This Date in Aviation History: April 27 - April 29

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn) 04/29/2016 at 12:35 • Filed to: planelopnik, planelopnik history

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Welcome to This Date in Aviation History , getting you caught up on milestones, important historical events and people in aviation from April 27 through April 29.

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April 27, 2005 – The first flight of the Airbus A380. Ever since the first airplane carried one pilot, aircraft designers have worked to find a way to put more and more passengers up in the sky. Airplanes got longer, and wider, but eventually, somebody had the idea of making a double-deck aircraft. The earliest examples were the large flying boats, such as the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . After WWII, military aircraft, such as the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , took advantage of the added deck to carry more soldiers to far off battlefields. With airliners, however, many of the aircraft that are considered double-deckers have only a partial second level, such as the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , or a second level that is mostly used for galley space. There are only two fully double-decker airliners: the the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , a post-war piston powered airliner, and the Airbus A380, a mammoth double-decker that could only fly in the modern era of composite construction and powerful, efficient jet engines. Boeing had been the king of the airliner business for years and, with the introduction of the 747 in 1970, they had cornered the market on large airliners. In order to break Boeing’s stranglehold, Airbus began a secret project to develop an ultra-high-capacity-airliner (UHCA) in 1988. After much research into the feasibility of such a large airliner, and having received design concepts from each of its partners, Airbus announced the A3xx program in June 1994. Among the designs Airbus considered was a double fuselage arrangement that would knit two !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! fuselages together side-by-side. In the end, they decided on a full double-deck design as being more feasible, and the program was officially launched on December 19, 2000 with fifty firm orders from six customers. Manufacturing began in January 2002. Like other Airbus airliners, the construction of major components takes place throughout Europe, with parts from France, Spain, the United Kingdom and Germany being shipped to Toulouse, France for final assembly. For an aircraft of its size to fly, and carry a useful load, it must remain as light as possible. Though the majority of the A380 is constructed of traditional aluminum, 20% of the airframe is constructed from composite materials, with heavy use of composites in the wings. In fact, the A380 is the world’s first airliner to have a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! constructed from carbon reinforced plastic. The A380 is powered by either four !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! or four !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! turbofan engines, and is capable of cruising speeds of 587 mph (Mach 0.85) with a range of over 9,000 miles. Currently, the longest flight by an A380 is from Dubai, UAE to Auckland, New Zealand, just over 8,800 miles. The A380 was conceived to take part in the hub-and-spoke theory of air travel, in which large airliners would transport large numbers of passengers to a centralized airport, where they could then take flights to their final destinations on smaller airliners. To that end, the A380 can accommodate 544 passengers in a 4-class configuration, 644 in a 2-class configuration, and an incredible 868 passengers in a single-class arrangement. The first A380 entered service with Singapore Airlines in 2007, and now serves with thirteen operators worldwide. Though Airbus has delivered 143 A380s since its introduction, the airliner faces a troubled future, as improvements in range and capacity of smaller, twin-engined airliners have made them more popular with carriers who have an easier time filling a smaller aircraft to capacity. Facing the reality of the current airliner market, Airbus recently !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! a plan to reduce production of the A380 as it faces order cancelations, even with fuel costs at a record low. As of March 2016, Airbus has 319 firm orders and has delivered 184 aircraft. And while Airbus is no longer losing money on each A380 it sells, it remains unlikely that they will ever recoup the $25 billion investment it made to develop the giant airliner. (Photograph by the author)

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April 27, 1955 – The first flight of the Sud Aviation Caravelle. Air travel officially entered the Jet Age in 1949 with the first flight of the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Though the Comet was a relatively large aircraft, its early configurations carried only 36 passengers, due in part to very few seats being placed in the spacious cabin, a luxury by today’s standards. But soon after its introduction, the Comet suffered a series of high profile crashes, and it was removed from service until the cause could be determined. The aviation industry was ripe for a challenger, and the Sud Aviation Caravelle was waiting in the wings. In 1951, a year before the Comet entered service, the French Comité du matériel civil (civil aircraft committee) announced specifications for a new medium-range airliner that could accommodate 55-65 passengers, have a cruising speed of 370 mph and a range of 1,200 miles, though they did not specify the type or number of engines to be used. They received no less that 20 proposals of varying designs, and most employed the new turbojets that were coming into vogue at the time. By March 1952, the committee had winnowed the list down to three entrants, one of which was proposed by !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , better known as Sud-Est or SNCASE. The SNCASE design was originally powered by three engines, but with the arrival of more powerful !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! engines, it became clear that two would be sufficient, and the tail-mounted engine was removed. The other two engines were left on the rear fuselage rather than moved to the wing, with the added benefit of making the fuselage quieter during flight. The nose section of the Caravelle was a direct copy of that of the Comet, which Sud licensed from de Havilland. After the experience of the square windows in the Comet, the Caravelle was given its distinctive teardrop shaped windows, which maintained the strength of the fuselage while allowing passengers to look downward. The lack of engine pods under the wing resulted in an aerodynamically clean wing which was given a 20-degree sweep. Unwittingly, the Sud designers had created the template for almost all future, rear-engined aircraft to come. Air France placed the first orders for the new airliner in 1956, followed by SAS a year later, and the Caravelle entered service with both carriers in 1959. The Caravelle became an instant success, and was eventually serving air carriers in forty-seven nations, as well as the military and government of twelve nations. United Airlines became the sole US operator of the Caravelle with the purchase of twenty airliners which entered service in 1961. As the Caravelle became more and more popular, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (as it became known following the merger of Sud-Est and Sud-Ouest in 1957) continued development of the Caravelle with eight variants following the original production model, mostly with improved engines. By the sixth variant, the Caravelle 10R, the Rolls-Royce turbojets had given way to !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! low-bypass turbofan engines, the same ones used at the time on thethe comparable !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and larger !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . By the final variant, the Caravelle 12, the length of the fuselage had been stretched thirteen feet and passenger capacity had grown to 140. A total of 282 Caravelles were produced between 1958-1972, and the last Caravelle was retired in 2005. (Photo by RuthAS via !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! )

