January 2019 Flight Bites

[Angry Turnip]

Well,it`s a Happy New Year to all--I will let this run until it has gone full circle,then I have a few ideas.

I hope it`s of interest to some at least.


1st Jan 1910....Edwin Alliott Verdon Roe with his brother Humphrey,founded the A. V. Roe Aircraft Co. at Brownsfield Mill,Manchester.The first Avro aircraft to be produced in any quantity was the Avro E or                               Avro 500,first flown in March 1912.

1st Jan 1914....The U.S. Weather Bureau begins daily publication of a weather map of the Northern Hemisphere designed specifically as an aid to aviation.

1st Jan 1914....The St.Petersburg–Tampa Airboat Line starts services,becoming the first airline to provide regular services.Anthony Jannus conveys passengers in a Benoist XIV flying boat.

1st Jan 1917....A RNAS crew en route from Manston,to Villacoublay,in a Handley Page 0/100 bomber,lose their direction due to a compass fault,and land to ask directions. Unfortunately,they come down                                     behind German lines at Lâon,France.Before they can either burn the machine or take off,a German infantry patrol captures them.

1st Jan 1922....The first airline uniforms are introduced to pilots and staff by Instone Air Line,an early British airline.It was absorbed into Imperial Airways in 1924.

1st Jan 1929....Polish airline LOT began flights,the first aircraft used were Junkers F.13 and Fokker F.VII.Its first international service began on 2 August 1929 to Vienna.

1st Jan 1937....Blériot Aéronautique is incorporated in the Societe Nationale de Construction Aeronautiques du Sud-Ouest (SNCASO) under the directorship of Marcel Bloch (aviator).

1st Jan 1940....Identification friend or foe (IFF) coding is introduced to identify Bomber, Coastal and Fighter Command aircraft for the air defence system.

1st Jan 1946....Ownership of the Heathrow site was transferred from the (military) Air Ministry to the Ministry of Civil Aviation.The first civil flight from Heathrow Airport occurs the same day,                                                     a British South American Airways Avro Lancastrian.

1st Jan 1946....British European Airways (BEA) is formed.Operations commenced from Croydon and Northolt airports,with DH89A Dragon Rapides and Douglas DC-3s.It merged with BOAC in 1974.

1st Jan 1959....First flight of the I.P.D BF-1 Beija-Flor,a two-seat light helicopter designed by Henrich Focke.It was powered by a 225 hp Continental E225 piston engine, mounted in the nose.

1st Jan 1960....Fiji Airways is reconstituted,becoming equally owned by BOAC,Qantas,and Tasman Empire Airways.They used small de Havilland Dragon Rapide and de Havilland Australia DHA-3 Drover aircraft.

1st Jan 1983....Eastern Air Lines‘ first revenue flight for the Boeing 757,a mid-size,narrow-body twin-engine jet airliner.It was Boeings largest single-aisle passenger aircraft,produced from 1981 to 2004.

1st Jan 1997....Launch of Operation Northern Watch, US European Command Combined Task Force (CTF) charged with enforcing its own no-fly zone above the 36th parallel in Iraq.

1st Jan 2012....American airline Northwest Airlines is merged into Delta Air Lines.It continued to operate under its own name until the integration of the carriers was completed on January 31,2010.

[Angry Turnip]

2nd Jan 1914....Gustav Hamel took Miss Trehawke Davis aloft to experience a loop, and she thus became the first woman in the world to do so.He flying a Morane-Saulnier monoplane.

2nd Jan 1918....The British government establishes an air ministry.Lord Rothermere becomes Secretary of State for Air.Major-General Sir Hugh Trenchard becomes Chief of the Air Staff.

2nd Jan 1929....Evelyn "Bobbi" Trout flew a Golden Eagle for 12 hrs and 11 mins at the Metropolitan Airport in Los Angeles,setting a new non-refueling endurance record for women.

2nd Jan 1930....Leroy Grumman,Leon Swirbul,and William Schwender, founded the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation at Baldwin on Long Island, New York.

2nd Jan 1933....HMS Courageous reenters service with the Royal Navy,after modifications equipped as the world’s first aircraft carrier with hydraulically controlled arresting gear.

