Marshall Headle (21 March 1893–14 May 1945)

Aviation,
Paul Mantz, Amelia Earhart and Lockheed’s chief pilot, Marshall Headle, with Earhart’s Model 10E Electra Special. (California State University Northridge, Coralie Hewitt Tillack Collection)
Marshall Headle, as a junior at MAC,1911 (Index)

Marshall Headle was born 21 March 1893 at Winthrop, Massachussetts, United States of America, He was the third child of Edwin Charles Headle, a clergyman, and Clarendo Yeomans Headle. He attended Winthrop High School before going on to the Massachussetts Agricultural College at Bolton. He graduated in 1912 with a Bachelor of Science degree (B.Sc.) in Floriculture.

Headle enlisted in the United States Army in 1917, and attended aviation ground school at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.). His flight training took place at Tours, France. He held the rank of First Lieutenant, Air Service, American Expeditionary Force, United States Army. Lieutenant Headle served as a flight instructor at Tours and at the 2nd Aviation Instruction Center.

1st Lt. Marshall Headle, Air Service, United States Army.

From 1919 to 1922, Headle was attached to the United States Embassy in Paris, France. He then returned to the United States.

Marshall Headle enlisted as a private in the United States Marine Corps, 25 October 1924. He served with the Marines in China as an airplane crew chief and aviator. He was promoted to gunnery sergeant (Gy.Sgt.). He returned to the United States in 1928, and resigned from the Marine Corps to become a civilian pilot.

Lockheed test pilot Marshall Headle with a Lockheed airplane, circa 1930. (San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives AL77A-032)

In 1929, Headle married Dorothea Evelyn Breeder.  They had two children, Marshall Ronald Headle, born in 1932, and Michele Ann Headle. (Mrs. Headle died in Honolulu, Hawaii, 25 May 2010, at the age of 99 years.)

Headle joined Lockheed in 1929, as chief pilot, flight operations. On 30 October 1929, Headle made the first flight of the all-metal Detroit-Lockheed DL-2 Sirius.

In 1930, Headle attempted to set a world altitude record with a 500 kilogram (1,102 pounds) payload, flying a Lockheed Vega. He used a pressurized tank of oxygen with a flexible tube.

Marshall Headle demonstrates his high-altitude breathing apparatus, standing with his Lockheed Vega. (International Newsreel/Shamokin News-Dispatch)
Marshall E. (“Babe”) Headle. (Photograph courtesy of Neil Corbett, Test and Research Pilots, Flight Test Engineers)

In 1931, he took the Model 9 Orion, NX960Y, on its first flight.

In 1933, became the company’s chief test pilot, succeeding Wiley Post. He also traveled world-wide demonstrating Lockheed’s airplanes.

Headle also made the first flight of Gerard Vultee’s Vultee V-1A single-engine airliner, 19 February 1933.

On 29 July 1937, he made the first flight of the Lockheed Model 14 Super Electra. The Model 14 fuselage was stretched, resulting in the Model 18 Lodestar. Headle, with Louis Upshaw, took the prototype, NX17385, for its first flight, 21 September 1939. The Lodestar would be developed into the Lockheed Ventura bomber.

On 16 September 1940, Headle made the first flight of the Lockheed YP-38 service test prototype. Headle was featured in magazine and billboard advertisements for Camel cigarettes in 1941.

Marshall Headle, Lockheed test pilot, was featured in advertising for Camel cigarettes. (Yale University Library)

In 1941, he was injured in an altitude chamber accident and was no longer able to fly.

Prototype Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar, NX17385. (Lockheed Martin)

Marshall Headle died 14 May 1945 at the age of 52 years. He was buried at the Valhalla Memorial Cemetery, Burbank, California.

