July Aviation Bites

[Angry Turnip]

24th July 1897....Amelia Earhart,the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean is born.She and her engineer disappeared over the central Pacific Ocean Jul 1937 on an around the world flight attempt.

24th July 1926....Two Lufthansa Junkers G.24s leave Berlin to make a round-trip to Beijing.They will return on September 26th.

24th July 1941....First flight of the Douglas DB-7 B attack bomber,better known to some as the Douglas A-20 Havoc,or Boston.They were operated worldwide with almost 7500 built.

24th July 1943....(RAF) use “Window”code name for metal foil dropped to confuse enemy radar,for the first time,beginning Operation Gomorrah on Hamburg with 791 aircraft.

24th July 1946....Bernard Lynch was involved in the first airborne test of a British ejection seat.Lynch ejected from a Gloster Meteor Mk III at 320 mph.He volunteered to test the system.

24th July 1961....Deliveries of the McDonnell CF-101 Voodoo to the Royal Canadian Air Force commence.It was an all-weather interceptor aircraft that served with the RCAF until 1987.

24th July 1969....Apollo 11 splashes down safely in the Pacific Ocean.They are picked up by helicopters from USS Hornet.President Richard Nixon was aboard to personally welcome the astronauts.

24th July 2009....The Italian Civil Aviation Authority suspends the operating licence of MyAir due to financial problems and service failures.The airline had three wet leased Airbus A320`s.

[Angry Turnip]

25th July 1909....Louis Bleriot becomes the first pilot to cross the English Channel.He makes the crossing in his Blériot Type XI from Les Barraques to Northfall Meadow (near Dover Castle) in 37 min.

25th July 1909....Van den Schkrouff makes the first flight in Russia in a Voisin biplane at Odessa.

25th July 1915....Cpt Lanoe Hawker of the RFC wins first Victoria Cross for aerial combat,over France.He shot down 3 enemy aircraft in succession,after an intial victory over Passchendaele.He was killed in a                                dogfight with the famous German flying ace Manfred von Richthofen on 23 November 1916.

25th July 1923....The first Canadian built amphibian,the Vickers Viking IV,was flown from the St. Lawrence at Montreal.A full-size replica built for the film The People That Time Forgot (starring Patrick Wayne                               and Doug McClure) is displayed at Brooklands Museum in Surrey.

25th July 1939....First flight of the Avro 679 Manchester,a twin-engine medium bomber.It was the forerunner of the vastly more successful four-engined Avro Lancaster.200 + 2 prototypes were built.

25th July 1962....The US Army forms its first armed helicopter company,using UH-1 Hueys.A utility military helicopter powered by a single turboshaft engine with two-blade main and tail rotors.

25th July 1984....Svetlana Savitskaya becomes the first woman to perform a space walk,around the Salyut 7 space station for over 3 1/2 hours.She must have had trouble hanging out the laundry. :-)

25th July 2000....Air France Flight 4590 Concorde crashes during takeoff from Paris,France after it ran over debris on the runway during takeoff,blowing a tyre and puncturing a fuel tank.

25th July 2008.... Qantas Flight 30,a Boeing 747-438 en route from Hong Kong to Melbourne,performs an emergency descent and lands in Manila after a hull penetration results in rapid decompression.

[Angry Turnip]

26th July 1910....Capt G.W.P.Dawes becomes the first British Army officer to be awarded an aviator’s certificate in England,when he qualifies for certificate no.17 on a Humber Monoplane at Wolverhampton.

26th July 1918....Maj.Edward Corringham "Mick" Mannock VC,DSO & Two Bars,MC & Bar,Britain's highest scoring ace of WWI,is shot down by German ground fire.He had scored 61 victories.

26th July 1929....A flight by Johnny Burtin proves that at high altitudes,fuel consumption drops considerably and wind resistance is reduced,making high-altitude flying more economical and profitable.

26th July 1946....Trans-Pacific Airines (the future Aloha Airlines) begins non-scheduled interisland service in Hawaii using a World War II surplus Douglas C-47.

26th July 1955....Capital Airlines orders the four engine Vickers Viscount,the first passenger turboprop airliner.Making them the first US airline to select a British airliner.

26th July 1959....Lt.Col William H. Rankin,ejects from his F8U-1 Crusader at 47,000ft,he ejected into a violent thunderstorm which caused his descent to last 40 minutes vs the expected 11 minutes.

26th July 1971....Apollo 15 launched.It was the first of what were termed J missions-long duration stays on the Moon with a greater focus on science than had been possible previously.
 
26th July 1972....NASA announces Rockwell International as prime contractor for the Space Shuttle Orbiter-six are built Enterprise,Columbia,Challenger,Discovery, Atlantis,and Endeavour.

