Transcript Early Flight

Peacetime Aviation
Chapter Five
War Is Over
Surplus of airmen and airplanes
Airplanes were
Larger
Stronger
More powerful engines
More reliable
Instrument/radio development
Frequently installed in aircraft
Crossing the Atlantic
German U-Boat Threat
Bring war to submarines
Wartime shipping space limited
Need for patrol aircraft
Curtiss design for Navy
Patrol wherever subs might be
Long range capability
Large aircraft
Multiple engines
Land on rough seas
NC Flying Boats (Nancy)
Crossing the Atlantic
4 planes to be built
3 Liberty engines – tractor mode
Designated NC-1 through 4
NC-1 maiden flight – October 1918
War already over
World record
Highest number of passengers
51
18 Nov 1918
Considered underpowered
Crossing the Atlantic
NC-1, NC-3, NC-4
4th engine added
Pusher engine
NC-2
Two tandem pairs
Demonstrate capability
Fly across Atlantic
Honor of being first
Planes redesignated
NC-TAs
Navy/Curtiss-Transatlantic
Crossing the Atlantic
Arrangements
Canada
Newfoundland
Portugal
Great Britain
NC-2
Failed to meet Navy expectations
Engine arrangement
NC-1
Damaged in storm
Crossing the Atlantic
Wings removed from NC-2
Installed on NC-1
Fire in hangar
NC-4 damaged tail
NC-1 damaged wing
Both repaired
Crossing the Atlantic
Crossing in stages
Rockaway to Halifax
Halifax to Newfoundland
Newfoundland to Azores
Azores to Lisbon
Lisbon to Plymouth
60 naval ships involved
Marked route
Monitor progress
Crossing the Atlantic
8 May 1919
3 airplanes takeoff
NC-4 engine trouble
Stopped in Massachusetts
Repaired
Caught others in Trepassy Bay (Newfoundland)
Another replacement engine
Newfoundland to Azores
Radio
Lisbon to Plymouth
60 naval ships involved
Crossing the Atlantic
Newfoundland to Azores (16 May)
Radio communication failed
NC-1 and NC-3
NC-4 worked
Encountered bad weather
NC-1 & NC-3 ditched at sea
NC-1
 Crew rescued
 Aircraft sank
NC-3 taxied 200 miles to Azores
NC-4
Completed flight to Azores
Crossing the Atlantic
Completed flight on 27 May 1919
Delayed due to mechanical problems
Continued to Great Britain
Dismantled for return
Alcock-Brown
Daily Mail resumes competition
Excluded countries
Any point in United States/Newfoundland
Any point in Great Britain/Ireland
Either way
72 consecutive hours
11 entries
3 from St. John’s Newfoundland
Prevailing winds
Alcock-Brown
Vickers Vimy
“Atlantic”
State-of-the-art bomber
Deliver heavy loads into Germany
Did not see action – war ended
2 engines
One test flight
Disassembled, crated, shipped
Alcock-Brown
June 14
Over 1,000 gallons of fuel
Barely made off ground
Navigation - celestial
Altitudes between 100 to 11,000 feet
Mechanical problems
Broken exhaust pipe
Inoperative intercom
Radio failure
One misfiring engine
Iced fuel overflow gauge
Frozen airspeed indicator (stuck at 90 knots)
Alcock-Brown
Landing
Galway region of Ireland
16 hours 27 minutes
1,980 miles
Accolades
King George V knighted them
“Atlantic” went to London Science Museum
Alcock-Brown Crossing
Airship Roundtrip
 British Admiralty loaned airships
British Air Ministry
Explore commercial potential of airships
Newest airship - R.34 – in construction
Copy of German airship L33 (Captured Sep 1916)
British design – far behind German technology
Invited to aeronautical meeting
Atlantic City, New Jersey
Airship Roundtrip
United States capability
No rigid airships
No large airships
No hangers
No landing crew (approx 300)
U.S. Navy
Provided mooring and supplies
British
Sent advance party
Organize/train ground crew
Spare parts
Airship Roundtrip
Lifted off 2 Jul 1919
8 officers/22 men/American naval officer
Mail
Film of Paris Peace Conference
Chewing gum
Substitute for smoking
Landed 108 hours after departure
Returned 2 days later
Mail
Film of arrival
U.S. Army observer
Other Long Distance Flights
England – Australia
Australian Prime Minister
10,000 pound prize
First Australian to fly route
Complete by 31 Dec 1920
Complete within 30 days
4 Australians
Smith Brothers (Ross and Keith)
2 Mechanics
Vickers Vimy
 Fresh from factory
 Rigged with extra fuel tanks
England - Australia
Carefully planned route
Specifically supplied to support flight
Departed London - 12 November
Logged 235 hours and 55 minutes
11,123 miles
Landed Darwin – 10 December
Presented with prize
Knighted
“One of the greatest flight, if not the greatest, in
the history of aviation.”
