The Lockheed XC-35

The Lockheed XC-35 was a twin-engine, experimental pressurized airplane. It was the first American aircraft to feature cabin pressurization. The distinction of the world's first pressurized aircraft goes to the Junkers Ju 49. The XC-35 was a development of the Lockheed L-10 Electra that was designed per a 1935 request by the United States Army Air Corps for an aircraft with a pressurized cabin.

The United States Air Corps wanted the aircraft to perform high altitude research and to test the feasibility of a pressurized cabin. The Corps contracted with Lockheed Aircraft Corporation to produce the aircraft at a total cost of $112,197. The requirements called for an aircraft capable of flying at no less than 25,000 ft (7,620 m) and having an endurance of 10 hours with at least 2 hours above 25,000 ft (7,620 m).  Major Carl Greene and John Younger, both structures experts who worked for the Air Corps Engineering Division at Wright Field in Ohio were responsible for the design of the pressurized cabin structure. Greene and Younger worked with Lockheed to modify a L-10 Electra with a new fuselage consisting a circular cross section that was able to withstand up to a 10 psi differential. New, smaller windows were used to prevent a possible blowout while operating at high pressure differentials. The cabin pressurization was provided by bleeding air from the engines' turbo supercharger, the compressor outlet fed into the cabin and was controlled by the flight engineer.  This system was able to maintain a cabin altitude of 12,000 ft (3,658 m) while flying at 30,000 ft (9,144 m).  The fuselage was divided into two compartments, a forward pressurized compartment, and an aft unpressurized compartment. The forward compartment housed two pilots, a flight engineer, and up to two passengers. The aft compartment provided accommodations for one passenger and could only be used at low altitudes since it lacked pressurization.

The XC-35 was fitted with two Pratt & Whitney XR-1340-43 engines of 550 hp (410 kW) each compared to the two Pratt & Whitney R-985-13 of 450 hp (336 kW) fitted to the base L-10 Electra. The engines featured a turbo supercharger to permit the engines to operate in the thin air at high altitudes.

The XC-35 was fitted with a pair of Pratt & Whitney XR-1340 radial engines. These 550-hp engines were turbo-supercharged to deliver the necessary high-altitude performance. The plane was designed to fly at altitudes above 30,000 feet.

XC-35



Lockheed XC-35 Role Experimental National origin United States Manufacturer Lockheed First flight 9 May 1937 Introduced 1937 Status In storage at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum Primary user United States Army Air Corps Number built 1 Developed from Lockheed L-10 Electra

XC-35
Lockheed XC-35
Role	Experimental
National origin	United States
Manufacturer	Lockheed
First flight	9 May 1937
Introduced	1937
Status	In storage at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum
Primary user	United States Army Air Corps
Number built	1
Developed from	Lockheed L-10 Electra

General characteristics

• Crew: 3
• Capacity: 6
• Length: 38 ft 7 in (11.8 m)
• Wingspan: 55 ft 0 in (16.8 m)
• Height: 10 ft 1 in (3.1 m)
• Wing area: 458 ft (42.6 m)
• Loaded weight: 10,500 lb (4,760 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: lb (kg)
• Powerplant: 2× Pratt & Whitney R-1340-43, 550 hp (410 kW) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 236 mph (380 km/h)
• Range: 800 mi (1,285 km)
• Service ceiling: 31,500 ft (9600 m)
• Wing loading: 22.9 lb/ft² (111.7 kg/m²)

The Douglas DC-3

The Douglas DC-3 is an American fixed-wing, propeller-driven aircraft whose speed and range revolutionized air transport in the 1930s and 1940s. Because of its lasting impact on the airline industry and World War II it is generally regarded as one of the most significant transport aircraft ever made. Many DC-3s are still used to this day in all parts of the world.

The DC-3 was engineered by a team led by chief engineer Arthur E. Raymond and first flew on December 17, 1935 (the 32nd anniversary of the Wright Brothers' flight at Kitty Hawk). The aircraft was the result of a marathon phone call from American Airlines CEO Cyrus Smith to Donald Douglas requesting the design of an improved successor to the DC-2. The amenities of the DC-3 (including sleeping berths on early "DST"—Douglas Sleeper Transport—models and an in-flight kitchen) popularized air travel in the United States. With only three refueling stops, eastbound transcontinental flights across the U.S. taking approximately 15 hours became possible. Westbound trips took 17 hours 30 minutes due to typical prevailing headwinds — still a significant improvement over the competing Boeing 247. Before the arrival of the DC-3, such a trip would entail short hops in slower and shorter range aircraft during the day, coupled with train travel overnight.

A variety of engines were fitted to the DC-3 throughout the course of its development. The original civilian aircraft used Wright R-1820 Cyclone 9s, but later aircraft (and the majority of military ships) used the Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp radial which offered better high-altitude and single engine performance. A few Pratt & Whitney R-2000 radials saw use.

Production

A total of 10,655 DC-3s were built at Santa Monica, California, Long Beach, California, and Oklahoma City in both civil (607) and military (10,048) versions. 4937 were built in Russia, under license, as the Lisunov Li-2 (NATO reporting name: 'Cab'). A total of 487 Mitsubishi Kinsei-engined planes were built by Showa and Nakajima in Japan, as the L2D2-L2D5 Type 0 transport. The overall total produced was 16,079.[1] More than 400 remained in commercial service in 1998.

From the early 1950s, some DC-3s were modified to use Rolls-Royce Dart (as in the Conroy Turbo Three), Armstrong Siddeley Mamba, or Pratt & Whitney PT6A turbines.

In 1987, Airtech Canada offered aircraft re-engined with current-production PZL ASz-62IT radial engines of 1,000 hp (746 kW) as the DC-3/2000.

