September Aviation Bites

[Angry Turnip]

1st Sept 1913....Frenchman Adolphe Pégoud makes the first inverted flight.He later became the first fighter ace in history during World War I.He was shot down and killed 31st Aug 1915.

1st Sept 1937....Air Canada,Canada’s largest airline,began operations.Two Lockheed Model 10 Electras and one Boeing Stearman biplane were purchased from Canadian Airways to start Vancouver to Seattle runs.

1st Sept 1937....First flight of the Bell YFM-1 Airacuda,a heavy fighter aircraft.The Airacuda was marked by bold design advances and considerable flaws that eventually grounded the aircraft.

1st Sept 1939....Germany invades Poland.The Luftwaffe plays a key tactical bombing role in neutralising Polish defences.

1st Sept 1940....First flight of the North American P-64,a USAAC single seat fighter.Powerplant was 1 × Wright R-1820-G5 radial engine of 950 hp,13 were built.

1st Sept 1946....Entered Service:Vickers Viking with British European Airways (G-AHOP).A twin-engine short-range airliner derived from the Vickers Wellington,163 were built in various specs.

1st Sept 1946....Northwest Airlines initiates service between Seattle,Washington,and Anchorage,as the first leg of its proposed United States-Japan North Pacific route using Douglas DC-4`s.

1st Sept 1948....First flight of the Saab 29 Tunnan,a Swedish fighter.It was the first Western European fighter to be produced with a swept wing after WWII.661 were built.

1st Sept 1953....The first scheduled international helicopter service begins between Belgium and France.The service is operated by Belgian airline Sabena.

1st Sept 1953....The sole YB-47F Stratojet modified for probe-and-drogue refueling is refueled by the sole KB-47G in the first jet-to-jet aerial refueling.

1st Sept 1967....The U. S. Navy’s first dedicated search-and-rescue squadron,Helicopter Combat Support Squadron 7 (HC-7),is commissioned at Atsugi,Japan;it operates UH-2 Seasprite helicopters.

1st Sept 1974....USAF SR-71 Blackbird 61-17972,flown by Major James Sullivan,crosses from New York City to London in a world record 1 h 54 min 56 seconds at an average speed of 1,806.96 mph.

1st Sept 1983....Korean Air Lines Flight 007,a Boeing 747,is shot down by Soviet fighter planes near Sakhalin and Moneron Island after straying into Soviet airspace;all 269 people are killed.

[Angry Turnip]

2nd Sept 1910....Blanche Stuart Scott makes the first solo airplane flight by a woman in the United States subsequently recognized by the Early Birds of Aviation.She was taught by Glen Curtiss.

2nd Sept 1930....The first nonstop airplane flight from Europe to the USA was completed in 37 hours as Capt.Dieudonne Costes and Maurice Bellonte of France arrived in New York in a Breguet 19 Super Bidon.

2nd Sept 1937....First flight of the Grumman F4F Wildcat,a carrier-based fighter that began service with both the USN and the RN in 1940.In early RN service it was known as the Martlet.7885 were built.

2nd Sept 1939....In anticipation of war breaking out with Germany,the Royal Air Force’s Advanced Air Striking Force deploys to bases around Rheims,France.

2nd Sept 1939....First flight of the Messerschmitt Me 210,a German heavy fighter and ground-attack aircraft.It entered limited service in 1943,but was soon replaced by the Messerschmitt Me 410.

2nd Sept 1942....First flight of the Hawker Tempest,a was an improved derivative of the Hawker Typhoon.It emerged as one of the most powerful fighters of World War II,it was designed by Sydney Camm.

2nd Sept 1942....First flight of the Soviet Antonov A-40 winged tank is partially successful.Although A-40′s aerodynamic drag forces the Tupolev TB-3 towing it to detach it early to avoid crashing.

2nd Sept 1944....In an experiment with the use of the F4U Corsair as a fighter-bomber,Charles Lindbergh,flies a bombing mission in an F4U as a civilian consultant with United Aircraft.

2nd Sept 1947....First flight of the Hawker Sea Hawk,a single-seat jet fighter of the Fleet Air Arm.Designed by Sydney Camm,it was the company's first jet aircraft.542 were built.

2nd Sept 1949....First flight of the de Havilland DH 112 Venom,a single-engined jet derived from the de Havilland Vampire.It was popular on the export market,The Swiss AF was the last military operator.

2nd Sept 1998....First flight of the Boeing 717,a twin-engine,single-aisle jet airliner,designed and originally marketed by McDonnell Douglas as the MD-95,a derivative of the DC-9 family.

[Angry Turnip]

3rd Sept 1908....Orville Wright begins flight trials before Army observers at Fort Myer,Virginia,in a new Wright Model A flyer.The Wright`s are after a contract to build the US.Army’s first airplane.

3rd Sept 1915....First flight of the Curtiss C-1 Canada,a twin-engined bomber designed by Curtiss to be built by their Canadian subsidiary for the RNAS and RFC.Only twelve were built.

3rd Sept 1932....Jimmy Doolittle sets a new landplane airspeed record of 296 mph in the Gee Bee R-1.A special purpose racing aircraft made by Granville Brothers Aircraft of Springfield,Massachusetts.

3rd Sept 1939....The United Kingdom and France declare war on Germany.Hitler had ignored demands for withdrawing his forces from Poland,which they had invaded on 1st Sept 1939.

3rd Sept 1939....Mass paratroop drops are used for the first time,with German units dropped into Silesia,behind Polish lines.

3rd Sept 1940....HMS Ark Royal aircraft again attack Cagliari in Operation Grab in an attack similar to that of Operation Smash.The raid is less successful,with bombs falling into the sea.

3rd Sept 1953....First flight of the Pilatus P-3,a military training aircraft.The Swiss Air Force received 72 examples of this aircraft while the Brazilian Navy acquired six.

3rd Sept 1955....J. S. Fairfield makes the first ejection from an aircraft on the ground,escaping from a Gloster Meteor traveling at 120 mph along a runway.

3rd Sept 1970....Air France signed a letter of intent for six Airbus A300s,marking the first order to be won for the new airliner.It`s first flight was 28th Oct 1972.

3rd Sept 1981....First flight of the British Aerospace 146 a short-haul four engine regional airliner.Production ran from 1983 until 2002.An improved version known as the Avro RJ began in 1992.

