PLANES, NO TRAINS, NO AUTOMOBILES

The Memphis Belle - story of the 25th and last mission

2011-01-29T09:34:00.000-08:00

The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress is a 1944 documentary film which ostensibly provides an account of the final mission of the Memphis Belle, a B-17 Flying Fortress. In May 1943 it became the first U.S. Army Air Forces heavy bomber to complete 25 missions over Europe and return to the United States.

The dramatic 16 mm color film of actual battles was made by cinematographer First Lieutenant Harold J. Tannenbaum. The film was directed by Major William Wyler, narrated by Eugene Kern, and had scenes at its Bassingbourn base photographed by Hollywood cinematographer Captain William H. Clothier. It was made under the auspices of the First Motion Picture Unit, a branch of the United States Army Air Forces. The film actually depicted the next to last mission of the crew (see below) on May 15, 1943, and was made as a morale-building inspiration for the Home Front by showing the everyday courage of the men who manned these planes.

Morgan states in his memoirs that he was approached by Wyler in late January 1943 after his crew's eighth mission. Wyler told Morgan he wanted to film the Memphis Belle and her crew because of "a certain mystique" to the aircraft's nickname, and that Morgan's reputation as a pilot meant that Wyler would be "in the center of the action...(with) a pretty good chance of coming back." Morgan agreed after assurances from Wyler that the film crew would not interfere with operation of the airplane in combat in any way.

Source: Wikipedia

Constellation - flaming take off!

2011-01-29T07:46:00.000-08:00

The Lockheed Constellation ("Connie") was a propeller-driven airliner powered by four 18-cylinder radial Wright R-3350 engines. It was built by Lockheed between 1943 and 1958 at its Burbank, California, USA, facility. A total of 856 aircraft were produced in four models, all distinguished by a triple-tail design and dolphin-shaped fuselage. The Constellation was used as a civilian airliner and as a U.S. military air transport, seeing service in the Berlin Airlift. It was the presidential aircraft for U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

After World War II, the Constellation came into its own as a popular, fast, civilian airliner. Aircraft already in production for the USAAF as C-69 transports were finished as civilian airliners, with TWA receiving the first on 1 October 1945. The first transatlantic proving flight departed Washington, DC on December 3, 1945, arriving in Paris on December 4, via Gander and Shannon.

Trans World Airlines transatlantic service started on February 6, 1946, with a New York-Paris flight in a Constellation. On June 17, 1947, Pan American World Airways opened the first ever regularly-scheduled around-the-world service with their L749 Clipper America. The famous flight "Pan Am 1" operated for nearly 40 years.

On September 29, 1957, an L-1649A Starliner flew from Los Angeles to London in 18 hours and 32 minutes (approximately 5,420 mi/8,723 km at 292.4 mph/470.6 km/h). The L-1649A holds the record for the longest-duration, non-stop passenger flight, during TWA's inaugural London-to-San Francisco flight on October 1–2, 1957, the aircraft stayed aloft for 23 hours and 19 minutes (approximately 5,350 mi/8,610 km at 229.4 mph/369.2 km/h)

The advent of jet airliners, with the de Havilland Comet, Boeing 707, Douglas DC-8 and Convair 880, rendered the piston-engined Constellation obsolete. The first routes lost to jets were the long overseas routes, but Constellations continued to fly domestic routes.

Source: Wikipedia

Piper Cub - very short landing and take off!

2011-01-28T05:42:00.000-08:00

The Piper J-3 Cub is a small, simple, light aircraft that was built between 1937 and 1947 by Piper Aircraft. With tandem (fore and aft) seating, it was intended for flight training but became one of the most popular and best-known light aircraft of all time. The Cub's simplicity, affordability and popularity invokes comparisons to the Ford Model T automobile.

An icon of the era, and of American general aviation in general, the J-3 Cub has long been loved by pilots and non-pilots alike, with thousands still in use today. Piper sold 19,073 J-3s between 1938 and 1947, the majority of them L-4s and other military variants. Postwar, thousands of Grasshoppers were civilian-registered under the designation J-3. Hundreds of Cubs were assembled from parts in Canada (by Cub Aircraft as the Cub Prospector), Denmark and Argentina, and by a licensee in Oklahoma.

