Photo: NASA

Captain Charles « Chuck » YEAGER broke the sound barrier with the help of his friend Jack RIDLEY on a 14th of October 1947 – He did it 71 years ago!

(U. S. Air Force illustration/Mike Carabajal)

Photo: NASA

Photo: U.S.Air Force Link

XLR-11 ROCKET POWERED AIRCRAFT

Birth of Manned Rocket Research Airplanes: 1946 to 1975

The first reliable, effective rocket engine that would provide boost for experimental research aircraft was produced by four members of the American Rocket Society (ARS) who combined forces to form Reaction Motors Incorporated (RMI) (Rockaway, New Jersey) for developing the Experimental Liquid Rocket (XLR-11) rocket motor. The XLR-11 engine had four separate rocket chambers. Each chamber provided 1500 lb of rated thrust and could be operated independently as a means of throttling thrust in quarters, up to 6000 pounds. The XLR-11 possessed remarkable longevity, powering an impressive fleet of rocket aircraft for more than a quarter of a century (1946 to 1975). This fleet of vehicles were the first rocket aircraft devoted solely to high performance experimental flight research. They were not constrained by military or commercial demands and ranged from being the first to break the sound barrier (XS-1), to the first to reach Mach 2.0 (D-558-II [fig. 5]), to the first to exceed the X-2 Mach 3.2 record (X-15 with two XLR-11 engines).

Figure 5. The D-558-II airplane on Rogers lakebed.

The X-1E – Early Development of Energy Management

Design efforts to extend aircraft performance produced increased wing loadings, W/S, and decreased lift-to-drag ratios, L/D. These design changes were beneficial in reducing drag to achieve supersonic and hypersonic speeds, but were also detrimental in that they reduced the area of the maneuvering footprint and presented difficulties in the approach and landing.

As L/D values decreased, the glide slope angle and the rate of descent increased, making it more difficult for pilots to estimate distances and times required for acceptable landings. The X-1E (fig. 6) was modified with a low-aspect-ratio wing having a thickness-to-chord ratio of four percent – the only aircraft of the X-1/D-558 series to have sufficiently low L/D values to require unique energy management techniques. This X-1E was the first to experiment with approach patterns designed to give
the pilot more time in the traffic pattern to manage energy.

The landing pattern was approached in a conventional manner except that altitudes and speeds were somewhat higher than for
powered aircraft. The initial reference point was established at 12,000 ft (mean sea level) on a downwind heading (180 deg remaining to turn). The downwind leg was offset some four miles from the centerline of the landing runway. On downwind, abeam the touchdown point, landing gear and partial flaps were deployed at a speed of 240 knots. Full flaps were usually deployed on the final approach. At the initial reference point the pilot had almost three minutes until touchdown – additional time for handling increased speeds and sink rates.7,8

Figure 6. The X-1E airplane on Rogers lakebed.

Report from www.archives.gov

(Text from the NASA at: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/home/index.html)

The post Charles « Chuck » YEAGER – 71 years ago ! appeared first on AVIATION ENGLISH.

Son talent et son courage lui ont ensuite permis de se retrouver parmi les meilleurs pilotes de chasse au monde, cités dans la presse internationale. D’après le journaliste Jacques Mortane, l’avion de Maxime Lenoir était connu comme le loup blanc. Toujours derrière les lignes ennemies, son biplan rentrant souvent criblé de balles, le destin de l’as de Verdun s’est arrêté là, à quelques kilomètres au nord du fort de Douaumont, au lendemain de la reprise du bastion par les poilus. Douaumont reconquis, le général von Falkenhayn savait que la suite de la guerre serait très dure pour les Allemands.
Si on se souvient des fantassins qui ont tout donné dans les tranchées pour tenir leurs positions à Verdun, on oublie trop souvent que la bataille de Verdun s’est jouée dans les airs et que les pilotes de chasse n’étaient pas nombreux pour affronter les terribles Fokkers des Allemands en février 1916. Lorsque le général Pétain devant ses lignes exsangues, demande au commandant Charles de Tricornot de Rose « De Rose, je suis aveugle ! Balayez-moi le ciel ! Sinon, c’est simple, Verdun sera perdue. » Et si Verdun avait été perdue, la France aurait probablement perdu la guerre. Lenoir à l’escadrille N23 et son ami Navarre à la N67 voisine seront les fers de lance sur leurs nouveaux Nieuport et SPAD. Leurs efforts seront renforcés d’escadrilles dotées du Farman F.40 qui anéantiront à la fois les ballons Drachen lourdement défendus et mettront à la peine les Fokkers. Le bras de fer gagné dans le ciel de Verdun, l’artillerie française reprendra l’avantage pour anéantir les espoirs de von Falkenhayn. Navarre blessé, Lenoir va devenir l’as comptant le plus de victoires sur Verdun, il sera le premier à abattre un Drachen officiellement, le premier à abattre un bombardier Gotha avant même Guynemer. Il va enfin devenir le premier double-as mort au combat, le troisième as français abattu après Pégoud et de Rochefort.
En cette journée du souvenir, des enfants de l’école de Chargé chantent la Marseillaise devant le monument au mort. Jamais le village n’a connu une telle affluence pour le 11 novembre. Il faut dire que la commune a tout prévu pour cette journée dédiée aux poilus, qui est aussi le centenaire de la mort de Maxime Lenoir. Après la mise en place, le maire accueille la députée Claude Greff, le secrétaire général de la préfecture d’Indre-et-Loire Jacques Lucbereilh, le conseiller départemental Rémi Leveau, et l’inspecteur de l’éducation nationale Patrick Seweryn. L’armée de l’air est venue en nombre, les associations d’anciens combattants et retraités militaires de l’armée de l’air aussi pour rendre hommage aux morts pour la France et plus particulièrement à l’as de Verdun. Sans le président de l’Armil 37, Michel Camus, qui tenait à participer à l’événement, il n’y aurait pas eu de porte-drapeau. C’est Charles Bonté qui a répondu à l’appel ce jour-là pour honorer les morts au combat. Le village leur doit une fière chandelle.
La veille, un Blériot XI fut courageusement acheminé depuis la Haute-Vienne par Jean-Yves Valor et l’association Les Ailes Limousines dans la salle des fêtes. Après la cérémonie devant le monument de la Première Guerre mondiale, le maire et les officiels font des discours très appréciés qui rappellent le sens de cette manifestation devant la famille Lenoir, Abel Anjorand (l’historien local), Philippe Girard (dont la famille jadis accueillit l’acrobate du ciel dans leur ferme de la Girardière), et Didier Lecoq, sans lesquels rien ne serait jamais arrivé. Et notamment cette inauguration qui était impensable il y a seulement trois ans. C’est aussi grâce au groupe de travail mis en place avec les adjoints au maire Marie-Claude Métivier, Gérald Letourmy et bien d’autres villageois. Le maire et deux élèves dévoilent une superbe plaque à l’entrée de l’école du bourg avec la silhouette du pionnier de l’aviation qui fut jadis un écolier dans cet établissement. La aussi, la boucle est bouclée. Le maire vient de rappeler dans son discours que Maxime Lenoir avait été vigneron avant d’être pilote et que déjà il préférait les loopings aux tonneaux. Soudain, comme un miracle, trois Alphajets de l’École de l’Aviation de Chasse de la base aérienne 705 défilent au-dessus de l’école et la mairie, puis font un second passage de nouveau sous les applaudissements le long de la Loire. Comme pour rappeler que Maxime Lenoir fut porté en triomphe devant la mairie après avoir produit ses merveilleux loopings sur Blériot XI à la mi-mai 1914.
Une très intéressante exposition couvre une grande partie de la salle sur le Farman F.40, jadis très engagé dans la reconquête aérienne à Verdun. Les entreprises Farman, Corvaisier et Galilé, implantées à Joué-les-Tours apportent ainsi leur soutien. De même l’association Ailex et Classique Aéro d’Orbigny exposent un moteur Le Rhône 7A et plusieurs pièces de Blériot. La salle polyvalente a un air de petit musée du Bourget avec ces reliques d’une aviation d’un autre âge. Rien d’étonnant à cela car le Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace du Bourget a apporté son concours grâce à quelques photos ô combien précieuses car elle permettent de deviner l’importance de l’aviation dans la victoire à Verdun. L’après-midi est consacré aux expositions dont celle de la classe de Virginie Charbonnier, enseignante à Chargé, remarquablement enrichie par les uniformes, armes et ustensiles d’époque pour revivre l’atmosphère des tranchées et la conquête de l’air vécue par le pionnier local de l’aviation. Dans la collection de Claude Peyon, un témoignage poignant est exposé : un livret taché du sang de son grand-père alors sur le front, remis à sa grand-mère pour lui signifier son décès. Parmi toutes ces pièces de collection, on ne peut pas manquer la superbe maquette du SPAD VII « Trompe la Mort III » réalisée par l’association Delta Reflex présidée par Jean-Pierre Bézard en soutien à la BA 705 dans cette commémoration. C’est avec un talent d’orfèvre que Claude Bodier a monté le haubanage du biplan qui est maintenant confié à la commune.
Puis vient le temps des conférences et débats. Didier Lecoq retrace la carrière de Maxime Lenoir. L’auditoire est bien servi car le conférencier n’est autre que le journaliste qui a le premier fait resurgir le héros de Chargé il y a plusieurs années. Enfin le lieutenant-colonel Romain Béthoux explique comment la guerre aérienne se faisait et comment elle a lieu de nos jours. Les spectateurs écoutent avec grand intérêt le témoignage de cet expert qui, avant de devenir le commandant de l’École de l’Aviation de Chasse, était tout de même le leader de la Patrouille de France. L’auditoire écoute subjugué lorsqu’il raconte comment des avions à réaction peuvent enchaîner des figures à seulement deux mètres de distance. Les questions pleuvent mais le brillant pilote a toujours la réponse.
Tout au long de la journée, les familles emmènent les plus petits à la cabine du Jaguar exposée par le CIRFA. Dans la salle Julia Daudet (expositions) un projet de livre sur l’histoire de l’aviation est présenté avec en seconde partie l’histoire de Maxime Lenoir. Il sera publié prochainement. Sa sortie sera annoncée à la page http://airforces.fr/pall/. Une brève présentation du BIA-CAEA est également faite pour ceux qui souhaitent s’initier aux joies de l’aéronautique. Avec le superbe chalet crêperie-buvette, ce 11 novembre à Chargé ressemble à un mini salon de l’histoire et de l’aviation. Même le soleil est de la partie. On n’a jamais vu un 11 novembre de la sorte et cela pourrait bien, pourquoi pas, donner des idées à d’autres communes. Encore faut-il avoir un pilote de cette étoffe dans sa ville pour réaliser un hommage de cette envergure. Il fut un des très rares pilotes à recevoir à la fois la grande médaille d’or de l’Aéro-Club de France et la médaille de guerre de l’Aero Club of America. L’enfant du pays est en quelque sorte revenu sur la terre de ses premiers exploits. Mais l’histoire ne se termine pas vraiment. Des recherches sont toujours menées pour tenter d’en savoir un peu plus. Et puis d’autres belles surprises pourraient venir du ciel dans les années à venir, mais nous en saurons plus bientôt…

Toni Giacoia

The post MAXIME LENOIR – L’AS DE VERDUN CÉLÉBRÉ appeared first on AVIATION ENGLISH.

Post in English – LE MÊME ARTICLE EN FRANÇAIS AU BAS DE CETTE PAGE:

December 22, 2014

Maxime LENOIR would have been 126 years old today.