3rd Sept 1981....McDonnell Douglas delivers the 1,000th DC-9 produced;it was ordered by Swissair.

3rd Sept 1982....First flight of the Beechcraft 1900,a 19-passenger,pressurized twin-engine turboprop.Used in the civil and military markets,I think it`s one of the ugliest modern aircraft.

3rd Sept 2009....BA CityFlyer accepts delivery of its first Embraer 170.A narrow-body short- to medium-range twin-engine jet airliner,the EMB 170 entered service in 2002.

[Angry Turnip]

4th Sept 1922....Lt Jimmy Doolittle flies across the United States in under a day in a de Havilland DH.4.He takes 21 hours 19 min to fly from Pablo Beach,Florida to Rockwell Field,California.

4th Sept 1923....Maiden Voyage of the first USA airship USS Shenandoah.It developed the U.S. Navy's experience with rigid airships,and made the first crossing of North America by airship.

4th Sept 1936....Louise Thaden becomes the first woman to win the prestigious coast-to-coast Bendix trophy race.

4th Sept 1936....4-5 – Beryl Markham makes the first east-to-west solo crossing of the Atlantic by a woman in a Percival Vega Gull,from Abingdon,Berkshire to Cape Breton Island.
 
4th Sept 1939....First British bombs of the war dropped on German targets,with a Bristol Blenheim attacking the German fleet.

4th Sept 1943....The United States adopts a new marking consisting of a white star centered in a blue circle flanked by white rectangles,with the entire insignia outlined in blue.

4th Sept 1949....First flight of the Bristol Type 167 Brabazon,a large propeller-driven airliner.Powerplant was 8 × Bristol Centaurus radial engines of 2,650 hp.Just one example flew.

4th Sept 1949....First flight of the Avro 707,an experimental aircraft built to test the tailless thick delta wing configuration chosen for the Avro 698 jet bomber, later named the Vulcan. 

4th Sept 1957....First flight of the Lockheed JetStar,a ten seat 4 engine business jet.It saw service with civil and military operators.One featured in the 1964 James Bond movie Goldfinger.

4th Sept 1964....First flight of the HAL HJT-16 Kiran,an Indian two-seat intermediate jet trainer.It was used by the Indian Air Force aerobatic team Surya Kiran until February 2011.

4th Sept 2001....First flight of the Sukhoi Su-80,a Russian twin-turboprop, twin-boom STOL transport aircraft.Its intended to replace the An-24/26,An-28 and Yak-40,and  compete with the Antonov An-38.

[smudge]

4th Sept 1949....First flight of the Bristol Type 167 Brabazon,a large propeller-driven airliner.Powerplant was 8 × Bristol Centaurus radial engines of 2,650 hp.Just one example flew.

And which made a flypast at the Sydenham air display in August 1951, on a four-hour trip from Filton and back.  Onboard was a group of ATC cadets, the first non-press passengers carried.

It was the largest participant at an NI airshow until the A380 in 2009!

[Angry Turnip]

5th Sept 1908....Goupy No.1,was the world’s first triplane.The French Goupy,was built by Ambroise Goupy,it had three sets of wings each stacked above the others and was powered by 50hp Renault engine.

5th Sept 1914....During the Siege of Tsingtao,the Imperial Japanese Navy carries out its first air mission.A Farman seaplane from the Wakamiya bombs German fortifications at Tsingtao,China.

5th Sept 1939....Franklin D. Roosevelt orders the USN to organize a Neutrality Patrol to report and track any belligerent air,surface,or underwater naval forces approaching the US East Coast.

5th Sept 1943....1,700 men of the United States Army’s 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment parachute onto the Japanese airfield at Nadzab,New Guinea,capturing it easily.
 
5th Sept 1944....First flight of the Douglas C-74 Globemaster,a heavy-lift cargo aircraft.Although not produced in large numbers,the C-74 did fill the need for a long-range strategic airlifter.

5th Sept 1948....A US Navy Martin JRM Mars sets a new cargo record of 62,262 lb (28,242 kg).It was a large,four-engined cargo transport seaplane.

5th Sept 1954....KLM Flight 633,a Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation,ditches after takeoff from Shannon Airport in Ireland,killing 28 of 56 on board.

5th Sept 1960....A United States Navy McDonnell F4 H-1 Phantom II sets a world speed record over a 500-km (310.5-mi) closed-circuit course,averaging 1,216.78 mph (1,958.16 km/hr).

5th Sept 1982....Douglas Bader,RAF fighter pilot in World War II,died.Bader was a successful fighter pilot,claiming 22 German planes shot down in WWII,the fifth highest total in the RAF.

5th Sept 1983....Landed: Space shuttle Challenger STS-8 at 07:40:43 UTC.Mission highlights:Comsat deployment,first flight of an African American in space,Guion Bluford; test of robot arm.

5th Sept 1984....Landed: Space Shuttle Discovery STS-41-D at 13:37:54 UTC Edwards AFB.Mission highlights:Multiple comsat deployments;first flight of Discovery,test of OAST-1 Solar Array.

5th Sept 2012.... Wearing a white costume designed to induce endangered Siberian cranes to follow him,President of Russia Vladimir Putin pilots a motorized hang glider in three brief flights over Russia's Yamal                             Peninsula in the Arctic,apparently the first time a Russian head of state has piloted an aircraft.Cranes follow him on two of the flights.His flights are part of the "Flight of Hope" project to                                     increase the population of Siberian cranes by using ultralight aircraft to lead the birds on flights that teach them to migrate.

[Angry Turnip]

6th Sept 1929....The Schneider Trophy race flown at Calshot Spit,UK.Was on by Flt.Off.Henry Waghorn in a Supermarine S.6 at 328.7 mph.

6th Sept 1929....Flying the Wright XF3 W-1 Apache equipped with floats,United States Navy Lieutenant Apollo Soucek sets a world altitude record for seaplanes,climbing to 38,500 feet.

6th Sept 1945....Captured German Focke-Achgelis Fa 223 V14,makes the first helicopter crossing of the English Channel when it was moved from Cherbourg to RAF Beaulieu.

6th Sept 1948....A de Havilland DH.108 breaks the sound barrier,the first British aircraft to do so.Pilot was John Derry and achieved Mach 1 in a dive from 40,000ft to 30,000ft.

6th Sept 1976....Viktor Belenko of the Soviet Union defects to the West,landing his MiG-25 FoxBat in Japan.

