This Date in Aviation History: August 26 - August 28

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn) 08/28/2020 at 12:35 • Filed to: wingspan, Planelopnik, TDIAH

4

21

!!! 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 August 26 through August 28.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy arrive in Mexico City on a Boeing VC-137A

August 26, 1959 – The first VC-137 enters service. In 1943, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt became the first US President to fly on an airplane, a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! flying boat named the Yankee Clipper, for official government business when he traveled to Casablanca on the Moroccan coast for a war strategy meeting with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. In 1945, when Roosevelt went to the Yalta Conference, he flew in a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! named the Flying White House but popularly known as Sacred Cow , the first purpose-built presidential aircraft. His successor, President Harry S. Truman, used a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! named Independence . President Dwight Eisenhower then flew in two different !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! named Columbine II and Columbine III .

But with the arrival of America’s first jet airliner in 1958, the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , the Air Force decided that it was time for the President to transition to a jet-powered transport. That year, the Air Force accepted its first 707, dubbed the VC-137A, and it was given the designation Special Air Mission (SAM) 970 based on its serial number (59-6970A). Two more 707s were then added and were given the designations SAM 971 and SAM 972.

The new aircraft featured living and working spaces for the president and his staff, as well as modern communications equipment. President Eisenhower was the first US President to fly in the new airliner when he visited 11 Asian nations during his “Flight to Peace” goodwill tour in 1959. But the SAM jets used by Eisenhower, and briefly by his successor, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , looked nothing like the iconic blue and white jets we see today. The original 707s featured a rather gaudy, bright red-orange nose and bright orange tail stripe. It wasn’t until the next generation of !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! purchased for President Kennedy that the airliners were decked out in the famous blue, white, and silver livery designed by !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

SAM 970, repainted in the iconic livery designed by Raymond Loewy

SAM 970 served Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Lyndon Johnson and, after the original SAM 970 was replaced in 1962 by two newer VC-137Cs (SAM 26000 and SAM 27000), the executive transport continued flying VIPs and the Vice President until 1996. The last executive passenger to fly the VC-137 was Vice President !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . SAM 970 is preserved and is on display at the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! in Seattle, Washington, while SAM 971, a V137B, resides at the Pima Air and Space Museum in Arizona. SAM 972 was scrapped in 1996.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

The two YF-23s, nicknamed Gray Ghost and Black Widow, fly in formation

August 27, 1990 – The first flight of the Northrop YF-23. In war,   control of the airspace over the battlefield is of paramount importance. By the 1980s, the US Air Force needed to counter the latest generation of Russian fighters such as the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . To ensure their advantage in the future, the Air Force issued requirements for a new !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! that would take advantage of developments in cutting-edge construction materials, engines that could provide !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . But perhaps most importantly, the new fighters would include the latest developments in !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! that were first demonstrated brilliantly by the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . While stealth doesn’t make an aircraft invisible, it does reduce its radar signature so that it can be difficult to detect against the background clutter of the radar screen.

This head-on view of the YF-23 displays the stealthy design features of the radical air superiority fighter

In 1981, the year that the F-117 took its maiden flight (though designated as a fighter, the Nighthawk is truly a tactical bomber), the Air Force initiated its !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (ATF) program to find a replacement for the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! in the air superiority role. Two groups of manufacturers—Lockheed/Boeing/General Dynamics and Northrop/McDonnell Douglas—paired with Pratt & Whitney and General Electric to produce two prototype aircraft each. The Lockheed-led group proposed the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , which incorporated stealth capability along with thrust-vectoring engines for increased maneuverability. The Northrop-led group offered the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (the second prototype was dubbed Gray Ghost due to its lighter paint scheme). The Northrop proposal placed greater emphasis on stealthy design but saved weight and complexity by eliminating thrust-vectoring. The YF-23 also made extensive use of the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! to reduce drag at !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! speeds. The first YF-23 was powered by a pair of !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! afterburning turbofans, while the second received !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! engines. To increase the stealthiness of the fighter, the exhaust from the engines was routed through troughs lined with materials to reduce the aircraft’s heat signature.

