Auguste Piccard loads supplies aboard the gondola of his balloon, 18 August 1932. Aktuelle-Bilder-Centrale, Georg Pahl (Bild 102)
18 August 1932: At 5:04 a.m., Professor Auguste Antoine Piccard and his assistant, Max Cosyns, used a hydrogen-filled balloon to lift their pressurized gondola from Dübendorf Airfield, Zürich, Switzerland, into the stratosphere on an expedition to investigate the upper levels of Earth’s atmosphere and to study cosmic radiation. During the 12 hour flight, Piccard and Cosyns reached an altitude of 16,201 meters (53,153 feet), setting a new Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) World Record for Altitude.¹
The expedition was funded by Belgium’s Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique (FNRS).
Auguste Piccard’s balloon being inflated with hydrogen at Dübendorf Flughafen, Zürich, Switzerland, during the night of 17–18 August 1932. (Unattributed)
Piccard’s balloon was made of rubberized cotton fabric. It had a maximum volume of 500,000 cubic feet (14,158 cubic meters) and weighed, by itself, approximately 1,500 pounds (680 kilograms). When it expanded to its maximum size in the upper atmosphere, the diameter was 99 feet (30.2 meters). The gondola was constructed of aluminum and was 7 feet (2.14 meters) in diameter. There were to hatches for entry and exit, and seven port holes.
The outer surface of the spherical gondola was painted half white and half black. This was intended to control interior heat by turning the lighter side toward or away from the sun by means of a small propeller mounted to a horizontal stanchion. Unfortunately for the two aeronauts, this did not work. The hermetically sealed hatches allowed the gondola to maintain the surface atmospheric pressure as it rose into the stratosphere. The air contained inside the aluminum sphere was recycled through a Draeger system of the type used in submarines. This added oxygen to replace that consumed and extracted the carbon dioxide that was exhaled.
The balloon reached the peak altitude at 12:12 p.m. During the ascent, the temperature inside the gondola dropped to 5 °F. (-15 °C.). It landed near Lake Garda in Northern Italy, a little after 3:15 p.m.
This was Piccard’s second ascent into the stratosphere. On 27 May 1931 he and Paul Kipfer lifted off from Augsburg, Germany and rose to a record altitude of 15,781 meters (51,775 feet). (FAI Record File Number 10634) They landed at the Großer Gurgler Ferner galcier near Obergurgl in the Tyrolian Alps.
Professor Piccard was made Commandeur de l’Ordre de Léopold and Max Cosyns, Chevalier de l’Ordre de Léopold by Albert I, King of the Belgians. Professor made nearly 30 ascents into the upper atmosphere before turning to the exploration of the very deep oceans with his bathyscaphe, Trieste.
Commander of the Order of Leopold, Civil Division.
Geoffrey de Havilland, 1913. (FLIGHT, 22 February 1913, Page 207))
18 August 1911: At 6:30 a.m., the Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.2 prototype took off with its designer, Geoffrey de Havilland,¹ at the controls. He made the short flight from Farnborough to Laffan’s Plain where he made a series of takeoffs and landings.
The airplane was a single-engine, two-place, two-bay biplane with a pusher propeller. The crew, a pilot and an observer/gunner, were in an open nacelle, with the engine aft, and an open tail boom.
The F.E.2 was 28 feet (8.5 meters) long with a wing span of 33 feet (10.0 meters). The total wing area was 340 square feet (31.6 square meters). It weighed 1,200 pounds (544 kilograms), loaded, and had a maximum speed of 47.5 miles per hour (76.4 kilometers per hour). The F.E.2 prototype, in its original configuration, was powered by an air-cooled Gnome 7-cylinder rotary engine which produced 50 horsepower.
Royal Aircraft Factory F.E. 2 with Maxim gun (RAF Museum)
In 1913, the F.E.2 prototype was redesigned and rebuilt with an air-cooled Renault V-8 engine, rated at 70 horsepower, driving a four-bladed fixed-pitch propeller. The wings were identical to those of the the B.E.2A. The Renault-powered F.E.2 variant was 30 feet, 0 inches (9.144 meters) long with a wingspan of 42 feet, 0 inches (12.802 meters). The wings had a chord of 6 feet, 4 inches (1.930 meters). The wing area increased to 425 square feet (39.5 square meters). The gross weight was now 1,865 pounds (846 kilograms). The F.E.2 (Renault) had a maximum speed of 67 miles per hour (108 kilometers per hour) and a service ceiling of 5,500 feet (1,676 meters).
