Feb Flying bits

[Angry Turnip]

A bit later than normal,but I didn`t forget.......

23rd Feb 1909......The First flight of the Canada/US built AEA Silver Dart,it had a V8 50 hp engine.

23rd Feb 1914......The first flight of the British Bristol Scout single seat recon/fighter,by end of production in 1916,374 were built.

23rd Feb 1916......The birth of Paul Tibbets Jnr,later to be the pilot of B-29 "Enola Gay " that dropped the first atomic bomb August 1945.The aircraft was named after his mother.

23rd Feb 1929......The fist flight of the French Breguet 27,a two seat recon aircraft.Some were exported to China and Venezuela.

23rd Feb 1932......The large four engine bi-plane transport aircraft,the Gloster TC.33 makes its first flight.Just one was built.

23rd Feb 1934......The first flight of the US built Lockheed Model 10 Electra,a twin engine light airliner.Amelia Earhart used a modified Model 10-E.

23rd Feb 1937......Douglas Aircraft begin deliveries of the B-18 Bolo medium bomber to the USAAC.

23rd Feb 1942......The Soviet prototype fighter,the Polikarpov ITP makes it`s first flight-it did not go into production.

23rd Feb 1951......The first flight of the French fighter bomber,the Dassault MD.452 Mystere I.

23rd Feb 1954......Pilot Robert Rahm flying a Douglas XF4D-1 clims to 10,000ft in 56 seconds.

23rd Feb 1955......The first flight of the Australian CAC CA-25 Winjeel Trainer for the RAAF.Looks similar to a Percival Provest.

23rd Feb 1966......The first flight of the Dornier Do28 D Skyservant,a German STOL utility aircraft.

23rd Feb 1972......The first flight of the PAC CT/4 Airtrainer,a primary trainer used by the RNZAFand RAAF.

23rd Feb 2008......The most expensive aircraft write-off ever ($1.4 Billion) when a Northrop Grumman B2-Spirit crashes on takeoff at Anderson AFB Guam.
                             The cause is found to be moisture in the air-data pressure sensors gave innacurate speed,then an early rotation which resulted in a stall.

                             https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcY_I7i6gdk

[Angry Turnip]

24th Feb 1921......The first flight of the Douglas Cloudster,a two seat long range biplane,only one built.

24th Feb 1931......John Parker is the pilot on the first flight of the Short S.17 Kent,a four engine biplane luxury flying boat airliner with seating for 15.

24th Feb 1935......The first flight of the German Heinkel He111,a medium range bomber.Over 6500 were produced,some under license in Spain as the CASA C.2 111.

24th Feb 1940......The Sydney Camm designed prototype Hawker Typhoon P5212 made it`s first flight.

24th Feb 1941......The Avro Manchester makes it`s combat debut in an overnight raid at Brest in France.

24th Feb 1955......The first flight of the BOMARC surface to air missile.

24th Feb 1957......SAS opens a service from Copenhagen to Toyko,the DC-7C used will circle the North Pole enroute.

24th Feb 1970......HMS Ark Royal is recommissioned after a £30million refit.It was struck off in 1979.It was broken up and scrapped at Cairnryan from 1980-1983.

24th Feb 1983......The youngest pilot to make a solo flight in a heavier than air,aircraft is 9years 316days by a boy flying a Cessna 150 in Mexicali,Mexico.

24th Feb 1984......The first flight of the Boeing B737-300 series.US Air was the launch customer on November 28th.

24th Feb 1989......United Airlines flight 811,a Boeing B747,suffers an explosive decompression when a cargo door fails.9 passengers are sucked out,but the aircraft landed safely.

24th Feb 2003......The Boeing B777-300ER makes it`s first flight-launch customer was Air France who ordered 10 initially.The first aircraft was delivered 29th April 2004.

24th Feb 2010......Boeing`s fourth prototype B787 Dreamliner (N7874) makes it`s first flight.

24th Feb 2011......Launch of STS-133 Space Shuttle Discovery on a ISS assembly flight.It was the final flight of Discovery.

[Angry Turnip]

25th Feb 1929......The worlds first major air evacuation comes to an end when the RAF the last 586 civilians from Kabul to India.

25th Feb 1932......Russia changes the name of it`s national airline to Aeroflot.

25th Feb 1933......The US Navy receives it`s first specifically designed aircraft carrier-the USS Ranger.

25th Feb 1940......The first RCAF,110 Army Co-op Sqn arrives in England.

25th Feb 1941......The first flight of the Messerschmitt Me 321 glider,it was later developed into the 6 engine Messerschmitt Me 323 Gigant transport aircraft.

25th Feb 1945......The first flight of the US built Bell XP-83,an early jet fighter-the project was scrubbed in 1947.

25th Feb 1963......The first flight of the joint French/German military transport aircraft,the Transall C-160.They also served with the Turkish Airforce.

25th Feb 1965......The first flight of the McDonnell Douglas DC-9 single aisle jet airliner.Delta Airlines was the launch customer.

25th Feb 1966......The first flight of the US built Alon A-4 Light aircraft.Shortly after the first flight,the company was sold to Mooney Aircraft.

