March Flying bits

[Angry Turnip]

Here we are folks,a new month,the beginning of Spring,and it`s freezing...

1st March 1912......Capt.Albert Berry makes the first parachute descent from a perfectly good aircraft,when he jumps from a Benoist aircraft flown by Anthony Jannus.

1st March 1925......Ryan Airlines begins the first scheduled passenger service within the USA,between Los Angeles and San Diego.

1st March 1928......British aircraft carrier HMS Couragaeous enters service as the worlds first carrier with transverse arresting gear.

1st March 1933......US Air Commerce regulations change to increase the amount of flying time before a license is granted from 10hrs,to 50 hrs.

1st March 1948......The first flight of the mean looking Curtis-Wright XF-87 Blackhawk,a prototype interceptor.It did not go into production.

1st March 1957......French aircraft companies SNCASO and SNCASE merge to form Sud-Aviation.

1st March 1966......Soviet space probe Venera 3 crashes on Venus.It is the first Earth spacecraft to land/crash on another planet.

1st March 1982......Soviet space probe Venera 13 lands on Venus.

1st March 1988......Spainair commenced flight operations.

[smudge]

1st March 1928......British aircraft carrier HMS Couragaeous enters service as the worlds first carrier with transverse arresting gear.

She also became the World's first carrier lost to enemy action, sunk by U-29 on 17 September 1939.

[Angry Turnip]

2nd March 1918......The first American to receive a commission in the Royal Flying Corps is Lloyd A.Hamilton assigned to No.3 Sqn.

2nd March 1936......The prototype of the German monoplane fighter,the Heinkel He112 crashes during spin tests.

2nd March 1953......The first flight of the French mixed power experimental interceptor,the SNCASO SO.9000 Trident.

2nd March 1955......The first flight of the French built fighter bomber,the Dassault Super Mystere.It was operated by France,Israel,and Honduras.

2nd March 1965......Operation Rolling Thunder begins,it is a massive air campaign against North Vietnam.

2nd March 1969......The first prototype Concorde 001 (F-WTSS) makes it`s first flight with Andre Turcat at the controls.The flight lasted 29 mins.

2nd March 1972......US built Pioneer 10 is launched on a mission to explore the outermost planets.

2nd March 1981......Japan Airlines is the first airline to use a computerized flight simulator as part of it`s crew training.

2nd March 1995......Space Shuttle Endevour STS-67 is launched.

2nd March 2012......The last commercial Continental Airlines flight departs Phoenix,Arizona for Cleveland,Ohio.It completed the merger with United Airlines.

[Angry Turnip]

3rd March 1912.....The first flight of the British built Avro 500 military utility aircraft.18 machines were built.

3rd March 1915.....The forerunner of NASA is formed,NACA is the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics.

3rd March 1931.....The first flight of the Fairey Gordon,a light bomber with a rather silly name.No offence intended to any Gordon`s.  :-)

3rd March 1944.....USAAF P-38`s of the 55th fighter group,become the first Allied fighters to escort bombers all the way to Berlin and back.

3rd March 1945.....The first flight of the Soviet built fighter,the Mikoyan-Gurevich I-250,and odd looking beast,only 12 were compeleted.

3rd March 1950.....Qantas begins a scheduled passenger service from Sydney to Tokyo.

3rd March 1953.....The first flight of the tandem rotor ASW Bell Model 61 HSL.

3rd March 1953.....A Canadian Pacific Airlines de Havilland Comet crashes shortly after takeoff from Karachi,killing all on board.It is the first first fatal jet airliner crash.

3rd March 1960.....The longest non-stop flight by an RAF Aircraft is made by Vickers Valiant XD858,it was refueled midair twice on it`s 8500 mile flight around the British Isles.

3rd March 1967.....The first flight of the Soviet built Beriev Be-30,a light utility aircraft.

3rd March 1969.....Launch of Apollo 9,the second manned launch of a Saturn V,the crew spend 10 days in lower Earth orbit to test the module`s behaviour.

3rd March 1969.....The US Navy establishes it`s Fighter Weapons School at NAS Miramar-it is known as Top Gun.How Tiny Tom got in,is still a mystery.

3rd March 1987.....US probe Pioneer 9 dies,it`s still in solar orbit.

