August Aviation bites

[Angry Turnip]

24th Aug 1921....The British airship R38 (ZR-2) due to be delivered to the United States Navy as the ZR-2,broke in two on a test flight near Hull,half falling to the ground in flames.

24th Aug 1924....First flight of the Supermarine S.4,a single-engined single-seat monoplane racing seaplane designed by R. J. Mitchell to compete in the 1925 Schneider Trophy race.

24th Aug 1933....First flight of the Blackburn Shark,a carrier-borne torpedo bomber.It went into service with the Fleet Air Arm,Royal Canadian Air Force,Portuguese Navy,and the British Air Observers'School.

24th Aug 1939....The RAF forms the Advanced Air Striking Force,initially consisting of 10 squadrons of Fairey Battle bombers.Its mission is to deploy to France in the event of war with Germany.

24th Aug 1970....Two USAF Sikorsky HH-53 C helicopters complete a non-stop trans-Pacific crossing from Eglin AFB,Florida to Da Nang,South Vietnam,aided by refueling with Lockheed C-130 tankers.

24th Aug 1977....First flight of the Learjet 28,an eight-to-ten-seat twin-engine,high-speed business jet.It was the first production jet aircraft to utilize winglets,but only 9 were built.

24th Aug 1983....A Canadair Challenger 601 business jet arrives in London from Calgary,setting a world distance record for a business jet,at 4,364.2 miles (6,982 km).

24th Aug 1988....Assembly of the first McDonnell Douglas C-17 begins at Douglas Aircraft facilities in Long Beach,California.

24th Aug 2001....Air Transat Flight 236 runs out of fuel over the Atlantic Ocean and makes an emergency landing in the Azores.Upon landing some of the tires blow out, causing a fire.No fatalities.

24th Aug 2009.... American Airlines retires its last Airbus A300 from scheduled service.Many A300`s are still in service with various air freight operators.

[Angry Turnip]

25th Aug 1784....James Tytler,makes the first manned balloon hop in England makes a brief uncontrolled ascent to an altitude of a few hundred feet.Witnesses claimed he squealed like a girl!

25th Aug 1912....Royal Navy aviator Wilfred Parke becomes the first pilot ever to recover from a spin,regaining control of his Avro Type G biplane 50 feet from the ground at Larkhill,England.

25th Aug 1914....Pyotr N. Nesterov is first pilot to down an enemy aircraft in aerial combat when he rams an Austro-Hungarian plane flown by Baron von Rosenthal.

25th Aug 1919....The first daily commercial scheduled international air passenger service starts between London and Paris.A single fare to Paris is 21 pounds.

25th Aug 1932....Amelia Earhart makes the first transcontinental flight across the US by a woman.She flies a Lockheed Vega.Just one of many records she set during her career.

25th Aug 1945....A U.S Army Air Forces P-38 Lightning fighter piloted by Colonel Clay Tice,becomes the first American aircraft to land in Japan following the armistice of August 15.

25th Aug 1951....For the first time in the Korean War,USN fighters escort USAF B-29 bombers using F9F Panthers and F2H-2 Banshees from USS Essex on a raid.They encounter no enemy aircraft.

25th Aug 1955....First flight of the Handley Page Herald,a passenger airliner.It was decided to use 4x Alvis Leonides radial engines,later it was redesigned to use a pair of RR Dart Turboprops.

25th Aug 1976....British Airways Concorde registered G-BOAD,makes her maiden flight out of Filton,England.Today she is on display at the USS Intrepid Sea,Air & Space Museum in New York.

25th Aug 1995....First flight of the Airbus A319,a short- to medium-range,narrow-body,passenger twin-engine jet airliner.It carries up to 160 pax and has a maximum range of 3,700 nmi.

25th Aug 2006....Rollout of the first Block 20 RQ-4 Global Hawk at Northrop Grumman’s Plant 42 manufacturing facility in Palmdale,California.42 have been completed so far.

25th Aug 2012....Neil Armstrong –Astronaut,aerospace engineer,test pilot,university professor,U.S. Navy pilot,and the first person to walk on the Moon,dies at the age of 82.

