Celebrating the Wrights, and naval aviation’s 100th
December 8th, 2011 | Aviation Historical Naval aviation centennial Photos Wright Brothers | Posted by Bill McMichael
East Coast aviation buffs should mark their calendars for Saturday, Dec. 17, when the 108th Celebration of Powered Flight will be held at the Wright Brothers National Monument in Kill Devil Hills, N.C. Well, it’s probably not exactly the 108th celebration … no one likely paid any attention to such things for a few decades. But this event does promise to be special.
It starts at 8:30 a.m. and, weather permitting, there’ll be a military aircraft flyover at exactly 10:35 a.m. — precisely when the Orville Wright “powered” off a 60-foot monorail guide and flew the brothers’ biplane a total of 120 feet.
Orville Wright's famous first airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, N.C., on Dec. 17, 1903. The site is now the city of Kill Devil Hills, south of present-day Kitty Hawk. That's Wilbur Wright on the right.
No details yet on which aircraft will be involved. But given that the event’s also billed as marking the 100th anniversary of naval aviation — and given that Vice Adm. Bill Gortney, director of the Joint Staff at the Pentagon and a veteran Navy jet pilot, will be giving the keynote address — here’s guessing there’ll be a Navy jet or two involved.
DEC. 15 UPDATE: The military flyover will be all Navy: F/A-18 Hornets from Carrier Air Wing 7, according to the First Flight Society.
In addition, the first Navy ace, Lt. David Ingalls, will be inducted into the First Flight Shrine.
Lt. David Ingalls, the Navy's first ace.
You can read about his World War I exploits here.
A separate flyover by civilian aircraft will take place later in the day. And descendants of those who witnessed the first flight will lay wreaths at the marker where the flight occurred.
Wright Brothers National Memorial Park entry fees are waived for the morning of December 17th, so attending the ceremony will be free of charge. For more information about his year’s event, visit the event page on Facebook at www.facebook.com/FirstFlightCelebration.
It’ll be good day — weather permitting, of course.
50 years ago, a Navy pioneer
May 5th, 2011 | Admirals NASA Naval Academy Naval aviation Naval aviation centennial Photos Space travel | Posted by Bill McMichael
A tip of the hat to the Navy and its Facebook notifications for the reminder that today marked the 50th anniversary of an event frozen in the minds of many Americans of a (ahem!) certain age: the day Navy Cmdr. Alan Shepard became the first American launched into space. His feat captivated the nation, and won back some American pride bruised by Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin beating him into space by 23 days.
The Naval Academy grad and jet test pilot had in 1959 become one of the original Mercury astronauts — the guys with the “Right Stuff,” as Tom Wolfe framed it — and on the morning of May 5, 1961, Shepard, squeezed inside the Freedom 7 space capsule and propelled by a Redstone booster, rocketed 116.5 miles into outer space.
Cmdr. Alan B. Shepard, Jr. sits in his Freedom 7 Mercury capsule, ready for launch. // Photo courtesy of NASA
According to NASA, Shepard said, “That little race between Gagarin and me was really, really close.” After several delays and more than four hours in the capsule, Shepard was ready to go, and he famously urged mission controllers to “fix your little problem and light this candle.”
Shepard’s flight only lasted 15 minutes, 28 seconds.
Shepard’s career as an astronaut wasn’t over. An ear problem that grounded him in 1964 was surgically repaired five years later and in February 1971, Shepard commanded the Apollo 14 mission to the moon. He retired as a rear admiral in 1974.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration today honored Shepard, who died in 1998 at the age of 74, during a ceremony at Cape Canaveral, Fla., where Freedom 7 was launched 50 years earlier.
The U.S. Postal Service also issued a new stamp May 4 honoring Shepard’s 1961 achievement.
There’s a nice video that captures the story at http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/shepard50/
Realism, circa 1929
April 12th, 2011 | Aviation Historical Naval aviation Naval aviation centennial Navy Sea Air Space | Posted by Joshua Stewart
Developed in 1929, Edwin Link's "Pilot Maker" trained aviators for $85 each. By World War II, some 500,000 aviators had trained on the system. // Joshua Stewart/Staff
An F/A-18F Super Hornet simulator provides panoramic views and complex flight technology, but it doesn't have a hydraulic motion system. // Joshua Stewart/Staff
Tucked between displays of what will become the future of naval aviation is a tribute to the previous century of naval flight.
An early flight simulator is one of the more interesting attractions. It looks like a really intense kiddie ride, one of those machines found outside of grocery stores that that blare really loud music and buck kids around for a quarter. Basically, the aviation simulator is a miniature open-cockpit airplane — it’s around the size of a golf cart — sitting atop a hydraulic system. The cockpit has a series of controls that make the whole device move around.
It was developed in 1929 by Edwin Link and dubbed the “pilot maker.” Training included ground school and two hours of flight time. Cost: $85 per student.
In 1934 Link made his first big sale, six machines. And by World War II, about a half-million Allied pilots were training on roughly 10,000 of the devices.
Not too far away is a Super Hornet simulator. That one has three projectors that give a panoramic view of the ground and skyline and two seats positioned behind a panel of complex controls and interfaces. Despite its sophistication, it doesn’t have one of the biggest components of the pilot maker: the hydraulics.
