Daily Archives: August 27, 2024

27 August 1990

August 27, 2024AviationAircraft Accident, Bell Helicopter Company, Bell Model 206B-3 JetRanger III, BH206B-3, c/n 2338, CHI90MA244, Elkhorn Wisconsin, Helicopter, Jeffrey W. Brown, Jeffrey William Brown, N16933, Omniflight Helicopters Inc., Stevie Ray Vaughn, Two-Oh-SixBryan Swopes

27 August 1990: Four Bell JetRanger helicopters operated by Omniflight Helicopters Inc., arrived at a golf course near Elkhorn, Wisconsin, to pick up various musical artists after a concert at the Alpine Valley Music Theater and to return them to Chicago. They departed at 0040 hours, CDT.

The number three helicopter, Bell JetRanger III (Model 206B-3) serial number 2338, civil registration N16933, was piloted by Jeffrey William Brown of East Chicago, Indiana.

A last minute addition to the passenger complement was electric blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan. Another passenger, Vaughan’s brother, Jimmie Vaughan, switched places with him and boarded a different aircraft.

A third-quarter Moon rose at 12:12 a.m. CST. It was very dark, with thick, patchy fog. The temperature/dew point spread was such that the pilots had to continually wipe heavy condensation from the windshields. Another of the Omniflight pilots later said that the stars were visible when looking up, but that horizontal visibility was variable, with a maximum of about one mile.

Brown, who was not familiar with the area, took off and after about 300 yards, his helicopter banked sharply to the southeast and disappeared into the fog.

The JetRanger impacted a 150-foot hill (45 meters), 0.6 miles away (1 kilometer). It was completely destroyed. All on board were killed. In addition to Brown and Vaughan, the others were Bobby Brooks, Nigel Browne and Colin Smythe, members of Eric Clapton’s tour.

Although the weather was such that the pilot could have reasonably expected to encounter instrument meteorological conditions, Brown did not have an Instrument-Helicopter rating and the Bell 206-series helicopters were not certified for instrument flight.

Below is the accident summary from the National Transportation Safety Board:

NTSB Identification: CHI90MA244 .

The docket is stored on NTSB microfiche number 43569.
Nonscheduled 14 CFR
Accident occurred Monday, August 27, 1990 in ELKHORN, WI
Probable Cause Approval Date: 09/11/1992
Aircraft: BELL 206B, registration: N16933
Injuries: 5 Fatal.

NTSB investigators traveled in support of this investigation and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.

FOUR HELICOPTERS WERE BEING USED AT NIGHT TO TRANSPORT A CONCERT GROUP FROM A GOLF COURSE AREA NEAR ELKHORN, WI, TO CHICAGO, IL. AS THE THIRD HELICOPTER (N16933) WAS DEPARTING, IT REMAINED AT A LOWER ALTITUDE THAN THE OTHERS, AND THE PILOT TURNED SOUTHEASTERLY TOWARD RISING TERRAIN. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE HELICOPTER CRASHED ON HILLY TERRAIN ABOUT 3/5 MI FROM THE TAKEOFF POINT. ELEVATION OF THE CRASH SITE WAS ABOUT 100 FT ABOVE THE GOLF COURSE AND 50 FT BELOW THE SUMMIT OF THE HILL. NO PREIMPACT PART FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION WAS FOUND DURING THE INVESTIGATION. PILOTS OF THE OTHER HELICOPTERS REPORTED VFR FLIGHT CONDITIONS WITH SOME FOG. A GROUND WITNESS NEAR THE CRASH SITE REPORTED HAZE AND GROUND FOG OF VARYING INTENSITY WITH PATCHES OF LOW CLOUDS, BUT SAID STARS COULD BE SEEN THROUGH THE FOG.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:

IMPROPER PLANNING/DECISION BY THE PILOT, AND HIS FAILURE TO ATTAIN ADEQUATE ALTITUDE BEFORE FLYING OVER RISING TERRAIN AT NIGHT. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: DARKNESS, FOG, HAZE, RISING TERRAIN, AND THE LACK OF VISUAL CUES THAT WERE AVAILABLE TO THE PILOT.

