down a deep rabbit hole on the eastern front and the germans had similar issues at stalingrad where tactics that work for open country become a hindrance when in urban combat.