Daily Archives: October 25, 2023

25 October 1994: The “Dog Ship”

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The prototype Bell Model 430, C-GBLL, in flight, circa 1994. (Bell Helicopter TEXTRON)

A “dog ship” is an aircraft retained by a manufacturer for engineering development testing.

25 October 1994: At Bell Helicopter Textron’s plant at Mirabel, Quebec, Canada, the prototype Bell Model 430, registered C-GBLL, made its first flight.

The Bell Model 430 (“Four-Thirty”) is a twin-engine intermediate-weight helicopter, operated by one or two pilots, and which can be configured to carry from 6 to 11 passengers. It has advanced avionics. The standard helicopter is equipped with skid landing gear, and retractable tricycle gear is optional. The 430 was the first helicopter to be certified for instrument flight with a single pilot, without a stability augmentation system. The aircraft is also certified for Category A operations, meaning that if one engine were to fail during takeoff, the helicopter could continue to fly with the remaining engine.

Bell 430 instrument panel with some optional equipment. (Bell Helicopter TEXTRON)

The 430 was developed from the preceding Model 230 (and the 230 from the 222). It was lengthened 1 foot, 6 inches (0.457 meters) and uses a four-bladed semi-rigid main rotor.  Instead of a mechanical rotor head of trunnions, bearings and hinges, the 430 has a “soft-in-plane” fiberglass rotor yoke that is flexible enough to allow the blades to flap, feather and lead/lag.

The Bell 430 is 50 feet, 0.6 inches (15.248 meters) long, with rotors turning. The fuselage is 44 feet, 1 inch (13.437 meters) long. Overall height 12 feet, 1.6 inches (3.697 meters). The span of the stub wings is 11 feet, 6.0 inches (3.454 meters). The fixed horizontal stabilizer has a spa of 11 feet, 5.9 inches (3.453 meters) and a -9° angle of incidence. The vertical fin is canted slightly to the right to unload the tail rotor during high speed flight.

The main rotor mast is tilted 5° forward and 1.15° to the left. The forward tilt helps to keep the passenger cabin level during forward flight, while the left tilt counteracts the translating tendency caused by tail rotor thrust while in a hover.

Bell 430 prototype at Mirabel, Quebec, Canada, December 1995. (Vertiflite)

The main rotor is 42 feet, 0 inches (12.802 meters) in diameter and rotates counter-clockwise as seen from above. (The advancing blade is on the right.) The rotor turns at 348 r.p.m., resulting in a blade tip speed of 765 feet per second (233 meters per second). The blades are of composite construction. They use an asymmetrical airfoil and have a chord of 1 foot, 2.2 inches (0.361 meters). The blades are pre-coned 2° 30′.

The tail rotor is mounted on the left side of the tail boom, with the rotor disc offset 1 foot, 9.5 inches (0.572 meters) to the left of the aircraft centerline. Seen from the helicopter’s left, the tail rotor turns clockwise (the advancing blade is below the axis of rotation). The tail rotor is 6 feet, 10.5 inches (2.098 meters) in diameter, with a chord of 10.0 inches (0.254 meters). The blades are constructed of a stainless steel spar, with a bonded stainless steel skin over an aluminum honeycomb. The tail rotor turns 1,881 r.p.m.

Three-view drawing of the Bell Model 430 with retractable tricycle landing gear. (Bell Helicopter TEXTRON)

In standard configuration, the wheel-equipped Model 430 has an empty weight of 5,364 pounds. Its maximum gross weight is 9,300 pounds (4,218 kilograms).

The 430 is powered by two Rolls-Royce Series IV M250 C40B FADEC turboshaft engines. (The engine was previously known as the Allison 250-C40B. Rolls-Royce acquired Allison in 1995). The engine has full digital electronic controls. The 250-C40B uses a single-stage centrifugal compressor, reverse-flow combustion chamber, and a 4-stage axial-flow turbine section (2-stage gas producer turbine, N1, and 2-stage power turbine, N2.) At 100% N1, the gas producer rotates at 51,000 r.p.m. and the power turbine turns 30,908 r.p.m. The output drive speed is 9,598 r.p.m.

The engines have a Maximum Continuous Power rating of 695 shaft horsepower, and 808 s.h.p. for takeoff (5-minute limit). If an engine fails, the remaining engine can be operated at 940 s.h.p. for 30 seconds; 880 s.h.p for 2 minutes; and 835 s.h.p. for 30 minutes.

At Sea Level, the Bell Model 430 has a cruise speed of 133 knots (153 miles per hour/246 kilometers per hour), and maximum cruise of 147 knots (169 miles per hour/272 kilometers per hour). VNE is 150 knots (173 miles per hour/278 kilometers per hour). The helicopter’s service ceiling is 20,000 feet (6,096 meters). At its maximum gross weight, the 430 can hover in ground effect (HIGE) at 10,400 feet (3,170 meters) and out of ground effect (HOGE) at 6,200 feet (1,890 meters).

The fuel capacity of the 430 is 187.5 U.S. gallons (708 liters). This gives the helicopter a range of 286 nautical miles (329 statute miles/530 kilometers). A 48 gallon (182 liter) auxiliary fuel tank can be installed in the baggage compartment. With skid landing gear, the fuel capacity is increased to 247 gallons (935 liters), increasing the range to 353 nautical miles (406 statute miles/654 kilometers).