[Angry Turnip]

26th Aug 1925....Farman Parker of Anderson,Indiana becomes the world’s youngest pilot to fly solo.Born on January 9,1912,he flies at the age of 13 years,7 months,17 days.Record was broken Feb 1983.

26th Aug 1927....Bert Hinkler sets a new non-stop distance record,flying from Croydon,England to Riga,Latvia.He was test pilot for the aircraft manufacturer A.V. Roe in Southampton.

26th Aug 1944....First flight of the Martin AM Mauler,a single-seat shipboard attack aircraft built for the USN.It was plagued by delays and did not enter service until 1948 in small numbers.

26th Aug 1959....The first VC-137 A,a modified Boeing 707-120 airliner,enters service to replace the Lockheed Super Constellation formerly responsible for USA Presidential transport.

26th Aug 1959....French flyer Jacqueline Auriol,piloting the Mirage III,becomes the first woman to attain the speed of Mach 2.She set several aviation speed records between 1951 and 1963.

26th Aug 1969....First flight of the Swearingen Metroliner,a 19-seat,pressurized,twin-turboprop airliner.It was later built in several versions by Fairchild who bought a 90% share in the company.

26th Aug 1975....First flight of the McDonnell Douglas YC-15,a prototype four-engine STOL tactical transport.It`s basic design would be used to form the successful McDonnell Douglas C-17 Globemaster III.

26th Aug 2002....First flight of the Eclipse 500,a small six-seat American business jet aircraft originally manufactured by Eclipse Aviation and later upgraded and sold by Eclipse Aerospace.

26th Aug 2008....A Sun Air 737-200 carrying 109 passengers and crew is hijacked on a flight from Nyala,Sudan to Cairo.The plane ends up landing in Libya,the hijackers surrender two days later.

26th Aug 2012....83-year-old Ron Akana retires as the longest-serving flight attendant in history.His career,all with United Airlines,had spanned 63 years since he joined the airline in 1949,interrupted only by                                two years of military service from 1951 to 1953.

[Angry Turnip]

27th Aug 1910....Frederick Baldwin,and John AD McCurdy,using a Curtiss biplane and an H.M. Horton wireless set are the first pilots to send radio messages to the ground at Sheepshead,New York.

27th Aug 1914....The Royal Naval Air Service’s famed Eastchurch Squadron arrives in France for World War I service,commanded by Wing Commander Charles Samson.

27th Aug 1939....First flight of the Heinkel He 178,the world's first aircraft to fly under turbojet power.While a technical success,speeds were limited and combat endurance was only 10 minutes.

27th Aug 1940....First flight of the Caproni Campini N.1,an Italian experimental jet aircraft.The N.1 achieved mixed results,and just two prototypes were built.

27th Aug 1950....P-51 Mustangs of No. 2 Squadron SAAF,are sent to Korea as part of South Africa's contribution to the war.

27th Aug 1976....First flight of the PZL-Mielec M-18 Dromader,a single engine agricultural aircraft.Rockwell International aided the design,and over 750 were built.

27th Aug 1985....Launch:Space Shuttle Discovery STS-51-I at 10:58:01 UTC.Mission highlights: Multiple comsat deployments, rescue of Syncom F3 (Leasat-3) by Astronauts.

27th Aug 1990....First flight of the Northrop/McDonnell Douglas YF-23,a twin-engine stealth fighter aircraft technology demonstrator for the USAF.It lost out to the  Lockheed YF-22,which became the F-22.

27th Aug 2006....The Boeing 737-900ER/9GP, is unveiled, with the first operator being Lion Air.

[Angry Turnip]

28th Aug 1908....The US Army accepts its first dirigible.It is 96 feet long,with a 20-hp Curtiss engine.

28th Aug 1919....The International Air Traffic Association (IATA),is formed at The Hague,Holland.IATA supports airline activity and helps formulate industry policy and standards.

28th Aug 1923....USAAS Lt.John Richter and Lowell Smith establish a new endurance record of 37hrs 15mins in an Airco DH.4,covering 3,293 miles.The aircraft is refueled fifteen times during the flight.

28th Aug 1934....The fourth International Tourist Aircraft Contest Challenge 1934 in Warsaw,won by the Polish crew of Jerzy Bajan on the RWD-9 plane.