He used to be one of the most renowned and talented pilots. He had been an aviation pioneer as he was among the very first pilots who performed the famous « looping the loop » aerobatic manoeuvre in the trail of Adolphe Pégoud between 1913 and 1914. He took part in a few air races, and a lot of air shows on his Blériot XI, nicknamed « Backjumper ». The local, national, and international press started to write articles about his prodigal sense of flying in the numerous airshows as the spectators cheered him every time he showed up. For instance, he was carried in triumph after he performed aerobatic manoeuvres above « La Girardière », the Girard family airfield in Chargé, his home village where up to 5,000 people were gathered to attend his air show in May 1914.

Lenoir was rising to fame when Archduke Franz-Ferdinand was murdered and as the « European war » broke out, he joined up shortly after. In spite of his exceptional flying skills, Maxime Lenoir was unfortunately compelled to join the French cavalry. He then kept on requesting an assignment in the brand new military aeronautics recently created by General Hirschauer, and became a fighter pilot. However, he was first posted to the target-shooting department at the C18 flight, then he was transferred to the N23 flight as a fighter pilot. He waged a devastating war over the trenches, and against the Prussian aviation in fierce air battles over Verdun. He tested new weapons, and airplanes. He became one of the first pilots to shoot down a balloon. After a few victories in 1915, he became the N23’s best fighter pilot in 1916 with 11 victories, and most decorated among prestigious names – Pinsard, Casale, Gilbert, de Beauchamp, Rochechouart de Mortemart, Brindejonc des Moulinais, Roland Garros, Pulpe (from Russia), Baumont, etc. He was the best ace in his flight, and even reached the top four French aces in 1916 as he remained in the top-two aces in the summer of that year.

According to German soldiers’ testimony, Lenoir was a very skillful and fearsome ace. They knew him well as they knew Navarre, Nungesser, Guynemer, Dorme, and Boelcke, of course. It is important to note that Mannock, Rickenbacker, Collishaw, Bishop, Löwenhardt, Little, Udet, McCudden, Fonck, Von Richthofen, Beauchamp-Proctor, and McLaren were not so famous at that time for some of them were not aces or did not have so many victories. Air war between 1914 and 1916 was totally different from 1917/1918. As Lenoir had trained at Blériot’s Buc airfield, the best aerobatic flying school, he was able to cope with a jammed machine gun and dodge the enemy fire. Like a toreador, and in a very skillful way, he could lure the enemy pilots when his fellow pilots were under heavy fire. He was the best bullet dodger but took a lot of risks, too much maybe. He flew back to Vadelaincourt airfield with his aircraft crippled with bullets many times. He never hesitated to help his fellow pilots whenever he could since he dared to face up to several German airplanes in a row. He was deemed to be a very good friend, as well as salvation in the sky of Verdun. For instance, when he learnt that his friend Navarre (nicknamed « Verdun’s sentinel ») had been shot down and seriously wounded on June 17th, 1916, he took off immediately. Alone, he made for the location where his friend had been downed, and dashed to an LVG C that he shot down without delay. He became so famous that either his name or his portrait featured on magazines, candy wrappers, and stamps, among the greatest aces in the hall of fame.

Maxime Lenoir had more than a hundred war missions, which was considerable at that time. Wounded twice in air combat, he kept on dogfighting. He took off the day after the take back of Fort Douaumont, wrecked havoc by the battle. He was flying his legendary SPAD VII tagged « Trompe la mort III » which meant « death-dodger » on October 25, 1916 when he was reported MIA until much later when he was declared « Dead for France ». However, he has never been found despite extensive searching.

Unfortunately, this is why aviation history forgot him for almost a century. One of the most brilliant pilots had disappeared from World War 1 history. He remained all the same in a few books in English, and Jacques Mortane, the French journalist left several publications highlighting the role of Maxime Lenoir in aviation and air combat. Then nothing, almost nothing written on this pilot who was awarded the Legion d’honneur, Médaille militaire, Croix de guerre with 8 palms, as well as the notorious Aeroclub of America, and Aeroclub of France gold medals!

Only two men kept his remembrance alive – first, Abel Anjorand who has always been a long-time friend of Lenoir’s family. He compiled a set of documents and pictures to leave a trace of the village’s ace to future generations. Didier Lecoq, a journalist and historian, has revealed Maxime Lenoir’s feats on his website aeroplanedetouraine.fr for a few years. The WW1 ace could have stayed hidden for possibly a couple more decades without Didier Lecoq’s outstanding work.

Last not least, there is good news since the national and regional officials have officially recognized Maxime Lenoir as the WW1 hero for Tours and Indre-et-Loire in the remembrance operation called « 100 cities, 100 heroes, and 100 flags » since last summer. A ceremony to pay tribute to the local hero was held in the capital of Touraine, Place Anatole France on the left bank of the Loire river on Friday, September 19th, 2014. The Lenoir’s family, their friends and some veterans attended the ceremony which ended in the majestic festival hall at the city hall.

Though he did not know, Senior Master Sergeant (Adjudant – OR-8) Maxime Lenoir was to be promoted to 2nd Lieutenant in 1917. His disappearance in history handbooks for almost a century remains a mystery. Moreover, avgeeks, online gamers as well as modelists used Lenoir’s features « Trompe la mort III », « Max », and « Backjumper » tagged from markings just along with Guynemer’s « Vieux Charles ». No wonder if Maxime Lenoir recovered his position in aviation history for at least two books featuring the former ace are to be published between 2015 and 2016 – and quite rightly so. Among the 100 WW1 heroes, Lenoir turns out to be the 5th ace in victories out of 21 aces, and the second « Dead for France » ace after… Guynemer!

Summary:

ACE OF ACES – VERDUN 1916

Didier Lecoq (a historian and a journalist who is the co-author of L’Aviation militaire en Indre-et-Loire) was the first who had pointed out Maxime Lenoir, the forgotten ace, this ‘“Guynemer of the Loire Valley”’ since 2010. Without him, Lenoir would still be a forgotten ace. Only a few other people had remembered Maxime Lenoir’s feats before – his family, and two friends of theirs, Abel Anjorand and Philippe Girard.

Maxime Lenoir, who had trained in Buc, had been performing « Looping the loop » on his « Backjumper » Blériot XI throughout France in airshows since February 7, 1914.
Lenoir scored 11 victories and was reported missing in action on October 25, 1916. Didier Lecoq found out in September 2014 that Lenoir was shot down:

https://aeroplanedetouraine.fr/

Then in November 2015, he was reported from a historian in Berlin that the Germans erected a printed cross on Lenoir’s tomb in his honour.

https://aeroplanedetouraine.fr/

For the record, Maxime Lenoir was as of October 25, 1916 :

Verdun ace of aces for 3 months from June till October 1916
Ace of aces among the Allies killed in action; until RFC Cpt Albert Ball’s death on May 6, 1917
1st French double ace killed in action
2nd double ace among the Allies killed in action
3rd in victories among all the pilots killed in action
3rd French ace killed in action after Pégoud and de Rochefort
5th double ace in the world killed in action
7th French pilot killed in action
14th ace in the world killed in action

He may have been the first pilot in the world who shot down a Drachen-type balloon on June 15, 1915 – to be confirmed as we are still searching. That operation was highly risky since those sausage-balloons were fiercely defended by ground-based air defenses. Reginald Warneford, a brave British pilot had downed a Zeppelin 8 days before. Shooting down a Zeppelin was a different business – an altitude challenge to make it short. On the one hand, Warneford became famous for this feat. He was awarded the prestigious Victoria Cross and the Légion d’Honneur. On the other hand, Lenoir’s Drachen victory was barely noticed. It was recognized several months later and few people figured out how fierce a battle it involved.

He would have been the first pilot in the world who shot down a heavy bomber Gotha on September 25, 1916. Only a handful of gallant pilots managed to shoot down such a flying fortress. Neither Fonck, nor the other allied aces downed a Gotha. Only Guynemer, helped by Chainat recorded a victory, a Gotha claimed on February 8, 1917. Nungesser, the redoubtable ace, shot down two Gothas. Maxime Lenoir suffered a lot from that air combat which left him a wound or a bruise to the edge of his left eye.

Among those killed in action, according to the number of victories, Lenoir was number 1 among the allied aces and the 3rd in the world. This is why his MIA spread around the world in the press.

The German ace Oswald Boelcke died three days later, on October 28, 1916 with 40 victories. The French recorded two major losses in 1917 :
René Dorme (23 victories) was KIA on May 25, 1917;
Georges Guynemer was KIA on September 11, 1917.

(as of January 31, 2016)

Step by step, as it is being confirmed, it turns out that Maxime Lenoir may have been the Ace of aces out of Verdun sky in 1916. At least between July and October 1916 while the French Poilus were through a glorious stage, regaining Fort Douaumont, then Fort Vaux. There is now a better understanding of that German prisoners claims about Lenoir’s attacks in interrogations. After checking, Lenoir was used to flying due north beyond Verdun, overhead Douaumont and beyond more often than Nungesser for instance. Perhaps it was why his SPAD VII was marked « TROMPE LA MORT III » – Death-dodger III – on his fuselage. This confirms Jacques Mortane’s articles which praised Lenoir as one of the best aces at that time.

Obviously, Maxime Lenoir also flew a Nieuport 17 in late 1916 equipped with an Éclair propeller from Marcel Dassault (Bloch at that time). The plane must have been very maneuverable at that time. It is the first time we have seen an Éclair propeller mounted on this type of aeroplane. The picture cannot be published at this time.

Last but not least, Maxime Lenoir, the 11-victory ace, was awarded the Legion d’honneur, Médaille militaire, Croix de guerre with 8 palms, as well as the notorious Aeroclub of America, and Aeroclub of France gold medals! He was the first ace with Guynemer and a few others to be awarded these awards!

Postscript: it is the second article this blog has tagged « Maxime Lenoir » as another post featuring his name had been posted here: http://airforces/2009/11/11/all-the-ww1-aces-of-the-french-air-force-23/

———–

En français:

Maxime LENOIR aurait eu 126 ans aujourd’hui.

Il fut autrefois un des plus connus et talentueux pilotes de sa génération. Il avait été pionnier de l’aviation alors qu’il faisait partie de ces quelques pilotes capable d’accomplir des boucles en voltige à la suite d’Adolphe Pégoud entre 1913 et 1914. Il s’engagea dans quelques courses d’avions et de nombreux meetings aériens sur son Blériot XI surnommé  »Backjumper ». La presse locale, nationale et internationale commença à publier des articles sur son sens prodigue du pilotage dans les nombreux meetings aériens étant donné que les spectateurs l’acclamaient à chaque fois qu’il se produisait. Par exemple, il fut porté en triomphe après avoir avoir accompli des figures acrobatiques au-dessus du terrain d’aviation de la famille Girard, « La Girardière » à Chargé son village natal en Indre-et-Loire où jusqu’à 5000 personnes s’étaient rassemblées pour assister à son show aérien en mai 1914.

Alors que la notoriété de Lenoir était croissante, l’archiduc François-Ferdinand fut assassiné et la  »Guerre européenne » éclata. Il s’engagea dans l’armée peu de temps après. Malgré ses compétences exceptionnelles en tant que pilote, Maxime Lenoir fut malheureusement contraint de rejoindre la cavalerie française. Il continua ensuite à demander une mutation vers l’Aéronautique militaire récemment créée par le général Hirschauer et devint pilote de chasse. Toutefois il fut d’abord affecté au réglage du tir à l’escadrille C18, puis il fut affecté à l’escadrille N23 comme pilote de chasse. Il mena une guerre terrible au dessus des tranchées et engagea des combats aériens acharnés contre l’aviation prussienne au dessus de Verdun. Il devint un des premiers pilotes à abattre un ballon. Après quelques victoires en 1915, il devint le meilleur pilote de chasse de la N23 en 1916 avec 11 victoires, ainsi que le plus décoré parmi des noms prestigieux : Pinsard, Casale, Gilbert, de Beauchamp, Rochechouart de Mortemart, Brindejonc des Moulinais, Roland Garros, Pulpe (venant de Russie), Baumont, etc.