3rd March 2005.....Steve Fossett becomes the first person to fly around the world non-stop without refueling,covering 25,000miles in 67hrs 2mins.

[Angry Turnip]

4th March 1909......President William Howard Taft approves Congressional Medals of Honour for the Wright Brothers.

4th March 1918......The first flight of the British Airco DH.10 Ameins,a medium bomber.104 Sqn RAF flew them on a single mission on 10th Nov 1918 before the Armistice ended the war.

4th March 1936......The first flight of the last great passenger carrying airship,the German LZ.129 better known as the Hindenburgh.

4th March 1954......The first flight of the prototype F-104,using a Wright J65 engine,as the GE J79 was not ready.

4th March 1970......Freight airline Cargolux is founded.

4th March 1982......NASA launches Intelsat V.

4th March 1993......The first flight of the French biz-jet,the Dassault Falcon 2000.

4th March 1994......Space Shuttle STS-62 Columbia`s 16th mission is launched.

4th March 2002......Ansett Australia (mark 2) ceases trading.

4th March 2007......US Airways and America West combine their reservations computer systems.I`m sure their IT departments enjoyed that.
 

[smudge]

4th March 1954......The first flight of the prototype F-104,using a Wright J65 engine,as the GE J79 was not ready.

The J65 was a license-built and slightly tweaked AW Sapphire, as used in the Javelin and '
odd-numbered' marks of Hunters.  I didn't realise it'd also pushed the Starfighter aloft!

[Angry Turnip]

5th March 1928.....The first flight of the oddly named Beardmore Inflexible,a tri engine monoplane built in Scotland.

5th March 1929.....LAN or Lineas Aereas Nacionales is formed.

5th March 1936.....The Supermarine Spitfire prototype K5054 made it`s first flight.Sadly it`s designer RJ Mitchell didn`t live to see it enter RAF service.

5th March 1937.....Imperial Airways opens a new flying boat base at Hythe in Hampshire.

5th March 1943.....The first flight of the Gloster Meteor jet fighter,the 5th prototype DG206 made the flight with a pair of de Havilland Halford H1 engines.

5th March 1958.....The first flight of the Soviet medium bomber/recon aircraft,the Yakovlev Yak-28.

5th March 1963.....Country music star Patsy Cline and 3 others are killed when their Piper Comanche crashes near Camden,Tennessee.

5th March 1976.....The second Concorde prototype makes it`s last flight to Fleet Air Arm Museum at RNAS Yeovilton.

5th March 1979.....Voyager 1 makes it`s closest approach to Jupiter at 172000 miles.

5th March 1982.....Soviet probe Venera 14 lands on Venus.

[smudge]

5th March 1928.....The first flight of the oddly named Beardmore Inflexible,a tri engine monoplane built in Scotland.

There's one wheel of it left, in the Science Museum in London.

[Angry Turnip]

6th March 1918......The first flight of what we would call a UAV takes place when a Curtiss-Sperry flying bomb made it`s first successful flight.

6th March 1918......The Finnish Air Force is founded.

6th March 1935......A special air traffic regulation is brought in to prevent overflying parts of Washington DC.

6th March 1936......The Avro Anson entered service with 48 Sqn RAF.

6th March 1951......The Martin aircraft company are awarded the rights to build and develop the English Electric Canberra as the B-57.

6th March 1961......The Boeing B-52-H Stratofortress made it`s first flight,they are still in USAF service today.

6th March 1965......A new distance record for helicopters is set by a Sikorsky SH-3A Sea King in a non-stop flight across 2,116 miles of the USA.

6th March 1986......Japan Airlines boards the worlds heaviest man,an 880lb Austrian flying from Frankfurt-16 seats have to be removed to make room for him.

6th March 1990......SR-71 Blackbird (61-17972) sets 4 speed records on it`s retirement flight to the Smithsonian Inst. LA to DC in 1hr,4mins,20secs at average speed of 2,124mph.

6th March 1998......The first flight of the Bell Eagle Eye model 918,a tilt rotor UAV.

6th March 2003......The first flight of the Agusta Westland AW609 tilt rotor,aimed at the civil market.

6th March 2018......A Russian Anotonov-An-26 military transport crashes in Syria with the loss of all 39 persons on board.

