Amelia Mary Earhart (Harris & Ewing)Judge Clarence Elliot Craig
5 January 1939: After she had been missing for 18 months, Judge Clarence Elliot Craig of the Superior Court of the County of Los Angeles County declared Amelia Mary Earhart legally dead in absentia,¹ at the request of her husband, George Palmer Putnam II. She and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared while enroute from Lae, Territory of New Guinea, to Howland Island in the Central Pacific, 2 July 1937.
George Palmer Putnam and Amelia Earhart had met in 1928 while he was interviewing prospects for a transatlantic flight to be sponsored by Mrs. Amy Phipps Guest. She was selected to make the flight and became the first woman to fly the Atlantic Ocean, aboard Donald Woodward’s Fokker F.VIIb/3m, Friendship, which was flown by Wilmer Stutz and Louis Gordon. (See This Day in Aviation, 17–18 June 1928) They were married 7 February 1931 at his parents’ home in Noank, Connecticut.
George Palmer Putnam leaves the Los Angeles Superior Court after missing aviatrix Amelia Earhart was declared dead in absentia, 5 January 1939. (Los Angeles Times Photographic Archive , UCLA Library.)
Judge Craig appointed Mr. Putnam as the executor of Earhart’s estate, which contemporary news reports said was “estimated at more than $10,000.”
Amelia Earhart Declared Dead
Court Names Husband of Lost Aviator as Executor of Estate
Amelia Earhart, ill-fated aviator who was lost during an attempt to girdle the earth at the Equator in an airplane 17 months ago, yesterday was declared dead in a Los Angeles probate court.
Five minutes later Superior Judge Elliott craig named her husband, George Palmer Putnam, Hollywood publisher and writer, sole executor of an estate estimated at more than $10,000.
CALLED EXTRAORDINARY
Acknowledging as extraordinary the procedure of declaring a person legally dead less than seven years from the date of disappearance, Judge Craig reasoned that Miss Earhart’s death could not be classified as usual.
To bolster his petition, Putnam had presented to the court a thick file of affidavits from naval officers and Department of the Interior officials who led the search for his lost wife in the South Pacific during the first week of July, 1937.
LOG IN EVIDENCE
The log of the Navy cutter Itasca was given as evidence that a thorough search for the aviator, lost on the homeward leg of her globe flight with her navigator, Capt. Fred Noonan, had proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was dead.
Judge Craig set July 2, 1937, as the exact date of Miss Earhart’s demise.
Miss Earhart’s will, dated April 1, 1932, made at Rye, N.Y., named Putnam as executor. He will get all her personal property. The remainder goes into a trust fund of which the income will be sent to her mother, Mrs. Amy Otis Earhart of Medford, Mass., quarter-annually.
—Los Angeles Times, Vol. LVIII, Friday, 2 January 1939, at Page 2, Column 4
Less than five months later, on 21 May 1939, Mr. Putnam married Mrs. Jean-Marie Cosigny James, an author, at Boulder City, Nevada. This was Putnam’s third marriage. It would end in divorce in 1945.
Mrs. Jean-Marie Cosigny James Putnam and George Palmer Putnam, Chicago, Illinois, 23 May 1939. (Associated Press Photo)
¹ Superior Court of the County of Los Angeles, Probate Case File 181709
De Havilland DH.106 Comet 3 G-ANLO at the Farnborough Airshow, September 1954. (RuthAS via Wikipedia)
2 December 1955: The prototype de Havilland DH-106 Comet 3, G-ANLO, departed Hatfield Aerodrome, Hertfordshire, England, with Chief Test Pilot John Cunningham and Per Buggé in the cockpit. R.W. Chandler was the navigator/radio operator. Other crew members included Chief Flight Engineer E. Brackstone Brown, and flight engineers R.V. Ablett and J. Hamilton.
Several de Havilland executives and engineers were among the passengers. Captain A.P.W. Cane of British Overseas Airways Corporation and Captain I.D.V. Ralfe of Qantas were aboard to observe to new airliner in operation.
