Final Flashcards
How were early atlantic crossings accomplished?
Stopping multiple times
What aircraft were flying across the atlantic in 1919?
Flying boats
WWI surplus airplanes
Who completed the first transatlantic flight?
A.C. Read and his crew
In what airplane was the first transatlantic flight completed?
NC-4
How did NC-4 make it across the Atlantic?
Hop from stop to stop
Follow a line of naval ships across the ocean
When was the first Atlantic crossing?
Between 8 - 31 May 1919
What was the best direction to cross the Atlantic?
West - East due to the prevailing tailwind
What was the Alcock-Brown crossing?
John Alcock and Arthur Brown flew a modified Vickers Vimy called Atlantic from Newfoundland to Ireland, completing the first non-stop transatlantic flight and winning the Daily Mail prize
Where was the Los Angeles built?
Zeppelin works, Friedrichshafen
Where was the Shenandoah built?
Lakehurst Naval Air Station
Why did the Americans use helium?
Because it was not flammable
Why was the Los Angeles built?
As a training airship for the Navy
What did the building of the Los Angeles allow the Germans to do?
Since the airship was a civil airship it could be built in Germany. The Germans were able to convince the winning powers that airships were not useful in war and remained open.
Where was the Graf Zeppelin built?
Germany
What is barnstorming?
Pilots flying from farmers field to farmers filed across the nation
What was Ormer Locklear known for?
Famous wing walker
Starred in the 1920 silent film “The Great Air Robbery”
What was Clyde Pangborn known for?
Popularized the car-to-plane stunt
What did Gladys Ingle become popular for?
Transferring between airplanes in flight
What was Jack Shack known for?
Performed trapeze acts below planes in flight
What did Ace Ernst Udet become known for?
Did aerobatics
Picked up a handkerchief from the ground with his wingtip
What happened to Billy Mitchell in the end?
Court-martialed
What did Billy Mitchell do?
Publicly criticized military aviation
Blamed the War Department for the loss of the Shenandoah
Supported all aviation
Rooted for a strong independent air force
What is special about the Dornier Wal?
Very successful skip-and-jump airplane across the Atlantic
Used for airmail
What’s autogiration?
Engine set the rotor in motion, but once in the air, the motion continued via the slipstream acting upon the blades
What’s cyclic control?
A mechanism to change the pitch of individual blades during rotation and thereby to vary the thrust as needed to tilt the aircraft
Who was Pierre Latecoere?
Wanted to link France with French territories and establish air mail routes (Africa)
What was the Air Mail Act of 1925 about?
Kelly Act
Contracting of airmail to commercial airlines
What was the Air Commerce Act of 1926 about?
The Department of Commerce took over the maintenance and operation of airways for mail flying from the Post Office Department
How did the US compare to air mail flying elsewhere?
Lagged far behind in the development of mail planes and airliners
Country neglected commercial aviation
What was the Orteig Prize?
$25,000 prize for the first non-stop airplane flight between New York and Paris in either direction
How did Lindbergh gain all the experience he had?
Flying mail planes
What were characteristics of the Spirit of St. Louis?
Very unstable
Difficult to fly blind or at night
What were the Goodwill Tours?
Lindbergh flew the Spirit of St. Louis around the US to promote aviation (reliability of aircraft, safety of aviation).
He also flew to 17 Latin America countries
What was the Southern Cross
Fokker airplanes
Used in 1928 to cross the Pacific
Australian pilots, American navigators
Who was Douglas Corrigan?
Native Texan
Worked on the construction of the Spirit of St. Louis
Crossed the Atlantic without authorization and claimed that he got lost on his way to California
Gave him the nickname Wrong-Way Corrigan
What did Wiley Post do?
Flew around the world in 1931
Soloed the world in 1933
Used a Lockheed Vega
Who was Bernard Pietenpol?
Designed the first homebuilt airplanes utilizing Ford car engines
What did Wiley Post work on?
A pressure suit for stratospheric flight since his plane wasn’t pressurized
What’s an autogiro?
Has both a rotor and propeller
What was the first Piper Cub?
J-3
What was Aeropostale?
Originated in France as a mail carrier
Brazilian airline
Owned by Brazil resident Marcel Bouillox-Lafont
Had the longest line of routes in the world
Where did Air France come from?
In 1933 France merged its five airlines into one
Had a fleet of 259 aircraft, but more than half were single-engine and thus obsolete in a commercial setting
What were some of Deutsche Luft Hansas firsts?
Installed radios on large transport planes
Made instrument rating compulsory for transport pilots (1929)
Why were airplanes loaded onto ships and shot from a catapult?
Could carry more weight
What did the British airlines accomplish?
Only flew flying boats
Only carried rich passengers
Lacked a national airway route
Who was the Collier Trophy awarded to?
Constant speed prop from Hamilton Standard
Developed by Frank Caldwell
Where did the big four American airlines come from>
William Boeing’s United Aircraft & Transport Corporation consolidated many companies = United Airlines
Eastern Air Lines
Western group of aviation equipment and airlines (WAE, TAT, Pacific) = Transcontinental and Western Air (TWA)
AVCO consolidated companies = American Air Lines
What was special about the 247?
First modern airliner (constant speed prop, retract, cowled engines, trim tabs, deice boots, radio equipment, six pack)
How much money went into the air mail?
2 cents
Who founded Pratt & Whitney?
Frederick Rentschler
Who started Pan Am?
Juan Trippe
What’s Jeppesen’s background?
Started flying as a teenager
Barnstormed
Airmail pilot
Collected info on airmail routes and started a publishing service to make his info available to other pilots
Published his first airway manual in 1934
What was the first monopoly that Pan Am had?
Cuba
What was the four-course radio?
Broadcast two directional signals (A, N) and told the pilot when he was on or off course
Also used to disseminate WX info
What did the Graf Zeppelin do in 1939?
Flew around the world
He as the person in charge of the Graf Zeppelin?
Hugo Eckener
