Tag Archives: Transatlantic Flight

22 April 1962

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Jackie Cochran in the cockpit of The Scarlett O'Hara, a record-setting Lockheed L-1329 JetStar, N172L. (FAI)
Jackie Cochran in the cockpit of The Scarlett O’Hara, a record-setting Lockheed L-1329 JetStar, N172L at Hanover-Langenhagen Airport, 22 April 1962. (FAI)

22 April 1962: Jackie Cochran set 18 Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) records in one day flying a Lockheed L-1329 JetStar, construction number 5003, FAA registration N172L, and named The Scarlett O’Hara. The route of her flight was New Orleans–Boston–Gander–Shannon–London–Paris–Bonn, with refueling stops at Gander and Shannon.

According to the U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission, Jackie Cochran “…set more speed and altitude records than any other pilot.”

The following are the FAI records that she set on 22 April 1961:

4609, 4615: Speed over a recognized course, Gander, NF (Canada)–Shannon (Ireland): 829.69 kilometers per hour (515.546 miles per hour)

4611, 4616: Speed over a recognized course, Gander, NF (Canada)–London (UK): 749.11 kilometers per hour (465.475 miles per hour)

4612, 4617: Speed over a recognized course, Gander, NF (Canada)–Paris (France): 746.22 kilometers per hour (463.680 miles per hour)

4613, 4618: Speed over a recognized course, Gander, NF (Canada)–Bonn (FRG): 728.26 kilometers per hour (452.520 miles per hour)

4638: Speed over a recognized course, Boston, MA (USA)–Gander, NF (Canada): 816.32 kilometers per hour (507.238 miles per hour)

4639, 4640: Speed over a recognized course, Boston, MA (USA)–Shannon (Ireland): 565.45 kilometers per hour (351.354 miles per hour)

4641, 4642: Speed over a recognized course, Boston, MA (USA)–London (UK): 558.50 kilometers per hour (347.036 miles per hour)

4643, 4644: Speed over a recognized course, Boston, MA (USA)–Paris (France): 564.88 kilometers per hour (351.000 miles per hour)

4645, 4646: Speed over a recognized course, Boston, MA (USA)–Bonn (FRG): 562.56 kilometers per hour (349.559 miles per hour)

12322: Distance, New Orleans, LA (USA)–Gander, NF (Canada): 3,661.33 kilometers (2,275.045 miles)

The first production Lockheed JetStar, c/n 5001, in service with the Federal Aviation Administration, registered N1. (bizjets101)

The Lockheed L-1329 JetStar was the first in a category of small-to-medium-sized jet transports that would become known as the “business jet.” Like many Lockheed airplanes, it was designed by a team led by Clarence L. “Kelly” Johnson, and he retained the first prototype as his personal transport.

The JetStar is operated by two pilots and can be configured for 8 to 10 passengers. The airplane is 60 feet, 5 inches (18.41 meters) long with a wingspan of 54 feet, 5 inches (16.59 meters) and overall height of 20 feet, 5 inches (6.22 meters). The leading edge of the wings are swept to 30°. The JetStar has an empty weight of 24,750 pounds (11,226 kilograms) and maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) of 44,500 pounds.

The two prototype JetStars were powered by two Bristol Siddeley Orpheus engines, but the production models were powered by four Pratt & Whitney JT12A-8 turbojets engines which produced 3,300 pounds of thrust, each. The JetStar 731 was a modification program to replace the turbojet engines with quieter, more efficient and more powerful Garrett AiResearch TFE731 turbofan engines which increased thrust to 3,700 pounds per engine. New production JetStar II airplanes were equipped with these turbofans.

Lockheed L-1329 JetStar (FAI)

The JetStar’s cruise speed is 504 miles per hour (811 kilometers per hour) and its maximum speed is 547 miles per hour (883 kilometers per hour) at 30,000 feet (9,145 meters). The service ceiling is 43,000 feet (13,105 meters) and range is 2,995 miles (4,820 kilometers).

The Lockheed JetStar was in production from 1957 to 1978. 204 were built as civil JetStars and military C-140A Flight Check and C-140B and VC-140B JetStar transports.

