13 July 1928

Aviation, , , , ,
Maryse Bastie
Maryse Bastie (FAI)

13 July 1928, Mme Maryse Bastié flew her Caudron C. 109, F-AHFE, from Le Bourget airport, Paris, France, to Trzebiatów, Pomeranina, a distance of 1,058 kilometers (657.4 statute miles). (The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale records database does not show this record.) Mme Bastié is credited with eight FAI world records.

An FAI news article dated 28 July 2019 credits Maryse Bastié with being the first woman to have held a world record in aviation.¹

Maryse Bastié’s Caudron C. 109, F-AHFE. (FAI)

Mme Bastié’s airplane was a two-place, single-engine, Caudron C. 109 parasol-wing monoplane, F-AHFE, serial number 5804.1.

The C. 109 had a length of 6.440 meters (21 feet, 1.5 inches), wing span of 11.50 meters (37 feet, 8.8 inches) and height of 2.530 meters (8 feet, 3.6 inches). Its empty weight was 330 kilograms (727.525 pounds) and gross weight, 532 kilograms (1,173 pounds).

The standard C. 109 had a fuel capacity of 57 liters (15 U.S. gallons), and carried 15 litres (4 U.S. gallons) of lubricating oil for the engine. Its maximum speed was 120 kilometers per hour (75 miles per hour).

F-AHFE was powered by a naturally aspirated, air-cooled, 2,959.8 cubic centimeter (180.62 cubic inches) Société des Moteurs Salmson 9AD nine cylinder radial engine. The 9AD had a cylinder bore diameter of 69.9 millimeters (2.752 inches), and piston stroke of 85.7 millimeters (3.374 inches). It was rated at 45 ch at 2,000 r.p.m. The engine was 69.1 centimeters (27.20472 inches long and 63 centimeters (24.8031 inches) in diameter. It weighed 69.9 kilograms (154.1 pounds).

Salmson 9AD (NASM 2022-01819)

F-AHFE had set two FAI world records. On 25 October 1927, Raymond Delmotte flew over a closed circuit from Villacoublay to Saran in France, for a total distance of 1 535,20 kilometers (953.93 statute miles).² Two days later, 27 October 1927, Max Knipping flew from Le Bourget, Paris, France, to Königsberg, Germany, a distance of 1 581,84 kilometers.³

The airplane was first registered to M. Cuadron as F-ESDE, 06.11.25. It was the sold to M. Bastié at Issy. Later, Guy Bart, Chennevieres-sur-Marne; André Lemoine, Reims; and Pierre Gaston Lapanne at Nancy.

¹ The earliest record credited to Mme Bastié in the FAI online records database is Number 10446, 28 July 1929.  However, the database shows a number of earlier records credited to women: 12219, 2 January 1929, Evelyn Trout; 12216, 31 January 1929, Elinor Smith; 12220, 11 February 1929, Evelyn Trout; 12223, 17 March 1929, Louise McPhetridge; 12217, 24 April 1929, Elinor Smith; 12206, 28 May 1929, Marvel Crosson; 12214, 20 December 1928, Viola Gentry; 12221, 7 December 1928, Louise McPhetridge; 12212, 2 December 1928, Jane Heath; and 8221, 5 July 1927, The Hon. Bailey.

² FAI Record Number 9185

³ FAI Record 9166

© 2023, Bryan R. Swopes

13 July 1919

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Airship R 34 over Pulham Airship Station, Norfolk, England, 1919.

13 July 1919: The Royal Air Force rigid airship R 34 completed its two-way crossing of the Atlantic Ocean and at 6:57 a.m. landed at Pulham Airship Station, Norfolk, England. The airship was under the command of Major George Herbert Scott, A.F.C., R.A.F. The total complement, including passengers, was 30 persons.

The return flight from Mineola, Long Island, New York took 73 hours, 3 minutes. According to records of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, the distance flown by R 34 on the return flight was 6,138 kilometers (3,814 miles).

This was the first “double crossing” by an aircraft. The round trip flight began at East Fortune Airship Station near Edinburgh, Scotland, on 2 July. The East-to-West crossing took 108 hours, 12 minutes.

Major Scott was appointed Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.

This map shows the outbound and return tracks of His Majesty's Airship R 34, 2–13 July 1919.
This map shows the outbound and return tracks of His Majesty’s Airship R 34, 2–13 July 1919.

During the return flight on of the airship’s five engines suffered a broken connecting rod which damaged the cylinder block. It could not be repaired.