De Havilland DH.106 Comet 3 G-ANLO was delayed by heavy fog at Hatfield, 2 December 1955. (De Havilland)
Departure had been scheduled for 5:30 a.m., local time, but heavy fog delayed the flight. 5 hours, 3 minutes later, the Comet 3 landed at Cairo, Egypt, after flying 2,076 nautical miles (2,389 statute miles, 3,845 kilometers). Rather than continuing on as had originally been planned, the crew remained over night at Cairo.
G-ANLO left Cairo the following morning and with refueling stops at Bombay, Maharashtra India; Singapore, Colony of Singapore; and Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia; the airliner arrived at Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, on 4 December, after a total of 19 hours, 5 minutes of flight. The distance traveled was 8,728 nautical miles (10,044 statute miles, 16,164 kilometers). During the Singapore-Darwin leg, the Comet 3 cruised at 44,000 feet (13,411 meters). More than 20,000 people were waiting at Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport to see the new jetliner arrive.
De Havilland DH-106 Comet 3 G-ANLO arrived at Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 4 December 1955. (Unattributed)
Group Captain Cunningham made demonstration flights from Sydney to Melbourne, Canberra and Perth.
G-ANLO then continued to Auckland, New Zealand, flying the 1,166 nautical miles (1,342 miles, 2,159 kilometers) in 2 hours, 43 minutes. From Auckland to Nadi Airport, Fiji, 1,153 nautical miles (1,326 miles, 2,135 kilometers), took 2 hours, 52 minutes.
The next leg of the around the world tour, Fiji to Honolulu, in the Hawaiian Islands, was completed on 13 December. The Comet 3 covered the 2,791 nautical miles (3,212 statute miles, 5,169 kilometers) in 6 hours, 44 minutes. G-ANLO remained at Honolulu for the next two days.
DH.106 Comet 3 G-ANLO is decorated with a flower lei on its arrival at Honolulu International Airport, 13 December 1955. (Zoggavia)
On 15 December, the Comet 3 left Honolulu for Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, 2,408 nautical miles (2,771 statute miles, 4,460 kilometers). The duration of this flight was 5 hours, 40 minutes. The Comet 3 flew across Canada to Toronto, Ontario, 1,898 nautical miles (2,184 statute miles, 3,515 kilometers) in 3 hours, 56 minutes, then on to Montreal, Quebec, arriving there on 20 December.
The final leg of the flight, Montreal to London Heathrow Airport, 2,907 nautical miles (3,345 statute miles, 5,384 kilometers) was completed in 6 hours, 9 minutes, on 27 December 1955.
This was the first around-the-world flight by a jet-powered aircraft. The total distance flown by the Comet 3 was 24,324 nautical miles (27,991.6 statute miles/45,048.1 kilometers) The total flight time was 56 hours, 17 minutes.
For this flight Group Captain Cunningham was awarded the Harmon Trophy, which was presented by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, 23 October 1956.
The de Havilland DH.106 Comet 3 was a further development of the Comet 2 series. It was 15 feet (4.572 meters) longer with a length of 111 feet, 6 inches (33.985 meters), a wingspan of 115 feet (35.052 meters) and overall height of 29 feet, 6 inches (8.992. The area of the wings and tail surfaces had been increased. It was powered by four Rolls Royce Avon 521 turbojet engines, rated at 10,000 pounds of thrust (44.48 kilonewtons), each.
De Havilland DH.106 Comet 3 G-ANLO, left quarter, at Entebbe Airport, Uganda, 1955. (Daphne Seager)
The airliner was designed to carry 58–76 passengers on flights ranging to 2,600 miles (4,184 kilometers). In addition to the increased length, visual differences from the previous Comets were the circular passenger windows, and wing tanks extending forward from the wings’ leading edges.