2nd Jan 1941....The Italian Air Force contingent in Belgium (Corpo Aereo Italiano),mounts its last raid on the UK,when 4 Fiat BR20 bombers attempt to bomb Ipswich.

2nd Jan 1953....The first batch of around 430 US Sabre fighters,the RAF’s first supersonic jet, arrives at RAF Abington,England.They were built by Canadair as Sabre Mk4`s.

2nd Jan 1953....First flight of the Sud-Ouest S.O.1221 Djinn,a French single-seat light prototype helicopter.The rotors were driven by compressed-air jets at the end of each blade.

2nd Jan 1954....A new coast to coast record in the US is set by Colonel Willard W.Milliken,flying a F-86 from LA to NYC including a fuel stop,in 4 hrs and 8 mins.

2nd Jan 1959....Launch of Luna 1,also known as Mechta,was the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon.First of the Luna program of Soviet automatic interplanetary stations.

2nd Jan 1965....Denis Healey,UK's Secretary of Defence cancels the nation's fighter and military transport programs and orders the purchase of the US-built F-4 Phantom and C-130 Hercules instead.

2nd Jan 1967....The NST program,formed by President JFK for the purpose of subsidizing the design of a Concorde-beating supersonic airliner, awards a contract to Boeing for its 2707 SST design.

2nd Jan 1975....Death of Theodor "Theo" Osterkamp German WWI and WWII fighter ace,one of only a few men to score victories in both World Wars.

2nd Jan 1989....First flight of the Tupolev Tu-204,a twin-engined medium-range jet airliner capable of carrying 210 passengers.It is replacement for the medium-range Tupolev Tu-154 trijet.

2nd Jan 2004....Several British Airways flights from London Heathrow Airport to Washington D. C. and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia are cancelled due to security fears.

2nd Jan 2010.... Danube Wings Flight 8230: In Slovakia,a package containing the explosive RDX was placed in the luggage of a passenger at Poprad-Tatry Airport by Serbian police as part of a training exercise.                               Due to an error,the package was not recovered and the luggage was loaded onto a Danube Wings flight to Dublin. The error was not realized until the plane had departed.The Garda                                               Síochána were not informed until 5 January,causing a bomb alert in Dublin.The innocent passenger was arrested,but later released when the Slovak Government admitted he was blameless.

[Angry Turnip]

3rd Jan 1909....The first airspeed indicator is patented by Alec Ogilvie.He was a friend of the Wright Brothers,and only the seventh British person to qualify as a pilot.

3rd Jan 1916....A Bristol Scout C takes off from HMS Vindex,marking the first time a wheeled aircraft had taken off from a ship.The Scout was a single-seat rotary-engined biplane fighter/recon aircraft.

3rd Jan 1922....First flight of the Aero Letňany A.10,a Czech built 5 passenger,single engine biplane airliner.It had a crew of 2 in an open cockpit was above and behind the cabin.

3rd Jan 1925....First flight of the Fairey Fox,a British light bomber and fighter biplane,production and use continued in Belgium long after it was retired in Britain.

3rd Jan 1944....Japan launches first Fu-Go bombs,Released from Japan,the balloons were meant to be pushed across the Pacific by the jetstream and then crash into the U. S. mainland and explode.

3rd Jan 1947....The Kings Flight of the Royal Air Force was re-established at RAF Benson.The first equipment consisted of three Vickers Vikings and an Avro York named Endeavour.

3rd Jan 1950....A Pan American World Airways Boeing 377 Stratocruiser makes the first commercial nonstop flight from Tokyo,to Honolulu, Hawaii.

3rd Jan 1952....First flight of the Bristol Type 173,a British twin-engine, tandem rotor transport helicopter.Designed by Raoul Hafner as a civil transport helicopter but evoked interest from the military.                                        It did not enter production but was developed into the Bristol Belvedere.

3rd Jan 1953....First flight of the Cessna 310,a four-to-six-seat,twin-engine monoplane.Built between 1954 and 1980,it was the first twin-engine aircraft that Cessna put into production after WWII.

3rd Jan 1963....First flight of the Ilyushin IL-62,a Soviet long-range narrow-body four engine jet airliner.Over 30 nations operated it with over 80 examples exported and others having been leased.