The Bell Model 430 received its Transport Canada certification on 23 February 1996, with the first production aircraft delivered the following month. Production continued for 12 years. The final 430 was delivered in May 2008.

This helicopter is an early production Bell Model 222, sometimes unofficially called a “222A”. (Wikipedia)

C-GBLL was originally built as the sixth Model 222, serial number 47006, and registered by the Federal Aviation Administration as N2759D. The aircraft was used as the prototype of the Bell 222B, which upgraded the engines from the original 618-shaft horsepower Lycoming LTS-101-650C3 turboshaft engines to 680 s.h.p. LTS-101-750Cs. The diameter of the main rotor was increased from 40 feet to 42 feet.

In 1983, N2759D was next used as the prototype for the Model 222UT, which replaced the retractable tricycle landing gear with fixed skids constructed of tubular aluminum. This simplified the helicopter, decreased its empty weight and allowed for an increased fuel capacity. N2759D was transferred to Bell Helicopter Textron Canada at Mirabel. Its U.S. registration cancelled by the FAA on 17 October 1990, and it was re-registered C-GBLL by Transport Canada.

The skid-equipped Bell Model 222UT is often used as an emergency medical transport helicopter. This aircraft, operated by Mercy Air Service Inc., is standing by at Mohave Airport (MHV) in the high desert of southern California. (Unattributed)

Early problems with the Lycoming LTS-101 adversely affected sales of the Bell 222. Bell designed a new variant equipped with Allison 250-C30G engines. This helicopter was designated the Model 230. The first prototype, C-GEXP, with skid gear, made its first flight on 12 August 1991, followed by the second prototype—C-GBLL—on 3 October 1991.

Bell 230 prototype C-GBLL, minus main rotor and mast, and tail rotor, circa 1993. Compare the exhaust stacks to those of the 222UT in the image above. (Fiveprime)

The 430 prototype was given a new serial number, s/n 43901.

Bell 430 prototype C-GBLL, stripped, circa 2012. (Photograph © Pierre Gillard. Used with permission)
Bell 430 C-BCHD (s/n 43902) was the second prototype of the Model 430. This helicopter, previously registered C-GEXP, was built as a Bell 222UT, s/n 47503, before being converted to the first Model 230 prototype in 1991. (© Pierre Gillard Used with permission)

© 2018, Bryan R. Swopes

25 October 1979

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McDonnell Douglas F-4E-67-MC Phantom II, 78-0744, the last of 5,057 Phantoms built at St. Louis, 25 October 1979. (McDonnell Douglas Corporation)

25 October 1979: The 5,057th and very last Phantom II—an F-4E-67-MC, U.S. Air Force serial number 78-0744—was rolled out at the McDonnell Douglas Corporation plant, Lambert Field (STL), St. Louis, Missouri, and the production line was closed.

78-0744 was transferred to the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) under the Foreign Military Sales program Peace Pheasant II and assigned to the 17th Tactical Fighter Wing based at Cheongju International Airport (CJJ). One source says that it was “written off” but details are lacking.

McDonnell Douglas F-4E-67-MC Phantom II 78-0744 in United States Air Force markings. (U.S. Air Force)
McDonnell Douglas F-4E-67-MC Phantom II 78-0744 in United States Air Force markings. (U.S. Air Force)

© 2017, Bryan R. Swopes

25–26 October 1944: The Divine Wind

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The Shikishima Kamikaze unit is offered a toast of water as a farewell, 25 October 1944. At left is Lieutenant Yukio Seki (with cup in his hands). Asaiki Tamai, with his back to the camera, is next to him. At center, also facing away from the camera, is Vice Admiral Takjiro Onishi.
The Shikishima Kamikaze unit is offered a toast of water as a farewell, 25 October 1944. At left is Lieutenant Yukio Seki (with cup in his hands). Commander Asaiki Tamai, with his back to the camera, is next to him. At center, also facing away from the camera, is Vice Admiral Takjiro Onishi.

25 October 1944: During The Battle of Leyte Gulf, the Divine Wind Special Attack Unit (Shinpū Tokubetsu Kōgekitai, or 神風特別攻撃隊) carries out its first mission, an attack on two task groups of United States Navy escort aircraft carriers near the island of Samar in the Philippine Sea.

Prior to the Kamikaze attack of 25 October 1944, there had been other suicide attacks by Japanese pilots, possibly beginning as early as the attack at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, 7 December 1941. But the idea of intentional suicide attacks was proposed by Captain Motoharu Okamura, IJN, and studies began 15 June 1944.

Midshipman Yukio Seji, IJN,1939.
Midshipman Yukio Seji, IJN,1939.

The first unit of 23 pilots, Unit Shikishima, was selected by Commander Asaichi Tamai. Lieutenant Yukio Seki (29 September 1921–25 October 1944) was appointed the unit’s commanding officer.

At 7:40 a.m., 25 October, six Japanese airplanes from Davao, Mindanao, attacked three Sangamon-class escort carriers of Task Group 77.4.1 (called “Taffy 1”), under the command of Rear Admiral Thomas Lamison (“Tommy”) Sprague, USN.