Only two Comet 3s were built and one was used as a static test article. Production continued with the Comet 4, which had even greater improvements. G-ANLO remained a development prototype and was modified several times. In 1958 the wings were shortened and the external wing tanks removed. The airplane was redesignated Comet 3B. It was turned over to the Ministry of Supply and re-registered XP915, 20 June 1961. The airplane was used in instrument landing tests and later converted to a mockup of the Hawker Siddeley Nimrod MR1 maritime patrol aircraft. It was taken out of service in 1966 and scrapped.
Group Captain John Cunningham, Royal Air Force. (Daily Mail)
Group Captain John Cunningham C.B.E., D.S.O. and Two Bars, D.F.C. and Bar, A.E., was born 1917 and educated at Croydon. In 1935 he became an apprentice at De Havilland’s and also joined the Auxiliary Air Force, where he trained as a pilot. Cunningham was called to active duty in August 1939, just before World War II began.
Promoted to Group Captain in 1944, Cunningham was the highest scoring Royal Air Force night fighter pilot of World War II, credited with shooting down 20 enemy airplanes. He was responsible for the myth that eating carrots would improve night vision.
Following the War, John Cunningham returned to de Havilland as a test pilot. Following the death of Geoffrey Raoul de Havilland, Jr., in 1946, Cunningham became the de Havilland’s chief test pilot. He remained with the firm through a series of mergers, finally retiring in 1980.
He set a Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) world speed and altitude record with the company’s DH.100 Vampire jet fighter, TG278: 799.644 kilometers per hour (496.876 miles per hour) over a 100 kilometer course at Lympne Airport, 31 August 1947.¹ He flew the DH.100 to 18,119 meters (59,446 feet) over Hatfield Aerodrome, 23 March 1948.² On 24 April 1950, Cunningham flew a DH.106 Comet Mk.I from London to Cairo at an average speed of 686.56 kilometers per hour (426.61 miles per hour), setting a world record for speed over a recognized course.³
Group Captain Cunningham died 21 July 2002 at the age of 84 years.
Per Olivarius Buggé (also known as Peter Bugge) was born at Kristiansund, Norway in 1918. He joined the Royal Norwegian Air Force in 1938. After Germany invaded the country, Buggé escaped to Sweden, April 1940, and in February 1941 arrived in Great Britain. He served with the Royal Air Force for the remainder of the War, flying Bristol Beaufighters and de Havilland Mosquitos with No. 604 Squadron and No. 85 Squadron (while it was under the command of Squadron Leader John Cunningham).
After the War Buggé flew for British Overseas Airways Corporation and Swedish Airlines. In 1949, he joined de Havilland as a test pilot, and stayed with the company after it was absorbed by Hawker Siddeley. He died in 1998.
John Cunningham (left) and Per Buggé in the cockpit of a DH.106 Comet. (Photograph courtesy of Neil Corbett, Test and Research Pilots, Flight Test Engineers)
Colonel Joseph Randall Holzapple, commanding officer, 319th Bombardment Group, Light, at Okinawa, 1945.
25–29 November 1945: Colonel Joseph Randall (“Randy”) Holzapple, U.S. Army Air Force, commanding officer of the 319th Bombardment Group, Light, departed Savannah, Georgia, as the pilot of a Douglas A-26C Invader twin-engine light attack bomber. His co-pilot on this flight was Lieutenant Colonel Charles R. Meyers. The navigator was Lieutenant Otto H. Schumaker and Corporal Howard J. Walden was the airplane’s radio operator.
The A-26 headed west, and kept heading west. 90 hours, 54 minutes later, Colonel Holzapple and his crew arrived at Washington National Airport, Washington, D.C. They had flown completely around the world, covering 24,859 miles (40,007 kilometers). The flight time was 96 hours, 50 minutes.
The A-26C Invader was built by Douglas Aircraft Company at its Long Beach, California and Tulsa, Oklahoma plants. It was 51 feet, 3 inches (15.621 meters) long with a wingspan of 70 feet, 0 inches (21.336 meters) and overall height of 18 feet, 6 inches (5.639 meters). It was designed to be flown by a single pilot, with a navigator/bombardier and a gunner. The A-26C weighed 22,690 pounds (10,292 kilograms) empty an had a maximum takeoff weight of 37,740 pounds (17,119 kilograms).
