Boeing XC-97 43-27470, the first of three Model 367 prototypes. (San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive)
9 November 1944: Boeing’s senior test pilot, Albert Elliott Merrill, and co-pilot John Bernard Fornasero make the first flight of the Boeing Model 367 prototype, XC-97 43-27470.
The airplane was a prototype for a very long range military transport. It used the wings, engines and tail of the B-29 Superfortress heavy bomber.
Boeing XC-97 three-view illustration with dimensions. (Warbird Information Exchange)
The three XC-97 prototypes were 110 feet, 4 inches (33.630 meters) long with a wingspan of 141 feet, 2.76 inches (43.0469 meters) and overall height of 33 feet, 2.8 inches (10.130 meters).
The production C-97A first flew in 1949. It used the more powerfull engines and taller vertical fin of the B-50 Superfortress. The transport had a flight crew of five and could carry 134 troops or 83 litters. The Stratofreighter’s empty weight was 76,143 pounds (34,538 kilograms) and maximum takeoff weight of 175,000 pounds (79,379 kilograms). The maximum cargo capacity was 67,080 pounds (30,427 kilograms).
The KC-97A had a maximum speed of 334 knots (384 miles per hour, or 619 kilometers per hour) at 26,000 feet (7,925 meters). Its ceiling was 34,500 feet (10,516 meters) and the airplane’s combat range was 1,661 nautical miles (1,911 statute miles/3,076 kilometers).
Boeing built 888 C-97 Stratofreighters and KC-97 Stratotankers between 1947 and 1958. The type was finally retired from the U.S. Air Force in 1978. Another 56 Model 377 Stratocruiser civil transports were produced.
Test pilot George Bulman in the cockpit of the prototype Hawker Monoplane F.36/34, K5083.
6 November 1935: The prototype Hawker Monoplane F.36/34, K5083, first flew at the Brooklands Aerodrome, Weybridge, Surrey, with Hawker’s Chief Test Pilot, Flight Lieutenant Paul Ward Spencer (“George”) Bulman, M.C., A.F.C., Royal Air Force Reserve,¹ in the cockpit. The airplane would be named “Hurricane” and become one of the most successful fighter aircraft of World War II.
Designed by Sydney Camm to meet a Royal Air Force Specification for a high speed monoplane interceptor, the airplane was developed around the Rolls-Royce PV-12 engine.
Sir Sydney Camm, C.B.E., F.R.Ae.S. (1893–1966)
The Hurricane was built in the traditional means of a light but strong framework covered by doped linen fabric. Rather than wood, however, the Hurricane’s framework used high strength steel tubing for the aft fuselage. A girder structure covered in sheet metal made up the forward fuselage. A primary consideration of the fighter’s designer was to provide good visibility for the pilot. The cockpit sits high in the fuselage and gives the airplane its characteristic hump back profile. The cockpit was enclosed by a sliding canopy. The landing gear was retractable.
The Rolls-Royce PV-12 (“PV” stood for Private Venture) was a developmental liquid-cooled 1,649-cubic-inch-displacement (27.022 liter) 60° V-12 that would become the legendary Merlin aircraft engine. The PV-12 first ran in 1933 and initially produced 700 horsepower.
The engine was progressively improved and by the time the Hurricane prototype first flew, it was equipped with a supercharged Rolls-Royce Merlin C, Air Ministry serial number 111144. The Merlin C had a Normal Power rating of 1,029 horsepower at 2,600 r.p.m, at an altitude of 11,000 feet (3,353 meters), with +6 pounds per square inch boost. The V-12 engine turned a Watts two-bladed fixed-pitch wooden propeller through a gear reduction drive (possibly 0.420:1).
An Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) test pilot, Flight Sergeant Samuel (“Sammy”) Wroath (366485), flew K5083 at the Martlesham Heath in early 1936. He wrote, “The aircraft is simple to fly and has no apparent vices.”
In early flight testing, K5083 had a maximum speed of 253 miles per hour (407 kilometers per hour) at Sea Level, an reached 315 miles per hour (507 kilometers per hour) at 16,200 feet (4,938 meters), with the Merlin turning 2,960 r.p.m., with +5.7 pounds of boost (0.39 Bar). The speed exceeded the RAF’s requirement by 5 miles per hour (8 kilometers per hour).