One airplane struck USS Santee (CVE-29) on the forward port side of the flight deck and continued through, blowing a 15 foot × 30 foot (4.6 × 9.1 meters) hole in the hangar deck. Fortunately eight 1,000 pound (454 kilogram) bombs located there did not explode. The resulting fire was extinguished by 7:51 a.m. In addition to the airplane’s pilot,16 sailors were killed and 27 wounded.

Five minutes later, at 7:57 a.m., Santee was hit on the starboard side by a torpedo launched by the Japanese Type B3 submarine, I-56.

USS Santee (CVE-29) being hit by a torpedo fired from the Japanese submarine I-56, 0757, 25 October 1944. (Naval History and Heritage Command NH 71526)
USS Santee (CVE-29) being hit by a torpedo fired from the Japanese submarine I-56, 0757, 25 October 1944. (Naval History and Heritage Command NH 71526)

Immediately after the crash aboard Santee, another Kamikaze circled USS Suwanee (CVE-27). It was hit by antiaircraft gunfire and headed toward USS Sangamon (CVE-26). A 5-inch shell fired by Suwanee brought it down short of Sangamon. At the same time, another Kamikaze nearly hit USS Petroff Bay (CVE-80), a Casablanca-class escort carrier, but was shot down by antiaircraft fire.

Suwanee shot down a second Zero and damaged a third. This airplane rolled over, and trailing smoke, hit the escort carrier’s flight deck forward of the aft elevator. Its bomb exploded between the flight and hangar decks.

"Effect of a crash dive on Suwanee flight deck. 250 kilogram bomb has just exploded between flight an dhangar decks and fire billows out, 25 October 1944. (Naval History and Heritage Command NH 71528)
“Effect of a crash dive on Suwanee flight deck. A 250 kilogram (551 pound) bomb has just exploded between flight and hangar decks and fire billows out, 25 October 1944. (Naval History and Heritage Command NH 71528)

Within two hours the flight deck damage had been repaired, though the elevator remained inoperative. Flight operations resumed at 10:09 a.m.

Five Mitsubishi A6M2 Type 0 Model 21 Reisen fighters (commonly referred to as the “Zero”, and also known by the Allied reporting name Zeke) led by Lieutenant Seki departed Malabacat, Luzon, and headed toward Task Force 77.4.3 (“Taffy 3”), under the command of Rear Admiral Clifton Albert Frederick (“Ziggy”) Sprague, USN. (Ziggy Sprague was not related to Tommy Sprague.)

Prior to this mission, Lieutenant Seki was interviewed by war correspondent Masashi Onoda. Seki is reported to have said, “Japan’s future is bleak if it is forced to kill one of its best pilots. I am not going on this mission for the Emperor or for the Empire. . . I am going because I was ordered to!”

Most of Taffy 3 had just survived an attack by the Imperial Japanese Navy’s overwhelming Center Force, consisting of the Japanese super battleship Yamato, battleships Nagato, Kongo, Haruna, cruisers Haguro, Chokai, Kumano, Suzuya, Chikuma, Tone, and two destroyer squadrons, in The Battle off Samar.

The Kamikazes approached the task group at very low altitude, avoiding radar, then climbed to 5,000–6,000 feet (1,524–1,829 meters). They appeared so suddenly that the fleet’s combat air patrol was unable to intercept. At 10:50 a.m., the first Zero attacked USS Kitkun Bay (CVE-71), apparently aiming for the carrier’s bridge. It missed, but passed over the island, crashed the port catwalk, and bounced into the sea. The bomb it carried exploded and seriously damaged the ship.

"A Japanese kamikaze pilot in a Mitsubishi A6M5 Model 52 ("Zero") crash dives on the U.S. Navy escort carrier USS White Plains (CVE-66) on 25 October 1944. The aircraft missed the flight deck and impacted the water just off the port quarter of the ship." (Naval History and Heritage Command 80-G-288882)
“A Japanese kamikaze pilot in a Mitsubishi A6M5 Model 52 Reisen (“Zero,” or “Zeke”) crash dives on the U.S. Navy escort carrier USS White Plains (CVE-66) on 25 October 1944. The aircraft missed the flight deck and impacted the water just off the port quarter of the ship.” (Naval History and Heritage Command 80-G-288882)

Two Zeros attacking USS Fanshaw Bay (CVE-70) were shot down. Two more dived on USS White Plains (CVE-66) but were driven off by the carrier’s 40 millimeter Bofors antiaircraft guns. One, smoking from a hit, turned away and dived toward the escort carrier USS St. Lo (CVE-63). At 10:51, St. Lo‘s guns opened fire, but this fighter, identified as a Mitsubishi A6M5 Type 0 Model 52 Reisen, crashed through the flight deck and exploded in flames.¹

An explosion aboard USS St. Lo (CVE-63), immediately after being hit by a kamikaze, 10:51 a.m., 25 October 1944. Photograph taken from USS Kitkun Bay (CVE-71). (National Archives and Records Administration 80-G-270513)
An explosion aboard USS St. Lo (CVE-63), immediately after being hit by a kamikaze, 10:51 a.m., 25 October 1944. Photograph taken from USS Kitkun Bay (CVE-71). (National Archives and Records Administration 80-G-270513)

In his classic 15-volume History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, Rear Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison, USNR, describes what followed:

“Quickly there followed seven explosions of torpedoes and bombs on the hangar deck. Great sections of the flight deck and elevator and entire planes were hurled hundreds of feet into the air. The ship blazed from stem to stern, and at 1125 the unluckily renamed ² St. Lo foundered under a cloud of dense smoke.

