Bryan R. Swopes grew up in Southern California in the 1950s–60s, near the center of America's aerospace industry. He has had a life-long interest in aviation and space flight. Bryan is a retired commercial helicopter pilot and flight instructor.
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5 September 1908: In France, the Goupy I bis triplane makes its first flight. Designed by Louis Ambroise Goupy and built by Appareils d’Aviation Les Frères Voisin, this was a single-engine airplane with three wings. It was a two-bay triplane with a tractor configuration. The I bis was significantly lighter than the original airplane and had longer wings.
This photograph shows Goupy’s triplane in its original configuration. Note the gap between the fuselage and the lower wing. (Flight, Vol. I, No. 4, 23 January 1909, at Page 65.)
The Goupy I bis was 9.80 meters (32.15 feet) long with a wingspan of 7.50 meters (24.61 feet). The vertical gap between the wings was 0.95 meters (3.12 feet). The three wings were slightly staggered and used assymetrical airfoils. The total wing area was 44 square meters (474 square feet). The “box kite” horizontal stabilizer had a span of 3 meters (9.84 feet) and was 0.75 meters high. The Goupy 1 bis weighed 475 kilograms (1,047 pounds).
Goupy I
Goupy’s triplane was originally powered by a steam-cooled, direct-injected, 487.14 cubic-inch-displacement (7.983 liter) Société Antoinette 8V 90° V-8 engine producing 53 horsepower at 1,100 r.p.m. The engine was designed by Léon Levavasseur. The Goupy I bis replaced the Antoinette with an Alessandro Anzani & Co. W-3 “fan-type” radial engine, also rated at 50 horsepower. The direct-drive engine turned a two-bladed fixed-pitch propeller with a diameter of 2.30 meters (7.55 feet).
The Goupy I bis was capable of a maximum 33 miles per hour (54 kilometers per hour).
Goupy I triplane (Wright State University, Wright Brothers Collection, Item number ms1_20_10_14)
Louis Ambroise Goupy was born at Paris, France, on 4 November 1875. He was the son of Louis Edmond Alexis Goupy, auditor at the Council of State, and member of the Seine-et-Oise General Council, and Mathilde Marguerite Masurier Goupy.
On 15 April 1899, Antoine Goupy married Mlle Marie Marguerite Jeanne Ferquer. They would have six children.
In 1914, M. Goupy was appointed Chevalier de la légion d’honneur. In 1937, he was promoted to Officier de la Légion d’honneur.
Antoine Goupy died in Paris, 25 January 1951.He was 75 years old.
Flight and chase crew for the first flight of the Lockheed CL-329 Jetstar, N329J. Left to right: Robert Schumacher, copilot; Ernest L. Joiner, flight test engineer; Clarence L. “Kelly” Johnson, designer; Jim Wood (USAF Flight Test), Ray Jewett Goudey, Pilot, and Tony LeVier, Chief Test Pilot (chase plane for the first flight). (Lockheed Martin)
4 September 1957: At 8:58 a.m., the first prototype Lockheed JetStar, N329J, c/n 1001, took off from Edwards Air Force Base in the high desert of Southern California. In the cockpit were Lockheed test pilots Ray J. Goudey, pilot, with Bob Schumacher, co-pilot. After a 39 minute flight, the JetStar landed back at Edwards. Test pilot Tony LeVier flew chase in a Lockheed T2V-1 SeaStar, an advanced naval variant of the Lockheed T-33A Shooting Star.
The Los Angeles Times reported:
New JetStar Plane Takes to Air Ahead of Deadline
Lockheed’s new JetStar turbine-powered utility transport was test-flown for 39 minutes yesterday out of Edwards Air Force Base.
With Pilots Ray Goudey and Robert Schumacher at the controls, the twin-engine, 10-passenger jet lifted off the runway just two minutes ahead of a deadline set 241 days ago when engineering started on the 500-m.p.h. aircraft.
The pilots described the flight as “silky smooth” and added the JetStar showed ample speed, responsive handling and remarkably low sound levels in both cabin and cockpit.
