@CB

A certifiable classic. The fact that it was specifically designed to load a 55-gal barrel is just the icing on the cake. Talk about knowing your audience.

@e90m3

Fun with nodebb scheduled posts.

@MattHurting said in This Date in Aviation History: August 10 - August 12 [Updated]:

@Rusty-Vandura I mean, basic LEGO building taught us not to do that...

Yeah. Well said.

@ttyymmnn

I don't know the exact quote, but I understand that Truman once said that he didn't care who got credit as long as things got done. Letting Nimitz get credit in Japan and Marshall in Europe went a long way to quickly rebuilding economies while keeping egos from getting in the way. That concept seemed to finally hit a wall with MacArthur.

@Skyfire77 noooo ....

@ttyymmnn said in This Date in Aviation History: July 30 - August 2:

astronauts David Scott and James Irwin covered a total distance of 17.25 miles in the Rover.

And they are still getting calls asking them to buy an extended warranty on the vehicle.

@ttyymmnn I believe John McCain was in the Skyhawk that took the direct hit

@tae
But this was simply a touch-and-go landing, correct? Same as in April (at least that's what seems to suggest the video on YT.)

@facw
The Beluga ST has been carrying oversize freight for third parties for years. Maybe the news is that now they will also be offering the XL's services.

@ttyymmnn said in This Date in Aviation History: July 20 - July 22:

and some were flying for international customers as late as 1996. A number of the graceful fighters can still be seen flying the air show circuit in the hands of private collectors.

Let's not forget those still serving through the private sector 😉
alt text

An Airborne Tactical Advantage Company MK-58 Hawker Hunter takes off during Northern Edge, May 14, 2019, at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska. Alaska provides unparalleled aerial ranges, airspace and support infrastructure from two Air Force bases which is unavailable anywhere else in the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Eric M. Fisher)

@ttyymmnn Note to self....don't fly on July 17th.

@Roadkilled

That's awesome. I was really surprised when I first learned that Boeing himself had very little to do with the future success (debatable now) of the company he started.

@Ad-absurdum-per-aspera
Also, the Telstars

@ranwhenparked Probably one of the best trolling jobs of all time.

@Roadkilled

No apology necessary!

@Skyfire77

Yeah, I forgot that there was a whole WING sticking out that would have made room for the nose door.

@gmporschenut-also-a-fan-of-hondas The last time I posed that counterfactual, someone else reckoned that Yonathan would have settled for a quiet retirement as a farmer somewhere.

@Roadkilled

Thanks. I’ll check that out.

@ttyymmnn said in This Date in Aviation History: June 18 - June 21 [Updated]:

@BicycleBuck said in This Date in Aviation History: June 18 - June 21 [Updated]:

I'm calling BS on all of the instability claims on the F-117.

Test Pilot Recounts F-117’s Wobbly First Flight And Entering Into Its Top Secret World

From the War Zone. Might be something there about the stability issue. I haven't watched the video.

Thanks for the link. The test pilot talks about the instability in the first flight. The overall shape is reminiscent of a flying wing which, by nature, are very sensitive in pitch. Although the F-117 was "pitchy", the test pilot focuses on problems with yaw. From his work, they realized that the vertical stabilizers were undersized and made design changes to give them more control authority. He also said that the plane is more neutral at low speed with instability increasing with speed.

Both of these fit well with my friend's model. It was built off the first published photos - those which came after the plane had been flying for some time and, presumably, the design changes had already been implemented. Also, the low speed performance described by the pilot is in keeping with the flight envelope of a free-flight model. I don't think he built a full r/c version, but there are several kits on the market today.

@ttyymmnn @facw

The B-66 isn't looking so hot.

Screen Shot 2022-06-17 at 4.59.43 PM.png

And this must be the F-117.

Screen Shot 2022-06-17 at 5.00.33 PM.png

@benn454 said in This Date in Aviation History: June 11 - June 14:

@ttyymmnn Oof. Let's just immediately hoover up every bit of debris kicked up by the gear.