At about 11:45 a.m., Monday, 23 February 1914, test pilot Roland Campbell Kemp (R.Ae.C. Aviator’s Certificate No. 80) was flying the F.E.2 at about 500 feet (152 meters). Also on board was a passenger, Ewart Temple Haynes. The wind was estimated at 30 miles per hour (13 meters per second). After about five minutes, the prototype entered a steep—but not heavily banked—right-hand spiral descent and crashed near Wittering, Chichester. The airplane “was completely wrecked.” Haynes was killed. Kemp was seriously injured and had no memory of the day.
The Accidents Investigation Committee of the Royal Aero Club was “of the opinion that there is no positive evidence to show why the accident occurred, but such evidence as is available points to the conclusion that the most probable cause was that the pilot’s foot slipped over the rudder bar, and that he thus lost control.” ²
After another redesign, the first production variant of de Havilland’s biplane was the F.E.2A, a three-bay biplane with a water-cooled Green six-cylinder inline engine, rated at 100 horsepower. This airplane was 32 feet, 3 inches (10.135 meters) long, with a wingspan of 47 feet, 8 inches (14.529 meters). The chord was decreased to 5 feet, 6 inches (1.676 meters). The F.E.2A’s gross weight was 2,680 pounds (1,216 kilograms). It had a maximum speed of 75 miles per hour (121 kilometers per hour) and ceiling of 6,000 feet (1,829 meters). Twelve F.E.2As were built.
Modified for a 120 horsepower Beardmore 6-cylinder engine with a 9-foot-diameter propeller (2.7 meters), the airplane was designated F.E.2B, or Fighter Mark I. The wingspan increased 1 inch to 47 feet, 9 inches (14.554 meters). The airplane had an overall height of 12 feet, 7½ inches (3.848 meters). The wings had a 3° 30′ angle of incidence and were not staggered. There was 4° dihedral. Gross weight increased to 2,827 pounds (1,282 kilograms). Its maximum speed was 73 miles per hour (117 kilometers per hour), and the service ceiling was 9,000 feet (2,743 meters). These were first used in France during World War I.
The B.E.2B was also built with a 160 horsepower Beardmore engine. The series continued with the F.E.2C and a Rolls-Royce powered F.E.2D. Dimensions remained constant, though the angle of incidence was increased to 4°.
The F.E.2 and F.E.2.A were armed with Maxim machine guns. The B.E.2B and later models had one or two .303-caliber Lewis guns.
A total of 1,939 F.E.s were built.
Three-view illustration of the Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.2B, Fighter Mark I. (FLIGHT and Aircraft Engineer, No. 2290, Vol. LXII, Friday, 12 December 1952, at Page 726)
The Royal Flying Corps initially used the F.E.2 (most sources say that “F.E.” stood for Farnham Experimental, ³ meaning that it was a pusher configuration) as a scouting and reconnaissance airplane.
On 16 October 1912, Geoffrey de Havilland was appointed Second Lieutenant (on probation), Royal Flying Corps, Military Wing, antedated to 2 September 1912. He was promoted to Lieutenant, 5 August 1914. Captain de Havilland was appointed Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (O.B.E.), 7 June 1918. He was awarded the Air Force Cross, 1 January 1919.
De Havilland soon founded his own aircraft design and manufacturing company, the de Havilland Aircraft Company. He would later be known as Captain Sir Geoffrey de Havilland, O.M., C.B.E., A.F.C., R.D.I., F.R.Ae.S.
¹ Many sources, including The Peerage, Person Page – 55358, identify Sir Geoffrey as “Geoffrey Raoul de Havilland.” As his son is known as Geoffrey Raoul de Havilland, Jr., that would seem reasonable, and may even be correct. However, his birth registration (England & Wales Civil Registration Birth Index, January, February, and March 1883, at Page 149, Column 1), marriage banns and certificates for both marriages, numerous announcements in The London Gazette, contemporary news articles, and his civil death registration do not include any middle name.
² Accidents Investigation Committee of the Royal Aero Club, Report No. 26
³ “Fighting Experimental” —J.M. Bruce, M.A., in Flight, No. 2290, Vol. LXII, Friday, 12 December 1952 at Page 728
18 August 1871: Charles-Alphonse Pénaud demonstrated the first inherently stable airplane when he flew his model Planophore at a meeting of the Société de Navigation Aérienne at the Jardin des Tuileries, Paris, France.