28th Aug 1952....A F6F Hellcat is loaded with explosives and flown as a remote-controlled drone against an awkwardly sighted railway bridge at Hungnam,North Korea.

28th Aug 1957....RAF Canberra serial no. WK 163 piloted by chief test pilot M. Randrup,sets a new record taking the aircraft to 70,310 ft,with the aid of a Double Scorpion rocket motor.

28th Aug 1958....First flight of the Beechcraft Queen Air,a twin-engined light aircraft,based upon the Twin Bonanza but featuring a larger fuselage.It served as the basis for the King Air series.

28th Aug 1961....Lt.Huntington and Lt.De Esch,flying USN F4H-1F Phantom II fighter,set a world speed record,averaging 902.714mph over a 1.85 mile course flying below 125ft at all times.

28th Aug 1968....McDonnell Douglas completes the 3,000th F-4 Phantom II.5,195 were built in total in various guises and spec.

28th Aug 1988....Ramstein disaster:Three of the ten Aermacchi MB-339PAN jets from the Frecce Tricolori collide in mid-air in front of the audience while performing their 'pierced heart' formation.

28th Aug 2008....Zoom Airlines ceases operations due to financial struggles.Based in Ottawa,it was conceived by two Scottish brothers,John and Hugh Boyle.Their startup company was Falcon Holidays.

28th Aug 2009....Launch: Space Shuttle Discovery STS-128 at 23:59 EDT. Mission highlights: ISS assembly flight 17A: MPLM Leonardo & 6 person ISS crew.

[Angry Turnip]

29th Aug 1911....Hilda Hewlett becomes the first British woman to receive a pilot’s licence.She founded and ran the first flying school in the UK at Brooklands.

29th Aug 1929....The Graf Zeppelin LZ127 completes its global circumnavigation at Lakehurst,New Jersey.During its operating life,the airship made 590 flights,it was scrapped in March 1940.

29th Aug 1944....The final airstrike of Operation Goodwood,Goodwood IV,is unsuccessful because a German smoke screen over Tirpitz makes her impossible to hit.It was sunk 12th Nov 1944.

29th Aug 1947....The world’s first ramjet helicopter,the McDonnell XH-20 Little Henry makes its first flight.The ramjet-driven rotor eliminates the need for a torque-compensating tail rotor.

29th Aug 1955....An English Electric Canberra with  Olympus engines sets a new altitude record of 65,876 ft (20,079 m).

29th Aug 1958....USAF Academy opens in it`s new location Colorado Springs,Colorado.Admission is extremely competitive,with nominations divided equally among Congressional districts.

29th Aug 1964....First flight of the Piaggio PD.808,an Italian business jet from a joint venture between Piaggio and Douglas Aircraft Company.It was powered by  Bristol Siddeley Viper 525 turbojets.

29th Aug 1970....First flight of the McDonnell Douglas DC-10,a three-engine wide-body jet airliner.It was noted for a poor safety record in early operations,The KC-10 Extender is a military version.

29th Aug 1978....First flight of the Hawker 400,a small twinjet corporate aircraft.Designed and built by Mitsubishi,it has been developed and updated by Hawker Beechcraft.

29th Aug 2007....Airmen at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota load six nuclear-tipped AGM-129 ACM cruise missiles onto a B-52H bomber for transport to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana without ensuring that the nuclear warheads had been replaced with training warheads.The nukes shoot the breeze without proper handling or security precautions in place for a full 36 hours before anyone notices.The Pentagon would classify it as a “Bent Spear” event,four USAF commanders would lose their jobs and many other airmen would be disciplined.

[Angry Turnip]

30th Aug 1914....Paris is bombed by a German aircraft for the first time – An Etrich Taube flown by Lt Ferdinand von Hiddessen.

30th Aug 1943....A Qantas Empire Airways PBY Catalina flying boat on the Ceylon to Perth,Australia route completes the longest non-stop scheduled airline flight in history.31hrs 51 mins.

30th Aug 1952....First flight of the Avro Vulcan,a 4 jet-powered delta wing high-altitude strategic bomber.One of the RAF V-bomber force,it saw service from 1956 until 1984,and is famous for the howl.

