Tag Archives: Transport

19 May 1949

Aviation, , , , , , , , ,
Martin JRM-3 Mars, Bu.No. 76822, Marshall Mars. (U.S. Navy)
Martin JRM-3 Mars, Bu. No. 76822, Marshall Mars. (U.S. Navy)

19 May 1949: Martin JRM-3 Mars, Marshall Mars, United States Navy Bureau of Aeronautics serial number (Bu. No.) 76822 flew from the Alameda Naval Air Station on the east shore of San Francisco Bay, to San Diego Bay, a distance of approximately 450 miles (725 kilometers). On board, in addition to the flight crew of 7, were 301 passengers.

Martin JRM-3 Marshall Mars with its passengers. (NOAA)

The Associated Press wire service reported the story:

NAVY’S BIG FLYING BOAT MARSHALL MARS CARRIES 301 PERSONS

SAN FRANCISCO, May 19—(AP)—The Navy’s big flying boat Marshall Mars carried a record load of 301 passengers—plus seven crewmen—on a flight to San Diego today.

It had never carried more than 269 passengers before.

The 1:52 p.m. takeoff, from the naval air station at Alameda, across the bay, was uneventful.

Today’s passengers are personnel of Air Group 5, Alameda Naval Air Station, who are being transferred to San Diego. Mattresses on the floor were provided for men unable to find seats.

—Wilmington Morning Star, Friday, 20 May 1949, Page 1, Column 4.

Four Martin JRM-3 Mars flying boats in formation. (U.S. Navy)
Four Martin JRM-3 Mars flying boats in formation. In the foreground is Philippine Mars, Bu. No. 76820. The second airplane is Marianas Mars, Bu. No. 76821. (U.S. Navy)

The Martin JRM Mars was a large four-engine flying boat transport built by the Glenn L. Martin Company for the U. S. Navy. Only five were built, four designated JRM-1, with the last one being a JRM-2. Each airplane was given an individual name derived from the names of island chains in the Pacific Ocean: Marianas Mars, Hawaii Mars, Philippine Mars, Marshall Mars and Caroline Mars. These airplanes were used to transport personnel and cargo between the West Coast of the United States and the Hawaiian Islands. All were upgraded to JRM-3.

The Martin JRM-3 Mars had a normal crew of 4, with accommodations for a relief crew. It was designed to carry 133 combat troops or 32,000 pounds (14,515 kilograms) of cargo. It was 120 feet, 3 inches (36.652 meters) long with a wingspan of 200 feet (60.960 meters) and height of 38 feet, 5 inches (11.709 meters). The flying boat had an empty weight of 80,701 pounds (36,605.4 kilograms). The maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) was 165,000 pounds (74,842.7 kilograms).

A NASA publication states, “A zero-lift drag coefficient of 0.0233 and a maximum lift-drag ratio of 16.4 made the JRM the most aerodynamically efficient of any of of the flying boats. . . .”

The Martin Mars was powered by four air-cooled, supercharged, direct-fuel-injected, 3,347.662-cubic-inch-displacement (54.858 liter) Wright Aeronautical Division R-3350-24WA (Cyclone 18 825C18BD1) (also known as the Duplex-Cyclone), a two-row 18-cylinder radial engines with a compression ratio of 6.70:1 and water/alcohol injection. This engine has a normal power rating of 2,000 horsepower at 2,400 r.p.m at 5,500 feet (1,676 meters) and 1,800 horsepower at 2,400 r.p.m. at 15,000 feet (4,572 meters). The engine’s takeoff power rating is 2,500 horsepower at 2,900 r.p.m. 100/130 octane aviation gasoline was required. The engines drove four-bladed 16 foot, 8 inch (5.080 meter) Curtiss Electric variable-pitch propellers through a 0.375:1 gear reduction. (After modification to the JRM-3, the propellers on the inboard engines were reversible.) The R-3350-24WA is 6 feet, 8.58 inches (2.047 meters) long, and 4 feet, 6.13 inches (1.375 meters) in diameter. Its dry weight is 2,822 pounds (1,280 kilograms).

