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Day 53
Ok, here's more stuff from the archives.
On April 2nd 2006 the unmanned aerial vehicle "Barracuda" took into the air for the very first time. This was one of the most special moments of that year.... since my friends and I had put pretty much all of our time and energy into making this happen over the previous three years. Watching "our baby" fly so beautifully into the sunrise that morning is a sight I will never forget!
2006 was a great year..... :)
From staring at the nest (maybe saying so long), to taking practice jumps and small flights in her tree (where she has spent the last two and 1/2 months or so), to finally taking that leap of faith and flying from her home to a nearby tree. A visit back this morning showed no signs of her...not sure I'd head back so soon either if I'd just realized I could fly!
The old woman is fully engaged with the experience of flying as she tracks her progress on a flight map. Famed reporter Richard Harding Davis best described the transformation he underwent after experiencing his first flight. “A wonderful thing happened,” he wrote. “I began to understand why young men with apparently everything to make them happy on earth persist in leaving it by means of airplanes.... What lures them is the call of a new world waiting to be conquered, the sense of power, of detachment from everything humdrum, or even human, the thrill that makes all the other sensations stale and vapid, the exhilaration that for the moment makes each one of them a king.”
How times have changed. Commercial flight is now routine and mostly uncomfortable and annoying.
DSC08660-2: The Silver Dart at the Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa. First airplane flown in the British Empire designed by Alexander Graham Bell and flown by J.A.D. McCurdy in Baddeck, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia in February 1909. The Bell Museum in Baddeck is very interesting also if you're ever in Cape Breton. Not only did Bell invent the telephone, but was into aeronautical and nautical designs as well.
NPS
The Wright brothers used the Kill Devil Hills area toward the end of their first season on the Outer Banks in the autumn of 1900, following earlier experiments on Lookout Hill just south of the village of Kitty Hawk. Their first season consisted of only two days of work at the Kill Devil Hills site: October 19th, when they decided not to fly because of high winds, and October 20th, when they made several encouraging glider flights. They returned to the Kill Devil Hills site in 1901, this time pitching a tent about 1,000 feet east of the higher hill and building a rough shed to use as a workshop. They returned to the workshop for the 1902 season and, together with Kitty Hawk resident Dan Tate, rebuilt the dilapidated shed, adding an additional 10 feet to use as a quarters. In 1903, when they began their powered experiments, the Wrights made further improvements to the quarters and also built a second frame shed, measuring about 44 by 16 feet, to hold the Flyer and serve as a sheltered work area. Located a few feet west of the camp building, it is clearly indicated in the Wrights' photographs of that year.
The quarters building and the hangar rapidly deteriorated after the departure of the Wright brothers in December 1903. In the spring of 1908, when the Wrights returned to the site to test their modified 1905 Flyer, both buildings needed significant repairs. John Daniels, one of the Kitty Hawk lifesavers who witnessed their earlier flight efforts, warned Wilbur when he arrived at Elizabeth City about the ruined camp buildings and Wilbur purchased new materials for repairs. The sides of both buildings remained, but the roof of the old quarters was missing entirely and the interior was covered with sand. Wilbur hired two "semi-carpenters" to help make repairs and essentially to rebuild the structures. Largely similar to those in place in 1903, the new buildings still differed in minor ways and constituted new structures overall. Orville reused the buildings in 1911, though again with changes. Following the 1911 season, the brothers abandoned the site, and the effects of wind, sand, and weather completely destroyed the buildings. In 1928, when the National Aeronautics Association placed the first commemorative marker at the site of the first flight, little remained of the structures on which to base the location of the first flight takeoff (this was ultimately established by the surviving witnesses). Currently there are reconstructions of these building located in the approximate location based off of the Wrights’ photographs and the takeoff point. - NPS
1903-The First Flight
Since 1899, Wilbur and Orville Wright had been scientifically experimenting with the concepts of flight. They labored in relative obscurity, while the experiments of Samuel Langley of the Smithsonian were followed in the press and underwritten by the War Department. Yet Langley, as others before him, had failed to achieve powered flight. They relied on brute power to keep their theoretically stable machines aloft, sending along a hapless passenger and hoping for the best. It was the Wrights' genius and vision to see that humans would have to fly their machines, that the problems of flight could not be solved from the ground. In Wilbur's words, "It is possible to fly without motors, but not without knowledge and skill." With over a thousand glides from atop Big Kill Devil Hill, the Wrights made themselves the first true pilots. These flying skills were a crucial component of their invention. Before they ever attempted powered flight, the Wright brothers were masters of the air.