Modernized and up-engined versions are produced today by Cub Crafters of Washington and by American Legend Aircraft in Texas, as the Cub continues to be sought after by bush pilots for its STOL capabilities, as well as by recreational pilots for its nostalgia appeal. The new aircraft are actually modeled on the PA-11, though the Legend company does sell an open-cowl version with the cylinder heads exposed, like the J-3 Cub. An electrical system is standard from both manufacturers.

Source: Wikipedia

Dash 7 - STOL capabilities turboprop

2011-01-28T05:08:00.000-08:00

The de Havilland Canada DHC-7, popularly known as the Dash 7, is a turboprop-powered regional airliner with STOL capabilities. It first flew in 1975 and remained in production until 1988 when the parent company, de Havilland Canada, was purchased by Boeing and was later sold to Bombardier. Bombardier sold the aircraft design (type certificate) to Viking Air in 2006.

With new noise restrictions coming into effect throughout the 1970s, an aircraft tailored for this role would also have to be very quiet. To meet this restriction, the new design used oversized propellers geared to spin at a slower speed than normal; much of the sound from a propeller is generated at the tips which are spinning near the speed of sound, and therefore, by reducing the number of RPM, this noise is reduced substantially. The Dash 7 often landed with only 900 rpm, and took off at only 1,200.

In other respects, the new DHC-7 was essentially a larger, four-engine version of the Twin Otter. The general layout remained similar, with a large T-tail intended to keep the elevator clear of the propwash during take-off, a high aspect ratio high-mounted wing, and most details of the cockpit and nose profile. Changes included the addition of cabin pressurization which required a switch to a fuselage with a circular cross-section and landing gear that folded forward into the inner engine nacelles.

Most of the rear wing was spanned by a complex double Fowler flap arrangement for high lift at low speed. The Twin Otter incorporated "flapperons" that drooped the ailerons as part of the flaps, but these were not included in the Dash 7 due to weight and complexity. Instead the ailerons were reduced in size to allow more flap area, and were augmented with roll-spoilers at low speeds. On touchdown, through switches in the main gear, the flaps would automatically retract to the 25% flap position and thus reduce lift once on the runway for better braking performance. The flaps would also partially retract when engine power was increased for a go-around procedure.

The four-engine layout aided lift at low speeds due to the wide span of the propellers blowing air over the wing. When reverse thrust was selected on landing, the props push air forward and slow the airplane effectively along with the wheel brakes. More importantly, if an engine failed, the asymmetric thrust was much less than on a twin-engine layout, thereby increasing safety and allowing for a lower minimum control speed with an engine inoperative.

Source: Wikipedia

Saab Gripen operating from public roads

2011-01-27T10:00:00.000-08:00

The Saab JAS 39 Gripen is a lightweight single engine multirole fighter aircraft manufactured by the Swedish aerospace company Saab. Gripen International acts as a prime contracting organisation and is responsible for marketing, selling and supporting the Gripen fighter around the world.

The aircraft is in service with the Swedish Air Force, the Czech Air Force, the Hungarian Air Force and the South African Air Force, and has been ordered by the Royal Thai Air Force. A total of 236 Gripens have been ordered as of 2008.

One interesting feature is the Gripen's ability to take off and land on public roads, which was part of Sweden's war defence strategy. The aircraft is designed to be able to operate even if the air force does not have air superiority. During the Cold War, the Swedish Armed Forces were preparing to defend against a possible invasion from the Soviet Union. Even though the defensive strategy in principle called for an absolute defence of Swedish territory, military planners calculated that Swedish defence forces could eventually be overrun. For that reason, Sweden had military stores dispersed all over the country, in order to maintain the capacity of inflicting damage on the enemy even if military installations were lost.

Accordingly, among the requirements from the Swedish Air Force was that the Gripen fighter should be able to land on public roads near military stores for quick maintenance, and take off again. As a result, the Gripen fighter can be refueled and re-armed in ten minutes by a five man mobile ground crew operating out of a truck, and then resume flying sorties. In the post-Cold War era, these dispersed operation capabilities have proved to be of great value for a different purpose. The Gripen fighter system is expeditionary in nature, and therefore well suited for peace-keeping missions worldwide, which has become the new main task of the Swedish Armed Forces.

Source: Wikipedia