“The second member of this pair partly circled the formation, turned, and started a run on White Plains, which maneuvered to evade with hard left rudder. The plane came weaving under fire of all after guns; a torrent of blazing tracers could be seen entering its fuselage and wing roots. When only a few yards astern, it rolled over and dove, missing the port catwalk by inches and exploding between that level and the water. The flight deck was showered with debris and fragments of the pilot, and eleven men were injured.

RADM S. E. Morison, USNR, ca. 1953

“As Kitkun Bay was steaming on course 200° at 1110, she sighted 15 Judys [Yokosuka D4Y Suisei dive bombers] approaching the formation from astern, distant about five miles. She launched two Wildcats by catapult for combat air patrol, but not in time. She and the three remaining carriers, Fanshaw Bay, White Plains and Kalinin Bay were without screen, owing to rescue work. One of the three Kamikazes got through the C.A.P. and dove at Kitkun Bay from astern. Its wings were shot off as it neared the ship, and just in time, for the bomb struck the water 25 yards on the starboard bow and parts of the plane hit the forecastle. Kalinin Bay received a crash dive on her flight deck which damaged it badly, but the fires then started were quenched in less than five minutes. A second plane crashed after her stack and two others dove but missed. Admiral Sprague’s flagship, the lucky “Fannie Bee,” alone alone sustained no damage in this assault.”

—History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, Volume XII, Leyte—June 1944–January 1945, by Rear Admiral Samuel Elliot Morison, USNR. Chapter XIII, Section 3, at Page 302. Little, Brown and Company, Boston, 1988

10:55 a.m. A major explosion occurs on USS St. Lo (CVE 63). (National Archives and Records Administration 80-G-27051)
“10:55 a.m. A major explosion occurs on USS St. Lo (CVE 63).” (National Archives and Records Administration 80-G-27051)

Of St. Lo‘s crew of 889 men, 113 were killed or missing, and another 30 later died of wounds.

Taffy 3’s remaining screening ships,³ the Fletcher-class destroyer USS Heerman (DD-531), with the Butler-class destroyer escorts USS John C. Butler (DE-339), USS Dennis (DE-405) and USS Raymond (DE-341), searched for survivors of the sunken St. Lo. They recovered 754 men.

USS St. Lo (CVE-63) burning in Leyte Gulf, 25 October 1944. (National Archives and Records Administration 80-G-47041)
USS St. Lo (CVE-63) burning in Leyte Gulf, 25 October 1944. (National Archives and Records Administration 80-G-47041)
The remains of a Yokosuka D4Y Suisei dive bomber aboard USS Kitkun Bay (CVE-71), 25 October 1944. (United States Navy)
The remains of a Yokosuka D4Y Suisei dive bomber aboard USS Kitkun Bay (CVE-71), 25 October 1944. (United States Navy)
Damage to the flight deck of USS Kalinin Bay (CVE-68), 25 October 1944. (National Archives and Records Administration 80-G-270510)
Damage to the flight deck of USS Kalinin Bay (CVE-68), 25 October 1944. (National Archives and Records Administration 80-G-270510)

Just after noon on 26 October, another group of Kamikazes attacked Taffy 1. The task group’s combat air patrol saved Santee from 12 Judys. Sangamon and Petroff Bay were narrowly missed.

A Zeke crashes into the flight deck of USS Suwanee (CVE-27), 26 October 1944. (National Archives and Records Administration 80-G-270613)
A Zeke crashes into the flight deck of USS Suwanee (CVE-27), 1240 hours, 26 October 1944. (National Archives and Records Administration 80-G-270613)

At 12:40 p.m., a Zero crashed onto Suwanee‘s flight deck and hit a torpedo bomber which had just landed. Both airplanes exploded. Nine more of Suwannee‘s airplanes caught fire. 85 sailors were killed, 58 were missing and 102 wounded, some of whom later died of their injuries.

USS Midway (CVE-63) at San Diego, California, April 1944. The ship would be renamed USS St. Lo three months later. (National Archives and Records Administration 80-G-47028)
USS Midway (CVE-63) at San Diego, California, April 1944. It is painted in a three color disruptive camouflage. The ship would be renamed USS St. Lo three months later. (National Archives and Records Administration 80-G-47028)

USS St. Lo (CVE-63) was a Casablanca-class escort aircraft carrier. Originally designated an auxiliary aircraft carrier, USS Chapin (ACV-63), the ship was laid down by the Kaiser Shipbuilding Co., Vancouver, Washington, 23 January 1943, under a Maritime Commission contract (M.C. Hull 1100). Chapin was renamed USS Midway (CVE-63) on 3 April 1943.

Midway was launched 17 August 1943, and commissioned 23 October 1943. Captain Francis Joseph McKenna, USN, was in command. The ship cost $6,033,429.05.

