Today In History:  16 October  [1992]   --  The RAF's first female helicopter pilot graduates

Flt Lt Nicky Smith, graduated from 89 Course at Shawbury to become the RAF's first female helicopter pilot. 

Smith became a search and rescue pilot, flying Westland Sea Kings, initially with 202 Squadron at RAF Boulmer in Northumberland, then with the same squadron at RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland, and later with 22 Squadron at RAF Valley on Anglesey, flying more than 250 missions.

She was promoted squadron leader in 1999 and, after a staff tour as the personal staff officer to the Air Officer Commanding and Commandant of the RAF College Cranwell, she trained on Westland Wessex helicopters with 72 Squadron at RAF Aldergrove in Northern Ireland before being posted to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus to take command of 84 Squadron in March 2002.

PHOTO: The Sea King during a display at Upper Heyford in 1992.  [Photo by Anthony Noble, GFDL 1.2  via Wikimedia]

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Photo Attribution:  GFDL 1.2  via Wikimedia.  Anthony Noble - Gallery page http://www.airliners.net/photo/UK---Air/Westland-WS-61-Sea/0769355/L Photo http://cdn-

Today In History:  15 October  [1955]   --  A4 Skyhawk sets a new closed course world speed record

A Douglas A4D "Skyhawk" sets a new closed course world speed record of 695.163 mph.

The Skyhawk is a single-seat subsonic carrier-capable light attack aircraft designed and produced by the American aerospace manufacturer Douglas Aircraft Company, and later, McDonnell Douglas. It was originally designated A4D under the United States Navy's pre-1962 designation system.

The Skyhawk proved to be a relatively common US Navy aircraft export. Due to its small size, it could be operated from older, smaller World War II-era aircraft carriers still used by smaller navies during the 1960s. These older ships were often unable to accommodate newer and larger fighters such as the F-4 Phantom II and F-8 Crusader.

PHOTO: ex-RNZAF A-4 Skyhawk

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Photo Attribution:  Copyright © Historical Aviation Film Unit

Today In History:  14 October  [1938]   --  First flight of the Saro A.33 K4773 flying boat

The Saunders-Roe Saro A.33 was a British flying boat built in 1938 as a competitor to the Short Sunderland.  It was an original design with sponsons instead of wingtip floats and a high parasol wing secured to the hull with two spars.  This design was chosen to minimize the amount of vehicle in the water and hopefully improve speed. 

The wing was very long, reaching 95 feet in span, and fabric-covered.  Visibility from the cockpit was reportedly excellent.  The prototype had numerous small problems with control and sea handling which delayed construction and testing.  A single prototype was built, but during its flight testing during a high-speed taxiing run, the aircraft hit several large swells and the right wing crumpled and twisted into the fuselage.  The prototype and all the crew survived, but the accident led to the end of the program.

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Photo Attribution:  Public Domain

Today In History:  13 October  [1950]   --  First flight of the Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation prototype

Colloquially referred to as the Super Connie, the L-1049 was Lockheed's response to the successful Douglas DC-6 airliner, first flying in 1950. The aircraft was produced for both the United States Navy as the WV / R7V and U.S. Air Force as the C-121 for transport, electronics, and airborne early warning and control aircraft.

Most Super Constellations were retired by their original airline operators after the advent of the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8; the last passenger L1049 flight in the US was an Eastern shuttle EWR-DCA in February 1968.

PHOTO: Kleine Brogel (Belgium) spotters day, 20 September 2015.

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Photo Attribution:  CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia. Rob Schleiffert from Holland

Today In History:  12 October  [1940]   --  First flight of the Ilyushin TsKB-57, prototype of the Ilyushin Il-2

The Ilyushin Il-2 Shturmovik was a ground-attack aircraft produced by the Soviet Union in large numbers during the Second World War. The Il-2 was never given an official name and shturmovik is the generic Russian word meaning ground attack aircraft.

During the war, 36,183 units of the Il-2 were produced, and in combination with its successor, the Ilyushin Il-10, a total of 42,330 were built, making it the single most produced military aircraft design in aviation history, as well as one of the most produced piloted aircraft in history along with the American postwar civilian Cessna 172 and the Soviet Union's own then-contemporary Polikarpov Po-2 Kukuruznik multipurpose biplane.