The JetStar flown by Jackie Cochran on her record setting flight from New Orleans to Bonn, construction number 5003, eventually was acquired by NASA and assigned to the Dryden Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base, California. It was reregistered as N814NA, and used the call sign NASA 4. No longer in service, NASA 4 is on display at the Joe Davies Heritage Airpark at Air Force Plant 42, Palmdale, California.

Lockheed L-1329 JetStar, N814NA, NASA 4, on static display at Edwards Air Force Base, California. (NASA)
Lockheed L-1329 JetStar, N814NA, NASA 4, on static display at the Joe Davies Heritage Airpark, Palmdale, California. (NASA)

© 2016, Bryan R. Swopes

4–15 March 1957

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U.S. Navy ZPG-2 Bu. No. 141561, “Snow Bird,” prior to departure at NAS South Weymouth, Boston, Massachusetts, 4 March 1957 (NASM)

4 March 1957: At 6:30 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, a United States Navy non-rigid airship, Goodyear ZPG-2, Bu. No. 141561, departed NAS South Weymouth, Boston, Massachussetts, on a long-dstance flight to demonstrate the capabilities of a modern lighter-than-air military “blimp.” The airship had been involved in cold-weather testing and had been given the name, Snow Bird. During this flight, the blimp used the radio call sign “Planner 12.”

CDR Jack R. Hunt, USNR, briefs the crew of Snow Bird prior to departure, 4 March 1957. (Flying Magazine)

Snow Bird was under the command of Commander Jack Reed Hunt, U.S.N.R., a fifteen-year veteran of airship operations. There were two additional pilots, Commander Ronald W. Hoel, U.S.N., and Lieutenant Commander Robert S. Bowser, U.S.N. The crew also consisted of three navigators, Lieutenant Stanley W. Dunton, Lieutenant Charles J. Eadie, and Lieutenant John R. Fitzpatrick. The remainder of the crew were Chief Aviation Electronicsman (ALC) Lee N. Steffan, crew chief and radio; Aviation Machinist’s Mate 1st Class (AD1) Thomas L. Cox, flight mechanic; Aviation Electricians’s Mate 1st Class (AE1) Carl W. Meyer, electrician; Aerographer’s Mate 1st Class (AG1) William S.Dehn, Jr., aerologist and photographer; Aviation Machinist’s Mate 2nd Class (AD2) James R. Burkett, Jr., flight mechanic; Aviation Metalsmith 2nd Class (AM2) George A. Locklear, rigger and cook; and Aviation Electrician’s Mate 2nd Class (AT2) Frank J. Maxymillian, radio. Also on board the air ship was a civilian flight engineer, Mr. Edgar L Moore, a Goodyear Aircraft Corporation Field Representative.

Goodyear ZPG-2 departs NAS South Weymouth, Massachussetts, 4 March 1957. (U.S. Navy, Naval History and Heritage Command 80-G-1009746)

Snow Bird headed east across the Atlantic Ocean, passing north of the Azores on 7 March. At this point, the airship had burned off enough fuel that it was light enough to cruise on one engine. This allowed a much greater range. (A lateral rive shaft between engines allowed both propellers to continue turning.) Late in the third day the flight, the blimp reached the west coast of Portugal, having completed the first Atlantic crossing by a lighter-than-air craft in 12 years.

Snow Bird turned south, heading for Casablanca on the west coast of North Africa, which it reached the morning of 8 March. The airship continued south along the African coast before turning west to re-cross the ocean. The route took the blimp past the Canary and Cape Verde Islands, and then onward to the Virgin Islands. Arriving back in the United States, Snow Bird made landfall at Miami Beach on the afternoon of 14 March.