On 10 October 1944, Midway was renamed USS St. Lo (CVE-63), just 15 days before she was sunk.

St. Lo had an overall length 512 feet, 3 inches (156.14 meters), beam of 65 feet, 2 inches (19.86 meters) and maximum draft of 22 feet 4 inches (6.81 meters). The extreme width of the flight deck was 108 feet, 1 inch (32.95 meters). The ship had a full load displacement of 10,902 long tons (11,077 metric tons). It was powered by four Babcock & Wilcox boilers of 9,000 shaft horsepower (6,700 kilowatts), feeding two Skinner Unaflow vertical reciprocating steam engines, which turned two screws capable of driving it at 19 knots (22 statute miles per hour/35 kilometers per hour). The carrier had an unrefueled range of 10,240 nautical miles (11,784 statute miles/18,965 kilometers) at 15 knots (17 statute miles per hour/28 kilometers per hour).

"St. LO (CVE-63) slows to a stop as she is abandoned in an orderly manner. Note the men going down lines into the water." (National Archives and Records Administration 80-G-270511)
“St. LO (CVE-63) slows to a stop as she is abandoned in an orderly manner. Note the men going down lines into the water.” (National Archives and Records Administration 80-G-270511)

The flight deck was equipped with one steam catapult and two elevators.

St. Lo was armed by one 5-inch, 38-caliber (127 millimeter) dual purpose naval gun, sixteen 40 millimeter Bofors automatic antiaircraft guns, and twenty 20 millimeter Oerlikon autocannon. She carried 672 rounds of 5-inch, 3,298 rounds of 40 millimeter cannon shells, and 7,440 rounds of 20 millimeter shells. The carrier also carried 1,350 rounds of .45 ACP small arms ammunition.⁴

St. Lo carried 27 aircraft, including Grumman F4F or General Motors/Eastern Aircraft FM Wildcat fighters and Grumman TBF or General Motors TBM Avenger torpedo bombers.

The wreck of USS St. Lo is located near N. 11° 1′ 12″, E. 126° 2′ 24″.

¹ Historian John Toland named Lieutenant Seki as the pilot of this airplane, but Lieutenant Junior Grade Hiroshi Nishizawa, IJN, flying one of the A6M5 escorting fighters, reported that Seki’s airplane bounced off the deck of the carrier and its bomb did not explode. It crashed into the sea. He observed a second plane crash onto St. Lo, and its bomb did explode. Nishizawa was killed the following day, 26 October 1944.

² It is an old sailors’ superstition that it is unlucky to rename a ship. USS St. Lo had been laid down as USS Chapin Bay in January 1943. On 3 April 1943, it was renamed USS Midway. In order to free the name Midway for the new large aircraft carrier CVB-41, as well to commemorate the Battle of Saint-Lô, USS Midway was renamed USS St. Lo on 10 October 1944.

³ Along with USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73), Taffy 3’s escorting Fletcher-class destroyers, USS Hoel (DD-503) and USS Johnston (DD-557) and the Butler-class destroyer escort, USS Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413), were sunk several hours earlier by enemy naval gunfire during The Battle off Samar, when they heroically counterattacked the Center Force.

⁴ Naval History and Heritage Command, “Midway II (CVE-63)”

© 2023, Bryan R. Swopes

24–25 October 1931

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Ruth Rowland Nichols (Fédération Aéronautique Internationale 12430–1)

24–25 October 1931: Ruth Rowland Nichols set a new Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) World Record for Distance in a Straight Line Without Landing when she flew from Oakland Municipal Airport, Oakland, California, to Bowman Field, Louisville, Kentucky. The official distance credited by the FAI was 3 182.65 kilometers (1,977.61 stature miles).¹

Flying a Lockheed Model 5 Vega Special, serial number 619, registered NR496M, Ruth Nichols took off from Oakland at 5:17:30 p.m., Pacific Standard Time (01:17:30 UTC), 24 October, after a takeoff roll of approximately 2,500 feet (762 meters). Present to observe her flight were National Aeronautic Association officials R. W. St. John and Eddie Cooper.

Her route took her to Reno, Nevada, where she was reported overhead at 6:35 p.m.; Salt Lake City, Utah, at 9:57 p.m.; and Cheyenne, Wyoming at 12:07 a.m., 25 October.

The flight had been in good weather until she passed Chicago, Illinois. Then with low ceilings and high winds, she was blown off course. After another hour, she decided to land at Louisville, Kentucky, to refuel. At 9:40 a.m., Central Standard Time (15:40 UTC), 25 October, she landed at Bowman Field, (now known as Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport, LOU). Her flight took 14 hours, 23 minutes.

Nichols’ record broke the previous record which had been set by Maryse Bastié (née Marie-Louise Bombec) of 2 976,91 kilometers (1,849.77 statute miles), 29 June 1931, when she flew from Paris, France to Yurino, Mari Autonomous Oblast, USSR.²

Ruth Rowland Nichols with the Crossley Radio Corporation’s Lockheed Vega 1 NR496M, serial number 619, which she had named “Akita.” (Fédération Aéronautique Internationale)

The Pomona Progress Bulletin had reported on 20 October that a shipment of 648 gallons of special aviation gasoline, along with 36 gallons of oil, consigned to Nichols, had arrived at Oakland from Baltimore, Maryland. There was speculation in several newspapers that she would fly from Oakland to Honolulu, Hawaii.

