This Date in Planelopnik History: Speed Round

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn) 05/08/2015 at 10:05 • Filed to: planelopnik, planelopnik history

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This is today’s Planelopnik History Speed Round , getting you caught up on milestones and important historical events in aviation from May 5 through May 8.

May 5, 1961 – The Launch of Freedom 7 , carrying the first US astronaut, Alan Shepard, into space. The first manned mission of Project Mercury, Freedom 7 was launched atop a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and reached an altitude of 263.1 nautical miles in a flight that lasted 15-and-a-half minutes. Shepard named his capsule Freedom 7 in honor of all !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , conveying a sense of teamwork rather than an individual accomplishment. Though the mission was a success, the nation was still somewhat chagrined by the fact that the Russians had beaten the US into space by 23 days, with cosmonaut !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! orbiting the Earth in his Vostok 1 space capsule on April 12, 1961.

May 5, 1948 – The McDonnell FH Phantom enters service with the US Navy. Designed during the waning days of WWII and too late to see action in that conflict, the FH Phantom was the first jet-powered aircraft to land on an American carrier and the first jet flown by the US Marine Corps. The first production aircraft for a company that would go on to design some of the greatest American combat jets, the Phantom, while only built in small numbers, proved the viability of jet operations from carriers. With the development of the more advanced !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , production was halted on the Phantom, cutting the program off at only sixty-two examples. The Phantom was retired from frontline service in 1949, though it flew with the Naval Reserve until 1954.

May 6, 2006 – The US Air Force retires the last Lockheed Martin C-141 Starlifter, known as the Hanoi Taxi . The Starlifter was a strategic airlifter that entered service with the Air Force in 1965, and the Hanoi Taxi, serial number 66-0177, became famous as the aircraft that repatriated the first prisoners of war released from Vietnam in !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! in 1973. After the war, the Hanoi Taxi continued its regular airlift duties, and aided in the evacuation of victims of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. With the scheduled retirement of the final eight Starlifters, veterans and former POWs were given the opportunity to fly in the Hanoi Taxi once more, and, on its arrival at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, the aircraft was enshrined into the National Museum of the United States Air Force near Dayton, Ohio.

May 6, 1941 – The first flight of the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt. Designed by !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , the P-47 was built to be fast, powerful, and robust. It was powered by an enormous 2,000 hp Pratt & Whitney Double Wasp XR-2800-21, eighteen cylinder radial engine, the same powerplant found in the Vought F-4U Corsair and the Grumman F4F Hellcat. Kartveli put eight .50 caliber machine guns in the wings, added extra armor to protect the pilot, and put the supercharger in the tail in a unique arrangement that helped limit battle damage. In its varying models, a staggering 15,660 Thunderbolts were built, and it became one of the preeminent ground attack aircraft of its day. The last Thunderbolt in active service was retired in 1966 by the Peruvian Air Force.

May 6, 1937 – The Zeppelin Hindenburg crashes while landing at Lakehurst, New Jersey. The Hindenburg was a rigid airship, the lead ship of the Hindenburg class, and the largest airship ever flown. Along with its sister ship Graf Zeppelin , the airships were built to ply the transoceanic routes between the US and Europe. Originally intended to be filled with helium, Hindenburg was instead filled with flammable hydrogen due to difficulties procuring helium from the United States. Hindenburg arrived at Lakehurst, NJ following a line of strong thunderstorms, and shortly after dropping her mooring lines she exploded and burned. Thirteen passengers died, along with twenty-two crewmen and one person on the ground. The cause of the crash was never definitively determined, but most investigators focused on a possible hydrogen leak ignited by static electricity.