3rd Jan 1981....Pan Am makes its final Boeing 707 flight.

3rd Jan 1999....Launch of Mars Polar Lander,a NASA 290-kilogram robotic spacecraft lander,to study the soil and climate of Planum Australe,a region near the south pole on Mars.

3rd Jan 2019....China Moon mission lands Chang'e-4 spacecraft on the dark side of the moon.https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-46724727 I wonder what Gilmour,Wright,Mason and Waters would think.

[Angry Turnip]

4th Jan 1910.....Albert Santos-Dumont made his last flight in his Demoiselle aircraft which ended when a bracing wire snapped and the wing collapsed,he had only minor injuries.

4th Jan 1910.....Death of Ferdinand Léon Delagrange, pioneer French aviator, Croix d'Hins near Bordeaux after the wings on his Blériot XI collapse.

4th Jan 1931.....Amy Johnson abandons her Gypsy Moth " Jason III " in Poland after it develops an engine problem during her attempt to fly to Peking.

4th Jan 1931.....William G.Swan used a glider also powered with small rockets to fly over Atlantic City,New Jersey.He stayed aloft for around 30mins.

4th Jan 1936.....The first flight of the Vought SB2U Vindicator,a carrier based dive bomber.It also served with the Royal Navy as the Chesapeake.260 were built.

4th Jan 1940.....The first flight of the Fairey Fulmar,a carrier-born fighter.It was a reliable,sturdy aircraft with long range and an effective armament of eight machine guns.

4th Jan 1945.....The first flight of the Chase YCG-14,a US assault glider.The aircraft failed to progress beyond the prototype stage,being overtaken by larger,improved glider designs.

4th Jan 1952.....The first flight of the North American XA2J Super Savage.A prototype carrier based attack aircraft,only one was built.Powerplant:2 × Allison T40-A-6 turboprops,of 5035 hp

4th Jan 1952.....Pan American World Airways introduce the first all-cargo service across the North Atlantic using the newly arrived Douglas DC-6A freighter.

4th Jan 1956.....Aquila Airways are granted a license to operate a flying boat service between Southampton and Las Palmas,Canary Islands.They operated a range of Short flying boats.

4th Jan 1958.....The death of the Avro company Sir Edwin Alliott Verdon Roe is announced.

4th Jan 1964.....Pope Paul VI lands in Amman,Jordan,in a special Alitalia DC-8;it is the first time that a pope has used an airplane for an official visit.

4th Jan 1967.....The first flight of the Taylor Titch,a small homebuilt aircraft,developed from the Taylor Monoplane.

4th Jan 1996.....The first flight of the Boeing-Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche,an advanced attack helicopter prototype,only 2 were built and the project scrapped Feb 2004.

4th Jan 2001.....The first flight of the HAL Tejas,an Indian Light Multi-role fighter.Dassault-Breguet assisted in the design and systems,a naval version is also to be developed.

4th Jan 2010.....Death of Tadeusz Góra,Polish glider and WWII pilot.During the war he flew with the RAF flying Spitfires,later serving on three Mustang-equipped RAF Polish fighter squadrons.

[Angry Turnip]

5th Jan 1916.....Joseph E.Carberry set an altitude record of 11690 feet ( 3560m ) in a Curtiss Jenny with Capt.Benjamin D.Foulois as a passenger.

5th Jan 1916.....The first operational flight of the French Neuport 11 fighter,it had first flown in 1915.It was the primary aircraft that ended the Fokker Scourge in 1916.

5th Jan 1917.....The first flight of the Sage Types 3,a trainer aircraft,in was not a success and only 2 machines were built.It proved to be slow,even for a trainer.

5th Jan 1938.....The first flight of the Miles M.16 Mentor,a single-engined three-seat monoplane training and communications aircraft.45 were built for the RAF,it`s prime user.

5th Jan 1939.....Amelia Earhart is declared legally dead after her disappearance in 1937.She and her navigator Fred Noonan disappeared over the central Pacific Ocean near Howland Island.

5th Jan 1941.....Amy Johnson gets lost on an ATA delivery flight ( Airspeed Oxford V3540 ) and ends up bailing out over the Thames Estuary,efforts to save her fail,she drowns and body not recovered.

