Questions tagged [aviation-history]
Questions about aviation history, starting from kites, balloons, airplanes, helicopters and rockets.
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Who was the third person to fly a powered airplane?
The first person to fly a powered airplane was Orville Wright on December 17, 1903. The second was Wilbur Wright on that same day.
The Wright Flyer was destroyed before anyone else flew it. The Wright ...
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How was altitude calculated before the invention of the altimeter?
I just read David McCollough's "The Wright Brothers," and was surprised to find several references to the exact altitude attained by various Wright airplanes. For example, on page 235:
The ...
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Was there any attempt on making a turbofan for mach 1-2 with a "decelerator" air intake?
What made me ask this question is the SR-71 hybrid engines and the efficiency difference between certain engines.
Here is an article from wikipedia showing the efficiency of the engines accordingly to ...
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What are the aerodynamic characteristics of the flying saucer?
It seems that Canadian VZ-9 Avrocar was aerodynamically unstable. Particularly at high altitudes, and so the project was cancelled. IIRC there was considerable interest in flying saucers in the 1950s ...
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Are there any aircrafts that use the same "ballooning effect" of spiders to fly?
For those that aren't aware, the "ballooning" effect that spiders use to glide (not necessarily fly) explaining in a simple way, some small invertebrates throw a bunch of long strings (in ...
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Does “balls to the wall” mean “full speed ahead” or “full speed ahead and nosedive”?
Full speed ahead: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/balls_to_the_wall
Full speed ahead and nosedive: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2006/02/why-we-say-balls-to-the-wall.html
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What was the story of a serious incident with Galaxy C5 in about 1973
I am guessing it was a flight in support of the Yom Kippur War in October of 1973 that due a pitot tube failure that Galaxy C5 had to do an emergency landing on Azore with assitance from another plane ...
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What were the atmospheric models in the 19th century and early 20th century like, compared to the present-day ISA?
Atmospheric pressure has been used to determine the altitude a pilot (or a mountain climber as well) is at since the beginning of the age of ballooning.
I find the following Wikipedia excerpt about ...
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Was Hawthorne C. Gray the first pilot to use a positive pressure mask?
The balloonist Hawthorne C. Gray established human altitude records twice in 1927. His ascent in May 1927 went to 42,470 ft (12.94 km) which is an altitude the FAA requires the use of a pressure ...
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Why were taxiways marked with numbers (as opposed to letters) back in the day?
I learned through the USAir Flight 1493 and SkyWest Airlines Flight 5569 collision that many taxiways at KLAX were marked with numbers (e.g., Taxiway 45, Taxiway 33) instead of letters (e.g., Taxiway ...
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Can someone identify this biplane from 1920-21 taken in Arkansas?
Can someone identify this biplane? It was taken in late 1920 or early 1921 when my grandfather was barnstorming in Arkansas. My grandmother and aunts are also in the photos. Additionally, can someone ...
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What biplane of the Army Air Reserve is in this picture?
This is the second example of the biplanes they flew.
Can anyone identify this biplane flown by the 476th pursuit squadron "The Black Falcons" of the 322rd pursuit group of the Army Air ...
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Can anyone identify this Biplane flown Army Air Reserve stationed at Clover Field, Santa Monica, California in mid the 1920's?
Can anyone identify this biplane flown by the 476th pursuit squadron "The Black Falcons" of the 322rd pursuit group of the Army Air Reserve stationed at Clover Field, Santa Monica, ...
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What is this crashed WW2 era aircraft?
There is a post D-Day Nazi propaganda film (with contemporary Allied narration) available on YouTube. It shows a destroyed aircraft at 11:50, presumably Allied.
It looks like a twin-engine aircraft, ...
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Who put a model of the Space Shuttle at the Portal of the Folded Wings Shrine to Aviation in Los Angeles Ca?
Background
This answer to Help identifying this landmark and road in "Los Angeles 1940s, Residential Area in color" in Travel SE identified the structure as the:
Portal of the Folded Wings ...