D’après des témoignages de soldats allemand, Lenoir était un as très adroit et redoutable. Ils le connaissaient comme ils connaissaient Navarre, Nungesser, Guynemer, Dorme et bien sûr Boelcke. Il est important de rappeler que Mannock, Rickenbacker, Collishaw, Bishop, Löwenhardt, Little, Udet, McCudden, Fonck, Von Richthofen, Beauchamp-Proctor, and McLaren n’étaient pas aussi célèbres à ce moment là car certains d’entre eux n’étaient pas des as ou ne comptaient pas autant de victoires. La guerre aérienne entre 1914 et 1916 était totalement différente de celle menée entre 1917 et 1918. Comme Lenoir avait été formé au terrain d’aviation de Buc chez Blériot, la meilleure école d’acrobatie aérienne, il parvenait à échapper au feu ennemi lorsque sa mitrailleuse s’enrayait. Comme un toréador et de façon très habile, il savait comment leurrer les aéroplanes ennemis lorsque ses camarades pilotes subissaient un feu nourri. C’était le roi de l’esquive mais il prenait beaucoup de risques, trop peut-être. Il revint plusieurs fois au terrain de Vadelaincourt son avion criblé de balles. Il n’hésitait jamais à voler au secours de ses camarades pilotes à chaque fois qu’il le pouvait puisqu’il osait faire face à plusieurs appareils allemands d’affilée. Il avait la réputation d’être un très bon ami ainsi qu’un véritable salut dans le ciel de Verdun. Par exemple, lorsqu’il apprit que son ami Navarre (surnommé  »la sentinelle de Verdun ») avait été abattu et grièvement blessé le 17 juin 1916, il décolla immédiatement. Seul, il se rendit sur les lieux où son ami avait été abattu et fonça sur un LVG C qu’il descendit sans tarder. Il devint si célèbre que son nom ou son portrait figurait sur des magazines, des emballages de bonbons et des vignettes parmi les plus grands as au temple de la renommée.

Maxime Lenoir totalisait plus d’une centaine de missions de guerre, ce qui était considérable à cette époque. Blessé à deux reprises en combat aérien, il continua à livrer des combats aériens. Il décolla le lendemain de la reprise du fort de Douaumont ravagé par la bataille. Alors qu’il était en mission de guerre le 25 octobre 1916 lors de la reprise de Fort Douaumont sur son légendaire SPAD VII marqué du surnom  »Trompe la mort III » il fut porté absent ce soir là puis disparu et ce n’est que bien plus tard qu’il fut déclaré  »Mort pour la France ». On ne l’a cependant jamais retrouvé malgré de multiples recherches.

Malheureusement, voilà pourquoi l’histoire de l’aviation l’a oublié pendant presque un siècle. L’un des plus brillants pilotes avait disparu de l’histoire de la première guerre mondiale. Son souvenir subsistait tout de même dans quelques livres en anglais et Jacques Mortane, le journaliste français laissa plusieurs publications soulignant le rôle de Maxime Lenoir dans l’aviation et le combat aérien. Puis plus rien, on n’écrivit presque rien sur ce pilote qui fut décoré de la Légion d’honneur, de la Médaille militaire, la Croix de guerre, ainsi que lui furent attribué les prestigieuses médailles d’or de l’Aéroclub d’Amérique et de l’Aéroclub de France!

Trois hommes seulement, ont su conserver son souvenir intact. Abel Anjorand qui a toujours été un ami de longue date de la famille Lenoir. Il a compilé toute une série de documents et d’images pour laisser une trace de l’as du village à de futures générations. Philippe Girard se souvient des histoires de sa famille qui a reçu Maxime Lenoir et son Blériot XI dans leur ferme de la Girardière en mai 1914. Didier Lecoq, journaliste et historien révèle depuis quelques années les exploits de Maxime Lenoir sur son site aeroplanedetouraine.fr . L’as de la première guerre mondiale aurait pu rester caché pendant peut-être encore quelques décennies sans le magnifique travail de Didier Lecoq.

Il y a enfin une bonne nouvelle puisque depuis l’été dernier, les responsables nationaux et régionaux reconnaissent officiellement Maxime Lenoir comme le héros de la Grande guerre pour la ville de Tours et l’Indre-et-Loire dans l’opération de commémoration  »100 villes, 100 héros, 100 drapeaux ». Une cérémonie pour rendre hommage au héros local s’est déroulée dans la capitale de Touraine, place Anatole France sur la rive gauche de la Loire le vendredi 19 septembre 2014. La famille Lenoir, leurs amis et des anciens combattants ont assisté à la cérémonie qui s’acheva dans la majestueuse salle des fêtes de l’hôtel de ville.

Bien qu’il ne le sut pas, l’adjudant Maxime Lenoir devait être promu sous-lieutenant en 1917. Sa disparition des manuels d’histoire pendant presque un siècle demeure un mystère. Ce qui est encore plus étrange, c’est que des fans d’aviation, des joueurs en ligne ainsi que des modélistes ont utilisé des symboles de Lenoir comme  »Trompe la mort III »,  »Max » et  »Backjumper » tirés pour certains de décalcomanies accompagnant le  »Vieux Charles » de Guynemer. Ce n’est pas étonnant que Lenoir retrouve sa place dans l’histoire de l’aviation car au moins deux livres évoquant l’ancien as doivent paraître entre 2015 et 2016 et fort justement. Parmi les 100 héros de la Grande guerre, il s’avère que Lenoir est le 5ème as par le nombre de victoires sur un total de 21 aviateurs et il est dans cette liste le second as  »Mort pour la France » juste après… Guynemer !

En résumé:

L’AS DES AS DE VERDUN 1916

Didier Lecoq (historien et journaliste à La Nouvelle République, co-auteur de L’Aviation militaire en Indre-et-Loire) a le premier fait resurgir Maxime Lenoir, l’as oublié, ce ‘“Guynemer de Touraine”’ depuis au moins 2010. Sans lui, Lenoir serait toujours un as oublié. Avant lui, peu de gens se souvenaient des exploits de Maxime Lenoir: sa famille et deux de leurs amis: Abel Anjorand et Philippe Girard.