May 6, 1935 – The first flight of the Curtiss P-36 Hawk. A contemporary of the Hawker Hurricane and Messerschmitt Bf 109, the P-36, also known as the Hawk Model 75, was an early example of the new generation of metal monoplane fighters. Introduced in 1938, the Hawk saw little service in WWII, but was used with great effect by the French during the Battle of France, and is best known as the predecessor to its much more famous descendant, the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . The P-36 found great success as an export fighter, serving with 12 nations besides the United States. Only 215 Hawks were built for the US Army Air Corps, but 900 were exported to international customers. The last Hawks were retired by the Argentine Air Force in 1954.

May 7-8, 1942 – The Battle of the Coral Sea, the first naval battle fought between aircraft carriers. The Battle of the Coral Sea is notable as the first time two fleets squared off in battle using only airplanes for attack, the two fleets never sighting or firing directly on each other. The American fleet was assembled around the carriers USS Lexington and USS Yorktown , while the Japanese fleet had three carriers, Shh , Shkaku , and Zuikaku . On the morning of the first day of the battle, a 93-plane sortie from Lexington and Yorktown sank Shh , the first Japanese carrier ever sunk. One US dive bomber pilot radioed the exuberant message “Scratch one flattop!” which became one of the most famous messages of the war. On the second day of the battle, Shkaku was badly damaged, but Lexington was sunk and Yorktown also badly damaged. Lexington was the first American carrier ever sunk.
(Above: The Battle of the Coral Sea by Robert Taylor)

May 8, 1944 – The introduction of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress. One of the largest aircraft to serve in WWII, the B-29 was also one of the most advanced aircraft of its day, featuring a pressurized cabin, electronic fire-control system, and remote-controlled machine guns. The Superfortress was used most effectively during the firebombing campaign against Japan, and also dropped the atomic bombs that helped end the Pacific War. Its advanced design allowed it to serve well after the end of the war. A transport version was produced as the C-97, an aerial refueling version called the KB-29 was introduced in 1948, followed by the more advanced KC-97 in 1950, and there was also a commercial airliner variant, the Model 377 Stratocruiser. The B-29 was retired in 1960 after a production run of 3,970 aircraft. Of those, only one is still flying today, though a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! is set to fly soon.

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May 5, 1942 – The first combat action by any version of the P-51 Mustang in WWII, as a Royal Air Force Mustang Mark I, the British version of the North American P-51A Mustang, sees combat over the English Channel.

May 5, 2005 – The first flight of the Dassault Falcon 7X , a long-range business jet manufactured by Dassault Aviation.

May 6, 1926 – The first night carrier landing in history , as Flight Lieutenant Gerald Boyce, flying a Blackburn Dart, lands aboard the HMS Furious .

May 7, 1992 – The first launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavour , which was built to replace the Challenger , and also the fifth and final Shuttle produced.

CB > ttyymmnn 05/08/2015 at 10:15

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My favourite Hindenburg quote by Cracked went something like “35 people died aboard the ship, while one man was killed when he was landed on by the fucking Hindenburg.”

Hahayoustupidludditeshutupandgohandcrankyourmodeltalready > ttyymmnn 05/08/2015 at 10:21

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Notable words attributed to the first American in space: “Everything’s A-OK... what a beautiful view!”

Notable words attributed to the first Russian in space: “Flight is proceeding normally. I am well.”

OPPOsaurus WRX > ttyymmnn 05/08/2015 at 10:22

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how is it that the Hindenburg was every considered a good business plan when it takes twice as many crew members as passengers to fly the thing.

ttyymmnn > OPPOsaurus WRX 05/08/2015 at 10:24

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It was more about propaganda than revenue. Remember, this was 1937, and WWII was only 2 years away.

ttyymmnn > Hahayoustupidludditeshutupandgohandcrankyourmodeltalready 05/08/2015 at 10:25

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That makes for an interesting cultural perspective. Thanks.

Hahayoustupidludditeshutupandgohandcrankyourmodeltalready > ttyymmnn 05/08/2015 at 10:28

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I know they both said much more, but those in particular stood out.

Racescort666 > ttyymmnn 05/08/2015 at 10:39

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“Why don’t you fix your little problem and light this candle?”