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Why did Boeing never replace the 757?
https://boeing.mediaroom.com/2005-04-28-Boeing-Closes-Chapter-in-Aviation-History-with-Final-757-Delivery
Boeing in late 2003 decided to end 757 production because the increased capabilities of the ...
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By what measure was Gander International Airport the "largest" in the 1940s?
According to the Wikipedia article and the original source Gander International Airport
had four runways and was the largest airport in the world
by 1945.
Now, "large" can mean a lot of ...
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What is this old seaplane floating on its wing?
I found this picture today in an old set of drawers that bought at an estate sale over 40 years ago.
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In 1997, what would the likely Paris–Tokyo route be? Generally, where to gain information on historic routes?
Today you would likely via Dubai, or perhaps take one of the long flights say Zurich -> NRT.
If I'm not mistaken Dubai came to it's current position in early 2000s, so in the 90s it was not the ...
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When drop tanks (those with external lines) are released, how are the two connections (air and fuel) released?
ww2aircraft.net
Say in a P-51 (shown above), when drop tanks (those with external lines) are released, how are the two connections (air and fuel) released?
Do they shear off and fall with the tank?
...
user14897
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In which accident a helicopter and plane collided after a landing gear failure?
Many years ago (35+ years), my father told me a story regarding a VIP that was on a small plane that had landing gear failure. It was decided that instead of attempting a landing, a helicopter would ...
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Early turbojet RPM and thrust indicator
The flight operations handbook for the Douglas X-3 Stiletto (an experimental aircraft from the early 1950s) says that the instrument panel has instruments that indicate the thrust of the two ...
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Strange airspeed indicator in the Douglas X-3 Stiletto
The cockpit of the Douglas X-3 Stiletto has a rather weird looking airspeed indicator. (The leftmost instrument in the top row.) Two concentric circular scales, the outer one goes from 0 to 20, the ...
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Why would an airplane with fixed-pitch propeller(s) and no supercharging have manifold pressure gauges? (E.g. Ford Trimotor)
I had recently had a look at the Ford Trimotor NC9645 (link), currently on an EAA-sponsored tour. The propellers were fixed pitch (possibly adjustable by mechanic on ground), and the engines were not ...
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Has there ever been a VTOL aircraft thruster that generated lift through the use of a drag force?
I have been recently thinking about a conceptual VTOL aircraft thruster that should generate lift through the use of a drag force and I am very curious to know if such a thruster has ever been built ...
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What specific improvements were made in supercritical airfoil design from 1980 - 2000?
I originally asked a question (Comparisons between the A340 and 747-200 wing: sweep angle and span) about the technological developments which allowed the Airbus A340 to have a wing with greater ...
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When was the need for a truer Earth shape for aeronautical navigation realized?
Motivated by Federico's answer to Can a great circle be drawn between any two points on Earth?
Earth is not a perfect sphere, and it can be argued that the degree of oblateness is negligible. So is ...
user14897
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Could the Wright Flyer II takeoff without wind?
The Wright Flyer II could reach about 20 mph of airspeed on the track alone. The aircraft needed an airspeed of about 30 mph to make a proper takeoff (without hanging in ground effect). Before the ...
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How was the problem of dive bomber scope fogging resolved during WW2?
During the first half of 1942, US Navy SBD bombers had problems with their bomb aiming scopes fogging over, which reduced the accuracy of their bombing during several early war operations. Was this ...
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When was 91.155(b)(2) (night VFR cloud clearance and visibility in Class G airspace in traffic pattern) implemented?
We have all memorized the helpful triangle, but now this paragraph:
(2) Airplane, powered parachute, or weight-shift-control aircraft. If the visibility is less than 3 statute miles but not less ...
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What aircraft was the Olmstead High Efficiency Propeller for? When and how was it used?
The AFResearchLab video AFRL Tech Museum Series: Propeller Development begins with the narrator standing in front of four propellers in a sequence transitioning from wood to metal, and what stands out ...
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Why do U.S. METARS give visibility in statute miles?
Training to be an ATC on VATSIM. I live in the Boston area, so I'm training with VATUSA. In the US, METAR visibility data is the only exception to 'miles' = 'nautical miles' rule (that I've learned ...