Power was supplied by two air-cooled, supercharged 2,804.4-cubic-inch-displacement (45.956 liter) Pratt & Whitney Double Wasp 2SB-G (R-2800-27) two-row, 18-cylinder radial engines with a compression ratio of 6.65:1. The R-2800-27 had a Normal Power rating of 1,600 horsepower at 2,400 r.p.m. at 5,700 feet (1,737 meters), 1,450 horsepower at 2,400 r.p.m. at 13,000 feet (3,962 meters), and 2,000 horsepower at 2,700 r.p.m for takeoff. War Emergency Power was 2,370 horsepower at 2,700 r.p.m. at Sea level. The engines turned three-bladed propellers with a diameter of 12 feet, 7 inches (3.835 meters) through a 2:1 gear reduction. The R-2800-27 was 6 feet, 3.72 inches (1.923 meters) long, 4 feet, 4.50 inches (1.334 meters) in diameter and weighed 2,300 pounds (1,043 kilograms).
The A-26 was a fast airplane for its time. It had a maximum speed of 323 knots (372 miles per hour/598 kilometers per hour) at 10,000 feet (3,048 meters). The service ceiling was 20,450 feet ( meters) and its range was 1,510 nautical miles (1,738 statute miles/2,797 kilometers) carrying a 4,000 pound (1,814 kilogram) bomb load.
Armament varied. The attack bomber could carry as much as 4,000 pounds (1,814 kilograms) of bombs in the bomb bay and 2,000 pounds (907 kilograms) on underwing hardpoints. Two Browning AN/M2 .50-caliber machine guns were mounted in upper and lower remotely-operated power turrets for defense, and as many as 14 forward-facing fixed .50-caliber machine guns were installed, with eight in the nose and three in each wing.
This Douglas A-26C-20-DT Invader, 43-22494, at the Pima Air And Space Museum, Tucson, Arizona, is marked as an aircraft of the 319th Bombardment Group, Light, at Okinawa, 1945. (Pima Air and Space Museum)Randall Holzapple (The 1932 Crest)
Joseph Randall Holzapple was born 7 September 1914 at Peoria, Illinois. He was the fourth of five children of Nathaniel A. Holzapple, a blacksmith, and Annetta Ritchie. He attended Pekin Junior High School, then Peoria High School, where he was a member of the French Club, Science and Math Club, and Drama Club. In his high school yearbook, Holzapple was called “refined” and “handsome.” He graduated in 1932.
In 1938, Randy Holzapple graduated from Bradley Polytechnic Institute, also in Peoria, with a bachelor of science degree in business administration. He then worked as an insurance salesman.
Joseph R. Holzapple enlisted as an aviation cadet in the Air Corps, United States Army, 31 December 1940. At the time, he was 5 feet, 8 inches (1.68 meters) tall and weighed 146 pounds (66 kilograms). He completed his flight training and on 16 August 1941, was commissioned a second lieutenant, Air Reserve.
On 25 March 1942, 2nd Lieutenant Bradley was appointed to the rank of 1st lieutenant, Army of the United States (Air Corps). Six months later, 11 September 1942, he was promoted to captain, A.U.S. (A.C.).
Captain Holzapple was assigned as operations officer of the 319th Bombardment Group (Medium), Eighth Air Force, in England. The group was equipped with the twin-engine Martin B-26 Marauder medium bomber. Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of North Africa, began on 8 November 1942, and the 319th deployed to Saint-Leu Airfield, northeast of Oran, Algeria, as an element of XII Bomber Command.