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This article uses some material and information from Wikipedia.

See the Historical Aviation Film Unit website at http://www.aviationfilm.com to get a new history tidbit every day.

Today In History:  11 October  [1951]   --  In Operation Bumble Bee, US helicopters relieve an entire U.S. Marine Corps battalion

In Operation Bumble Bee, 12 Sikorsky HRS-1 helicopters of Marine Transport Helicopter Squadron 161 (HMR-161) relieve an entire U.S. Marine Corps battalion on the front line in Korea, with each helicopter carrying six Marines at a time 15 miles (24 km) to the front and bringing six Marines at a time out to the rear area on the return trip. In under six hours, they transport a total of 958 Marines.

PHOTO: HRS-1s of HMR-161 flying from USS Sicily in September 1952.

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Photo Attribution:  Public Domain via Wikimedia.

Today In History:  10 October  [1950]   --  The first flight of the Boulton Paul P.111

The Boulton Paul P.111 was an experimental aircraft and was amongst the first aircraft designed to explore the characteristics of the tailless delta wing configuration.

To accommodate its Rolls-Royce Nene turbojet propulsion, a relatively broad fuselage was necessitated, giving it an unorthodox appearance. The wing featured removable wing tips that could be swapped to produce different wing shapes, a feature deemed to be highly desirable for aerodynamic investigations. Other novel features beyond the wing included a Martin-Baker-built ejection seat and an early fully-powered flight control system.

Early flight testing of the aircraft revealed the flight controls to be highly sensitive and a relatively high landing speed was also necessary.

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This article uses some material and information from the Wikipedia article 'Boulton_Paul_P.111', which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.

See the Historical Aviation Film Unit website at http://www.aviationfilm.com to get a new history tidbit every day.


Photo Attribution:  Public Domain via Wikimedia.

Today In History:  09 October  [1930]   --  First transcontinental flight by a woman

Laura Houghtaling Ingalls set the first record for a female pilot between Roosevelt Field and Grand Central Air Terminal, Glendale, California in a time of 30 hours 25 minutes, in a de Havilland D.H. 60 Gipsy Moth.

Laura H. Ingalls was a distant cousin of "Little House on the Prairie" author Laura Ingalls Wilder. She was arrested in December 1941 and convicted of failing to register as a paid Nazi agent, and served 20 months in prison.
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Photo Attribution:  Public Domain via Wikimedia.

Today In History:  08 October  [1952]   --  Twelve Banshee fighters of U.S. Navy escort USAF Boeing B-29 Superfortress' in a raid on Kowon

Twelve F2H Banshee fighters of U.S. Navy Fighter Squadron 11 (VF-11) embarked aboard the aircraft carrier USS Kearsarge (CVA-33) escort U.S. Air Force Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers in a raid on the rail and supply center at Kowon, Korea. Minutes later, 89 aircraft from USS Essex (CVA-9), USS Princeton (CVA-37), and Kearsarge follow up with a bomb and rocket attack on Kowon.

Introduced in 1948 the  Banshee was an early jet fighter operated by United States Navy and United States Marine Corps, as well as being the only jet-powered fighter to ever be deployed by the Royal Canadian Navy.

PHOTO: A U.S. Navy McDonnell F2H-2 Banshee in flight.

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Photo Attribution:  Public Domain via Wikimedia.

Today In History:  07 October  [1944]   --  Luftwaffe night fighter ace Helmut Lent is fatally injured in landing incident

Luftwaffe night fighter ace Oberstleutnant Helmut Lent is fatally injured when his Junkers Ju 88G-6 night fighter crashes during a landing approach after a routine transit flight. He dies two days later, with his score at 110 kills, 103 of them at night.

Lent's 20th night-time victory was against Wellington 1C X9976 of No. 75 (New Zealand) Squadron. Heading for Berlin, the aircraft came down near Akkrum, with the loss of all six-men of the crew.

PHOTO: A Bf 110C similar to those flown by Lent.

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Photo Attribution:  CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia.