Wilbur Wright at Camp d’Avours, 1 January 1909. (Special Collections and Archives, Wright State University Libraries)
31 December 1908: At Camp d’Auvours, 11 kilometers (6.8 miles) east of Le Mans, France, Wilbur Wright flew a 1907 Wright Flyer a distance of 124.7 kilometers (77.48 miles) over a triangular course in 2 hours, 20 minutes, 23 seconds, setting a record for duration and distance. He won the first Michelin Trophy and a ₣20,000 prize.
The International Michelin Trophy was a prize given over eight years by Michelin et Cie, the French tire company, to the Aéro-Club de France, to award on behalf of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale. The winner would be the pilot who by sunset, 31 December of each year, held the record which had been established by the Aéro-Club. The actual trophy would be given the aeronautical club whose members had won the most times during the eight year period. ₣160,000 was to be divided and presented to each winning pilot.
The Wright Model A, produced from 1907 to 1909, was the world’s first series production airplane. It was slightly larger and heavier than the Wright Flyer III which had preceded it. It was a two-place, single-engine canard biplane built of a wooden framework braced with wires and covered with muslin fabric. A new system of flight controls allowed the pilot to sit upright rather than lying prone on the lower wing.
The dual horizontal elevators were placed forward and the dual vertical rudders aft. The biplane was 31 feet (9.449 meters) long with a wingspan of 41 feet (12.497 meters). The wings had a chord of 6.6 feet, and vertical separation of 6 feet. The airplane had an empty weight of approximately 800 pounds (363 kilograms).
The Model A was powered by a single water-cooled, fuel-injected, 240.528 cubic-inch-displacement (3.942 liter) Wright vertical overhead-valve inline four-cylinder gasoline engine with 2 valves per cylinder and a compression ratio of 4.165:1. It produced 32 horsepower at 1,310 r.p.m. During three years of production (1908–1911) Wright “4-40” engines were built that operated from 1,325 to 1,500 r.p.m. Power output ranged from 28 to 40 horsepower. These engines weighed from 160 to 180 pounds (72.6–81.6 kilograms).
Two 8½ foot (2.591 meters) diameter, two-bladed, counter-rotating propellers, driven by a chain drive, are mounted behind the wings in pusher configuration. They turned 445 r.p.m.
The Wright Model A could fly 37 miles per hour (60 kilometers per hour).
Wilber Wright’s Model A Flyer in France, 1909. The derrick supports a weight, which, when dropped, pulls the airplane across the ground with a cable and puller arrangement until it reaches flying speed. (Wright Brothers Aeroplane Company)
First Officer Lynn Rippelmeyer and Captain Emilie Jones, Air Illinois. (Lynn Ripplemer Collection/University of Houston)
30 December 1977: Captain Emilie Jones and First Officer Lynn Rippelmeyer of Air Illinois, a commuter airline based at Carbondale, Illinois, were assigned as the flight crew of a de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter. Their flight originated at Southern Illinois Airport (MDH) at Carbondale, flew to St. Louis, Missouri (STL), and then on to Quincy Regional Airport (UIN), Quincy, Illinois. The return flight was UIN-STL-MDH. They flew two complete trips on that day.
This was the first time that an all-female crew flew a scheduled flight for a United States airline.
MDH→STL→UINCaptain Emilie Jones and First Officer Lynn Rippelmeyer planning a flight, circa 1977. (Lynn Rippelmer Collection/University of Houston)
Their airliner was a 1969 de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter Series 200, N3257, serial number 192. The Twin Otter is a twin-engine light transport with a strut-braced high wing and fixed tricycle landing gear. The airplane can be flown with on or two pilots and can carry a maximum of 20 passengers. The Series 200 is 51 feet, 9 inches (15.777 meters) long, with a wingspan of 65 feet, 0 inches (19.812 meters) and height of 19 feet, 6 inches (5.944 meters). The wing has an area of 420 square feet (39.02 square meters). The wing has 3° dihedral. There is no sweep. The airplane has an empty weight of 5,850 pounds (2,654 kilograms), and maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) of 11, 566 pounds (5,246 kilograms).