Maxime Lenoir, formé à Buc, exécutait à travers la France des représentations ‘“Looping the loop”’ sur Blériot XI depuis au moins le 7 février 1914.
Lenoir avait 11 victoires et fût porté disparu le 25/10/1916. En septembre 2014, Didier Lecoq découvre que Lenoir a été abattu :

https://aeroplanedetouraine.fr/

Puis en novembre 2015 il reçoit l’information d’un historien collectionneur berlinois selon laquelle Lenoir aurait aussi reçu l’honneur d’une croix gravée par les allemands :

https://aeroplanedetouraine.fr/

Pour mémoire, Maxime Lenoir était au 25 octobre 1916:

L’as des as de Verdun depuis 3 mois
As des as parmi les Alliés morts au combat, jusqu’au 6 mai 1917 (Albert Ball)
1er double as français mort au combat
2e double as parmi les Alliés morts au combat
3e as au monde en nombre de victoires parmi les pilotes morts au combat
3e as français mort au combat après Pégoud et de Rochefort
5e double-as au monde mort au combat
7e pilote français mort au combat
14e as au monde mort au combat

Il a peut-être été le premier pilote au monde à abattre un ballon de type Drachen en juin 1915. (à confirmer, cherchons toujours) Cette opération était hautement périlleuse tant ces ballons étaient bien défendus par des batteries sol-air. Reginald Warneford, un vaillant pilote britannique avait abattu un Zeppelin 8 jours plus tôt. Descendre un Zeppelin était une toute autre affaire – en très bref, il s’agissait de prendre l’ascendant en termes d’altitude. D’un côté de la Manche, Warneford devint célèbre pour cet exploit. Il a été décoré de la Victoria Cross et de la Légion d’Honneur pour cette première. De l’autre côté de la Manche, le Drachen abattu par Lenoir fût à peine mentionné. Il ne fut reconnu que bien plus tard (plusieurs mois) car peu de gens pouvaient s’imaginer quel âpre combat aérien cela impliquait.

Il aurait accompli l’exploit d’être le premier au monde à abattre un Gotha le 25 septembre 1916. A l’exception d’une poignée de pilotes valeureux, ni René Fonck, ni les autres as alliés ne seraient parvenus à abattre une telle forteresse volante. Seuls Guynemer, avec l’aide de Chainat aurait enregistré une victoire sur Gotha le 8 février 1917. Quant à Nungesser, le redoutable, il en aurait descendu deux. Maxime Lenoir a beaucoup souffert de ce combat qui lui a laissé une blessure sur le coin de l’oeil gauche.

Parmi les morts au combat, au nombre de victoires, il était n°1 du côté des alliés et le 3e as au monde, ce qui explique l’écho de sa disparition dans la presse internationale.

L’allemand Oswald Boelcke est mort au combat 3 jours plus tard, le 28 octobre 1916 avec tout de même 40 victoires. Côté français, deux pertes au moins aussi importantes en 1917 :
– Le français René Dorme (23 victoires) est mort au combat le 25 mai 1917
– Georges Guynemer est mort au combat le 11 septembre 1917.

Cela se confirme peu à peu, il apparaît que Maxime Lenoir était probablement l’As des as du ciel de Verdun en 1916. Du moins entre juillet et octobre 1916 dans une période victorieuse française (reconquête de Douaumont puis Vaux) On comprend mieux les témoignages des prisonniers allemands lors d’interrogatoires. Après vérifications, Lenoir allait toujours plus au nord de Verdun, au-dessus de Douaumont et au-delà, bien plus souvent que Nungesser par exemple. D’où peut-être une part de son surnom sur son fuselage « TROMPE LA MORT III ». Ceci confirme les articles de Jacques Mortane qui considérait Lenoir comme un des meilleurs as de l’époque.

Visiblement Maxime Lenoir volait aussi fin 1916 sur un Nieuport 17 modifié avec hélice Éclair de chez Marcel Dassault (Bloch à l’époque). L’appareil devait être extrêmement maniable pour l’époque. C’est la première fois que nous voyons une hélice Éclair sur ce type d’appareil. On ne peut pas publier la photo pour le moment.

Enfin et surtout, Maxime Lenoir, l’as aux 11 victoires, a été un des premiers à être décoré de la Legion d’honneur, la Médaille militaire, la Croix de guerre avec 8 palmes. Chose tout à fait exceptionnelle, on lui a aussi décerné les médailles d’or de l’ Aeroclub d’Amérique et de l’Aeroclub de France. Il a été le premier as avec entre autre Guynemer à recevoir de telles distinctions.

Post-scriptum: c’est la seconde fois que Maxime Lenoir figure dans un article de ce blog: http://airforces.fr/2009/11/11/all-the-ww1-aces-of-the-french-air-force-23/

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The French Air Force 2/33 « Savoie » Reconnaissance Squadron celebrated its centenary on June 22, 2012.

The centennial was presided over by General de Rousiers, a former 2/33 pilot in the 1980s, who is now the permanent Chairman of the European Union Military Committee (CEUMC).

This ceremony was held at BA 118 FAF Station in Mont de Marsan, in the southwest of France. It was more particularly dedicated to its oldest flight (escadrille in French) – SAL 6, which means Salmson aircraft, and 6 as the sixth flight created in the French Army Aviation.

This creation occurred in December 1912, but traces of its previous existence might be found as early as September 1912, and maybe earlier. I will keep you posted if necessary.

The centennial had begun earlier on Friday 22nd of June in the morning with the presentation of the Rhine Gull insignia to the new SAL 6 Flight members.

Some of the senior members invited – all veterans – could see that their traditions were kept up at a high level as the candidates had to go through various « ordeals » to deserve their brand new badges.

The SAL 6 flight’s emblem consists of a white bird, a Rhine gull clad with a blue circle as shown hereafter:

It is assumed that the origins of the SAL 6 flight emblem date back to 1920.