Easy of Access
A unique feature of the swept-wing plane is the location of its Bristol Orpheus engines (totaling 10,000 thrust pounds) mounted in pods on both sides of the rear fuselage aft of the wing. This position places them well clear of passengers and fuel areas and permits an uncluttered wing configuration and easy accessibility for maintenance.
The new transport is 58 feet long, spans 53 feet (with a 34-deg. sweep angle) measures 21 feet in over-all height and incorporates a horizontal stabilizer mounted high on teh vertical fin and clear of jet exhaust.
1700-Mile Range
Pressurized and designed for a range of 1700 miles and a cruising altitude of 40,000 feet, the JetStar was designed and built with Lockheed funds after the Air Force reported a need for a small, fast transport for utility passenger and cargo work and trainer operations.
Expansion of the project beyond the prototype stage depends on military acceptance of the plane.
—Los Angeles Times, Vol. LXXVI, Thursday Morning, September 5, 1957, at Page 15, Columns 1 and 2
Two CL-329 JetStar prototypes were built at the Lockheed plant at Burbank, California. All production aircraft were built at Lockheed Marietta in Georgia.
The Lockheed CL-329 JetStar was 58 feet, 10 inches (17.932 meters) long with a wingspan of 53 feet, 8 inches (16.3358 meters) and height of 20 feet, 6 inches (6.248 meters). It had a wing area of 523.00 square feet (48.59 square meters). The CL-329 had an empty weight of 15,139 pounds (6,867 kilograms) and gross weight of 38,841 pounds (17,618 kilograms).
The JetStar I wing leading edges were swept 33° (30° sweep at ¼-chord). The had 2° dihedral and an aspect ratio of 5.3. The wings incorporated a leading edge flap and double-slotted trailing edge flap. For roll control, the wing used ailerons. There were no spoilers. The vertical fin could pivot fore and aft to change the horizontal stabilizer’s angle of incidence.
The CL-329 was powered by two Bristol Siddeley Engines Ltd. Orpheus BOr.3 Mk.803 turbojet engines. (These were produced as the Wright TJ37A1.) The Mk. 803 was rated at 4,130 pounds of thrust (18.37 kilonewtons), and 4,850 (21.57 kilonewtons) at Sea Level for takeoff; later, BOr.3 Orpheus Mk.810D engines were installed These were rated at 4,850 pounds (21.57 kilonewtons.) Each engine had a dry weight of 990 pounds (449 kilograms).
The second JetStar prototype would be powered by four Pratt & Whitney JT12 engines.
The CL-329 had a cruise speed of 613 miles per hour (987 kilometers per hour). Its maximum speed was630 miles per hour (1,014 kilometers per hour), or 0.92 Mach. The airplane’s ceiling was 52,000 feet (15,850 meters), and its range was 1,725 miles (2,776 kilometers).
Performance, stability and control tests for the prototype Lockheed CL-329 JetStar began at Edwards Air Force Base, California, 27 February 1958. This aircraft is JetStar 6 N9202R, c/n 5002. (United States Air Force 170303-F-ZZ999-999)Lockheed Model CL-329 JetStar prototype, N329J, c/n 1001, forced landing, Northridge, California, 26 April 1962.Ray Jewett Goudey, 1940
Ray Jewett Goudey was born at Los Angeles, California, 25 September 1921. He was the first of six children of Raymond Freeman Goudey, a municipal sanitation engineer, and Gladys Ellen Jewett Goudey. Ray attended John Marshall High School in Los Angeles, graduating in 1940.
Ray Goudey learned to fly in 1937. He earned his commercial and flight instructor licenses in 1939, and Airline Transport Pilot license in 1943.
From 1940 through 1942, Goudey was a flight instructor for United Flying Schools at Vail Field, Montebello, California.
On 25 September 1942, Ray Goudey registered for Selective Service (conscription). He was described as having a dark complexion, black hair and hazel eyes. Goudey was 5 feet, 11 inches (1.80 meters) tall and weighed 150 pounds (68 kilograms).