6th Sept 1983....The Soviet Union admits to shooting down Korean Air Flight KAL-007,stating that the pilots did not know it was a civilian aircraft when it violated Soviet airspace.

[smudge]

6th Sept 1976....Viktor Belenko of the Soviet Union defects to the West,landing his MiG-25 FoxBat in Japan.

Things turned-out better for him than for most defectors, too.  He moved to the USA and worked with Northrop for a short time, then set himself up as a consultant and speaker.  He became friends with Jim Bede and Chuck Yeager.

Many other defectors found themselves aimless after being debriefed, and some even returned to the USSR after a period of floating around doing menial jobs.

[Angry Turnip]

7th Sept 1917....First flight of the Port Victoria P.V.8 Eastchurch Kitten.A prototype British fighter,it was a small and light biplane but an unreliable engine meant only one was built.

7th Sept 1923....First flight of the Handley Page Type S,a prototype British carrier-based fighter developed for the US Navy.It was unsuccessful,with only two being built and flown.

7th Sept 1931....Lowell Bayles wins the 1931 Thompson Trophy in the Gee Bee Model Z racer at the National Air Races in Cleveland,Ohio,with a speed of 236.24 mph.

7th Sept 1940....The largest mass air combat in history takes place over Britain,with 1,200 British and German aircraft operating in an area of only 24 x 48 km (15 x 30 miles).

7th Sept 1940....First flight of the Blohm & Voss BV 222 Viking,a large,six-engined flying boat of WWII.Originally designed as a commercial transport,it was the largest seaplane produced during the war.

7th Sept 1942....First flight of the Consolidated B-32 Dominator,a US heavy strategic bomber.It had the distinction of being the last Allied aircraft to be engaged in combat during World War II.

7th Sept 1951....First flight of the Auster B.4 G-AMKL,an unusual British development of the Auster family of light aircraft in an attempt to create a light cargo aircraft.

7th Sept 1955....First flight of the Sukhoi S-1,prototype of Su-7.It was a Soviet swept wing,supersonic fighter.It was designed as tactical,low-level dogfighter,but was not successful in this role.

7th Sept 1956....The Bell X-2 is flown by Captain Iven C. Kincheloe to a new altitude record of 126,200 ft.The X-2 was a rocket-powered, swept-wing research aircraft.

7th Sept 1965....First flight of the Bell AH-1 Cobra,a two-blade, single-engine attack helicopter.It was developed using the engine,transmission and rotor system of the Bell UH-1 Iroquois.

7th Sept 1988....First flight of the McDonnell Douglas F-15 S/MTD.(Short Takeoff and Landing/Maneuver Technology Demonstrator) is a modified F-15 Eagle a pre-production TF-15A (F-15B).

7th Sept 1995....Launch:Space Shuttle Endeavour STS-69 at 15:09:00 UTC.Mission highlights:Wake Shield Facility,SPARTAN.It was the 100th successful manned NASA spaceflight,excluding X-15 flights.

7th Sept 1997....First flight of the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor,a fifth-generation,single-seat,twin-engine,all-weather stealth tactical fighter.The last F-22 was delivered in 2012.

7th Sept 2008....Futura International Airways ceases operations.It operated charter flights for tour operators and other airlines,in Europe,as well as wet lease and ad hoc charters.

7th Sept 2010....AMAE Flight 514,operated by Tupolev Tu-154M RA-85684 suffered a complete electrical failure in flight.A successful emergency landing was made at Izhma, Russia,but the aircraft overran the                               runway.

[Angry Turnip]

8th Sept 1909....Samuel Cody flies from Aldershot to Farnborough and back,46 miles in 1 hr and 3 mins.The first recorded cross-country flight in the United Kingdom.

8th Sept 1927....The Cessna company is established.Best known for small,piston-powered aircraft,Cessna also produced business jets.As of March 2014 Cessna became a brand produced by Textron Aviation.

8th Sept 1939....First flight of the Vultee 48,a prototype of the P-66 Vanguard.The US would not allow them to be exported,designating them as P-66s and retaining them for defensive and training purposes.

8th Sept 1939....Five French Air Force Curtiss H75 fighters engage a squadron of German Messerschmitt Bf 109`s and shoot down two.They are the first French air-to-air victories of World War II.

8th Sept 1943....Italy officially surrenders to the Allies.It is announced by General Dwight D Eisenhower.The Italian`s first suggested an armistice in August,three weeks after the fall of Mussolini.

8th Sept 1944....The first German V-2 rockets explode in London and Antwerp.over 3,000 V-2s were launched by the German Wehrmacht against Allied targets.

8th Sept 1968....First flight of the SEPECAT Jaguar,a British-French jet attack aircraft.The Jaguar was exported to India, Oman, Ecuador and Nigeria.The RAF retired the Jaguar April 2007.

8th Sept 1997....The Boeing 777-300 is rolled out.At 73 m (242 feet) it is the longest airliner ever built.This title will be claimed by the Airbus A340-600 in 2001.

8th Sept 2000....Launch:Space Shuttle Atlantis STS-106 at 8:45:47 a.m EDT.Mission highlights:ISS supply,the mission also included a spacewalk.Veteran Terrence Wilcutt Col.USMC lead the seven-man crew.

8th Sept 2005....Two EMERCOM Il-76 aircraft landed at a disaster aid staging area at Little Rock,Arkansas.This marks the first time Russia has flown such a mission to North America.

8th Sept 2009....Russian airline KD Avia suspends flights.Based in Kaliningrad,Russia,it operated scheduled services within Russia,CIS and Europe.Its Operating Certificate was revoked.

[Angry Turnip]

9th Sept 1911....The first British airmail flight is made.Gustav Hamel flies from Hendon to Windsor.The mail contains messages for King George V and other members of the British royal family.

9th Sept 1913....The first pilot to fly a loop was Russian Pyotr Nesterov in a Nieuport IV,over Syretzk Aerodrome near Kiev,before observers.He was disciplined with ten days of close arrest.

9th Sept 1916....First flight of the Bristol F.2 Fighter,two-seat biplane fighter and recon aircraft developed by Frank Barnwell.Its robust design meant that it remained in service into the 1930s.

9th Sept 1922....Cpt Frank Barnard wins the first King's Cup air race,flying from England to Scotland and back in 6 hours 32 min in a de Havilland DH.4.

