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.
SPT Airlines’ Benoist Type XIV flying boat takes off on the first scheduled commercial passenger flight, St. Petersburg, Florida, 1 January 1914. (State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory)Antony H. Jannus, 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.
St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line timetable. (Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum)Thomas Wesley Benoist (State Historical Society of Missouri)
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).
Percival E. Fansler, Mayor Abraham C. Pheil, and Antony H. Jannus with the Benoist Type XIV flying boat Lark of Duluth, 1 January 1914. (State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory)
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.)
Eric Hilliard Nelson (8 May 1940–31 December 1985) (Guy Webster)
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.
Rick Nelson’s Douglas DC-3C, N711Y. (Thomas P. McManus via lostflights)
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.
Burned-out wreckage of Douglas DC-3C N711Y. (Unattributed)
The Douglas C-47 Skytrain is an all-metal twin-engine, low wing monoplane transport with retractable landing gear. It was operated by a minimum flight crew of two pilots, a navigator and a radio operator. The wing is fully cantilevered and the fuselage is of semi-monocoque construction. Control surfaces are fabric-covered. The C-47A variant used a 24-volt electrical system.
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 is powered by two 1,829.4-cubic-inch-displacement (29.978 liter) air-cooled, supercharged R-1830-92 (Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp S1C3-G) two-row 14-cylinder radial engines. These had a maximum continuous rating for normal operation was 1,060 horsepower at 2,550 r.pm., up to 7,500 feet (2,286 meters), and 1,200 horsepower at 2,700 r.p.m., at Sea Level, for takeoff. Each engine drives a three-bladed Hamilton Standard Hydromatic constant-speed full-feathering propeller with a diameter of 11 feet, 6 inches (3.505 meters) through a 16:9 gear reduction. The R-1830-92 is 48.19 inches (1.224 meters) long, 61.67 inches (1.566 meters) in diameter, and weighs 1,465 pounds (665 kilograms). (N711Y had been re-engined with Pratt & Whitney R-1830-75 engines, rated at 1,350 horsepower at 2,800 r.p.m.)
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.
Crash site of Douglas DC-3C N711Y, near DeKalb, Texas. (Unattributed)
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.
The prototype Tupolev Tu-144, CCCP-68001, during its first flight, 31 December 1968. The chase plane is a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21I, which was modified to use the same wing profile as the Tu-144. (Tupolev PJSC, via Kazan National Research Technical University)
31 December 1968: At Zhukovsky Airport, located on the banks of the Moskva River, 22 miles (36 kilometers) southeast of central Moscow, the prototype Tupolev Tu-144 supersonic airliner took off on its first flight. Tupolev Design Bureau test pilot Eduard Vaganovich Elyan (Эдуа́рд Вага́нович Еля́н ) was the aircraft commander. The prototype, known as Izdeliye 044, carried the Soviet registration number CCCP-68001.
The flight lasted 37 minutes. The new airplane was reported as responsive and easy to fly. There were no significant problems.
This test flight took place two months before the first flight of the rival Aérospatiale Concorde supersonic airliner.¹
The Tupolev Tu-144 was prototype large four-engine double-delta-winged supersonic transport aircraft with a “droop” nose for improved low speed cockpit visibility. The airplane was assembled at Zhukovsky Airport from parts manufactured at the Tupolev Experimental Design Bureau plant (also known as OKB-156, or MMZ Opyt). It was flown by a flight test crew of four. The prototype completed 9 October 1968.
Izdeliye 044 was 59.50 meters (195 feet, 2.5 inches) long, with a wingspan of 27.65 meters (90 feet, 8.6 inches) and overall height of 11.35 meters (37 feet, 2.9 inches). The wing had an approximate area of 438 square meters (4,715 square feet). At the root, the double delta wing had a chord of 35.60 meters (116 feet, 9.6 inches). The fuselage was cylindrical with an external diameter of 3.00 meters (9 feet, 10.1 inches). The prototype had a maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) of 160,000 kilograms (352,740 pounds).