[Angry Turnip]

7th March 1927.....The first flight of the British built Westland Wapiti,a multi purpose military biplane.

7th March 1932.....The German Junkers JU 52/3m trimotor transport aircraft makes it`s first flight.It was developed from the JU52/1m which had a single engine,but was underpowered.

7th March 1934.....Juan de la Cievra lands an autogyro on a Spanish ship for the first time.The ship is a military type named Dedalo.

7th March 1942.....The RAF commits 15 Spitfires to the defense of Malta,flying them to the island from carriers HMS Eagle,and HMS Argus.

7th March 1945.....The prototype tandem rotor helicopter,the Piasecki HRP Rescuer makes its first flight.It had fixed tricycle gear,and was powered by 600HP Pratt & Whitney engine.

7th March 1957.....The Soviet built Antonov An-10 Airliner makes it`s first flight.They were operated by Aeroflot and the Soviet Air Force before retiring in 1972.

7th March 1959.....Col M.C.Garlow,a military pilot becomes the first person to fly over 1 million miles in jet aircraft.He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

7th March 1961.....The 2nd Bell X-15 became the first manned aircraft to exceed Mach 4.Capt R.White took it to Mach 4.43 (2,905mph) at 77,450ft. Yeee haaw!

7th March 1964.....The first flight of the Egyptian Helwan HA-300 single seat interceptor.Six were completed and one prototype,before the project was scrapped.

7th March 1964.....The first flight of the P.1127 Kestrel,experimental V/STOL aircraft.

7th March 1966.....France withdraws from the military structure of NATO.

7th March 1975.....The first flight of the Soviet built Yakovlev Yak-42,a narrow body trijet airliner.It was the first airliner in Russia to use high bypass turbofans.

7th March 2003.....The first flight of the HAL.HJT-36 Sitara,an Indian built military intermediate jet trainer.It entered limited service before being grounded over safety concerns.

[smudge]

7th March 1964.....The first flight of the Egyptian Helwan HA-300 single seat interceptor.Six were completed and one prototype,before the project was scrapped.

Both Kurt Tank ( formerly of Focke-Wulf ) and Willy Messerchmitt ( formerly of... oh you know  ) were involved with that project.

The Indian air force also took an interest and provided a test pilot, Group Captain Kapil Bhargava, who wrote an article for Air Enthusiast magazine in 1980 that led to the prototype being retrieved and preserved!

http://www.usislam.org/politics/HA300_helwan_aircraft_egypt.htm

[Angry Turnip]

After much careful consideration,I have decided to name today`s selection,the 8th March.


8th March 1910......Claude Moore-Brabazon receives the Royal Aero Club`s first aviator certificate.Charles Rolls receives the second.

8th March 1910......Raymonde de Laroche,becomes the first woman to be awarded a pilot`s license.

8th March 1917......Count Ferdinand Von Zeppelin dies,he was 78.

8th March 1946......The Bell 47 receives the first type certificate for a commercial helicopter.

8th March 1954......The first flight of the Sikorsky H-34 / S-58.Originally a piston powered machine,later versions used turbine power.Many versions were built under license.

8th March 1957......The worlds first carrier based supersonic fighter,the Grumman F-11F Tiger enters service with the US.Navy (VA-156).

8th March 1974......Charles de Gaulle Airport opens-the main architect was Paul Andreu.

8th March 1989......EVA Air is founded,they operate passenger and dedicated cargo services.

8th March 1996......Cebu Pacific Airlines commences flight operations.They are based in the Philippines.

8th March 2014......Maylaysia Airlines flight MH-370,a Boeing B777-200ER 9M-MRO,disappeared at 01.22L,enroute to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur.The search continues...

[Merlin]

8th March 2014......Maylaysia Airlines flight MH-370,a Boeing B777-200ER 9M-MRO,disappeared at 01.22L,enroute to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur.The search continues...

4 years already 

[Angry Turnip]

9th March 1915.....James "Johnnie" Johnson is born.He was an RAF Ace during WWII,also serving in Korea.He finally retired as Air Vice Marshall in 1966.He died in 2001.

9th March 1918.....The first American air casualty of WWI is Cpt James E.Miller who was shot down in a Spad whilst on a training mission near German lines.