At this demonstration, Pénaud’s Planophore flew 131 feet (39.9 meters) in 11 seconds.
The airplane was 20 inches (50.8 centimeters) long with a wing span of 18 inches (45.7 centimeters). The wings had a maximum chord of 4 inches (10.2 centimeters), and the total wing area was 0.53 square feet (0.049 square meters). The Planophore weighed 0.56 ounces (15.88 grams). The model had a two-bladed propeller with a diameter of 8 inches (20.3 centimeters) positioned at the tail in a pusher configuration. This was driven by a twisted rubber band (240 turns).
A drawing of Alphonse Pénaud’s Planophore. (Encyclopedia Brittanica)
The center of gravity of the machine is placed a little in front of the center of pressure of the aeroplane, so that it tends to make the model descend an incline; but in so doing it lessens the angle of inclination of the aeroplane, and the speed is increased At the same time the angle of the horizontal rudder is increased, and the pressure of the air on its upper surface causes it to descend; but as the machine tends to turn round its center of gravity, the front part is raised and brought back to the horizontal position. If, owing to the momentum gained during the descent, the machine still tends upward, the angle of the plane is increased, and the speed decreased. The angle of the rudder from the horizontal being reduced, it no longer receives the pressure of air on its superior surface, the weight in front reasserts its power, and the machine descends. Thus, by the alternate action of the weight in front and the rudder behind the plane, the equilibrium is maintained. The machine during flight, owing to the above causes, describes a series of ascents and descents after the manner of a sparrow.
—Mr. Bennett, at the 1874 meeting of the Aeronautical Society of Great Britain, quoted in Progress in Flying Machines, by Octave Chanute, at Aeroplanes, Part VI, November 1892
Pénaud’s Planophore (Sierra Hotel Aeronautics)
The aircraft gained its stability (Octave Chanute called it “automatic equilibrium”) from several features that later became common in aircraft design. The wings curved upward toward the tips, creating a dihedral effect. A horizontal stabilizer at the rear was mounted with a lower angle of incidence than that of the the wings, resulting in a longitudinal dihedral effect. When the model airplane began to veer from a straight and level course, these dihedral characteristics caused it to correct itself.
Pénaud’s use of the twisted rubber band became a common feature of aircraft design models.
Charles-Alphonse Pénaud was born 31 May 1850 at Paris, France. He was the second of two sons of Capitaine de vaisseau Charles-Eugène Pénaud (later, vice-amiral) and Antoinette Louise Charlotte Huard de la Marre. Alponse’s older brother, Francis Eugène, followed their father and grandfather in the naval service, rising to the rank of contre-amiral. Because of a disability, Alphonse was not able to.
Alphonse Pénaud (as he is commonly known) became interested in flight at about the age of twenty years. He constructed a rotary-winged aircraft which he powered by using a twisted band of rubber. Following his Planophore, he built a rubber-band-powered ornithopter.
Pénaud designed a full-size airplane in the mid-1870s, but was unable to attract any investors.
Charles-Alphonse Pénaud committed suicide at his home in Paris, 22 October 1880. He was thirty years old.
Qantas’ Boeing 747-438 Longreach VH-OJA, City of Canberra. (Aero Icarus)
16–17 August 1989: On its delivery flight, Qantas’ first Boeing 747-438 Longreach airliner, VH-OJA, City of Canberra, was flown by Captain David Massey-Green from London Heathrow Airport, England (IATA: LHR, ICAO: EGLL) to Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport, Australia (IATA: SYD, ICAO: YSSY), non-stop. Three other senior Qantas captains, Ray Heiniger, George Lindeman and Rob Greenop completed the flight deck crew. Boeing Training Captain Chet Chester was also aboard.