Air Illinois’ de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter, N3257, the turboprop airliner flown by Captain Emilie Jones and First Officer Lynn Rippelmeyer on 30 December 1977, photographed at Meigs Field, Chicago, Illinois, 15 May 1980. (Ron Kluk/Twin Otter World)
The DHC-6 Series 100 and 200 were powered by two United Aircraft of Canada Limited PT6A-20 turboprop engines. The PT6A-20 has a three-stage axial-flow, single-stage centrifugal flow compressor section, and single-stage turbine. Its maximum takeoff power rating is 550 shaft horsepower at 38,000 r.p.m. N2, (2,200 r.p.m. NP). The engines drive three-bladed Hartzell constant speed propellers with a diameter of 8 feet, 6 inches (2.591 meters).
de Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter Series 200–400 three-view illustration with dimensions.
The Twin Otter has a maximum operating speed (VMO) of 160 knots (184 miles per hour/296 kilometers per hour) from Sea Level to 10,000 feet (3,048 meters), and a never-exceed speed( VNE) of 202 knots (232 miles per hour/374 kilometers per hour). Its range is 771 nautical miles (887 statute miles/1,428 kilometers), and the ceiling is 20,000 feet (6,096 meters).
Operated by Mountain Air Cargo of Denver, North Carolina, N3257 was destroyed, 11 October 1985, when it struck rising terrain near Homer City, Pennsylvania. The pilot, Alton W. Cockrell, Jr., the only person on board, was killed.
Lynn Janet Ripplemeyer was born at Valmeyer, Illinois, 3 April 1951. She graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in education. In 1972, she was employed by Trans World Airways (TWA) as a flight attendant, and was later assigned as a flight engineer for the Boeing 727. In 1977, Ms. Ripplemeyer was hired as a first officer by Air Illinois.
In September 1983, Captain Rippelmeyer and First Officer Beverly Himelfarb of People Express Airlines flew a Boeing 737 from Newark, New Jersey, to Syracuse, New York. In 1984, Captain Ripplemeyer was the first woman to command a Boeing 747 on a transoceanic route.
Captain Lynn Rippelmeyer in the cockpit of a Boeing 747. (Lynn Ripplemer Collection/University of Houston)
Chief Warrant Officer 4 James P. Ervin, United States Army (FAI)CW4 William T. Lamb
30 December 1968: At the Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation plant at Stratford, Connecticut, Chief Warrant Officer 4 James Paul Ervin, Jr., United States Army, set two Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) World Records for Time to Altitude while flying a Sikorsky CH-54A Tarhe. The helicopter’s co-pilot for this flight was CW4 William T. Lamb. The “Sky Crane” reached 3,000 meters (9,842.52 feet) in 1 minute, 38.2 seconds, and 9,000 meters (29,527.56 feet) in 7 minutes, 54 seconds.¹ (It climbed through 6,000 meters (19,686 feet) in 2 minutes, 58.9 seconds.²)
Several attempts to break the existing time to altitude records had been made on 29 and 30 December. Erwin decided to deviate from Sikorsky’s recommended climb profile and, instead, climbed vertically until reaching 20,000 feet, and then returned to Sikorsky’s profile.
On the same date, CW4 Lamb, with Erwin as co-pilot, established a World Record for Altitude in Horizontal Flight, of 9,596 meters (31,483 feet).³
According to an article in U.S. Army Aviation Digest, during the record attempt flights, the regional air traffic control center called a commercial airliner which was cruising at 17,000 feet,
“. . . be advised there’s a helicopter at your 9 o’clock position descending out of 27,000 feet at a rate of 4,000 feet per minute.”
The airliner replied, “Good lord, you mean they’re up here now?”
Another pilot on the frequency asked, “What kind of helicopter is that?”
Mr. Ervin was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his achievement.
A third U.S. Army aviator involved in the record attempts was Major James H. Goodloe, as was a Sikorsky test pilot, John J. Dixon.
FAI record-setting Sikorsky CH-54A Tarhe (FAI)
The Sikorsky CH-54A Tarhe is a large single-main-rotor/tail rotor helicopter, specifically designed to carry large external loads. In U.S. Army service, it had a crew of five: pilot, co-pilot, third pilot and two mechanics. The third pilot was in a rear-facing cockpit position and flew the helicopter while it was hovering to pick up or position an external load.