Ray J. Goudey was commissioned an ensign, United States Navy, 22 June 1943. During World War II, he served as an acceptance pilot for the Navy at the Grumman, Chance Vought, and Curtiss production plants, and the Naval Aircraft Factory.
Lieutenant (j.g.) Ray Goudey married Mrs. Crystal Relph Tanner, 12 December 1945. They would have six children. They divorced in April 1966.
Ensign Ray Jewett Goudey, United States Naval Reserve.
Lt. (j.g.) Goudey was promoted to lieutenant, 19 November 1948.
Ray Goudey was hired as a test pilot for Lockheed in 1952.
Goudey married Jeanette Nelson in Reno, Nevada, 29 September 1993.
Ray Goudey flew 258 different aircraft, including 74 Lockheed models. He was the third pilot to fly the Lockheed XF-104 Starfighter, and was the development test pilot for that program. Goudey flew the XF-104 to Mach 1.75 in 1954. He conducted flight tests of the F-80A and T-33A Shooting Star and the F-94 Starfire interceptor. He flew the Lockheed U-2 for more than 2,200 hours. He served as an engineering test pilot on the Lockheed L-188 Electra, the RC-121 Warning Star, the P-3A and P-3B Orion maritime patrol bomber, and the S-3A Viking anti-submarine warfare aircraft. Goudey was also a helicopter pilot, flying Lockheed’s CL-475, XH-51A, CL-126 and L-286, and the AH-56A Cheyenne compound attack helicopter. Goudey conducted most of the flight testing of the S-3A Viking. He was involved in many Skunk Works programs, including the Have Blue stealth fighter prototype.
Goudey had in excess of 23,708 flight hours. (He was not allowed to log approximately 1,000 hours flown while working with the Central Intelligence Agency.)
Ray Jewett Goudey died 28 February 2019 at the age of 97 years. His remains were interred at the Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia.
“The first three production JetStar executive transports, along with the second JetStar prototype (white tail, registered N329K) sit on the Lockheed-Georgia Company flightline in Marietta, Georgia, in 1960. Officially designated JetStar 6, a total of eighty aircraft were built, but many were later upgraded as JetStar 8s or JetStar 731s. After the test program was completed, the JetStar at the bottom (N9201R) was delivered to the Federal Aviation Administration while the aircraft next to it went to NASA. In the background at the left is the C-130B Hercules modified as a boundary layer air control test aircraft (US Air Force serial number 58-0712) while at right is the second US Marine Corps KC-130F tanker (US Navy Bureau Number 147573) built.” (Lockheed Martin/Code One Magazine)
Three Boeing B-47E Stratojet strategic bombers assigned to the 306th Bombardment Wing (Medium), based at MacDill AFB, Florida. The airplane closest to the camera is Boeing-Wichita-built B-47E-95-BW 52-0545. The lead aircraft is Lockheed-Marietta-built B-47E-25-LM 52-0250. These aircraft are similar in appearance to the B-47s flown in the 1955 General Electric Trophy Race. (U.S. Air Force)
4 September 1955: Three Boeing B-47 Stratojet strategic bombers raced from March Air Force Base near Riverside, California, to Philadelphia International Airport, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in competition for the General Electric Trophy. They departed from March Field at ten minute intervals beginning at 3:30 a.m. Pacific Standard Time (11:30 UTC). The winning bomber was the third to takeoff.
The winning airplane, B-47B-50-BW 51-2314, assigned to the 443d Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 320th Bombardment Wing (Medium), 15th Air Force, completed the 2,337 miles (3,761 kilometers) course in 3 hours, 57 minutes, 59.2 seconds, averaging 589.294 miles per hour (948.377 kilometers per hour).
A Boeing B-47B-50-BW Stratojet, 51-2307, assigned to the 320th Bombardment Wing (Medium) (denoted by the two diagonal stripes on its tail) at March Air Force Base, California, circa 1953. This is the same type aircraft that won the 1955 General Electric Trophy. (U. S Air Force)
The second-place B-47, (probably an RB-47E) from the 3rd Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron, 26th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, Lockbourne AFB, located east of Columbus, Ohio, finished with an average speed of 585.263 miles per hour (941.890 kilometers per hour). The third-place Stratojet, assigned to the 306th Bombardment Wing (Medium), MacDill AFB, near Tampa, Florida, finished with a speed of 584.167 miles per hour (940.127 kilometers per hour). (B-47s of the 306th were featured prominently in the 1955 motion picture, “Strategic Air Command.”)