Admiral Arleigh Burke

A radio message was sent to the crew of Planner 12 by Admiral Arleigh Burke, Chief of Naval Operations:

HEARTIEST CONGRATULATIONS ON ESTABLISHING A NEW WORLD ENDURANCE RECORD FOR AIRSHIPS X YOUR UNTIRING EFFORTS AND DEVOTION ARE MOST COMMENDABLE X THIS FLIGHT DEMONSTRATES AN INCREASED ASW AND AEW CAPABILITY AND OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS WHICH SERVE TO DEMONSTRATE A CONTINUING SEARCH FOR TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES BY THE U S NAVY X WELL DONE X ARLEIGH BURKE

Not finished with its voyage, the airship next headed to Dry Tortugas at the far western end of the Florida Keys, and then finally landed at NAS Key West, Florida, on 15 March.

ZPG-2 Flight Track (Flying Magazine)

Snow Bird had traveled 9,448 miles (15,205 kilometers) without landing or refueling. The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) lists this as “the longest recorded airship flight.” This exceeded the distance record set by Graf Zeppelin, flying from Friedrichshaven, Germany, to Tokyo, Japan, (11,247 kilometers) 15–19 August 1929. From takeoff at NAS South Weymouth to landing at NAS Key West, the total duration of the flight was 264 hours, 14 minutes.

The crew was met by a large group of dignitaries. Commander Reed was presented the Distinguished Flying Cross by Fleet Admiral William Frederick Halsey, Jr., United States Navy, one of the greatest military leaders of World War II.

Commander Hunt was later presented the Harmon International  Trophy by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

An AEW variant U.S. Navy Goodyear ZPG airship. (The Noon Balloon)

Goodyear ZPG-2 Bu. No. 141561 was built by the Goodyear Aircraft Corporation at Akron, Ohio. It was the 11th of 12 “N-class” airships which were used for patrol, anti-submarine warfare ASW), and when equipped with radar, for airborne early warning (AEW).

The ZPG-2 is 343 feet (105 meters) long and the envelope has a maximum diameter of 76 feet (23 meters). A two-deck control car was suspended beneath the envelope. The airship had an overall height of 107 feet (33 meters). Bouyancy was provided by 1,011,000 cubic feet (28,628 cubic meters) of Helium.

There are four fins placed in a X-pattern at the tail of the ZPG-2, called ruddervators. (These were similar to the fins used on the experimental submarine USS Albacore (AGSS-569) several years later.) The ruddervators allowed the airship to be controlled by a single control column, a change from the two controls used previously. Also, the decreased vertical span of the fins allowed greater ground clearance, so that the blimp could takeoff at steeper angles than if it had been equipped with the standard cruciform fins.

N-class blimp N-1. Compare its fins to those of the airship in the background.

The Goodyear ZPG-2 was powered by two air-cooled, supercharged, 1,301.868 cubic inch displacement (21.334 liter) Wright Aeronautical Division R-1300-2 (Cyclone 7 865C7BA1) seven-cylinder radial engines mounted outside the control car. The R-1300-2 was a direct-drive engine with a compression ratio of 6.2:1. It was rated at 700 horsepower at 2,400 r.p.m., and 800 horsepower at 2,600 r.p.m., for takeoff, using 91/96 octane aviation gasoline. The engines turned three-bladed Curtiss Electric variable pitch, reversible propellers. The R-1300-2 was 48.12 inches (1.222 meters) long, 50.45 inches (1.281 meters) in diameter, and weighed 1,067 pounds (484 kilograms).

The ZPG-2 had a cruise speed of 57 miles per hour (92 kilometers per hour) and maximum speed of 80 miles per hour (129 kilometers per hour). Its normal endurance was three days.

Bu. No. 141561’s cockpit, nose cone and a frame of a ruddervator are displayed at the National Naval Aviation Museum, NAS Pensacola, Florida.

Jack Reed Hunt

Jack Reed Hunt was born at Red Oak, Iowa, 18 May 1918. He was the second of seven children of Smith Reed Hunt, a baker, and Blanche Luise Seefeldt Hunt. The family moved to southern California, where Jack grew up.

Jack R. Hunt joint the United States Navy on 4 April 1942. He was trained as an airship pilot and flight instructor. Hunt was commissioned as an Ensign in the United States Naval Reserve, 1 October 1942, and promoted to Lieutenant (junior grade), 1 October 1943. Hunt remained in the Navy following World War II. He was promoted to Lieutenant Commander 1 August 1951, and to Commander, 1 July 1956.