The CH-54A is 88 feet, 5.9 inches (26.972 meters) long and 25 feet, 4.7 inches (7.739 meters) high. The main rotor has six blades and turns counter-clockwise, seen from above. (The advancing blade is on the helicopter’s right side.) The main rotor has a diameter of 72 feet (21.946 meters). The main rotor blades have a chord of 1.97 feet (0.601 meters) and incorporate a twist of -13°. The tail rotor has four blades and is placed on the left side of a vertical pylon in a pusher configuration. The tail rotor turns clockwise, as seen from the helicopter’s left side. (The advancing blade is below the axis of rotation.) The diameter of the tail rotor is 16 feet (4.877 meters). The chord of the tail rotor blade is 1.28 feet (0.390 meters).
The helicopter has an empty weight of 19,120 pounds (8,673 kilograms) a design gross weight of 38,000 pounds (17,237 kilograms) and overload gross weight of 42,000 pounds (19,051 kilograms).
Sikorsky CH-54A Tarhe 68-18448, Nevada National Guard, 16 November 1989. (Mike Freer/Wikipedia)
The CH-54A is powered by two Pratt & Whitney JFTD12A-4A (T73-P-1) turboshaft engines, each rated at 4,000 shaft horsepower at 9,000 r.p.m. (N2) maximum continuous power at Sea Level, and 4,500 shaft horsepower at 9,500 r.p.m. (N2) for takeoff, 5-minute limit, or 30 minutes, with one engine inoperative (OEI). The maximum gas generator speed (N1) is 16,700 r.p.m. The T73-P-1 is an axial-flow free-turbine turboshaft engine with a 9-stage compressor section, 8 combustion chambers and a 4-stage turbine section (2-stage gas generator and 2-stage free turbine). It is 107.0 inches (2.718 meters) long, 30.0 inches (0.762 meters) in diameter, and weighs 966 pounds (438 kilograms). The helicopter’s main transmission is limited to a maximum 6,600 horsepower.
It has a useful load of 22,880 pounds (10,342 kilograms) and can carry a payload of 20,000 pounds (9,072 kilograms) from a single point cargo hoist.
The CH-54A has a maximum cruise speed of 115 knots (132 miles per hour, 213 kilometers per hour). It’s range is 217 nautical miles (250 miles, 402 kilometers). The CH-54A has a hover ceiling in ground effect (HIGE) of 10,600 feet (3,231 meters) and its service ceiling is 13,000 feet (3,962 meters).
The U.S. Army ordered 54 CH-54A and 35 CH-54B Tarhes. Sikorsky produced another 12 civil-certified S-64E and S-64F Skycranes. Army CH-54s were retired from service in 1995. Sikorsky sold the type certificate to Erickson Air-Crane, Inc., Medford, Oregon. Erickson operates a fleet of Skycranes for heavy lift, logging and fire fighting, and also produces parts and new helicopters for worldwide customers.
The United States Army has a tradition of using Native American names for its aircraft. Tarhe (pronounced tar-HAY) was a famous chief, or sachem, of the Wyandot People of North America, who lived from 1742–1818. He was very tall and the French settlers called him “The Crane.”
James Paul Ervin, Jr., was born 2 October 1931, in Arkansas. He was the second child of James Paul Erwin and Ruth Booker Ervin. He joined the United States Army in 1948. In 1955, he married his wife, Theresa M. (“Terry”) Ervin. They resided in Columbus, Georgia.
CW4 Ervin was considered a pioneer of Army Aviation. He was one of the first pilots to experiment with armed helicopters, and he served with the first transportation company to be equipped with the Sikorsky CH-34 Choctaw and CH-37 Mohave helicopters. During the Vietnam War, he was assigned to the 478th Aviation Company (Heavy Helicopter). Mr. Ervin retired from the United States Army in July 1969 after 21 years of service.