The distance flown by the new 747 was 17,039.00 kilometers (10,587.54 miles) at an average speed of 845.58 kilometers per hour (525.42 miles per hour). The flight’s duration was 20 hours, 9 minutes, 5 seconds. This set a new Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) World Record for Distance ¹ and World Record for Speed Over a Recognized Course.²
The crew of Qantas Flight 7741. Front row, left to right: FSD David Cohen, FSD Mal Callender. Back row, left to right: Captain Ray Heiniger, Captain David Massey-Greene, Captain George Lindeman, Captain Rob Greenop. (Qantas)Boeing 747-438 Longreach VH-OJA, City of Canberra, at Sydney, Australia, August 1989. The motto, WE GO FURTHER has been painted on the fuselage in recognition of the new airliner’s distance record. (John McHarg)
VH-OJA was the first of four Boeing 747-400 airliners ordered by Qantas more than two years earlier. The company named these “Longreach” both to emphasize their very long range capabilities, but also as a commemoration of the first scheduled passenger flight of the Queensland and Northern Territories Aerial Services Ltd. at Longreach, Queensland, 2 November 1922. Qantas named the new airliner City of Canberra. The new 747, the twelfth -400 built, with U.S. registration N6064P, it made its first flight at Seattle with Boeing’s test pilots on 3 July 1989. It was turned over to Qantas on 9 August.
Planning for the record setting flight began almost as soon as the airplane had been ordered. Although the airplane was complete and ready to enter passenger service on arrival at Sydney, certain special arrangements were made. Shell Germany refined 60,000 gallons (227,000 liters) of a special high-density jet fuel and delivered it to Heathrow. Rolls-Royce, manufacturer of the RB211-524G high-bypass turbofan engines, had agreed to specially select four engines to be installed on VH-OJA at the Boeing plant at Everett, Washington.
On the morning of the flight, City of Canberra was towed to the Hold Short position for Runway 28 Right (28R) so as not to use any of the precious fuel while taxiing from the terminal. Once there, its fuel tanks were filled to overflow. The airport fire department stood by as the excess fuel ran out of the tank vents. In the passenger cabin were two Flight Service Directors, FSD David Cohen and FSD Mal Callender, and eighteen passengers including senior executives from Qantas, Boeing, Shell as well as representatives of the Australian news media. The flight crew planned the engine start to allow for the mandatory three-minute warm-up and at approximately 0840 local, called the Tower, using the call sign Qantas 7441, and said that they were ready for takeoff.
A Qantas Boeing 747-438 Longreach, VH-OJU, Lord Howe Island, leaves contrails across the sky. (Unattributed)
After climbing to altitude they began the cruise portion of the flight at Flight Level 330 (33,000 feet or 10,058 meters). As fuel was burned off the airliner gradually climbed higher for more efficiency, eventually reaching a maximum altitude of 45,100 feet (13,746.5 meters) by the time they had reached the west coast of Australia.
QF7441 touched down at Sydney Airport at 2:19 p.m, local time (0419 UTC).
City of Canberra, Qantas’ first Boeing 747-400-series airliner, registered VH-OJA, touches down at Sydney Airport, 2:19 p.m., local, 17 August 1989. (Qantas Heritage Collection)
For a more detailed description of this flight and its planning, see John McHarg’s article, “The Delivery Flight of Qantas Boeing 747-438 VH-OJA” at:
City of Canberra, VH-OJA, remained in Qantas service until 8 March 2015. The airliner was withdrawn from service and donated to the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society Museum at Illawara Regional Airport (YWOL), New South Wales. Its distance record stood until 10 November 1995 when another Boeing airliner, a 777-200LR with Captain Suzanna Darcy-Henneman in command, set a new distance record.
Qantas’ Boeing 747-438 Longreach VH-OJA, City of Canberra, on takeoff from Sydney, 1999. (Aero Icarus)
The Boeing 747-400 airliner can carry between 416 and 660 passengers, depending on configuration. It is 231 feet, 10 inches (70.6 meters) long with a wingspan of 211 feet, 5 inches (64.4 meters) and overall height of 63 feet, 8 inches (19.4 meters). Empty weight is 394,100 pounds (178,800 kilograms). Maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) is 875,000 pounds (396,890 kilograms). While the prototype was powered by four Pratt and Whitney PW4056 turbofan engines, production airplanes could be ordered with PW4062, General Electric CF6 or Rolls-Royce RB211 engines, providing thrust ranging from 59,500 to 63,300 pounds. The –400 has a cruise speed of 0.85 Mach (567 miles per hour, 912 kilometers per hour) and maximum speed of 0.92 Mach (614 miles per hour, 988 kilometers hour). Maximum range at maximum payload weight is 7,260 nautical miles (13,450 kilometers).