The prototype was able to take off in as little as 795 feet (242 meters) and to climb to 15,000 feet (4,572 meters) in just 5 minutes, 42 seconds. It reached 20,000 feet (6,096 meters) in 8 minutes, 24 seconds. The peak altitude reached was 30,000 feet (9,144 meters). The prototype’s estimated service ceiling was 34,500 feet (10,516 meters)and the estimated absolute ceiling was 35,400 feet (10,790 meters).
In May 1939 Hawker Monoplane F.36/34 K5083 was classified as a ground instruction airframe, with serial number 1112M. Reportedly, it remained in airworthy condition until 1942. Its status after that is not known.
Hawker Monoplane F.36/34 K5083 with “alighting gear” extended. (World War Photos)
The Hawker Hurricane Mk.I was ordered into production in the summer of 1936. The first production airplane, L1547, flew on 12 October 1937. The Hurricane Mk. I retained the wooden fixed-pitch propeller and fabric-covered wings of the prototype, though this would change with subsequent models.
The first production Hawker Hurricane Mk.I, L1547, circa October 1937. This airplane, assigned to No. 312 Squadron, was lost 10 October 1940, when it caught fire during a training flight near RAF Speke. The pilot, Sergeant Otto Hanzliĉek, parachuted from the airplane, but he landed in the Mersey River and drowned.
The Hurricane Mk.I was 31 feet, 5 inches (9.576 meters) long with a wingspan of 40 feet, 0 inches (12.192 meters), and overall height of 13 feet, 3 inches (4.039 meters) in three-point attitude. The wings had a total area of 257.6 square feet (23.9 square meters). Their angle of incidence was 2° 0′, and the outer wing panels had 3° 30′ dihedral. The leading edges were swept aft 5° 6′. The empty weight of the Hurricane I was 5,234 pounds (2,374 kilograms) and maximum gross weight was 6,793 pounds (3,081 kilograms).
The Hurricane Mk.I was powered by a Rolls-Royce Merlin Mk.II or Mk.III. The Mk.III was rated at 1,030 horsepower at 3,000 r.p.m. at 16,250 feet (4,953 meters). The engine turned a propeller with a diameter of 11 feet, 3 inches (3.429 meters).
Hawker Monoplane F.36/34 K5083 (BAE Systems)
The Mk.I’s best economical cruising speed was 212 miles per hour (341 kilometers per hour) at 20,000 feet (6,096 meters), and its maximum speed was 316 miles per hour (509 kilometers per hour) at 17,750 feet (5,410 meters) and 6,440 pounds (2,921 kilograms). The airplane’s range was 585 miles (941 kilometers). The Hurricane Mk.I could climb to 20,000 feet in 9.7 minutes.
The fighter was armed with eight Browning .303 Mark II machine guns mounted in the wings, with 334 rounds of ammunition per gun.
“No. 111 Squadron was responsible for the introduction of the Hurricane to the RAF with the first aircraft arriving at Northolt in December 1937, in advance of the official acceptance date of 1 January 1938. The CO, S/Ldr John Gillan, flew L1555 in record time from Edinburgh to Northolt on 10 February 1938.” (Daily Mail)
Peter Townsend described the Hurricane in his book, Duel of Eagles:
“. . . By December [1938] we had our full initial equipment of sixteen aircraft. The Fury had been a delightful play-thing; the Hurricane was a thoroughly war-like machine, rock solid as a platform for eight Browning machine-guns, highly manoeuverable despite its large proportions and with an excellent view from the cockpit. The Hurricane lacked the speed and glamour of the Spitfire and was slower than the Me. 109, whose pilots were to develop contempt for it and a snobbish preference for being shot down by Spitfires. But figures were to prove that during the Battle of Britain, machine for machine, the Hurricane would acquit itself every bit as well as the Spitfire and in the aggregate (there were more than three Hurricanes to two Spitfires) do greater damage among the Luftwaffe.”
—Duel of Eagles, Group Captain Peter Wooldridge Townsend, CVO, DSO, DFC and Bar, RAF. Cassell Publishers Limited, London, Chapter 13 at Pages 153–154.