The Basler BT-67 is a conversion of the DC-3. Basler refurbishes DC-3s at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, fitting them with Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-67R turboprop engines, lengthening the fuselage by 40 in (100 cm) with a fuselage plug ahead of the wing and strengthening the airframe in selected areas. The airframe is rated as having "zero accumulated fatigue damage." This and extensive modifications to various systems and avionics result in a practically brand-new aircraft. The BT-67s have been supplied to civil and military customers in several countries.[2]

Braddick Specialised Air Services International PTY Ltd (BSAS International) in South Africa is another company to perform a turbo-prop conversion to DC-3s designated by the Pratt & Whitney engine model PT6. Over 50 DC3/C47 65ARTP / 67RTP / 67FTPs have been built.

Early U.S. airlines like United, American, TWA and Eastern ordered over 400 DC-3s. These fleets paved the way for the modern American air travel industry, quickly replacing trains as the favored means of long-distance travel across the United States.

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines received their first DC-3 in 1936 and it replaced their earlier aircraft types on the service from Amsterdam via Batavia (now Jakarta) and continuing to Sydney - by far the longest scheduled route in the world at the time.

Piedmont Airlines operated DC-3s from 1948 to 1963. A DC-3 painted in the representative markings of Piedmont, operated by the Carolinas Aviation Museum, continues to fly to air shows today and has been used in various movies. Both Delta Air Lines and Continental Airlines operate "commemorative" DC-3s wearing "period markings".

During World War II, many civilian DC-3s were drafted for the war effort and just over 10,000 US military versions of the DC-3 were built, under the designations C-47, C-53, R4D, and Dakota. Peak production was reached in 1944, with 4853 being delivered. The armed forces of many countries used the DC-3 and its military variants for the transport of troops, cargo, and wounded.

Licensed copies of the DC-3 were built in Japan as Showa L2D (487 aircraft) and in the USSR as the Lisunov Li-2 (4937 aircraft)[1]

Thousands of surplus C-47s, previously operated by several air forces, were converted for civilian use after the war and became the standard equipment of almost all the world's airlines, remaining in front line service for many years. The ready availability of cheap, easily-maintained ex-military C-47s, both large and fast by the standards of the day, jump-started the worldwide post-war air transport industry.

Douglas had developed an improved version, the Super DC-3, with more engine power, greater cargo capacity, and a different wing but, with all the bargain-priced surplus aircraft available, this did not sell well in the civil aviation market. Only five were delivered, three of them to Capital Airlines. The U.S. Navy had 100 of their early R4Ds converted to Super DC-3 standard as the R4D-8, later C-117D.

A number of aircraft companies attempted to design a "DC-3 replacement" over the next three decades (including the very successful Fokker F27 Friendship) but no single type could match the versatility, rugged reliability, and economy of the DC-3. It remained a significant part of air transport systems well into the 1970s.

Even today, 73 years after the DC-3 first flew, there are still small operators with DC-3s in revenue service and as cargo planes. The common saying among aviation buffs and pilots is that "the only replacement for a DC-3 is another DC-3." The aircraft's legendary ruggedness is enshrined in the lighthearted description of the DC-3 as "a collection of parts flying in loose formation."[3] Its ability to take off and land on grass or dirt runways makes it popular in developing countries, where runways are not always paved.

Some of the more common uses of the DC-3 have included aerial spraying, freight transport, passenger service, military transport, and sport skydiving shuttling.

The very large number of civil and military operators of the DC-3, C-47, and related types since their introductions means that a listing of all the airlines, air forces, and other operators is impractical.

General characteristics

• Crew: 2
• Capacity: 21-32 passengers
• Length: 64 ft 5 in (19.7 m)
• Wingspan: 95 ft 0 in (29.0 m)
• Height: 16 ft 11 in (5.16 m)
• Wing area: 987 ft² (91.7 m²)
• Empty weight: 18,300 lb (8,300 kg)
• Loaded weight: 25,200 lb (25,346 with deicing boots, 26,900 in some freight versions) (11,400 kg)
• Powerplant: 2× Wright R-1820 Cyclone 9 series (earliest aircraft) or Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp S1C3G in the C-47 and later civilian aircraft, 1,100 or 1,200 hp max rating, depending upon engine and model (895 kW) each
• Propellers: 3-bladed Hamilton Standard 23E50 series hydraulically controlled constant speed, feathering

Performance

• Maximum speed: 237 mph (206 kn, 381 km/h (=Never Exceed Speed (VNE), or Redline speed))
• Cruise speed: 150 mph (130 kn, 240 km/h)
• Range: 1,025 mi (890 nmi, 1,650 km)
• Service ceiling: 24,000 ft (7,300 m)
• Rate of climb: 1,130 ft/min (5.73 m/s) initial
• Wing loading: 25.5 lb/ft² (125 kg/m²)
• Power/mass: 0.0952 hp/lb (157 W/kg)

Cierva C-30

Cierva C-30

The Cierva C.30 was a type of autogyro designed by Juan de la Cierva and built under licence from the Cierva Autogiro Company by A V Roe & Co Ltd, Lioré-et-Olivier and Focke-Wulf.

Design and developmen

Before the experimental Cierva C.19 Mk V, autogyros had been controlled in the same way as fixed wing aircraft, that is by deflecting the air flowing over moving surfaces such as ailerons, elevators and rudder. At the very low speeds encountered in autogyro flight, particularly in the landing phase, these controls became useless. The experimental machine showed that the way forward was to have a tiltable rotor hub and a control rod coming down from the hub to the pilot's cockpit with which he could change the rotor plane. This was known as "direct control" and was adopted by the C.30 . The production variant, called C.30A in England was preceded by several development machines.