5th Jan 1949....."Chuck" Yeager in the Bell X-1 carried out the only runway takeoff of the X-1 program,he reached 23,000ft in 90secs.

5th Jan 1952.....Pan Am commences trans Atlantic freight services.

5th Jan 1953.....A British European Airways Vickers Viking G-AJDL crashes on approach to Belfast-Nutts Corner Airport.27 of the 31 on board died. 

5th Jan 1959.....The Fairey Rotodyne sets a world speed record for convertiplanes of 190.9 Mph over a 62 mile circuit.

5th Jan 1964.....The first flight of the heavy lift 4 engine turboprop freighter,the Short Belfast.After RAF service,five Belfasts went into civilian service with the cargo airline TAC HeavyLift.

5th Jan 1969.....Venera 5,USSR’s first probe to make a successful planet landing,is launched.It would later enter Venus’ atmosphere on May 16.

5th Jan 1972.....US President Richard Nixon announces funding of $5.5 billion for the Space Shuttle Project.

5th Jan 1981.....The death of Sir James Martin,British engineer,who along with Captain Valentine Baker,founded the Martin-Baker aircraft company,which now is a world leader in ejection seats.

5th Jan 2002.....A Cessna 172 stolen and flown by a teenager crashed into the side of the Bank of America Tower in downtown Tampa, Florida.

5th Jan 2006.....Independence Air shuts down after declaring bankruptcy.It was a low-cost airline based at Washington Dulles,focused on the East Coast of the United States.

[Angry Turnip]

6th Jan 1918.....The death of German WWI ace Walter von Bulow Bothkamp.He was shot down in a dogfight near Ypres in his Albatros DV,a single engine biplane fighter.

6th Jan 1926.....Deutsche Lufthansa is formed by the merger of Deutsche Aero Lloyd and Junkers Luftverkehr.DLH, as it was known, was Germany's flag carrier until 1945.

6th Jan 1928.....6-8 – Lt Christian Schilt makes ten flights in an O2U Corsair to evacuate wounded marines from the besieged village of Quilali, Nicaragua. He is awarded the Medal of Honor.

6th Jan 1933.....The first flight of the Bleriot Spad S.510,it was to be the last French biplane fighter.It was quickly outclassed by the new more modern monoplanes,

6th Jan 1936.....The first flight of the Dewoitine D.153,a prototype French monoplane fighter.Only two were built.Despite many modifications,it was plagued with several serious problems.

6th Jan 1942.....Pan American Airlines becomes the first airline to offer a scheduled around the world flight.Seems strange with a world war going on.

6th Jan 1944.....The first flight of the McDonnell XP-67 Bat,a twin engine bomber interceptor,only one is built and it is destroyed by an engine fire.

6th Jan 1949.....The first flight of the Nord Noroit,a French recon and air-sea-rescue flying boat.The last of the type was delivered to the French Navy in 1956.

6th Jan 1953.....The German Airline Luft AG is founded in Cologne.West Germany had not yet been granted sovereignty over its airspace,and flight operations didn`t start until 1955.

6th Jan 1968.....NASA`s Surveyor 7 lands on the Moon,it is the last of the series.21,091 pictures were transmitted to Earth.Contact with Surveyor 7 was lost on February 21, 1968.

6th Jan 1971.....The US Marine Corps take delivery of the first of it`s AV-8A Harrier`s.Broadly similar to the RAF's Harrier GR.1,but it had IFF and carried AIM-9`s,most also had an uprated engine.

6th Jan 1977.....The first flight of the HAL HPT-32 Deepak,an Indian prop trainer.It has been replaced by the Pilatus PC-7 Mk II in the IAF from 2013.

6th Jan 1982.....The introduction of the Myasishchev VM-T Atlant,it was a heavy lift aircraft based on the M4-Molot bomber.It was modified to carry rocket boosters and the Buran Shuttle.

6th Jan 1984.....Hughes Helicopters merges with McDonnell Douglas Corp.

6th Jan 2009.....Ted,a brand of United Airlines for their economy flights is discontinued.The flights are rebranded under the main United Airlines brand.Nothing to do with them`uns on Craggy Island.

