Boeing VC-137C Stratoliner 62-6000, SAM 26000. (Boeing)
19 May 1963: During a non-stop flight from Andrews Air Force Base, outside Washington, D.C., to Moscow, Russia, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, a Boeing VC-137C, 62-6000, under the command of Colonel James B. Swindal, United States Air Force, set 15 Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) World Records for Speed Over a Recognized Course. Colonel Swindal flew the airplane, commonly known as Air Force One, 5,004 miles (8,053.2 kilometers) in 8 hours, 39 minutes, 2 seconds, averaging 490.96 miles per hour (790.12 kilometers per hour). On the return flight, 15 additional records were set.
The fastest segment of the flight was from to Boston, Massachusetts to Oslo, Norway, at an average speed of 952.62 kilometers per hour (591.93 miles per hour).¹
The New York Times reported:
MOSCOW — President Kennedy’s Air Force jet today set a nonstop speed record between Washington and Moscow and shattered 14 other air records. The $8 million Boeing 707, carrying a ten-man party headed by Atomic Energy Commission chairman Glenn T. Seaborg, touched down eight hours 38 minutes and 42 seconds after takeoff — the fastest flight ever made between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Interred was a Soviet myth that the U.S. lacked a plane able to make a 5,000-mile run nonstop. The black-nosed blue and white jet, piloted by Col. James B. Swindal, 46, of Falls Church, Virginia, made it with fuel for more than two hours of flight remaining, proving that any delays in reaching a commercial agreement are political, not technical.
— The New York Times, 19 May 1963
The Washington Post reported that
. . . On board were a Soviet navigator and a Soviet radio operator, the usual requirements for all international flights over Soviet territory. The two men, both speaking English, flew to Washington to make the flight.
— TheWashington Post, 20 May 1963
Cockpit of Boeing VC-137C 62-6000, SAM 26000, at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. (Washington Blaze)
The Boeing VC-137C was the first of two specially-configured Boeing 707-353B airliners used by the President of the United States, or other senior administration officials. The distinctive white, blue and natural metal livery was created by the famed industrial designer Raymond Loewy.
When the president is aboard, the airplane is designated “Air Force One”. At other times, it uses the Special Air Mission designation, SAM 26000. The airplane entered service in 1962, replacing the three earlier commercial Boeing 707-153 airliners, which were designated VC-137A Stratoliner, USAF serial numbers 58-6970–58-6972.
SAM 26000 was itself replaced by SAM 27000 in 1972, though it remained available as a back-up aircraft. It was retired to the National Museum of the United States Air Force on 20 May 1998.
Boeing VC-137C Stratoliner 62-6000, SAM 26000. (Ralf Manteufel/Wikipedia)
James Barney Swindal was born 18 August 1917 in West Blocton, Alabama. He was the first of two children of Samuel Young Swindal, a carpenter, and Ida Maranda Kornegay Swindal.
James Barney Swindal married Miss Emily Mae Glover on 18 November 1936, at Birmingham, Alabama. They would have two children. He was employed as a crane operator for a cast iron pipe company in Birmingham.
Swindal enlisted as an aviation cadet in the U.S. Army at Montgomery, Alabama, 28 February 1942, shortly after the United States entered World War II. He was blonde with blue eyes, 5 feet, 11 inches (1.80 meters) tall, and weighed 147 pounds (67 kilograms). Trained as a pilot in the U.S. Army Air Forces, he flew transports in the China-Burma-India (CBI) theater of operations. After the War, he participated in the Berlin Airlift.
Swindal became President Kennedy’s personal pilot in 1960. He flew JFK to Berlin for his famous “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech, 26 June 1963, and later flew President Kennedy’s casket from Dallas, Texas to Washington, D.C. Colonel Swindal retired from the Air Force in 1971. When SAM 26000 arrived at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, he sat in its cockpit for a last time.
Colonel Swindal died at Cape Canaveral, Florida, 25 April 2006, at the age of 88 years. He was buried at the Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia.