England - Australia
Others tried
21 October - Capt Matthews and Sgt Kay
Inprisoned in Yugoslavia
Crashed in Bali
13 November – Lt Douglas and Ross
Crashed in Surbiton
Both died from injuries
21 November – Lt Rendle
Crash landed at Suda Bay
8 January 1920 – Lt Parer and McIntosh
Completed in 206 days
Consolation prize – 1,000 pounds
Other Long-Distance Flights
England to South Africa
January 1920
Stopped prematurely in Tanganyika
Radiator problems
February 1920
Lt Ryneveld and Maj Brand
Radiator problems
Egyptian government loaned another aircraft
Damaged plane during takeoff
Borrowed de Havilland DH 9
Received prize
Knighted
Other Long-Distance Flights
Melbourne to Darwin
Surveying air route
16 November – 12 December
2,500 miles – 46 flying hours
Vickers Vimy
Aircraft of choice
99 to RAF
Research and Development
 Dr Robert Goddard
– Liquid Fueled Rocket
– 1919
 Exploration on paper
– 1926
 Successful launch
 German counterpart
– Hermann Oberth
Airships
 Germany
– Zeppelins
 Still state-of-the-art
 Commercial passenger service
– LZ 120 Bodensee
 Freidrichshafen to Berlin
 More than 100 flights (late 1919)
 Confiscated by Allies
– France
 Flights to African colonies
 Possible commercial airline development
Airships
 Restitution to:
– Belgium
– Great Britain
– Japan
 Dismantled for shipping
 Never reassembled
 Great Britain
– Captured modern airships during war
R-38
 Made in Great Britain
– United States to buy
 Fly across Atlantic
– Test flights
 High-speed test
 Sharp turn
– Turn prohibited by Germans
 Frame snapped
 44 airmen died
Roma
 Italian Made
– War surplus
– Test flights in 1922
 Navy didn’t like
 Modified airship
– Crashed and burned – 21 Feb 1922
– 34 airmen died
 Abandon hydrogen
– Too flammable
– Use helium
 Safer
 More expensive
Shenandoah
 First helium airship
– First rigid airship made in U.S.
– Based on captured German L-49
– Maiden flight – 4 Sep 1923
– Navy
 Send to North Pole
 Mooring test
– Damaged
– Cancelled polar flight
 Transcontinental flight
– October 1924
– 19 days – 9,000 miles
Los Angeles
 Zeppelin production to be destroyed
– U.S. requested exemption
 One airship be built
 Compensation for war claim
 Allies approved request
– LZ 126 (Los Angeles)
 Delivered October 1924
 Eckener
– Convinced Allies not militarily viable
– Saved Zeppelin works
– Revival of German airship industry
Gliding
Gliding
Germany
Major aeronautical activity
Gliding Rally - 1920
11 registered
Gliding Rally – 1921
Over 20 gliders
World distance record
World endurance record
Gliding Rally – 1922
53 registered aircraft
International attention
German National sport
German Gliding
“If we can’t fly with motors, we’ll fly without
them”
Mapped “air roads”
Fly for hours
1926 – glider round trip
Max Kegel
Thunderstorm thermal updraft
Landed more than 55 kilometers away
Barnstorming
American passion
Military aviators
Out of work
Trained, experienced in flying
Curtiss Jenny
Almost 5,000 produced
95% pilots trained flew Jenny
Army
 1919 – 3,285 in inventory
 1927 – 37 in inventory
War surplus equipment
 Curtiss bought Jenny
 Many reconditioned
Jenny
Cost
During war - $8,000
Reconditioned Canuck Jenny
1919 - $2,600 to $3,000
1920 - $1,500
Unused Jenny
$3,250
Rebuilt
$2,000
Ownership change
$250 - $500
Why?