Great Circle Course from March AFB, California, to Philadelphia International Airport, Pennsylvania, 2,342 statute miles (3,769 kilometers). (Great Circle Mapper)
A crowd of spectators, estimated to number about 60,000, was present to see the finish of the race.
The race was timed by officials of the National Aeronautic Association. The chief timer was Roger Wolfe Kahn.¹
—AP Wirephoto, Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, New York, 5 September 1955, Page 1, Columns 3–5
The winning four-man crew consisted of Major Leonard J. Stevens, aircraft commander; Major Freeman J. Weedman, co-pilot; Captain Glenn J. Fornes, navigator; and Staff Sergeant James P. Flohe, crew chief. The second-place B-47 was flown by Maj. William E. Yingling, aircraft commander; Lieutenant Herbert M. Plynter, co-pilot; Captain Joseph D. Brown, navigator; and Airman 1st Class P. J. Clemons, crew chief. The third-place bomber was flown by Lieutenant Colonel Warren H. Smith, Jr., aircraft commander; Captain John S. Schrader, co-pilot, Major John E. Terry, navigator; and Master Sergent Carlton Spiers, crew chief.
On the same day, four North American Aviation F-100C Super Sabres competed in the Bendix Trophy Race from George AFB, California, to Philadelphia. The average speed of the fourth-place Super Sabre was slower than that of all three B-47s, and 23.843 miles per hour (38.372 kilometers per hour) slower than the GE Trophy winning B-47. (It should be noted, though, that the F-100s had to make two fuel stops during their cross-country flight, while the B-47s flew the course non-stop.)
A Boeing B-47B Stratojet rocket-assisted takeoff (ATO). The black smoke from the engines indicates water-methanol injection is in use. 15 April 1954. (U.S. Air Force 061024-F-1234S-011)
Designed by Boeing, the Stratojet was a high-subsonic-speed strategic bomber and reconnaissance aircraft, in service from 1951 until 1977. The B-47 could fly higher and faster than jet fighters of the time, and it was also highly maneuverable. The B-47 was flown by a two pilots in a tandem cockpit. A navigator/bombardier was at a station in the nose.
The Boeing B-47B Stratojet was the first full-production model. The B-47B is 106 feet, 10 inches (32.563 meters) long with a wingspan of 116 feet, 0 inches(35.357 meters), and an overall height of 27 feet, 11 inches (8.509 meters). The wings are shoulder-mounted with the leading edges swept aft to 36° 37′. Their angle of incidence is 2° 45′ and there is no dihedral. (The wings are very flexible, showing marked anhedral on the ground and flexing upward when in flight.) The B-47B has an empty weight of 78,102 pounds (35,426 kilograms), and a maximum takeoff weight of 185,000 pounds (83,915 kilograms). The maximum in-flight weight (after air refueling) was 221,000 pounds (100,244 kilograms).
From 1953 to 1957, the B-47B fleet underwent an extensive modification program which brought them up to the B-47E configuration.
The B-47B was originally powered by six General Electric J47-GE-11 turbojet engines in four nacelles mounted on pylons below the wings. All B-47Bs after serial number 51-2046 were equipped with J47-GE-23 engines. The airplanes built with the -11 engines were retroffitted with the -23s. Under the modification and upgrade program, the -23s were replaced by the J47-GE-25. This engine has a 12-stage axial-flow compressor, eight combustion chambers, and single-stage turbine. The J47-GE-25 is rated at 5,970 pounds of static thrust at Sea Level, at 7,950 r.p.m. and 1,250 °F. (677 °C.) turbine outlet temperature (TOT). (7,200 pounds of thrust with water injection). It has a maximum diameter of 3 feet, 1 inch (0.940 meters), length of 12 feet, 0 inches (3.658 meters) and weighs 2,653 pounds (1,203 kilograms).