Colonel James B. Swindal, United States Air Force, is congratulated on his promotion by President John F. Kennedy, 19 March 1962. (Robert Knudsen. White House Photographs. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston JFKWHP-1962-03-19-C)
Sheila Scott in the cockpit of her Piper PA-24-260 Comanche B, G-ATOY, “Myth Too.“
18 May 1966: Sheila Scott (née Sheila Christine Hopkins) departed London Heathrow Airport, London, England, on the first solo around-the-world flight by a British subject, the longest-distance solo flight, and only the third around-the-world flight by a woman. Her airplane was a 1966 Piper PA-24-260 Comanche B, registration G-ATOY, which she had named Myth Too.
Sheila Scott’s Piper PA-24-260 Comanche B, G-ATOY, “Myth Too,” after her around the world flight. The signatures on the wings and fuselage were collected at stops along the way. (Unattributed)
Departed London, England 18 May 1966
Rome, Italy
Athens, Greece
Damascus, Syria
Barhain
Karachi, Pakistan
Jaipur, India
Delhi, India
Calcutta, India
Rangoon, Burma
Butterworth, Malaysia
Singapore
Bali, Indonesia
Sumbawa, Indonesia
Darwin, Australia
Mount Isa, Australia
Brisbane, Australia
Sydney, Australia
Auckland, New Zealand
Norfolk Island
Nandi, Fiji
Pago Pago, Samoa
Canton Island
Honolulu, HI
San Francisco, CA
Phoenix, AZ
El Paso, TX
Oklahoma City, OK
Louisville, KY
New York, NY
Gander, Newfoundland
Lagens, Azores
Lisbon, Portugal
Arrived London, England 20 June 1966
The Britannia Trophy of the Royal Aero Club of the United Kingdom.
The flight covered approximately 28,658 miles (46,121 kilometers) and took 189 actual flight hours over 33 days.
During her around-the-world flight, Shiela Scott set ten Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) World Records for Speed Over a Recognised Course: London to Rome, 258.13 kilometers per hour(160.40 miles per hour) (FAI Record File Numbers 4679, 4680); London to Auckland, 41.42 km/h (25.74 mph) #4660, 4661; London to Darwin, 45.67 km/h (28.38 mph) #4666, 4670; London to Fiji Islands, 34.60 km/h (21.50 mph) #4672; 4673; Lisbon to London, 244.00 km/h (151.62 mph) #4956, 4657.
Harmon Aviatrix Trophy (NASM)
For her accomplishments, Ms. Scott was awarded the Silver Medal of the Guild of Pilots; the Brabazon of Tara Award for 1965, 1966 and 1967; the Britannia Trophy of the Royal Aero Club of the United Kingdom, 1968; and the Harmon International Trophy for 1966 and 1970.
Italy gave her the title, Isabella d’Este. Sheila Scott was appointed an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in the New Years Honours List, 1 January 1968.
Sheila Scott flew around the world twice in Myth Too, and a third time in a twin-engine Piper Aztec, Mythre. The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale data base lists 75 records for speed over a recognized course set by Ms. Scott. 31 of these remain current.
In a 1969 interview, Ms. Scott said:
“. . . This must be why I enjoy being in the air alone. But in fact I never feel alone in the air because one has to work so hard and experience such extremes of emotion. The senses, for example, are all highly intensified. The sense of sight. . . when you look down, a pale pink becomes a deep rose; the seas really do look as though they have turquoise gashes in them. . . The sense of smell: . . . up there you can smell everything individually. The people of each country soon learned this on my world flight. It started at Damascus where they filled the plane full of jasmine. . . .”
—The Guardian, Saturday, 22 October 1988, Page 39 at Columns 2 and 3
Sheila Christine Hopkins was born 27 April 1922 ¹ at 12 Park Avenue, Worcester, Worcestershire, England. She was the daughter of Harold Reginald Hopkins and Edyth Mary Kenward Hopkins.
Miss Hopkins married Rupert Leamon Bellamy at Kensington, in late 1945. The marriage was dissolved in 1950.
