Do you guys in the antiques department do quizzes? Perhaps between the two o’clock pill and the five o’clock supper instead of the usual Bingo? But only if your nursey allows the excitement such a quiz brings. Anyway I’ll try it, I’ll take the risk, ambulance is on standby and that extra dose of oxygen is ready, so nothing much can happen. Perhaps you even like it?
Ready? Start your wheelchairs! Go!
Correct answers so far.
Answers filled in.
1. What was the first British aircraft (heavier than air) to be flown on the British Isles by a British Pilot and when and where did that take place?
Horatio Frederick Phillips, in 1907 at Streatham, about 500ft with a “multiplane” designed and built by himself.
2. Polar flying:
2.1. Who did the first transpolar flight? Which airplane and when and where?
2.2. Who did the first transartic flight? Which airplane and when and where?
# First *transpolar* Herbert Hollick-Kenyon & Lincoln Ellsworth in a Northrop Gamma 2B on 23Nov to 05Dec1935, Dundee Island to Little America.
The first flight *to* the South Pole 28Nov1929, the FLOYD BENNETT took off from Little America and also landed there.
# The first *transarctic* flight: Roald Amundsen & Italian General Umberto Nobile & Lincoln Ellsworth from Spitsbergen to Teller, AK, Italian airship Norge, from 11May1926 (Developed into a bit of a nationalistic scandal then).
3. Who did the first transcontinental flight? Which airplane and when and where?
27Apr1913, Robert G. Fowler flies across the Panama Canal Zone, in what is technically the first nonstop transcontinental flight (in a Fowler-Gage Tractor). He even had a cameraman on board.
4. What was the first U.S. twin-engine aircraft with a retractable landing gear?
Burnelli CB-16
5. What was the world’s first aircraft built out of magnesium?
Northrop XP-56 — Moggy C
6. What was the first helicopter in service with the USAAF?
A bit of a discussion here about who did what first.
# The George de Bothezat quad-rotor was the first to be tested by the U.S. armed forces.
# The Platt LePage XR-1 was the first to be given a service number and the first to display the USAAF roundel.
# The Sikorsky R-4 was the first used operationally by the U.S. armed forces.
7. PanAm flying boats in the Pacific:
7.1. date of first flight from San Francisco to Hawaii with a Sikorsky 42
16Apr1935
7.2. date of first flight from San Francisco to Hawaii with a Glenn-Martin 130
21Oct1936
7.3. date of first airmail from San Francisco to Hawaii
22Nov1935
7.4. date of first passengers from San Francisco to Manila
29Nov1935
7.5. how much did it cost in ther late ’30s to fly from San Francisco to Manila and back?
USD 1400.-, which was about an average yearly wage of a skilled worker. To Hawaii and back it costed USD 800.-
7.6. what type were they and what was the fate of those PanAm “Clippers” boats in the Pacific?
American Clipper (S40) scrapped (date n/a)
Hong Kong Clipper II (S42) was sunk in the Japanese raid off Kowloon
Hong Kong Clipper I (S42) sank in Antilla, Cuba 07Sep1944
Samoan Clipper (S42) exploded 11Jan1938 at Pago-Pago
China Clipper (M130) sank in Port of Spain, Trinidad 08Jan1945
Hawaiian Clipper (M130) crashed somewhere east of Manila 29Jul1938
Philippine Clipper (M130) was damaged in the Japanese attack on Wake Island, was repaired and crashed at Boomtown, CA in 1943
Honolulu Clipper (B314) sunk after collision 14Nov1945
Pacific Clipper (B314) salvaged in 1946
Anzac Clipper (B314) salvaged in 1951
Pan American Clipper II = Samoan Clipper
California Clipper = Pacific Clipper
8. Name the date of the first regular airmail from Britain to Australia
08Dec to 21Dec1934. An interesting story if anybody is interested in early commercial air services.