The B-47B was also equipped with solid-fuel rocket engines (JATO) located in the aft fuselage. These produced a maximum 33,000 pounds of thrust (146.8 kilonewtons) for 14 seconds.
The B-47B Stratojet had a cruise speed of 433 knots (498 miles per hour/802 kilometers per hour), and maximum speed of 528 knots (608 miles per hour/978 kilometers per hour) at 16,300 feet (4,968 meters). The service ceiling was 42,100 feet (10,333 meters) and combat ceiling 40,800 feet (12,436 meters).
The combat radius of the B-47B was 1,704 nautical miles (1,961 statute miles/3,156 kilometers) with a 10,000 pound (4,536 kilograms) bomb load. Two jettisonable underwing fuel tanks could carry 1,780 gallons (6,738 liters) each. The maximum ferry range was 3,861 nautical miles (4,443 statute miles (7,151 kilometers).
Boeing B-47E-55-BW Stratojet 51-2394, similar in appearance to bombers in the 1955 General Electric Trophy Race. Photographed 7 April 1956. (U.S. Air Force)
For defense the B-47B was armed with two Browning AN-M3 .50-caliber machine guns in a remotely-operated tail turret, with 600 rounds of ammunition per gun. The co-pilot acted as the gunner using an optical sight. The machine guns were later replaced by two M24A1 20 mm autocannons and radar control.
The maximum bomb load of the B-47B was 18,000 pounds (8,165 kilograms). The B-47 could carry two 7,600 pound (3,447 kilogram) Mark 15 two-stage radiation implosion thermonuclear bombs, each with an explosive yield of up 3.8 megatons, depending on the version, or a single 10,670 pound (4,808 kilogram) B-41 three-stage, 25 megaton bomb.
Beginning in 1953, the B-47B fleet underwent an extensive modification program which brought them up to the B-47E configuration.
A total of 2,032 B-47s were built by a consortium of three aircraft manufacturers: Boeing Airplane Company, Wichita, Kansas; Douglas Aircraft Company, Tulsa, Oklahoma; Lockheed Aircraft Company, Marietta, Georgia. 399 of these were B-47Bs.
The Stratojet is one of the most influential aircraft designs of all time and its legacy can be seen in almost every jet airliner built since the 1950s: the swept wing with engines suspended below and ahead on pylons. The B-47 served the United States Air Force from 1951 to 1977. From the first flight of the Boeing XB-47 Stratojet prototype, 17 December 1947, to the final flight of B-47E 52-166, was 38 years, 6 months, 1 day.
The General Electric Trophy winner, B-47B 51-2314, was sent to The Boneyard at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Tucson, Arizona, 16 December 1960.
This Day in Aviation would like to express great thanks to Mr. A. W. Greenfield, Director, Contest & Records Board, National Aeronautic Association, for his help in researching this article.
Boeing RB-47E-1-BW Stratojet, 51-5259—the reconnaissance variant. (U.S. Air Force)
¹ Roger Wolff Kahn (19 October 1907–12 July 1962) was a jazz musician, composer and band leader. He was featured on the cover of TIME Magazine, 19 September 1927. Kahn also had a life-long interest in aviation. In 1933, he became a test pilot for the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation. Following World War II, as director of Grumman’s Department of Service and Product Support, he flew a custom-built Grumman G-58B, a civilian version of the Grumman F8F-2 Bearcat. He was the vice president of the Institute of Aeronautical Sciences, and served as chairman of the National Aeronautic Association. He had logged more than 7,000 flight hours.
The prototype Bristol Type 167, G-AGPW, takes off from Filton Aerodrome, 11:30 a.m., 4 September 1949. Hundred of Bristol employees are lining the runway. (Alfred Thompson)
4 September 1949: At 11:30 a.m., Sunday morning, the prototype Bristol Brabazon Mk.I, G-AGPW, made its first flight at Filton Aerodrome. Chief Test Pilot Arthur J. “Bill” Pegg was in command with Walter Gibb as co-pilot. An 8-man flight test crew was also aboard. A crowd of spectators, estimated at 10,000 people, were present.