Quantas’ Boeing 747-400 VH-OJA, City of Canberra, final landing at Illawarra Regional Airport, New South Wales, Australia, 15 March 2015. (YSSYguy/Wikipedia)
¹ FAI Record File Number 2201: Distance, 17 039.00 km
² FAI Record File Number 2202: Speed over a recognised course, 845.58 km/h
Thor-Able 127 being prepared for launch at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. (U.S. Air Force)
17 August 1958: In what was the first attempt to launch a spacecraft beyond Earth orbit, Thor-Able 1 (Missile Number 127) was to place a small instrumented satellite in orbit around the Moon. Called Pioneer,¹ the satellite carried a television camera, a micrometeorite detector and a magnetometer.
The mission was carried out by the U.S. Air Force Ballistic Missile Division and the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA).
The Thor-Able lifted off from Launch Complex 17A at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, at 12:28:00 UTC, 4 minutes behind schedule.
73.6 seconds into the flight, at an altitude of 9.9 miles (16 kilometers), the first stage of the rocket exploded. Telemetry from the upper stages continued and was tracked until impact in the Atlantic Ocean.
An investigation found the cause of the explosion to be a turbopump failure. It was determined that a bearing in the pump’s gearbox seized, halting the flow of liquid oxygen.
The Thor Able was a two-stage orbital launch vehicle which was developed from the Douglas Aircraft Company’s SM-75 Thor intermediate-range ballistic missile.
Designated Thor DM-19, the first stage was 60.43 feet (18.42 meters) long and 8 feet (2.44 meters) in diameter. Fully fueled, the first stage had a gross weight of 108,770 pounds (49,337 kilograms). It was powered by a Rocketdyne LR-79-7 engine which burned liquid oxygen and RP-1 (a highly-refined kerosene rocket fuel) and produced 170,565 pounds of thrust (758.711 kilonewtons). This stage had a burn time of 2 minutes, 45 seconds.
The second stage was an Aerojet General Corporation-built Able, a second stage for the U.S. Navy’s Vanguard rocket. It was 21 feet, 6.6 inches (6.57 meters) long with a maximum diameter of 2 feet, 9 inches (0.84 meters), and had a gross weight of 5,000 pounds (2,268 kilograms). It used an Aerojet AJ10-101 rocket engine which burned a hypergolic mixture of nitric acid and UDMH. The second stage produced 7,711 pounds of thrust (34.300 kilonewtons) and burned for 1 minutes, 55 seconds.
Thor-Able second stage being prepared to mount to the Thor 127 first stage. (Drew ex Machina)
The Altair X248 third stage was developed by the Alleghany Ballistics Laboratory for the U.S. Navy’s Vanguard rocket. It was 4 feet, 11 inches (1.499 meters) long, 2 feet, 7 inches (0.787 meters) in diameter, and weighed 505 pounds (229 kilograms). It was powered by a solid fuel rocket engine producing 2,300 pounds (10.231 kilonewtons) of thrust. Its burn time was 38 seconds.
Thor-Able 127 lifts off from Launch Complex 17A, 17 August 1958. (NASA)
The first Pioneer space probe is today designated Pioneer 0. It was built by the Ramo-Wooldridge Corporation’s Space Technologies Laboratory (STL) in Redondo Beach, California.
The lunar probe was the fourth stage of the Thor-Able launch vehicle. It was 74 centimeters (2 feet, 5.13 inches) in diameter, 76 centimeters (2 feet, 5.9 inches) long, and weighed 38.1 kilograms (83.996 pounds). The probe’s external shell was constructed of metal and fiberglass. It carried 11.3 kilograms (24.9 pounds) of instruments designed to measure magnetic fields, radiation and micrometeorites. It also carried an infrared camera system intended to obtain close-up images of The Moon’s surface. Pioneer 0 was spin-stabilized, turning 108 r.p.m.
The probe was equipped with a Thiokol TX-8-6 solid rocket engine to decelerate it for entry into lunar orbit. The rocket engine was the main structural component of the probe. There were 8 vernier rockets to correct its trajectory.
Space Technologies Laboratory Pioneer lunar orbiter. (STL/Drew ex Machina)
The Thiokol TX-8 was produced at the U.S. Army’s Longhorn Army Ammunition Plant near Karnack, Texas. It was designed to power the GAR-1 Falcon radar-homing air-to-air guided missile (later designated AIM-4 Falcon). The rocket motor weighed 11 kilograms (24.3 pounds).
Arrangement of equipment within the Pioneer lunar orbiter. (Drew ex Machina)