The Scranton Republican reported:

Society Flier Hangs Up New Distance Mark

Ruth Nichols Claims Record held by Frenchwoman Following Hop Of Over 2,000 Miles

     LOUISVILLE, Ky., Oct. 25 (AP)—Ruth Nichols, Rye, N. Y., aviatrix who left Oakland, Ca., last night on a projected nonstop flight to New York, landed at Bowman field here at 9:40 a .m. today. Officials at the airport said she evidently had lost her way.

     Although some distance from the end of her flight, the aviatrix apparently had achieved her goal, a new distance record for women. Airport officials said they were positive she had flown more than 2,000 miles, although the sealed instruments of the plane had not been examined. The air mileage from Oakland to Louisville is approximately 2,000 miles in a direct line.

Takes Off Today

     The present woman’s distance record of 1.810 miles is held by Maryse Bastie, French woman.

     Miss Nichols planned to refuel here and proceed to New York in the morning.

     NEW YORK, Oct. 25 (AP) — Ruth Nichols, society aviatrix, Rye, N. Y., landed at Louisville, Ky., at 11 a. m. today, having flown from Oakland, Cal., somewhat more than 2,000 miles. In a long distance telephone message to her mother, at Floyd Bennett field here, she said she had said a new women’s distance record.

     Miss Nichols left Oakland at 8:17:30 p.m. (E. S. T.) yesterday.

     She planned to reach Floyd Bennett field tomorrow morning.

     The world’s distance flight for women at which Miss Nichols aimed was established June 30, last, by Mlle. Maryse Bastie, Paris flyer,who flew from the French capital across southern Europe into Russia, a distance of 1,810 miles.

     LOUISVILLE, Ky., Oct. 25 (AP) — Ruth Nichols, who landed at Bowman field here today, plans to leave early Monday morning for New York, officials at the airport said. Miss Nichols was reported resting at the home of a friend.

     Breaking aviation records is nothing new to Miss Nichols. She already has established women’s records for a one-stop transcontinental flight, altitude and speed.

     She set the transcontinental mark in a flight from Los Angeles to New York, Dec. 10, 1930, with a stop at Wichita, Kans. Her time for the 2,300 miles coast-to-coast flight was 13 hours, 21 minutes and 43 seconds.

Holds Altitude Mark

     Her plane is credited with flying to a height of 28,743 feet last March 6, at Jersey City to create a women’s altitude record. He altimeter showed a height of 30,064 feet, but the national aeronautic association, in approving the new mark, fixed the height at the lower figure.

     The following month—April 13—Miss Nichols flew more than 210 miles an hour at Detroit for a new women’s speed record.

     Miss Nichols was severely injured June 22, when she damaged her plane in landed at St. John, N. B.,preliminary to a transatlantic flight. She had flown from Floyd Bennett field in Brooklyn and while trying to land in the face of the sun misjudged her distance.

     She was taken home a week later by airplane, the pilot being Clarence Chamberlin, transatlantic flier who had been Miss Nichols’ adviser in her aviation activities.

     Her managers announced last month that she had definitely postponed another attempt at spanning the ocean because of unfavorable weather conditions.

—The Scranton Republican, Vol. 157, No. 22, 26 October 1931, Page 1, Column 6 and Page 2, Column 6

The following day, 26 October, Nichols was preparing to depart Louisville enroute to Floyd Bennett Field, New York. Leaking fuel caught fire while she was warming up the Vega’s engine. The Oakland Tribune reported:

RUTH NICHOLS ESCAPES AS PLANE BURNS

Society Girl on Flight From Oakland Leaps Out of Flaming Ship in Kentucky

Gasoline Catches Fire After ‘Record’ Hop; Plans for Atlantic Trip Revealed

     Ruth Nichols’ monoplane, in which the aviatrix had just set an unofficial non-stop distance record for women in a flight from Oakland, was virtually destroyed by fire today at Louisville, Ky., according to dispatches received here.

     The Aviatrix escaped by leaping from the cockpit and was pulled away from the blazing plane by mechanics. She was not injured.

     The plane burst into flames as the society girl aviatrix was warming up the motor by taxiing the ship over the turf preparatory to taking off for New York.

     Spectators saw a burst of flame from gasoline pouring out of a valve and mechanics shouted to Miss Nichols to cut off the motor. She said she was unable to hear their voices but knew from their gestures that something was wrong and closed the throttle before leaping from the ship.

     Field attendants armed with extinguishers succeeded in putting out the fire.

VALVE RELEASED AND LETS OUT GASOLINE.

     Attendants at the field said they believed a dump valve had been released by the vibration of the motor as Miss Nichols was warming up the ship and that in some manner not determined the fuel flowing from the valve had been ignited.

     Miss Nichols was bespattered with liquid from the fire extinguishers. She said she was not frightened and would be in the air again as soon as she could get another plane. She estimated the loss at $10,000, explaining that the plane cost $25,000 but the motor and other parts could be salvaged.She said she would remain to supervise dismantling the ship for reconstruction if the factory so desired.

     The dump valve, she said, had given her some trouble in California but she had had a new one installed before starting.