The flight test crew of the Bristol Brabazon. Bill Pegg is at center. (Unattributed)
Designed as a transatlantic commercial airliner, development of the Type 167 began in 1943. The Mk.I prototype, G-AGPW, had been rolled out in December 1948. On 3 September 1949, the flight test crew performed a series of taxi tests.
The first flight lasted 26 minutes. The Brabazon had reached 3,000 feet (914 meters) and 160 miles per hour (257 kilometers per hour).
Bristol Brabazon Mk.I G-AGPW runs up its engines. (Unattributed)
The Bristol Aeroplane Company Type 167 Brabazon Mk.I was a very large low-wing monoplane, designed to carry 100 passengers on transatlantic flights. it had been named to honor John Theodore Cuthbert Moore-Brabazon 1st Baron Brabazon of Tara, was the first airplane pilot to be issued an aviator’s certificate by the Royal Aero Club of the United Kingdom. He had previously been assigned certificate number 40 of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale. He was issued Certificate Number 1 in England. He was a very important figure in the development of the British aeronautical industry.
The Bristol Brabazon Mk.I under construction.
The Type 167 was slightly larger than the United States Air Force Convair B-36A intercontinental strategic bomber. It was 177 feet, 0 inches (53.950 meters) long with a wingspan of 230 feet, 0 inches (70.104 meters) and overall height of 50 feet, 0 inches (15.240 meters). The fuselage had a maximum diameter of 25 feet (7.62 meters).
The leading edge of the inboard section of the Brabazon’s wing was swept 4° 16′ and had no dihedral, while the outer section was swept 14° 56′ with 2° dihedral. The wings had an angle of incidence of +3° 30′. The chord narrowed from 31 feet, 0 inches (9.449 meters) at the root, to 10 feet, 0 inches (3.048 meters) at the tip. The wings’ maximum thickness was 6 feet, 6 inches (1.981 meters). The Mk.I’s wing area was 5,317 square feet (494 square meters).
The horizontal stabilizer had a span of 75 feet, 0 inches (22.860 meters). The angle of incidence was +2° and there was no dihedral. The stabilizer’s area was 692 square feet (64.3 square meters).
The airplane’s empty weight was 169,500 pounds (76,884 kilograms), and its maximum takeoff weight of 290,000 pounds (131,542 kilograms). For the first flight, its gross weight was 200,000 pounds (90,718 kilograms).
Bristol Brabazon Mk.I G-AGPW.
The prototype was powered by eight air-cooled, supercharged, 3,271.87-cubic-inch-displacement (53.62 liter) Bristol Centaurus 20 eighteen-cylinder radial engines. They had a cruise power rating of 1,640 horsepower at 22,000 feet (6,706 meters); maximum continuous power and maximum climb power rating of 2,190 horsepower at 5,000 feet (1,524 meters); and 2,500 horsepower for takeoff. Each pair of engines drove a set of coaxial counter-rotating three-bladed Rotol constant-speed wooden propellers with a diameter of 16 feet, 0 inches (4.877 meters).
“Each Bristol Centaurus engine was coupled to a propeller gearbox at a 32-degree angle.” (Airbus, Filton)
Power was transmitted from each engine by an angled drive shaft to separate beveled gears in a dual reduction gear unit. The reduction gear ratio was 0.400:1. For one-engine-out operation, the effected propeller would be feathered, while the other engine of the pair continued to power the other counter-rotating propeller. The propellers were reversible for braking on landing.
Turboprop engines were planned for the Brabazon Mk.II.
Bristol Brabazon Mk.I G-AGPW flying overhead reveals the double sweep of the wings. (BAE Systems)
Estimated performance of the Brabazon Mk.I (before flight testing was completed) was a cruise speed of 250 miles per hour (402 kilometers per hour), and maximum speed of 300 miles per hour (483 kilometers per hour), both at 25,000 feet (7,620 meters), the airplane’s service ceiling.
The maximum fuel capacity of the Mk.I was 13,650 gallons (51,671 liters), giving a maximum range at cruise speed of 5,460 miles (8,787 kilometers). This was sufficient for a flight from London to New York with the required fuel reserve.