Lockheed test pilot Marshall Headle with a YP-38 prototype at Burbank, circa 1940. (Lockheed Martin)

© 2023, Bryan R. Swopes

20 March 2011

Aviation, , , , , , ,
The first Boeing 747-8i takes off from Paine Field, 20 March 2011. (Boeing)

20 March 2011: At 9:58 a.m., the prototype Boeing 747–8 International, N6067E, (Line Number 1434) took off on its first flight from Paine Field (PAE), Everett, Washington. Chief Test Pilot Mark Gregory Feuerstein was in command, with co-pilot Captain Paul Stemer. During the flight the 747-8i flew to 20,000 feet (6,096 meters) and 250 knots (288 miles per hour/463 kilometers per hour). Four hours, 26 minutes later, at 2:24 p.m., the prototype landed at Boeing Field (BFI) in Seattle.

Captain Feuerstein said, “It was a great flight. Hard to beat the weather we had today—in fact I’m still a little surprised it worked out the way it did. The airplane was ready. . . and a lot of people. . . put a lot of work into making this airplane what it is. . . This is a testament to how prepared the airplane was. The airplane is actually ready to go fly right now.”

Captain Paul Stemer, Joe Sutter, the “father of the 747,” and Captain Mark Feuerstein. (NYC Aviation)

The Boeing 747-8i International is the final passenger variant of the 747 series. 155 were built before production came to an end in 2022.

Boeing 747-8i International, N6067E, taking off from Boeing Field. (Dave Subelack)

The Boeing 747-8i International is flown by two pilots, and it can carry up to 467 passengers. It is 250 feet, 2 inches (76.251 meters) long with a wingspan of 224 feet, 5 inches (68.402 meters), and height of 63 feet, 6 inches (19.355 meters). The length is an 18 foot, 4 inch (5.588 meters) stretch over the previous 747-400. The leading edges of the wings are swept aft to 37.5°. The total wing area is 5,960 square feet (553.7 square meters). The airliner has an empty weight of 485,300 pounds (220,128 kilograms), and maximum takeoff weight of 987,000 pounds (447,696 kilograms).

The 747-8i and -8F freighter are each powered by four General Electric GEns-2B67 high bypass turbofan engines. These are dual-rotor, axial flow engines with a single fan stage; 13-stage compressor section (3 low-pressure and 10 high-pressure stages); and an 8-stage turbine (2 high- and 6 low-pressure stages. The fan has a diameter of 104.7 inches (2.66 meters). Each engine weighs 12,396 pounds (5,623 kilograms) and produces 66,500 pounds of thrust (295.8 kilonewtons).

The 747-8i’s cruise speed is 0.855 Mach (490 knots/564 miles per hour/908 kilometers per hour), and its maximum speed (VMO) is 516 knots/595 miles per hour/956 kilometers per hour, and the maximum Mach number (MMO) is 0.9 Mach. The service ceiling is 43,100 feet (13,137 meters). With full fuel, 63,034 U.S. gallons (238,610 liters), its range is 7,730 nautical miles (8,896 statute miles/14,316 kilometers).

N6067E was sold to the State of Kuwait 11 March 2012, and re-registered as 9K-GAA.

Boeing 747-8JK 9K-GAA at Salzburg, Austria. (Boeing 747 Queen of the Skies)

© 2023, Bryan R. Swopes

20 March 1966

Aviation, , , , , , ,
Test pilot Jack L. Zimmerman with the record-setting Hughes YOH-6A Light Observation Helicopter, 62-4213. (FAI)
Hughes Aircraft Division test pilot Jack L. Zimmerman with the record-setting Hughes YOH-6A Light Observation Helicopter, 62-4213. (FAI)

20 March 1966: At Edwards Air Force Base in the high desert of southern California, Hughes Aircraft Company test pilot Jack L. Zimmerman flew the third prototype YOH-6A Light Observation Helicopter, 62-4213, to set a Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) World Record for Distance Over a Closed Circuit Without Landing of 1,700.12 kilometers (1,056.41 miles).¹ Fifty-nine years later, this record still stands.

One week later, Zimmerman would set six more World Records ² with the “Loach.”