The JRM-3 had a cruise speed of 135 knots (155 miles per hour/250 kilometers per hour) and a maximum speed of 211 knots (243 miles per hour/391 kilometers per hour) at 15,600 feet (4,755 meters). The service ceiling was 19,700 feet (6,005 meters) and its range was 3,790 nautical miles (4,361 miles per hour/7,019 kilometers) at 135 knots.

On 5 April 1950, Marshall Mars had an engine fire and made an emergency landing off Diamond Head, Hawaii. The crew was rescued but the airplane exploded and sank. The wreck was discovered on the sea floor in August 2004.

The remaining airplanes were later converted to fire fighting airplanes in Canada. Only two remain.

Martin JRM-3 Mars Bu. No. 76822, Marshall Mires, burning off Diamond Head, Oahu, Hawaiian Islands, 5 April 1950. (U.S. Navy)
Martin JRM-3 Mars, Bu. No. 76822, Marshall Mars, burning off Diamond Head, Oahu, Territory of the Hawaiian Islands, 5 April 1950. (U.S. Navy)

© 2020, Bryan R. Swopes

19 May 1934–18 May 1935

Aviation, , , , , , , ,
Tupolev ANT-20 eight-engine civil transport. (Tupolev)
M.M. Gromov

19 May 1934: Soviet test pilot Mikhail Mikhaylovich Gromov made the first flight of the Tupolev ANT-20 Maxim Gorky. This was the largest airplane of its time. Designed by Andrei Tupolev to carry 72 passengers, the giant airplane was operated by eight crew members.

Used primarily as a Soviet propaganda tool, it also carried a powerful broadcast radio station, a printing shop, and loudspeakers.

Constructed of corrugated sheet metal for rigidity and strength, the ANT-20 was 107 feet, 11¼ inches (32.899 meters) long, with a wingspan of 206 feet, 8¼ feet inches (62.998 meters) and height of 34 feet, 9¼ inches (10.598 meters). Its empty weight was 62,700 pounds (28,440.2 kilograms) and the maximum takeoff weight was 116,600 pounds (52,888.9 kilograms)

Tupolev ANT-20 six-engine civil transport. Two additional engines would be added later. (Tupolev)

The ANT-20 was powered by eight liquid-cooled, supercharged, 2,896.1-cubic-inch-displacement (46.928 liter) Mikulin AM-34FRN single overhead cam (SOHC) 60° V-12 engines, rated at 1,200 horsepower at 2,000 r.p.m., each. They drove two-bladed propellers. Two of the engines were mounted above the fuselage, in a push-pull configuration.

This photograph shows the corrugated sheet metal used for the skin of the ANT-20's wings and fuselage.
Corrugated sheet metal was used for the skin of the ANT-20’s wings and fuselage.

Maxim Gorky had a maximum speed of 137 miles per hour (220.5 kilometers per hour), a service ceiling of 4,500 meters (14,764 feet) and a range of 750 miles (1,207 kilometers).

Just 364 days after its first flight, 18 May 1935, Maxim Gorky crashed following a mid-air collision during a formation flight over Moscow. 45 people were killed.

The ANT-20 flies over Red Square with an airplane off each wing.
M.M. Gromov, 1917

Mikhail Mikhaylovich Gromov was born 24 February 1899, at Tver, about 110 miles (180 kilometers) northwest of Moscow. He was the son of Mikhail Konstantinovich Gromov, an “intellectual” who had studied medicine at Moscow University, and Lyubov Ignayevna Gromov, a midwife. The family were of the nobility, but poor.

The younger Gromov attended the Resurrection Real School, and then the Moscow Higher Technical School for Aviation. He graduated in 1917. Gromov was taught to fly by Boris Konstantinovich Welling, a pioneer in Russian long-distance flights. After working as a flight instructor, Gromov began test flying. He became the chief test pilot for the Tupolev Design Bureau. By the outbreak of World War II, he had test flown twenty-five different airplanes.

