From Airbus to Zeppelin: Facts, Figures and Quotes from the World of Aviation

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A IS FOR…

ACCIDENT AT JUVISY

At 5 o’clock the aviator M. Blanck in a Bleriot monoplane started from the aerodrome, but after he had risen to the height of the grand stand something appeared to have happened to his steering apparatus and the aeroplane dashed into the middle of the public, causing great consternation. The screw was broken into fragments, which flew in all directions. Three persons, including two ladies, were hurt.

The Times, 19 October 1909

This unfortunate event took place during the aviation meet called the Grande Quinzaine d’Aviation (Great Fortnight of Aviation) held at Juvisy outside Paris. One of the injured sued the organisers for compensation but judges decreed that as aviation was a dangerous business and there were no regulations for such events it was at the attendee’s risk. During the event the aviator Comte de Lambert flew his Wright biplane over the Eiffel Tower, a feat that caused much excitement.1

ACE-IN-A-DAY

The 1939 to 1940 Soviet–Finnish ‘Winter War’ is often forgotten, but one man’s aerial combat achievements deserve to be remembered. Jorma Sarvanto was a Finnish fighter pilot who on 6 January 1940 achieved a remarkable record by shooting down six enemy aircraft. He would have downed more but ran out of ammunition. His targets were part of a formation of eight Soviet Ilyushin DB.3 bombers that had attacked the city of Kuopio. They had already lost one of their aircraft to another Finn, Per-Erik Sovelius, when they were attacked by the lone Fokker D.XXI fighter flown by Sarvanto.2

ADOLPHE PÉGOUD

In September 1913 the French aviator Adolphe Pégoud gained much acclaim by flying manoeuvres not seen publicly before. At the end of that month he came to the United Kingdom where he performed over three days at Brooklands.

In a Bleriot monoplane, Pégoud demonstrated several aerobatic manoeuvres which while now are commonplace, were sensational to the onlooking public and press at the time.

Flight Magazine called his flying ‘phenomenal’ and Pégoud’s mastery in performing a loop was described in The Times newspaper under the headline ‘The New Flying’ the following day:

At 4.45 Pégoud was off again, this time to ‘loop the loop’. He now climbed to about 4,500 feet and at 5.05, amid a great silence, dived until he was again inverted, and in this attitude performed a spiral volplane, concluding with an ‘S’ as before. On this occasion he must have been hanging head downwards for nearly three-quarters of a minute. Resuming his flight, he climbed again for a few moments, then the machine dived, carried on, stood up on its tail, carried on upside down, and dived again, completing the full circle. A quick descent brought Pégoud’s performance to a close. Another scene of enthusiasm followed, while his compatriots kissed him.

The Times, 26 September 1913

Pégoud became the first ace in the First World War but was shot down and killed in 1915.

AEROBATIC TEAMS

The RAF had given formation aerobatic displays before the Second World War and continued these aerial exhibitions of piloting skills in peacetime. In the 1950s named aerobatic teams appeared for the first time. They were flown by flying training units or occasionally by operational squadrons until the 1970s. Cost-cutting saw the gradual decline of such flying and now the RAF has only one jet aerobatic team.

RAF Aerobatic Teams and their aircraft 1950s–1970s3

Gemini Pair (BAC Jet Provost)

Linton GIN (BAC Jet Provost)

The Black Arrows (Hawker Hunter)

The Black Knights (Hawker Hunter)

The Blades (BAC Jet Provost)

The Blue Chips (de Havilland Chipmunk)

The Blue Diamonds (Hawker Hunter)

The Bulldogs (Scottish Aviation Bulldog)

The Cranwell Poachers (BAC Jet Provost)

The Falcons (Hawker Hunter)

The Fighting Cocks (Hawker Hunter)

The Firebirds (English Electric Lightning)

The Gazelles (Aérospatiale Gazelle)

The Gin Four (BAC Jet Provost)

The Macaws (BAC Jet Provost)

The Magistrates (BAC Jet Provost)

The Meteorites (Gloster Meteor)

The Pelicans (BAC Jet Provost)

The Pelicans (Gloster Meteor)

The Poachers (BAC Jet Provost)

The Red Arrows (Folland Gnat)

The Red Pelicans (BAC Jet Provost)

The Redskins (BAC Jet Provost)