The first in the series was the C.30, a radial engined autogyro with a three blade, 37 ft (11.3 m) rotor mounted on an aft-leaning tripod, the control column reaching back to the rear of the two cockpits. The engine was the five-cylinder, 105 hp (78 kW) Armstrong Siddeley Genet Major I used in the C.19 series. The fabric covered fuselage carried an unbraced tailplane, without elevators but with turned up tips. The port side plane had an inverted aerofoil section to offset the roll-axis torque produced in forward flight by the advancing port side blades. As with most autogyros, a high vertical tail was precluded by the sagging resting rotor, so the dorsal fin was long and low, extending well aft of the tailplane like a fixed rudder and assisted by a ventral fin. A wide track undercarriage had a pair of single, wire braced legs; there was a small tail wheel. It flew in April 1933. It was followed by four improved machines designated C.30P (P here for pre-production) which differed in having a four-legged pyramidal rotor mounting and a reinforced undercarriage with three struts per side. The rotor could be folded rearwards for transport. The C.30P used the more powerful (140 hp, 104 kW) seven-cylinder Armstrong Siddeley Genet Major IA radial engine.

The production model, called the C.30A by Avro, was built under licence in Britain, France and Germany and was similar to the C.30P. The main alteration was a further increase in undercarriage track with revised strutting, the uppermost leg having a pronounced knee with wire bracing. There was additional bracing to the tailplane and both it and the fin carried small movable trimming surfaces. Each licensee used nationally built engines and used slightly different names. In all, 143 production C.30s were built, making it by far the commonest pre-war autogyro.

Between 1933 and 1936, Cievra used one C.30A (G-ACWF) to perfect his last contribution to autogyro development before his death in a DC-2 (fixed wing) crash in late 1936. To enable the aircraft to take off without forward ground travel, he produced the "Autodynamic" rotor head, which allowed the rotor to be spun up by the engine in the usual way but to higher than take-off r.p.m at zero rotor incidence and then to reach operational positive pitch suddenly enough to jump some 20 ft (6 m) upwards.

At least one of the RAF C.30As was in January 1935 on floats as a Sea Rota^[2].

  Production

Avro obtained the licence in 1934 and subsequently built 78 examples, fitted with an Armstrong Siddeley Genet Major IA (known in the RAF as the Civet 1) 7-cylinder radial engine producing 140 hp (100 kW). The first production C.30A was delivered in July 1934.

Lioré-et-Olivier

Twenty-five aircraft were built in France by Lioré-et-Olivier as the LeO C.301 with a 175 hp (130 kW) Salmson 9NE 9-cylinder radial engine.

Focke-Wulf

Forty aircraft were built in Germany by Focke-Wulf as the C 30 Heuschrecke (Grasshopper) with a 140 hp (105 kW) Siemens Sh 14A 7-cylinder radial engine.  

Operational history

Of the 66 non-RAF aircraft built in the UK by Avro, 37 appeared at least for a while on the UK register  Some (maybe a dozen) were sold on abroad, but others were flown by wealthy enthusiasts and by flying clubs who anticipated autogyro training needs. By the end of the decade private flyers were moving back to the comforts and economies of fixed wing aircraft and more C.30s moved abroad, leaving the Autogyro Flying Club at Hanworth as the major UK user. 26 aircraft were directly exported by Avro. These went both to private owners and to foreign air forces who wish to investigate the autogyro's potential.

In 1934, one Spanish navy C.30 piloted by Cierva landed on the Spanish Seaplane tender Dedalo anchored in Valencia harbor and later made a takeoff.^[5]

Twelve C.30A built by Avro for the Royal Air Force (RAF) entered service as the Avro 671 Rota Mk 1 (Serials K4230 to K4239 and K4296 & K4775). The twelve were delivered between 1934 to 1935. They equipped the Army School of Co-operation at Old Sarum near Salisbury. Many of the surviving civil aircraft were also taken into RAF service between 1939 and 1940. In 1940 they equipped No. 1448 Flight at RAF Duxford. Later they equipped No. 529 Squadron RAF at Halton on radar calibration work. They disbanded in October 1945. At the end of the war the twelve survivors were sold.

Most of these did not last long, though two were used for pilot rotary wing experience by Fairey in their Fairey Gyrodyne helicopter programme. Rota Towels kept one ex-RAF Rota airworthy until an accident in 1958. G-ACCU, the Imperial War Museum's C.30A exhibit at Duxford had one of the longest active lives. It joined Air Service Training Ltd in 1934, was impressed (as Rota HM580) in 1942, returned as a civilian to Elmdon with its original registration plus the nickname Billy Boy and was not withdrawn from use until 1960.

There are no flying survivors, though many museum specimens.

General characteristics

• Crew: one, pilot
• Length: 19 ft 8 in (6 m)
• Rotor diameter: 37 ft (11.28 m)
• Height: 11 ft 1 in (3.38 m)
• Empty weight: 1,220 lb (554.5 kg)
• Loaded weight: 1,800 lb (818 kg)
• Powerplant: 1× Armstrong Siddeley Genet Major IA 7-cylinder air-cooled radial engine, 140 hp (104 kW)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 110 mph (177 km/h)
• Cruise speed: 95 mph (153 km/h)
• Range: 285 mi (458 km)
• Rate of climb: 700 ft/min (213.4 m/min)

1923. First flight of an airplane of rotational wings: autogyro C-4.

The Cierva C.4 was an experimental autogyro built by Juan de la Cierva in Spain in 1922 which early the following year became the first autogyro to fly successfully. The failures of Cierva's previous designs, the C.2 and C.3, had led him to understand that he needed to overcome the problem of dissymmetry of lift in order to get an autogyro to fly without rolling over. He noted that the problems that he was experiencing with his full-size aircraft were not found in the models that he had successfully flown, and considered the difference between the full-size and small-scale rotors. Cierva noted that the rotors used on his model were made of bamboo, and were thus far more flexible than the ones on his full-size aircraft. This flexibility, he realised, absorbed the increased lift from the advancing blade in deforming the blade rather than imparting it to the aircraft. His new problem, then, was of how to create a flexible, full-size rotor blade with the materials available at the time. The solution suggested itself to Cierva during a night at the opera, where he noticed a stage prop of a windmill that had been fitted with blades that hinged near their hub. Rather than making the entire rotor blade flex as on his models, Cierva wondered if all he had to do was hinge the rotors in order to allow them to flap up and down as they progressed around the hub.

