Questions tagged [aviation-history]
Questions about aviation history, starting from kites, balloons, airplanes, helicopters and rockets.
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Who was the first person to break the sound barrier?
In this video on Wikipedia of Chuck Yeager breaking the sound barrier in the Bell X-1 in level flight, at 2:44 the narrator says "For the first time, except in dive, a man has flown an airplane ...
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In 1982 Admiral Grace Hopper said "I still haven't found out why helicopter rotors go the way they do". If she were here today, how might one answer?
After about 24:50 in the video NSA Releases Internal 1982 Lecture by Computing Pioneer Rear Admiral Grace Hopper Admiral Hopper says:
...Now when it comes to carousels at airports I can see a good ...
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Is there a Amelia Earhart anniversary late August 2024?
Today it came to my attention that in the last few days (late August 2024), there have been two concept albums centred on Amelia Earhart's last flight announced and shortly to be released by Laurie ...
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Had there ever been civil aircrafts with more than four engines?
The Boeing 747 have four engines, the 737 two, and the 727 three. Most modern commercial jet airliners today have two engines. I know that some military aircrafts, (like the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress)...
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What did seat belts look like in 1940s aircraft?
I first flew back in the 1940s as a four or five year old. I have a vague memory of a seat belt locked with a wooden peg inserted into a webbing loop. The aircraft was probably a Vickers Viking, a ...
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How did novice pilots hit the Twin Towers?
I know people don't like discussing this, and I don't ask out of morbid curiousity. But conspiracy theories will naturally arise about such great and consequential events, and I don't think it's fair ...
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Lightoff to speak about an engine start
Why is the term lightoff (or light-off) used to describe the moment an engine ignite/is started ? I'm wondering why the suffix 'off' is used in an 'ON' sense (start, ignition) ? Is there a ...
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Has there ever been a transfer of occupants from one aircraft to another while airborne?
Similar to the mechanism used in aircraft tankers (picture below), has there ever been a transfer of occupants from one aircraft to another using some sort of "air bridge"?
Crazy idea: How ...
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Has turbulence ever killed a passenger?
The question is on my mind, because many passengers think there is no need to wear the seatbelt when the seatbelt sign is not illuminated.
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When was the word "aerodynamics" first used?
Aerodynamics comes from two Greek words: aer (air) and dinamike (dynamics).
In this link it says
The word “aerodynamics” itself was not officially documented until 1837
I don't know if that is ...
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Which aviation flight computer is Spock using aboard the Enterprise (as a prop)?
In the recent Undecided with Matt Ferrell video Why the Future of AI & Computers Will Be Analog after about 05:44, the Original Star Trek TV show's Mr. Spock is shown holding an analog flight ...
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What type of aircraft do Tintin and Captain Haddock use on their way to Peru in "The Seven Crystal Balls"?
At the end of Hergé's The Seven Crystal Balls (first published 1943-1944), Tintin and Captain Haddock fly to Peru in a relatively big seaplane (or flying boat?).
Is it a real aircraft? If so, what ...
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First airplane with software?
What is the first airplane equipped with software system? Any type of avionics with the computer code, probably the compiled file.
I searched in Google, and it sounds like the F-8C Crusader jet ...
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Which individual airframe has carried the most passengers in its lifetime?
I'm guessing that the airframe will be one of the 747s that service the domestic Japanese market, making regular short hops full of passengers - but perhaps actual figures exist to confirm this.
See ...
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Why does the US use two types of aerial refueling?
There are two main types of aerial refueling, the boom and the drogue. The US uses both, while most other countries use just the drogue.
How are they different and why does the US use both?
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What was the Sperry "Follow Up and Comp. Mech. (Type K9)"
I found online a "Computing Gun-sight" used in WWII B-24 and B-26 bombers:
Source
Sperry Gyroscope Co., Brooklyn, NY, part # 655432:
Source
I have looked through the Sperry Corp. Archives ...
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Why, until recently, were smooth nose sections not popular?
Why, until recently, were smooth nose sections not popular? By smooth I mean without a break between the nose and windshield. (The question focuses on airliners.)
Seeing the Starliner (left) and DC-7 (...
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Were there any planes used in WWII that were able to shoot their own tail?
In Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, there's a scene where Indiana is piloting a plane and his father is acting as gunner. While shooting at incoming enemy planes, he accidentally shoots his own ...
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Is this really a British Airways 727?
I came upon this clip on YouTube this week:
It appears to depict a Boeing 727 in British Airways livery. My first thought was that it's a Trident, but it is ...
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What justifies a biplane over a braced monoplane?
Biplanes became the first airplanes to enter service due to their structurally efficient design being more suitable for the weak materials then. This efficiency comes from the two wings acting as the ...
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What happened to the Japanese aviation industry after WW2?
The Empire of Japan had a domestic aviation industry supplying the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force up until the end of WW2.
The USSR and Western Europe, which saw large parts of their production ...
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By how much did the content of the Airbus A320 FCOM expand over the last 40 years?
The Airbus A320 has been in service for almost 40 years now. I imagine that the current manuals are much larger than the manuals provided in the 80s, mainly for three reasons:
The newer models ...
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Soviet (Eastern bloc) aircraft innovations?
From my Western perspective as a non-aviation person, it appears that most aircraft innovations throughout history (whether commercial or military) were pioneered by Western countries/corporations. ...
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Why was the engine of the Ju-87 Stuka not replaced with a more powerful one?
Related to this question
Why did the Ju-87 Stuka have a siren?
I would like to know the reasons why they have not changed the engine of the Stuka when they realised it was easy prey for Hurricanes ...
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When did the United States stop issuing pilot "licenses" (and start issuing "certificates")?