9. When did the first air-to-air combat take place?
Let’s see.
# Some souces say it was on 30Nov1913 Dean I. Lamb vs. Phil Rader near Naco in Mexico. Both were U.S. mercinaries/adventurers. And some people say it is all made up.
# 05Oct1914 the combat over Reims, which is firm knowledge — as Flood wrote.
Btw the first A/G mission flown by manned aerial vehicles was 1911 by Italians in Libyia. The first aerial attack in the West (don’t know about China) took place in March 1849, when Austrian unmanned balloons (tried) to bomb Venice.
10. What was the last “pusher” biplane flown with the RFC/RAF roundel?
Supermarine Walrus — Flood
11. Name three multi-engine triplane aircraft.
Caproni Triplane Flying Boat
Caproni CA.4
Caproni CA.42
Bristol 24/25/26
Barling Bomber
Bruning Forssman triplane
Trebor Trabant (never heared of it, but …!) — Tarrant Tabor, that one is well known!
12. Name a multi-engine aircraft with foldable/stowable wings (for shipbased service).
Good! The Airspeed AS39 — VoyTech. What a strange concept that was.
And then on the other side of the world the a version of the P1Y Ginga, it had stowable wings, but never flew from a carrier (Japanese had no more).
The first Sea Mosquito flew on 10Nov1945, so doesn’t fit the “Historic Aviation” Dept. Same with the Short Sturgeon, that flew in 1946; detto Sea Hornet and Tigercat.
By: Eric Mc - 4th March 2004 at 12:32
It just shows how difficult it is pinning down real “firsts” in aviation (or in any branch of technology for that matter).
There are so many “almost” first flights or lesser known claims (most not properly substantiated) that you can get into all sorts of wrangles over who is right and who is wrong. In the end, I’m pretty sure most of the important “firsts” have now been properly documented and anyone else making claims on behalf of alternative pioneers really has to work hard to substantiate their claims.
By: Distiller - 4th March 2004 at 12:19
http://avia.russian.ee/vertigo/bothezat-r.html
http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Rotary/early_20th_century/HE2.htm
http://www.nasm.si.edu/research/aero/aircraft/platt-le_page_xr-1.htm
Included all three in the answers. You can live with the wording?
By: VoyTech - 4th March 2004 at 09:58
Re: Re: Re: ………….>>> A “Historic Aviation” QUIZ <<<………….
Originally posted by Distiller
Define ‘in service’. The USAAC ordered their first helicopter design long before WWII (not that I remember its name, nothing to do with Sikorsky anyway) and I think it even flew
>>> You’re right “in service” needs to be clarified when talking about those early choppers. Let’s settle for “accepted for service”, regardless if that was just for tests.
Well if it is just ‘accepted for tests’ then your current answer is ca. 18 years wrong. I was quite sure it was long before WWII, but it took me a while to unearth the details.
In early 1921 the Department of Defence signed a contract with Prof. George de Bothezat (a Russian emigre) to build a flying machine able to take off and land vertically under own power. The design had four rotors, one at each end of the cross-shaped trusswork fuselage. Construction was completed in 1922 and on 18 December 1922 Major (some say Colonel) Thurman H. Bane flew it for the first time at McCook Field, Ohio. Testing cotinued in early 1923, but as the helicopter never got close to the required ceiling of 300 ft., further work was dropped. The helicopter managed to climb as high as 6 ft., fly over a distance of 100 yards, and even carried up to 3 ‘passengers’ (brave men, simply clinging to the structure).
Originally posted by JDK
Can’t answer any of the questions without cheating, but the first flight of Sikorsky’s VS-300 was in 1939, not 1940.
The first tethered flight, yes. The first free flight was in May 1940. Until that time they had so much problems with lateral control that there had to be men on the ground, holding ropes attached to the landing gear, to prevent the helicopter from rolling. (I believe Sikorsky described that in detail in his memoirs.)