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Novel Research: Best way to sabotage a Hawker Hurricane in 1940/41?
Essentially, one of the central events in my work-in-progress novel is the sabotage of a Hawker Hurricane in Malta by a member of groundcrew. I originally had this as him loosening an aileron so that ...
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Do the NPRMs & Final Rules preceding 1993 "alphabet" airspace re-designation indicate that these phrases were meant to exclude Class E "extensions"?
Note-- this question is specifically about the content in the rule-making documents leading up to the September 16 1993 "alphabet" airspace re-designation, which is when the terms "...
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Are there any published travel guides for GA Pilots? [closed]
Are there any published travel guides for GA Pilots specific to the US? Kind of like Michelin Guides, except for airplanes instead of cars and highlight scenic, historic or notable routes?
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How many nuclear weapons have been lost- and not located or recovered-- from aircraft in crashes or other mishaps? [closed]
How many nuclear weapons have been lost- and not located or recovered-- from aircraft in crashes or other mishaps?
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Why in the past were weather radars not used on fighter jets?
As far as I know, the weather radar is something that has been implemented very recently in fighters jets, from what I understand in modern radars it is possible to switch in various modes including ...
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When was a multi-engine rating first required?
For the United States, does anyone know how this progressed over time / when?
Was it always a rating? Was it an endorsement at some time? Called something else?
Any history out there?
Thanks
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The Fokker Universal has a crank you have to spin rapidly upon startup. What is it?
The Fokker Universal is one of my favorite aircraft. There is only one complete representation of it in existence at a museum in Canada. A video series I saw on YouTube tells the story of its ...
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Which aircraft is easier to land-- Supermarine Spitfire or North American P-51 Mustang? [closed]
Which aircraft is easier to land (without ground-looping)-- the Supermarine Spitfire or the North American P-51 Mustang?
If the answer is different depending on conditions (e.g. no-wind versus ...
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Early "digital" rotating digit wheel type gauges
The XB-70 has a "digital" gauge showing the total fuel quantity using six rotating digit wheels (as in mechanical counters, odometers etc), and another showing the fuel quantity in the tank ...
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Can anyone identify this biplane with distinct wind screen?
I'm trying to identify the aircraft in this photo of my great grandfather. The photo would have been taken during the mid to late 1920s, possibly early 1930s. He lived in Utah (not sure this helps?). ...
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What inspired the unique design of the F-105 Thunderchief intakes?
The horizontally forward-swept intakes of the Republic F-105 Thunderchief is not a design emulated in other production aircraft of the time, or I think at any time.
If viewed as a more typical intake ...
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Did commercial air planes in 1972 really not have some sort of automatic distress call equipment?
I've recently watched the 1993 movie Alive, "based on" the real events of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571. I don't know how accurate it was, but the basic idea is that the pilots did a ...
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Who was the first person to break the sound barrier?
While watching this video on Wikipedia of Chuck Yeager breaking the sound barrier in the Bell X-1 in level flight, I noticed the narrator say: "For the first time, except in dive, a man has flown ...
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Were the original gyroscopic artificial horizons "upside-down"?
Looking at an article in Flight magazine from March 1945 titled "Sperry Attitude Gyro" that you can find online, the picture of the instrument is interesting:
It seems that the orientation ...
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When did Piccard reach his record altitude of 23 km (75,500 ft)?
Swiss physicist and balloonist Auguste Piccard reached world altitude records of 15.8 km (51,800 ft) in May 1931 and 16.2 km (53,000 ft) in August 1932, accompanied by Paul Kipfer in the former and by ...
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Why does Fairbanks, AK have a terminal area chart?
It's a relatively uncluttered airspace. Why have a TAC?
FAI Terminal Area Chart
Arguably, Louisville, KY has at least the same complexity, and since it's UPS's hub it's far more active. Plus, it's a ...
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Why did Japanese aircraft carriers in WW2 carry both high and normal octane aviation fuels?
According to Parshall & Tully's Shattered Sword, the four Japanese aircraft carriers lost at the Battle of Midway (1942) carried both high and normal octane aviation fuel. Does anyone here know ...
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