9th March 1931.....The first flight of the French built Bleriot 125,an odd looking airliner featuring seating for 12 in two separate pods,it also had a puller/pusher prop engine arrangement.

9th March 1938.....A new parachute descent record of 35,450ft is achieved James Williams at Chartres Airfield,he opens his chute at 650ft after a 2min,50 sec freefall.

9th March 1948.....The first flight of the British Gloster E.1/44 a prototype fighter.It featured a T-tail and was powered by a Rolls Royce Nene,or Halford H.1 engine.

9th March 1949.....The first flight of the Avro Type 696,later named the Avro Shackelton (VW135),it was developed from the Avro Lincoln.

9th March 1979.....The first flight of the French Mirage 4000 prototype fighter,just one was built.

9th March 1987.....The first flight of the Yakovlev Yak-141,a supersonic VTOL fighter.The project was cancelled in 1991.

9th March 2011.....Space Shuttle Discovery lands to finish its 39th and last mission,the most by any Space Shuttle.It is then retired .

9th March 2012.....The first flight of the prototype Cessna Citation M2 business jet.

[Angry Turnip]

10th March 1910......Emil Aubrun makes the worlds first night flights in a Bleriot type IX at Villalungano,Argentina.

10th March 1919......Australian Prime Minister announces a £10,000 prize to any aviator who can complete the journey from UK to Australia in less than 30 days.

10th March 1925......RJ Mitchell`s Supermarine Southampton flying boat makes its first flight.Henri Biard was the pilot.

10th March 1936......The first flight of the light bomber,the Fairey Battle,one example achieved the first aerial victory for an RAF aircraft in WWII.They were withdrawn from combat in late 1940.

10th March 1937......The first flight of the Hawker Henley,a two-seat target tug derived from the Hawker Hurricane,it was used by the RAF during WWII.

10th March 1944......Loftleirir,an Icelandic airline is formed-it was absorbed into Iceland Air in 1973.

10th March 1948......The North American FJ-1 Fury began entering US Navy service.

10th March 1955......Pakistan International Airlines is formed.

10th March 1956......Lt.Cdr Peter Twiss sets a new airspeed record flying the Fairey Delta FD2.,also becoming the first person to fly faster than 1000mph,his top speed is 1132 mph.

10th March 1959......The first flight of the Northrop T-38 Talon advanced jet trainer.Used by many countries air forces and by NASA as trainers/chase planes.

10th March 1960......The last flight of a USAF operated North American B-25 Mitchell,TB-25J J-25 NC 44-30854 is flown to Eglin Air Force Base Florida for preservation.

10th March 1977......Astronomers James Elliot,Edward Dunham,and Douglas Mink discover rings around Uranus. Now come on folks,no sniggering please !

10th March 1978......The first flight of the French Dassault Mirage 2000 multi-role fighter.Apart from Fance,also operated in UAE,India,and China.

10th March 1986......The US Navy selects the F/A 18 Hornet as the display aircraft of the US Navy Blue Angels.

[Angry Turnip]

11th March 1910.....Lt.JW Dunne`s D5 tailless biplane flies at Eastchurch Kent,powered by a Green engine,it was built by Short Brothers.

11th March 1918.....The first AEF Air Service member to receive the Distinguished Fly Cross is Lt.Paul Baer.

11th March 1935.....The Avro 652 twin engine monoplane,entered service with Imperial Airways,only two were built,before the aircraft was developed into the Avro Anson.

11th March 1941.....US Congress passes the lend-lease bill,part of which includes provision of 16,000 warplanes to the UK.

11th March 1945.....A Japanese balloon bomb that was fired upon in British Columbia,is recovered in Edson,Alberta.

11th March 1957.....The prototype Boeing B707 lands in Baltimore after a press demo flight from Seattle.It covers 2350 miles in a record time of 3 hrs and 48 mins.

11th March 1959.....The first flight of the Sikorsky S-61 / SH-3 Sea King multi-role helicopter.

11th March 1964.....British European Airways introduce the new Hawker Siddeley Trident on it`s London-Copenhagen route.

11th March 1974.....The YF-16 reaches Mach 2 in flight tests at Edwards AFB.

11th March 1985.....The first flight of the British built light aircraft,the ARV Super 2.It was available as a kit,or factory built.