U.S. undamaged from war
Audiences not subjected to horrors
Lack of airworthiness guidelines
Thousands of pilots trained
Fly from town to town
Farmer’s field to farmer’s field
Fairs
Performing stunts
Selling rides
Audiences – entertainment
Fliers - livelihood
Barnstorming
Walked on wings
Car-to-plane
Plane-to-plane
Trapeze acts
Dance of death
2 airplanes
Overlapping wings
Europe Barnstorming
Germany
Restriction lifted
Air shows
Ernst Udet
Army World Flight
 United States Army Air Service
– Altitude records
– Speed records
– Endurance records
– Technological advance
– Publicity for accomplishments
 Wartime – 9,000 pilots
– 1920 - 1,000 pilots
Army World Flight
 Army sponsored flights
– Around rim of United States (1919)
– Round trip between U.S & Alaska (1920)
– Sank captured battleship with bombs (9121)
– First non-stop transcontinental flight (1923)
– First aerial refueling plane (1923)
 “The Plan”
– Around the World Flight
– “The first to circle the globe”
Army World Flight
 Ordered 4 aircraft
– Douglas World Cruiser
 Navy torpedo bomber
 Two-seat, open cockpit, biplane
 No radios – save weight
– Used 35 liberty engines
 Four for each aircraft
 Others distributed along planned route
– Boston
– Chicago
– New Orleans
– Seattle
Douglas World Cruiser Prototype
Army World Flight
 Cooperation for support with:
– Navy
– Coast Guard
– Bureau of Fisheries
– More than 20 countries
 Personnel and supplies
 Fifty locations around globe
 Others distributed along planned route
 Other attempts
– Lacked logistical support
– Private ventures
Army World Flight
 Takeoff on 6 April 1924
– Seattle (Sand Point)
 “Seattle” crashed in Alaska
 Replaced engines in England
– “Boston” ditched
 Land on 28 Sep 1924
– 363 hours 7 minutes flight time
– 26,345 miles
– Replaced 17 engines
– 5 forced landings
– International line of support
Billy Mitchell
Supported all aviation
Organized 1920 aerial mapping expedition
Advocated airship development
Essential to national security
Critic of Army and Navy
Failing to develop aviation to his standards
Strong, independent air force
Demoted to Colonel
Billy Mitchell
Loss of Shenandoah/Navy airplanes
Issued 17-page statement
Blamed military aviation in general
Incompetency, criminal negligence, treasonable
Aviation decisions made by non-aviation officers
Bad decisions
General court martial
Guilty of insubordination
Suspended for 5 years
Mitchell resigns
Speed Records
Suspended records during war
1919 – 126.667 mph
1920 – 171.041 mph
Changed 7 times in 1920
Final - 194.516 mph
1922
Billy Mitchell – 222.970 mph
1924
French pilot – Florentin Bonnet
278.481 mph
Polar Flights
1926 – Three teams
 George Wilkins – Australia
Failed in 1926
Failed in 1927
Success in 1928
Roald Amundsen – Norway
Failed in 1925 – airplane
1926 – airship
Flew across pole on 12 May
Lt Commander Byrd– U.S.