SAL 6 was disbanded for almost a year in Germany from April 10, 1919.

The flight was created anew in Germany into the 16th flight of the 33rd Aerial Observation Regiment (33eme RAO). That new flight would have kept the SAL 6, C 6, and D6 traditions since the calling SAL 6 remained along with 16th flight (16ème escadrille) for that decade. However, it would have had a new batch of pilots, mechanics, and aircraft.

Among those aircraft, there would have been a SAL 70 flight aircraft – a Salmson 2A2 – on which the SAL 70 emblem was painted. It was a white gull with a blue disk on its background.

There were many Rhine gulls flying around where SAL 6 stationed from 1920 until 1930 (Gossenheim; Krefeld; and Bochum), and blue was the color of reconnaissance.

As SAL 6 had to remain in the Rhineland area, and its main mission consisted in performing reconnaissance missions, that SAL 70 Salmson aircraft turned out to be a timely addition.

It was therefore decided to take the SAL 70 symbol to be slightly changed into a Rhine gull surrounded by a blue circle.

In the early years, the first SAL6 Flight marking would have looked like this one below, and it may have featured an Egyptian Eagle:

General Charles de Gaule, who was in exile in the United Kingdom, named Colonel Valin as Commander-in-Chief of the Free French Air Force (FAFL – Forces Aériennes Françaises Libres) during the Second World War.

The aviator made a decision of giving its squadrons a French region name for each of them in order to address a strong message to the Vichy regime which collaborated with Hitler, and the Axis powers.

As a consequence, the Reconnaissance Group GR 2/33 was named Savoie on the 3rd of November 1943, and it has kept this name so far.

This is why you can see the Savoy’s flag on various SAL 6 aircraft. ER 2/33 was stationed near Strasbourg between 1960 and 1994. This is why the Savoy’s red flag covered with the white Saint John’s Cross (Croix de St Jean) was painted on a huge concrete slab, on a patch of lawn, in the middle of the squadron area, close to the 2/33 photo hangar at Strasbourg-Entzheim FAF Station. This is why this flag has been billowing above the new squadron facilities since early 2012. This is also why an official twinning was organized between this squadron, and the General Council of Savoie.
As I started to look up through various sources on squadrons & flights history, it turned out that SAL 6 Rhine Gull Flight is a very old unit. Probably one of the oldest  in the world.

According to the chart here below, ER 02033 Savoie, and more particularly SAL 6 Rhine Gull would be the third oldest reconnaissance squadron or flight in the world as of late 2012:

It has been very difficult to sort out these units in such a ranking as historians are still working on the military aviation history. It is hard to consider whether the administrative or material creation is taken into acount in some cases. For some flights or squadrons, you can find the administrative creation date only but you still find traces of pilots and aircraft’s existence of these very flights and squadrons after and even BEFORE the administrative creation!

Some other dates correspond to the day when units became operational. Moreover, mistakes have been pointed out in some books and website sources. It has become – since the beginning of this chart – that such charts should be updated. Last but not least, the Russian military aviation organization doesn’t match the western patterns, and coould not be inserted in these charts. That is to say that these charts cannot be exactly right… Sorry!

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First of all, thank you so much for attending this aviation English class at « Festival des Langues » in Tours today, Saturday, November 24, 2012. Important information: FCL 1.028 and FCL 1.200 will be replaced by FCL .055 and FCL .055 D from April 9, 2013.

Here is the soundtrack we listened to this afternoon. You can download it, then listen directly to 10′ so as to get to the ATIS. Here are the keys (les solutions), see page 4 for the ATIS test, and at the bottom of page 21 for the keys.

Here is a document from the FAA (U.S. Federal Aviation Administration) website that could help you about aircraft vocabulary (click on the picture below):

FAA AIRCRAFT PARTSAs I have told you, for properly transmitting voice communications, you need read ICAO – DOC 4444 ATM (Air Traffic Management, updated March, 2010) which costs up to $295.00 here (click on the link below):

DOC 4444 (2016)

However, you can read a previous edition of DOC 4444 (14th Edition, updated on November 24, 2005 for instance) if you type « doc 4444 – air traffic management fourteenth edition » like here below (click on the picture):

It isn’t worth reading everything as just for radiotelephony purpose, just skip to chapter 12 – page 161 until page 196.

Two other documents are important for aviation voice communications, and air traffic control:

• ICAO Convention – Chapter 5 of Annex 10, Vol.II
• DOC 9432 – Manual of Radiotelephony

Thank you for your attention, and have a nice weekend 

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As you may have heard, the mythical Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird was a strategic reconnaissance aircraft able to fly at more than Mach 3 – Mach 3.3 ie around 3,500 km/h; or 1,900 kts; and at a maximum flight level of… FL 850 or 26 kilometers high!

The Blackbird indeed had a unique flight envelope with a particular doghouse plot (since she could not exceed 3.5 G), and an exceptionnal coffin corner limited by her CIT – Compressor Inlet Temperature of 427°C maximum.

This aircraft was also unique for her engines were two J58 ramjets fuelled by JP-7 especially refined for extreme flying purpose. This special fuel could drip and leak abundantly as the airframe made up of titanium was retracted while taxiing, and became airtight only when it got its operating shape while flying very fast and very high because of the air density, and surrounding pressure plus the heating caused by the air friction at such speeds. In short, the whole structure considerably expanded when airborne.

The irony – I heard it on the grapevine, or read it somewhere on the web – that titanium which turned into dark blue while flying (SR-71s probably deserved those unofficial other nicknames « Bluebird », or « Habu » viper) was « imported » from… USSR!

Pilots must have taken significant risks inherent in flying such an aircraft as mentioned in this previous post. These pilots used to fly over the USSR to take strategic reconnaissance photographs during the Cold war. They wore pressurized spacesuits so that their blood could not boil in case of decompression or ejection at such altitudes.