From 1963 until 1984, Jack Hunt was the president of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, a fully-accredited aerospace university.

Hunt was married three times (Bethel, Donna and Lynne) and had seven children. He died 7 January 1984, at the age of 65 years.

© 2019, Bryan R. Swopes

21 February 1951

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English Electric Canberra B Mk.2 WD932 (Mary Evans Picture Library)

21 February 1951: A Royal Air Force English Electric Canberra B Mk.2 bomber, WD932, under the command of Squadron Leader Arthur Edward Callard, D.F.C., A.F.C, A.R.Ae.S., took off from RAF Aldergrove, Belfast, Northern Ireland, and flew across the North Atlantic to Gander, Newfoundland, Canada. Also aboard were Flight Lieutenant Edward Arthur Joseph Haskett, navigator, and Flight Lieutenant A.G.R. Robson, radio operator. The crew were assigned to the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment, RAF Boscombe Down.

WD932 departed Aldergrove at 12:43 p.m. local time (12:43 UTC), and arrived at Gander at 11:50 Newfoundland Standard Time (17:20 UTC), for an elapsed time of 4 hours, 37 minutes. Flying at altitudes above 40,000 feet (12,192 meters) they encountered head winds of 90 miles per hour (40 meters per second). The average speed of the flight was 444.042 miles per hour (714.616 kilometers per hour/385.862 knots).

For this flight, WD932 was equipped with jettisonable 250 gallon wing tip fuel tanks, giving the Canberra a total fuel capacity of 1,874 Imperial gallons (2,250 U.S. gallons/8,519 liters).

The flight had been delayed to repair an 8-inch (20 centimeters) hole in the leading edge of the right wing, caused when the airplane struck a seagull on takeoff the previous day.

Great Circle route from RAF Aldergrove, Belfast, Northern Ireland, to Gander, Newfoundland: 2,067 statute miles. (Great Circle Mapper)

The RAF had not requested observers from Royal Aero Club of the United Kingdom, so no official world record was set by this flight.

Crew of Canberra: E.A.J. Haskett, A.E. Callard, A.G.R. Robson (Mary Evans Picture Library)

British Jet Flys Atlantic in Record 4 Hours 37 Minutes

     GANDER, N. F., Feb. 21 (UP) — A twin-jet British Canberra bomber, flying at better than seven miles a minute, set a record of four hour and 37 minutes today on a 2050-mile flight from Ireland to Gander.

     The Canberra, piloted by squadron leader Arthur E. Callard, left Aldergrove, Northern Ireland, at 7:43 a.m. E. S. T. and landed here at 12:20 p.m., averaging 444.042 miles an hour despite headwinds of 90 miles an hour.

     A crew of two accompanied Callard on the transatlantic flight, which better by two hours the only comparable record of six hours and 40 minutes set in 1947 by a Pan American Constellation flying here from Shannon Airport, Ireland.

     “It would be hard for anyone to convince us that they had a more pleasant trip than we,” Callard said as he stepped from the sleek bomber, claimed by the British to be the fastest plane of its type in the world.

     He described the trip as “perfect from start to finish.”

     Callard, Flight Lt. Edward Haskett, the navigator, and Flight Lt. A. J. Robson, radio operator, agreed that they would have completed the flight sooner had it not been for heavy headwinds.

     They declined to give any details of the flight because the performance of the plane is top-secret.

     “But we can say it feels grand,” Callard said. “The trip was quiet and one of the things about flying a jet bomber is that‚in this case anyway—there was no vibration like you’d find in an old-type plane.”

     The Canberra flew most of the distance at altitudes greater than 40,000 feet. The plane roared into sight of this Newfoundland outpost as 12:16 p.m., touching down on the airport seven minutes later.

     The jet bomber will go to Andrews Air Base, Washington, D.C., for tests by the United States Air Force. If the tests are successful, the plane may be mass-produced in the United States for Gen Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Atlantic Army Air Force.