R 34 was based on extensive study of the captured German Zeppelin, L-33. It was built for the Royal Naval Air Service by William Beardmore and Company, Inchinnan, Renfrewshire, Scotland, but with the end of World War I, the RNAS and Royal Flying Corps were merged to become the Royal Air Force. 643 feet long (196 meters), with a maximum diameter of 78 feet, 9 inches (24 meters), the dirigible had a total volume of 1,950,000 cubic feet (55,218 cubic meters). The airship had a light weight metal structure covered with doped fabric. Buoyancy was provided by 55,185 cubic meters (1,948,840 cubic feet) of gaseous hydrogen contained in 19 gas bags inside the airship’s envelope. R 34 had a gross lift capacity of 59 tons. Useful lift was 58,240 pounds (26,417 kilograms).

The airship was powered by five water-cooled, normally-aspirated, 15.395-liter (989.483-cubic-inch-displacement) Sunbeam Maori Mk.IV dual overhead cam (DOHC) 60° V-12 engines with four valves per cylinder. The Mk.IV’s cylinder bore had been increased from 100 millimeters to 110 millimeters (3.94 to 4.33 inches), resulting in a larger displacement than previous Maori variants. The Maori Mk.IV was a direct-drive engine which produced 275 horsepower at 2,000 r.p.m. Each engine turned a two-bladed, 17 foot diameter (5.182 meter) propellers through a remote gearbox with a 0.257:1 reduction. The two wing engines were equipped with reversible gearboxes. With the engines turning 1,800 r.p.m., the R 34 had a cruising speed of 47 knots (54 miles per hour/87 kilometers per hour) and consumed 65 gallons (246 liters) of fuel per hour.

Airship R 34 landing at Pulham, Norfolk, 13 Juky 1919. (Getty Images/Jimmy Sime)
Airship R 34 landing at Pulham, Norfolk, 13 July 1919. (Getty Images/Jimmy Sime)

© 2017, Bryan R. Swopes

13 July 1916

Aviation, , , ,
Colonel Raynal Cawthorne Bolling, Signal Corps, U.S. Army
Lieutenant Colonel Raynal Cawthorne Bolling, Signal Corps, U.S. Army Reserve
1st Aero Squadron, New York National Guard, mobilized for Federal Service, 13 July 1916.
1st Aero Squadron, New York National Guard, mobilized for Federal Service, 13 July 1916.

13 July 1916: The 1st Aero Company, New York National Guard, under the command of Captain Raynal Cawthorne Bolling, became the first national guard unit to be mobilized into federal service in answer to the border crisis with Mexico. The unit trained at Mineola, New York, along the 2nd Aero Company, but did not deploy to the border.

Bolling was promoted to the rank of Colonel, Signal Corps, United States Army, 8 August 1917. Colonel Bolling was killed in action near Estrées-Deniécourt, France, 26 March 1918. As of that time, he was the highest-ranking U.S. officer to be lost during World War I. Bolling Field, the Air Corps station at Washington, D.C., was named in his honor.

The 1st Aero Company is the oldest Air National Guard unit. Today, it is 102nd Rescue Squadron, New York Air National Guard.

© 2016, Bryan R. Swopes

11–12 July 1999

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Amundsen Scott South Pole Station

11–12 July 1999: Jerri Lin Nielsen, M.D., a physician at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, self-biopsied a suspicious breast lump. Results were inconclusive, so the National Science Foundation decided to send additional test equipment and medications to the remote station by military transport.

Brigadier General John I. Pray, Jr., United States Air Force.
Brigadier General John I. Pray, Jr., United States Air Force.

Because of the extreme cold, adverse weather conditions and months of darkness, it was considered too dangerous for an aircraft to attempt landing at the South Pole. A United States Air Force Lockheed C-141B Starlifter of the 62nd Airlift Wing, McChord Air Force Base, Washington, was sent to stage out of Christchurch, New Zealand, in order to air drop the supplies at the South Pole. The mission was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel John I. Pray, Jr., U.S. Air Force.

Departing Christchurch at 2154 UTC, 11 July, with six pallets of medical supplies and equipment as well as fresh food and mail for the remote outpost, the C-141 was joined for the flight by a Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker from the 203rd Air Refueling Squadron, Hawaii National Guard, for inflight refueling. A refueling took place over McMurdo Station and then the Starlifter headed on toward the Pole.

A Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker prepares to refuel a Lockheed C-141B Starlifter. (Richard Seaman)

Amundsen-Scott station personnel set fire to 27 smudge pots arranged in a semi-circle to mark the drop zone, and turned off all outside lighting. When the transport arrived overhead, blowing snow obscured the drop zone and it took the aircrew, flying with night vision goggles, 25 minutes to locate the markers.