In 1926, Gromov made a non-stop long-distance flight in a Tupolev ANT-3, from Moscow via Berlin, Paris, Rome, Vienna, Prague, Warsaw and back to Moscow. The flight took 34 hours. In 1934, he flew a Tupolev ANT-25 12,411 kilometers (7,712 miles) in a closed circuit over 75 hours. For this accomplishment, he was named a Hero of the Soviet Union.

From 12–14 July 1937, Gromov set a world record for distance in a straight line, flying an ANT-25 from Moscow to San Jacinto, California, a distance of 10,148 kilometers (6,306 miles).¹ The duration of this flight was 62 hours, 17 minutes.

n March 1941, Gromov became the first director of the Flight Research Institute at Zhukovsky, southeast of Moscow. The Institute was later named the M.M. Gromov Flight Research Institute, in his honor.

In 1942, during The Great Patriotic War, Gromov commanded the Soviet long range air forces on the Kalinin Front. He next commanded the 3rd Air Army, 1942–1943, and the 1st Air Army, 1943–1944. In 1945, he returned to test flying.

Colonel General Mikhail Mikhaylovich Gromov, 1946

Following the War, Gromov continued to work in the aviation industry, but following a disagreement with the Minister of Aviation, Pyotr Vasilyevich Dementiev, over the issue of quality vs. quantity and the safety of the test pilots, he retired. Later, he entered politics and was twice elected to the Supreme Soviet.

During his military career, in addition to the Gold Star Medal of Hero of the Soviet Union, Colonel General Mikhail Mikhaylovich Gromov was awarded the Order of Lenin four times, the Order of the Red Banner (four), and the Order of the Red Star (three). He died 22 January 1985.

¹ FAI Record File Number 9300

© 2018, Bryan R. Swopes

2 May 1925

Aviation, , , , , , ,
Douglas C-1 in flight. (U.S. Air Force)
Douglas C-1 A.S. 25-433 in flight, 28 April 1926. (U.S. Air Force)

2 May 1925: At Santa Monica, California, the Douglas Aircraft Company C-1, A.S. 25-425, made its first flight. The new aircraft was requested by the U.S. Army Air Service to fill the role of a cargo transport. The single-engine, two-bay biplane had a crew of two in an open cockpit and could carry 6–8 passengers in an enclosed compartment, or 2,500 pounds (1,134 kilograms) of cargo. A trapdoor in the floor allowed heavy cargo to be lifted directly into the airplane.

Douglas C-1 No. 79 (S/N 25-433) in flight, on April 28, 1926. (u.S. Air Force photo)
Right profile of Douglas C-1 No. 79, A.S. 25-433, in flight, 28 April 1926. In this image, the passenger compartment windows are visible. (U.S. Air Force)

The Douglas C-1 was 35 feet, 4 inches (10.770 meters) long with a wingspan of 56 feet, 7 inches (17.247 meters) and height of 14 feet (4.267 meters). The transport’s empty weight was 3,836 pounds (1,740 kilograms) and its loaded weight was 6,443 pounds (2,922 kilograms).

The C-1 was powered by a water-cooled, normally-aspirated, 1,649.336-cubic-inch-displacement (27.028 liter) Liberty L-12 single overhead cam (SOHC) 45° V-12 engine with a compression ratio of 5.4:1. The Liberty produced 408 horsepower at 1,800 r.p.m. The L-12 as a right-hand tractor, direct-drive engine. It turned turned a two-bladed fixed-pitch wooden propeller. The Liberty 12 was 5 feet, 7.375 inches (1.711 meters) long, 2 feet, 3.0 inches (0.686 meters) wide, and 3 feet, 5.5 inches (1.054 meters) high. It weighed 844 pounds (383 kilograms).