9th Sept 1923....First flight of the Curtiss R2C,a racing aircraft designed for the USN.It was a single-seater biplane with a monocoque fuselage and staggered single-bay wings of unequal span.

9th Sept 1929....First flight of the de Havilland DH.80A Puss Moth,a three-seater high-wing monoplane.Most were fitted with the 130 hp Gipsy Major engine that gave better performance.

9th Sept 1942....The carrier HMS Avenger joins Convoy PQ 18,bound from Loch Ewe,Scotland,to Archangel in the Soviet Union.She is the first aircraft carrier to escort an Arctic convoy.

9th Sept 1942....A Yokosuka E14Y floatplane makes two attacks against the coast of Oregon in the United States,dropping four 76-kg phosphorus bombs in an attempt to start forest fires.They become known as                             the Lookout Air Raids.It is the only time that an enemy aircraft bombs the continental USA during World War II.

9th Sept 1943....Italian battleship Roma is sunk by two Fritz X radio controlled bombs.Fritz X was the world's first precision guided weapon deployed,and the first to sink a ship in combat.

9th Sept 1949....First flight of the Lavochkin La-200,a Soviet two-seater,swept winged,night and all weather jet interceptor fighter.Just a single example was built and flown.

9th Sept 1964....The Beechcraft King Air enters service.The King Air was the first aircraft in its class.It has outsold all of its turboprop competitors combined.Over 3100 have been built.

9th Sept 1966....The Rolls-Royce Olympus begins flight tests underneath an Avro Vulcan bomber.It developed into the Rolls-Royce/Snecma Olympus 593 series.The 593-610-14-28 powered production Concorde`s.

9th Sept 1977....Maxie Anderson,Ben Abruzzo,and Ed Yost depart Marshfield in the Double Eagle in an attempt to make the first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in a balloon.They abort 13th Sept.

9th Sept 1994....Launch:Space Shuttle Discovery STS-64 at 6:22:35 pm EDT.Mission highlights:Multiple science experiments;SPARTAN.Commander of the 6 person crew was Richard N.Richards USN.

9th Sept 2006....Launch:Space Shuttle Atlantis STS-115 at 15:14:55 UTC.Mission highlights:ISS assembly 12A:P3/P4 Truss,Solar Arrays.first assembly mission to the ISS after the Columbia disaster.

9th Sept 2006....First flight of the Boeing 747 Dreamlifter,also known as the Boeing 747-400 Large Cargo Freighter.It is used exclusively for transporting Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft components.

9th Sept 2012....Launch: Spot-6 satellite.A commercial high-resolution optical imaging Earth observation satellite system operating from space.It is run by Spot Image, based in Toulouse,France.

[Angry Turnip]

10th Sept 1907....First flight of the British Army Dirigible No 1,a semi-rigid airship.It was Britain's first powered military aircraft,and was built at the Army's Balloon Factory at Farnborough.

10th Sept 1908....At Fort Myer,Orville Wright sets a world flight endurance record of 1hr 5 mins and 52 seconds.

10th Sept 1919....The Schneider Trophy race is flown at Bournemouth,UK.An Italian Savoia S.13 flown by Guido Janello is the only finisher but is disqualified for missing a turning buoy.

10th Sept 1933....First flight of the Mignet HM.14 Flying Flea,a single-seat light aircraft designed for amateur construction.In the UK,variations of the HM.14 were made by about 200 amateurs.

10th Sept 1939....Canada declared war on Germany.RCAF strength at 4061 officers and airmen,eight permament and twelve aux squadrons,270 aircraft of 23 different types.

10th Sept 1940....The Regia Aeronautica forms the Corpo Aereo Italiano as an expeditionary force for bombing the United Kingdom,alongside the German Luftwaffe from bases in Belgium.

10th Sept 1942....Plt.Off.Hoare crashes Saro Lerwick flying boat of RCAF 422Sqn,landing at Lough Erne in good weather,airframe breaks up,sinks but crew escapes safely.Type withdrawn forwith.

10th Sept 1944....First flight of the Fairchild C-82 Packet,a twin-engined,twin-boom cargo aircraft.It was named as a tribute to the packet boats,development led to the C-119 Flying Boxcar.A C-82 Packet                                       features in the 1965 movie The Flight Of The Phoenix.

10th Sept 1949....First flight of the Nord Noratlas,a dedicated military transport aircraft.A number of operators in both Europe and Africa chose to purchase it for their military air services.

10th Sept 1952....Corsair pilot Cpt.Jesse Folmar shoots down a MiG-15 before being shot down himself;he survives and is rescued.It is the only Corsair victory over a MiG-15 during the Korean War.

10th Sept 1971....First flight of the Bell Model 309 KingCobra,an experimental attack helicopter.Two prototypes were built,it had a longer and distinctive "buzzard beak" nose and a ventral fin.

10th Sept 1981....British Airways CEO Roy Watts announces a financial crisis for the airline.He states that the company is losing £200 per minute.

10th Sept 1993....Boeing completes the 1000th Boeing B747,as of July 2018 1546 have been delivered in many variations and specs,both civil and military.

[Angry Turnip]

11th Sept 1893....Birth of James Martin,British engineer who,with Captain Valentine Baker,was the founder of the Martin-Baker aircraft company which is a leading producer of aircraft ejection seats.

11th Sept 1910....Robert Loraine attempts the first aeroplane flight across the Irish Sea,from Holyhead to Howth,in aFarman biplane,but fails to reach the Irish coast when his engine cuts out.

11th Sept 1912....Lieutenant Riccardo Moizo,Italian pilot,is the first pilot to be captured in warfare when his Nieuport makes a forced landing at Azizia during the Libyan campaign.

11th Sept 1926....First flight of the Vickers Type 123,a single-seat biplane fighter prototype.It was a conventional biplane powered by a 400 hp Hispano-Suiza T52 engine,and was built at Weybridge.

11th Sept 1927....The only Short Crusader,a British racing seaplane,crashed during flying tests for the 1927 Schneider Trophy race,which was held in Venice that year.The pilot was rescued.

11th Sept 1933....First flight of the Breguet Br.521 Bizerte,a long-range military reconn flying boat all metal biplane,with three engines mounted in nacelles between the upper and lower wings.

11th Sept 1965....The US First Cavalry Division arrives in Vietnam with 400 helicopters.

