AA_Dec2013_OutOfThePast

25 Years Ago, December 1988
Dec. 21 The Antonov An-225 Mriya, the heaviest
airplane ever made, flies for the first time. Built for
the Soviet Union’s space program to accommodate
a complete Buran space shuttle, the Mriya has a
maximum takeoff weight of 1,322,750 lb. Powered
by six 51,590-lbf Lotarev D18T turbofans, the plane
is 275 ft 7 in. long with a span of 290 ft. The giant
U.S. Hughes H-4 wooden flying boat known as the Spruce Goose, flown only
once in a taxiing test in 1947, was longer, at 320 ft 6 in. Air International, March
1989, pp. 146-147.
50 Years Ago, December 1963
Dec. 2 Air Force Lt. Gen. George H. Brett, military aviation pioneer and deputy
commander of the Allied Forces in the Southwest Pacific campaign during WW II,
dies in Orlando, Fla., at age 77. Aviation Week, Dec. 9, 1963, p. 37.
Dec. 3 Air Force Col. Charles “Chuck” Yeager, the pilot
who broke the sound barrier in 1947 in the Bell X-1, flies
the M2-F1 experimental wingless glider, or Lifting Body, at
Edwards AFB, Calif. This is the second flight of the M2-F1,
which was first flown on Aug. 16, 1963, by NASA research
pilot Milton Thompson. For Yeager’s flight, the craft is
towed up to 9,000 ft and then released from the carrier plane. Yeager glides
the M2-F1 down to 4,000 ft/min, then tilts its nose up to reduce the speed
for landing. The glider is one of several lifting bodies that contributed to
aerodynamics research for the space shuttle. Washington Post, Dec. 4, 1963;
M2-F1 file, NASM.
Dec. 4 The Navy reveals its new Submarine
Rocket antisubmarine missile, known as Subroc.
This solid-propellant submarine-launched rocketpropelled depth bomb, although never used in
combat, is in service from 1965 to 1989. Once
the missile rises from the water, its booster is
automatically separated and the depth bomb
payload continues on a ballistic trajectory toward
its target. The range of the inertially guided
missile is about 35 mi. Dept. of Defense Release
1536-63; Aviation Week, Dec. 9, 1963, pp. 33-35.
Dec. 9 The University of Tokyo opens Japan’s Kagoshima Space Center on the
tip of the island of Kyushu. Later renamed the Uchinoura Space Center, the site
is used for launching the country’s first large-scale rockets and all of its scientific
satellites. The solid-propellant Lambda 2 sounding rocket is the first craft
launched from the center, on Dec. 12. D. Baker, Spaceflight and Rocketry,
pp. 159-160.
Dec. 10 Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara announces the cancellation
of the Air Force Dyna-Soar X-20 manned aerospacecraft program. Designed by
76 AEROSPACE AMERICA/DECEMBER 2013
Boeing with Air Force, NASA, and Boeing
sponsorship, the ambitious Dyna-Soar
was to be a piloted, maneuverable
hypersonic spaceplane for gathering
data on aerodynamics and reentry from
orbital flights, mainly for military purposes.
The full-scale craft is never completed,
however. In the same announcement,
McNamara gives a green light to the
Air Force’s Manned Orbiting Laboratory
program. Space Business Daily, Dec. 12,
1963, p. 386; J. Miller, The X-Planes,
p. 146-151; Flight International, Dec. 19,
1963, p. 1009.
Dec. 14 French aviatrix Marie Marvingt,
who flew across the English Channel in
a balloon in 1909 and was the first
French woman to hold a
pilot’s license, dies
at 88 in Nancy,
France. She
participated
in many
early air
shows
and held
women’s
flight records
for distance and
endurance. New York
Times, Dec. 16, 1963, p. 35.
Dec. 19 A solid-propellant Scout rocket
launches Explorer 19, NASA’s second air
density balloon satellite, at Vandenberg
AFB, Calif. The small, 17.8-lb spacecraft
is designed to take atmospheric
measurements. Flight International, Jan. 2,
1964, p. 34; NASA press release 63-271.