Fokker trimotor (Josephine Ford)
9 May
Research and Development
Militaries
 Converted war surplus ships to carriers
Retractable undercarriage
Dayton-Wright Co. – RB Racer
Autorotation
Engine set rotor in motion
Airborne – motion continued via slipstream
Cyclic control - helicopters
Mechanism – change pitch of individual blades
Research and Development
Orville Wright
 Applied for patent (31 May 1921)
Split flap
Increase lift of airfoil
Permit flying at lower speeds
Commercial Airmail
 Airlines/airmail developed together
 France
– Well-developed aviation production
– Encouraged aviation
– Subsidized
 Development and sale of aircraft
 Training
 Buying airplanes for personal use
Latecoere
 Planned commercial airmail venture
– Link France with French territories
– First priority - Africa
– Obtained government approval
– Hired pilots
– Spanish government authorization
 Overfly
 Build airfields
 Buying airplanes for
Latecoere
 First airmail flight
– Toulouse France to Barcelona Spain
 200 miles
– Casablanca
– Dakar (French West Africa)
 1925
 1,600 miles
 Airplanes
– Shot
– Crew captured
 Flew in pairs
Latecoere
 Prototype mailplane
– Room for passengers
 200 miles
– Sold in 1927
 Aeropostale
Aerial Diplomacy
1919 Paris Peace Conference
International convention
Drafted multilateral system
Managing airspace over participating nations
Facilitated development of airlines
Treaty of Versailles
Prohibited German military aviation
London Ultimatum of 1921
Prohibited production of all aircraft
Rest of year – extended to mid-1922
Aerial Diplomacy
International Conference of Ambassadors
Germany had met Article 202 requirements
Resume manufacturing, exporting, importing
Civil aviation equipment
New restrictions
Engines – no more than 60 HP
Airplane speed – not to exceed 106 MPH
Altitude – not higher than 13,000 feet
Cargo – not more than 1,300 pounds
1 January 1923
Treaty restrictions expired
Germany
Invited Germany
Accept international convention for navigation
Chose to remain outside system
Bilateral agreements
 Restricted German airspace
 Establish commercial air routes
 No agreement – special authorization required
 Confiscated 14 French aircraft
 Flights between Berlin and Paris
 German commercial aviation expanded
 More than 50 applications for airliners
 Lufthansa acquired many airlines/airplanes
Airlines
Imperial Airways (Britain)
Several airline began post-war
Merger – national airline
Developed routed to India and Africa
Targeting British colonial ports
Ignored domestic/European routes
Targeted luxury-class passengers
Imperial Airways
United States
Airmail service
Military proved route and concept
First flight – 15 May 1918
New York – Philadelphia - Washington
U.S. Post Office assumes responsibility
August 1918 - Same route as Army
Over 700 flights/80,000 miles
46 forced landings
1919 – 1,600 flights/400,000 miles
160 forced landings
U.S. Airmail Service
Transcontinental service
1919
New York – Cleveland
Cleveland - Chicago
Airmail – day/transferred to trains for night
1920
Chicago - Omaha
Omaha – San Francisco
September – 83 hours to complete
Air Mail Acts
 Air Mail Act of 1925 (Kelly Act)
– Airmail service contract to commercial airlines
– Airlines organized in response
 Post Office phased out
 Airlines subsidized for winning contracts
 Air Commerce Act of 1926
– Department of Commerce
 Assumes aviation tasks
 Maintenance/operations of airways
 Licensing of pilots
 Airworthiness regulations
 Federal activities in civil aviation
Air Mail Acts
 Sudden growth in airlines
– Lagged behind Europe
– Development of mailplanes/airliners
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Colonial Air Transport
Colorado Airways
Florida Airways
Ford Motor Company
National Air Transport
Northwest Airways
Pacific Air Transport
Robertson Aircraft
Stout Air Service
Varney Air Lines
Western Air Express
Summary
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Navy/Curtiss Flying Boats
Alcock-Brown Crossing
Airship Roundtrip
Gliding and Barnstormers
Army World Flight
Billy Mitchell
Polar Flights
Air Mail Acts