11th March 1993.....The first flight of the Airbus A321 narrowbody jetliner.Lufthansa and Alitalia were the launch customers.

11th March 1998.....The first two of four Boeing E-767`s (AWACS) are delivered to the Japanses Self Defense Force.They are based around a B767-200ER airframe.

11th March 2005.....China`s first private airline Okay Airlines begins commercial flights.They operate 5 x B737`s and 2 x Xian MA-60`s.

[Angry Turnip]

12th March 1916......A Burgess H Biplane sets a world endurance record for a pilot and 2 passengers by staying aloft for 7 hours and 5 minutes.Doubtless a rush to the loo followed.

12th March 1932......Newark Liberty airport installs new landing aids to supplement the night landing system already in place.

12th March 1938......The first flight of the Polish built PZL.44 Wicher airliner.Only one example was completed,it was too expensive compared to the Lockheed Super Electra etc.

12th March 1947......The first flight of the odd Douglas Cloudster II,a five seat light aircraft,it was too expensive to be commercially viable,the prototype only flew twice.

12th March 1951......The Fairey Delta 1 research aircraft made it`s first flight.It wasn`t blessed with good looks,but provided much useful info on delta wings research.

12th March 1953......A RAF Avro Lincoln (RF531) is shot down 20miles NE of Luneberg Germany by a Soviet Mig-15.The Lincoln was on a training flight to Berlin.

12th March 1955......The first flight of the Aerospatiale Alouette II light helicopter.Over 1300 were built in various versions.

12th March 1959......The first flight of the Argentine built light aircraft,the Aero Boero AB-95.It could be fitted with a range of engines from 95 to 150hp.

12th March 1979......Atlantic Southeast Airlines is founded.They changed their name to Express Jet in 2011.

12th March 2004......The first flight of the Embraer E190 (PP-XMA),a narrowbody jetliner in the E170 - E195 E Jet family.

12th March 2008......Southwest Airlines grounds 44 aircraft for inspections as the FAA accuses as many as 117 of it`s B737`s are flying without proper airworthiness certificates.

[jasT1981]

12th March 1953......A RAF Avro Lincoln (RF531) is shot down 20miles NE of Luneberg Germany by a Soviet Mig-15.The Lincoln was on a training flight to Berlin.

I never knew about this, very interesting. Sadly it looks like all crew were lost.

Looking a bit into it, it seems they may have been off course. At least according to the official report however it is thought that was a cover story for it doing surveillance over Soviet controlled East Germany.

I find the difference between two eras very interesting, The Lincoln being a WWII aircraft and the Mig being a Cold War jet, despite there being only 5 years difference between production. 

Officially as recorded in "Hansard" (the official record of debates in the UK Parliament) the aircraft had been attacked after staying off course "whilst on a routine training mission". However, that may have been a "cover story" for the aircrafts real mission of ELINT (Electronic Intelligence Gathering) over Soviet-occupied East Germany

[smudge]

Cold War shoot-downs, quite a list:

http://sw.propwashgang.org/shootdown_list.html

[Angry Turnip]

I`m glad that some people find these snippets of info useful,as that is why I started posting them.
It`s tricky to put all the info into just one line of text,but I hope that sometimes people will see something they didn`t know,and maybe look into it themselves.
Aviation is such a vast subject,with so many tangents,that hopefully there will be something of interest to all.

I try to avoid posting up the majority of crashes,as the list would be a bit morbid.

[Angry Turnip]

13th March 1910.....Capt Paul Engelhard makes the first aircraft flight in Switzerland in a Wright biplane from a frozen lake at St.Moritz.
                              http://wrightstories.com/episode-of-captain-paul-engelhard/

13th March 1914.....Edward O`Hare,future US Navy Aviator,WWII Ace and Congressional Medal Of Honour recipient is born.He died in 1943.In 1949 Chicago Illinois Airport was named after him.

13th March 1928.....The first Canadian woman to obtain a pilots licence was Eileen Volick,she passed her test in Hamilton Ontario.

13th March 1945.....A RAF Avro Lancaster bomber of 617 Sqn drops the first 22,000lb Grand Slam bomb on the Schildesche viaduct.The bomb was designed by Barnes Wallis.

13th March 1951.....Qantas begins a survey flight from Rose Bay Sydney,to Valparaiso in Chile with a Catalina VH-ASA.