The first document issued by the US federal government authorizing a person to fly an aircraft was issued on April 6, 1927 by the Aeronautics Branch of the Department of Commerce, and it is called a ...
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Did John Stringfellow ever build an aeroplane, powered by a steam engine, that really flew?
After doing some research, I found two apparently conflicting articles. The first, dated Sep. 23, 1848, describes John Stringfellow as marching through the air in a tent. The second, published about ...
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Is there strong evidence that Clement Ader flew a plane on Oct. 9, 1890 or at any date before 1897?
About Clement Ader it is often said that on October 9, 1890, he flew a man carrying plane for a distance of about 50 meters.
After searching the archives the best evidence I found, in support of this ...
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What is the longest time after which plane crash survivors were rescued?
I found:
Aviator Bob Gauchie retains the record for solo arctic survival by a downed airman, enduring 58 days of arctic weather before his rescue in Canada 1967.
After 72 days on the glacier, 16 of ...
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Was differential thrust used in the P-38 to improve turn performance?
In the P-38 Lightning could differential thrust be used to improve turn performance ? If so what was the procedure ?
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When did the color orange enter flight test?
When did the color orange enter flight test? As early as the Bell X-1, pictured here, aircraft were painted orange to enhance visibility. Later, in 1959, a study was conducted that suggested the ...
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How did aircraft communicate during early air travel?
During the initial era of air travel how do the pilots/Navigation officers would communicate with ground stations?
Do they use radio communication? Or Telegraph was used?
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Have two similarly sized aircraft ever hard-docked with each other while in flight?
This question is looking for a precedent in aviation related to the futuristic idea of maintaining a permanent fleet of solar-powered aircraft in the upper atmosphere on the sunny side of Venus (which ...
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RB-77C Destroyer on March 10th, 1964 over Magdeburg
It is claimed that a spy plane with the registration RB-77C Destroyer was shot down near Magdeburg on 10 March 1964. Does anyone know anything about this?
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Origins and Efficiency of the Phonetic Alphabet in Aviation
I’m curious about the history and practicality of the phonetic alphabet (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, etc.) used in aviation communication. While I recognise its universal application in ...
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Advantages of an inverted sesquiplane?
A biplane whose lower wing is significantly shorter in span than the upper is sometimes called a sesquiplane, from sesqui "one and a half." One whose upper wing is shorter (even slightly, ...
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What was the penultimate flight of the TCA plane that crashed near Vancouver in 1947?
In his 1975 book An Almanac of Words at Play, Willard R. Espy recounts the following:
En route from Montreal to Vancouver in 1947, we sat down in Calgary, where a wire from my boss changed my ...
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Is it correct to say that the expected behaviour at a Fly-by/Fly-over waypoint derives from when there was no GPS, but rather just VOR/DMEs?
I was re-looking at Fly-by/Fly-over waypoints:
and discussing with a colleague the topic of how these came about.
Is it correct that this definitions were put in place so that a human pilot could fly ...
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What is Mode B on the transponder?
Mode A selected on the transponder provides identification of the aircraft to the secondary radar; Mode C will add an automatic height read-out of an aircraft. Mode S is a selective addressing. But ...
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Are there other examples of Brown-Stigler incident?
I have just finished reading A Higher Call and wondered if there are other cases where a pilot showed his mercy to the foe when they are in desperate situation. Looked through several B17 related-webs,...
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Did WW2-era aircraft have constant-speed or variable-pitch props?
This is slightly related to my other question on variable-pitch controls.
I want to know if WW2-era aircraft typically had variable-pitch or constant-speed propellers. Variable-pitch lets the pilot ...
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Could "Lady Be Good" Incident Prevented by the Technology of its Time?
For those who don't know, Wiki page of the incident sums up. I don't have much knowledge about communication systems of WWII, but I know how radio communication work. This page has
The aircraft flew ...
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What plane was most likely used for this TWA transatlantic flight in 1954?
This is the manifest for my grandaunt (she is #9). She most likely took a train from Paris to Croatia to visit her mother. The family was not wealthy, so this was an extravagant expense for them.
Can ...
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How did the term PAN PAN originate?
Where did the phrase "pan-pan", used when declaring an emergency, originate?
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Has any aircraft in history ever pulled 7g for 15 or more seconds?
According to this post "no aircraft has ever pulled 7g for two seconds"
If the interpretation of the video is correct, has any aircraft in history ever pulled 7g for fifteen seconds?
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What is the slowest fixed-wing airplane?
It's easy to find information about the fastest airplanes, in different categories (e.g. X-15, SR-71, the Concorde etc), but what is the slowest one? Which powered, manned airplane is capable of ...
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What was the first law requiring licensing or certification for pilots?
What was the first law passed by a government (e.g. not a private organization's policy) requiring some kind of licensing or certifications for civilian pilots?
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Which aircraft have fought against its own type in active combat?
The criteria for this question are
The aircraft has to be the same type (but not necessarily the same mark)
The two opposing sides are actively hostile; but not restricted to nation states (so civil ...
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Does anyone know more about the 1958 Heinkel-211 project?
Industria Aeronáutica Argentina worked in the 50s in a Jet airliner, Kurt Tank design, the IA-36, 'Cóndor', with simmilarities to 1958 Heinkel-211 project, turbines intake aspirating fuselage boundary ...
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Historical Number of Aircraft in Service (by Airline)
I am looking for historical data on the number of commercial passenger aircraft in service, ideally with additional information on the associated airline.
My search so far has turned up one scientific ...
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Why did two of the development Concordes have red cabin doors?
The second British Concorde 101 G-AXDN at the 1974 Farnborough Airshow
(Photo by: Richard Vandervord source: www.airliners.net via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)
Three of the six development ...
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