     Miss Nichols landed at Bowman field, Louisville, at 7:40 a. m. yesterday, approximately 14 hours after leaving the Oakland airport in an attempt to set a new woman’s non-stop distance record.

     She and airport attendants were confident that she had achieved her goal, estimating the distance from Louisville to Oakland at 2000 miles and pointing out that the course flown by Miss Nichols was even longer. The official women’s distance record is 1810 miles held by Maryse Bastie, of France.

     The barograph from Miss Nichols’ ship, sealed here before she took off, was removed at Louisville for shipment to the bureau of aeronautics at Washington for computation.

LOW CEILING, WINDS BLEW HER OFF COURSE.

     The aviatrix said she had a “fine trip” from Oakland to Chicago but then encountered a low ceiling and winds which blew her from her course.

     “Wandering around used up lots of gasoline and I decided to land and refuel,” Miss Nichols said. “I flew around about an hour trying to get my bearings.”

     Miss Nichols spent the night at the home of Lieutenant Albert M. Moody and this morning telephoned to Clarence Chamberlain to meet her at Floyd Bennett airport in New York “to have a sundae.”

     The mishap today was the second the aviatrix has experienced in recent months. Last summer she wrecked her ship at St. John, N. B., on the first leg of  projected Atlantic flight and suffered several broken vertebrae. For a long time she wore a plaster cast and now wears a steel corset to protect her injured spine.

PLANS STILL CONSIDERED FOR ATLANTIC FLIGHT.

     Dispatches from Louisville said Miss Nichols apparently had not given up her plans for an Atlantic flight although she said she did not care to “talk about plans I might not be able to carry out.”

     “Possibly I will attempt the flight next summer,” she said. “I feel sure that I can make it and have absolutely no fear. The main obstacle to success is the wear and tear on nerves and body. While considerable skill is required, endurance is the more important qualification.”

—Oakland Tribune,  Vol. CXV, No. 118, 26 October 1931, Page 1, Column 1

Ruth Nichols’ Lockheed Vega. (Fédération Aéronautique Internationale 12340–2)

Nichols’ airplane was a 1928 Lockheed Model 5 Vega Special, serial number 619, registered NR496M, and owned by Powell Crosley, Jr.

Built by the Lockheed Aircraft Company, Burbank, California, the Vega was a single-engine high-wing monoplane with fixed landing gear. It was flown by a single pilot in an open cockpit and could be configured to carry four to six passengers.

The Lockheed Vega was a very state-of-the-art aircraft for its time. The prototype flew for the first time 4 July 1927 at Mines Field, Los Angeles, California. It used a streamlined monocoque fuselage made of molded plywood. The wing and tail surfaces were fully cantilevered, requiring no bracing wires or struts to support them.

The Model 5 Vega is 27 feet, 6 inches (8.382 meters) long with a wingspan of 41 feet (12.497 meters) and overall height of 8 feet, 2 inches (2.489 meters). Its empty weight is 2,595 pounds (1,177 kilograms) and gross weight is 4,500 pounds (2,041 kilograms).

Nichols’ airplane was powered by an air-cooled, supercharged 1,343.804-cubic-inch-displacement (22.021 liter) Pratt & Whitney Wasp C nine-cylinder radial engine with a compression ratio of 5.25:1. It was rated at 420 horsepower at 2,000 r.p.m. at Sea Level, burning 58-octane gasoline. The engine drove a two-bladed controllable-pitch Hamilton Standard propeller through direct drive. The Wasp C was 3 feet, 6.63 inches (1.083 meters) long, 4 feet, 3.44 inches (1.3-7 meters) in diameter and weighed 745 pounds (338 kilograms).

The standard Vega 5 had a cruising speed of 165 miles per hour (266 kilometers per hour) and maximum speed of 185 miles per hour (298 kilometers per hour). The service ceiling was 15,000 feet (4,572 meters). Range with standard fuel tanks was 725 miles (1,167 kilometers).

NR496M was destroyed by fire at Louisville, Kentucky 26 October 1931. The registration was cancelled in 1933.

¹ FAI Record File Number 12340

² FAI Record File Numbers 12345, 12346 and 14886

© 2023, Bryan R. Swopes

24–25 October 1928

Aviation, , , , , , , , , , ,
Harry Tucker’s Lockheed Vega, X4769. (National Archives)

24–25 October 1928: Captain Charles B.D. Collyer, Air Service, United States Army, and Harry J. Tucker flew Tucker’s Lockheed Vega, X4769, from New York to Los Angeles, non-stop, in 24 hours, 55 minutes.

A contemporary newspaper article reported the event:

YANKEE DOODLE SETS NEW MARK

Monoplane Flies Across Continent to Los Angeles in 24 Hours, 55 Minutes

Mines Field, Los Angeles, Oct. 25—(AP)—Setting a new record for a trans-continental non-stop airplane flight from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific, the monoplane Yankee Doodle arrived here at 2:12 p.m. today from New York.

The unofficial time of the flight as announced by Capt. C.D.B. Collyer, pilot and Harry Tucker, owner and passenger, was 24 hours 55 minutes. The best previous time for the westward flight was 26 hours and 50 minutes, made in 1923 by Lieutenants John MacReady [John A. Macready] and Oakley Gelley [Oakley George Kelly].

