Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Aviation

Scott Crossfield 1921-2006

Aviation pioneer test pilot SCOTT CROSSFIELD died April 19 in a plane crash in Georgia.

Albert Scott Crossfield – Wikipedia

Albert Scott Crossfield (October 2, 1921 – April 19, 2006) Born in Berkeley, California, normally referred to as Scott Crossfield, grew up in California and Washington. He served with the U.S. Navy as a flight instructor and fighter pilot during World War II. From 1946-1950, he worked in the University of Washington’s Kirsten Wind Tunnel while earning his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in aeronautical engineering. In 1950, he joined the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics’ High-Speed Flight Station (now the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center) at Edwards Air Force Base, California, as an aeronautical research pilot.

Over the next five years, he flew nearly all of the experimental aircraft under test at Edwards, including the X-1, XF-92, X-4, X-5, Douglas D-558-I Skystreak and the Douglas D-558-II Skyrocket.

On November 20, 1953, he became the first man to fly at twice the speed of sound as he piloted the Skyrocket to a speed of 1,291 mph (2078 km/h i.e. Mach 2.005. With 99 flights in the rocket-powered X-1 and D-558-II, he had — by a wide margin — more experience with rocketplanes than any other pilot in the world by the time he left Edwards to join North American Aviation in 1955.

I’m almost certain that is Chuck Yeager in the picture with Scott Crossfield.

20 Apr 2006 by Aviation People

Name the Blimp

The following is from the Goodyear Website:

Aerial Ambassadors

For 80 years, Goodyear blimps have adorned the skies as very visible corporate symbols of the tire and rubber company that began operations in 1898.

Today, these graceful giants travel more than 100,000 miles across the United States per year as Goodyear’s “Aerial Ambassadors.”

The blimp tradition began in 1925 when Goodyear built its first helium-filled public relations airship, the Pilgrim. The tire company painted its name on the side and began barnstorming the United States. Humble beginnings to an illustrious history.

Over the years, Goodyear built more than 300 airships, more than any other company in the world. Akron, Ohio, the company’s world headquarters, was the center of blimp manufacturing for several decades.

During World War II many of the Goodyear-built airships provided the U.S. Navy with a unique aerial surveillance capability. Often used as convoy escorts, the blimps were able to look down on the ocean surface and spot a rising submarine and radio its position to the convoy’s surface ships. . . in essence acting as an early warning system. Modern surveillance technology eventually eclipsed the advantages of the airship fleet, and in 1962 the Navy discontinued the program.

Today, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company no longer mass-produces airships. In the United States it operates three well-recognized blimps: the Spirit of Goodyear, based in Akron, Ohio; the Spirit of America, based in Carson, California; and the Stars & Stripes, in Pompano Beach, Florida.


Now is your chance to name the newest Blimp to be stationed in Florida. Go to Goodyear – Name The Blimp Contest and sign up.

12 Apr 2006 by Aviation Cyberspace

Stealth Air Force One?

Completely unedited, the photo below seems to make the vertical fin on Air Force One look almost invisible! What’s going on?

Right: View of the vertical stabilizer from the first level.

I took this photo from behind the famous aircraft on the 3rd mezzanine level of the Air Force One Pavilion in the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library when I noticed the unusual reflection pattern on the glossy surface of the rudder and vertical stabilizer. I knew immediately that I had a great shot! The lighting angles and the highly-polished surface of the airfoil rendered this intriguing optical illusion of near-invisibility.

Photo © 19 MAR 2006 by Damsel. Canon Digital Rebel EOS camera. Permission to publish is given provided credit and a link is given to Cap’n Bob and the Damsel

Update: Fix4RSO linked with “The Great Disappearing Air Force One Trick!“

22 Mar 2006 by Aviation Photography

Bike Ride Across America to Honor 9/11 Flight Crews

A group of airline personnel and friends plan to ride their bicycles from Dockweiler Beach, adjacent to LAX, to Washington, D.C., in tribute to the 33 airline crew members who died that tragic day.