Hawker Hurricanes at Brooklands. (BAE Systems)
At the beginning of World War II, 497 Hurricanes had been delivered to the Royal Air Force, enough to equip 18 squadrons. During the Battle of Britain, the Hurricane accounted for 55% of all enemy aircraft destroyed. Continuously upgraded throughout the war, it remained in production until July 1944. The final Hurrican, a Mk.IIc, PZ865, was flown for the first time by P.W.S. Bulman on 24 July 1944. A total of 14,503 were built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd., Gloster Aircraft Company, Austin Motor Company, and the Canadian Car and Foundry Company.
The final Hawker Hurricane, a Mk.IIc, PZ865, “The Last of the Many!” Chief Test Pilot P.W.S. “George” Bulman also took this fighter for its first flight, 22 July 1944. (BAE Systems)P.W.S. Bulman with PZ865, July 1944.Group Captain “George” Bulman flying the final Hawker Hurricane, PZ865, a Mk.IIc.
¹ Later, Group Captain Paul Ward Spencer Bulman, C.B.E., M.C., A.F.C. and Bar.
2 November 1962: Lockheed test pilot Donald Riley Segner takes the Lockheed XH-51A (Model 186), Bu. No. 151262 (s/n 186-1001), for its first flight.
The XH-51A was a response to the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy request for an experimental helicopter to explore rigid rotor technology. A rigid rotor relies of the flexibility of the rotor system to accomplish the functions of pitch, lead-lag and blade flapping that are allowed by hinges in an articulated rotor system. Two XH-51As were built and both were assigned U.S. Navy Bureau of Aeronautics serial numbers (“Bu. No.”). Tests were conducted at Lockheed’s facility at the Oxnard Municipal Airport (OXR), located on the Ventura County coastline of southern California. Later tests took place at the Naval Air Test Center, NAS Patuxent River, Maryland.
Lockheed XH-51 Bu. No. 151262 in flight over Ventura County, California. Lockheed photo # LN 7520. (Lockheed/Vertical Flight Society)
The XH-51A was a two-place, single engine, rigid-rotor light helicopter with retractable skid landing gear. It had an overall length of 42.08 feet (12.826 meters) with all blades turning, and height of 8 feet, 2.5 inches (2.502 meters). The helicopter’s design gross weight was 3,905 pounds (2,041 kilograms).
The helicopter’s main rotor mast tilted 6° forward. The three-blade main rotor diameter was 35 feet, 0 inches (10.668 meters). The blades had a chord of 1 foot, 1.5 inches (0.029 meters) and incorporated 5° of negative twist. There was no taper. They used a NACA 0012 airfoil, which was very common with helicopters at the time. Each main rotor blade weighed 86 pounds (39.0 kilograms). As is common with American helicopters, the rotor turned counter-clockwise as seen from above. (The advancing blade is on the right.) The main rotor turned at 355 r.p.m. A stabilizing “gyro” with a diameter of 6 feet, 5 inches (1.956 meters) was placed above the main rotor. A two-blade tail rotor with a diameter of 6 feet, 0 inches (1.829 meters) was located at the top of a vertical fin/pylon, turning clockwise, as seen from the helicopter’s left side. (The advancing blade is below the axis of rotation.) The tail rotor’s chord was 8.5 inches (0.216 meters). These blades also used the NACA 0012 airfoil, with 4.35° negative twist and no taper. The tail rotor turned at 2,085 r.p.m.
Lockheed XH-51A Bu. No. 151262 (Vertipedia)
The XH-51A was powered by a Pratt & Whitney PT6B turboshaft engine, rated at 450 shaft horsepower at Sea Level (30 minute limit), and 500 shaft horsepower at Sea Level for takeoff (5 minute limit).
A test pilot demonstrates the hovering flight stability of the Lockheed XH-51A with his hands off of the flight controls. (Lockheed)
The maximum speed of the XH-51A attained during the flight test program was 150 knots (173 miles per hour/278 kilometers per hour) in level flight at Sea Level, and 113 knots (209 kilometers per hour) at 7,900 feet (2,408 meters) density altitude. In both cases, engine power was the limiting factor.