26th July 1973....First flight of the Sikorsky S-69,an experimental co-axial compound helicopter.the S-69 was the demonstrator for the Advancing Blade Concept (ABC),just 2 were built.

26th July 1998....First flight of the Scaled Composites Model 281 Proteus,a tandem-wing High-Altitude Long Endurance aircraft designed by Burt Rutan.It`s another odd looking creation.

26th July 2005.... Launch:Space Shuttle Discovery STS-114 at 14:39:00 UTC.Mission highlights:First post Columbia flight.Flight safety evaluation/testing,ISS supply/repair,MPLM Raffaello.

26th July 2007....First flight of the  Embraer EMB-500 Phenom 100 a very light jet,as of April 2017, 350 were in service in 37 countries.The RAF bought five in 2016.

[Angry Turnip]

27th July 1901....Wilbur and Orville Wright make the first of a series of test glides at Kill Devil Hills near Kitty Hawk,North Carolina.

27th July 1909....Orville Wright makes the first official test flight of the U. S. Army’s first airplane in Fort Meyer.President William Howard Taft,and 10,000 spectators witness the flight.

27th July 1912....Lieutenant John Rodgers and Ensign Charles Maddox,in a Wright B1 Flyer,send the first wireless message from an airplane to a ship,the torpedo boat USS Stringham.

27th July 1923....A Navy Cox-Klemin XS-1 was the first airplane launched from a submarine.After surfacing the aircraft could be rolled out and assembled,it was then launched.

27th July 1928....First flight of the Boeing 80,a three-engined biplane airliner.It successfully carried both airmail and passengers (up to 12 passengers) on scheduled services.

27th July 1931....The Air Line Pilots Association of the USA is formed.

27th July 1937....First flight of the Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor,an all-metal four-engined monoplane originally developed by Focke-Wulf as a long-range airliner.It was used for many tasks during WWII.

27th July 1944....The Gloster Meteor enters RAF service with 616 Sqn.It was the first British jet fighter and the Allies' only jet aircraft to achieve combat operations during the World WarII

27th July 1946....First flight of the Supermarine Attacker,a single-seat naval jet fighter.It has the distinction of being the first jet fighter to enter operational service with the FAA.

27th July 1947....First flight of the Tupolev Tu-12,an experimental Soviet jet-powered medium bomber developed from the successful piston-engined Tupolev Tu-2 bomber.

27th July 1947....First flight of the Bristol Type 171 Sycamore,an early British helicopter.Capable of seating up to three passengers,it was often used as a transport for both passengers and cargo.

27th July 1949....First flight of the de Havilland DH 106 Comet, the world's first commercial jet airliner.It was later developed into the specialised maritime patrol variant,the Hawker Siddeley Nimrod.

27th July 1955....El Al Flight 402,a Lockheed L-049 Constellation,strays over Bulgarian territory on its way from Vienna to Tel Aviv,is shot down by two Bulgarian fighter Mig-15`s,killing all on board.

27th July 1972....First flight of the McDonnell Douglas F-15A Eagle.A US twin-engine,all-weather tactical fighter designed to gain and maintain air supremacy in all aspects of aerial combat.

27th July 1983....First flight of the Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia,a twin-turboprop commuter airliner.The Brasilia attracted immediate interest from many regional airlines, particularly in the US.

27th July 1996....The final General Dynamics F-111 F attack aircraft are withdrawn from USAF service.It had variable-sweep wings,afterburning engines,and automated terrain-following radar.

27th July 2002....Sknyliv air show disaster: A Ukrainian Air Force Sukhoi Su-27UB crashes during the Lviv airshow killing 85 spectators, 5 of them children. 199 were injured.

[Angry Turnip]

28th July 1933.... Dr. Albert Forsythe and Charles Alfred “Chief” Anderson land at Atlantic City to complete the first return flight to the West Coast by African-American pilots.

28th July 1934....Nelly Diener,Europe’s first air stewardess is killed with 9 passengers and flightcrew when Swissair Curtiss AT-32C Condor II aircraft crashed in Germany while flying through a thunderstorm.

28th July 1935....First flight of the Boeing B-17(prototype Model 299/XB-17)a four-engine heavy bomber developed into the Flying Fortress.As of May 2015,10 aircraft remain airworthy,none flew in combat.

28th July 1945....A B-25 Mitchell bomber,piloted in thick fog over New York City,crashed into the Empire State Building.The accident did not compromise the building's structural integrity,14 people died.

28th July 1950....The first scheduled passenger service flown by a gas-turbine powered airliner (turboprop) is British European Airway’s (British European Airways) Vickers V. 630 Viscount.