Their glider experiments on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, though frustrating at times, had led them down the path of discovery. Through those experiments, they had solved the problem of sustained lift and more importantly they could now control an aircraft while in flight. The brothers felt they were now ready to truly fly. But first, the Wrights had to power their aircraft. Gasoline engine technology had recently advanced to where its use in airplanes was feasible. Unable to find a suitable lightweight commercial engine, the brothers designed their own. It was cruder and less powerful than Samuel Langley's, but the Wrights understood that relatively little power was needed with efficient lifting surfaces and propellers. Such propellers were not available, however. Scant relevant data could be derived from marine propeller theory. Using their air tunnel data, they designed the first efficient airplane propeller, one of their most original and purely scientific achievements.
Returning to their camp at the Kill Devil Hills, they mounted the engine on the new 40-foot, 605-pound Flyer with double tails and elevators. The engine drove two pusher propellers with chains, one crossed to make the props rotate in opposite directions to counteract a twisting tendency in flight. A balky engine and broken propeller shaft slowed them, until they were finally ready on December 14th. In order to decide who would fly first, the brother tossed a coin. Wilbur won the coin toss, but lost his chance to be the first to fly when he oversteered with the elevator after leaving the launching rail. The flyer, climbed too steeply, stalled, and dove into the sand. The first flight would have to wait on repairs.
December 17, 1903
Three days later, they were ready for the second attempt. The 27-mph wind was harder than they would have liked, since their predicted cruising speed was only 30-35 mph. The headwind would slow their groundspeed to a crawl, but they proceeded anyway. With a sheet, they signaled the volunteers from the nearby lifesaving station that they were about to try again. Now it was Orville's turn.
Remembering Wilbur's experience, he positioned himself and tested the controls. The stick that moved the horizontal elevator controlled climb and descent. The cradle that he swung with his hips warped the wings and swung the vertical tails, which in combination turned the machine. A lever controlled the gas flow and airspeed recorder. The controls were simple and few, but Orville knew it would take all his finesse to handle the new and heavier aircraft.
The first flight
At 10:35, he released the restraining wire. The flyer moved down the rail as Wilbur steadied the wings. Just as Orville left the ground, John Daniels from the lifesaving station snapped the shutter on a preset camera, capturing the historic image of the airborne aircraft with Wilbur running alongside. Again, the flyer was unruly, pitching up and down as Orville overcompensated with the controls. But he kept it aloft until it hit the sand about 120 feet from the rail. Into the 27-mph wind, the groundspeed had been 6.8 mph, for a total airspeed of 34 mph. The brothers took turns flying three more times that day, getting a feel for the controls and increasing their distance with each flight. Wilbur's second flight - the fourth and last of the day – was an impressive 852 feet in 59 seconds.
This was the real thing, transcending the powered hops and glides others had achieved. The Wright machine had flown. But it would not fly again; after the last flight it was caught by a gust of wind, rolled over, and damaged beyond easy repair. With their flying season over, the Wrights sent their father a matter-of-fact telegram reporting the modest numbers behind their epochal achievement.
Source: Unknown
Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, today celebrated the first Connecticut-built CH-53K heavy-lift helicopter that will be delivered to the U.S. Marine Corps. This helicopter, which moves more troops and cargo more rapidly from ship to shore, was the first all digitally designed helicopter.
The CH-53K’s digital thread runs from design through production, maintenance, and sustainment, increasing mission availability while reducing pilot and crew workload.