A four-blade rigid main rotor was also tested on the XH-51A. This increased the empty weight of the helicopter by 139 pounds (63 kilograms). Power required to hover out of ground effect (HOGE) went up by 30 s.h.p. (Various sources state that excessive vibrations caused Lockheed to switch to a four-blade main rotor. The four-blade design was pre-planned, however. The four-blade system resulted in “excessive structural loads in the main rotor system and excessive cabin vibration levels.” ¹)
XH-51A Bu. No. 151263 was modified as a compound helicopter with an auxiliary wing and a Pratt & Whitney J60-P-2 turbojet installed in a North American Aviation T-39A Sabreliner engine nacelle on the helicopter’s left side. The vertical fin area was increased. Main rotor r.p.m. decreased to 327 r.p.m. In this configuration, it reached 210 knots (242 miles per hour/389 kilometers per hour) in level flight. Engineers predicted that it should be capable of 230 knots.
Both Lockheed XH-51As are at the U.S. Army Aviation Museum, Fort Rucker, Alabama.
Donald Riley Segner with the compound XH-51A. (Test & Research Pilots, Flight Test Engineers)Donald R. Segner (1943 Ceralbus)
Donald Riley Segner was born 14 December 1925 in Los Angeles County, California. He was the third of four children of Oscar W. Segner, an electrician, and Sue Brown Segner, who had been born in Czechoslovakia of Hungarian parents.
Don Segner attended Burbank High School, Burbank, California, graduating with the class of 1943.
Donald R. Segner enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, 20 February 1943. He completed primary flight training at NAS Ottumwa, located northwest of Ottumwa, Iowa, in October 1945. He then moved on to advanced training at the Naval Flight Training Center, NAS Norman, at Norman, Oklahoma. He was awarded the gold wings of a Naval Aviator and commissioned a second lieutenant, United States Marine Corps Reserve, 1 September 1946.
Second Lieutenant Segner was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant, 5 June 1949, and to captain, 25 June 1952.
Captain Segner married Miss Alice Esther Stansfield at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, August 1952. They would have three children. Mrs. Segner passed away in 2014.
A Grumman F9F-2 Panther, Bu. No. 123440, assigned to VMF-311. This airplane crashed 16 February 1952 while attempting to land aboard USS Phillppine Sea (CVA-47). Its pilot was killed.
Donald Segner flew 86 combat missions during the Korean War, flying the Grumman F9F-2 Panther with Marine Fighter Squadron 311 (VMF-311). He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for heroism and extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight, in action against enemy forces in Korea. He was also awarded the Air Medal with two gold stars (three awards).
On 21 January 1953, while flying a Goodyear Aircraft Corporation FG-1D Corsair, Bu. No. 67063, assigned to Marine Fighter Training Squadron 10 (VMFT-10) at MCAS El Toro, Captain Segner was involved in a Class C accident over MCAS El Centro.
In 1956, Captain Segner was assigned as a test pilot at NAS Patuxent River (“Pax River”), Maryland.
Captain Segner was promoted to the rank of major, 1 July 1957. In 1960 he was the first Naval Aviator to fly a tilt wing vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft, the Vertol VZ-2, USAF serial number 56-6943.
Vertol VZ-2 (Model 76), 56-6943. Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum, NASM A19650279000_DSH01)
While remaining in the Marine Corps Reserve, Segner began working as a test pilot at Lockheed in 1962. In 1964, he was assigned to Marine Medium helicopter Squadron 764 at NAS Los Alamitos (SLI), California.
Major Segner was promoted to lieutenant colonel, 1 August 1964. In December 1964, while flying a Sikorsky UH-34D Seahorse, Major Segner flew the 95,000th Ground Controlled Approach (GCA) and landing at Los Alamitos. In 1965, he served as executive officer of Marine Wing Support Group 47 (MWSG-47) at Los Alamitos, California. He retired from the Marine Corps in January 1966.
On 23 September 1966, Segner was elected president of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots (SETP)
On 21 September 1967, Segner made the first flight of the Lockheed AH-56A Cheyenne compound attack helicopter.