Definitely one of the drawbacks of the XB-51 design.

@facw The Japanese were days from running out of resources themselves when Percival surrendered.

But no, the overall British plan for the defense of the Malayan Peninsula and subsequent adaptation/improvisation was sufficiently bad, despite the heroism of the troops, that it's pretty unlikely to have resulted in a material change in the outcome.

@gmporschenut-also-a-fan-of-hondas It is something of a commentary on the US military that we have 9 of America/Wasp class ships, and the rest of the world combined has something like 9 carriers that are the same size or bigger, before we even get to the 11 Ford/Nimitz super carriers. The US Navy wants to be the strongest navy in every ocean simultaneously and right now they can make a pretty good case to be so.

@facw said in This Date in Aviation History: June 1 - June 3 [Updated!]:

Bold of you to assume that aviation history isn't happening right now!

It is, and that's why I keep adding things as they come up. Looking forward right now to the last 747 rolling off the line. Atlas just took delivery of one of the last four. Three to go. Most of what I'm adding now are historical events that I skipped or recently learned about, but any post about something developing, like the MAX saga, gets updated every year. I suppose I should have written about the first successful docking of the Starliner, but I'll wait until it takes a crew up.

@ttyymmnn i wonder how the MC-21 plane is going with sanctions?
as for Mathias Rust, he's a bit of a lunatic
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathias_Rust

@lokerola

And without a modern ejection seat, he just had to ride it out to its tragic end.

@ttyymmnn said in This Date in Aviation History: May 21 - May 24:

not being able to see where you are going is just kind of nuts

Well, pretty safe bet there wasn't another co-altitude plane for him to hit; at least not for the first 32 hours or so.

I bet the boys at the end of this drop line were hoping things would move along..... Also, its always a bad sign when the pilots jump out before you do.....

ba859822-45b3-45b5-8979-89bef0d17e23-image.png

@ttyymmnn

I think I posted this guy's attempt at replicating the dam buster last year.

@ttyymmnn said in This Date in Aviation History: May 11 - May 13:

Sikorsky VS-300

There are some good views of the interior at the Henry Ford Museum site.
https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/artifact/281527/

@LooseonExit

I think the plane just had to tinkle, and needed to find a nice grassy spot to do it.

@Skyfire77 Midway didn't fight in WWII (missed the war by about a month), but it is very much of that era.

@gmporschenut-also-a-fan-of-hondas said in This Date in Aviation History: April 30 - May 3:

@ttyymmnn the nose and tail of the buccaneer always look off.

Definitely a unique shape. I learned something interesting today about the size of the vertical stabilizer. The size has all to do with the center of gravity. Closer to the COG the tail has to be larger. Farther away, it can be smaller. That's why the tail is so large on the 737. So that might have something to do with the size and shape of the Buccaneer stabilizer.

@ttyymmnn "2,500 pounds of cargo, which included 100,000 letters and newspapers."

Think about that, transporting newspapers by air.

@Future-Next-Gen-S2000-Owner It has 100+mph speed advantage over a chinook and can fly twice as far. that opens up a substantial number of advantages to getting troops to an area safer and where they may not be expected.

@ttyymmnn This is why all the cool historians destroy what they are documenting once their work is complete!

@Roadkilled And they are planning to use them at least through 2045, if man is still alive...

@ttyymmnn Great stuff. April 12 sure was an important date for space travel. It's such a pity we can't just celebrate Gagarin's flight for the amazing achievement that it was, because the Soviet and Russian leadership are so hellbent on being an absolute pack of bastards.

@ttyymmnn the electric for being so fast looks so ungainly. though i guess the girth is needed for all the fuel.

@benn454

TTT Zero 02_MG_9650.jpg

I've seen those Zeros Texans many times.

@WilliamsSW

Definitely won't win any beauty contests.

@facw

Those four cannons weren't for show!

The last of the gunfighters!