530 Gallons Carried

The Yankee Doodle hopped off at Roosevelt Field at 4:16:35 p.m. Eastern Standard Time yesterday. The little cigar-shaped white-winged plane was loaded with 530 gallons of gasoline, just about enough for a 24-hour flight, and a check began shortly after landing to determine how much of the fuel was left.

The westward flight covered approximately the course flown over by Col. Arthur Goebel when he piloted his plane to a new West-East non-stop trans-continental record of 18 hours and 55 minutes several weeks ago.

This was the fourth time Tucker has sent his plane into a coast-to-coast grind. The first West to East attempt was unsuccessful but on the second attempt Goebel piloted the machine through to the record.

—The Cornell Daily Sun, Ithaca, New York, Friday, October 26, 1928, Volume XLIX, Number 29 at Page 1, Column 5

Captain Charles B.D. Collyer

Charles Bascum Drury Collyer was born at Nashville, Tennessee, 24 August 1896, the son of Rev. Charles Thomas Collyer. He traveled throughout the world, and lived for a time in Seoul, Korea. Collyer attended Virginia Polytechnic Institute, a military college at Blacksburg, Virginia, as a member of the class of 1919.

Collyer served in the United States Army as a private, first class, being discharged 1 May 1919. He held a commission as a second lieutenant, Aviation Section, Signal Reserve Corps. He was employed as chief pilot, Liberty Flyers, Inc., at Savannah, Georgia.

From 28 June to 22 July 1928, Collyer had flown around the world with John Henry Mears. Collyer was president of the Aviation Services Corporation of New York, which had been formed “to do unusual things in aviation.”

Harry J. Tucker

Harry J. Tucker was variously described as an “auto tycoon” and a “wealthy Santa Monica, California, businessman.” He was born in 1891.

Charles B.D. Collyer and Harry Tucker were killed 3 November 1928 when Yankee Doodle crashed in fog near Venezia, in Yavapai County, Arizona. Collyer was buried at Arlington, National Cemetery, Virginia.

Yankee Doodle was the seventh Lockheed Vega produced (c/n 7). The Vega was a single-engine, high-wing monoplane designed by John Knudsen (“Jack”) Northrop and Gerrard Vultee. The prototype flew for the first time 4 July 1927 at Mines Field, Los Angeles, California.

The Vega was very much a state-of-the-art aircraft for its time. It used a streamlined monocoque fuselage made of strips of vertical-grain spruce pressed into concrete molds and bonded together with cassein glue. These were then attached to former rings. The wing and tail surfaces were fully cantilevered, requiring no bracing wires or struts to support them. They were built of spruce spars and ribs, covered with 3/32-inch (2.4 millimeters) spruce plywood.

Three-view drawing of the Lockheed Vega from a National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics publication. (NASA)

The Lockheed Vega 1 was flown by a single pilot in an open cockpit and could carry up to four passengers in the enclosed cabin. It was 27.5 feet (8.38 meters) long with a wingspan of 41.0 feet (12.50 meters) and height of 8 feet, 6 inches (2.59 meters). The total wing area (including ailerons) was 275 square feet (25.55 square meters). The wing had no dihedral. The leading edges were swept slightly aft, and the trailing edges swept forward. The Vega 1 had an empty weight of 1,650.0 pounds (748.4 kilograms) and a gross weight of 3,200 pounds (1,452 kilograms).

The early Vegas were powered by an air-cooled, normally-aspirated 787.26-cubic-inch-displacement (12.901 liter) Wright Whirlwind Five (J-5C) nine-cylinder radial engine. This was a direct-drive engine with a compression ratio of 5.1:1. The J-5C was rated at 200 horsepower at 1,800 r.p.m., and 220 horsepower at 2,000 r.p.m. It was 2 feet, 10 inches (0.864 meters) long, 3 feet, 9 inches (1.143 meters) in diameter, and weighed 508 pounds (230.4 kilograms).

The Vega had a cruising speed of 110 miles per hour (177 kilometers per hour) with the engine turning 1,500 r.p.m., and a top speed of 135 miles per hour (217 kilometers per hour)—very fast for its time. The airplane had a rate of climb of 925 feet per minute (4.7 meters per second) at Sea Level, decreasing to 405 feet per minute (2.1 meters per second) at 10,000 feet (3,048 meters). Its service ceiling was 15,900 feet (4,846 meters), and the absolute ceiling was 17,800 feet (5,425 meters). The airplane had a fuel capacity of 100 gallons (379 liters), giving it a range of 1,000 miles (1,609 kilometers) at cruise speed.

Twenty-eight Vega 1 airplanes were built by Lockheed Aircraft Company at the factory on Sycamore Street, Hollywood, California, before production of the improved Lockheed Vega 5 began in 1928 and the company moved to its new location at Burbank, California.

The techniques used to build the Vega were very influential in aircraft design. It also began Lockheed’s tradition of naming its airplanes after stars and other astronomical objects.

Lockheed Vega NX4769 at NAS North Island, 1928. (San Diego Air and Space Museum Archives)
Lockheed Vega X4769 at NAS San Diego, 1928. (San Diego Air and Space Museum Archives)

© 2018, Bryan R. Swopes