1972 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Octave Chanute Award, for advancing the art, science or technology of aeronautics. That same year he received the Iven C. Kincheloe Award of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots for outstanding professional accomplishment in the conduct of flight testing
After retiring from Lockheed in 1980, President Ronald Reagan appointed Don Segner as Associate Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration.
Donald Riley Segner died 10 May 2019 at the age of 93 years. His remains were interred at Pacific View Memorial Park, Corona del Mar, California.
¹ “Exploration of High-Speed Flight with the XH-51A Rigid Rotor Helicopter,” by William K. Foulke, U.S. Army Aviation Material Laboratories (USAAML Technical Report 65-25), Page 88
“Nov. 2, 1947: The Hughes Aircraft H-4 Hercules “Spruce Goose” during short flight in the Long Beach-Los Angeles Harbor. This photo was published in the Nov. 3, 1947 L.A. Times.” (Los Angeles Times)
2 November 1947: Howard Hughes’ Hughes Aircraft Company H-4 Hercules flying boat, NX37602, made its first and only flight at the harbor of Los Angeles, California. The new media called it “The Spruce Goose” due to its strong but lightweight wooden construction. As with the famous de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito fighter-bomber, the use of wood freed up valuable metal alloys during World War II.
Conceived by Henry J. Kaiser, the airplane was initially called the HK-1. It was designed to carry as many as 750 fully-equipped soldiers on transoceanic flights.
Hughes H-4 Hercules NX37602 in San Pedro Bay, 2 November 1947. Two U.S. Navy heavy cruisers and a fleet oiler are in the background. On the horizon is Santa Catalina Island. (LIFE Magazine)
The H-4 is 218 feet, 8 inches (66.650 meters) long with a wingspan of 320 feet, 11 inches (97.815 meters). Its height is 79 feet, 4 inches (24.181 meters). The Hercules’ designed loaded weight is 400,000 pounds (181,437 kilograms).
The flying boat was powered by eight air-cooled, supercharged 4,362.49-cubic-inch-displacement (71.489 liter) Pratt & Whitney Wasp Major VSB11-G (R-4360-4A) four-row 28-cylinder radial engines with a compression ratio of 7:1. The R-4360-4A had a Normal Power rating of 2,500 horsepower at 2,550 r.p.m. to 5,000 feet (1,524 meters), 2,200 horsepower at 2,550 r.p.m. to 14,500 feet (4,420 meters), and a Takeoff rating of 3,000 horsepower at 2,700 r.p.m. The Military Power rating was also 3,000 horsepower at 2,700 r.p.m., to an altitude of 1,500 feet (457 meters), then decreased to 2,400 horsepower at 2,700 r.p.m. to 13,500 feet (4,115 meters). The engines turned four-bladed Hamilton Standard propellers with a diameters of 17 feet, 2 inches (5.232 meters) through a 0.425:1 gear reduction. The R-4360-4A was 8 feet, 0.75 inches (2.457 meters) long, 4 feet, 4.50 inches (1.334 meters) in diameter, and weighed 3,390 pounds (1,538 kilograms).
On its only flight, the H-4 Hercules traveled approximately one mile (1.6 kilometers) at 135 miles per hour (217 kilometers per hour), remaining in ground effect. It never flew again, and its estimated performance was never verified through flight testing.
Howard Robard Hughes, Jr., in the cockpit of the H-4 Hercules, 6 November 1947. (J.R. Eyerman/LIFE Magazine)
The airplane is on display at the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum, McMinnville, Oregon.
Douglas XA3D-1 Skywarrior, Bu. No. 125412. (U.S. Navy)George R. Jansen, 1921–1991. (Photograph courtesy of Neil Corbett, Test & Research Pilots, Flight Test Engineers)
28 October 1952: The prototype Douglas XA3D-1 Skywarrior, Bu. No. 125412, made its first flight at Edwards Air Force Base, California. Douglas test pilot George R. Jansen was in the cockpit.
The Skywarrior was a carrier-based, twin-engine, swept-wing strategic bomber, designed to carry a 12,000 pound (5,443 kilogram) bomb load. The prototype was equipped with two Westinghouse XJ40-WE-12 turbojet engines producing 7,000 pounds of thrust (31.138 kilonewtons), each.
