20–21 July 1921

Aviation, , , ,
SMS Ostfriesland at anchor off Cape Henry, Virginia. (USNNMNA 1987.096.004.018)

The captured Kaiserliche Marine dreadnought battleship SMS Ostfriesland was expended as a target during aerial bombing tests conducted by the United States Army and Navy, 20–21 July 1921. The ship was anchored approximately 50 miles (80 kilometers) east of Cape Henry, Virginia, at the edge of the outer continental shelf.

An aerial bomb explodes on the foredeck of SMS Ostfriesland, 21 July 1921. (U.S. Air Force 020926-O-9999G-016)

The U.S. Navy wanted to investigate the damage that could be caused to ships by airplanes, and required that the Army aircraft drop 25-pound anti-personnel bombs, and 550- and 1,000-pound demolition bombs. Between tests, Navy engineering officers would examine the ships.

A 2,000 bomb detonates near the stern of SMS Ostfriesland. (U.S. Navy)

Brigadier General William (“Billy”) Mitchell, commanding the Army bombers, had a different goal. He had said that the Air Service could sink a battleship, and that was what he planned to do.

SMS Ostfriesland sinking by the stern, about 12:30 p.m., 21 July 1921. (U.S. Navy)

General Mitchell observed to attacks from his DH-4, with Captain St. Clair Streett, the foremost expert in aerial photography, as an observer. The bombing was conducted by the 1st Provisional Air Brigade, flying Martin NBS-1 twin-engine bombers. (The NBS-1 was soon redesignated MB-2.)

Martin MB-2. (U.S. Air Force 061219-F-1234S-014)

Ostfriesland suffered some damage from the early bombing attacks, but when the Army dropped several 2,000-pound bombs close aboard, the underwater explosions caused severe damage to the battleship’s hull.

If this had been actual combat, the battleship’s crew might have been able to control the flooding and save the ship, but, instead, it began to settle by the stern, rolled over and sank in only 10 minutes.

Front view detail of Martin MB-2. (U.S. Air Force 061219-F-1234S-021)
3/4 aft view detail of Martin MB-2. (U.S. Air Force 061219-F-1234S-022)
Brigadier General William Mitchell, United States Army Air Service. (U.S. Air Force)

The wreck of Ostfriesland is located at latitude N. 37° 09.396′, longitude W. 74° 34.562′, at a depth of 380 feet (116 meters).

© 2019, Bryan R. Swopes

21 July 1911

Aviation, , , , ,
“Denise Moore” (1876–1911)

21 July 1911: Denise Moore was a popular figure in aviation circles in France.  She had been taking flying lessons at the Henri Farman Aviation School at Étampes, about 30 miles south of Paris.

She took off at 6:20 p.m. in Farman’s biplane, on her third flight of the day, and made two circuits of the field. On her third turn, the aircraft banked steeply and pitched downward. It crashed and Ms. Moore was killed. She was the first woman to be killed in an airplane accident.

FLIGHT reported:

Fatal Accident to Mme. Moore.

At the present moment there are a good many ladies learning to fly in France and they appear to be unperturbed by the fatal accident to Mme. Denise Moore at Mourmelon on Friday of last week. The unfortunate lady, of whom little is known beyond that she came from Algeria, had been making splendid progress during the three weeks she had been learning and during her early solo flights showed great promise. She was, however, fired by an ambition for altitude work and on the day when the accident happened, in spite of the emphatic directions of her instructor, she started off to go high. She had reached only 150 ft. however, when apparently she made a mistake in steering, for the machine fell sideways to the ground, the pilot being killed instantly.

—FLIGHT, No. 135. (No. 30. Vol. III.), 29 July 1911, at Page 665

Denise Moore was a pseudonym for Mrs. E. J. Cornesson, widow of Denis Cornesson. She was the former Miss E. Jane-Wright. She assumed the name to keep her family from discovering that she was learning to fly.

© 2018, Bryan R. Swopes

20 July 1969, 20:17:39 UTC, T + 102:45:39.9

Space Flight, , , , , , , , , , ,
Apollo 11 LM -5, Eagle, just after separation from the Command/Service Module in Lunar Orbit, 20 July 1969. (Michael Collins/NASA)

102:45:25 Aldrin: Four forward. Four forward. Drifting to the right a little. Twenty feet, down a half.