Douglas C-1 A.S. 25-423 at McCook Field as P394. (U.S. Air Force)
Douglas C-1 A.S. 25-425 at McCook Field Dayton, Ohio, as P394. (U.S. Air Force)

The Liberty L12 aircraft engine was designed by Jesse G. Vincent of the Packard Motor Car Company and Elbert J. Hall of the Hall-Scott Motor Company. This engine was produced by Ford Motor Company, as well as the Buick and Cadillac Divisions of General Motors, The Lincoln Motor Company (which was formed by Henry Leland, the former manager of Cadillac, specifically to manufacture these aircraft engines), Marmon Motor Car Company and Packard. Hall-Scott was too small to produce engines in the numbers required.

Douglas C-1 A.S. 25-425, the first C-1. (U.S. Air Force)
Douglas C-1 A.S. 25-425, the first C-1. (U.S. Air Force)

The C-1 had a maximum speed of 116 miles per hour (187 kilometers per hour), though its cruising speed was 85 miles per hour (137 kilometers per hour). The service ceiling was 14,850 feet (4,526 meters) and its range was 385 miles (620 kilometers)

In addition to a passenger and cargo transport, the Douglas C-1 was used experimentally as a medical evacuation aircraft and as an aerial refueling tanker. Nine C-1 and C-1A transports were built, and seventeen slightly larger C-1Cs.

The C-1 was the first U.S. Air Force airplane to use the designation “C-” to indicate a cargo transport. That designator is still in use today.

Douglas C-1 transport, serial number A.S. 25-431, 1 October 1925. (U.S. Air Force)
Douglas C-1 transport, serial number A.S. 25-431, 1 October 1925. This airplane crashed on takeoff 150 yards (137 meters) west of Selfridge Field, Michigan, 16 April 1926. It was damaged beyond repair and written off. (U.S. Air Force)

© 2018, Bryan R. Swopes

16 April 1949

Aviation, ,
A Douglas C-54 Skymaster on final approach to Flughafen Berlin-Tempelhof.
A Douglas C-54 Skymaster on final approach to Flughafen Berlin-Tempelhof.

16 April 1949: During the Berlin Airlift, airplanes delivered a record 12,941 tons (11,740 metric tons) of coal—equivalent to 600 rail carloads—to the blockaded city during a 24-hour period. This required 1,383 flights.

© 2015, Bryan R. Swopes

27 February 1965

Aviation, , , , , , , , ,
Antonov An-22 Antheus CCCP-64459, the first prototype, at the Antonov flight test facility, Gostomel Airport, Kiev Oblast. (Oleg Belyakov)
Antonov An-22 Antheus CCCP-64459, the first prototype, at the Antonov flight test facility, Gostomel Airport, Kiev Oblast. (Oleg Belyakov)

27 February 1965: The first flight of the Antonov Design Bureau An-22 Antheus took place at Sviatoshyn Airfield, Kiev, Ukraine. The An-22 was the world’s largest airplane at the time, and it remains the world’s largest turboprop airplane.

The An-22 is 57.9 meters (190.0 feet) long with a wingspan of 64.40 meters (211.29 feet) and overall height of 12.53 meters (41.11 feet). The heavy-lift strategic transport has an empty weight of 114,000 kilograms (251,327 pounds) and maximum takeoff weight of 250,000 kilograms (551,156 pounds). It is powered by four Kuznetsov NK-12MA turboprop engines producing 15,000 horsepower, each, and which drive eight four-bladed, counter-rotating propellers.

The An-22 is operated by a flight crew of six and can carry 29 passengers, It’s payload capacity is 80,000 kilograms (176,370 pounds). It has a maximum speed of 740 kilometers per hour (460 miles per hour) and a range of 5,000 kilometers (3,107 miles) with a maximum payload.

Antonov produced 66 An-22 transports at the Tashkent Aircraft Production Corporation at Tashkent, Uzbekistan, between 1965 and 1976. 28 of these were the AN-22A variant. Several remain in service.

Antonov An-22 Antheus strategic heavy-lift turboprop transport. (Dmitry A. Mottl)
Antonov An-22 Antheus strategic heavy-lift turboprop transport. (Dmitry A. Mottl)

© 2019, Bryan R. Swopes