Designed to be launched from an aircraft carrier, fly 2,000 miles (3,219 kilometers), deliver a 3.8 megaton Mark 15 thermonuclear bomb on target, then return to the carrier, the Skywarrior was a considerable challenge for its designers. It was operated by a three man crew: pilot, navigator/bombardier and gunner.
Douglas XA3D-1 Bu. No. 125412 during its first flight, 28 October 1952. (U.S. Navy))
The production A3D-1 was 74 feet, 5 inches (22.682 meters) long with a wingspan of 72 feet, 6 inches (22.098 meters) and overall height of 22 feet, 10 inches (6.960 meters). The shoulder-mounted wings were swept back at a 36° angle and the wings and vertical fin were hinged so that they could be folded for storage aboard the aircraft carrier. The bomber’s empty weight was 35,900 pounds (16,284 kilograms) and the maximum takeoff weight was 70,000 pounds (31,752 kilograms).
When the two prototypes’ Westinghouse JX40 engines proved to be underpowered, they were replaced with Pratt & Whitney J57-P-1 turbojets, rated at 9,000 pounds of thrust (40.034 kilonewtons). The J57 was a two-spool axial-flow turbojet which had a 16-stage compressor section and a 3-stage turbine. (Both had high- and low-pressure stages.) The engine was 15 feet, 3.5 inches (4.661 meters) long, 3 feet, 5.0 inches (1.041 meters) in diameter, and weighed 4,390 pounds (1,991 kilograms). Production models were equipped with the J57-P-6, rated at 9,700 pounds of thrust (43.148 kilonewtons).
Douglas XA3D-1 Bu. No. 125412. (U.S. Navy)
The A3D-1 had a cruise speed of 519 miles per hour (835 kilometers per hour) and maximum speed of 621 miles per hour (999 kilometers per hour) at 1,000 feet (305 meters). The combat ceiling was 40,500 feet (12,344 meters). It had a range of 2,100 miles (3,380 kilometers). The combat radius was 1,150 miles (1,851 kilometers).
The Skywarrior could carry 12,000 pounds (5,443 kilograms) of conventional or Special Weapons (MK 43 or MK 57 nuclear bombs) in its internal bomb bay. A remotely-operated turret in the tail was armed with two An-M3 20 mm cannon with 500 rounds per gun.
The first A3D-1 production aircraft were painted a glossy sea blue. This was soon changed to a flat light gray for the sides and upper surfaces with gloss white underneath. This provided better camouflage as well as thermal protection from nuclear blast.
A Douglas A3D-2 Skywarrior, Bu. No. 138974, (redesignated A-3B after 1962) launches from the angled flight deck of a United States Navy aircraft carrier. (U.S. Navy)
Douglas built 282 A3D Skywarriors between 1956 and 1961. They remained in service as late as 1991. The U.S. Air Force ordered 294 B-66 Destroyer medium bombers, which were developed from the A3D. The first XA3D-1, Bu. No. 125412, was used as a ground trainer after the test flight program was completed.
Major George R. Jansen, U.S. Army Air Forces. (U.S. Air Force)
George R. Jansen was the Director of Flight Operations for the Douglas Aircraft Company. He had been a bomber pilot flying the B-24 Liberator during World War II. After one mission, his bomber, Margaret Ann, returned to base in England with more than 750 bullet and shrapnel holes, and one crewman dead and another wounded. He twice flew missions from North Africa against the refineries at Ploesti, Romania. At the age of 22, Jansen was a major in command of the 68th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 44th Bombardment Group (Heavy). He had been awarded three Distinguished Flying Crosses and five Air Medals.
After the war, George Jansen went to work for Douglas as a production test pilot. He graduated from the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base in 1952. He flew many of Douglas’s new prototype aircraft, and also flew the modified Boeing P2B-1S Superfortress mother ship to carry the D-558-II Skyrocket to altitude. He made many of the first flights for Douglas, both military and civil. He passed away at the age of 70 years.
A Douglas A3D-1 Skywarrior is launched from a steam catapult aboard USS Shangri-La (CVA-38) while a second is readied for launch. (U.S. Navy)