The C.4 used a fuselage taken from a Sommer monoplane (possibly recycled from the C.3) fitted with a four-bladed rotor, with the blades hinged at the hub. It was completed around April or May 1922, and was tested from June onwards by Jose Maria Espinosa Arias at Getafe. Success was not immediate, however, and Cierva undertook a long series of modifications and refinements to the design. Finally, in January the following year, the aircraft flew at Getafe, under the control of Alejandro Gomez Spencer, making a flight of some 180 metres (600 ft). Sources differ as to whether this event took place on 9 January or 17 January.

On 20 January, the engine failed in flight, and the C.4's nose pitched sharply upwards. Cierva's original interest in autogyros - that of air safety - was dramatically vindicated when the machine autorotated to the ground completely undamaged. Two days later, Cierva demonstrated the aircraft to military and aero club observers, including General Francisco Echagüe Santoyo, director of the army's air service, and Don Ricardo Ikuiz Ferry, president of the Royal Aero Club Commission. This led to a military demonstration at Cuatro Vientos on 31 January, where the C.4 made a circular flight of 4 km (2½ miles) in 3½ minutes, at an altitude of over 25 m (80 ft).

In July, Cierva built the C.5, an almost identical machine but for its three-bladed main rotor.

The first airplane of passengers built entirely of metal: Junkers F.13

The Junkers F.13 (also known as the F 13) was the world's first all-metal transport aircraft, built in Germany at the end of World War I. It was an advanced cantilever-wing monoplane, with enclosed accommodation for four passengers. Over 300 were sold. It was in production for 13 years and in commercial service almost 20.

Design and development

The F.13  was a very advanced aircraft when built, an aerodynamically clean all-metal low-wing cantilever (without external bracing) monoplane. Even later in the 1920s, it and other Junkers types were unusual as unbraced monoplanes in a biplane age, with only Fokker's designs of comparable modernity. It was the world's first all-metal passenger aircraft and Junkers' first commercial aircraft.

The designation letter F stood for Flugzeug, aircraft; it was the first Junkers aeroplane to use this system. Earlier Junkers notation labelled it J 13.

Like all Junkers designs, from the 1918 J 7 to the 1932 Ju 46, some 35 models, it used an aluminium alloy (duralumin) structure entirely covered with Junkers' characteristic corrugated and stressed duralumin skin. Internally, the wing was built up on nine circular cross-section duralumin spars with transverse bracing. All control surfaces were horn balanced.

Behind the single engine was a semi-enclosed cockpit for the crew, roofed but without side glazing. There was an enclosed and heated cabin for four passengers with windows and doors in the fuselage sides. Passenger seats were fitted with seat belts, unusual for the time. The F.13 used a fixed conventional split landing gear with a rear skid, though some variants landed on floats or on skis.

The F 13 first flew on 25 June 1919, powered by a 127 kW (170 hp) Mercedes D IIIa in-line upright water-cooled engine. The first production machines had a wing of greater span and area and had the more powerful 140 kW (185 hp) BMW IIIa upright in-line water-cooled motor.

Many variants  were built using Mercedes, BMW and Junkers liquid cooled inline engines, see Variants below and by Armstrong Siddeley Puma, Gnome-Rhône Jupiter and Pratt & Whitney Hornet radial engines. The variants were mostly distinguished by a two letter code, the first letter signifying the airframe and the second the engine. Junkers L5 engined variants all had second letter -e, so type -fe was the long fuselage -f airframe with a L5 engine.

Operational history

Any manufacturer of civil aircraft immediately after World War I was faced with competition from the very large numbers of surplus warplanes that might be cheaply converted - for example, the DH.9C. German manufacturers had further problems with the restrictions imposed by the Inter-Allied Aeronautical Commission of Control, which banned the production of warplanes and of any aircraft in the period of 1921-2. Junkers^[3] picked up orders abroad in 1919 in Austria, Poland and the USA and, in the following years with SCADTA (Colombia) and the US Post Office. John Larsen Aircraft in the USA purchased a production licence, their machines being designated JL-6. In 1922 there were sales in England, France Italy and Japan.

Junkers set up its own airline - Junkers Luftverkehr AG in 1921 - to encourage the acquisition of the F.13 by German airlines which was flying 60 of them by 1923. They also established a branch of this airline in Iran. Other marketing techniques were used, providing F.13s on cheap leases and free loans, with such effect that some 16 operators across Europe were flying them. When Junkers-Luftverkehr merged with Lufthansa in 1926, 9.5 million miles had been flown by them. Lufthansa itself bought 55 aircraft and in 1928 were using them on 43 domestic routes. Even in 1937, their F.13s were flying over 50 flights per week on four routes. They were finally withdrawn in 1938.

Most of the F.13s produced before completion of the marque in 1932 were built at Junkers German base at Dessau. During the difficult 1921-3 period production was transferred to Junkers plants at Danzig and Reval. In 1922-3, Hugo Junkers signed a contract with the Soviet Union to produce the aircraft in a Soviet factory at Fili near Moscow which became known as "Plant no. 22". Some of these aircraft served Soviet airlines and some the Red Army.

