Pilots - Most Meanigful Milestones ?
Discussion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcock_and_Brown
and, yes, we've all heard the gags re the pilots' names many times
and, yes, we've all heard the gags re the pilots' names many times
Rutan and Yeager in Voyager - first unrefuelled circumnavigation of the globe by an aircraft. following on from that, Fosset, for the same record, but solo and by jet aircraft. Went on to set the longest manned, unrefuelled flight in history.
Armstrong, Gagarin et.al. unless we are keeping with the atmosphere.
On a slightly different note, Tibbets in the Enola Gay.
Armstrong, Gagarin et.al. unless we are keeping with the atmosphere.
On a slightly different note, Tibbets in the Enola Gay.
Edited by bobthemonkey on Thursday 17th July 02:03
Stigmundfreud said:
Jimbeaux said:
I say the Wright Brothers (obviously); then Chuck Yeager, the first pilot to break the sound barrier. What other milestones were might by what pilots?
You mean in the Bell X plane stolen from England? Thats a tainted glory :
Oh boy, I was waiting for something like that, I just didn't think it would be come so fast!kenny Chim 4 said:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcock_and_Brown
and, yes, we've all heard the gags re the pilots' names many times
Good one; surely a milestone! and, yes, we've all heard the gags re the pilots' names many times
Jimbeaux said:
Stigmundfreud said:
Jimbeaux said:
I say the Wright Brothers (obviously); then Chuck Yeager, the first pilot to break the sound barrier. What other milestones were might by what pilots?
You mean in the Bell X plane stolen from England? Thats a tainted glory : Oh boy, I was waiting for something like that, I just didn't think it would be come so fast!bobthemonkey said:
Rutan and Yeager in Voyager - first unrefuelled circumnavigation of the globe by an aircraft. following on from that, Fosset, for the same record, but solo and by jet aircraft. Went on to set the longest manned, unrefuelled flight in history.
Armstrong, Gagarin et.al. unless we are keeping with the atmosphere.
On a slightly different note, Tibbets in the Enola Gay.
Tibbets....good point. I was thinking pure flight achievement; however, you have expanded that....very good.Armstrong, Gagarin et.al. unless we are keeping with the atmosphere.
On a slightly different note, Tibbets in the Enola Gay.
Edited by bobthemonkey on Thursday 17th July 02:03
Here we go Stig, credit to your claim ; although it appears to be the tail design of the British craft that is the carryover part:
"While her basic form was patterned on a .50 cal bullet, it is not widely known the X-1 owes a great deal of its design to the Miles M-52, a British jet powered design dating back to 1942. The M-52 design was handed to the Americans during WWII."
http://quicklink.all.googlepages.com/x-1.htm
; although it appears to be the tail design of the British craft that is the carryover part:"While her basic form was patterned on a .50 cal bullet, it is not widely known the X-1 owes a great deal of its design to the Miles M-52, a British jet powered design dating back to 1942. The M-52 design was handed to the Americans during WWII."
http://quicklink.all.googlepages.com/x-1.htm
Jimbeaux said:
Here we go Stig, credit to your claim ; although it appears to be the tail design of the British craft that is the carryover part:
"While her basic form was patterned on a .50 cal bullet, it is not widely known the X-1 owes a great deal of its design to the Miles M-52, a British jet powered design dating back to 1942. The M-52 design was handed to the Americans during WWII."
http://quicklink.all.googlepages.com/x-1.htm
after the americans said "if you want financial aide you'll give us that plane"; although it appears to be the tail design of the British craft that is the carryover part:"While her basic form was patterned on a .50 cal bullet, it is not widely known the X-1 owes a great deal of its design to the Miles M-52, a British jet powered design dating back to 1942. The M-52 design was handed to the Americans during WWII."
http://quicklink.all.googlepages.com/x-1.htm
ETA without the plane you b
ds would have let our grandparents starve 
Edited by Stigmundfreud on Thursday 17th July 02:26
Stigmundfreud said:
Jimbeaux said:
Here we go Stig, credit to your claim ; although it appears to be the tail design of the British craft that is the carryover part:
"While her basic form was patterned on a .50 cal bullet, it is not widely known the X-1 owes a great deal of its design to the Miles M-52, a British jet powered design dating back to 1942. The M-52 design was handed to the Americans during WWII."
http://quicklink.all.googlepages.com/x-1.htm
after the americans said "if you want financial aide you'll give us that plane"; although it appears to be the tail design of the British craft that is the carryover part:"While her basic form was patterned on a .50 cal bullet, it is not widely known the X-1 owes a great deal of its design to the Miles M-52, a British jet powered design dating back to 1942. The M-52 design was handed to the Americans during WWII."
http://quicklink.all.googlepages.com/x-1.htm
ETA without the plane you b
ds would have let our grandparents starve Edited by Stigmundfreud on Thursday 17th July 02:26
Jimbeaux said:
I say the Wright Brothers (obviously); then Chuck Yeager, the first pilot to break the sound barrier. What other milestones were might by what pilots?
first up is this obscure fella:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbas_Ibn_Firnas
preceeding the wrights, you've got::
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Cayley
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Lilienthal
nutters the pair of them!
and also prior to the wrights was the inventor/pilot of the biplane:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octave_Chanute
a wright bros. competitor - louis bleriot for the first channel crossing and creating the first operable monoplane:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Blériot
thats off the top of my head, gleaned from the few aviation history lectures in my degree i didn't fall asleep in. fokker should get some credit for developing the biplane, but he wasn't strictly a pilot. and they'd be nowhere today without the bernoulli brothers and oswald reynolds.