[Angry Turnip]

7th Jan 1785.....The English Channel is crossed by air for the first time,Jean Pierre Blanchard and John Jefferies fly their hydrogen balloon from Dover,to a forest near Calais.

7th Jan 1910.....The Frenchman Hubert Latham is the first person to fly at 1000metres.His Antoinette VII climbed to an altitude of 1,100 m (3,600 ft),beating his own world record by 2000ft.

7th Jan 1911.....The first live freefall bomb is dropped from a Wright Aircraft flown by Philip Parmalee,the bomb is dropped by Lt.Myron S.Crissy.It was a test drop on a target in San Francisco.

7th Jan 1920.....The first flight of the Boeing BB-1 Seaplane.Now restored,it hangs from the ceiling of the Museum of History and Industry on the shore of Seattle’s Lake Union,it`s former base.

7th Jan 1927.....Imperial Airways commences a regular service from Basra to Cairo via Baghdad,the first of its Empire "trunk routes"

7th Jan 1929.....Question Mark ("?") was a modified Atlantic-Fokker C-2A transport airplane of the USAAC.In 1929,commanded by Major Carl A. Spaatz,it was flown for a flight endurance record as part                                           of an experiment with aerial refueling.It established new world records in aviation for sustained flight (heavier-than-air),refueled flight,sustained flight (lighter-than-air),and distance                                           between January 1 and January 7, 1929,in a non-stop flight of more than 150 hours near Los Angeles, California.

7th Jan 1931.....Guy Menzies flying an Avro Sports Avian,makes the first flight from Australia to New Zealand,crash-landing on New Zealand's west coast.It takes 11hrs,45 mins.

7th Jan 1933.....The death of Bert Hinkler,the first person to fly from England to Australia in 1928,using an Avro Avian.He died in a crash at Pratomagno mountain Italy in a DH Puss Moth.

7th Jan 1934.....The first flight of the Curtis XF-13C Model 70,a naval fighter prototype,only 3 built.The aircraft was designed to facilitate conversions from biplane to monoplane and vice versa.

7th Jan 1935.....The first flight of a Japanese trainer unequal wingspan biplane,the Tachikawa Ki-9.Over 2600 were built between 134 and 1945,some were used in kamikaze toward the end of WWII.

7th Jan 1935.....The first flight of the Avro 652.It was a twin-engine,monoplane with a retractable gear,and a tailwheel.Only two were produced,it formed the basis for the successful Avro Anson.

7th Jan 1941.....Hitler orders Luftwaffe Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor,4 engine long range recon aircraft to begin supporting German U-boat operations in the Atlantic Ocean.

7th Jan 1942.....The first flight of the Supermarine Seafire.November 1942,the first combat use of the Seafire occurred during Operation Torch,the Allied landings in North Africa.

7th Jan 1948.....WWII pilot Captain Thomas F.Mantell Jr,crashed in his F-51 Mustang while in pursuit of a UFO.Project Blue Book indicated that he may have died chasing a classified Skyhook balloon.

7th Jan 1963.....Aeroflot commences a direct service from Moscow to Cuba.Using the Tupolev Tu-114 4 x turboprop-powered long-range airliner.

7th Jan 1966.....The SR-71 Blackbird,a long-range,Mach 3+ strategic reconnaissance aircraft that was operated by the United States Air Force enters service.

7th Jan 1984.....The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet enters USMC service.McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is a twin-engine,supersonic,all-weather,carrier-capable, multirole combat jet.

7th Jan 2004.....Boeing launches the B747-400 Special Freighter program,with an agreement with Cathay Pacific Airways to convert at least six 747 – 400 passenger airplanes into freighters.

[Angry Turnip]

8th Jan 1919.....Death of Max Näther,German WWI ace,probably the youngest German Ace in WWI.Killed by ground fire near Kolmar during the border war with Poland that followed Germany's defeat.

8th Jan 1927.....Thomas N.Stack and Bernard MTS Leete reach Karachi after departing from the UK in their de Havilland DH.60.Thomas Stack served in both world wars.

8th Jan 1927.....A de Havilland DH.66 Hercules,a British 7-seat,3 engine airliner completes flight from Croydon to Delhi in 62hrs 27 mins.