There were some other military users. The Colombian Air Force used the F.13, W.33, W.34 and K.43 in the Colombia-Peru War in 1932-3. The Republic of China flew F.13s converted into scout bombers until the January 28 Incident in 1932, when they were destroyed by the Japanese along with the Shanghai Aircraft Factory. The Turkish Flying Forces flew a few.

eneral characteristics

• Crew: 2
• Capacity: 4 passengers
• Length: 10.50 m (34 ft 5.5 in)
• Wingspan: 17.75 m (58 ft 2.8 in)
• Height: 3.60 m (11 ft 10 in)
• Wing area: 44.0 m² (474 ft²)
• Empty weight: 1,480 kg (3,262 lb)
• Max takeoff weight: 2,318 kg (5,111 lb)
• Powerplant: 1× Junkers L5 6 cylinder straight engine, 228 kW (310 hp)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 198 km/h (123 mph)
• Cruise speed: 170 km/h (106 mph)
• Service ceiling: 5,090 m (16,700 ft)

World record of speed for career hydroplanes. The Macchi M.C. 7

The Macchi M.C. 72 was an experimental seaplane designed and built by the Italian aircraft company Macchi Aeronautica. The M.C. 72 held the world speed record for all aircraft for five years. In 1933 and 1934, it set a world record for speed over water which still stands to this day.

Design and development

The Macchi M.C. 72 was one of a series of seaplanes developed by Macchi Aeronautica. An earlier model, the M.24 was a twin-engine flying boat armed with machine guns and capable of carrying a torpedo. Later in the 1920s, Macchi focused on speed and on winning the Schneider Trophy. In 1922, the company hired aircraft designer Mario Castoldi to design high-speed aircraft.
In 1926, the company won the trophy with the M.39 which attained a top speed of 396 km/h (246 mph). Further planes (the M.52, M.52R, and the M.67) were designed and built but victory in the Schneider races kept eluding the Italians. Castoldi then designed the ultimate racing seaplane, the M.C. 72, a single seater aircraft with two floats.
The design of the Macchi M.C. 72 was unique with a fuselage partly metal to the cockpit and wood monocoque bolted to the front tubular portion by four bolts.  The streamlined nose contours enclosed an oil tank with its outside wall exposed to the airstream. The wing was all metal with flat tubular water radiators smoothly faired into the wings. The twin pontoons had three smoothly-faired radiators on the outer surfaces, the forward radiator for water and the centre and rear radiators for oil cooling  The float struts also featured water radiators and another radiator was fitted during hot conditions under the fuselage running from cockpit to tail.  
It was built in 1931 with the idea of competing for what turned out to be the final Schneider Trophy race, but due to engine problems, the plane was unable to compete.

Warrant Officer Francesco Agello, test pilot of the Macchi M.C. 72

Instead of halting development, Macchi continued work on the M.C. 72. Benito Mussolini personally took an interest  in seeing development of the M.C. 72 continue and directed state funds to the company.

Operational history

For two years, the plane suffered from many mechanical defects, as well as the loss of two test pilots who died trying to coax world class speed out of the M.C. 72 (first Monti and then Bellini). The final design of M.C. 72 used a double, contra-rotating propellers powered by a modified FIAT AS-6 engine V24 engine) generating some 1,900-2,300 kW (2,500-3,100 hp) (thanks to supercharging).
After 35 flights, the engines were overhauled in preparation for a record attempt.  The aircraft finally lived up to expectations when it set a new world speed record (over water) on 10 April 1933, with a speed of 682 km/h (424 mph). It was piloted by Warrant Officer Francesco Agello (the last qualified test pilot). Not satisfied, development continued as the aircraft's designers thought they could break 700 km/h (430 mph) with the M.C. 72. This feat was in fact achieved on 23 October 1934, when Agello piloted the plane for an average speed of 709 km/h (440 mph) over three passes. This record remains (as of 2008) the fastest speed ever attained by a piston-engine seaplane. After this success, the M.C.72 was never flown again.

Speed record

The M.C. 72 held the world speed record for all aircraft for five years. For comparison, the record holder for a land-based aircraft was held (for a time) by the Hughes H-1 Racer with a top speed of only 566 km/h (352 mph). Then in 1939, two German racing aircraft passed the M.C. 72. The first was a Heinkel He 100 which reached the speed of 746 km/h (463 mph). The second racer was a Messerschmitt Me 209 which set the new world speed record of 756 km/h (469 mph) in August – just days before the start of World War II. The current world speed record for a piston-engine aircraft is 850 km/h (530 mph) set by a heavily modified American F8F Bearcat named Rare Bear in 1989. However, the M.C. 72 record still stands today as the world's fastest propeller-driven seaplane.
One M.C. 72 is a surviving airframe, and is on display at the Italian Air Force Museum, near Rome.

Popular culture

• The Miyazaki film Porco Rosso, while clearly not historical, seems inspired by Italian seaplanes and pilots of this period.

Specifications (M.C.72)

Data from Flying-boats and Seaplanes since 1910

General characteristics

• Crew: 1 pilot
• Length: 8.32 m (27 ft 3.5 in)
• Wingspan: 9.48 m (31 ft 1.25 in)
• Height: 3.30 m (10.83 ft)
• Wing area: 15 m² (151.46 ft²)
• Empty weight: 2,505 kg (5,512 lb)
• Loaded weight: 2,907 kg (6,409 lb)
• Max takeoff weight: 3,031 kg (6,669 lb)
• Powerplant: 1× Fiat AS-6 Liquid-cooled V24 engine, 2,126 kW (2,850 hp)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 709.209 km/h (382.9 kn, 440.681 mph) (world speed record)

1930. First patent of motor of turbine of gas.

1930. First patent of motor of turbine of gas. 

A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a rotary engine that extracts energy from a flow of combustion gas. It has an upstream compressor coupled to a downstream turbine, and a combustion chamber in-between. (Gas turbine may also refer to just the turbine element.)