Dec. 19 It is announced that the 4,000
residents of Cape Canaveral, Fla., have
decided to retain the town’s original
name even though its launch site was
renamed the Kennedy Space Center
An Aerospace Chronology
by Frank H. Winter
and Robert van der Linden
in honor of the recently assassinated
President John F. Kennedy. Washington
Post, Dec. 20, 1963.
Dec. 21 From the newly renamed
Kennedy Space Center, a Thor-Delta
booster launches the Tiros VIII
meteorological satellite. Among its
advances over early weather
spacecraft is the first automatic picture
transmission system. This provides
real-time local weather information
to any area of the world having a
simple, low-cost ground station.
NASA press release 63-269.
for aircraft industry workers, or $20 a week for a 40-hr week. W. Shrader, Fifty
Years of Flight, p. 66.
Dec. 17 During celebrations marking the 35th anniversary of the Wright brothers’
first flight, Hugh L. Dryden of the National Bureau of Standards delivers the second
Wright Brothers Lecture at Columbia University. His topic is “Turbulence and the
Boundary Layer.” Twenty years later, Dryden will become NASA’s first deputy
administrator. W. Shrader, Fifty Years of Flight, p. 66.
Dec. 17 The Rear Adm. William A. Moffett Memorial Trophy is awarded to the Aviation Unit of the USS Northampton for safety in flying. The silver trophy is named
after the Navy Bureau of Aeronautics’ chief, who died in the crash of the USS Akron
airship. Aero Digest, February 1938, p. 28; Aviation Year Book, 1939, p. 469.
Dec. 28 The National Aeronautic Association names Howard Hughes the most
outstanding U.S. aviator of 1938. W. Shrader, Fifty Years of Flight, p. 66.
75 Years Ago, December 1938
Dec. 5 A new system of radio
communication for Great Britain
and Northern Ireland begins
operation. The system provides
four types of radio services: traffic,
for routine ground station
communications; aircraft, including
ground-to-air, air-to-air, and direction
finding; meteorological; and radio
beacon, for navigation. Interavia,
Dec. 14, 1938, p. 6.
Dec. 30 Italy’s Angelo Tondi and Giovanni
Pontonutti set two world speed records of
251.8 mph and 250.9 mph in a Savoia S.79
carrying 5,000-kg payloads for 1,000 km
and 2,000 km, respectively. Aircraft Year
Book, 1939, p. 469.
And During December 1938
—For
the first time in professional
hockey’s history, an entire major
league team is transported by air
when the Detroit Red Wings fly from
New York to Chicago on a United
Airlines Mainliner. Aero Digest,
January 1939, p. 35.
100 Years Ago, December 1913
Dec. 6 A Douglas DC-3 of the Dutch
airline KLM makes a special flight from
Amsterdam to Pretoria, South Africa,
to mark the centenary of the Boers’
victory over the Kafir tribe. This flight
is also an effort by KLM to take part
in the air traffic to Africa. The plane
carries several high Dutch government
officials as well as 23,000 letters.
Interavia, Dec. 9, 1938, p. 7.
Dec. 11 Sikorsky’s second big airplane,
the Ilya Muromets, makes its first flight,
near St. Petersburg, Russia. Underpowered
and difficult to handle, the plane crashes.
However, its performance improves after
its four 100-hp Mercedes engines are
replaced with more powerful engines.
On Feb. 11, 1914, the plane flies with 16
people aboard, then the largest number
ever flown. In June it achieves a record day and night flight from St. Petersburg
to Kiev, a distance of 1,590 mi. On the same flight, the first full in-flight meal is
served. C. Gibbs-Smith, Aviation, p. 170; H. Nowarra and G. Duval, Russian Civil
and Military Aircraft 1884-1969, pp. 26-27.
Dec. 15 The Dept. of Labor establishes
the minimum wage of 50 cents an hour
Dec. 17 Spain, whose Army is using airplanes in its war against Morocco, drops
bombs with effect near Tetouan. Flight, January 1914, p. 22.
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