Only one Brabazon Mk.I was built. The prototype Mk.II was never completed. The project was cancelled in 1952. The total cost of the Brabazon program was approximately £6,500,000 (estimated at £170,981,807, or $221,489,833 in 2017). G-AGPW was eventually scrapped.
Bristol Brabazon Mk. I G-AGPW landing at Farnborough, September 1950. (BAE Systems)
This British Pathé news film shows the Brabazon in flight:
Thanks to regular “This Day in Aviation” reader, Mr. Lynn Brown, for suggesting this subject.
Beryl Markham steps out of the cockpit of the Percival Vega Gull, probably late August 1936. (Library of Congress)
4–5 September 1936: At 6:50 p.m., British Summer Time, Beryl Markham departed RAF Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England, aboard a turquoise blue and silver Percival P.10 Vega Gull, registration VP-KCC. Her intended destination was New York City, across the Atlantic Ocean in America.
The airplane flown by Mrs. Markham, serial number K.34, was brand-new, built for John Evans Carberry (formerly, 10th Baron Carbery) for his entry in The Schlesinger air race from London, England, to Johannesburg, South Africa. He loaned the airplane to her for the transatlantic flight on condition that she would return it to England by mid-September, in time for the start of the race.
Beryl Markham with the Percival P.10 Gull, VP-KCC. (HistoryNet)
Designed by Edgar Percival and built by Percival Aircraft Limited at Gravesend, the P.10 Vega Gull was a four-place, single engine monoplane with fixed landing gear. Known as the K-series, it was a development of the previous D-series Gull Six. The airplane was 25 feet, 6 inches (7.772 meters) long with a wingspan of 39 feet, 6 inches (12.040 meters) and height of 7 feet, 4 inches (2.235 meters). The standard airplane had an empty weight of 1,740 pounds (789.25 kilograms) and loaded weight of 3,250 pounds (1,474.2 kilograms). K.34, the airplane flown by Markham, carried two auxiliary fuel tanks in the passenger compartment, for a total capacity of 255 gallons (965.3 liters).
The Vega Gull was powered by an air-cooled, normally-aspirated, 9.186 liter (560.573-cubic-inch-displacement) de Havilland Gypsy Six I, an inverted inline six-cylinder overhead valve (OHV) engine. The engine had a compression ratio of 5.25:1. It was rated at 184 horsepower at 2,100 r.p.m., and 205 horsepower at 2,350 r.p.m. for takeoff. The direct-drive engine turned a two-bladed Ratier variable-pitch propeller. The Gypsy Six I weighed 432 pounds (196 kilograms).
The Vega Gull had a cruising speed of 150 miles per hour (241 kilometers per hour) and a maximum speed of 174 miles per hour (280 kilometers per hour). The service ceiling was 17,000 feet (5,181.6 meters). Estimated range with the auxiliary fuel tank was 3,800 miles (6,115.5 kilometers).
John E. Carberry’s brand-new Percival P.10 Vega Gull, VP-KCC, The Messenger, is rolled out of the Percival Aircraft Limited hangar at Gravesend. (Unattributed)
John Carberry was a resident of Colony and Protectorate of Kenya so the new airplane received the civil registration marking, VP-KCC. It was named The Messenger.
Beryl Markham was an experienced airplane pilot who had most recently been employed as Chief Pilot, Air Cruisers Limited, owned by a French financier, François Dupré. She was certified both as a pilot and an aircraft mechanic, and had recently had her pilot’s license endorsed for “All Types.”
Percival P.10 Vega Gull K.34 VP-KCC, The Messenger. (NPR)
Mrs. Markham and the airplane were ready for the solo transoceanic flight by 1 September, but were delayed by bad weather, with worse forecast. Captain Percival had recommended that she start from RAF Abingdon because its 1 mile runway (1.6 kilometers) would give the overweight airplane a longer takeoff run.
By the 4th, however, she was impatient with waiting and decided to takeoff regardless of the weather. She arrived at the airfield at about 5:00 p.m. Her takeoff was delayed while the runway was cleared of a wrecked bomber that had been overturned by the high winds.