8th Jan 1944.....The first flight of the Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star,the first jet fighter used operationally by the USAAF.It was eveloped into the Lockheed F-94 Starfire.

8th Jan 1947.....The first flight of the Yakovlev Yak-19 prototype jet fighter,only two were built.It was the first Soviet aircraft to be equipped with an afterburning turbojet.

8th Jan 1948.....The first flight of the Lavochkin La-15,an early Soviet jet fighter.It had a copied Rolls-Royce Derwent engine,the Klimov RD-500.

8th Jan 1950.....The last flight of the SNCASO SO.8000 Narval,a French Naval prototype fighter,only two built.It featured a pusher engine driving contra-rotating propellers.

8th Jan 1959.....The first flight of the Armstrong Whitworth AW.660 Argosy,a transport/cargo aircraft.It was the last aircraft type built by Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft.

8th Jan 1973.....Launch of Luna 21,a Soviet unmanned space mission to explore the moon.It deployed the second Soviet lunar rover,Lunokhod 2.Primary objective to collect images of the lunar surface.

8th Jan 1980.....A Mooney M20K-231 completes a non-stop East-West flight of the USA in 8hrs and 4 mins.The M20K-231,so designated because its top speed was 231 mph.

8th Jan 1982.....The Airbus A300 FFCC is certified,becoming the first wide body airliner with cockpit accommodations for only two to be certified.

8th Jan 1983.....Death of Lieutenant-General Gerhard "Gerd" Barkhorn,2nd most successful fighter ace of all time after fellow Luftwaffe pilot Erich Hartmann.He was credited with 301 victories.

8th Jan 1989.....The Kegworth Air Disaster,a British Midland Boeing B737-4YO flight 92 crashes,attempting an emergency landing at East Midlands,47 died with 74 injured out of the 126 on board.

8th Jan 1994.....The Russian Soyuz TM-18 is launched,bringing cosmonaut Valery Polyakov to Mir for a record time of 437 days in space.The crew did research work in space flight medicine.

8th Jan 1998.....Boeing changes the name of the MD-95 to Boeing B717-200.A twin-engine,single-aisle jet airliner,developed for the 100-seat market.148 717`s in service as of July 2018.

[Angry Turnip]

9th Jan 1793.....The first manned Balloon flight in North America is made by Frenchman Jean-Pierre Blanchard,he took off from Philadelphia and landed in Deptford New Jersey.

9th Jan 1917.....RN seaplane carrier Ben-my-Chree is sunk by Ottoman artillery while in harbor at Castelorizo,the only aviation ship of any nationality sunk by enemy action during WW I.

9th Jan 1923.....The first flight by an autogyro,the Cierva C.4 was an experimental machine.It covered a distance of about 180 m (590 feet) at Cuatro Vientos airfield in Spain.

9th Jan 1941.....First flight of the Avro Lancaster,a four engine heavy bomber.It had has its origins in the twin-engine Avro Manchester.It first saw service with RAF Bomber Command in 1942.

9th Jan 1943.....First flight of the Lockheed Constellation / Lockheed L-049 Constellation.A series of four engine airliner transports.The L-049 was the first model of the Constellation aircraft line.

9th Jan 1945.....A C-97 Stratofreighter (Model 367) sets a transcontinental record by flying 2,323 miles from Seattle to Washington,D.C.,in 6 hrs,4 mins,at an average speed of 383 mph.

9th Jan 1951.....First flight of the Tupolev TU-85,a Soviet protoype strategic bomber based on the Tupolev Tu-4 which was an unlicensed copy of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress.

9th Jan 1955.....The Vickers Valiant,a British four-jet high-altitude bomber.The first of the RAF`s V-Bomber force to become operational entered service with 138Sqn RAF.

9th Jan 1956.....The Luftwaffe is reformed,the aerial warfare branch of the Bundeswehr,the armed forces of Germany.It is the fourth largest air force within the European Union.

9th Jan 1962.....The first flight of the Hawker Siddeley HS121 Trident,narrow body jet airliner.It was the first T-tail rear-engined three-engined jet airliner to be designed,117 were built.

9th Jan 1963.....The first flight of the Yakovlev Yak-36,Soviet experimental V/STOL combat aircraft.There were initial problems with hot gas reingestion,and only four were completed.