The Skylarks (de Havilland Chipmunk)

The Sparrows (Hunting Provost/BAC Jet Provost)

The Swords (BAC Jet Provost)

The Tigers (English Electric Lightning)

The Tomahawks (Agusta Bell Sioux)

The Vipers (BAC Jet Provost)

The Yellowjacks (Folland Gnat)

AEROBATICS

There came a demonstration of combined aerobatics by Flight Lieutenant H.M.A. Day and Pilot Officer D.R.S. Bader, both of No. 23 (Fighter) Squadron, flying Gamecocks. This was without any doubt the finest exhibition we have ever seen. Their timing was perfect and their showmanship really good. They managed to keep well up wind and did not gradually drift across the aerodrome in the way we have so often seen, and were at all times just the right height to be seen comfortably. Particularly spectacular was their method of flying off up the aerodrome side-by-side after having done a dive and rocket opposing each other. This was accomplished by an aileron turn inwards while nose down after the rocket. The display was doubly interesting in that it was probably the last time these Gamecocks would be seen in public, as we were told that they had been kept on charge in the squadron, which has since been equipped with Bulldogs, solely for this display.

This was a report of a display organised by the Newcastle-upon-Tyne Aero Club in Flight magazine on 28 August 1931. Three months later Douglas Bader was practising aerobatics in a Bulldog, at a lower altitude than was advised, when his wingtip caught the ground and he crashed. Although he survived, both legs were amputated. Despite this he returned to RAF operational flying and commanded a fighter squadron during the Battle of Britain.

AIRBUS A380

In the 1960s, Britain, France and Germany formed Airbus to build airliners capable of competing with the large US manufacturers such as Boeing. The first aircraft built was the A300, which made its maiden flight in 1972 and went into service two years later. Other types were built such as the four-engined A340 and best-selling two-engined A320.

In 2003 Airbus reached a milestone when it passed Boeing in the number of aircraft delivered. By the end of 2015 it had sold over 16,000 aircraft. That year it opened its first factory in the USA.

In the 1980s plans were devised to make an aircraft able to compete with Boeing’s 747, its famous four-engined ‘jumbo jet’. The result was the A380, the world’s first twin-deck and twin-aisle airliner. The world’s largest airliner made its first flight on 27 April 2005.

Emirates Airbus A380 approaching Manchester Airport. (Norman Ferguson)

A380 in facts and figures

The aircraft suffered delays going into service as it was discovered during installation that the aircraft’s cabin cabling was too short. With miles of wiring inside the aircraft this presented a major problem.

As Airbus is a collaborative venture, its partner countries each make component parts, which are then assembled to form the final aircraft. The cause of the short cabling was put down to different versions of software used by German and French facilities. Each version worked out the amount of cabling required to bend around corners in a different way. It was this incompatibility that resulted in months of delay and billions of euros lost.

The A380 entered service in October 2007 with Singapore Airlines. Up until December 2015, 319 had been ordered.4

AIRSHIP DISASTERS

In the early years of the twentieth century airships were the main method of carrying aerial passengers, but as with other methods of human flight, there were inherent risks. While thousands of miles were flown safely, an airship’s loss could be a spectacular and potentially disastrous event. The major non-wartime airship losses were:

Airship L.2 falls in flames. (Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division LC-USZ62-74678)

AMY JOHNSON

The foremost British female pilot of the ‘Golden Age’ was undoubtedly Amy Johnson, who earned her place in aviation history by becoming the first woman to fly solo to Australia in 1930.

Johnson, who was 26 years old, was attempting to break Bert Hinkler’s record of sixteen days but failed, her journey taking twenty days. She was delayed by having to have repairs carried out on her plane, the small de Havilland Gipsy Moth biplane Jason, and having to land in the desert on the way to Baghdad due to bad visibility and strong winds.

Amy Johnson’s Route to Australia

Her achievement was made all the more remarkable as she had never made a long-distance flight before setting off (her longest flight before was from London to her hometown of Hull) and she had less than 100 hours flying time. These epic distances were achieved in an aircraft with a maximum speed of 90mph.

Both the press and the public fêted her, when she arrived back in Britain. At a luncheon given in her honour at the Savoy in London, among the guests were pioneers Louis Blériot, Arthur Whitten Brown