CCCP-68001 first went supersonic 5 June 1969. It reached Mach 2.02 on 26 May 1970. The highest speed reached by the prototype was Mach 2.30, and its highest altitude, 16,960 meters (55,643 feet). Izdeliye 044 made a total 180 flight hours over 120 flights. Its final flight took place 27 April 1973. The prototype was scrapped at Zhukovsky.
e Tupolev Tu-144 prototype rollout. (Tupolev PJSC)
Izdeliye 044 was powered by four Kuznetsov NK-144 engines with a maximum thrust of 171.6 kilonewtons (38,577 pounds thrust) per engine. Its maximum thrust while supersonic was 127.5 (28,663 pounds thrust). The NK-144 is a two-spool, axial-flow turbofan engine with afterburner. It uses a 2-stage fan section, 14-stage compressor section (11 high- and 3 low-pressure stages), and a 3-stage turbine (1 high- and 2 low-pressure stages). The NK-144 is 5.200 meters (17 feet, 0.7 inches) long, 1.500 meters (4 feet, 11.1 inches) in diameter and weighs 2,827 kilograms (6,233 pounds). (The prototype had all four engines placed side by side along the aircraft centerline).
Tupolev Tu-144 engines mounted side by side. (Tupolev PJSC)
The Tu-144 was intended to carry 120 passengers on international flights. It was designed to have a cruise speed of 2,200 kilometers per hour (1,367 miles per hour), a maximum speed of 2,443 kilometers per hour (1,518 miles per hour), and service ceiling of 18,500 meters (60,696 feet). Its planned range was 2,920 kilometers (1,814 statute miles).
Tupolev Tu-144 under construction. (Tupolev PJSC, via Kazan National Research Technical University)
The production Tupolev Tu-144 aircraft was lengthened 6.2 meters (20 feet, 4.1 inches), added canards, had changes to wing which included shortening the chord at the root 2.10 meters (6 feet, 10.7 inches), increasing the span 0.35 meters (1 foot, 1.8 inches), drooping and squaring off the wing tips, a significant increase in wing area, changes to engine placement and shape of the nacelles, and the location of the landing gear. The engines were upgraded to the improved NK144A.
The Tupolev Tu-144 was the first supersonic transport to enter service, 26 December 1975.² In actual commercial service, the Tu-144 was extremely unreliable. It was withdrawn from service after a total of just 102 commercial flights, including only 55 passenger flights.
A total of 17 Tu-144s were built, including one pre-production aircraft, five Tu-144S series production aircraft, and ten improved Tu-144Ds with Kolosev RD-36-51A engines. One of the Tu-144Ds, RA-77114, was converted to a Tu-144LL for the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). This airplane made its last flight in 1999.
Colonel Eduard Vaganovich Elyan
Eduard Vaganovich Elyan was born at Baku, Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, 20 August 1926. From 1938 he lived in Norilsk, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Rrepublic, a recently established mining settlement in Krasnoyarsk Krai, approximately 185 miles (300 kilometers) north of the Arctic Circle. (Norilsk is now a large, closed city). He also lived in Moscow and Sverdlovsk.
Elyan attended the Sverdlovsk Air Force School in 1944, and entered the Soviet military in June of that year. He underwent initial pilot training at the 9th Military Aviation School at Buguruslan, Orenburg Oblast, Russia, then Borisglebsk Military Aviation School of Pilots, Voronezh Oblast, graduating in 1948. He remained there as a flight instructor until 1951.
From 1951 to 1953, Elyan attended the test pilot school at Zhukovsky. He then began working at the Flight Research Institute at Zhukovsky, in 1953.
From March 1958 through August 1960, Elyan served as a test pilot for the Sukhoi Design Bureau (OKB-51). He then went on to the Tupolev OKB, remaining there until December 1981.
In 1967, Elyan was named an Honored Test Pilot of the Soviet Union. In 1969, the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) awarded him the Paul Tissandier Diploma for his accompliushments in aviation. On 26 April 1971, Elyan was named Hero of the Soviet Union, awarded the order of Lenin and the Gold Star Medal.
