Jackie Cochran and Lockheed F-104G Starfighter 62-12222 at Edwards AFB, 1964. (FAI)
1 June 1964: At Edwards Air Force Base, Jackie Cochran flew a Lockheed F-104G Starfighter, serial number 62-12222, over a 100 kilometer (62.137 miles) closed circuit without payload, averaging 2,097.27 kilometers per hour (1,303.18 miles per hour).¹ This new Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) speed record broke the one set a year earlier—2,038.70 kilometers per hour (1,266.79 miles per hour)—by Cochran’s friend and competitor, Jacqueline Auriol, who flew a Dassault Mirage IIIR delta-winged reconnaissance fighter at Istres, France. ²
Designed by the legendary Kelly Johnson as a Mach 2 interceptor, the Starfighter was used as a fighter bomber by Germany. The F-104G was most-produced version of the Lockheed Starfighter. It had a strengthened fuselage and wings, with hardpoints for carrying bombs, missiles and additional fuel tanks. Built by Lockheed, they were also licensed for production by Canadair, Dornier, Fiat, Fokker, Messerschmitt and SABCA.
The F-104G is a single-seat, single-engine fighter bomber, 54 feet 8 inches (16.662 meters) long with a wingspan of just 21 feet, 9 inches (6.629 meters) and overall height of 13 feet, 6 inches (4.115 meters). The empty weight is 14,000 pounds (6,350.3 kilograms) and loaded weight is 20,640 pounds (9,362.2 kilograms).
The F-104G was powered by a General Electric J79-GE-11A engine, a single-spool, axial-flow, afterburning turbojet, which used a 17-stage compressor section and 3-stage turbine. The J79-GE-11A is rated at 10,000 pounds of thrust (44.48 kilonewtons), and 15,800 pounds (70.28 kilonewtons) with afterburner. The engine is 17 feet, 4.0 inches (5.283 meters) long, 3 feet, 2.3 inches (0.973 meters) in diameter, and weighed 3,560 pounds (1,615 kilograms).
The maximum speed is 1,328 miles per hour (2,137.2 kilometers per hour). It has a combat radius of 420 miles (675.9 kilometers) or a ferry range of 1,630 miles (2,623.2 kilometers). The service ceiling is 50,000 feet (15,240 meters).
The Starfighter’s standard armament consists of a 20 mm General Electric M61A1 Vulcan 6-barreled Gatling gun, with 725 rounds of ammunition, and up to four AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air heat seeking missiles could be carried on the wingtips or under wing pylons. In place of missiles two wingtip fuel tanks and another two underwing tanks could be carried.
On NATO alert, the F-104G was armed with a B43 variable-yield nuclear bomb on the fuselage centerline hardpoint. The B43 could be set for explosive force between 170 kilotons and 1 megaton and was designed for high-speed, low-altitude, laydown delivery.
Jackie Cochran set three speed records with this F-104 in May and June 1964.³ Under the Military Assistance Program, the U.S. Air Force transferred it to the Republic of China Air Force, where it was assigned number 4322. It crashed 17 July 1981. The pilot, Yan Shau-kuen, ejected.
The record-setting Lockheed F-104G Starfighter, USAF serial number 62-12222, in service with the Republic of China Air Force as 4322. (Detail from image International F-104 Society)
A Sikorsky S-62, N323Y, at the SFO heliport adjacent to the Ferry Building in downtown San Francisco. (Vertical Flight Society)SFOHA routes
1 June 1961: San Francisco-Oakland Helicopter Airlines (also known as SFO Helicopter Airlines) begins operating scheduled passenger service between San Francisco International Airport (SFO), Oakland Metropolitan Airport (OAK), and the cities of Berkeley, San Francisco, Oakland and Palo Alto, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. The company initially used two Sikorsky S-62A helicopters.
Passenger fares ranged from $4.00 to $8.50.
One of the helistops was in the parking lot adjacent to the Ferry Building in downtown San Francisco. The noise of the helicopters generated many complaints.
On 13 July, the San Francisco Port Authority warned the airline that it had 30 days to “abate” the noise of the helicopters taking off and landing at the Ferry Building “or to find another location.” After the airline notified the Port Authority that it would acquire quieter, twin-engine Sikorsky S-61N helicopters, the Authority rescinded its removal order on 9 August.