Sheila Scott, Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, 12 March 1968. (AP/Worth)
Sheila Scott had been a nurse at Haslar Naval Hospital during World War II. She was an actress on the stage, in films and on television. In 1959 she followed a lifetime ambition and learned to fly. She owned or leased several airplanes which she entered in races or used to establish flight records.
Scott was a commercial pilot, rated in single and multi-engine airplanes, seaplanes and helicopters. She was a member of The Ninety-Nines, founding and serving as governor of the British branch. She was also a member of the Whirly-Girls and the International Association of Licensed Women Pilots.
Sheila Scott was the author of I Must Fly and On Top of the World (Barefoot With Wings in the United States).
Sheila Scott, O.B.E., died of cancer at Royal Marsden Hospital, Chelsea, London, 20 October 1988, at the age of 66 years. ¹
Myth Too was built by the Piper Aircraft Corporation in 1966 and was registered N8893P. It was a PA-24-260B Comanche, an all-metal 4–6 place, single-engine, low-wing monoplane with retractable tricycle landing gear. It is flown by a single pilot and can carry three passengers, though an additional two seats can be mounted at the rear of the passenger cabin.
The airplane is 25 feet, 3-7/16 inches (7.707 meters) long with a wingspan of 35 feet, 11-¾ inches (10.967 meters) with an overall height of 7 feet, 5-11/16 inches (2.278 meters). Empty weight is 1,728 pounds (783.8 kilograms) and maximum gross weight is 3,100 pounds (1,406.1 kilograms).
Piper PA-24-260 Comanche B three view illustration with dimensions in inches.
The Comanche B is powered by an air-cooled, fuel-injected 541.511-cubic-inch-displacement (8.874 liter) Lycoming IO-540-D4A5 6-cylinder overhead valve (OHV) horizontally-opposed engine with a compression ration of 8.5:1, rated at 260 horsepower at 2,700 r.p.m., driving a two-bladed Hartzell constant speed propeller through direct drive. The IO-540-D4A5 weighs 384 pounds (174 kilograms).
Cruise speed is 185 miles per hour (297.7 kilometers per hour). The range is 1,225 miles (1,971.5 kilometers) and the service ceiling is 19,500 feet (5,943.6 meters).
Sheila Scott holds a scale model of her Piper PA-24-260 Comanche B. (Unattributed)
Sheila Scott sold G-ATOY in 1975. It was substantially damaged 6 March 1979 when the engine lost oil pressure then seized after taking off from Elstree Aerodrome, Hertfordshire (EGTR). There were no injuries. The wreck is in the collection of the Scottish National Museum of Flight, East Fortune, East Lothian, Scotland.
The wreck of Myth Too, Piper PA-24-260 Comanche B, G-ATOY, at the Scottish National Museum of Aviation. (Aviation Safety Network)
“1st April 1936: English aviator Amy Mollison, nee Johnson (1903 – 1941) wearing a woollen suit from the collection of flight clothes designed by Madame Schiaparelli for her solo flight from London to Cape Town. (Photo by Sasha/Getty Images)”
4–7 May 1936: British aviatrix Amy Johnson, C.B.E., departed Gravesend Aerodrome, Kent, England, at 8:02 a.m. GMT, 4 May 1936, in her Percival D.3 Gull Six, registration G-ADZO, enroute to Cape Town, South Africa. In July 1932, she had set a record for flying this route, solo, breaking the existing record which had been set by her husband, James Mollison. The current record, though, was held by Flight Lieutenant Tommy Rose. Her goal was to retake the record.
During the next three days, Johnson flew approximately 6,700 miles (10,782 kilometers). She made several stops to refuel her airplane, but she slept only about six hours.
She arrived at Wingfield Aerodrome, Cape Town, at 2:31 p.m. GMT, 7 May, for an elapsed time of 3 days, 6 hours, 29 minutes. Her average speed over the course was 122.65 kilometers per hour (76.21 miles per hour), setting a Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) World Record for Speed Over a Recognized Course.¹ She broke Tommy Rose’s time by 11 hours, 9 minutes. Her plan was to then make the return flight and beat Rose’s two-way record.