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Short Take Off

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April 27, 2011 – The first flight of the Boeing Phantom Ray, a stealthy unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) being developed internally by Boeing. As part of Boeing’s Project Reblue, Boeing is developing the Phantom Ray to take on autonomous missions that will include reconnaissance, ground attack and autonomous refueling, as well as suppression of enemy air defenses and seek and destroy missions. The Phantom Ray was designed by the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , and is a development of it earlier !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! prototype. (NASA photo)

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April 27, 1991 – The first flight of the Eurocopter Tiger, a tandem attack helicopter built by !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (formerly Eurocopter). The Tiger (or Tigre in France) was initially developed as a Cold War era anti-tank helicopter but, with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, its mission was changed to a multirole helicopter. The Tiger is the first all-composite helicopter developed in Europe, and is similar in mission to the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . The Tigre was deemed ready for service in 2008, and the first Tigers saw action in Afghanistan in 2009. A total of 206 have been built, and they serve the armed forces of Australia, France, Germany and Spain. (Photo by Calvin Smith via !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! )

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April 27, 1952 – The first flight of the Tupolev Tu-16, a twin-engine strategic bomber designed to carry up to 9,000 lbs of nuclear or conventional weapons. Following WWII, the only long range bomber the Soviets possessed was the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (NATO code name Bull), which was a reverse engineered copy of the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . With the development of turbojet engines, Tupolev began work on a jet-powered, swept-wing bomber with a range of up to 3,000 miles. In addition to the original bomber version, the Tu-16 (Badger) was also developed into reconnaissance, electronic intelligence and electronic warfare variants, as well as a passenger variant that served with the Soviet airline !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Just over 1,500 Tu-16s were produced and exported to most !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! nations and other Russian-allied states. (US Navy photo)

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April 28, 1988 – Aloha Airlines Flight 243 loses a section of its fuselage during flight. Aloha Airlines 243 was a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (N73711) that made regular short flights between the Hawaiian Islands. While the airframe had only experienced 35,496 flight hours at the time of the accident, it had undergone 89,680 flight cycles (a cycle is defined as a takeoff and a landing), exceeding the aircraft’s design limits. While cruising at 24,000 feet, a large section of the upper fuselage directly behind the cockpit tore off, exposing the passengers to the elements. One flight attendant was blown from the plane and died, but the 65 passengers, all of whom were belted at the time, survived, though some were seriously injured. An !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! by the NTSB cited metal fatigue aided by corrosion from the salty, humid environment, the high number of cycles, and inadequate maintenance practices as factors contributing to the accident. (Photo author unknown)

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April 29, 2013 – The first powered flight of the Virgin Galactic SpaceShip Two, a suborbital spaceplane designed by !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and built by his company !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! to carry tourists into space. SpaceShip Two is carried aloft by the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! mothership, then released to leave the atmosphere under rocket power. The entire flight will last two-and-a-half hours, but tourists will only experience a few minutes of microgravity. During return, the innovative feathering system raises the tail structure to stabilize the craft during reentry, and then retracts before an unpowered landing. The space tourism concept was suspended following a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! of !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! in 2014, but flights are expected to resume in 2016. (Photo by Bill Deaver/Deaver-Wiggins and Associates via !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! )

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April 29, 1991 – The first flight of the Cessna CitationJet, a small, turbofan-powered corporate jet which formed the basis for a full line of models offering different engine and passenger arrangements. The CitationJet was originally developed as a replacement for the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , offering a laminar flow wing and a T-tail configuration. Though the CitationJet is shorter than its predecessors, it offers increased cabin height through a lowered cabin center aisle. Depending on the variant, the CitationJet can carry from 3 to 9 passengers, and is rated for operation by a single pilot. The CitationJet remains in production, and approximately 400 have been built to date. (Photo by Adrian Pingstone via !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! )