At 1735, 2 September 1969, as a civilian pilot working for ERA Helicopters in Alaska, Ervin was flying a Sikorsky S-64E Skycrane, N6964E, on the North Slope near Prudhoe Bay, when the helicopter broke up in flight and crashed near a drilling site, Southeast Eileen. Chief Erwin and two others aboard, Byron Davis and Allen Bryan, were killed.
The National Transportation Safety Board determined that a tail rotor pitch control link failed due to a fatigue fracture. The NTSB accident report also cited improper factory installation as a factor.
At the time of the accident, Erwin had a total of 4,787 flight hours with 830 hours in type. He was 37 years old. James Paul Erwin, Jr., is buried at the Marietta National Cemetery, Marietta, Georgia.
An Erickson Air-Crane, Inc., Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane drops water on a forest fire. (Igor I. Sikorsky Historical Archives)
¹ FAI Record File Numbers 9944 and 9961.
² Many sources state that CW4 Erwin set a record for Time to 6,000 meters, and some give the elapsed time as 3 minutes, 31.5 seconds. The FAI Records Database does not list this record.
A Boeing KC-135A Stratotanker refuels a Boeing B-52E Stratofortress. (U.S. Air Force)
30 December 1964: The United States Air Force accepted the last of 732 Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers: KC-135A serial number 64-14840. The new tanker was assigned to the 380th Air Refueling Squadron at Plattsburgh Air Force Base, New York, 12 January 1965.
According to the most recent Air Force Fact Sheet, 414 KC-135R and -135RT tankers are still in service with the United States Air Force: 167 active duty Air Force, 67 Air Force Reserve, and 180 Air National Guard. It is estimated that the fleet is 33% through their design lifetime limits. (There are also 25 special variants of the C-135, such as the OC-135B Open Skies, RC-135S Cobra Ball, RC-135U Combat Sent, RC-135V Rivet Joint, and RC-135W Rivet Joint.)
Boeing RC-135V Rivet Joint, 62-4139. (U.S. Air Force)
Built as an aerial refueling tanker to support the U.S. Air Force fleet of B-52 Stratofortress strategic bombers, an initial order for 24 tankers was soon increased to 250. Eventually 732 KC-135As were built by Boeing, and an additional 81 of other versions.
With the company internal designation of Model 717, the KC-135 was developed from the Model 367-80 proof-of-concept prototype, the “Dash Eighty.” The Stratotanker is very similar in appearance to the Model 707 and 720 airliners but is structurally a different aircraft. It is also shorter than the 707 and has a smaller diameter fuselage.
Boeing KC-135R Stratotankers of the 40th Air Expeditionary Group, forward deployed to support B-52 operations. (SMSGT John Rohrer, U.S. Air Force)
The Stratotanker was originally operated by a flight crew of four: pilot, co-pilot, navigator and refueling boom operator. Upgrades over the decades have simplified operation and the crew has been reduced to two pilots and the boom operator.
The KC-135R is 136 feet, 3 inches (41.529 meters) long (156 feet/47.549 meters with fueling boom extended), with a wingspan of 130 feet, 10 inches (39.878 meters), and overall height of 41 feet, 8 inches (12.700 meters). Its maximum takeoff weight is 322,500 pounds (146,284 kilograms).
The Stratotanker can carry up to 200,000 pounds (90,718 kilograms) of fuel for inflight refueling. It can also be configured to carry 83,000 pounds (37,648 kilograms) of cargo, or 80 passengers.
Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker 64-14840 at Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base, Columbus, Ohio, 2018. (Ohio Air National Guard)
The KC-135A was originally powered by four Pratt & Whitney J57-P-59W turbojet engines producing 13,750 pounds of thrust (61.163 kilonewtons) for takeoff, using water injection. The fleet has been re-engined with more efficient CFM International CFM56-2B1 (F108-CF-100) engines. Modified airplanes are designated KC-135R. The CFM56-2 is a two-spool, axial-flow, high-bypass turbofan with a single fan stage, 12-stage compressor section (3 low pressure and 9 high pressure stages), annular combustor, and a 5-stage turbine (1 high pressure and 4 low pressure stages). The engine is rated at 21,634 pounds of thrust (96.233 kilonewtons).