From the Daily Breeze:

Bike ride will honor flight personnel victims of 9-11

[Organizer] Thomas Heidenberger lost his wife, Michele, that day. She was a flight attendant on a plane destined for Los Angeles that crashed instead into the Pentagon.

There were 33 of them killed that morning, 33 flight attendants and pilots who were among the first to confront the terrorist hijackers of Sept. 11.

“It’s not about one person, one individual crew member,” he said from his home in suburban Washington, D.C. “It’s about all 33.

“We don’t know what happened up there. It’s all speculation,” he added. “But they were the first to confront the terrorists. They need to be recognized.”

The five bicyclists will leave April 2 on a route that takes them across 15 states and more than 3,500 miles. They chose to begin near Los Angeles International Airport because that was the destination of three of the four hijacked flights.
A small group of airline workers will set out from Dockweiler Beach early next month on a cross-country bike ride in their honor. The riders have given themselves 33 days to make the trip, one day for each of the crew members killed.

It’s a tribute first, but also a fund-raiser for the official 9-11 memorials and a salute to those who still work in the air. For its organizer, the ride is a chance to remind the nation of the full toll of the attacks.

[ read the rest of the story ]

15 Mar 2006 by Aviation Charity People

Fossett Breaks Record

Follow up on Around the World – and then Some:

FOXNews.com – Science News – Fossett Breaks Record for Nonstop Flight

MANSTON, England — Adventurer Steve Fossett completed the longest nonstop flight in aviation history Saturday after journeying around the globe — and then some — in about 80 hours.

Image (from Fox News): Steve Fossett, right, and Richard Branson, left, answer questions after a fuel leak prevented the first attempt at takeoff.

11 Feb 2006 by Aviation

Around the World – And Then Some!

Today, Global Flyer departed Florida for a trip around the world – plus. Once completing the circumnavigation, Steve Fossett will head across the pond for the second time, ultimately landing in the U.K.

Man, I envy this guy for the adventure he will get, but not for the Iron-Man endurance of staying airborne for 80 hours. It only takes a four-hour flight before my butt goes to sleep – maybe less.

This is from New Scientist:

GlobalFlyer takes off in pursuit of longest flight ever

The Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer aircraft took off at 0722 EST on Wednesday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, US, on an attempt to shatter a series of aviation world records.

The first launch attempt on Tuesday was scuppered by a leaking fuel tank, but everything went smoothly second time around for the dawn take-off. The leak was fixed, and the weather produced light headwinds and a temperature of 8°C (46°F). Above 12°C (54°F) and the air would not have been dense enough to support the fuel-laden jet’s take-off from the 3-mile-long runway.

Before take-off, inspectors from the US National Aeronautics Association placed seals on the airplane’s hatch and fuel tank, to ensure that no landing or refuelling takes place during the expected 80-hour flight.

The journey is expected to cover up to 46,000 kilometres (28,600 miles), which would be the longest aircraft flight ever. Pilot and veteran record-breaker Steve Fossett will make do with occasional 5-minute naps and get by on nothing but strawberry-flavoured nutritional drinks.

[more]

08 Feb 2006 by Aviation

The Spirit of Ronald Reagan

LinkedInUSAF has excellent coverage of the christening of the “Spirit of Ronald Reagan” C17 USAF Transport Aircraft: Mrs. Reagan Christens the “Spirit of Ronald Reagan”

Here’s a couple of excerpts from LinkedInUSAF:

Yesterday was a great day for the dedicated Airmen at March AFB. The eighth, and final, delivery of a C-17 Globemaster III was christened by Mrs. Nancy Reagan. I am sure that for her, this was a beautiful, yet poignant ceremony – her best friend Ronnie was not by her side. (those who know, know, she always called him “Ronnie.”

. . .

It is sad that President Reagan was not able to see his vision come to fruition. He died June 5, 2004, at the amazing age of 93. Just two more years and he would have seen “his” C-17, “his” aircraft carrier, and the F-22A become operational.

14 Jan 2006 by Aviation Military

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