Tupolev Tu-144D CCCP-77111 on fire, 23 May 1978.
On 23 May 1978, Elyan made an emergency belly landing of a Tu-144D, CCCP-77111, in an open field near Yegoryevsk. During the airliner’s sixth test flight, a fuel leak started a fire in the right wing. Three engines had to be shut down in succession and it was impossible to return to Ramenskoye Airport, where the flight had originated. The Tu-144D touched down at about 380 kilometers per hour (236 miles per hour). Two crewmen were killed when the nose cone collapsed on impact. The aircraft continued to burn after landing. The six survivors escaped. Elyan was seriously injured.
Wreckage of Tupolev Tu-144D CCCP-77111. (Tu-144 SST)
Elyan stopped test flying in 1982. He worked as an engineer for Mikoyan OKB. He retired in 1996.
Eduard Vaganovich Elyan died at Rostov-on-Don 6 April 2006. His remains were buried at the Northern Cemetery there.
grave
¹ See This Day in Aviation for 2 March 1969 at https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/2-march-1969/
² See This Day in Aviation for 26 December 1975 at https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/26-december-1975/
The first production Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 (SV), No. 101003. (Mikoyan Design Bureau)
31 December 1948: One year and one day after the first flight of the MiG I-310 S01 prototype, the first production Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15, serial number 101003, made its first flight. The production aircraft were based on the third I-310 prototype, S03. No. 101003 was designated МиГ-15(CB) (MiG-15 SV), and was retained by Mikoyan OKB for testing.
The MiG-15 is a single-seat, single-engine turbojet-powered fighter interceptor, designed to attack heavy bombers. Designed for high-subsonic speed, the wings were swept aft to 35° at 25% chord and had 2° anhedral. The wings were very thin to minimize aerodynamic drag and used “fences” to control air flow. The horizontal stabilizer was swept 40°, and the vertical fin, 55.7°.
Rolls-Royce Nene Mk.I and Mk.II turbojet engines had been used in the three I-310 prototypes. The British engine was reverse-engineered by Vladimir Yakovlevich Klimov and manufactured at Factory No. 45 in Moscow as the RD-45F. The engine produced a maximum 22.26 kilonewtons of thrust (5,004 pounds of thrust). It was improved and designated VK-1. Most MiG-15s used this engine.
The production fighter was 10.10 meters (33 feet, 2 inches) long, with a wingspan of 10.08 meters (33 feet, 1 inch) and height of 3.17 meters (10 feet, 5 inches). The total wing area was 20.60 square meters (222 square feet). The interceptor’s empty weight was 3,247 kilograms (7,158 pounds), and its takeoff weight was 4,917 kilograms (10,840 pounds).
The MiG-15 had a cruise speed 974 kilometers per hour (605 miles per hour, 0.79 Mach). Its maximum speed was 1,047 kilometers per hour (565 knots, or 651 miles per hour)—0.99 Mach—at low altitude, and 1,031 kilometers per hour (557 knots, 641 miles per hour, 0.97 Mach) at 5,000 meters (16,404 feet). The maximum rate of climb was 2,520 meters per minute (8,268 feet per minute), and its service ceiling was 15,100 meters (49,541 feet). The fighter had a practical range of 1,335 kilometers (830 miles).
Armament consisted of one Nudelman NS-37 37 mm cannon with 40 rounds of ammunition, and two Nudelman-Rikhter NR-23 23 mm cannon with 80 rounds per gun.
The first MiG 15, 101003, was built at Factory No. 1. Full scale production was considered so important that four other aircraft types were discontinued so that their factories could be used to build MiG-15s. They were also license-built in Poland and Czechoslovakia. More than 18,000 MiG-15s have been built. It has served in the air forces of at least 44 countries.
The MiG-15 soon entered combat in the Korean War. It scored its first air-to-air victory, 1 November 1950, when First Lieutenant Fiodor V. Chizh shot down a U.S. Air Force F-51 Mustang.
Soviet technicians service a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15bis of the 351st Fighter Aviation Regiment at Antung Air Base, China, mid-1952. (Unattributed)