The wartime military often brought rapid advancement to qualified officers, and Holzapple was promoted to the rank of major, A.U.S. (A.C.), 5 February 1943. He took command of the 319th Group 13 August 1943, then in Tunisia. Major Holzapple was promoted to lieutenant colonel, A.U.S. (A.C.), on 13 September 1943. He was advanced to colonel, A.U.S. (A.C.), on 1 August 1944.
Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Randall Holzapple in the cockpit of a Martin B-26B-15-MA Marauder, 41-31753, circa 1943–44. (American Air Museum in Britain UPL 32425)
In November 1944, the 319th transitioned to the North American Aviation B-25 Mitchell medium bomber, but the group was returned to the continental United States in January 1945. It was then equipped with the Douglas A-26 Invader and redesignated the 319th Bombardment Group (Light).
On 1 March 1945, Colonel Holzapple married Miss Lois M. Miller in a ceremony at the Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in Peoria. They would have two daughters, Nancy and Lynn.
The 319th redeployed to Okinawa in July 1945. It was was the first unit to be transferred from Europe to the Pacific as a complete unit.
This Douglas A-26C-30-DT Invader, 44-35281, was assigned to the 319th Bombardment Group at Naha, Okinawa, 1945. (U.S. Air Force)
Colonel Holzapple flew 91 combat missions in North Africa and the Mediterannean, and another 8 over Japan and China. For his service during World War II, he was awarded teh Silver Star, the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross with one oak leaf cluster (a second award), and the Air Medal with 17 oak leaf clusters (18 awards). He was also awarded the British Empire’s Distinguished Flying Cross and the Croix de Guerre by France.
Colonel Holzapple remained on active duty following the war. While he continued to hold his wartime rank, his permanent rank in the Air Corps, United States Army, was advanced to 1st lieutenant, on 5 July 1946, with date of rank from 7 September 1942.
Holzapple was assigned to a number of staff positions, before being sent to the Armed Forces Staff College, 1949–50. He was next assigned to the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project, the military agency responsible for maintenance, storage, security, handling and testing of nuclear weapons. In 1954, Colonel Holzaple was appointed assistant chief of staff for Operational Readiness at the Air Research and Development Command headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland. He also attended the National War College.
In 1955 Colonel Holzapple was assiged as commanding offier of the 47th Bombardment Wing, then based at RAF Sculthorpe, near Fakenham, Norfolk, England. The group was equipped with the North American Aviation B-45 Tornado four-engine jet bomber, and the Douglas B-26 Invader. ¹
From England, Holzapple went to Germany as deputy chief of staff for operations at Headquarters, United States Air Forces in Europe. Promoted to brigadier general, in 1958 he was appointed chief of staff, USAFE.
Brigadier General Holzapple returned to the weapons systems management with ARDC at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
From 1969–1971, General Holzapple served as Commander in Chief, United States Air Forces Europe, based at Wiesbaden, Germany.
General Holzapple retired from the U.S. Air Force 1 September 1971.
General Holzapple collapsed and died while playing squash at The Pentagon Athletic Center, Arlington, Virginia, 14 November 1973. He was 59 years old. He was buried at the Arlington National Cemetery.
General Joseph Randall Holzapple, United States Air Force.
¹ The Martin B-26 Marauder was withdrawn from service following World War II. Most of them were scrapped. In 1948, The Douglas A-26B and A-26C Invader light bombers were then designated B-26A and B-26B.
Flying Tiger Line’s Boeing 707-349C N322F. (Flying Tiger Line Pilots Association)
14–17 November 1965: Captains Fred Lester Austin, Jr., and Harrison Finch, two retired Trans World Airlines pilots, took off from Honolulu on a 26,230-mile (42,213 kilometer), 57 hour, 27 minute flight around the world—from Pole to Pole!
The pair leased a brand new Boeing 707-349C, c/n 18975, registered N322F, from Flying Tiger Line. Nick-named Pole Cat, the airplane was crewed by a total of five pilots, all rated captains. In addition to Austin and Finch, there were Captain Jack Martin, Chief Pilot of Flying Tigers Line; Captain Robert N. Buck, TWA; and Boeing Senior Engineering Test Pilot James R. Gannett. Three navigators and three flight engineers completed the flight crew. John Larsen, TWA’s chief navigator, did most of the planning and the other two navigators and all three flight engineers were Flying Tiger Line employees.