9th Jan 1986.....UK Defence Secretary,Michael Heseltine,resigns amidst a political furore over the future of Westland Helicopters.Two weeks later,Leon Brittan,Trade and Industry Secretary,also resigned.

9th Jan 1990.....The 9th launch of Space Shuttle Colombia STS-32 was one of the shuttles longest missions at nearly 11 days.

9th Jan 1997.....Per Lindstrand and Richard Branson abandon their non-stop balloon flight in Virgin Global Challenger,when its hydrogen gas buoyancy cell develops a leak.


Please note Tomorrow`s Flight Bites will be the last,as sadly we have come full circle--I hope at least some folk have found it interesting.

[Angry Turnip]

Well,here is the last of the Flight Bites.Just over a years worth of aviation related snippets.

Hopefully some bits of interest,and I think we all have learnt a few things.


10th Jan 1912.....Lt.Com Charles Samson becomes flies a Short S.38 from the deck of battleship HMS Africa moored in the River Medway,becoming the first British naval aviator.

10th Jan 1912.....The first flight of the Short S.36,an unequal-span two-seater two-bay biplane trainer.It had a front-mounted 70 hp Gnome Lambda engine.Just one was built.

10th Jan 1929.....The first flight of the Consolidated P2Y flying boat maritime patrol aircraft.Powerplant:2 × Wright R-1820-90 Cyclone radial piston engines of 750 hp each.

10th Jan 1935.....The first flight of the French,6-engined flying boat the Latecoere 521 was one of the first large trans-Atlantic passenger aircraft.It`s wingspan was almost 162ft.

10th Jan 1941.....The introduction of the Douglas A-20 Havoc,a multirole twin prop aircraft.Sometimes known as the Boston,while night fighter and intruder variants were usually known as Havoc.

10th Jan 1943.....The Fairey Barracuda,a torpedo bomber enters service.Notable for its role in attacking the German battleship Tirpitz,and for its ungainly design.

10th Jan 1944.....The RCAF begins to receive it`s Avro Lancaster bombers with 229 ordered to start.

10th Jan 1946.....A Sikorsky R5 sets an unofficial helicopter altitude record of 21,000ft at Stratford Connecticut.They were built under license in UK as the Westland-Sikorsky WS-51 Dragonfly.

10th Jan 1960.....The first flight of the Beagle Husky,originally known as the Auster J/1Y,a light 3 seater aircraft.It was initially available with a 160hp Lycoming engine as the Auster D5/160.

10th Jan 1966.....The first flight of the Bell OH-58 Kiowa,a military helicopter,based on the Model 206A Jet Ranger.It was in continuous U.S. Army service from 1969 to 2017.

10th Jan 1967.....The death of aviation record breaker Laura Houghtaling Ingalls.She was a distant relation to Laura Ingalls Wilder of Little House On The Prairie fame! Who remembers half-pint?

10th Jan 1968.....Surveyor 7, 7th and last lunar lander of the American unmanned Surveyor program lands successfully on the moon.They couldn`t find Mr.Spoon.

10th Jan 1982.....Gulfstream III Spirit Of America completes around the world flight in 43hrs,39mins,and 6 seconds.

10th Jan 1990.....The first flight of the McDonnell Douglas MD-11.A (tripod) three-engine medium- to long-range wide-body jet airliner.Developed from the McDonnell Douglas DC-10.

10th Jan 1992.....TWA files for bankruptcy for the first time,they would do so again just a few years later.

10th Jan 2009.....Zambian Airways suspends operations.It operated 3x B737-200`s and 2x Beechcraft 1900`s.Its debt was noted to be US$29 million.

10th Jan 2013.....A Japan Air Self-Defense Force Mitsubishi F-15 fighter intercepts a People's Republic of China Shaanxi Y-8 patrol aircraft operating near the disputed Senkaku (known in China as Diaoyu) Islands.


That`s All Folk`s......

[smudge]

Aww I forgot that was the last one and went to read today's

Well done Mr Turnip, I know that was a lot of work each day. I await the bound volume.

[Angry Turnip]

Thank you Mr Smudge,it did take a fair bit of work to compile,but I think it was worthwhile.

I have an idea for something new I might start next week.