—Boston Evening Globe, Vol. CLIX, No 52, Page 1, Columns 5 and 6, Page 10, Columns 5 and 6

WD932 continued to Andrews AFB where it would be demonstrated to the U.S. Air Force, and to be used as a pattern aircraft for the B-57 Canberra, produced by the Glenn L. Martin Co., Middle River, Maryland. It would be assigned the USAF serial number 51-17387.

English Electric Canberra B Mk.2 WD932 (Mary Evans Picture Library)

On 2 December 1951, WD932 disintegrated in flight during 4.8g maneuver at 10,000 feet, near Middle River. Major Harry M. Lester and Captain Reid Johns Shaw ejected, though Shaw was killed when his parachute failed to open. The accident was believed to have resulted from a problem with fuel management which caused the airplane’s center of gravity to shift aft.

English Electric Canberra B Mk.2 WD932, flown by Wing Commander Roland P. Beamont, during a demonstration flight at Martin Airport, Middle River, Maryland, home of the Glenn L. Martin Company, 11 March 1951. (Mary Evans Picture Library)

WD932 was the fourth production Canberra B Mk.2, with manufacturer’s serial number 71012.

The English Electric Canberra B Mk.2 was the first production variant of a twin-engine, turbojet powered light bomber. The bomber was operated by a pilot, navigator and bombardier. It was designed to operate at very high altitudes. The Canberra B.2 was 65 feet, 6 inches (19.964 meters) long with a wingspan of 64 feet, 0 inches (19.507 meters) and height of 15 feet, 7 inches (4.750 meters). The airplane’s maximum takeoff weight was 46,000 pounds (20,865 kilograms).

The wing used a symmetrical airfoil and had 2° angle of incidence. The leading edges of the outer wing panels were swept back 13° 33′, while the trailing edges swept forward 19°53′. The inner wing had 2° dihedral (+/- 10′), and the outer wing, 4° 21′. The total wing area was 960 square feet (89.2 square meters). The variable-incidence tail plane had 10° dihedral.

The Canberra B.2 was powered by two Rolls-Royce Avon RA.3 Mk. 101 engines. The RA.3 was a single-spool axial-flow turbojet with a 12-stage compressor section and single-stage turbine. It was rated at 6,500-pounds-thrust (28.91 kilonewtons).

The B.2 had a maximum speed of 450 knots (518 miles per hour/833 kilometers per hour). It was restricted to a maximum 0.75 Mach from Sea Level to 15,000 feet (4,572 meters), and 0.79 Mach from 15,000 to 25,000 feet (7.620 meters). Above that altitude the speed was not restricted, but pilots were warned that they could expect compressibility effects at 0.82 Mach or higher.

The Canberra was produced in bomber, intruder, photo reconnaissance, electronic countermeasures and trainer variants by English Electric, Handley Page, A. V. Roe, and Short Brothers and Harland. In the United States, a licensed version, the B-57A Canberra, was built by the Glenn L. Martin Company. The various versions were operated by nearly 20 nations. The Canberra was the United Kingdom’s only jet-powered bomber for four years. The last one in RAF service, a Canberra PR.9, made its final flight on 28 July 2008.

© 2023, Bryan R. Swopes

9 February 1933

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James A. Mollison with his de Havilland DH.80A Puss Moth, shortly before his transatlantic flight. (NB Museum Archives X8735)

9 April 1933: Jim Mollison flies solo across the South Atlantic Ocean. He left Dakar, Senegal, at 12:15 a.m., 9 February, and arrived at Port Natal, Brazil, at 03:20 GMT, 10 February. Mollison’s airplane was a de Havilland DH.80A Puss Moth, G-ABXY, which he had named The Heart’s Content.

Jim Mollison’s de Havilland DH.80A Puss Moth, G-ABXY, “The Heart’s Content.”

Port Natal, Brazil (Thursday)

     Mr. J. A. Mollison, after a flight of 17½ hours from Dakar, landed here at 3.20 G.M.T. this afternoon. He has completed the flight from Lympne, which he left at 8.12 on Monday, in 82 hours 8 minutes, thus beating the French record by 25 hours 52 minutes. This was the first solo westward flight across the South Atlantic. After he landed Mr. Mollison attended an official reception, at which the Governor of the Province, the Mayor, and a number of military officials were present.