The YF-22 and the YF-23 fly in formation during testing and evaluation

Both aircraft underwent four years of testing and competition, during which the YF-23 proved to be stealthier and faster than the YF-22. However, the YF-22, with its vectored thrust, proved to be more agile. On April 23, 1991, the Air Force announced that the Lockheed design was the winner, and the YF-22 entered production as the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! in 1996. Both YF-23 prototypes were sent to !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! for use as test beds, but they were never flown again. Some consideration was given to having Northrop develop a carrier-based version of the YF-23 for the US Navy, or an interim bomber version for the Air Force, but those plans never came to fruition. The first prototype is now housed at the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! in Ohio, and the second is on display at the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! in California.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Short Takeoff

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

August 26, 2012 – Ron Akana retires as the longest-serving flight attendant in history. Born in 1928 in Honolulu, Hawai’i, Akana responded to an advertisement placed by !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! in 1949 to fill a steward position. A college student at the time, Akana said that his main reason for joining United was the opportunity to fly to the mainland. His first flight, on a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , began a 63-year run of service, with only a two-year interruption from 1950-1951 to serve in the military during the Korean War. When Akana retired following a flight from Denver to Kauai after spending his entire career with United, he had logged 200 million airmiles and crossed the Pacific Ocean 10,000 times.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

August 26, 2002 – The first flight of the Eclipse 500, a small, six-seat business jet and the first in a new class of !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (VLJ). Previously called microjets, VLJs are approved for single-pilot operation and seat four to eight passengers with a maximum take-off weight (MTOW) of under 10,000 pounds. The Eclipse 500 is based on the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! which was designed by !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and is powered by a pair of !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! turbofans that give it a maximum speed of 425 mph and a range of nearly 1,300 miles. !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! entered bankruptcy in 2008 due to a lack of funding, and production stopped at 560 aircraft. After liquidation, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! took over, and development of a more advanced !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! is underway.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

August 26, 1975 – The first flight of the McDonnell Douglas YC-15, an unsuccessful entrant into the US Air Force competition to procure a jet-powered replacement for the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . McDonnell Douglas competed against the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! for the Air Force contract, but neither aircraft was selected. The YC-15 featured advances such as a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! to reduce drag and increase lift, along with !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! to improve low-speed performance. Only two YC-15 prototypes were built and, while it failed to enter production, many elements of its design served as the basis for the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! following McDonnell Douglas’ merger with Boeing in 1997.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Not accident aircraft

August 27, 1990 – Blues guitatist Stevie Ray Vaughan dies in a helicopter crash. Following a performance with Eric Clapton in East Troy, Wisconsin, Vaughan and members of his band boarded four helicopters to take them to Chicago’s Meigs Field. Accompanied by three members of Clapton’s entourage, Vaughan boarded a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , and the pilot took off despite haze, fog, and low clouds in the area. The flight path required the pilot to fly over a 1,000-foot high ski hill, but the helicopter struck the hill approximately 50 feet from the summit, killing all on board. The National Transportation Safety Board cited pilot error as the cause of the crash, and listed weather conditions as a contributing factor.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

August 27, 1940 – The first flight of the Caproni Campini N.1, an experimental aircraft powered by a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , a precursor to the modern jet engine. The N.1 was incorrectly credited by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) as the first jet-powered aircraft to take flight, as news of an earlier flight by the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! had not been widely reported. However, the N.1 was not a true jet, as it used a traditional aircraft engine to turn the compressor in an arrangement Caproni called a “thermojet.” Two prototypes were built, and one is on display at the Italian Air Force Museum near Rome.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

August 27, 1939 – The first flight of the Heinkel He 178, the world’s first practical !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! -powered aircraft. First demonstrated in 1937, the engine was developed by !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! at the same time as, but separate from, work being done in England by !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Heinkel received little support from the German Air Ministry for his private venture, as the government was more focused on development of traditional piston engines being made by BMW and Junkers. The He 178 featured a metal fuselage with high-mounted wooden wings and retractable landing gear, though the gear remained fixed during test flights. Despite the promise of the new powerplant, only one airframe was built by Heinkel, and it was destroyed in an Allied air raid in 1943.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

August 28, 1988 – Three aircraft from the Italian Air Force demonstration team Frecce Tricolori collide during an air show at Ramstein Air Force Base. During the Flugtag 88 air show, ten Italian !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! trainer aircraft were performing a “pierced heart” maneuver in which two crossing groups of aircraft are split by a single aircraft flying a perpendicular course towards the crowd. As the planes crossed, the solo aircraft struck two others in the formation, raining debris and burning fuel onto the audience below. Sixty-seven spectators were killed, along with the three Italian pilots, while 346 were injured. Germany declared a three-year moratorium on public air shows, and new rules were put in place that required greater viewing distances. Also, maneuvers that were directed towards the crowd were banned.

!!! 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 !!!

user314 > ttyymmnn 08/28/2020 at 13:25

3

Oh God, yes. More airplanes in polished aluminum and day-glo orange/red please!

facw > ttyymmnn 08/28/2020 at 13:33

0

The flight path required the pilot to fly over a 1,000-foot high ski hill 

I thought this seemed unlikely... It turns out the “summit” is 1040ft, but the base is 820ft. A 220ft hill sounds a lot more like what I’d expect for the area. Even fairly close to the airport, flying at less than 200ft AGL seems quite low.

ttyymmnn > facw 08/28/2020 at 13:36

0

I see what you’re saying, but didn’t connect on it when I wrote it. Should probably be edited.