27 August 1962, 06:53:14 UTC, T minus Zero

August 27, 2024Space FlightAtlas 179D, Atlas LV-3A, Atlas-Agena B, Bell Aerosystems Company, Bell LR81-BA-7, California Institute of Technology, Caltech, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Convair Division of General Dynamics, Interplanetary Probe, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, JPL, Launch Complex 12, Lockheed Missiles and Space Systems, Mariner 2, NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Rocketdyne Division of North American Aviation Inc., Rocketdyne LR105-NA-5, Rocketdyne LR89-NA-5, VenusBryan Swopes

*Engine ignition of Mariner 2* Atlas Agena B at LC-12, Cape Canaveral AFS, 2:53 a.m., EST, 27 August 1962. (NASA)

27 August 1962: At 06:53:14 UTC (2:53 a.m., Eastern Daylight Time), Mariner 2 lifted off from Launch Complex 12 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, aboard an Atlas-Agena B launch vehicle. This was the second space probe to be sent to Venus.

Mariner 1 and 2 were identical space probes built by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Pasadena, California. The spacecraft were designed to obtain radiometric temperatures of Venus, and to measure the Interplanetary Magnetic Field.

The Mariner 1 mission failed when the launch vehicle veered off course and was destroyed by the Range Safety Officer, 4 minutes, 53 seconds into its flight, 22 July 1962.

Mariner 2 under final inspection. (NASA)

The Atlas Agena B combined an Atlas LV-3A rocket with an Agena B upper stage. The Atlas was derived from the U.S. Air Force SM-65 Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), and was built by the Convair Division of General Dynamics at San Diego, California.

The height of the total vehicle, including the protective shroud encasing Mariner, 103 feet, 5 inches (31.70 meters). The Atlas Agena B first stage was 20.70 meters (67 feet, 11 inches) long, with a maximum diameter of 3.05 meters (10 feet). The maximum width across the booster section was 4.88 meters (16 feet).

The LV-3A is a “1-½ stage” liquid-fueled rocket with three engines. The “half-stage,” was a booster section consisting of two LR89-NA-5 rocket engines. This stage produced approximately 369,800 pounds of thrust (1,645 kilonewtons). The center, or “sustainer,” engine is a LR105-NA-5, rated at 86,800 pounds of thrust (386 kilonewtons). Both engines were built by the Rocketdyne Division of North American Aviation, Inc., at Canoga Park, California. The Atlas rocket used liquid oxygen and RP-1 (a highly-refined kerosene) propellant. The LV-3A had a total thrust of 456,587 pounds (2,031 kilonewtons).

The second stage was an Agena B, built by Lockheed Missiles and Space Systems, Sunnyvale, California. This engine was capable of being restarted in orbit. The Agena B was 7.20 meters (23 feet, 7 inches) long and had a maximum diameter of 1.50 meters (4 feet, 11 inches). It was also liquid fueled, but used a hypergolic mixture of nitric acid and UDMH. The single engine was a Bell Aerosystems Company LR81-BA-7, with 16,000 pounds of thrust (71.1 kilonewtons).

The Mariner probe was mounted atop the Agena second stage, enclosed in a protective shroud. Mariner had a gross weight of 447 pounds (202.8 kilograms). The probe was 9 feet, 11 inches long (3.02 meters) long, folded for launch, and 5 feet (1.52 meters) wide. When antennas and the solar panels were fully expanded, the spacecraft was 11 feet, 11 inches (3.63 meters) long and had a span of 16 feet, 6 inches (5.03 meters).