Amy Johnson’s record-breaking Percival D.3 Gull Six, G-ADZO, at Gravesend. (Science Museum/Science and Society Picture Library)
Amy Johnson’s Percival D.3 Gull Six, c/n D63, was a single-engine, low-wing monoplane, with fixed landing gear, designed by Edgar Percival and built by Percival Aircraft Limited at Gravesend. It was built primarily of wood and covered by doped fabric. The Gull was flown by a single pilot and could carry two passengers.
The airplane was 24 feet, 9 inches (7.544 meters) long with a wingspan of 36 feet, 2 inches (11.024 meters) and height of 7 feet, 4½ inches (2.248 meters). The D.3 had an empty weight of 1,170 pounds (530.7 kilograms) and gross weight of 2,050 pounds (929.9 kilograms).
The Gull Six was powered by an air-cooled, normally-aspirated 9.186 liter (560.57-cubic-inch-displacement) air-cooled de Havilland Gypsy Six I, an inverted, inline six-cylinder engine which produced 184 horsepower at 2,100 r.p.m., and 205 horsepower at 2,350 r.p.m. for takeoff. The engine turned a two-bladed fixed-pitch propeller via direct drive. The engine weighed 432 pounds (196 kilograms).
The Gull Six was capable of reaching 178 miles per hour (286.5 kilometers per hour). Its service ceiling was 16,000 feet (4,876.8 meters) and range was 700 miles (1,126.5 kilometers).
G-ADZO had been sold to Harold Leslie Brook, 12 December 1935. Amy Johnson had flown it in a previous attempt for the London-Cape Town record in April 1936, but G-ADZO was seriously damaged when she ground-looped the airplane at Colomb-Béchar, French Algeria.
The Gull was raced by R. Falk, flying for the Marquess of Londonderry, in the King’s Cup, 10–11 July 1936, carrying race number 12. G-ADZO finished in 7th place with a time of 2 hours, 10 minutes 48 seconds, and average speed of 163.44 miles per hour (263.03 kilometers per hour).
In 1937, H. L Brook flew G-ADZO to Capetopwn and back.
G-ADZO was scrapped 8 February 1938.
G-ADZO in the water at King’s Lynn.Percival Aircraft Company advertisement in FLIGHT, 21 May 1936. (Aviation Ancestry Database of British Aviation Advertisements 1909–1980)
Amy Johnson had set many flight records, both individually and with her husband, James Mollison, whom she had married in 1932 (divorced, 1938). He proposed to her during an airplane flight, only eight hours after having met her. For her record-setting flight from England to Australia in May 1931, she was made Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) and won the Harmon Trophy.
During World War II, Amy Johnson flew for the Royal Air Force as a First Officer of the Air Transport Auxiliary (equivalent to the RAF rank of Flight Lieutenant). Tragically, on 5 January 1941, while flying over London, she was challenged by an RAF fighter. Twice she gave the incorrect recognition code and she was then shot down. Her airplane crashed into the Thames, where she was seen struggling in the water. Lieutenant Commander Walter Fletcher of HMS Haslemere dived into the river to rescue her, but both died. This incident was kept secret and it was publicly reported that she had run out of fuel.
A McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Company MD530F. This is the same type helicopter flown by Jack Schweibold to set an FAI world speed record, 25 April 1985. (Rotor Hub)
25 April 1985: Flying a McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Company MD530F, Allison Chief Test Pilot Frederick Jack Schweibold sets a Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) world record for speed over a recognized course from Kansas City, Missouri, to Indianapolis, Indiana, at an average speed of 276,12 kilometers per hour (171.573 miles per hour).¹
The MD530F (Model 369FF) is the most powerful variant of the Model 369 series, which was originally produced by Hughes Helicopters as the military OH-6A Cayuse Light Observation Helicopter. It is optimized for “hot and high” operations. It has longer main rotor blades than the MD500E, and is powered by an Allison 250-C30 turboshaft engine. The helicopter is now produced by MD Helicopters, Mesa, Arizona.
MD530F three-view illustration with dimensions from sales brochure. (MD Helicopters)
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).
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, Advanced Development Projects, Lockheed Aeronautical Systems Company.
This 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