13th March 1969.....Apollo 9 mission ends after a 10 day teast of the Lunar Module in Earth`s lower orbit.

13th March 1977.....The first flight of the Sikorsky S-76 SAR/multi-role helicopter.Over 1100 have been built in various versions,civil and military.

13th March 1989.....Space Shuttle Launch Discovery STS-29.An ISS supply and crew rotation mission.

13th March 2002.....Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium commences flight operations.

13th March 2009.....Mexican airline MexicanaLink commences flight operations.It folded 28th Aug 2010.

[Angry Turnip]

14th March 1908......Henri Farman makes the fist flight in his modified Voisin-Farman I-bis biplane.

14th March 1927......Pan American Airways is founded as a scheduled passenger and airmail service from Key West Florida,to Havana,using a chartered Fairchild FC-2 floatplane.

14th March 1936......Imperial Airways starts a weekly service to Hong Kong from it`s Croydon headquarters.

14th March 1945......TAP Portugal is founded.Services began Sept 1946 using a DC-3 on the Lisbon-Madrid route.

14th March 1947......The first flight of the Lockheed L-749 Constellation,a development of the L-649,but featured greater fuel capacity,and a new stronger undercarriage.

14th March 1947......Saudi Arabian Airlines begins services using five DC-3`s.

14th March 1960......Chicago O`Hare international Airport is officially named as the USA`s busiest airport.

14th March 1961......Slovenian airline Adria Airways is founded.Early services used 2 DC-6`s bought from KLM,in fact their first service was flown by a Dutch crew.

14th March 1995......For the first time ever,13 astronauts are in space at the same time.

14th March 2006......Low-cost Cypriot airline Helios changed it`s name to Ajet Aviation.

[Angry Turnip]

15th March 1918.....HMS Furious re-enters service with the Royal Navy,as the worlds first aircraft carrier with lifts to move aircraft to the flight deck.

15th March 1938.....De Havilland DH.88 Comet racer G-ACSS begins a record breaking flight from England to New Zealand and back.It makes it with a total time of 10days,21hrs,and 22 mins.

15th March 1941.....Philippine Airlines begins flight services using a single Beech Model 18 on a daily service between Manila and Baguio.

15th March 1947.....The Vought V-173 "Flying Pancake" experimental aircraft is retired from service.

15th March 1960.....The mighty Convair B-58 Hustler supersonic strategic bomber enters service with the USAF.The B-58 set 19 world speed records.

15th March 1967.....The first flight of the Sikorsky HH-53 heavy lift helicopter.Several different versions were built.

15th March 1972.....NASA reveals plans to build the Space Shuttle re-usable spacecraft.

15th March 1985.....American Eagle Airlines,begins commuter services.

15th March 1996.....Dutch aviation manufacturer Fokker,is declared bankrupt and closes after 84 years in business.

[smudge]

15th March 1938.....De Havilland DH.88 Comet racer G-ACSS begins a record breaking flight from England to New Zealand and back.It makes it with a total time of 10days,21hrs,and 22 mins.

The French government bought two of the DH.88s ( one new, the other ex-G-ACSR ) for a trans-Atlantic mail service but I've never read anything more about it.

Edit: received regs F-ANPY and F-ANPZ, both reported destroyed in a hangar fire in 1940 but this appears to have been a cover story.  Intriguing.

Limitations of the DH.88 led to the scaled-up Caudron C.640:

http://dh88.airwar1946.nl/Comets/C640.htm

[attachment deleted by admin]

[Angry Turnip]

Not much to report for this date.


16th March 1911......Britain`s first Certificate of Airworthiness is signed Mervyn O`Gorman,of the Balloon Factory Farnborough for a Farman III Type Militaire.

16th March 1947......The first flight of the US built Convair CV-240 twin prop airliner.

16th March 1960......KLM starts it`s first intercontinental service,Amsterdam to New York by DC-8.

16th March 1962......First launching of a Titan-2 rocket.

16th March 1966......NASA launches Armstrong and Scott in Gemini 8.It achieved the first docking of two spacecraft in orbit,but the mission had to aborted shortly after docking.

16th March 2006......The new Kitakyushu Airport opened,it is the fourth Japanese Airport to operate 24hrs a day.