Artist's conception of Mariner 2 in interplanetary space. (NASA) — Artist’s conception of Mariner 2 in interplanetary space. (NASA)

At liftoff, all three main engines were burning. After 2minutes, the two-engine booster assembly was jettisoned and the vehicle continued with the center LR105 sustainer. After 4 minutes, 25 seconds, this engine shut down and the Agena second stage separated. At this point, guidance was lost and the vehicle began to roll, but did not deviate significantly from the planned trajectory. About a minute later, guidance was restored and the mission continued.

The Agena B second stage placed the Mariner in a parking orbit at about 118 kilometers (73.3 miles) altitude. 16 minutes, 20 seconds later, the Agena engine was reignited and Mariner 2 was then placed on a trajectory planned to take it to Venus.

After 3 months, 17 days, at 19:59:28 UTC, 14 December 1962, the probe passed within 34,773 kilometers (21,607 miles) of Venus and measured the planet’s surface and cloud temperatures. It continued inward across the solar system and came within 105,464,560 kilometers (65,432,640 miles) of the sun.

The last transmission was received at 07:00 UTC, 3 January 1963, 129 days into the mission. Mariner 2 remains in orbit around the sun, circling every 292 days.

Mariner 2, carried alloft by Atlas LV3 179D, accelerates past the gantry, 06:53 UTC, 26 August 1962 (NASA) — The Atlas Agena B, carrying Mariner 2, accelerates toward orbit, 06:53 UTC, 27 August 1962 (NASA)

27 August 1939

August 27, 2024AviationErich Karl Warsitz, First Flight, Hans Joachim Pabst von Ohain, Heinkel Flugzeugwerke He 178 V1, Heinkel He 178, Heinkel Strahltriebwerk HeS 3B, Jet Aircraft, Prototype, Test Pilot, Turbojet EngineBryan Swopes

Illustration (or retouched photograph) of Heinkel He 178 V1 in flight with landing gear extended.

27 August 1939: Flugkapitän Erich Karl Warsitz, a Luftwaffe pilot assigned to the Ministry of Aviation (Reichsluftfahrtministerium) as a test pilot, made the first flight of the Heinkel He 178 V1, a proof-of-concept prototype jet-propelled airplane.

Heinkel Flugzeugwerke had built a small, single-seat, single-engine high-wing monoplane with retractable landing gear. The He 178 had the air intake at the nose and the engine exhaust out the tail, a configuration that would become the standard layout for most single-engine jet aircraft in the future. The airplane was constructed of wood and aluminum.

The He 178 V1 was 7.48 meters (24.54 feet) long, with a wingspan of 7.20 meters (23.62 feet) and height of 2.10 meters (6.89 feet). The wing area was 7.90 square meters (85.03 square feet). The prototype had an empty weight of 1,620 kilograms (3,572 pounds) and its gross weight was 1,998 kilograms (4,406 pounds).

Illustration of Heinkel He 178 V1 in flight with landing gear retracted.

The airplane was powered by a Heinkel Strahltriebwerk HeS 3B turbojet engine, which had been designed by Hans Joachim Pabst von Ohain. The HeS 3B used a single-stage axial-flow inducer, single-stage centrifugal-flow compressor, reverse-flow combustor cans, and a single-stage radial-inflow turbine. The engine produced 1,102 pounds of thrust (4.902 kilonewtons) at 11,600 r.p.m., burning Diesel fuel. The engine’s maximum speed was 13,000 r.p.m. The HeS 3B was 1.480 meters (4.856 feet) long, 0.930 meters (3.051 feet) in diameter and weighed 360 kilograms (794 pounds).

Heinkel *Strahltriebwerk* HeS 3B engine, cutaway example. (Deutsches Museum)

The He 178 V1 was designed for a cruise speed of 580 kilometers per hour (360 miles per hour) and maximum speed of 700 kilometers per hour (435 miles per hour). During flight testing, the highest speed reached was 632 kilometers per hour (393 miles per hour). Its estimated range was 200 kilometers (124 miles).

Captain Warsitz made two short circuits of the airfield then came in for a landing. This was the very first flight of an aircraft powered only by a jet engine.