Naval aviation history, brought to life
November 12th, 2010 | Aviation Historical Naval aviation centennial Navy Photos | Posted by Bill McMichael
The skies over the Hampton Roads, Va., region are daily crisscrossed by some of the most modern jets in the U.S. military’s inventory, from Navy F/A-18 Super Hornets to Air Force F-22s. But at Norfolk Naval Station on Friday, nothing — nothing — could top the ultra-retro replica Curtiss pusher biplane piloted by the builder, retired Navy Cmdr. Bob Coolbaugh, who flew over Chambers Field as part of the Navy’s commemoration of the first flight off a warship, 100 years ago.
Retired Navy Cmdr. Bob Coolbaugh pilots his replica Curtiss pusher aircraft over Norfolk Naval Station's Chambers Field Friday as part of a ceremony commemorating 100 years of naval aviation. // Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Richard J. Stevens
On Nov. 14, 1910, at 3:16 p.m., civilian aviator Eugene Ely, seated in his Curtiss on a temporary wooden deck built atop the scout cruiser Birmingham, saw a brief opening in the threatening rain and wind and took off over the waters of Hampton Roads, marking the birth of naval aviation. Though it was clear over Norfolk Friday, the winds were a bit stiff. But Coolbaugh stepped to the plate.
Other vintage airplanes flew over the crowd of officials and dignitaries who attended the private event, as well as modern-day Navy aircraft. The replica Curtiss, however, had them all beat. And Coolbaugh, a former naval aviator, didn’t miss the opportunity to display a familiar recruiting pitch:
Retired Navy Cmdr. Bob Coolbaugh shows his true colors before boarding his replica Curtiss pusher to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the historic flight by civilian flier Eugene Ely on Nov. 14, 1910, that marked the beginning of naval aviation. // Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Richard J. Stevens
The future of naval tacair arrives at Pax River
November 12th, 2010 | Aviation Historical Naval aviation centennial Navy Video | Posted by Bill McMichael
A seminal event in naval aviation history will be celebrated today at Norfolk Naval Station when officials and dignitaries gather for a (non-public) celebration of civilian flier Eugene Ely’s gutty Nov. 14, 1910, biplane flight off a makeshift shipboard flight deck — the first time it had ever been done. Last week, the latest in a long line of official successor aircraft — and the fighter jet on which the Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps are pinning their future manned tactical aircraft programs — arrived at Naval Air Station Patuxent River. The F-35C Lightning II, the carrier-capable variant of the Joint Strike Fighter, touched down smoothly at Patuxent on Nov. 6 with Lockheed Martin mission systems test pilot David “Doc” Nelson, an Air Force vet, at the stick. Here’s video of flight highlights (it’s mostly silent until the landing sequence, filmed by a ground-based camera, is spliced in).
For those of you who speak the language, the F-35C “achieved successful air refuels at a maximum load of 19,800 pounds during the flight,” according to Lockheed Martin.
While at Patuxent River, the jet will conduct air-to-air refueling and performance testing — the former an unimaginable concept in 1910, the latter simply skipped by Ely that day. In fact, the engine on the Curtiss Hudson Flier he flew was installed the same day, on board the ship.
Current aircraft, vintage paint schemes for centennial
November 11th, 2010 | Aviation Historical Naval aviation centennial Navy Photos | Posted by Bill McMichael
Although the flight that launched naval aviation is being commemorated Nov. 12 in Norfolk, the Navy will officially celebrate 100 years of naval aviation throughout 2011, as the first naval aircraft were requisitioned 100 years earlier. The year will be filled with events across the country, starting with the Feb. 10 kickoff event in San Diego — roughly 100 years and a few weeks after civilian aviator Eugene Ely made the first aircraft landing on a warship.
Flyovers and vintage aircraft will play prominently in the events, and part of the fun will be the vintage paint schemes some current Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard aircraft will be featuring — such as the 1942 battle paint scheme recently applied to an S-3B Viking at the Fleet Readiness Center Southeast in Jacksonville, Fla.
Fleet Readiness Center Southeast painters strip the paint from an S-3B Viking aircraft undergoing planned maintenance. The aircraft received a heritage WWII paint scheme commemorating the 1942 Battle of Midway. //Marsha Childs
“We wanted to participate in the centennial and pay tribute to our heritage,” said Naval Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 30 commanding officer Cmdr. John Rousseau. “We chose a paint scheme from 1942 to commemorate the Battle of Midway, the turning point of the war in the Pacific.” The S-3 squadron’s early roots can be traced back to the carrier-based torpedo squadrons that fought in the Pacific during World War II.
The S-3B’s overall special paint scheme copies what was then standard: a camouflage of blue gray over light dull gray. Some 20 Navy aircraft, both fixed-wing and rotary-wing, will also get a heritage makeover reflecting various eras of naval aviation, officials say.
VX-30 NFO Christian Pedersen (left) and Commanding Officer Cmdr. John Rousseau pose before a repainted S-3B Viking on the flight line at NAS Jacksonville, Fla. //Vic Pitts
Naval flight officer Lt. Christian Pedersen, who traveled with Rousseau from Point Mugu, Calif. to accept delivery of the aircraft Nov. 4, expressed approval at the retro finish. “The WWII paint job on the S-3 raises eyebrows and piques the public’s curiosity,” he said. “It raises questions and makes us want to dig into our history.”
As stormy weather threatens, Rousseau and Pedersen taxi down the NAS Jacksonville runway Nov. 4 at the outset of their flight to Naval Base Ventura County, Calif., where the squadron is home based. //Vic Pitts
FRCSE artisans will apply a similar WWII paint scheme to an F/A-18 Hornet strike fighter in the next two weeks. Painters will also modify the “Fly Navy” motto beneath the Hornets used by the Blue Angels to commemorate the centennial of naval aviation.