V.
By: Distiller - 4th March 2004 at 09:00
Filled in the missing answers.
By: Distiller - 3rd March 2004 at 13:52
1909 I think.
By: Eric Mc - 3rd March 2004 at 13:51
Having read those links, I suppose he doesn’t get a mention as his flights seem to have had very limited control, especially in the longtitudinal plane.
I think for “true” flight you have to demonstrate control about all the axes.
When did the Watkin’s monoplane fly? I remember seeing it on TV in 1983 when it was preserved at RAF St Athan.
By: Eric Mc - 3rd March 2004 at 13:34
Is that really true?
How come I’ve never come across this before.
All the authorative sources quote either Cody’s flight at Farnborough or Roe’s flight in his Triplane (both 1908) as the first heavier than air powered flights in Britain. Which one you support tends to be dependent on your loyalties. Northerners go for Roe and Southerners go for Cody.
Can we have a bit more background on the Phillips claim?
By: Distiller - 3rd March 2004 at 13:18
Originally posted by dhfan
Geoffrey de Havilland was 1909 as was Moore-Brabazon which was the first accredited flight. It seems certain that A V Roe was earlier at Brooklands but it wasn’t accepted at the time.You must have different books to us, Distiller.
Horatio Frederick Phillips, in 1907 at Streatham, about 500ft with a “multiplane” designed and built by himself.
By: Distiller - 3rd March 2004 at 08:37
Originally posted by dhfan
3. Was it supposed to be non-stop?
“In 1923, Lieutenant Oakley Kelly and Lieutenant John A Macready made the first non-stop transcontinental flight from New York to California.”
A very interesting flight indeed from Hazelhurst to Rockfield, their third attempt. They used a Navy Fokker F.IV/T-2 of which the USAAS had two (and the Navy an additional three, calling them FT-1). They were built by Fokker in Veere and shipped to the U.S. in 1922, where they were assembled at McCook Field, Dayton, OH. Btw, after that Kelly/MacReady record flight the press didn’t mention that it was a Fokker – acute “NIH” syndrom.
But that was not the first “transcontinental” flight. That took place in 1913 already, but also in America. And it was even a cameraman on board!
By: dhfan - 3rd March 2004 at 00:24
3. Was it supposed to be non-stop?
“In 1923, Lieutenant Oakley Kelly and Lieutenant John A Macready made the first non-stop transcontinental flight from New York to California.”
By: Distiller - 2nd March 2004 at 22:44
#10 Hmja — Supermarine Walrus is correct.
Did you ever hear of the Vickers Type 161. All metall biplane pusher in 1931. Very British indeed. Slightly on the conservative side I must say.
#9 is … not correct! Was earlier and not in Europe.
#1 is not Cody, because he was from Davenport, Iowa which happened to have seceded from the Empire 132 years earlier. Ingrate ragamuffins those dominioneers!
No, I’m asking for an Englishman in an English plane on English soil. It was in 1907 and it was in London and that thing looked VERY unusual (did I say that before?).
By: Flood - 2nd March 2004 at 21:28
Re: ………….>>> A “Historic Aviation” QUIZ <<<……………
Originally posted by Distiller
1. What was the first British aircraft (heavier than air) to be flown on the British Isles by a British Pilot and when and where did that take place?
Bit of a mix up here… Are you asking for the first powered flight in Britain, or the first flight in Britain by a Briton, or even the first powered flight of a British built aeroplane flown by a Briton?
The first powered flight in Britain was by American-born pilot Colonel Samuel F. Cody, who on 16th October 1908 took to the air at the controls of “British Army Aeroplane No. 1” at the site of what would become Farnborough. The flight covered all of 1390 feet but marked the birth of powered flight in the UK.
If there was a British pilot who flew a British-built aeroplane in Britain before that…Then there a commemorative memorial at Farnborough with the wrong information on it.
Still confused? Me too.
Flood.