28th July 1958....A B-47 Stratojet bomber of the U.S. Air Force's 305th Bombardment Wing set speed record,from RCAF Goose Bay,Labrador,to RAF Fairford,England,in 4 hours 14 minutes.

28th July 1976....Two records set;USAF Capt Eldon W Joersz,2193.16 mph over a straight course,and USAF Maj Adolphus H Bledsoe,2092.29 mph over a closed circuit,both in Lockheed SR-71As at Beale AFB CA.

28th July 1982....The first McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet is delivered to the Canadian Forces Air Command.The underside of the CF-18 features a painted "false canopy" to confuse in a dogfight.Pic below.

28th July 2003....First flight of the Adam A700 AdamJet,a proposed six-seat civil utility aircraft.The A700 is powered by two Williams FJ33 turbofans.Two were built.

28th July 2009....Cambodia Angkor Air commenced operations.All of its fleet and most of its staff are leased from Vietnam Airlines.It`s is the national flag carrier airline of Cambodia.


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[Angry Turnip]

29th July 1909....Georges Legagneux makes the first airplane flight in Sweden in his Voisin biplane in Stockholm.On 19 April 1910 he received French aviator license #55.

29th July 1925....First flight of the Blériot 155,it was a four-engined biplane airliner.Two were built for use by Air Union on their Paris-London route.Both were lost in accidents in 1926.

29th July 1929....A Ford Trimotor flown by Charles Lindbergh began the first coast-to-coast air passenger service through Transcontinental Air Transport (TWA).

29th July 1930....The first transatlantic passenger flight takes off from England for Canada.HM Airship R100,a rigid airship,made the 3,300 mile crossing in 78 hours.

29th July 1937....First flight of the Lockheed Model 14 Super Electra,a civil passenger and cargo aircraft.Developed by a team led by Don Palmer,it was a scaled-up version of the Model 10 Electra.

29th July 1950....A British European Airways Vickers Viscount makes the first turboprop-powered passenger flight.The flight was between Northolt and Le Bourget Airport with 14 passengers.

29th July 1952....A USAF RB-45 Tornado makes the first non-stop crossing of the Pacific by jet.It flew from Alaska to Japan in 9 hrs 50 mins,winning the MacKay Trophy for the crews achievement.

29th July 1954....First flight of the Morane-Saulnier MS.760 Paris,a French four-seat jet trainer and liaison aircraft.Main operators of the type were the French Military and Argentine Airforce.

29th July 1959....The first airbridge in the U. S. is installed at the International Airport in San Francisco.Designed to protect passengers from the weather when they board or leave aircraft.

29th July 1959....QANTAS introduces the Boeing 707 on its Sydney-San Francisco route,the first transpacific service flown by jet.

29th July 1963....First flight of the Tupolev Tu-134 "Crusty",a twin-engined, narrow-body,a jet airliner.The model has seen long-term service with some 42 countries in civil and military versions.

29th July 1966....Laker Airlines commenced commercial operations from its London Gatwick Airport base with two former (BOAC) Bristol Britannia 102 series turboprops.

29th July 1971....American and United airlines take delivery of the first two production Douglas DC-10 jetliners,and American puts its new DC-10 in regular service just eight days later.

29th July 1985....First flight of the Kawasaki T-4,a Japanese subsonic intermediate jet trainer,used by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force.It is used by the JASDF's Blue Impulse aerobatic team.

29th July 1985....The eighth flight of Space Shuttle Challenger,and 19th shuttle flight overall,lifts off from Cape Canaveral for mission STS-51-F.Five minutes and 45 seconds into its ascent,main engine number                               one shuts down due to a malfunctioning high temperature sensor,forcing the crew to abort its originally planned orbit.

29th July 1996....First flight of the Mitsubishi MH 2000,a 7/12 seat light utility helicopter.Low levels of interest in the aircraft forced Mitsubishi to halt sales of MH2000 in September 2004.

29th July 2002....Vanguard Airlines based in Kansas City, Missouri,ceases operations.The airline flew leased Boeing 727-200, 737-200, 737-300 as well as McDonnell Douglas MD-80 and MD-87`s.

29th July 2003....The International Space Station’s 1,000th consecutive day of astronauts living on board.--It must be stinkin!

[Angry Turnip]

I was watching Guy Martin in Russia,so these are a bit late.


30th July 1910....First flight of the Bristol Boxkite,was the first aircraft produced by the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company (later known as the Bristol Aeroplane Company).A pusher biplane based on the                                successful Farman III.

30th July 1914....Norwegian pilot Tryggve Gran makes the first crossing of the North Sea by airplane,flying his Bleriot from Cruden Bay in Scotland to Revtangen in Norway.