     He made a perfect landing in Heart’s Content, and getting out said, “I had good weather most of the way. The South Atlantic is a much simpler task than the North.” Mr. Mollison said his machine averaged 115 miles per hour. He is staying here to-night and flying on to Rio de Janeiro to-morrow.—Reuter

     Considerable interest has been taken during the week in the progress of Mr. Jim Mollison (teh husband of Miss Amy Johnson), who left Lympne at 8.12 last Monday morning on an attempt to fly to South America in three and a half days and thus beat the record of 4½ days from France to Brazil, set up by a French monoplane.

     At 5.10 on Monday evening he landed at Barcelona. Fog caused him to miss the aerodrome at Barcelona and he went some 40 miles out of his way before finding it. This delayed him about an hour.

If the Spanish Air Force had not put out flares for him it is doubtful whether Mr. Mollison would have been able to land at Barcelona at all.

He left this place at 8.45 the same night and landed at Agadir, Morocco, at 7.20 on Tuesday evening. At 3.15 p.m. on Tuesday he reached Villas Cisneros, and at 8 o’clock on Wednesday morning he was at Thies, Senegal. The distance fro, Lympne to Thies is 2,410 miles, and Mr. Mollison flew there in a few minutes under 48 hours.

     At 12.15 a.m. yesterday he left Dakar for Port Natal.

—Devon and Exeter Gazette, Friday, 10 February 1933, Page 20, Column 1

 

De Havilland DH.80 Puss Moth three-view illustration with dimensions, from NACA Advisory Circular No. 117, THE DE HAVILLAND “MOTH THREE” AIRPLANE (BRITISH)

The de Havilland Aircraft Co., Ltd., DH.80A Puss Moth was a single-engine high-wing monoplane with an enclosed cabin for a pilot and two passengers. It was constructed of a welded tubular steel frame and wood wings covered with doped fabric. The airplane was 25 feet, 0 inches (7.620 meters) long with a wingspan of 36 feet, 9 inches (11.201 meters) and height of 6 feet, 10 inches (2.083 meters). The Puss Moth had an empty weight of 1,150 pounds (522 kilograms) and gross weight of 1,900 pounds (863 kilograms).

G-ABXY was powered by a 373.71-cubic-inch-displacement (6,124 cubic centimeters) air-cooled de Havilland Gipsy Major I inverted, inline 4-cylinder engine with a compression ratio of 5.25:1. It produced 120 horsepower at 2,100 r.p.m and 130 horsepower at 2,350 r.p.m. The engine weighed 306 pounds (138.8 kilograms).

The DH.80A had a cruise speed of 105 miles per hour (169 kilometers per hour) and maximum speed of 125 miles per hour (201 kilometers per hour). The airplane had a service ceiling of 13,000 feet (4,000 meters). The standard DH.80A had a range of 440 miles (708 kilometers) (with optional tanks, the range was extended to 570 miles or 700 miles).¹

De Havilland built 284 DH.80A Puss Moths between 1929 and 1933. Only eight are known to exist.

G-ABXY was first registered in July 1932. Its Certificate of Registration was number 3816. Flown by Harold Leslie Brook, it was destroyed in a crash near Génolhac, Gard, France, when Brook encountered freezing fog, 28 March 1934. Losing altitude, the airplane crashed on the slope of a mountain. Brook was injured.

¹ Specifications and performance from National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics Advisory Circular No. 117, https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/19930090394

© 2023, Bryan R. Swopes

5–6 February 1946

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A TWA Lockheed Constellation over Paris. (Unattributed)
A Transcontinental and Western Airlines Lockheed L-049 Constellation over Paris, France. (Unattributed)

5–6 February 1946: Transcontinental and Western Airlines—TWA—”The Trans World Airline,” flew its first revenue international passengers on a scheduled transatlantic flight from La Guardia Field, New York (LGA) to Aéroport de Paris-Orly, Paris (ORY).