Edited by shirt on Thursday 17th July 03:17
shirt said:
Jimbeaux said:
I say the Wright Brothers (obviously); then Chuck Yeager, the first pilot to break the sound barrier. What other milestones were might by what pilots?
first up is this obscure fella:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbas_Ibn_Firnas
preceeding the wrights, you've got::
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Cayley
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Lilienthal
nutters the pair of them!
and also prior to the wrights was the inventor/pilot of the biplane:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octave_Chanute
a wright bros. competitor - louis bleriot for the first channel crossing and creating the first operable monoplane:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Blériot
thats off the top of my head, gleaned from the few aviation history lectures in my degree i didn't fall asleep in. fokker should get some credit for developing the biplane, but he wasn't strictly a pilot. and they'd be nowhere today without the bernoulli brothers and oswald reynolds.
Edited by shirt on Thursday 17th July 03:17
to verify or dispute the findings! shirt said:
Jimbeaux said:
I say the Wright Brothers (obviously); then Chuck Yeager, the first pilot to break the sound barrier. What other milestones were might by what pilots?
first up is this obscure fella:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbas_Ibn_Firnas
preceeding the wrights, you've got::
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Cayley
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Lilienthal
nutters the pair of them!
and also prior to the wrights was the inventor/pilot of the biplane:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octave_Chanute
a wright bros. competitor - louis bleriot for the first channel crossing and creating the first operable monoplane:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Blériot
thats off the top of my head, gleaned from the few aviation history lectures in my degree i didn't fall asleep in. fokker should get some credit for developing the biplane, but he wasn't strictly a pilot. and they'd be nowhere today without the bernoulli brothers and oswald reynolds.
Edited by shirt on Thursday 17th July 03:17
to verify or dispute the findings! I'd certainly pot George Cayley up there. He isn't called "the father of the aeroplane" for nothing.
The Wrights' achievement was, of course, fundamental and important but they did read up on all the aerodynamic theory available at the time as well as the writings of all the practical experimenters who had been making various attempts to fly up to that time. In particular, they received active support from retired glider pilot Octave Chanute and the widow of the German glider pilot, Otto Lillienthal, allowed them access to all her late husband's notes and records.
In the early days of flight there was a lot of ground breaking and "firsts" going on all the time so it's sometimes difficult to pick out any one achievement.
Bleriot's flight across the Channel was actually rather a minor technical feat - and he almost didn't make it. However, it had a huge psychological effect on the BRitish public and government.
I would put Lindberg's 1927 Atlantic flight in the same category. He was by no means the first to fly the Atlantic but the impact of the flight was huge and did a lot to make the general public "air minded".
Technically, I'd put Frank Whittle's and Von Ohain's jet pioneering work up there as, through their work, flight leapt to a new plateau.
Most advancements in aviation were gradual and were brought into effect by a number of different manufacturers and designers at more or less the same time e.g.
retractable undercarriages
stressed metal monocoque construction
flaps
variable pitch propellors
reliable auto pilots
These all came into use in the mid 1930s on a variety of different aircraft and by many different aircraft manufacturers.
In the 1950s we had another surge of technical advancements as the jet allowed much higher speeds and altitudes and lots of different companies and countries exploited the new jet technology and its possibilities. Also, post war we have had:
hydraulic powered controls
introduction of automated flight control systems including fly by wire
new materials - both metals and composites
The Wrights' achievement was, of course, fundamental and important but they did read up on all the aerodynamic theory available at the time as well as the writings of all the practical experimenters who had been making various attempts to fly up to that time. In particular, they received active support from retired glider pilot Octave Chanute and the widow of the German glider pilot, Otto Lillienthal, allowed them access to all her late husband's notes and records.
In the early days of flight there was a lot of ground breaking and "firsts" going on all the time so it's sometimes difficult to pick out any one achievement.
Bleriot's flight across the Channel was actually rather a minor technical feat - and he almost didn't make it. However, it had a huge psychological effect on the BRitish public and government.
I would put Lindberg's 1927 Atlantic flight in the same category. He was by no means the first to fly the Atlantic but the impact of the flight was huge and did a lot to make the general public "air minded".
Technically, I'd put Frank Whittle's and Von Ohain's jet pioneering work up there as, through their work, flight leapt to a new plateau.
Most advancements in aviation were gradual and were brought into effect by a number of different manufacturers and designers at more or less the same time e.g.
retractable undercarriages
stressed metal monocoque construction
flaps
variable pitch propellors
reliable auto pilots
These all came into use in the mid 1930s on a variety of different aircraft and by many different aircraft manufacturers.
In the 1950s we had another surge of technical advancements as the jet allowed much higher speeds and altitudes and lots of different companies and countries exploited the new jet technology and its possibilities. Also, post war we have had:
hydraulic powered controls
introduction of automated flight control systems including fly by wire
new materials - both metals and composites
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