COL Willard F. Rockwell, Sr.
Most of the cost of the flight was paid for by Colonel Willard F. Rockwell, Sr., founder of the Rockwell Corporation, who was one of 27 passengers aboard. The airliner was equipped with an experimental Litton Systems Inertial Navigation System (INS) and the very latest Single Side Band (SSB) communications equipment from Collins Radio.
The flight departed HNL and flew north to the North Pole, then south to London Heathrow, where they stopped for fuel. Unexpected runway restrictions limited the 707’s takeoff weight, so they had to make an extra fuel stop at Lisbon, Portugal before flying to Buenos Aires, Argentina. After another fuel stop there, they continued south, circled the South Pole four times, then headed north to Christchurch, New Zealand. From there, they continued on to Honolulu.
Total elapsed time for the flight was 62 hours, 27 minutes, 35 seconds with just under 5 hours on the ground.
Flying Tiger line’s Boeing 707-349C, N322F.
Flying Tiger Line’s Boeing 707-349C (an airline-specific variant of the 707-320C) was a “combi” that could be configured to carry passengers and/or cargo. The –320 series was a stretched version of the original 707-120 airliner, with longer, redesigned wings and tail plane, as well as a taller vertical fin for increased stability during low-speed flight. It was operated by a flight crew of four on international flights.
The 707-320 series was 152 feet, 11 inches (46.609 meters) long with a wingspan of 145 feet, 9 inches (44.425 meters) and overall height of 42 feet, 5 inches (12.929 meters). It had an empty weight of 146,400 pounds (66,406 kilograms) and a maximum takeoff weight of 333,600 pounds (151,318 kilograms).
The –320 was powered by four Pratt & Whitney Turbo Wasp JT3D-3 or JT3D-7 turbofan engines which produced 18,000 and 19,000 pounds of thrust, each, respectively. This engine was a civil variant of the military TF33 series. The JT3D-7 was a two-spool axial-flow turbojet engine with a 2-stage fan, 14-stage compressor (7 intermediate-, 7 high-pressure stages) and 4-stage turbine (1 high- and 3 low-pressure stages). The JT3D-7 had a maximum power rating of 19,285 pounds of thrust at 10,300 r.p.m. N2, (five-minute limit). The engine was 136.64 inches ( meters) long, 53.00 inches ( meters) wide and 56.00 inches ( meters) high, and weighed 4,340 pounds ( kilograms).
At MTOW, the 707-320 required 10,840 feet (3,304 meters) of runway for takeoff. 15 knots slower than a 707-120, the –320 had a maximum speed of 480 knots (552 statute miles per hour/889 kilometers per hour). The airliner’s range with maximum fuel was 5,750 nautical miles (6,617 statute miles/10,649 kilometers).
Boeing built a total of 1,010 707s. Of these, 337 were –320Cs. N322F was delivered to Flying Tiger Line 27 September 1965. It was sold to Caledonian Airways in 1968 and registered as G-AWTK. In 1970, Caledonian merged with British United and became British Caledonian. 18975 was then registered as G-BDCN, and named County of Renfrew. It was sold to TAAG Angola Airlines in 1977. The African cargo line registered 18975 as D2-TAC, D2-TOB and D2-TOI. Internet records list it as “written off” 15 February 1988.
Flying Tiger Line Boeing 707-349C N322F. (Flying Tigers Mechanics)
30 September 1982: H. Ross Perot, Jr. and Jay W. Coburn completed their around-the-world helicopter flight when they landed Spirit of Texas at their starting point at Dallas, Texas. They had flown the single-engine Bell 206L-1 LongRanger II, serial number 45658, civil registration N3911Z, more than 26,000 miles (41,843 kilometers) in 246.5 flight hours over 29 days, 3 hours and 8 minutes.