Hughes YOH-6A 62-4213 at Edwards Air Force Base, 1966. (FAI)
Hughes YOH-6A 62-4213 at Edwards Air Force Base, 1966. (FAI)

The Hughes Model 369 was built in response to a U.S. Army requirement for a Light Observation Helicopter (“L.O.H.”). It was designated YOH-6A, and the first aircraft received U.S. Army serial number 62-4211. It competed with prototypes from Bell Helicopter Company (YOH-4) and Fairchild-Hiller (YOH-5). All three aircraft were powered by a lightweight Allison Engine Company turboshaft engine. The YOH-6A won the three-way competition and was ordered into production as the OH-6A Cayuse. It was nicknamed “loach,” an acronym for L.O.H.

The YOH-6A was a two-place light helicopter, flown by a single pilot. It had a four-bladed, articulated main rotor which turned counter-clockwise, as seen from above. (The advancing blade is on the helicopter’s right.) Stacks of thin stainless steel “straps” fastened the rotor blades to the hub and were flexible enough to allow for flapping and feathering. Hydraulic dampers controlled lead-lag. Originally, there were blade cuffs around the main rotor blade roots in an attempt to reduce aerodynamic drag, but these were soon discarded. A two-bladed semi-rigid tail rotor was mounted on the left side of the tail boom. Seen from the left, the tail-rotor rotates counter-clockwise. (The advancing blade is on top.)

The third prototype YOH-6A, 62-4213, testing the XM-7 minigun. (U.S. Army)
The third prototype YOH-6A, 62-4213, testing the XM-7 twin M60 7.62 mm weapons system. (U.S. Army)

The YOH-6A was powered by a T63-A-5 turboshaft engine (Allison Model 250-C10) mounted behind the cabin at a 45° angle. The engine was rated at 212 shaft horsepower at 52,142 r.p.m. (102% N1) and 693 °C. turbine outlet temperature for maximum continuous power, and 250 shaft horsepower at 738 °C., 5-minute limit, for takeoff. Production OH-6A helicopters used the slightly more powerful T63-A-5A (250-C10A) engine.

The Hughes Tool Company Aircraft Division built 1,420 OH-6A Cayuse helicopters for the U.S. Army. The helicopter remains in production as AH-6C and MH-6 military helicopters, and the MD500E and MD530F civil aircraft.

Hughes YOH-6A 62-4213 is in the collection of the United States Army Aviation Museum, Fort Rucker, Alabama.

U.S. Army Hughes YOH-6A prototype 62-4213 at Le Bourget, circa 1965.
U.S. Army Hughes YOH-6A prototype 62-4213 at Aéroport de Paris – Le Bourget, 19 June 1965. (R.A. Scholefield via AVIAFORA)
Jack Zimmerman (The Maroon 1940)

Jack Louis Zimmerman was born 1 September 1921 at Chicago, Illinois, the second of three children of Bernard Zimmerman, an electrician, and Esther Rujawski Zimmerman. Jack graduated from Hirsch High School in Chicago in 1940. He then studied engineering at the University of Chicago, but left to enlist in the U.S. Army Air Corps. He graduated from flight school in 1943 and was commissioned a second lieutenant.

Lieutenant Zimmerman was sent to Freeman Field, Indiana, as part of the Army’s first class of student helicopter pilots, training on the Sikorsky R-4. On completion of training he was assigned to a Liberty ship in the western Pacific as part of a Project Ivory Soap Aviation Repair Unit.

Taking off from the Army Transport Service ship USAT Maj. Gen. Robert Olds (formerly, the Liberty ship, SS Daniel E. Garrett), Lieutenant Zimmerman’s helicopter crashed into the sea. For his heroic actions in saving a passenger’s life, he was awarded the Soldier’s Medal:

“For heroism displayed in rescuing an enlisted man from drowning on 1 November 1944. While taking off from the flight deck of the SS Daniel E. Garrett, Lieutenant Zimmerman with Private William K. Troche as passenger was forced to land at sea. Lieutenant Zimmerman at the risk of his life made several dives into the plane when his passenger had difficulty in extricating himself from the craft. When Private Troche’s life preserver failed to operate properly, Lieutenant Zimmerman supported him in the water for approximately 30 minutes and afterwards pulled him to a life preserver, which had been thrown from the ship. The heroism displayed by Lieutenant Zimmerman on this occasion reflects great credit upon himself and the military service.” —http://collectair.org/zimmerman.html