102:45:31 Duke: Thirty seconds (until the ‘Bingo’ call).

102:45:32 Aldrin: Drifting forward just a little bit; that’s good.

(Pause)

102:45:40 Aldrin: Contact Light.

102:45:43 Armstrong: Shutdown.

102:45:44 Aldrin: Okay. Engine Stop.

102:45:45 Aldrin: ACA out of Detent.

102:45:46 Armstrong: Out of Detent. Auto.

102:45:47 Aldrin: Mode Control, both Auto. Descent Engine Command Override, Off. Engine Arm, Off. Four-thirteen is in.

102:45:57 Duke: We copy you down, Eagle.

102:45:58 Armstrong: Engine arm is off. (Pause) Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.

The shadow of the LM Eagle cast on the lunar surface at Mare Tranquillitatis, 20 July 1969. The hills are raised portions of the rim of a 200 meter crater and are about 200 meters from the LM. (Edwin Eugene Aldrin, Jr./NASA)

© 2018, Bryan R. Swopes

20 July 1969, 18:12:01 UTC, T + 100:40:01.9

Space Flight, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
The Apollo 11 Lunar Module Eagle shortly after separation from teh Command and Service Module, in orbit around the Moon, 20 July 1969. (NASA)
The Apollo 11 Lunar Module Eagle, with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin aboard, shortly after separation from the Command and Service Module, in orbit around the Moon, 20 July 1969. (Michael Collins, NASA)

20 July 1969, 18:12:01 UTC, T + 100 hours, 40 minutes, 1.9 seconds: The Lunar Module Eagle completes the separation maneuver, moving away from the Apollo 11 Command and Service Module Columbia.

© 2015, Bryan R. Swopes

20 July 1955

Aviation, , , , , ,
Convair NB-36 Nuclear Test Aircraft
Convair NB-36H Nuclear Test Aircraft. (U.S. Air Force)

20 July 1955: At Carswell Air Force Base, Fort Worth, Texas, the Convair NB-36H Nuclear Test Aircraft, serial number 51-5712, made its first flight.

In the late 1940s engineers began working on an aircraft that could be powered by a nuclear reactor. The reactor would heat air to provide jet thrust, rather than burning fuel and air to do so. A 60 megawatt reactor was envisioned.

The NB-36 was built to test the shielding requirements of an airborne nuclear reactor and to determine the effects of radiation on aircraft systems.

Convair NB-36H 51-5712. (U.S. Air Force 230502-F-ZS999-1002)

The Nuclear Test Aircraft was built from a Convair B-36H-20-CF Peacemaker strategic bomber, one of 61 that had been destroyed or damaged by a tornado that struck Carswell AFB in 1952. 51-5712 was so heavily damaged that the airframe was written off, but it was rebuilt with a completely new nose section with a shielded cockpit, and was otherwise very heavily modified by Convair. Originally designated XB-36H-20-CF, this was changed to NB-36H in June 1956.

The shielded cockpit unit of the NB-36H (U.S. Air Force)
The shielded cockpit unit of the NB-36H. This assembly weighed 11 tons. (U.S. Air Force)

A one-megawatt Aircraft Shield Test Reactor developed by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, weighing approximately 35,000 pounds (15,875 kilograms), was installed in the bomber’s aft bomb bay. Though the reactor was fully operational, it did not power the airplane.

As with other B-36s, a combination of six Pratt & Whitney Wasp Major R-4360-53 air-cooled, 28-cylinder radial engines, and four General Electric J47-GE-19 turbojet engines, powered the NB-36.

The Convair NB-36H, 51-5712, with a Boeing B-50 Superfortress. (U.S. Department of Defense DF-SC-83-09332)

The modified bomber could reach a maximum speed of 420 miles per hours at 47,000 feet. It had a maximum gross weight of 357,500 pounds.

During the test program, the NB-36 made 47 flights with a total of 215 hours flight time.

Based on the test results, the entire project was cancelled, and 51-5712 was scrapped at Fort Worth in 1958.

Convair NB-36H Nuclear Test Aircraft 51-5712. (Convair)
Convair NB-36H Nuclear Test Aircraft 51-5712, 6 August 1956. (Convair)

© 2016, Bryan R. Swopes