11th Sept 1946....First flight of the North American FJ-1 Fury,the first operational jet aircraft in USN service.Powerplant: 1 × Allison J35-A-2 turbojet,of 4000lb thrust.33 were built.

11th Sept 1970....First flight of the Britten-Norman Trislander.An 18-seat three-engined piston-powered civilian utility aircraft.The Trislander has exceptional low speed handling characteristics.

11th Sept 1983....First flight of the Agusta A129 Mangusta,the first attack helicopter to be designed and produced wholly in Europe.Sixty aircraft have been completed to date.

11th Sept 1996....First flight of the Boeing Bird of Prey,a black project aircraft,intended to demonstrate stealth technology.39 more flights were performed through the program's conclusion in 1999.

11th Sept 2001....Four commercial airliners are hijacked in the US,and deliberatly crashed.

                           American Airlines Flight 11, a Boeing 767-200ER hits the North Tower World Trade Centre.
                           United Airlines Flight 175, a Boeing 767-200 hits the South Tower World Trade Centre.
                           American Airlines Flight 77, a Boeing 757-200 hits The Pentagon.
                           United Airlines Flight 93, a Boeing 757-200 crashes near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
                 
                           2993 people were killed in the attacks. RIP.



   

[Angry Turnip]

12th Sept 1900....The Wright brothers arrive at Kitty Hawk,North Carolina,to begin their first season of glider experiments there.

12th Sept 1908....At Fort Myer,Orville Wright sets a world record for flight endurance with a passenger(Army Major George O. Squier) of 9 mins 6⅓ secs.

12th Sept 1916....The first pilotless radio-controlled aerial bomb was tested.It was actually a small biplane that flew radio-guided for up to 50 miles with 140 kg of bombs aboard.

12th Sept 1918....627 French and 611 US fighters are brought together for the Battle of Saint-Mihiel.At the time,it is the largest force of aircraft assembled for a single operation.

12th Sept 1930....First flight of the Taylor Cub,a small,light and simple utility aircraft.It is the forefather of the popular Piper J-3 Cub,total production of the Cub series was 23,512 aircraft.

12th Sept 1934....First flight of the Gloster Gladiator,a British biplane fighter.It was the RAF's last biplane fighter and was rendered obsolete by newer designs even as it was being introduced.

12th Sept 1934....First flight of the Hawker Hind,a light bomber/trainer.It was developed from the Hawker Hart day-bomber introduced in 1931.Engine:Rolls-Royce Kestrel V Watercooled V-12,640 hp.

12th Sept 1936....First flight of the Nakajima Ki-34,a Japanese light transport.It was a twin-engine,low-wing monoplane known to the Allies as a Thora.351 were built in civil and military versions.

12th Sept 1942....First flight of the Miles M.38 Messenger,a four-seat liaison aircraft.Post-war production centred on the Messenger 2A for the civilian market,aircraft being built at Newtownards.

12th Sept 1943....Benito Mussolini is freed in a daring rescue by SS Troops and paratroops at Campo Imperatore Hotel,high in the Apennine Mountains.He escapes in a Fieseler Storch.

12th Sept 1961....The Hawker P.1127 makes its first transitions from vertical to horizontal flight and back.It is one of the experimental and development aircraft that led to the Hawker Siddeley Harrier.

12th Sept 1971....First flight of the Bede BD-5 Micro,a series of small,single-seat homebuilt aircraft.It could have a prop or jet engine in the BD-5J variant which featured in Octopussy.

12th Sept 1991....Launch:Space Shuttle Discovery STS-48 at 11:01:59 am EDT.Mission highlights:Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite deployment.It had a crew of five led by John Oliver Creighton.

12th Sept 1992....Launch:Space Shuttle Endeavour STS-47 at 10:23:00.0680 a.m. EDT.Mission highlights:Spacelab-J,Japan funded mission.STS-47 was the 50th Space Shuttle mission of the program.

12th Sept 1994....Frank Corder steals a Cessna 150 from Aldino Airport near Baltimore,Maryland,and crashes it onto the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D. C.

12th Sept 2008....British charter airline XL Airways UK,a subsidiary of the XL Leisure Group,ceases operations with immediate effect,due to a deteriorating financial position.

[Angry Turnip]

13th Sept 1931....The United Kingdom wins the Schneider Trophy outright.Lt.John Boothman completes the course at Calshot Spit in a Supermarine S.6B at 340.1 mph.

13th Sept 1935....First flight of the Hughes H-1,a racing aircraft.It set a world airspeed record and a transcontinental speed record across the United States.

13th Sept 1940....The Imperial Japanese Navy’s Mitsubishi A6 M Zero fighter scores its first aerial victories,when a flight of Zeroes attacks 27 Nationalist Chinese fighters over Chungking.

13th Sept 1978....First flight of the Aérospatiale Super Puma,a four-bladed,twin-engine,medium-size utility helicopter.It is a re-engined and more voluminous version of the Aérospatiale SA 330 Puma.

13th Sept 1994....First flight of the Airbus A300-600ST Beluga,an A300-600 modified to carry aircraft parts and oversized cargo.January 1996,the Beluga was formally placed into dedicated service.

13th Sept 2001....Civilian aircraft traffic resumes in the U. S. after the September 11th attacks.

13th Sept 2007....First flight of the Tecnam P2006T,an Italian high-winged,twin-engined all-metal,light aircraft.A 4 seat aircraft with fully retractable landing gear and liquid-cooled Rotax engines.

[Angry Turnip]

14th Sept 1917....First flight of the  Fairey III,a reconnaissance biplane,that enjoyed a very long production and service history in both landplane and seaplane variants.964 were built.

14th Sept 1918....The aircraft carrier HMS.Argus is completed.The world’s first aircraft carrier with an unobstructed flight deck from stem to stern.It was converted from an ocean liner being built.

14th Sept 1938....The Graf Zeppellin II makes its maiden flight.Events,including the Hindenburg disaster and a US refusal to provide helium,meant it was scrapped just 19 months later.

14th Sept 1939....First flight of the Sikorsky VS-300,was the first successful single lifting rotor helicopter in the US and the first successful helicopter to use a single vertical-plane tail rotor.

14th Sept 1939....First flight of the Bristol Fairchild Bolingbroke,a license-built version of the Bristol Blenheim Mk IV bomber.It was used as a maritime patrol aircraft and trainer the RCAF.