Following World War II, Jack Zimmerman was employed as a commercial pilot, and then a test pilot for the Seibel Helicopter S-4 and YH-24 light helicopters, and when the company was bought by Cessna, he continued testing the improved Cessna CH-1 and UH-41 Seneca. In 1963, Zimmerman began working as a test pilot for the Hughes Tool Company’s Aircraft Division. He retired in 1982.

Jack Louis Zimmerman died at San Diego, California, on his 81st birthday, 1 September 2002.

¹ FAI Record File Number 762

² FAI Record File Numbers 771, 772, 9920, 9921, 9922, and 9923

© 2019, Bryan R. Swopes

20 March 1945

Aviation, , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Tony LeVier and the first prototype Lockheed XP-80A, 44-83021, in flight over southern California’s high desert, 1945. (Lockheed Martin)
Anthony W. (“Tony”) LeVier

20 March 1945: Tony LeVier was conducting a test flight of the first prototype Lockheed XP-80A, 44-83021, near Muroc Army Air Field (now known as Edwards Air Force Base).

The XP-80A was developed from the original XP-80 prototype, but was larger to incorporate a more powerful General Electric I-40 turbojet engine in place of the original Allis-Chalmers J36 (a license-built version of the British Halford H.1B).

The I-40 was a single-shaft turbojet which used a double-inlet, single-stage, centrifugal-flow compressor, fourteen straight-through combustors and a single-stage axial-flow turbine. The engine had a maximum speed of 11,500 r.p.m. and produced 4,000 pounds of thrust (17.79 kilonewtons). The I-40 was 48 inches (1.22 meters) in diameter and weighed 1,820 pounds (826 kilograms). The I-40 would be produced by Allison Division of General Motors as the J33 series.

General Electric I-40 turbojet engine cross section. (NASA)

At 15,000 feet (4,572 meters), LeVier put the XP-80A into a dive, intending to level off at 10,000 feet (3,048 meters) for a high-speed run. However, at 11,000 feet (3,353 meters), the single-stage turbine inside the jet engine failed and fragments tore through the prototype’s fuselage. The tail section of the airplane was cut off and the XP-80A went out of control.

An example of a turbine failure in a Lockheed P-80. (San Diego Air and Space Museum)

The XP-80A was not equipped with an ejection seat and LeVier had difficulty getting out, but finally escaped at about 4,000 feet (1,219 meters).

44-83021 crashed near the town of Rosamond and was completely destroyed. Tony LeVier’s parachute was swinging and he was severely injured when he hit the ground. His injuries kept him from flying for the next six months.

Lockheed XP-80A 44-83021 (U.S. Air Force)
Lockheed XP-80A 44-83021 (U.S. Air Force)

The Lockheed XP-80A was a single-place, single engine prototype fighter. It was 34 feet, 6 inches (10.516 meters) long with a wingspan of 39 feet, 0 inches (11.887 meters) and overall height of 11 feet, 4 inches (3.454 meters). It had an empty weight of 7,225 pounds (3,277 kilograms) and gross weight of 9,600 pounds (4,354 kilograms).

Armament consisted of six Browning .50-caliber AN-M2 machine guns with 300 rounds of ammunition per gun.

Two XP-80As were built. These were followed by twelve YP-80A Shooting Star service test aircraft. The Lockheed P-80A Shooting Star was ordered into production with an initial contract for 500 aircraft. This was soon followed by a second order for 2,500 fighters.

Wreckage of XP-80A 44-83021 loaded on a flat bed trailer. (U.S. Air Force)
Wreckage of XP-80A 44-83021 loaded on a flat bed trailer. (U.S. Air Force)

© 2019, Bryan R. Swopes