Energy is added to the gas stream in the combustor, where air is mixed with fuel and ignited. Combustion increases the temperature, velocity and volume of the gas flow. This is directed through a nozzle over the turbine's blades, spinning the turbine and powering the compressor.

Energy is extracted in the form of shaft power, compressed air and thrust, in any combination, and used to power aircraft, trains, ships, generators, and even tanks.

In the course of the year of 1930, the British official Frank Whittle, belonging to the air force, patents the first design of a motor of turbine of gas that would give origins to the reaction airplanes. 

Frank Whittle (1/06/1907-9/08/1996) it was an engineer aeronautical and military Briton of the Royal Air I Forced. beside the German Hans Von Ohain, investigates in a separate way, the invention of the motor to reaction. 

  

He was born in Coventry, United Kingdom, their father worked at the same time of foreman in a factory of tools and era a skilled and inventive mechanic. 

 

In 1916 the family moved to Royal Leamington Spa, where its father had bought a shop with some lathes and other tools and a motor of cylinders of gas. This was their first contact and its with the motors and machineries. 

 

It didn't continue a lot of time in the school due to the economic difficulties of their family. In 1923 it enters in a school of apprentices of the RAF, where it is able to get the attention of some of their officials, for the quality of the scale models of airplanes that built as well as their good qualities for the mathematics. For their professors' recommendation it was proposed for the school of official of the RAF, where it entered in 1926, graduating in 1928 to the 21 year-old age. 

In the development of their graduation thesis, he/she edited a work on the future evolution in the design of airships, in particular of flight to great height and speeds of more than 800 km/h, showing that this was impossible to reach with the helix airplanes, in their place proposed what today is known as Termorreactor. 

 

In 1929 it had developed the concept of a turbojet that he/she sent to the Ministry of the Air for if it could be interesting, but they answered him that their designs were impracticable. 

In 1930 when not being interested the RAF requests its first patent. During those years it enlarges their studies in the own RAF and in the University of Cambridge. In 1936, next to two exmiembros of the RAF it founds a denominated company Power Jet with the spirit of developing their motor. With the support of a financial entity, the works began in an experimental way in a factory located in the city of Rugby belonging to the company BTH (British Thomson Houston). With the beginning of the Second World War, the project received the British government's bigger support, after many difficulties the first flight worked by the motor of Whittle was carried out in 1941, in an it hunts experimental British. In 1942 he/she is a correspondent to United States to help to the project in this country. Toward the end of the war hunts were used with turbojets in military operations in Great Britain against Germany. 

 

In April of 1944 Power Jets it was nationalized becoming the National Gas Turbine Establishment, few years later in 1948 Whittle he/she retired of the RAF for reasons of health and the British government in recompense to their contributions it granted him a bonus of 100.000 pounds and gentleman named him. 

 

In 1976 he/she settled down in the United States, where Columbia died in the city, state of Maryland in the year 1996. 

Dornier Do x

First load of fuel in the middle of flight 

July of 1923, 27 were carried out the first load of fuel in the air, carried out by two airplanes of Havilland DH-48, the pilot was L. H. Smith and J. P. Richter, the apparatuses stayed in the air during 37 hours and 16 minutes, period during which you/they were carried out 15 recharges demonstrating in that way the viability of this system for flights of long distance. 

 

1929. The biggest hydroplane manufactured before the Second World War: Dornier Do x 

 

The German airplane Dornier Do x the biggest hydroplane that was built in the world before the Second World War was. He/she made their inaugural flight July 25 1929. One of the most peculiar characteristics is that it possessed six baskets for their motors, mounted on their gigantic s wings that had helixes behind so much as ahead.  

 

The Dornier Do X was in its moment the adult, heavier and more potent hydroplane of the world when it was manufactured by the German company Dornier in 1929. the airplane, it was designed by the doctor Claudius Dornier, and he/she took him five years among the design, and the construction. In the design process, it was built for the first time in the history of the aviation a model in wood to scale one to one (it climbs real). 

 

It was financed by the Ministry of Transports of German, but manufactured in the plant Dornier of Altenrhein, in the part Switzerland of the lake Constanza, to avoid the terms of the Treaty of Versalles that it prohibited Germany to manufacture certain type of airplanes after the First World War. 

 

Although the design became quickly popular among the public, the lack of interest commercial and several non fatal accidents caused the one that alone three units were built. 

The initial planes date of September of 1924 and the design work of it began in the autumn of 1925. They were invested 240.000 working hours approximately before the Do X was finished. 

 

The Do X had the built helmet completely in duraluminio, with the steel wings embraced by a reinforcement of covered duraluminio by a heavy cloth of linen, covered with aluminum painting. 

 

The airplane carries out its inaugural flight, July of 1929, 12 taking off the lake Constanza with the pilot boss of Dornier Richard Wagner. 

 

 

Initially, propelled by six couples of radial motors of 500 Cv. Siemens Jupiter refrigerated by air prepared in tandem and mounted in six compartments on the wing. This motors whose power was insufficient, they were replaced by 12 Curtiss Conqueror V-12 with liquid refrigeration of 610 Cv that gave him a capacity to reach an altitude of 1.250 m, necessary to cross the Atlantic, although the refrigeration setbacks continued reducing the yield. However, the capacity of load of the airplane was proven in a carried out flight October 31 1929 during which ten people traveled secretly on board the airplane that took 169 passengers in that occasion. 