The Palo Alto Times reported:
‘Copter passenger service under way
San Francisco-Oakland today became the fourth metropolitan area in the United States to get scheduled helicopter passenger service.
The new San Francisco and Oakland Helicopter Airlines, Inc., this morning inaugurated regular flights linking the San Francisco and Oakland airports with downtown heliports in both cities.
Approximately 30 daily flights are scheduled between the hours of 6:30 a.m. and 10:30 p.m.
Flights to Palo Alto, San Jose, Berkeley and Sacramento will be added in the near future.
Initially the line is flying two turbine-powered Sikorsky S-62 amphibious helicopters. Each helicopter is capable of carrying 10 passengers, plus baggage, at speeds of 100 miles per hour.
The downtown San Francisco heliport is located on a new site just north of the Ferry Building and adjacent to the World Trade center. The Oakland heliport is near Lake Merritt on 10th Street, next to the Oakland Auditorium and the Exposition Building
An airlines spokesman said the firm has applied to the Civil Aeronautics Board for authority to carry passengers and cargo between any points within a 100-mile radius of the San Francisco and Oakland airports.
The firm has plans to acquire a third helicopter which would carry 28 passengers as soon as the traffic load increases, the spokesman said.
The new service makes the trip between downtown San Francisco and the San Francisco International Airport in eight minutes. Fares for the service range from $4 to $8.50.
Other cities which already have helicopter passenger service are Los Angeles, New York and Chicago.
The president of the new company, Mervyn Frances (“Mike”) Bagan, was formerly an attorney for the Civil Aeronautics Board, and vice president of Los Angeles Airways. He also served as the Director of Research for Central Airlines.
San Francisco-Oakland Helicopter Airlines’ Sikorsky S-62A N978 takes of from the main terminal at San Francisco International Airport. (Vertical Flight Society)SFO Helicopter Airline’s S-62As could carry 10 passengers. (Vertical Flight Society)Left to right: Captain Bruce F. DeHaas, Vice President-Operations; John J. Cunningham, Vice President; Mervyn F. Bagan, President; Roger E. Hall, Director of Traffic and Sales; Chester M. Schmidt, Director of Maintenance. (Vertical Flight Society)
The S-62A was manufactured by the Sikorsky Aircraft Division of the United Technologies Corporation at Stratford, Connecticut. It is a medium helicopter, flown by two pilots. It could carry ten passengers. The helicopter was powered by a single turboshaft engine. It used the dynamic components of the earlier Sikoprsky S-55 model (main rotor head, main rotor blades, intermediate gear box, tail gear box tail rotor head and blades). The main transmission was modified to bring the turboshaft engine’s r.p.m. to an acceptable speed (85.839:1 gear reduction). Tail rotor drive is 12.274:1 The fuselage features a “boat hull” for water landings.
The helicopter’s main landing gear is retractable into sponsons. The tail wheel is fixed.
Sikorsky S-62 three-view illustration with dimensions. (Sikorsky)
The S-62 has an overall length of 62 feet, 3 inches (18.974 meters) with rotors turning. The fuselage is 45 feet, 5.5 inches (13,856 meters) long and 5 feet, 10 inches (1.778 meters) wide. The three-blade main rotor diameter is 53 feet, 0 inches (16.154 meters), and tail rotor diameter, 8 feet, 9 inches (2.667 meters). It has a maximum height of 15 feet, 11.8 inches (4.872 meters). As is common with American single main rotor helicopters, the main rotor turns counterclockwise as seen from above. (The advancing blade is on the right side of the helicopter.) The two-blade tail rotor, which is mounted on the left side of the tail boom, turns clockwise, as seen from the helicopter’s left. (The advancing blade is below the axis of rotation.) The S-62A has an empty weight of 5,083 pounds (2,306 kilograms), and maximum gross weight of 8,300 pounds (3,765 kilograms).