14th Sept 1944....The first successful flight into the eye of a hurricane was made by a three-man crew flying a Douglas A-20 Havoc.

14th Sept 1963....First flight of the Mitsubishi MU-2,a Japanese high-wing, twin-engine turboprop aircraft with a pressurized cabin.One of postwar Japan's most successful aircraft with 704 built.

14th Sept 1983....The U. S. House of Representatives votes,416 to 0,in favor of a resolution condemning Russia for shooting down a Korean Air Flight 007.

14th Sept 1997.... Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk,81-793,of the 7th FS, 49th FW,at Holloman AFB New Mexico,lost its port wing during a pass over Martin State Airport,during the Chesapeake Air Show.

[Angry Turnip]

15th Sept 1916...French submarine Foucault is sunk by two Austrian Lohner B.II flying boats,becoming the first submarine to be sunk by an aircraft.All her crew escaped without casualties.

15th Sept 1924...A Curtiss N-9 seaplane,equipped with radio control and without a human pilot aboard,was flown on a 40-minute flight at the Naval Proving Grounds,Dahlgren, Virginia.

15th Sept 1940...First flight of the Miles M.20,a prototype simple and quick-to-build 'emergency fighter' alternative to the RAF's Spitfires and Hurricanes should their production become disrupted.

15th Sept 1942...Luftwaffe ace Hans-Joachim Marseille shoots down seven British Curtiss Kittyhawk fighters on a single mission over North Africa.Among them his 150th aerial victory.

15th Sept 1943...First use of the "Tall Boy" 12,000 lb (5,455 kg) bomb by RAF Lancasters.An earthquake bomb developed by the British aeronautical engineer Barnes Wallis.

15th Sept 1945...A flypast of 300 aircraft takes place over London to celebrate Battle of Britain Day on the fifth anniversary,although not a single Hawker Hurricane took part in the flypast.

15th Sept 1956...The Tupolev TU-104,a twinjet medium-range narrow-body turbojet-powered Soviet airliner enters Aeroflot service.201 were built in a four year production run.

15th Sept 1968...The Soviet Zond 5 spaceship is launched,becoming the first spacecraft to fly around the Moon and re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere.

15th Sept 1969...First flight of the Cessna FanJet 500,the prototype which led to the Cessna Citation.A small business jet,powered by JT15D turbofans,it was developed into the Citation II/Bravo.

15th Sept 1991...First flight of the McDonnell Douglas/Boeing C-17 Globemaster III,a large military transport aircraft.It follows on from the C-74 Globemaster and the C-124 Globemaster II.

15th Sept 1997...The World Air Games are held in Turkey.They include the 10th FAI World Rally Flying Championship.

15th Sept 2010...DHC-8-103B LN-WIF of Widerøes Flyveselskap was substantially damaged in a hard landing at Sandnessjøen Airport, Stokka when the undercarriage collapsed.

[Angry Turnip]

16th Sept 1910...Bessica Raiche is the first woman in the US accredited with flying solo.She and her husband built a Wright type biplane in their living room and then assembled it in their yard.

16th Sept 1914...The Canadian Aviation Corps was formed,this was the beginning of Canada’s military air force. It was composed of two officers and one mechanic.Humble beginings indeed.

16th Sept 1932...Cyril Uwins,flying a modified Vickers Vespa fitted with a supercharged Bristol Pegasus engine,set a new world altitude record,of 43,976 ft.He was awarded the Britannia Trophy.

16th Sept 1942...369 RAF bombers attack Germany,losing 39 of their number,a very high 10.6 percent loss rate.Hauptmann Reinhold Knacke, shoots down five bombers during the night.

16th Sept 1946...Alitalia – Linee Aeree Italiane is formed.It started operations on 5 May 1947,with a Fiat G.12 Alcione,Turin to Catania and Rome.It was often known for precarious finances.

16th Sept 1955...Gloster Meteor aircraft of the Argentine Air Force attack the Argentine Navy ships Cervantes and La Rioja in the River Plate during the Revolución Libertadora against Juan Perón.

16th Sept 1958...First flight of the North American Sabreliner later Rockwell Sabreliner,a mid-sized business jet.It served in the civil and military roles in the Americas,and Europe.

16th Sept 1964...First flight of the Mikoyan Ye-155-P1,the prototype of the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 Foxbat interceptor.It remains the fastest manned mass produced aircraft in operational use.

16th Sept 1980...First flight of the AIDC AT-3 Tzu Chung,an advanced jet trainer with the ROCAF.Built in Taiwan in collaboration with Northrop,it is used by the Thunder Tiger demo team.

16th Sept 1996... Launch:Space Shuttle Atlantis STS-79 at 4:54:49.048 am EDT.Mission highlights:Shuttle-Mir docking.It was the first shuttle mission to rendezvous with a fully assembled Mir.

16th Sept 2013...First Flight of the Bombardier CSeries C-FBCS at Montréal-Mirabel International Airport,Montreal,Quebec.Airbus purchased a majority stake in the program in 2018.Yaa Boo Mr Trump!

[Angry Turnip]

17th Sept 1916...Rittmeister Manfred von Richthofen scores his first kill,from an Albatros D.II.He quickly became a feared adversary,enforced by his nickname of The Red Baron.He was KIA April 1918.

17th Sept 1917...First flight of the Junkers D.I,a monoplane fighter,significant for becoming the first all-metal fighter to enter service.It was judged fit for a naval fighter,not frontline.

17th Sept 1929...First flight of the Adcox Student Prince,a two-seat open-cockpit biplane.Powerplant:1 × Cirrus Mk III 4-cyl.air-cooled in-line piston engine of 85 hp.Just 6 were built.

17th Sept 1935...First flight of the Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive bomber and ground-attack aircraft.Easily recognisable by its inverted gull wings,on it`s gear legs it had Jericho trumpet wailing sirens.

17th Sept 1959...The North American X-15 a hypersonic rocket-powered aircraft part of the X-plane series,enters service.In 1967 it reached Mach 6.72 or 4520mph at 102,100 feet.Record still stands.

17th Sept 1974...The Grumman F-14 Tomcat enters USN service.A supersonic,twin-engine,two-seat,twin-tail,variable-sweep wing fighter.712 were built.The USN retired theirs in 2006.