 

It had been foreseen that the airplane took 100 passengers in transatlantic flights. The luxury, approached at the levels of the transatlantic lines of vapors. He/she had booth-bedroom singular, a room of smokers, a living room a bathroom and a kitchen in three o'clock covered with a helmet of 40 m. The company of the flight bridge consisted of two pilots, a navigator and a radio operator, but the levers of control of gases were low the flight engineer's responsibility whose position was so distant -in the later part of the booth - that the regulation of the power became in an interesting exercise of communications. In the inferior covers, they were the tanks of fuel, provisions and nine tight compartments, of those which, seven, were necessary to be able to float. 

  

The Flugschiff (flying ship), as well as it was called, he/she carried out their first flight July 25 1929. October 21, he/she carried out a test flight in which transported 169 people; 150 passengers (mainly, workers of the factory, their families and some journalists), 9 as company and 10 strained. The flight, broke the world record of people on board an airplane that would not be beaten until past twenty years. After a career of 50 seconds, slowly it ascended until an altitude of of single 200 m (650 feet). After 40 minutes to a maximum speed of 170 km/h (105 mph), Constance landed in the lake. 

 

The Do X left of Friedrichshafen, Germany November of 1930, 2 steered by Friedrich Christiansen, in a transatlantic flight of test, heading for United States via Amsterdam, Calshot (I Reign United) and Lisbon. The flight was sowed of accidents. In Lisbon, one of the deposits of fuel caught fire, damaging a wing; one month it was needed to repair the airplane. Then, when it took off The Palms of Great Canaria, the helmet suffered damages; due to this, the flight must be delayed other three months. For their next tentative, the airplane was unloaded by means of the elimination of all the teams and superfluous accessories and it took off with a reduced company. Although I am not able to reach a normal altitude of operation during great part of the flight, the Do modified X could conclude the following stage until Native (Brazil) via Portuguese Guinea, the islands of Green End and Fernando of Noronha. The Do X flew to River of Janeiro and then it continued heading for United States, reaching New York, via the Antilles and Miami, August 27 1931. Here, it spent the airplane the nine following months where the motors of the Do X was put to point, and tourists' thousands, they moved to the airport Glenn Curtiss (current Airport The Watch) to see the leviathan of the air. The return trip, began May 19 1932 from New York after carrying out with success the voyage via Harbour Grace, Horta, Vigo and Calshot and finally amerizar in the lake Müggelsee via Berlin May 24, where the Do X was received for more than 200.000 people. 

1916. First launching of an airplane in flight from another one of greater spread.

1916. First launching of an airplane in flight from another one of greater spread.

The 17 of May of 1916, carried out the first launching of an airplane in flight from another larger ones. One was the prototype of hydroplane Felixtowe Porte Baby, that owned a spread of 37,80 M.s and a biplane Bristol Scout C., that went mounted on the upper wing of the hydroplane.

Both airplanes piloted by J.C. Porter and M.J. Day respectively. They reached the height of 300 M.s, and they separated in the heat of flight cleanly, this was the first time in the history of the aviation that took place resemblance maneuvers.

1919. First flight on the Atlantic.

Lor Northcliffe, proprietor of the English newspaper Daily Mail, established first of April of 1913 a prize of 10.000 pounds sterling for those who managed for the first time to fly on the Atlantic Ocean with I separate heavier than the air. World War I interrupted the febrile works of the pioneers who tried to send themselves to undertake a company of so audacious nature for those times; since only the Brothers Wright had realised their first flight. Finalized World War I, it immediately continued the initiative of construction, as much of pilots as of constructors. These had to realise the crossing without using more than 72 hrs., which meant just a short time.

They could realise more than a water landing during the passage, neither could participate in the attempt, nor pilots, nor airplanes that had fought against the English, in the war. Also the participation of military pilots was prohibited.

Of all the apparatuses available of that time it was chosen to a twin-engine bomber of name Vickers Vimy, that completely was undressed of its fighting capabilitieses. The apparatus was trusting John Alcock and Arthur Whitten the Browns, who quickly sent themselves to complete the preparations for the trip.

They realised a unique trial run, a short flight, the eighteen of April of 1919, and days later they moved yet its equipment made Newfoundland in the coast of Canada with the airplane totally disassembled, to be armed in American earth. Already installed in Newfoundland, they carried out some test flights, and the 14 of June of 1919 the English pilots decided to undertake the passage. They did it to 1,25 hours, when I separate overloaded from gasoline initiated its bamboleante race by the rudimentary track.

After an injured and risky flight of more than 3.000 km, with a duration of 16 hours and 27 minutes, in means of the dark and rain and the snow that lasted sixteen hour and a half, the dangerous aviators arrived at English earth. In that flight they wore a coat with 197 letters, and so one became the first transatlantic airmail.

The Vicvkers Vimy MK” had 20.72 M.s, of spread 13.72 M.s, length 4.76 M.s, height and 123.53 m2 of wing area. 5.670 kg weighed, totally loaded. It owned two motors Rolls-Royce Eagle VIII of 365 HP. The terminal velocity was of 166 km, per hour and reached an altitude of 2,134 M.s

First flight between two cities transporting fleeting.

First flight between two cities transporting fleeting.

Pilot Theodore Macaulay realised the 15 of May of 1914, first the flights of the history of aviation between two cities taking fleeting on board. Ester flights took place, this flights took place between the cities of Toronto and Hamilton, Canada, in a hydroplane made by Curtis.
First regular flight of a line area

Anthony Janus, pilot of the Benois Company, realised first of January of 1914, the first regular flight of an airline that took to a passenger from St. Petesburgo (in the state from Florida to Tampa, in the same state) EE.UU., using a hydroplane Benoist two-seater. Although the distance was not considerable represented a feat.
First airplane sent by a catapult from a boat in movement.
The 6 of November of 1915, the lieutenant commander H. Musting, piloting a hydroplane Curtiss AB-2, is catapult from the armored USS North Carolina, while the boat was sailing, which constituted the first maneuver of that type, realised from a ship in movement.