The Sikorsky S-62A is powered by one General Electric CT58-110-1 turboshaft engine, offset to the left of the aircraft centerline. The engine has a 10-stage axial-flow compressor, an annular combustion chamber, 2-stage gas producer turbine, a single-stage power turbine. The CT58-110-1’s maximum continuous power rating is 1,050 shaft horsepower (783 kilowatts). The engine is derated to 670 shaft horsepower (500 kilowatts) as installed. This engine is 1 foot, 4 inches (0.406 meters) in diameter and 4 feet, 7 inches (1.397 meters) long. Without the reduction gear box, it weighs 285 pounds (129 kilograms).
The helicopter has two fuel tanks with a total capacity of 325.0 U.S. gallons (1,230.26 liters). The unusable fuel is 1.07 gallons (4.050 liters).
The S-62’s normal cruise speed 85 knots (98 miles per hour/157 kilometers per hour), while its maximum allowable speed (VNE) is 109 knots (125 miles per hour/202 kilometers per hour) with the gross weight below 6,500 pounds (2,948 kilograms). Sideward flight is limited to 25 knots (29 miles per hour/46 kilometers per hour), and rearward, 20 knots (23 miles per hour/37 kilometers per hour). The maximum range is 400 nautical miles (460 statute miles/741 kilometers), and the service ceiling is 11,200 feet (3,414 meters).
A total of 151 Sikorsky S-62s were built. The United States Coast Guard purchased 99 S-62Cs, designated HH-52A. These differed from the commercial variant by having three axis automatic stabilization equipment, LORAN navigation, and a rescue hoist, and a General Electric T58-GE-8 engines rated at 1,250 shaft horsepower (919 kilowatts), derated to 730 shaft horsepower (553 kilowatts). Mitsubishi Heavy Industries built the S-62J variant under license. The HH-52 was in service with the USCG from 1963 until 1989. According to Sikorsky, the HH-52 series has rescued more than 15,000 people while in service with the Coast Guard, far more than any other helicopter type up to that time.
Two S-62As were operated by San Francisco-Oakland Helicopter Airlines. Sikorsky S-62 N978 (serial number 62009) was manufactured in 1960. Its FAA registration was cancelled 18 September 2009. N323Y (serial number 62014) was manufactured in 1961. It was destroyed and its FAA registration cancelled 18 November 1980.
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines’ Douglas DC-3-194, PH-ALI, Ibis.
1 June 1943: British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) Flight 777-A was a scheduled passenger flight from Lisboa-Portela de Sacavém Airport, in neutral Portugal, to Whitechurch Airport, Bristol, England. The airplane was a Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V. (KLM Royal Dutch Airlines) Douglas DC-3-194 twin-engine, 21-passenger commercial airliner, serial number 1590, with British registration G-AGBB.
Lisboa-Portela de Sacavém Airport, circa 1943. (Unattributed)
The DC-3 had been delivered to KLM by ship, the Holland-America passenger liner, SS Statendam, which arrived 11 September 1936. The airliner was assigned Netherlands registration PH-ALI and named Ibis. It was the first of ten DC-3s ordered by KLM, and it regularly flew a London–Amsterdam–Berlin schedule.
KLM’s DC-3s were configured with a three-seat flight deck. A third seat was placed behind the first pilot, for use by a radio operator/navigator. A chart table was behind the second pilot’s seat.
A KLM Douglas DC-3 PH-ASR, Roek, at Luchthaven Schiplol, 1940. The airliner is conspicuously painted and marked in neutrality colors.
When Germany invaded Holland in May 1940, Ibis was flown to England and was then leased to BOAC. Once in England, it was re-registered G-AGBB. Although it remained a civil aircraft, Ibis was painted in the standard Royal Air Force dark green, dark brown and gray camouflage. The original KLM flight crew continued to fly the airliner for BOAC.
Junkers Ju 88 C heavy fighter, 1943 (Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-484-2984-31A)
At about 12:45 p.m., a flight of eight Junkers Ju 88C fighters, which were patrolling the Bay of Biscay to protect transiting U-boats, encountered the camouflaged DC-3 and shot it down.
All those aboard, 13 passengers and 4 crew members, were killed. Actor, director and producer Leslie Howard, who portrayed “Ashley Wilkes” in the 1939 motion picture, “Gone With The Wind,” and R. J Mitchell, designer of the Supermarine Spitfire, in 1942’s “First of the Few,” was one of the passengers who died.