The first of six pallets of medical supplies airdropped by the U.S. Air force at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, 11 July 1999. (National Science Foundation)
The first of six pallets of medical supplies airdropped by the U.S. Air Force at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, 11 July 1999. (National Science Foundation)

At 2230 the C-141 flew over at an altitude of 700 feet (213.4 meters) and dropped two cargo pallets on the first pass and the remaining four on a second. It immediately departed to rendezvous with the KC-135 tanker and both returned to New Zealand.

After a 6,375 mile (10,260 kilometer) round trip, the C-141 touched down at Christchurch at 1225 UTC, 12 July.

Dr. Nielsen’s lump was cancerous. Using the medical supplies that had been air-dropped, she treated herself for the next three months. She was evacuated by air when a Lockheed LC-130H Hercules from the 109th Airlift Wing, New York Air National Guard, picked her up 16 October 1999.

Dr. Nielsen’s cancer eventually metastasized to her liver, bones and brain. Jerri Lin FitzGerald, M.D., died 23 June 2009 at her home in Southwick, Massachusetts.

Her husband, Thomas FitzGerald, said, “She fought bravely, she was able to make the best of what life and circumstance gave her, and she had the most resilience I have ever seen in anyone. She fought hard and she fought valiantly.”

Dr. Jerri Lin Nielsen, 1 March 1952–23 June 2009. (National Science Foundation)
Dr. Jerri Lin Nielsen, 1 March 1952–23 June 2009. (National Science Foundation)

© 2018, Bryan R. Swopes

12 July 1980

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The first McDonnell Douglas KC-10A Extender, 79-0433, in flight. The airplane is carrying civil registration N110KC rather than its U.S. Air Force serial number. (Boeing)

12 July 1980: The first McDonnell Douglas KC-10A Extender, serial number 79-0433, made its first flight at Long Beach, California with company test pilots Walt Smith and George Jansen, flight engineer Leo Hazell, and flight test engineer Guy Lowery.

Based on the DC-10-30CF commercial transport, this aerial tanker can carry 356,000 pounds of fuel (161,479 kilograms). Using a “flying boom” to refuel Air Force aircraft in flight, it also is equipped with “hose and drogue” system to refuel U.S. Navy and Marine airplanes. Both systems can be used simultaneously. The KC-10A can also carry cargo pallets, or combination of personnel and cargo.

McDonnell Douglas KC-10A Extender 79-0433 (N110KC) seen from above. (McDonnell Douglas)
McDonnell Douglas KC-10A Extender 79-0433 (N110KC) seen from above. (McDonnell Douglas)

The McDonnell Douglas KC-10A Extender is operated by a flight crew of four. It is 181 feet, 7 inches (54.347 meters) long with a wingspan of 165 feet, 4 inches (50.394 meters) and height of 58 feet, 7 inches (17.856 meters). The tanker has an empty weight of 241,027 pounds (109,328 kilograms) and maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) of 590,000 pounds (267,620 kilograms).

The KC-10A is powered by three commercial General Electric CF6-50C2 turbofan engines, flat-rated at 52,500 pounds of thrust (233.532 kilonewtons), each. The CF6-50C2 is a two-spool, high-bypass-ratio axial-flow turbofan engine. It has a single-stage fan, 17-stage compressor section (3 low- and 14 high-pressure stages), and a  6-stage turbine (2 high- and 4 low-pressure stages). The fan has a diameter of 86.0 inches (2.184 meters) and produces 73% of the engine’s total power at full rated thrust. The CF6-50C2 has a diameter of 105.0 inches (2.667 meters), a length of 183.0 inches (4.648 meters), and weighs 8,731 pounds (3,960.3 kilograms).

The KC-10A has a maximum speed of 0.89 Mach (619 miles per hour, 996 kilometers per hour). Its service ceiling is 42,000 feet (12,802 meters). Range is 4,400 miles (7,081 kilometers).

McDonnell Douglas KC-10A Extender 79-04333. (Mike Freer via Wikipedia)

Though over 400 of the original 732 Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers remain in service (the last one was accepted by the Air Force in 1964), the fleet of KC-10s provide greater fuel capacity and much longer range. Boeing had submitted a tanker version of its 747 commercial transport, however the KC-10 was selected primarily because it could operate from shorter runways. McDonnell Douglas built 60 KC-10s for the U.S. Air Force and 2 similar KDC-10s for The Netherlands.

On 26 April 2022, McDonnell Douglas KC-10A 79-0433 was withdrawn from service after 42 years and flown to the Air Mobility Command Museum at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware.

McDonnell Douglas KC-10A Extender 79-0433. (Unattributed)
McDonnell Douglas KC-10A Extender 79-0433. (31st Aviano Tail Spotters Group)

© 2023, Bryan R. Swopes