30th July 1921....Swiss pilot,Francois Durafour in a Caudron G-3,made the first landing and take-off on Mont-Blanc,at an altitude of 4,000 meters.

30th July 1923....First flight of the de Havilland DH.50,a large single-engined biplane transport.17 were built by de Havilland,21 were licence-built in Australia, Belgium and Czechoslovakia.

30th July 1924....Japanese airmen, Yukichi Goto and his flight engineer Minezo Yonezawo,return to Osaka after completing the first flight around Japan.They cover 2,727 miles.

30th July 1935....First “Blind” carrier landing.USN Lt Frank Akers flew a Berliner-Joyce OJ-2 from San Diego to USS Langley at sea and landed on instruments (under a hood),for which feat he was awarded a DFC.

30th July 1954....First flight of the Grumman F11F/F-11 Tiger,a supersonic,single-seat carrier-based USN fighter.It was used by the Blue Angels flight team from 1957–1969,200 were built.

30th July 1958....First flight of the de Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribou,a specialized cargo aircraft with short takeoff and landing (STOL) capability.It was the first DHC design powered by two engines.

30th July 1959....First flight of the Northrop F-5A,a supersonic light fighter.Being smaller and simpler than contemporaries it cost less to both buy and operate,making it a popular export.

30th July 1971....Apollo 15 Mission – David Scott and James Irwin on Lunar module,Falcon.land with first Lunar Rover on the moon.The mission landed near Hadley rille,in an area called Palus Putredinus.

30th July 2008....First flight of the Piper PA-47 PiperJet,a single-engined very light jet,it was decided to redesign the aircraft into the PiperJet Altaire.The project was cancelled Oct 2011.

30th July 2011....NATO aircraft bomb three satellite dishes in Tripoli in an attempt to put Libyan state television,off the air,but the channel continues to broadcast.Jeremy Kyle must be popular :-).

[smudge]

30th July 1954....First flight of the Grumman F11F/F-11 Tiger,a supersonic,single-seat carrier-based USN fighter.It was used by the Blue Angels flight team from 1957–1969,200 were built.

I hadn't realised the Blue Angels used the Tigers for so long.  The Navy retired them from carriers in 1961 but the Angels must have liked the handling.

Tiger used the J65 engine which was a license-built & modified AW Sapphire, which the British largely ignored but the Yanks liked; they also used it in the B-57, F-84F, FJ-3/4 and early A-4s.  Over 10,000 J65s were built alongside 20,000+ J57s.

There was a J79-engined Super Tiger that was very close to winning deals in Japan and West Germany until Lockheed offered its infamous 'incentives'.

[Angry Turnip]

Last one for the month.....

31st July 1901....German meteorologists Berson and Süring climb to 10,800 m in a free balloon.

31st July 1941....First flight of the Lockheed Ventura,a twin engine medium bomber.It was larger,heavier,and used more powerful engines than the Hudson it was developed from.Some served as maritime                                      patrol.

31st July 1948....President Harry Truman helped dedicate New York International Airport (later John F. Kennedy International Airport) at Idlewild Field.

31st July 1951....First flight of the SNCASE SE.3120 Alouette,a utility helicopter that did not enter production.Despite impressive performance,the Alouette proved to be difficult to maintain.

31st July 1956....In a high-speed flight,prototype Folland Gnat,G-39-2,suffers tailplane flutter which breaks away.Test pilot bails out safely,becoming first person to use the Folland/Saab ejection seat.

31st July 1957....The Distant Early Warning Line,a system of radar stations designed to detect Soviet bombers approaching North America,went into operation.

31st July 1964....Country music star Jim Reeves and his manager die in the crash of a Beechcraft Debonair.Reeves flew into a violent storm,it is belived he stalled the aircraft after becoming disorientated.

31st July 1972....After 41 years in operation,Northeast Airlines completes its final day of service before being merged into Delta Air Lines the following day.

31st July 1991....The United States Senate passes an amendment to a military spending bill,that would remove the ban that prevents women from flying combat aircraft.

31st July 1992....Launch:Space Shuttle Atlantis STS-46 at 9:56:48 am EDT.Mission highlights:EURECA (European Retrievable Carrier) and the joint NASA/Italian Space Agency Tethered Satellite System (TSS).

31st July 2012....Due to confusion among air traffic controllers at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington,Virginia,two US Airways commuter jets take off into the path of a third US Airways                                    commuter jet flying in the opposite direction and cleared to land on the same runway.


 

 

[breney]

31st July 1957....The Distant Early Warning Line,a system of radar stations designed to detect Soviet bombers approaching North America,went into operation.

An incidentally the DEW line is still served today - mostly by airplanes from that era.