Leslie Howard (Los Angeles Times)
Ibis had been attacked by German fighters on two previous occasions. On 15 November 1942 a Messerschmitt Bf-110 twin-engine fighter damaged it. On 19 April 1943, six Bf-110s attacked. Both times the DC-3 had been damaged but was able to land safely.
Passenger manifest for B.O.A.C. Flight 777. (British Overseas Airways Corporation)
Focke-Wulf Fw 190 V1, W.Nr. 0001, D-OPZE, the first prototype. (Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau AG)
1 June 1939: At Bremen, Germany, Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau AG chief test pilot Hans Sander took the first prototype of a new fighter, Fw 190 V1, W.Nr. 0001, registration D-OPZE, for its first flight.
Dipl. Ing. Hans Sander
The Fw 190 was designed as a fast, light-weight fighter with a powerful engine, easy to maintain under field conditions and able to absorb a reasonable amount of combat damage. The landing gear had a wide track which improved ground handling and was an advantage when operating on unimproved airfields. The mechanism used the gear’s own weight to lower it into place. Another interesting feature was to use of pushrods and bearings in place of the common cables and pulleys used to operate the flight controls. This gave a more precise, responsive operation. Also, the recent introduction of vacuum forming allowed a large one-piece “bubble” canopy to be used rather than the acrylic plastic/metal framework which was used in other fighters, such as the Messerschmitt Bf 109.
Focke-Wulf frequently named its airplanes after birds. The Fw 190 was known as the Würger, or Shrike.
Fw 190 V1 (Versuchsflugzeug 1) was 8.730 meters (28 feet, 7¾ inches) long with a wingspan of 9.500 meters (31 feet, 2 inches). It weighed approximately 3,000 kilograms (6,615 pounds).
Focke-Wulf Fw 190 V1, D-OPZE, the first prototype, during flight. The long landing gear struts were made necessary by the use of a large diameter propeller. (Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau AG)
D-OPZE was powered by an experimental air-cooled, supercharged 55.4-liter (3,380.4 cubic inch) BMW 139 two-row, 18-cylinder, radial engine which produced 1,529 horsepower. This engine had been developed from the nine-cylinder Pratt & Whitney Hornet (R-1690) which Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) built under license. (A redesign of the BMW 139 engine resulted in the 14-cylinder BMW 801 which was used in the production Fw 190.)
The propeller was a three-bladed Vereingite Deutsche Metallwerke (VDM) variable-pitch unit with a diameter of 3.460 meters (11 feet, 4¼ inches). It was driven at 54% of engine speed through a gear reduction unit.
To minimize aerodynamic drag, the large radial engine was tightly cowled and a large propeller spinner used. Cooling air entered through an opening at the center of the spinner and a fan between the propeller and the front of the engine circulated air. This was unsatisfactory and was significantly changed with the second prototype.
After testing by Focke-Wulf at Bremen, Fw 190 V1 was flown to the Luftwaffe test site at Rechlin-Lärz Airfield. Its identification markings were changed to FO+LY. Later, they were changed again, to RM+CA. V1 continued to be used for testing until 29 March 1943.
Fw 190 V1 after the original spinner was replaced. The cooling fan behind the propeller is visible. The prototype is now marked FO+LY. (Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau AG)Focke-Wulf Fw 190 V1 W.Nr. 0001 with modified engine cowling. The prototype is now camouflaged and marked with the Luftwaffe Balkenkruz and the swastika of the Deutsches Reich. The identification marks have been changed to FO+LY. (Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau AG)
The Fw 190 was the most effective of Germany’s world War II fighters. More than 20,000 were built in 16 variants. The Focke-Wulf factory at Marienburg and the AGO Flugzeugwerke at Oschersleben were frequently attacked by Allied bombers.
A captured Focke-Wulf Fw 190 G-3 DN+FP, W.Nr. 160016, in flight near Wright Field, Ohio, 26 May 1944. (U.S. Air Force)
A Focke-Wulf Fw 190 G-3 fighter bomber, W.Nr. 160016, which had been captured in Italy, was flight tested by the U.S. Army Air Force at Wright Field, Ohio, from 25 March to 15 April 1944, flown by Major Gustav Edward Lundquist, U.S. Army Air Force. In a report dated 26 May 1944, it was described as having a length of 29.1 feet (8.87 meters) and wingspan of 34.5 feet (10.52 meters), and was tested with maximum gross weight of 8,535 pounds (3,871 kilograms).