They had begun their journey 1 September 1982. Perot and Coburn traveled across twenty-six countries. They established a Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) record for helicopter speed around the world, eastbound, having averaged 56.97 kilometers per hour (35.399 miles per hour). (Class E-1d, FAI Record File Number 1254). They also established a series of point-to-point records while enroute, with the highest speed, an average of 179.39 kilometers per hour (111.47 miles per hour), taking place on 7 September 1982, while flying Spirit of Texas from London to Marseilles (FAI Record File Number 10018).
The Bell Helicopter Company Model 206L-1 LongRanger II is a 7-place light helicopter developed from the earlier 5-place Model 206B JetRanger series. It is designed to be flown by a single pilot in the right front seat, and is certified for Visual Flight Rules.
The 206L-1 is 42 feet, 8 inches (13.005 meters) long, overall, and the two-bladed main rotor is semi-rigid and under-slung, a common feature of Bell’s main rotor design. It has a diameter of 37 feet (11.278 meters) and turns counter-clockwise (seen from above) at 394 r.p.m. (100% NR). (The advancing blade is on the helicopter’s right side.) The rotor blade has a chord of 1 foot, 1.0 inches (0.330 meter) and 11° negative twist. The blade tips are swept.
The two-bladed tail rotor assembly is also semi-rigid and is positioned on the left side of the tail boom in a pusher configuration. It turns clockwise, as seen from the helicopter’s left. (The advancing blade is below the axis of rotation.) The tail rotor diameter is 5 feet, 6.0 inches (1.676 meters).
The LongRanger II is powered by an Allison 250-C28B turboshaft engine. This engine produces 500 shaft horsepower but is de-rated to 435 horsepower, the limit of the main transmission. The engine is mounted above the roof of the fuselage, to the rear of the main transmission. Output shafts lead forward to the transmission and the tail rotor drive shaft aft to the tail rotor 90° gear box. The transmission and rotor mast are mounted angled slightly forward and to the right. This assists in the helicopter’s lift off to a hover, helps to offset its translating tendency, and keeps the passenger cabin in a near-level attitude during cruise flight.
A vertical fin is attached at the aft end of the tail boom. The fin is offset 4° to the right to unload the tail rotor in cruise flight. Fixed horizontal stabilizers with an inverted asymmetric airfoil are attached to the tail boom. In cruise flight, these provide a downward force that keeps the passenger cabin in a near-level attitude. Vertical fins are attached to the outboard ends of the horizontal stabilizers and above the tailboom centerline. The fins are slightly offset to the left and counteract the helicopter’s Dutch roll tendency.
The helicopter has an empty weight of approximately 2,160 pounds (979 kilograms), depending on installed equipment, and the maximum gross weight is 4,050 pounds (1,836 kilograms).
The Model 206L LongRanger first flew in 1974 and the 206L-1 LongRanger II variant entered production in 1978. It was replaced several years later by the 206L-3. The LongRanger remains in production as the Model 206L-4.
Perot had purchased the LongRanger II for $750,000, specifically for this flight. Modifications started immediately and over the next three weeks an additional 151-gallon fuel tank was added giving the helicopter approximately 8 hours’ endurance. “Pop-out floats”—inflatable pontoons that can be deployed for emergency landings on water—were installed. The helicopter also carried a life raft and other emergency equipment and supplies. Additional communication, navigation equipment and radar was installed.
N3911Z aboard a container ship.
During the circumnavigation, the helicopter burned 56,000 pounds (25,400 kilograms) of jet fuel and made 56 fueling stops, including aboard a pre-positioned container ship in the North Pacific Ocean.
The helicopter was donated to the Smithsonian Institution and is on display at the Steven V. Udvar-Hazy Center of the National Air and Space Museum.
Bell 206L-1 LongRanger II s/n 45658, N3911Z, “Spirit of Texas,” on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum. (NASM)
