1 January 1944
Category Archives: Aviation
1 January 1932
CENTRAL CHANCERY OF THE ORDERS OF KNIGHTHOOD.
St. James’s Palace, S.W. 1,
1st January 1932.
The KING has been graciously pleased to give orders for the following promotions in, and appointments to, the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire :—
To be Commanders of the Civil Division of the said Most Excellent Order:
Reginald Joseph Mitchell, Esq., A.M.I.C.E., F.R.Ae.S. Director and Chief Designer, Supermarine Aviation Works (Vickers) Limited. For services in connection with the Schneider Trophy Contest.
— SUPPLEMENT TO THE LONDON GAZETTE, 1 JANUARY, 1932, Numb. 33785, at Page 8, Column 1
© 2019, Bryan R. Swopes
1 January 1931
MISS AMY JOHNSON.
FLIGHT TO PEKING.
Departure From London.
LONDON, Jan. 1.
Miss Amy Johnson, who flew alone to Australia several months ago, arrived at the Stag Lane aerodrome this morning in readiness for a flight to Peking by way of Berlin, Warsaw, Moscow, and Omsk. From Omsk she will follow the Trans-Siberian railway.
Owing to fog she was unable to start on her journey immediately. But she left at 20 minutes to 11 o’clock.
Miss Johnson wore a green leather flying suit and parachute, strapped to her back. As she entered the cockpit of the Gipsy Moth aeroplane, with which she was presented after her trip to Australia, she carried a parcel of biscuits, chocolate, and tea. Only two dozen persons saw her start. She does not intend to hurry.
—The Argus, Melbourne, Friday, January 2, 1931. No. 26,329. Page 5, Column 5.
© 2018, Bryan R. Swopes
1 January 1914
1 January 1914: The world’s first scheduled commercial passenger flight took place when Antony Habersack Jannus piloted a St. Petersburg–Tampa Airboat Line Benoist Type XIV flying boat from St. Petersburg to Tampa, Florida. The passenger was St. Petersburg’s mayor, Abraham C. Pheil. Over 3,000 people witnessed the departure.
SPT Airboat Lines was started by a local St. Petersburg businessman, Percival E. Fansler. Arrangements were made for the City of St. Petersburg to provide a $2,400 subsidy, payable at $40 per day, if SPT maintained a schedule of two flights per day, six days per week, for three months. Passenger tickets were priced at $5.00.
The Benoist Type XIV was a biplane designed by Thomas W. Benoist. The airplane was 26 feet (7.925 meters) long. The upper and lower wings both had a span of 44 feet (13.411 meters). Empty, the Type XIV weighed 1,250 pounds (567 kilograms).
Jannus’s Benoist was powered by a water-cooled, normally-aspirated, 477.129-cubic-inch-displacement (7.819 liter) Roberts Motor Company 1913 Model 6-X two-cycle inline six-cylinder engine which produced 66 horsepower at 1,000 r.p.m., and 75 horsepower at 1,225 r.p.m. It was a direct-drive engine which turned a 10-foot (3.048 meter) diameter two-bladed wooden propeller in a pusher configuration. The engine was 4 feet, 4.5 inches (1.334 meters) long, 2 feet, 1 inch (0.635 meters) high and 2 feet, 0 inch (0.610 meters) wide. It weighed 275 pounds (125 kilograms).
The airplane had a maximum speed of 64 miles per hour (103 kilometers per hour) and a range of 125 miles (201 kilometers).
There were two Benoist Type XIVs, both purchased by the St. Petersburg Tampa Airboat Lines. They were named Lark of Duluth and Florida. Over the next three months, the two flying boats carried 1,205 passengers and flew over 11,000 miles (17,702 kilometers). When the city subsidy ceased, the airline was no longer profitable and the operation came to an end. Lark of Duluth was used to fly passengers at several cities around the United States, but was damaged beyond repair at San Diego, California.
Designer Thomas W. Benoist was killed in a trolley accident at Sandusky, Ohio, 14 June 1917.
Tony Jannus became a test pilot for Glenn Curtiss. In 1916 he was demonstrating a new Curtiss Model H flying boat in Russia, as well as training pilots. The airplane crashed into the Black Sea near Sevastopol. Jannus and two passengers were killed.
“Triumphant pilot Tony Jannus waves as he lands in Tampa on the first leg of that first regularly-scheduled airline flight in 1914.” (State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory.)
© 2018, Bryan R. Swopes
31 December 1985
31 December 1985: At 5:14 p.m., Central Standard Time, a Douglas DC-3C, N711Y,¹ crash-landed in a field near DeKalb, Texas. The airplane struck a wire and several trees and was extensively damaged. The airplane, already on fire, was completely destroyed.
The pilot and co-pilot escaped through cockpit windows, but all seven passengers, including singer Rick Nelson, died.
N711Y was a Douglas C-47A-25-DK Skytrain twin-engine military transport, serial number 42-108981, built at the Midwest City Douglas Aircraft Company Plant, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, circa 1943–1944. Following U.S. military service, the transport was operated in Brazil. The Skytrain had been converted to a civil DC-3C in 1959, and registered N136H. At one time the airplane had been owned by the DuPont family, and later by singer Jerry Lee Lewis. It was registered to the Century Equipment Co., Los Angeles, California, 13 March 1981.
At 5:08 p.m., the pilot informed Air Traffic Control that he had a problem and was going to divert from the intended destination of Dallas, Texas, to Texarkana. At 5:11 p.m., ATC received a call from N711Y saying that there was smoke in the cockpit. At 5:12 p.m., it was seen on radar at an altitude of 600 feet (183 meters). The airplane disappeared from radar at 5:14 p.m.
Witnesses reported seeing the airplane descending in a left turn to line up with a farm field. It was trailing smoke. Small pieces of metal fell off which started several small fires. The DC-3 struck two power wires suspended about 30 feet (9 meters) above the ground, then a utility pole and several trees.
The pilot and co-pilot, who were both severely burned, gave differing statements as to what had occurred. The National Transportation Safety Board investigation found that there had been an in-flight fire in the passenger cabin which had probably started in the on-board cabin heater. The board concluded that the pilot in command did not follow proper procedures or check lists.
The C-47 is 64 feet, 5½ inches (19.647 meters) long with a wingspan of 95 feet (28.956 meters) and height of 17 feet (5.182 meters). The wing center section is straight, but outboard of the engine nacelles there is 5º dihedral. The wings’ leading edges are swept aft 15.5°. The trailing edges have no sweep. Empty weight of the C-47A is 17,257 pounds (7,828 kilograms) and the maximum takeoff weight is 29,300 pounds (13,290 kilograms).
The C-47 has a cruising speed of 185 miles per hour (298 kilometers per hour) at 10,000 feet (3,048 meters) and service ceiling of 24,100 feet (7,346 meters).
The C-47 could carry 6,000 pounds (2,722 kilograms) of cargo, or 28 fully-equipped paratroopers. Alternatively, 14 patients on stretchers could be carried, along with three attendants.
The C-47A served with the United States Air Force until 1971. Hundreds of C-47s and DC-3s are still operational, worldwide.
¹ N711Y was registered to Century Equipment, Inc., Los Angeles, California. The airplane was sold to Rick Nelson on 2 May 1985, but was never re-registered.
© 2018, Bryan R. Swopes