This aircraft was powered by an air-cooled, supercharged and fuel-injected 41.744 liter (2,547.4 cubic inch) BMW 801-D two-row, fourteen-cylinder radial engine which produced 1,750 horsepower at 2,700 r.p.m. with 41.1 inches of manifold pressure (1.39 bar). It could climb at 4,000 feet per minute (20.32 meters per second) and reach 20,000 feet (6,096 meters) in 7.3 minutes. 160016 had a maximum airspeed of 415 miles per hour (668 kilometers per hour) at 22,000 feet (6,706 meters). The service ceiling was 36,100 feet (11,003 meters).
The fighter was described to have performance “definitely weaker than standard AAF fighters at altitudes above 28,000 feet.” [8,534 meters]
The Fw 190 G-3 was armed with two Waffenfabrik Mauser AG MG151/20 20 mm autocannon with 550 rounds of ammunition.
Focke-Wulf Fw 190 G-3 DN+FP, W.Nr. 160016, in flight near Wright Field, Ohio, May 1946. (U.S. Air Force)
(Two months later, Major Lundquist was in Europe, flying with the 486th Fighter Squadron, 352nd Fighter Group. On 29 July 1944, his North American Aviation P-51D-5-NA Mustang, 44-13395, was shot down by a Messerschmiit Bf 109 G-6 near Merseberg, Germany. Lundquist was captured and remained a Prisoner of War until the end of World War II. He was officially credited with 2 enemy aircraft destroyed. After the war, he returned to Wright Field and flight test. On 2 September 1946, Major Lundquist won the Thompson Trophy Race (J Division) while flying a Lockheed P-80A Shooting Star. Remaining in the Air Force for 29 years, he rose to the rank of brigadier general.)
Focke-Wulf Fw 190 G-3 DN+FP, W.Nr. 160016, from above and behind. (U.S. Air Force)
Amelia Earhart in the cockpit of her Electra with George Palmer Putnam, at Miami, 1 June 1937. (Wichita Eagle/Associated Press)
1 June 1937: After a takeoff accident at Wheeler Field, Hawaii, on 20 March 1937 ended Amelia Earhart’s first attempt to fly around the world, her damaged Lockheed Electra 10E was shipped to Lockheed at Burbank, California, for extensive repairs.
When the airplane was once again ready, she and her husband, George Palmer Putnam, navigator Fred Noonan and aircraft mechanic Ruckins D. “Bo” McKinney had flown the Electra from Burbank to Oakland to restart the around-the-world flight, this time heading eastward because of seasonal changes in worldwide weather patterns.
With overnight stops at Burbank, Tucson, and New Orleans, they arrived at Miami, Florida on 24 May. The cross-country flight was not publicly announced, and considered a “shake down” following the repairs.
Amelia Earhart’s Lockheed Model 10E Electra, NR16020, just prior to departure, Miami, Florida, 1 June 1937. Note that the Electra’s rear window has been replaced by sheet aluminum. (Miami Herald)
With most of the problems that came up resolved, Earhart and Noonan were finally ready to go. The press was notified, the Electra refueled, and they departed Miami for Isla Grande Airport, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 903 nautical miles (1,039 miles/1,673 kilometers) across the Caribbean Sea, and their Flight Into History.
I closed and fastened the hatch . . . Then I started the motors. The engines had already been well warmed so now after appraising for a moment their full-throated smooth song, I signaled to have the wheel chocks removed and we taxied to the end of the runway in the far southeast corner of the field. Thirty seconds later, with comforting ease, we were in the air and on our way.
—Amelia Earhart
Amelia Earhart’s Lockheed Electra 10E, NR16020, taking off at Miami, Florida, 1 June 1937. (Purdue University Libraries, Archives and Special Collections)Great Circle route between Miami Airport, Florida, and Isla Grande Airport (now known as Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport), San Juan, Puerto Rico, 903 nautical miles. (Great Circle Mapper).