@ttyymmnn I don't know where to start, one of my high school teachers, Paul Adams, was a Tuskegee Airmen. Remember my friend telling me about it, but I was too young and stupid to appreciate the significance at the time.

Kind of ironic that an aircraft carrier was named after Langley.

"Despite the excellent engine, the Aerodrome A, as it was called, met with disastrous results, crashing on takeoff on October 7, 1903, and again on December 8. Langley blamed the launch mechanism. While this was in some small measure true, there is no denying that the Aerodrome A was an overly complex, structurally weak, aerodynamically unsound aircraft. This second crash ended Langley's aeronautical work entirely."

Launched from a catapult on a boat I might add.

https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/langley-aerodrome/nasm_A19180001000

@ttyymmnn Goddard and his diagram calls to mind a Far Side:
0da23190-0a21-4198-b83d-e492c3fdb6ca-image.png

@ttyymmnn It's a shame we lost the de facto flag carrier for the better part of a century of the US aviation industry. Just not the same with no Clippers in the air.

We sure did use a lot of rationalization about ending the war quickly by demoralizing the enemy (which apparently didn't work too well). Probably the same thing Putin is thinking right now, albeit a lot has changed in 75 years, including laws of war and international relations -- plus, in this case, Japan was the initial aggressor and empire builder. So it's a loose analogy in reference to civilian casualties and a nation's will to survive at all costs.

@ttyymmnn
I'm assuming it's the average speed over a lap, with far faster speeds on the straightaways. What would be scary would be taking the turns at high speeds with 1930s tires and 1930s safety gear (or lack thereof.)

@classicdatsundebate

That's interesting. Thanks.

@ttyymmnn said in This Date in Aviation History: February 23 - February 25:

production of the entire series that started with the DC-9 ended in 2006 after 41 years with the final Boeing 717 delivered to AirTran Airways.

Now revived in China:

alt text

60 more built 2007-present.

@e90m3 Eh, there may be some slight savings on the R&D phase compared to a clean-sheet design, but not enough to be worth it; all of the expenses on the following phases are going to be nearly identical. The only potential benefit would be getting the plane approved by the FAA as a derivation of an existing design rather than something completely new (see also, 737 MAX), but again, it's doubtful that would be enough to make restarting an attractive option.

@ttyymmnn @Ermahgerd

Thanks. Curiosity satisfied.

@darkbrador said in This Date in Aviation History: February 12 - February 15:

"the Bisons would come screaming in out of nowhere to within visual range of the Eagles. They would proceed to shoot the F-15s in the face"

Reminds me of a quote I saw in the UK media when I was living there, from a USN F14 pilot who'd been playing opposition against Royal Navy Sea Harriers in war games - I think this was probably before the US Marines started using them. He was asked what he took away from the exercises, and his answer was "never let a Harrier get close to you".

@ttyymmnn Great Stuff as always, lots of 727s bopping around from airport to airport in the Midwest when I was younger. I always felt that planes with the engines on tbe fuselage in back were generally louder inside, maybe the 727 put that notion in my head.

Also, follow me please (I kid).

@ttyymmnn said in This Date in Aviation History: February 5 - February 8:

Why they still felt they needed to sit outside I'll never know.

I suspect part of the story is that if you enclose the cockpit, you have to provide effective defogging and defrosting systems. None of that needed with an open cockpit.

Its kind of like indycars, the reason there was no cockpit enclosure was because they never had one, and it would be a lot of work to add one, so why add one now?

@skyfire77 I figure they were initially fine with the idea when it was explained as a short-term study for essential national defense purposes, and put up with it for awhile, but just ran out of patience. Like when you hear a running toilet in the middle of the night - you can put it out of your mind for awhile, but, eventually, you can't take it anymore and just have to get up and go jiggle the handle.

@streetsofperth said in This Date in Aviation History: January 29 - February 1:

@ttyymmnn I can't believe it's been 19 years since Columbia.

Me either. I still remember when my wife woke me up to tell me what happened.

@ttyymmnn You're welcome!