By: Flood - 2nd March 2004 at 21:08
Re: ………….>>> A “Historic Aviation” QUIZ <<<……………
Originally posted by Distiller
9. When did the first air-to-air combat take place?10. What was the last “pusher” biplane flown with the RFC/RAF roundel?
[/COLOR]
9/ 5th October 1914 – in the first successful air to air battle a German two-seater Aviatik, piloted by Feldwebel Wilhelm Schlichting, with Lieutnant Fritz von Zangen as his observer, was brought down over Rheims, France, by Sergeant Joseph Frantz (pilot) and Caporal Louis Quénault (observer) of the French Air Service, piloting a Voisin Type 3 (pusher).
Quénault’s Hotchkiss machine gun fired about 48 rounds (two clips) before the gun jammed. At this point von Zangen, the German observer, fired at them with his rifle so Quénault returned fire with his carbine, hitting the pilot. The Aviatik, out of control, crashed to the earth and was destroyed.
The fight was witnessed by French troops on the ground, and became the first confirmed air-to-air combat victory.
10/ The fantastic Supermarine ‘Shagbat’ Walrus…
Distiller, I think you’ll find that on this forum anything that is not surrently in service is regarded as fair game. Thanks all the same though, some of the chaps have been racing their bathchairs about in an almost excited fashion! Matron will not be happy…;)
Flood.
By: Mark V - 2nd March 2004 at 18:12
Re: ………….>>> A “Historic Aviation” QUIZ <<<……………
Originally posted by Distiller
The first Sea Mosquito flew on 10Nov1945, so doesn’t fit the “Historic Aviation” Dept. Same with the Short Sturgeon, that flew in 1946; detto Sea Hornet and Tigercat.[/COLOR]
What??? :rolleyes: and I thought I was a purist!
By: dhfan - 2nd March 2004 at 17:52
Geoffrey de Havilland was 1909 as was Moore-Brabazon which was the first accredited flight. It seems certain that A V Roe was earlier at Brooklands but it wasn’t accepted at the time.
You must have different books to us, Distiller.
By: adrian_gray - 2nd March 2004 at 17:36
Question one…
Erm…
Isn’t that Geoffrey DeHavilland’s machine? I don’t have my copy of “Sky Fever” to hand, (but you’ve already told me it was in 1907) abut it was at Seven Barrows in Hampshire (? – close to Berks boundary). Now neatly dissected by the A34….
Adrian
By: JDK - 2nd March 2004 at 15:17
Very interesting.
Can’t answer any of the questions without cheating, but the first flight of Sikorsky’s VS-300 was in 1939, not 1940.
Hannah had to have all the windows of the hall open, otherwise she couln’t fly under control (can remember why – question 28b?)
Cheers
By: DarrenBe - 2nd March 2004 at 13:25
Question 6.
Is it the Platt-LePage XR-1, which won the congress sponsored helicopter design competition in 1940?
It never actually entered service, due to problems during its development.
The Sikorsky R4-B was the first helicopter in service, with the USAAF. Although they had used YR4-As and YR4-Bs for service evaluation from 1942 onwards.
By: VoyTech - 2nd March 2004 at 12:41
Originally posted by Eric Mc
Focke-Wulf DID fly a helicopter. In 1938, Hannah Reitsch demonstrated the Focke Wulf Fw61 in the Berlin Sportshalle to an amazed public. She rose vertically, flew forwards, backways and sideways under full control.The background to how Focke Wulf became Focke Achgelis is interesting. It appears G (Guenther?) Wulf was not a great fan of the Nazi Party. He was therefore “encouraged” to leave his position as a director in the company which was subsequently taken over by the giant AEG concern. Focke then established a new company with Gerd Achgelis to continue research into helicopter designs. Hence all future designs from Focke were from his new company, Focke-Achgelis.
Thanks for the correction!
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March 1, 2004 at 5:14 pm