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April 29, 1981 – The first flight of the Myasischev VM-T, a variant of the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! bomber that was repurposed for strategic airlift and to transport extremely large loads. The VM-T was originally developed to transport rocket boosters and other large components to the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! in Kazakhstan for the Russian space program, and was capable of carrying loads in excess of 55 tons. The vertical stabilizer of the Molot was removed and replaced by a pair of endplane tail fins, and a large, external cargo pod was added. The VM-T was also used to transport the Russian space shuttle !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Two VM-Ts were built, and they were eventually replaced by the larger !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . (Photo by Dmitry Pichugin via !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! )

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April 29, 1931 – The first flight of the Boeing YB-9, a Boeing-funded development of their !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! single-engine commercial aircraft, and the first all-metal monoplane bomber built for the US Army Air Corps. While equal to the speed of contemporary fighter planes, only five service aircraft were built. Boeing lost out to the the Glenn Martin Company, which offered the more advanced Martin XB-109, which entered service in 1934 as the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . (US Air Force photo)

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April 29, 1918 – American ace Eddie Rickenbacker scores his first victory. Rickenbacker was America’s leading ace in WWI, and a recipient of the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Rickenbacker served in the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , nicknamed the “Hat-in-the-Ring” squadron, where he flew French-made !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! fighters. He finished the war with 26 confirmed victories. Rickenbacker eventually commanded the 94th, and after the war he started the ill-fated !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! in 1920. But Rickenbacker made his greatest contribution to aviation as the head of !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! from 1938 until his retirement in 1963. Rickenbacker died of a stroke in 1973. (Photo author unknown)

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Recent Aviation History Posts

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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!!! .

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MonkeePuzzle > ttyymmnn 04/29/2016 at 12:49

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why on earth were the crew still exposed?

Biggus Dickus (RevsBro) > ttyymmnn 04/29/2016 at 12:52

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Looking forward to my first flight on an A380-800 this June! I like to think it is the civilian version of the Big Ugly Fat Fucker.

ttyymmnn > MonkeePuzzle 04/29/2016 at 12:56

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Closed cockpits weren’t a big thing until a little bit later. This is still a holdover from the open cockpit days. Since old habits die hard, I think that the pilots didn’t want to feel trapped inside. That’s why Navy pilots always landed with the cockpit open, and that even held over into the early jet age. The B-10 that won the competition was pretty revolutionary for it day, and looked like a (more) modern airplane, though the greenhouses are probably just built over top of what was originally designed as an open cockpit.

ttyymmnn > Biggus Dickus (RevsBro) 04/29/2016 at 13:03

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Sounds like fun. I wouldn’t want to try to evacuate one, though. Back in 2006, as part of the certification process, Airbus did a test where they managed to get 853 passengers and 20 crew out of the plane in 78 seconds, with half of the exits blocked as they might be during a fire. It’s impressive, but all of those participants knew they were in a test, they were trained in the procedure, and they weren’t panicking. Now imagine 600 passengers trying to bail out, with maybe half of them trying to take their carry-on, a quarter of them trying to film it or take a selfie, etc.

Here’s the whole story .

Enjoy your flight!

MonkeePuzzle > ttyymmnn 04/29/2016 at 13:10

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the thought that the pilot might prefer open to closed is astounding. but clearly I am in my modern mindset looking back, not in their mindset concerned about change

ttyymmnn > MonkeePuzzle 04/29/2016 at 13:16

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Exactly. Remember, Orville Wright was lying down on the wing of the first Wright Flyer. Thus began a tradition of pilots being on, not necessarily in, their airplanes. When you look back at the 20s and see those guys bundled up in fur coats etc to keep warm, you’d think that a closed cockpit was a no-brainer. But I think you can draw a parallel in thought to modern F1 cars, and how the drivers want that open cockpit so they don’t feel trapped inside. They want to be able to get out as fast as possible.

HammerheadFistpunch > ttyymmnn 04/29/2016 at 13:34

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Turns out that the French Military let them use the real Tiger prototype and accompanying test platform frigate the La Fayette. neat.

ttyymmnn > HammerheadFistpunch 04/29/2016 at 13:51

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Fascinating tidbits, really, from an otherwise forgettable film.

HammerheadFistpunch > ttyymmnn 04/29/2016 at 13:53

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WHAT?! Goldeneye was the biz!

ttyymmnn > HammerheadFistpunch 04/29/2016 at 14:00

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Sorry, but James Bond was dead to me after the Connery films (with the exception of Never Say Never Again , which was dreck), and was only properly resurrected by Daniel Craig. The downward slide started after Goldfinger , with From Russia With Love being the greatest of all.

HammerheadFistpunch > ttyymmnn 04/29/2016 at 14:02

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We differ on bond films greatly my friend. FRWL was the only bond movie to literally put me to sleep twice. I personally think Lazenby was the best...but I realize that’s an unpopular opinion.

Cé hé sin > ttyymmnn 04/29/2016 at 14:52

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Same in any other large plane though.

ttyymmnn > Cé hé sin 04/29/2016 at 14:55

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But only half as bad.

Cé hé sin > ttyymmnn 04/29/2016 at 15:00

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Wouldn’t the ratio of exits to would-be exiters be similar though? Plus of course there are two decks.

ttyymmnn > Cé hé sin 04/29/2016 at 15:02

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Yes, I’m sure there is some mathematical formula for the number of seats to the number of exits.