In related news, did  you hear that Kobe Bryant’s helicopter company is suing the ATC for the crash?

facw > ttyymmnn 08/28/2020 at 13:43

3

I don’t know if it needs an edit, but my brain definitely was like “is there some part of Wisconsin that isn’t flat?” The “mountain” that’s on my ski pass in Wisconsin is a 230ft drop, so pretty similar.

Hadn’t seen that about Kobe’s crash. Seems pretty weak though, everything I’ve seen puts this pretty squarely on the pilot.

ttyymmnn > facw 08/28/2020 at 13:46

2

Comments on Flight Aware are pretty much unanimous that since the pilot didn’t file IFR, and that the crash happened below 700 ft, the pilot is entirely responsible. Seems to me that unless ATC said, “Sure, go for it. Nothing to worry about,” this one is on the captain of the ship for going where he shouldn’t have gone.

Taylor Martin > ttyymmnn 08/28/2020 at 13:47

3

Lots of aircrafts with odd proportions in this post. The HE-178 has such tiny wings, at least from the pictures, which always makes me think there wouldn’t be enough lift. Clearly, I’m wrong, but it’s still funky looking.

Then there’s the YC-15. It has the same dimensions as one of those wind-back kids toys.

I’m not saying either design is bad, clearly the people behind the engineering of these knew their stuff. I can barely make something fly in Kerbal Space Program. They just make me giggle a little. Funny looking planes are funny.

user314 > ttyymmnn 08/28/2020 at 13:49

2

His first flight, on a Boeing 377 Stratocruiser , began a 63-year run of service, with only a two-year interruption from 1950-1951 to serve in the military during the Korean War. When Akana retired following a flight from Denver to Kauai after spending his entire career with United, he had logged 200 million airmiles and crossed the Pacific Ocean 10,000 times. 

Amazing. To have seen, first hand, all the changes in he did in those 63 years....

ttyymmnn > Taylor Martin 08/28/2020 at 14:13

3

user314 > Taylor Martin 08/28/2020 at 14:21

3

YC-15* and C-17 at an airshow.

*no, not reall y, but the actual story is better :

What started as an idea has now become a reality four years later, thanks to a group of volunteers from the 315th and 437th Airlift Wings, Charleston Air Force Base. Through their hard work and dedication, they have created a miniature replica of the C-17 Globemaster III. 

The base of the C-17 replica is a John Deere “Gator” multi-purpose vehicle, donated by the 315th Recruiting Service. The replica is 32 feet long, 13.4 feet tall, has a wingspan of 28.5 feet and was built in modules to make movement easier. The true-to-life replica is complete with flight station panels, engine sounds, operational ramp and cargo door and markings.

Darkbrador > facw 08/28/2020 at 14:27

1

The pilot in command is 100% responsible for his ship and shipmates. At least in VFR conditions, which is what they were during the crash.

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > ttyymmnn 08/28/2020 at 14:40

0

You see this today?

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/celera-500l-plane/index.html

ttyymmnn > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) 08/28/2020 at 14:42

1

I did, and I replied with this:

What’s old is new again.

For Sweden > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) 08/28/2020 at 15:01

1

thicc

facw > user314 08/28/2020 at 16:15

1

The modern Air Force still has room for some orange:

No polishing though. The F-16 only uses a small amount of composites, so perhaps you could, but I’ve never seen one down to bare aluminum , they’ve got some yellow coating on them from the factory:

Darkbrador > ttyymmnn 08/28/2020 at 16:24

1

Avanti !

ttyymmnn > Darkbrador 08/28/2020 at 16:34

0

Those things are ridiculously loud. I think it’s from the props slapping the disturbed air behind the wing.

user314 > ttyymmnn 08/28/2020 at 16:36

2

Dammit... Made the mistake of looking for ‘ egg planes ’, now I’m fighting myself to keep from adding to the S tack of U nbuilt M odels™

user314 > facw 08/28/2020 at 16:39

2

I’m amazed that, even after 70+ years, airplanes are still being primed with yellow/ green zinc chromate.

ttyymmnn > user314 08/28/2020 at 16:42

1

Way way back in the day, probably early 70s, my cousin had this model of the XF-85. It was battery operated, and the prop spun, the wings flapped, and the machine guns went in and out. Only when I was much older did I realize that it was a real plane. 

user314 > ttyymmnn 08/28/2020 at 17:05

0

eBayers be fuckin’ crazy

ttyymmnn > user314 08/28/2020 at 17:10

1

Mint in the box? I don’t know, might be work it....