17th Sept 1976...The prototype Space Shuttle Enterprise, built by Rockwell International (North American),rolls out.It`s approach and landing test program ends Oct 1977.

17th Sept 1984...First flight of the Avtek 400A,a prototype turboprop business aircraft.It is a low-wing monoplane with pusher engines above the wings,and a large canard atop the forward fuselage.

17th Sept 1997...First flight of the Antonov An-140 a turboprop airliner designed by the Ukrainian Antonov ASTC.An identical aircraft with the same name is built by Aviakor in Samara,Russia.

17th Sept 2013...First flight of the Boeing 787-9 prototype N789ZB at Paine Field in Everett,Washington.It is a lengthened and strengthened variant with a 20 feet longer fuselage.

[Angry Turnip]

18th Sept 1913...First flight of the Avro 504,a biplane trainer,fighter/bomber.More than 10,000 were built from 1913 until production ended 1932.Early versions had a 80hp engine,later engines had 150hp+.

18th Sept 1919...Curtiss Field,Long Island,a USN Curtiss 18-T-1 triplane piloted by Roland Rholfs,sets a world altitude record recognized by (FAI) World Record for Altitude as 31,420 feet.

18th Sept 1928...First flight of the LZ-127 Graf Zeppelin,hydrogen-filled,rigid airship which operated commercially from 1928 to 1937.It was scrapped for fighter plane parts in 1940.

18th Sept 1928...Don Juan de la Cierva flies a Cierva C.8 autogiro from Croydon,to Le Bourget,France,making the first crossing of the English Channel in a rotorcraft.

18th Sept 1941...First flight of the Curtis XP-60,a single seat,single engine fighter prototype,a successor to their P-40.None of these five versions reached production.

18th Sept 1947...The United States Air Force becomes its own fully independent military command.It was initially established as a part of the United States Army on 1 August 1907 as the USAAF.

18th Sept 1948...A RAF de Havilland Mosquito crashes during an air show at RAF Manston,killing both crew and ten members of the public.It had completed 2 low/slow rolls and attempted a third.

18th Sept 1959...The DC-8 enters service with Delta Air Lines and United Air Lines.It is a four-engine mid/long-range narrow-body jet airliner built from 1958 to 1972.556 were completed.

18th Sept 1968...First flight of the DC-9-20.It was designed to satisfy a Scandinavian Airlines request for improved short field performance by using the more powerful engines and improved wings of the -30                                   combined with the shorter fuselage used in the -10.

18th Sept 1977...The “Voyager I” spacecraft snapped the first photograph showing the earth and moon together.

18th Sept 2002...The GE90-115 B,is confirmed as the world’s most powerful jet engine achieving 127,900 lbf,although rated at  115,300 lbf.The record was achieved as a redline stress test.

[Angry Turnip]

19th Sept 1783...The Montgolfiers launch a sheep,duck,and rooster in a hot-air balloon,in a demonstration for King Louis XVI of France.Is that what O` Leary bases the Ryanair business model on?

19th Sept 1902...The Wright Brothers begin testing their third glider at Kitty Hawk,North Carolina.It had a wingspan of 32ft and was 17ft long,weighing 51kg.

19th Sept 1918...First flight of the Sopwith Buffalo,a British armoured fighter/reconn aircraft.It was a single engine biplane,only 2 were built due to the end of the war removing the need for it.

19th Sept 1921...The first regular scheduled airline service in Latin America commences,with Colombian airline SCADTA operating float-equipped Junkers F.13s between Barranquilla and Girandot.

19th Sept 1939...Germany halts construction of its second Graf Zeppelin-class aircraft carrier, Flugzeugträger B, while she still is on the building ways. Work on the ship never will be resumed.

19th Sept 1943...F/L RF Fisher and crew in a Consolidated Liberator of No. 10 Squadron sank the German submarine U-341 in the North Atlantic.

19th Sept 1946...The Portuguese airline Transportes Aéreos Portugueses (TAP) is formed.The first flight was from Lisbon to Madrid using a Douglas DC-3.Four Douglas DC-4 Skymasters were bought in 1947.

19th Sept 1949...First flight of the Fairey Gannet,a carrier/land based anti-submarine aircraft.The Gannet AEW.3 was a variant of the aircraft developed as a carrier-based airborne early warning platform.

19th Sept 1962...First flight of the Aero Spacelines Pregnant Guppy,a large,wide-bodied cargo aircraft,used for ferrying NASA's components of the Apollo program.Just one was built.

19th Sept 1969...First flight of the Mil Mi-24,a large helicopter gunship,attack helicopter and low-capacity troop transport with room for eight passengers.2648 have been built.

19th Sept 2009...Maltese airline Efly commences operations.For a brief period the airline operated a route between Malta and Catania,Sicily.On November 5,2009,the airline ceased operations.
 

[Angry Turnip]

20th Sept 1904....Wilbur Wright makes the first circuit flight,in the Flyer II.They used it to make a total of 105 flights that year,it had a slightly more powerful engine.

20th Sept 1920....The Schneider Trophy race was flown in Venice,Lt. Luigi Bolgna in a Savoia S.12 is the only starter.He achieves 107.3mph.

20th Sept 1939....Sgt F Letchard a gunner of the RAF 88,in a Fairey Battle,claimed the first RAF victory of WWII.He shot down a German Bf 109 during a patrol near Aachen.

20th Sept 1943....First flight of the de Havilland Vampire prototype LZ548.It was a twin boom fighter,powered by a Goblin turbojet.Vampires were operated worldwide and 3,268 were built.

20th Sept 1945....An experimental Gloster Meteor with Rolls-Royce Trent engines makes the first turboprop-powered flight.The Meteor F.1,Trent turboprop programme was complete by 1948.

20th Sept 1951....First flight of the Grumman F9F/F-9 Cougar,a carrier-based fighter for the USN and USMC.The US Navy Blue Angels used them 1954 until mid 1957.Almost 2000 were built.

20th Sept 1955....First flight of the Nord 1500 Griffon 1,an experimental ramjet-powered fighter.It was part of a series of competing programs to fill a French Air Force spec for a Mach 2 fighter.

20th Sept 1965....A UH-2 Seasprite makes the U. S. Navy’s first helicopter rescue of a pilot downed in North Vietnam.

20th Sept 1971....First flight of the VFW VAK 191B,an experimental German (VTOL) strike fighter.It was similar in concept to the Harrier,using rotating nozzles but had 3 engines.Only 3 built.