The airplane was a Lockheed L-049 Constellation, serial number 2035, NC86511, named Star of Paris, under the command of Captain Harold F.  Blackburn. Captains Jack Hermann and John M. Calder, Navigator M. Chrisman and Flight Engineers Art Ruhanen, Ray McBride and Jack Rouge completed the flight crew. Purser Don Shiemwell and Hostess Ruth Schmidt were in the cabin along with 36 passengers.

Star of Paris departed LaGuardia at 2:21 p.m., EST, 5 February. The flight made brief stops at Gander, Newfoundland (YQX) and Shannon, Ireland (SNN), and arrived at Orly Field, at 3:57 p.m., February 6. The elapsed time was 16 hours, 21 minutes.

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Photograph from TWA Skyliner Magazine, 9 February 1961, at Page 4

Confusion exists over which TWA Constellation made the first scheduled flight from LGA to ORY. This is probably because two days earlier, 3 February, another L-049, Paris Sky Chief, NC86505, s/n 2026, also commanded by Hal Blackburn, flew from Washington National Airport (DCA) to Paris Orly as a trial. On that flight, the Constellation averaged 316 miles per hour (509 kilometers per hour). This non-scheduled trip took 14 hours, 47 minutes, total elapsed time, with 12 hours 57 minutes actual flight time. Paris Sky Chief‘s TWA fleet number was 505, while Star of Paris was number 555.

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Trans World Airlines Lockheed L-049, Paris Sky Chief, NC86505. (www.sedonalegendhelenfrye.com)
Harold F. Blackburn, ca. 1945 (Flying Magazine)
Harold F. Blackburn, ca. 1945 (Flying Magazine)

Harold F. Blackburn was born in 1901 at Urbana, Illinois. He joined the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1928, and studied aviation at the University of Southern California. He received his Air Corps pilot’s wings in 1930.

In 1932, Blackburn participated in the relief of the Native American reservations near Winslow, Arizona, which had been cut off by a winter storm. His entire unit, the 11th Bombardment Squadron, based at March Field, Riverside, California, was awarded the Mackay Trophy.

Lieutenant Blackburn married Miss Martha Bondurant in 1932. They would have a son Robert, and daughters Beverly, Bonnie and Betty. Beverly died in infancy 1 December 1943. Blackburn would later marry Helen Jones.

Hal Blackburn began flying with TWA in 1934 and remained with the company for over 25 years. During World War II, he flew Boeing 377s across the South Atlantic for the airline’s Intercontinental Division, of which he would become the manager.  In addition to the New York-Paris flight in 1946, Blackburn flew TWA’s first Boeing 707 from New York to Paris in 1961.

“Blackie,” as he is known to his friends, has been an active pilot since 1919. His air time equals three years spent above the earth’s surface during which he has logged more than six and a half million miles . . . The Washington Post named him the “Ideal Father” in 1946. Capt. Blackburn also assisted with the formation of Saudi Arabian Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines and Deutsche-Lufthansa. Viewed by the news media as the ideal model pilot, Capt. Blackburn has been the subject of two lengthy profiles in the New Yorker magazine . . .  In 26,800 hours of flying, Capt. Blackburn never injured a passenger, nor damaged an aircraft, and was never late for a flight. Married for 32 years, he is the father of four children and three times a grandfather. He resides in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch Country. He retired from flying in 1962. His last flight, in command of a TWA SuperJet [the company’s name for the Boeing 707 or Convair 880] from Rome to New York, was the subject of an hour-long television documentary.

—The Indiana Gazette, Monday, 14 October 1963, Page 5 at Columns 2–4

Captain Blackburn was the subject of Like a Homesick Angel, a biography by John Bainbridge, Houghton Mifflin, 1964. He died at Oakland, California, 4 August 1989, at the age of 87 years.