The tanker has a maximum speed of 350 knots (402 miles per hour/648 kilometers per hour) below 26,500 feet (8,077 meters), and 0.90 Mach when above that altitude. It has a range of 1,500 miles (2,424 kilometers) when carrying 150,000 pounds (68,039 kilograms) of transfer fuel. The service ceiling is 50,000 feet (15,200 meters).
The newest Stratotanker in service with the United States Air Force, KC-135R 64-14840 is 59 years old. It is presently assigned to the 121st Air Refueling Wing, Ohio Air National Guard.
The final Boeing Stratotanker, KC-135R 64-14840, remains in service with the 121st Air Refueling Wing, Ohio Air National Guard, based at Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base, Columbus Ohio. (Ohio Air National Guard)
30 December 1947: OKB Mikoyan test pilot Captain Viktor Nikolaevich Yuganov made the first flight of the Mikoyan and Gurevich I-310 prototype, S01. This would be developed into the legendary MiG-15 fighter.
S01 was a single-seat, single-engine prototype for a fighter interceptor designed to attack heavy bombers. It was intended to reach the high subsonic speed range. The wings and tail surfaces were swept to 35° at 25% chord. The wings were given 2° anhedral.
The prototype was 10.11 meters (33 feet, 2 inches) long with a wingspan of 10.08 meters (33 feet, ¾ inch). Its empty weight was 3,380 kilograms (7,452 pounds) and the takeoff weight was 4,820 kilograms (10,626 pounds).
I-310 S01 was powered by a Rolls-Royce Nene turbojet engine, one of 55 purchased from Rolls-Royce in 1947, then reverse-engineered by Vladimir Yakovlevich Klimov as the Klimov RD-45. The Nene used a single-stage centrifugal-flow compressor and single-stage axial-flow turbine. It was rated at 5,000 pounds of thrust (22.24 kilonewtons) at 12,400 r.p.m., for takeoff.
The I-310 had a maximum speed of 905 kilometers per hour (562 miles per hour) at Sea Level (0.74 Mach), and 1,042 kilometers per hour (648 miles per hour)—0.99 Mach—at 2,600 meters (8,530 feet). The service ceiling was 15,200 meters (49,869 feet). It could climb to 5,000 meters (16,404 feet) in 2 minutes, 18 seconds, and to 10,000 meters (32,808 feet) in 7 minutes, 6 seconds. Endurance was 1 hour, 31 minutes. Maximum range for S01 was 1,395 kilometers (867 miles).
The prototype was armed with one Nudelman N-37 37 mm cannon and two Nudelman-Rikhter NR-23 23 mm cannon.
The the first production MiG 15 flew 31 December 1948, one year and one day after the prototype. More than 18,000 were built.
The first production Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 fighter. (Unattributed)Viktor Nikolaevich Yuganov
Viktor Nikolaevich Yuganov (Виктор Николаевич Юганов) was born at Moscow, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, 23 February 1922. He was a member of the Stalin Flying Club at age 14.
In December 1937, Yuganov entered the Red Army. He graduated from the flight school at Borisoglebsk, Voronezh, Russia, in December 1938. Yuganov was the youngest pilot in the 56th Fighter Regiment.
In July and August 1939, he flew 120 combat sorties during the Battles of Khalkhyn Gol (an undeclared war with Japan) and is credited with having shot down three enemy airplanes.
Viktor Yuganov was transferred to the 19th Fighter Regiment and was involved in the Russo-Finnish War (“The Winter War”) of 1939–1940.
After Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, Yuganov was assigned to the 2nd Independent Fighter Squadron. In January 1942, he was appointed deputy commander of the 521st Fighter regiment at the Kalinin Front. He shot down two more enemy aircraft.
In April 1942 Yuganov was assigned as a test pilot at the Gromov Flight Research Institute at Zhukovsky Air Base near Moscow and remained there until March 1945. He then became an inspector on the Air Staff for the Moscow Military District. In December 1946 he resumed test flying, this time at Mikoyan Design Bureau. Three years later, Yuganov returned to the Flight Research Institute where he continued testing the MiG-15.
Viktor Yuganov was awarded the Order of Lenin, and three times, the Order of the Red Banner. He died at Moscow, 24 July 1964.