Because of the high winds, the Vega Gull was airborne in just 600 yards (550 meters).
Beryl Markham and the Percival P.10 Vega Gull K.34, with Kenyan civil registration VP-KCC, westbound over England, 4 September 1936. (Henry How, Daily Mirror)
From the start, Markham encountered heavy rain, low clouds, fog, and gale force winds. Almost immediately, her carefully-prepared chart was blown out of a cockpit window. She flew most of the distance at an altitude of about 2,000 feet (610 meters). If she climbed higher, the rain turned to ice. If she flew lower she was in danger of the winds forcing her into the sea below. She had hoped to have the light of a nearly full moon as she crossed the Atlantic at night but the weather was so bad that she flew by reference to her instruments for the entire crossing.
During the transatlantic flight the Percival Vega Gull was sighted by several ships which reported her position. Although the airplane had a cruising speed of 150 miles per hour (241 kilometers per hour), because of the headwinds, Markham estimated her rate of advance at just 90 miles per hour (145 kilometers per hour). With the airplane running on fuel from the final tank, which should have lasted 11 hours, the gauge indicated that it was being consumed at a higher rate. She estimated her position as nearing Newfoundland but with rain, clouds and fog, she was only able to see brief views of the ocean below.
The dawn broke through the clouds. The wind changed and I stopped being so silly. I wouldn’t have imagined that there was an expanse of desolation so big in the whole world as the waste of sky and water I saw go past me since I left Abingdon. . . It was fog, rain, sleet for hours on end. If I climbed it was sleet, if I dropped it was rain. If I skimmed the sea it was fog. I couldn’t see anything beyond my wingtips. . .
That tank, on which I was banking my all, didn’t last eleven hours. It lasted nine hours and five minutes. . . I watched that tank getting emptier and emptier and still saw nothing but sea and clouds and mist. . . I could see nothing to save me. Good old Messenger was going to stop any moment and I said to myself, “If I’m going to go, now is the time to get ready for it.” The only thing anywhere around was fog, great hefty banks of it. And then I saw the coast. The beautiful coast. I’ve never seen land so beautiful. . . But then the engine began to go “put, put, put.”
. . . I knew then that I had to come down and made for the beach. I couldn’t land there; there was nothing but great big rocks and Messenger and I would have been dashed to pieces. I went inland.
My engine was missing badly now. It was sheer agony to watch my petrol gauge . . . I peered around for a field to land on. I was still peering when the engine stopped.
—Beryl Markham, quoted in Straight on Till Morning, by Mary S. Lovell, St. Martin’s Press, New York, 1987, Chapter 9 at Pages 177–178.
The field turned out to be a peat bog at Baliene Cove on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada. The airplane nosed over in the soft surface. Beryl Markham struck her head and was briefly knocked unconscious. She soon climbed out of the damaged Vega Gull and was taken to a nearby farm where help soon arrived.
Beryl Markham did not reach her intended destination of New York City. But what she did accomplish was the first East-to-West solo crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by a woman. Although Amelia Earhart had flown solo across the Atlantic in her Lockheed Vega four years earlier, her crossing was West-to-East. Because of the prevailing weather patterns, the westerly crossing is considered much more difficult.
Beryl and The Messenger returned to England aboard the passenger liner RMS Queen Mary. Although the damage was repaired, it was not in time to compete in The Schlesinger. John Carberry sold VP-KCC to Dar-es-Salaam Airways. It was written off in Tanganyika in August 1937, and de-registered in March 1938.
Beryl Markham was a remarkable woman whose exploits are too great to touch on here. She wrote West with the Night, which was considered by author Ernest Hemingway to be “a bloody wonderful book.” She died at her home in Nairobi, Kenya, 3 August 1986, at the age of 83.
Beryl Markham, with her forehead bandaged, after her historic solo transatlantic flight, 5 September 1936. (Boston Public Library)Beryl Markham, with her forehead bandaged, after her historic solo transatlantic flight, 5 September 1936. (Unattributed)