A TWA Lockheed L-049 Constellation, NC86517. (Ed Coates Collection)

Star of Paris (serial number 2035), a Lockheed Model L-049-46 Constellation, had been built at Lockheed Aircraft Corporation’s Burbank, California, plant and delivered to Transcontinental and Western in December 1945. The airliner remained in service with TWA until 1 September 1961. During that time it was also named Star of  Dublin.

The Lockheed Constellation first flew in 1942, and was produced for the U.S. Army Air Corps as the C-69. With the end of World War II, commercial airlines needed new airliners for the post-war boom. The Constellation had transoceanic range and a pressurized cabin for passenger comfort.

The Lockheed L-049 Constellation was operated by a flight crew of four and could carry up to 81 passengers. The airplane was 95 feet, 1 3⁄16 inches (28.986 meters) long with a wingspan of 123 feet, 0 inches (37.490 meters), and overall height of 23 feet, 7⅞ inches (7.210 meters). It had an empty weight of 49,392 pounds (22,403.8 kilograms) and maximum takeoff weight of 86,250 pounds (39,122.3 kilograms).

Trans World Airlines’ Lockheed L-049 Constellation NC90818, Star of the Red Sea, at San Francisco, California, 10 June 1948. (Bill Larkins/Wikimedia)

The L-049 was powered by four air-cooled, supercharged and fuel-injected, 3,347.662-cubic-inch-displacement (54.858 liter) Wright Aeronautical Division Cyclone 18 ¹ 745C18BA3 two-row 18-cylinder radial engines with a compression ratio of 6.5:1. The -BA3 was rated at 2,000 horsepower at 2,400 r.p.m., or 2,200 horsepower at 2,800 r.p.m., for takeoff, (five minute limit). The engines drove 15 foot, 2 inch (4.623 meter) diameter, three-bladed Hamilton Standard Hydromatic constant-speed propellers through a 0.4375:1 gear reduction. The 745C18BA3 was 6 feet, 4.13 inches (1.934 meters) long, 4 feet, 7.78 inches (1.417 meters) in diameter and weighed 2,842 pounds (1,289.11 kilograms).

The L-049 had a cruise speed of 313 miles per hour (503.72 kilometers per hour) and a range of 3,995 miles (6,429.3 kilometers). Its service ceiling was 25,300 feet (7,711 meters).

22 C-69s and 856 Constellations of all types were built. Designed by the famous Kelly Johnson, the Lockheed Constellation was in production from 1943–1958 in both civilian airliner and military transport versions. It is the classic propeller-driven transcontinental and transoceanic airliner.

"TWA Lockheed Constellation at Paris-Orly" by Lucio Perinotto. For more striking paintings by the artist, please visit his web site at http://www.lucioperinotto.com/
“TWA Lockheed Constellation at Paris-Orly” by Lucio Perinotto. For more striking paintings by the artist, please visit his web site at http://www.lucioperinotto.com/

On 18 November 1950, TWA’s Constellation NC86511 suffered failures of the two inboard  engines while taking off from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The airliner was diverted to nearby Long Beach Airport (LGB) for an emergency landing. The crew made an instrument approach and could not see the runway until the last moment, touching down at approximately midway. The runway was wet and the airplane could not be stopped before running off the end. The right main landing gear collapsed. The Constellation was damaged but repaired and returned to service. It was later renamed Star of Dublin.

TWA Lockheed Constellation after landing accident at Long Beach, California, 18 November 1950. (Aviation Safety Network)
TWA Lockheed Constellation after landing accident at Long Beach, California, 18 November 1950. (Aviation Safety Network)

On 1 September 1961, NC86511 was operating as TWA Flight 529 from Chicago Midway Airport (MDW) to Los Angeles, California. Shortly after takeoff a mechanical failure caused to airplane to pitch up and stall. The flight crew was unable to regain control of the Constellation and it crashed in a field near Hinsdale, Illinois. All 78 persons on board were killed.

The crash site of Trans World Airlines' Flight 529, Lockheed L-049 Constellation s/n 2035, NC86511, Star of Dublin.
The crash site of Trans World Airlines’ Flight 529, Lockheed L-049 Constellation s/n 2035, NC86511, Star of Dublin.

© 2019, Bryan R. Swopes