This King Stallion™ helicopter will be stationed at Marine Corps Aviation Station New River in Jacksonville, North Carolina where Marines will conduct training flights and support the fleet with heavy-lift missions with the aircraft in preparation for the CH-53K’s first deployment in 2024. This heavy-lift helicopter is part of a 200 aircraft Program of Record for the Marine Corps with a total of 33 aircraft currently on contract and an additional nine on contract for long lead parts.
The CH-53K is the only sea-based, long range, heavy-lift helicopter in production and will immediately provide three times the lift capability of its predecessor.
The CH-53K will further support the U.S. Marine Corps in its mission to conduct expeditionary heavy-lift assault transport of armored vehicles, equipment and personnel to support distributed operations deep inland from a sea-based center of operations, critical in the Indo-Pacific region.
The new CH-53K has heavy-lift capabilities that exceed all other DoD rotary wing-platforms, and it is the only heavy-lifter that will remain in production through 2032 and beyond.
Additional information: www.lockheedmartin.com/ch53k.
‘First Flight’ by Dublin born sculptor Albert Bruce-Joy 1842-1924 is a delightful work representing a life size figure of a young girl holding a nest of baby larks in her left hand whilst with her right, raised over her head, she offers liberty to the adult bird poised on her fingers.
The adult bird is missing from the statue in the Overbeck’s garden, and was, apparently, 'shot' off by a soldier stationed at Overbeck’s during the Second World War. Despite the garden being out of bounds to the soldiers one broke in at night and, using a catapult for target practice, 'shot' the bird. Ellis Manley, the head gardener at that time, found the bird on the ground the next morning and took it to the gardeners hut for safe keeping until it could be reinstated on the statue, which never happened and the bird was sadly lost.
To commemorate the 50 anniversary of the first flight of the Soyuz spacecraft, I have assembled the LEGO Soyuz in minifig scale.
I dedicate this work to Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov and ｔhe Space development of mankind.
WZ872 (G-BZGB) De Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk at Blackpool 29/9/21.
Today saw the first flight of this aircraft after many years of storage and departure to its new home at Spanhoe Lodge.
On the second day that the baby ventured out of the nest I found it perched high up on the top of a utility pole. The parents were both flying gracefully above trying to encourage flight. As I watched, it intrepidly stretched his big beautiful wings apart as if that mere effort would send it on its way. After several more moments it started calling, tentatively raised its wings and was off! Another short flight with lots of noise as it landed somewhere in a neighboring orchard. When I ventured back later in the day, it was comfortably parked back in the nest enjoying fish dinner. I'm sure next on the parents agenda is teaching this big baby how to work for its dinner!
Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, today celebrated the first Connecticut-built CH-53K heavy-lift helicopter that will be delivered to the U.S. Marine Corps. This helicopter, which moves more troops and cargo more rapidly from ship to shore, was the first all digitally designed helicopter.
The CH-53K’s digital thread runs from design through production, maintenance, and sustainment, increasing mission availability while reducing pilot and crew workload.
This King Stallion™ helicopter will be stationed at Marine Corps Aviation Station New River in Jacksonville, North Carolina where Marines will conduct training flights and support the fleet with heavy-lift missions with the aircraft in preparation for the CH-53K’s first deployment in 2024. This heavy-lift helicopter is part of a 200 aircraft Program of Record for the Marine Corps with a total of 33 aircraft currently on contract and an additional nine on contract for long lead parts.
The CH-53K is the only sea-based, long range, heavy-lift helicopter in production and will immediately provide three times the lift capability of its predecessor.
The CH-53K will further support the U.S. Marine Corps in its mission to conduct expeditionary heavy-lift assault transport of armored vehicles, equipment and personnel to support distributed operations deep inland from a sea-based center of operations, critical in the Indo-Pacific region.
The new CH-53K has heavy-lift capabilities that exceed all other DoD rotary wing-platforms, and it is the only heavy-lifter that will remain in production through 2032 and beyond.
Additional information: www.lockheedmartin.com/ch53k.