30th Aug 1962....First flight of the NAMC YS-11,a turboprop airliner built by a Japanese consortium,the Nihon Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation.182 were completed when production ended in 1974.

30th Aug 1969....First flight of the Tupolev Tu-22M Backfire,a Soviet supersonic,variable-sweep wing,long-range strategic and maritime strike bomber.Over 100 of the 497 produced are still in service.

30th Aug 1978....LOT Flight 165 hijacking,two East German citizens hijack a Tupolev Tu-134,and force it to land at Tempelhof Airport;there are no casualties to the 63 passengers on board.

30th Aug 1982....First flight of the Northrop F-20 Tigershark,a further evolution of the F-5E Tiger II,featuring a new engine that greatly improved performance,and a modern avionics suite and radar.

30th Aug 1983....Launch:Space shuttle Challenger STS-8 at 06:32:00 UTC.Mission highlights:Comsat deployment,first flight of an African American in space,Guion Bluford.First night landing.

30th Aug 1984.... Launch:Space Shuttle Discovery STS-41-D at 12:41:50 UTC.Mission highlights:Multiple Comsat deployments;first flight of Discovery,test of OAST-1 Solar Array.

30th Aug 1985....First flight of the Bell D-292,an experimental helicopter project to develop an all-composite helicopter fuselage,considerably lighter and less costly to build than metal airframes.

30th Aug 1994....Lockheed and Martin Marietta announce their intention to merge.They will form Lockheed-Martin the following year.It has its headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland.

30th Aug 1995....Operation Deliberate Force is launched by NATO against Bosnian Serb forces.200 sorties are flown during the first 24 hours,including the first combat missions flown by the Luftwaffe since World                            War II.

[Angry Turnip]

There we are folks,another month over,payback for the good weather in June/July :-(

31st Aug 1921....The first Vickers Vernon,a biplane troop carrier used by the RAF.A variant of the Vickers Vimy bomber,it was powered by twin Napier Lion engines or Rolls-Royce Eagle VIII,55 were built.

31st Aug 1940....Polish 303 Squadron,the most efficient allied unit of the Battle of Britain,enters action,based at RAF Northolt.They operated Hawker Hurricanes,Spitfires and finally Mustang MKIV`s.

31st Aug 1942....First flight of the Martin-Baker MB3,a British fighter project with six 20mm cannon.The fatal crash of the prototype led to the cancellation of the programme.

31st Aug 1947....First flight of the Antonov An-2(Colt),a Soviet mass-produced single-engine biplane utility/agricultural aircraft.The airframe is highly adaptable,over 18000 were built.

31st Aug 1955....First flight of the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker the "City Of Renton".The KC-135 is still very much in service with the USAF,and other armed forces after several upgrades.

31st Aug 1956....The Avro Vulcan B.1 enters RAF service.Deliveries of the improved Vulcan B.2 started in 1960. The B.2 featured more powerful engines, a larger wing, an improved electrical system

31st Aug 1958....First flight of the North American A-5 Vigilante,a carrier-based supersonic bomber,for the USN.As the RA-5C,it saw service during the Vietnam War in the tactical strike reconn role.

31st Aug 1965....First flight of the Aero Spacelines Super Guppy,a large, wide-bodied cargo aircraft.Five were built in two variants,developed from the C-97J Turbo Stratocruiser.

31st Aug 1977....A Soviet Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 (FOXBAT) sets the world altitude record for airbreathing aircraft of 123,524 ft.

31st Aug 1987....First flight of the Mitsubishi H-60,a twin-turboshaft engine helicopter based on the Sikorsky S-70 helicopter family for use by the Japan Self-Defense Forces.

31st Aug 1998....North Korea launches its first satellite, Kwangmyongsong.Catchy name,roughly translated it means "Leader With Bad Hair" :-)

31st Aug 2002....First flight of the Learjet 40,a light business jet produced by Bombardier Aerospace.Powered by two Honeywell TFE731-20AR engines,known as AR engines.

31st Aug 2009....Slovak airline SkyEurope files for bankruptcy.It was a low-cost airline headquartered in Bratislava and another base in Prague.They operated Boeing B737`s.