This Date in Aviation History: Speed Round

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn) 08/04/2015 at 13:35 • Filed to: planelopnik, planelopnik history

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This is today’s Aviation History Speed Round , getting you caught up on milestones and important historical events in aviation from August 1 through August 4.

August 1, 2013 – The Airbus A400M Atlas enters service with the French Air Force. Development of the A400M began in 1982 when a consortium of aircraft manufacturers including the French Aérospatiale, British Aerospace, Lockheed and Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm formed a group to develop what was called the Future International Airlifter to replace the Lockheed C-130 Hercules. International politics being what they are, Lockheed eventually left the group to develop the upgraded C-130J and other European nations have since come and gone. Positioned between the Hercules and the Boeing C-17 in cargo capacity, the A400M first flew in 2009, and is powered by 4 Europrop TP400-D6 turboprop engines turning 8-bladed, counter-rotating propellers. Interestingly, all the engines turn in the same direction, but two of the propellers are reversed through a gearbox. This allows for commonality among all four engines to simplify maintenance and reduce cost. Airbus states that the Atlas has a range of over 5,000 miles at an altitude of 37,000 feet with a maximum payload of 81,000 pounds, or nearly twice that of the C-130J. It also features autonomous cargo loading and unloading allowing cargo transfer to be carried out by a single loadmaster. As with any new, complex aircraft, delays pushed the delivery dates farther and farther back, with initial deployment deferred from 2009 to 2012. The French Air Force completed the first operational mission of the A400M in December of 2013. The Atlas also suffered its first fatal accident in May 2015 when engine mapping software was inadvertently erased and the engines failed to provide power during takeoff. A total of 174 aircraft have been ordered so far. (Photo by Curimedia via !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! )

August 2, 1966 – The first flight of the Sukhoi Su-17. The S-17 is the first in a series of fighter aircraft that also included the Su-20 and the Su-22. All of the fighters were given the NATO reporting name “Fitter.” This series of aircraft is unique, though, in their use of what is essentially a hybrid swing-wing design, in that the variable geometry wing was added to an existing fixed-wing aircraft, the Su-7, and only the outward half of the wing moves. This approach was adopted to deal with the inherent problem with swing-wing aircraft where the center of gravity shifts aft when the wings are retracted. Among other changes from the Su-7 are a new canopy and a dorsal spine for additional fuel and avionics. The Su-17 entered service with the Soviet Air Force in 1970, where it served during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. While high elevation and high temperature operations proved challenging, the ruggedly constructed engine was tolerant to sand ingestion and maintained a high level of readiness, but the Su-17 proved susceptible to anti-aircraft fire and shoulder-fired antiaircraft missiles. The Fitter was widely exported to Soviet allies, including Libya, where two of the fighters were shot down by US Navy F-14 Tomcat fighters over the Gulf of Sidra in 1981. Despite advances in Soviet fighter design, the Su-17 and its derivatives remained in service with the Russians until 1998, and more than 500 of the 2867 aircraft produced remain in service today.

August 4, 1954 – The first flight of the English Electric Lightning P.1A. The British Aerospace Lightning was the RAF’s only Mach 2 interceptor when it entered service in 1960, but its development goes all the way back to 1947, when then-English Electric, the maker of the Canberra bomber, was awarded a contract to develop a supersonic research aircraft. Seven years later, the English Electric P.1A took its maiden flight, and despite its rudimentary, non-afterburning engines, it soon achieved Mach 1. English Electric built three aircraft, two for aerial testing and one for testing to destruction in a ground rig to assess structural integrity. The next step in the development of the Lightning was the P.1B, which featured new Avon turbojet engines and first flew in 1957. The addition of a crude afterburner allowed the Lightning to reach Mach 2. The Lightning entered service with the RAF in 1960 as the Lightning F.1, and began to fulfill its designed role of intercepting high-flying Soviet bombers such as the Tupolev Tu-16, T-22 and Tu-95. With so much power available to Lightning pilots, the fighter could achieve an altitude of 36,000 feet in less than three minutes, and tests showed that the Lightning was capable of intercepting a high-flying U-2 spyplane. But that speed came at a cost. The Lightning was a very thirsty aircraft, and many of its missions were determined simply by the amount of fuel they could carry. 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 still flown by private pilots.

Short Take Off

August 1, 2002 – The first flight of the Scaled Composites Model 318 White Knight , a carrier aircraft designed to take the SpaceShipOne aloft. The White Knight was also used to take the Boeing X-37 spaceplane aloft during testing. (Photo by Alan Radecki Akradecki via !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! )

August 1, 1957 – The North American Air Defense Command (NORAD) is formed with the mission to conduct aerospace warning, aerospace control and maritime warning in the defense of North America. Currently housed at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado, NORAD no longer uses its underground base at Cheyenne Mountain, though it remains available should need arise.

August 2, 1909 – The US Army accepts the Wright Military Flyer as Aeroplane No. 1 , after completing a test demonstration at Ft. Meyer in Alexandria, Virgina with Orville Wright at the controls.

August 2, 1960 – The first flight of the Bennett Airtruck . Developed from the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and built using parts from the North American Harvard, the Airtruck was used for agricultural spraying in New Zealand. Only three were built before Transavia took over the project and developed the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

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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!!! .

Unless otherwise credited, all photos are, or are believed to be, Public Domain, ownership could not be determined, or were taken by the author.

Racescort666 > ttyymmnn 08/04/2015 at 13:48

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Currently housed at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado, NORAD no longer uses its underground base at Cheyenne Mountain, though it remains available should need arise.

That’s what they want you to think because this is actually the headquarters of Stargate Command.

ttyymmnn > Racescort666 08/04/2015 at 13:56

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I read an interesting article today about the upcoming threat of space warfare. We have a treaty with the Russians not to militarize space, but not with the Chinese. There was a photo of a laser being fired skyward from Peterson, but they said it was purely for measurement or some other mumbo jumbo. “It was a weather balloon.”

Racescort666 > ttyymmnn 08/04/2015 at 14:28

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Kessler Syndrome anyone? The Air Force might have the right idea with the X-37 if they are in fact using it to steal/sabotage satellites.

ttyymmnn > Racescort666 08/04/2015 at 14:54

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My guess is that they are using it to get a very close look at the opposition’s hardware.

user314 > ttyymmnn 08/04/2015 at 22:22

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The idea’s been around a while

ttyymmnn > user314 08/04/2015 at 23:23

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Thanks for the link!

Racescort666 > user314 08/05/2015 at 19:32

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That was really interesting. Thanks for sharing.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > ttyymmnn 08/05/2015 at 23:13

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there was a discovery channel special that due to higher accuracy of ICBMs since the 80s that NORAD wouldn’t survive as the design was for “glancing” blow of a nuke. Then it went into airborne command control networks, which can’t be tracked.

ttyymmnn > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas 08/05/2015 at 23:39

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Do you know about the bunker under the Greenbier Hotel in White Sulphur Springs, WV?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Green…

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > ttyymmnn 08/05/2015 at 23:55

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yeah it amazing how long it existed before being revealed. I’ve had a number of conversations with a couple co-workers who we all share a weird fascination with all those doomsday survivor groups and the common question is if zombies/ww3 break out would you want to survive or just say “screw it, where’s the booze”