25th Feb 1975......Brig.General Chuck Yeager flies his last USAF sortie.

25th Feb 1982......American Airlines announces it is to cancel it`s order for 15 Boeing B-757`s.

25th Feb 1984......The last flight of the Republic F-105 Thunderchief was by AFRES 466 Tactical Fighter Sqn with F-105-D`s.

25th Feb 1990......Non-Smoking flights become mandatory for all US Airlines,throughout North America.

[Angry Turnip]

Today`s flying facts..........

26th Feb 1928.....The first flight of the German BFW M.20 or Messerschmitt M.20,a high wing monoplane transport.

26th Feb 1934.....The first flight of the British Armstrong Whitworth AW.19,just a single example was built.

26th Feb 1935.....Hitler orders Herman Goering to secretly re-establish the Luftwaffe,violating the 1919 Treaty of Versailles clause that Germany would never again possess armed aircraft.

26th Feb 1937.....The first flight of the Italian Fiat G.50 Freccia ( Arrow ),monoplane fighter.

26th Feb 1941.....Philippine Airlines are formed,its first flight was using a Beech Model 18.

26th Feb 1942.....Boeing Stratoliners are stripped out,and pressed into military service as C-75`s.

26th Feb 1945.....The first flight of the chunky looking French Sud-Ouest Bretagne,an airliner and military transport.

26th Feb 1949.....A Boeing B-50 Superfortress "Lucky Lady II" heads off on an around the world non-stop flight that will take 94hrs and 1 min ( 23,452miles ).

26th Feb 1954.....Piedmont Airlines carries it`s one millionth passenger,after 6 years in operation.

26th Feb 1955.....The first person to survive a supersonic ejection is George Smith,after parting company with his North American F-100 Super Sabre at Mach 1.05.

26th Feb 1960.....An Alitalia DC-7 crashes shortly after takeoff from Shannon Airport...http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19600226-2

26th Feb 1966.....Launch of Saturn 1B rocket as part of the tests for the Apollo program.

26th Feb 1971.....The first flight of the Swedish Saab Safari military primary trainer,designed by Bjorn Andreasson of ABBA fame ( just kidding ).

26th Feb 1975.....The first flight of the Cessna 404 Titan twin prop utility aircraft.

26th Feb 1979.....Production of the US built Douglas A-4 Skyhawk ends after 26 years,and almost 3,000 built ( 2960 ).

26th Feb 1981.....The first flight of the Brazilian military primary trainer,the Aerotec A-132 Tangara,Bolivia bought 6.

26th Feb 1987.....NASA launches GEOS-H.

[smudge]

26th Feb 1979.....Production of the US built Douglas A-4 Skyhawk ends after 26 years,and almost 3,000 built ( 2960 ).

Designer Ed Heinemann made his only flight in one of his designs in a TA-4J of VF-126 in 1974.

Whilst cross-checking that I discovered that he ended his career as VP of Engineering at GD, overseeing development of the F-16!  That's a long way from being laid-off by Douglas in 1927.

[Angry Turnip]

Almost the end of freezing Feburary.

27th Feb 1910......The birth of CL "Kelly" Johnson,the American aeronautical innovator and aircraft engineer,best known for his work at Lockheed.

27th Feb 1921......The birth of Theodore Van Kirk,who would become the navigator on the B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay.

27th Feb 1942......The first flight of the British built Blackburn Firebrand,a naval strike fighter.

27th Feb 1943......USAAF aircraft make their first bombing raid on Germany.

27th Feb 1945......The first flight of the mixed powerplant Curtis XF15C,an odd looking prototype fighter.

27th Feb 1963......The Hughes OH-6 Cayuse light utility helicopter makes it`s first flight.

27th Feb 1965......The first flight of the Soviet strategic transport,the Antonov AN-22 Antei.

27th Feb 1969......The British light aircraft company,Beagle Aircraft Limited goes into liquidation.

27th Feb 1970......Hawker Siddeley begins buying back surplus Hawker Hunters from the RAF to recondition/remanufacture to new customers.

27th Feb 2002......Ryanair flt 296 catches fire at London Stansted Airport.The CAA investigations are highly critical of Ryanair`s handling of the evacuation.

27th Feb 2007......The first flight of the Bell 429 GlobalRanger helicopter.

[Angry Turnip]

28th Feb 1927.....The first flight of the US built Curtis F7C Seahawk,a biplane fighter.

28th Feb 1937.....The Japanese Mitsubishi Ki-30 light bomber makes it`s first flight.704 were built.

28th Feb 1946.....The first flight of the US built Republic F-84 Thunderjet,a jet fighter/bomber.Over 7500 were built.

28th Feb 1949.....The French built Dassault Ouragan (Hurricane),a jet fighter/bomber makes its first flight.It was operated in France,India,Israel and El Salvador.

28th Feb 1959.....The first flight of the French Aerospatiale Alouette III,a light utility helicopter.

28th Feb 1964.....The Toronto International Airport terminal building opened.

28th Feb 1998.....The first flight of the UAV Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk.