Tag Archives: Fédération Aéronautique Internationale

8 March 1954

U.S. Navy Sikorsky XHSS-1 Seabat, Bu. No. 134668. (Sikorsky Historical Archives)

8 March 1954: A prototype for a new anti-submarine helicopter for the United States Navy, the Sikorsky XSSH-1, made its first flight at the Sikorsky factory in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The helicopter, the Model S-58, had been developed as an internal project by Sikorsky, using the company’s own money. It was a major improvement of the earlier Model S-55 (H-19 Chickasaw/HO4S).

The S-58 followed the single main rotor/tail (anti-torque) rotor configuration pioneered by Sikorsky with the Vought-Sikorsky VS-300 in 1939. The helicopter was designed to be flown by two pilots in a cockpit above the main cabin. Like the S-55, the engine was placed in the nose, installed at a 35° angle, and driving the transmission located behind the cockpit. For maintenance the engine could be accessed through two large clam shell doors in the nose. The wheeled landing gear was conventional, with two main wheels forward, and a tail wheel.

The S-58 fuselage had been designed using wind tunnel testing. The helicopter was built primarily of aluminum but the fuselage incorporated magnesium skin panels. The helicopter would be equipped with Automatic Stabilization Equipment (ASE), an autopilot system specifically for helicopters.

The S-58 has and overall length of 65.7 feet (20.03 meters) with rotors turning. The fully articulated four-blade main rotor diameter is 56.0 feet (17.07 meters), and the tail rotor, also with four blades, is 9.5 feet (2.90 meters) in diameter. The fuselage is 46.6 feet (14.20 meters) long. The helicopter has an overall height of 15.9 feet (4.85 meters). To minimize storage space on ships, the main rotor blades and the tail rotor pylon can be folded.

The four-blade main rotor allows the helicopter to reach higher speeds before encountering retreating-blade stall than the three-blade system used on previous Sikorsky models.

Sikorsky S-58 three-view illustration with dimensions. (Sikorsky)

The production HSS-1 was powered by an air-cooled, supercharged, Wright R-1820-84 nine-cylinder radial engine with a compression ratio of 6.80:1. It was rated at 1,525 horsepower at 2,800 r.p.m. for takeoff; 1,425 horsepower at 2,700 r.p.m., 30-minute limit; and 1,275 horsepower at 2,500 r.p.m., continuous. The R-1820-84 was 4 feet, 4.00 inches (1.321 meters) long, 4 feet, 7.74 inches (1.416 meters) in diameter and weighed 1,405 pounds (627 kilograms). The engine required 115/145 octane aviation gasoline.

The R-1820-84 drove the transmission through a 0.5625:1 gear reduction. The transmission had a gear reduction ratio of 11.293:1. Maximum main rotor speed was 258 r.p.m. (2,914 engine r.p.m.)

The HSS-1 had an empty weight of 8,400 pounds (3,810 kilograms), and maximum takeoff weight of 13,300 pounds (6,032 kilograms). Its fuel capacity was 307 U.S. gallons (1,162 liters).

The helicopter had a cruise speed of 84 knots (97 miles per hour/156 kilometers per hour), and a maximum speed of 126 knots (145 miles per hour/233 kilometers per hour) at Sea Level. Its service ceiling was 17,600 feet (5,364 meters), and the hovering ceiling, out of ground effect, was 9,900 feet (3,018 meters) at takeoff power. The range was 227 nautical miles (261 statute miles/420 kilometers).

In an anti-submarine warfare configuration, the helicopter was equipped with a dipping sonar system and armed with two Mark 43 torpedoes. The Mark 43 was an electrically driven homing torpedo, 91.5 inches (2.324 meters) long, 10 inches in diameter (0.254 meters), weighing 265 pounds (120 kilograms). It had a 54 pound (25 kilogram) explosive warhead. In transport configuration (HUS-1 Seahorse and UH-34 Choctaw) the S-58 could carry 16 troops or 6 litters and medical attendant.

U.S. Army Sikorsky H-34A Chocktaw, 56-4303. (Sikorsky Historical Archives)

Starting at 5:29 a.m., 12 July 1956, a Sikorsky H-34 Chocktaw, the U.S. Army variant of the S-58, flown by Captains Claude E. Hargett and Ellis D. Hill, near Milford, Connecticut, set three Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) world records for speed: over a 1,000 kilometer (621.4 statute miles) circuit without payload, 213,45 kilometers per hour (132.63 miles per hour/115.3 knots);¹ 500 kilometers (310.7 statute miles) without payload, 218,89 kilometers per hour (136.01 miles per hour/118.19 knots);² and 100 kilometers (62.1 statute miles) without payload, 228,39 kilometers per hour (141.92 miles per hour/123.32 knots).³ Captain Hargett was awarded a bronze oak leak cluster in lieu of a second award of the Distinguished Flying Cross. Captain Hill was awarded the Legion of Merit.

Captains Claude E. Hargett and Ellis D. Hill, U.S. Army. (FAI)

The S-58 was built in a number of military and civil variants. Sikorsky built more than 1,800 S-58 series helicopters. Another 600 were produced by licensed manufacturers.

¹ FAI Record File Number 2154

² FAI Record File Number 2155

³ FAI Record File Number 13068

© 2023, Bryan R. Swopes

6–8 March 1949

Beechcraft 35 Bonanza N80040, Waikiki Beech, at NASM.

6–8 March 1949: William Paul Odom, a former captain in the U.S. Army Air Corps who had flown “The Hump” during World War II, departed Honolulu Airport on the island of Oahu, Territory of Hawaii, flying the fourth prototype Beechcraft Model 35 Bonanza, N80040, which he had named Waikiki Beech, enroute to Teterboro, New Jersey, non-stop. He arrived there after 36 hours, 1 minute, setting a Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) World Record for Distance in a Straight Line of 7,977.92 kilometers (4,957.24 miles),¹ averaging 137.64 miles per hour (221.5 kilometers per hour). The Bonanza had 12 gallons (45.4 liters) of gasoline remaining, having consumed 272.25 gallons (1,030.6 liters).

The Hawaii Aeronautics Commission Annual Report mentioned the flight:

March 1949

     4—Bill Odom returns for second attempt of Honolulu-New York non-stop flight.

     6—Bill Odom leaves on second Honolulu-New Jersey non-stop flight and lands at Teterboro, New Jersey on March 8, exactly 36 hours and 1 minute after leaving Honolulu Airport, setting a new distance record of 4,957.24 miles for light airplane and longest non-stop solo flight in his converted Beech Bonanza plane which was appropriately christened “Waikiki Beech.” Flight was made with only $75 worth of gasoline.

Bill Odom flew Waikiki Beech on a national publicity tour for the Beech Aircraft Corporation.
Bill Odom flew “Waikiki Beech” on a national publicity tour for the Beech Aircraft Corporation.

N80040 was the fourth prototype Beechcraft Model 35 Bonanza. (The first two were static test articles.)

The Beechcraft Model 35 Bonanza is an all-metal, single-engine, four-place light civil airplane with retractable landing gear. The Bonanza has the distinctive V-tail with a 30° dihedral which combined the functions of a conventional vertical fin and rudder, and horizontal tail plane and elevators.

The Model 35 was 25 feet, 2 inches (7.671 meters) long with a wingspan of 32 feet, 10 inches (10.008 meters) and height of 6 feet, 6½ inches (1.994 meters). It had an empty weight of 1,458 pounds (661 kilograms) and gross weight of 2,550 pounds (1,157 kilograms.)

Beechcraft Model 35 Bonanza NX80040. This is the fourth prototype. It is in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum. (Beech Aircraft Corporation)
Beechcraft Model 35 Bonanza NX80040. This is the fourth prototype. It is in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum. (Beech Aircraft Corporation)

NX80040, s/n 4, and the following production models were powered by an air-cooled, 471.24-cubic-inch-displacement (7.72 liter) Continental Motors, Inc., E185 horizontally-opposed 6-cylinder engine. This engine was rated at 165 horsepower at 2,050 r.p.m. (NX80150, s/n 3, had been equipped with a 125-horsepower Lycoming O-290-A.) The Bonanza had a two-bladed electrically-controlled variable pitch Beechcraft R-100 propeller with a diameter of 7 feet, 4 inches (2.235 meters) made of laminated wood.

The “V-tail Bonanza” had a maximum speed of 184 miles per hour (296 kilometers per hour) at Sea Level, and a cruise speed of 175 miles per hour (282 kilometers per hour) at 10,000 feet (3,048 meters). Its service ceiling was 18,000 feet (5,486 meters). With full fuel, 40 gallons (151.4 liters), the airplane had a range of 750 miles (1,207 kilometers).

The Beechcraft 35 was in production from 1947 to 1982. More than 17,000 Model 35s and the similar Model 36 were built.

Beechcraft Model 35 Bonanza NX80040. (Hans Groenhoff Photographic Collection, Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum NASM-HGC-201)
William Paul Odom. (FAI)

William Paul Odom was born at Raymore, Missouri, 21 October 1919, He was the first of three children of Dennis Paul Odom, a farmer, and Ethel E. Powers Odom.

Odom, then an airport radio operator, married Miss Dorothy Mae Wroe at Brentwood, Pennsylvania, 3 December 1939.

Odom flew for the Chinese National Aviation Corporation (CNAC) from 1944 to 1945, flying “The Hump,” the air route over the Himalayas from India to China.

William P. Odom had flown a Douglas A-26B Invader, NX67834, named Reynolds Bombshell, around the world in 3 days, 6 hours 55 minutes, 56 seconds, 12–16 April 1947. He made a second around the world flight, 7–11 August 1947, again flying the A-26. The duration of this second trip was 3 days, 1 hour, 5 minutes, 11 seconds. (Neither flight was recognized as a record by the FAI.)

In April 1948, Odom flew a Consolidated C-87A-CF Liberator Express transport for the Reynolds Boston Museum China Expedition.

Odom had made another FAI World Record flight with Waikiki Beech, from from Honolulu, to Oakland, California, an official distance of 3,873.48 kilometers (2,406.87 miles).²

With these records and record attempts, Bill Odom persuaded Jackie Cochran to buy a radically-modified P-51C Mustang named Beguine (NX4845N) for him to fly at the 1949 National Air Races at Cleveland Municipal Airport, Ohio.

Beguine, a radically-modified North American Aviation P-51C Mustang, NX4845N. (Torino Dave)

Though he had never flown in a pylon race, Odom had qualified the P-51 Beguine for the 105 mile Sohio Trophy Race, held 3 September 1949. He won the race, averaging 388.393 miles per hour (625.058 kilometers per hour. He had also entered the Thompson Trophy Race, qualifying with a speed of 405.565 miles per hour (652.694 kilometers per hour.)

The Thompson Trophy Race was held on 5 September. On the second lap, Odom’s P-51 went out of control and crashed into a house near the airport. Bill Odom, along with a woman and child on the ground, were killed.

William Paul Odom’s remains were buried at the Friendship Cemetery, Columbus, Mississippi.

William Paul Odom in the cockpit of the radically-modified P-51C air racer Beguine at the Cleveland National Air Races, 3 September 1949. (NASM)

¹ FAI Record File Number 9112

² FAI Record File Number 14512

© 2019, Bryan R. Swopes

8 March 1910

Elise Raymonde Deroche
Elise Raymonde Deroche

8 March 1910: The Aéro-Club de France issued Pilote-Aviateur license # 36 to Mme. de Laroche (née Elise Raymonde Deroche, but also known as Raymonde de Laroche, and Baroness de Laroche) making her the first woman to become licensed as a airplane pilot.

Pilot Certificate number 36 of the FAI was issued to Mme. de LAROCHE. (Musee de l'Air at l'Espace
Pilot Certificate number 36 of the Aéro-Club de France was issued to Mme. de Laroche. (Musee de l’Air at l’Espace)

© 2018, Bryan R. Swopes

8 March 1910

Royal Aero club license issued to J.T.C. Moor-Brabazon, 8 March 1910. (RAF Museum)
Royal Aero Club License No. 1, issued to J.T.C. Moore-Brabazon, 8 March 1910. (RAF Museum)

8 March 1910: John Theodore Cuthbert Moore-Brabazon (later, the 1st Baron Brabazon of Tara, G.B.E., M.C., P.C.) was the first airplane pilot to be issued an aviator’s certificate by the Royal Aero Club of the United Kingdom. He had previously been assigned certificate number 40 of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale. He was issued Certificate Number 1 in England.

© 2019, Bryan R. Swopes

6 March 1990

Completing its final flight, Lockheed SR-71A 61-7972, flown by Lieutenant Colonel Raymond E. Yeilding and Lieutenant Colonel Joseph T. Vida, arrives at Washington Dulles International Airport, 6 March 1990, where it was turned over to the Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum.
Completing its final flight, Lockheed SR-71A 61-7972, flown by Lieutenant Colonel Raymond E. Yeilding and Lieutenant Colonel Joseph T. Vida, arrives at Washington Dulles International Airport, 6 March 1990, where it was turned over to the Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum.

6 March 1990: On its final flight, Lieutenant Colonel Raymond E. (“Ed”) Yeilding and Lieutenant Colonel Joseph T. (“J.T.”) Vida established four National Aeronautic Association and three Fédération Aéronautique Internationale speed records with a Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird, U.S. Air Force serial number 61-7972.

Departing Air Force Plant 42 (PMD) at Palmdale, California, Yeilding and Vida headed offshore to refuel from a Boeing KC-135Q Stratotanker so that the Blackbird’s fuel tanks would be full before beginning their speed run. 972 entered the “west gate,” a radar reference point over Oxnard on the southern California coast, then headed east to Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) at Washington, D.C.

The transcontinental flight, a distance of 2,404.05 statute miles (3,868.94 kilometers), took 1 hour, 7 minutes, 53.69 seconds, for an average of 2,124.51 miles per hour (3,419.07 kilometers per hour).

Ben Rich, director of Lockheed's Advanced Development Projects ("Skunk Works") congratulates LCOL Ed Yeilding and LCOL J.T. Vida on their record-setting flight. (Unattributed)
Ben Rich, director of Lockheed’s Advanced Development Projects (“Skunk Works”), congratulates LCOL Ed Yeilding  (center) and LCOL J.T. Vida on their record-setting flight. (© Tony Landis)

Intermediate closed-course records were also established: Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., 2,299.67 miles (3,700.96 kilometers), 1:04:19.89, averaging 2,144.83 m.p.h  (3,451.77 km/h).; Kansas City to Washington, D.C., 942.08 miles (1,516.13 km), 25:58.53, 2,176.08 m.p.h. (3,502.06 km/h); and St. Louis to Cincinnati, 311.44 miles (501.21 km), 8:31.97, 2,189.94 m.p.h. (3,524.37 km/h).

Flight record data for 972's record-setting transcontinental flight, prepared by V.A. Wright, ADP, LASC.
Flight record data for 972’s record-setting transcontinental flight, prepared by V.A. Wright, Advanced Development Projects, Lockheed Aeronautical Systems Company.

Screen Shot 2015-03-05 at 10.20.01Screen Shot 2015-03-05 at 10.21.35Screen Shot 2015-03-05 at 10.22.43Screen Shot 2015-03-05 at 10.23.55This same SR-71 had previously set a speed record from New York to London of 1:54:56.4, averaging 1,806.957 m.p.h. (2,908.015 km/h). (It had to slow for inflight refueling.) Next, 972 set a record flying London to Los Angeles, 5,446.87 miles (8765.89 km), in 3 hours, 47 minutes, 39 seconds, averaging 1,435.49 m.p.h. (2,310.19 km/h). It also established an altitude record of 85,069 feet (25,929 meters).

This was 61-7972’s final flight. The total time on its airframe was 2,801.1 hours.

61-7972 is on display at the Steven V. Udvar-Hazy Center, Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum.

Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird 61-7972 at the Steven V. Udvar-Hazy Center, Smithsonian NASM
Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird 61-7972 at the Steven V. Udvar-Hazy Center, Smithsonian NASM

© 2016, Bryan R. Swopes