20th Sept 1973....Musicians Jim Croce and Maury Muehleisen are killed in a Beechcraft E18S.The plane collides with a tree at the end of the runway of Natchitoches Regional Airport.

20th Sept 1993....Erich Alfred Hartmann,German pilot died.The most successful fighter ace in the history of aerial combat,scoring 352 victories,he never lost a wingman.

20th Sept 1995....After making a supersonic pass close by the starboard side of the USS John Paul Jones,Grumman F-14A-Tomcat,BuNo 161146,explodes in flight from catastrophic compressor failure.

[Angry Turnip]

21st Sept 1913...Adolphe Pegoud made the first public demonstration of inverted flight,he was also the first to perform a half roll to an inverted position.The aircraft drenched him in fuel.

21st Sept 1939...First flight of the Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar,a twin engine passenger transport aircraft.Civil sales were slow as many had opted for the DC-3,but it found a market in the military.

21st Sept 1942...First flight of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress,a four-engine propeller-driven heavy bomber.It had many advanced features,it`s best known as the type that dropped the atomic bombs to end WWII.

21st Sept 1951...The US Marine Corps makes the world's first mass combat deployment by helicopter.228 Marines are landed in 12 Sikorsky HRSs.

21st Sept 1953...North Korean pilot No Kum-Sok defects,bringing his MiG-15 with him to Kempo Airbase.His flight lasted 17mins,the radar at base was down for repair,and he was not intercepted.

21st Sept 1961...First flight of the Boeing CH-47 Chinook,a twin-engined,tandem rotor,heavy-lift helicopter,originally designed by Vertol.Over 1200 have been built in military and civil versions.

21st Sept 1964...First flight of the North American Aviation XB-70 Valkyrie.A prototype deep-penetration strategic Mach3+ bomber.Two were built,one was lost in a midair collision with a F-104.

21st Sept 1984...First flight of the Dassault Falcon 900,a tri engine biz jet.It has been used by many civil and military operators worldwide.Over 500 have been built to date.

21st Sept 1994...The Hongdu JL-8 (Nanchang JL-8),also known as the Karakorum-8 or K-8 enters service with the Pakistan Air Force.A joint China/Pakistan project,it is a  two-seat jet trainer.

21st Sept 2005...A JetBlue Airbus A320,makes an emergency landing in Los Angeles,because of landing gear steering failure.There are no injuries to the 139 passengers and six crew members.

21st Sept 2012...A Space Shuttle is airborne for the last time as a Shuttle Carrier 747 completes a 3-day journey to transport the retired Space Shuttle Endeavour from Cape Canaveral,to LA.

[Angry Turnip]

22nd Sept 1902....Stanley Spencer becomes the first Englishman to fly in a powered airship over England. The 75-foot-long dirigible is powered by a 3-hp water-cooled engine.

22nd Sept 1914....In the first British air raid against Germany in history,RNAS BE.2 aircraft of No. 3 Squadron based at Antwerp,attack German airship hangars at Cologne and Düsseldorf.

22nd Sept 1917....A RNAS Curtiss H-12 flying boat piloted by Flt Sub-Lt N.Magor sinks the German submarine UB-32 in the North Sea.It is only time an aircraft sinks a German submarine during World War I.

22nd Sept 1938....First flight of the Curtiss-Wright Model 21,a lightweight fighter interceptor with as high a rate of climb.They served in China with the CNAF,62 were built when production ended.

22nd Sept 1940....First flight of the Heinkel He 280,the first turbojet-powered fighter aircraft in the world.It was passed over in favor of the Messerschmitt Me 262,with only 9 built.

22nd Sept 1949....First flight of the Convair C-131 Samaritan,a twin-engined military transport produced from 1954 to 1956.It was the military version of the Convair CV-240 family of airliners.

22nd Sept 1950....Col David Schilling makes the first crossing of the Atlantic in a jet fighter,a F-84 Thunderjet.He was killed in 1956 in a car crash between RAF Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall.

22nd Sept 1967....North American Aviation and the Rockwell-Standard Corporation merge,to form the North American Rockwell Corporation.

22nd Sept 1972....The 1,000th Boeing 727 is sold,a sales record for airliners.1832 were completed when production ended in 1984.As of July 2018 44 are still in commercial operations,mainly cargo.

22nd Sept 2003....David Hempleman-Adams becomes the first person to cross the Atlantic Ocean in an open-air,wicker-basket hot air balloon from New Brunswick,Canada to Ireland.

22nd Sept 2006....The USN retires the F-14 Tomcat from service.The F-14 remains active with the Iranian Air Force,having been exported to Iran in 1976.I wonder did Tiny Tom buy one?

22nd Sept 2009....The Boeing EA-18G Growler enters USN service,a carrier-based electronic warfare aircraft,a version of the two-seat F/A-18F Super Hornet.It replaced the Northrop Grumman EA-6B Prowlers.

[Angry Turnip]

23rd Sept 1910...Peruvian Geo Chavez flies a Blériot-monoplane over the Alps from Brig (Switzerland) to Domodossola (Italy) reaching a height of 7,200 ft,he crash landed and died 4 days later.

23rd Sept 1913...Roland Garros makes the first air crossing non-stop of the Mediterranean Sea.He uses a Morane-Saulnier G monoplane.It takes 7hrs and 53mins to complete the journey.

23rd Sept 1931...A Pitcairn XOP-1 autogyro conducts landing and take-off trials aboard the USN aircraft carrier USS Langley (CV-1).It is the USN`s 1st experiment with a shipborne rotary aircraft.

23rd Sept 1938...First flight of the Supermarine Sea Otter,a single engine biplane amphibian.It was a development of the Walrus,the last biplane to enter service with the Royal Navy and RAF.

23rd Sept 1959...The USAF officially cancels the North American Aviation XF-108 Rapier.A proposed long-range,Mach 3+ interceptor aircraft.It shared engine development with the XB-70 Valkyrie.

23rd Sept 1986...First flight of the Piaggio P.180 Avanti,an Italian executive transport aircraft with twin turboprop engines mounted in pusher configuration.It has a angry wasps in a jar engine note.

23rd Sept 1999...NASA announces that it has lost contact with the Mars Climate Orbiter,after it descended to a low altitude in Mars’ orbit and was destroyed by atmospheric stresses.