First airplane totally metalist Junkers J1.
The 12 of December of 1915 were realised in German
ia the first flight of an airplane entirely metalist. One was the Junkers J1, call “Blechesel”, that were designed and constructed by the German Hugo Junkers, airplane that soon it would perfect.

First crossing in airplane of the English Channel

1909. First crossing in airplane of the English Channel.

Motivated by it rewards of 1000 pounds sterling offered by the lodinense newspaper: Daily Mail, to whom it would manage to cross the first English Channel, flying in an apparatus heavier than the air, the constructor, aviator and French pioneer Loui Bleriot, decided to try passage in one of the airplanes by the constructed ones, the 25 of June of 1909. It did it in Bleriot XI, an airplane of eight meters in length, that owned a wood structure, done with horizontal and vertical crosspieces, reinforced with metallic braces. The wing that had a spread of 7,8 meters was had with fabric, in the same way that the front part of the apparatus. The undercarriage constituted a frame with two horizontal crossbeams, two vertical posts and two legs reinforced constructed in wood last and maintained by steel cables., also owned two steel cable pillars, that had wharf shock absorbers. These were united to the adjustable brackets of the wheels that were of bicycle and which they had a diameter of 24 centimeters.

It had a Anzani motor of three cylinders that was cooled by air and reached 1400 RPM, driving a Chauviere helix of two meters of dimensions. Its speed reached the 58 kilometers per hour; totally loaded the airplane 300 kg weighed.

Blériot initiated its historical flight, around the 4:30 hours of the dawn of day 25 of June of 1909.

Starting off from the port of Calais, and it landed in Dover England to the 5:17 hours of the same day, of somewhat abrupt way since when doing it in a field, it broke the helix and the undercarriage. It could not follow a direct route through the English Channel, because it was pushed by the wind made the north, and possibly found a destiny place, following the same direction of the boats beached in the coast.

As a result of this success, Bleriot, that as much in England as in France, was acclaimed like a hero, managed to sell more than 100 of these apparatuses that were used like military airplanes in several countries.

First landing and takeoff of an airplane from a boat

1911. First landing and takeoff of an airplane from of the bridge of a boat, EE: U:

At the request of a civilian and with the collaboration of the Navy of the EE.UU., it was realised the 4 of November of 1910, a flight from the bridge preparation on the tower of artillery of the cruise military Birmingham.

The 18 of January of 1911, piloting a biplane, Curtis Eugene Ely managed to realise the first landing in the history of aviation in a boat, for such effect, had modified the zone of stern of the armored cruise Pennsylvania, that was anchored in the Bay of San Francisco. To the boat a wood cover had been constructed to him, similar to which later will take the aircraft carrier.

Ely managed to settle in the platform of the battleship, and 50 minutes later, dequeued from the same, before the row of the crew. Minutes later the airplane landed in the military air base of Selfridge, in Michigan. The triumph had been full, and with this historical fact they were born the aircraft carrier.

LANDMARKS IN THE HISTORY OF AVIATION

LANDMARKS IN THE HISTORY OF AVIATION

1903. First flight certificate of an airplane more weight do than the air. The flight of the brothers Wright

The first airplane with motor heavier than the air, flew the 17 of December of 1903, in the beach of Kltfy Hawk located in the locality of Weak Kill Sand HIII, in the state of Carolina of the North, piloted by Orville Wright. The strange device crossed 36 meters and constituted the beginning of the true development of modern aviation.

The apparatus had been made by the brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright. It reached a speed of 13.5 meters per second and flew during 12 seconds.

The flight was realised with great difficulty by the inexperience of the pilot to lead its machine.

Both brothers continued perfecting their primitive called airplane Flyer, and in the spring of 1904, using another greater and robust airplane already, with a motor of vertical cylinders of 16 horsepowers, they began to realise tests in the neighborhoods of Dayton, Ohio. To these they took them flights to acquire great experience in the pilotage and to reach distances every time majors. It is so the 9 of November of 1904, managed to surpass the five minutes of flight in which they reached to cross 4,600 meters.

In 1907, Wilbur starts off for Europe try do to commercialize the airplanes made by them; nevertheless, these attempts were not successful and was in the EE.UU., December of 1907, that receive the first official order of the Department military, which consisted of the manufacture of an apparatus that required its later evaluation.

In fact, the total success of the airplane of the brothers Wright consolidated the 8 of August of 1908, in the fields of Le Mans, France, when in comparative flights with other European apparatuses, it was very to superior in his maneuverability and agility, which was worth a great amount to them of orders and the request of several European companies of the license to construct them in the continent.

Original the Flyer airplane had Canard configuration (duck), increasing this way its lifts-to-drag ratio. The horizontal planes were then cough in front of the wings, and were movable and biplanes. The airplane owned a sliding chair, with which the pilot moved to regulate the inclination of the trailing edge of the end of the wings, and the angles of the vertical elevation to be able to control the cross-sectional operation.

It had a structure done completely in wood and was had with light fabric. The metal was only used to unite the different parts from tensile cables gig boat transmission of the two fans. Pose fan two with deduction of 0.28, and a motor cooled by liquid with a vertical radiator of great size. The gross weight of the apparatus was of 342 kg Had a wing area of 47.38 m2 and one spread of 12.28 meters. Their helices had a diameter of 2.60 meters, the motor of the original Flyer tapeworm 12 horsepower and reached the 1,020 RPM