The Blackbird travelled faster than a rifle bullet, and the air friction could have melt aluminum-skinned aircraft. At Mach 3.2, fuel cycled behind the chine surface in order to cool the aircraft! The inner windshield temperature could reach 120°C even though a heavy-duty cooling system was on a full function. On landing, the outside temperature of the canopy could reach 300°C, and it must have been far beyond on the fuselage, and wing surfaces while flying at high speeds. The pilot could feel the heat behind his protective gloves!

Special thanks to Xavier Cotton for the Blackbird photos. Please, visit his website on http://www.passionpourlaviation.fr/

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Come read my newspaper about AVIATION
You are invited to discover my newspaper! I select and edit my favorite content daily, and Paper.li does the rest. It’s a great way to treat yourself to fresh news…

Published by Recce233Savoie

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According to a consultation with the customers, 96% of them want more environmentally sustainable aeroplanes. The aircraft of the future will have to be fully recyclable, more sustainable ie eco-efficient, and less stressful:

Now, the leading aircraft manufacturer is using the feedback to paint its vision of sustainable aviation in 2050.

Airbus had unveiled a revolutionary concept cabin through images of a transparent airliner design, last year.

There is a need among the passengers to reduce the time spent in airports. The new Airbus concept cabin will integrate an additional door for faster boarding, and exit. This airliner of the future will reduce its noise, and carbon emmissions. It will use the latest technologies – bionic structure, blended airframe, enhanced laminar flow and noise reduction; blended U-tail, biomorphing seats able to collect the passenger’s body energy, cutting-edge relaxation systems, human body thermal recycling, dramatic panoramic view, World Wide Web access, round of golf, etc. Watch the video:

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On the one hand, the French Dassault Rafale is deemed ahead thanks to its performance, the Swiss NAC tests, and thanks to a transfer of technology pledge. Moreover, the Rafale (carrier-capable) has won the Indian MMRCA tender among strong contenders – F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, MiG-35 Fulcrum F, Eurofighter/Typhoon, F-16IN Super Viper, JAS 39 NG Gripen. On the other hand, the U.S. Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet would be cheaper but the transfer of technology still depends on another aircraft sale.

Remember about fighter aircraft performance… 3 years ago!

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1. Lukla airport, or Tenzing-Hillary Airport (IATA: LUA, ICAO: VNLK) in Nepal. Located at 2,860 meters above sea level. Its 460-meter long runway has a slope at a 12 percent incline, facing a steep, sloping Himalayan valley is probably the most dangerous airfields in the world. A few photos of Lukla, and videos were posted on the blog « PASSION POUR L’AVIATION » about three, and two years ago ===> Lukla au Népal : 2860m d’altitude & a Dornier Do 228 landing at Lukla airport: Lukla au Népal : atterrissage long d’un Do228 de Sita Air
2. Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport (IATA: SAB, ICAO: TNCS) on the island of Saba, in the Netherlands Antilles is located on a small plateau above the Caribbean Sea. Its runway is very short – 400 meters long.
3. Saint Barths airport (link to AIP approach map) or Gustaf III Airport (IATA: SBH, ICAO: TFFJ) is located on the Caribbean island of Saint Barthélemy, France.
4. Toncontin International Airport (IATA: TGU, ICAO: MHTG) or Teniente Coronel Hernan Acosta Mejia Airport – at one thousand metres altitude – is located in a hollow on the outskirts of Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Its 2,021-meter long runway – even though it was extended in 2009 as it was 1,863 metres long only – is one of the shortest ones among the international airports. A very dangerous hillside at the end of the runway was removed in 2009 too. This airport was ranked second in this top 10 before.
5. Courchevel Airport or Altiport (IATA: CVF – ICAO: LFLJ) is an airfield that serves Courchevel, a ski resort in the French Alps. Its 525-metre long runway has a slope at an 18.5 percent incline. There is no ILS, and no go-around procedure. Courchevel is a difficult approach as ski runs are in the vicinity of its upslope runway. Moreover, the airport’s elevation is at 2,008 metres (6,588 ft).
6. Gibraltar International Airport or North Front Airport (IATA: GIB, ICAO: LXGB) is located in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar, and belongs to the UK Ministry of Defence though it is a civilian airport too. There are around 3,000 aircraft movements per year. The main road intersects the airport runway, and the road traffic is stopped whenever an airplane takes off, or lands.
7. Hong Kong Kai Tak International Airport (IATA: HKG, ICAO: VHHH) was an international airport until 1998. It was shut down, and then replaced by the new Hong Kong International Airport at Chek Lap Kok, 30 km to the west. There are mountains, and skyscrapers to the north of Kai Tak Airport, and its runway faces the ocean. Landing on this runway is particularly difficult.
8. Los Roques Airport, or Aeropuerto Los Roques, in Spanish (IATA: LRV, ICAO: SVRS). It is a domestic airport with a one-kilometre long runway on the El Gran Roque island, Venezuela.
9. Saint Maarten International Airport (IATA: SXM, ICAO: TNCM) (also known as Princess Juliana International Airport) is located on the Dutch part of the island of Saint Martin. Viral videos, and pictures are regularly posted on the Web as the runway threshold is only a few meters from the beach, and tourists can feel the turbulence, and even the blast of heavy aircraft when they land, or take off.
10. Madeira Airport (IATA: FNC, ICAO: LPMA), or Funchal Airport (as Funchal is the name of the nearest cathedral), is an international airport in Santa Catarina, Santa Cruz, Madeira, Portugal. Its two runways are a bit short, and surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, and mountains.

Watch the video:

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Excerpts of President Franklin Delano ROOSEVELT’s address on D-Day:

Transcript:

My fellow Americans,

Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far, and so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer.

Almighty God, our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity. Lead them straight, and true. Give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith.

They will need thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard for the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again, and we know that by thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.

They will be sore tried by night, and by day, without rest until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men’s souls will be shaken with the violences of war, for these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and goodwill among all thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home. With thy blessing, we shall prevail… Over the unholy forces of our enemy.

Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogances. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace – a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil. Thy will be done, Almighty God.

Amen

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Important information: FCL 1.028 and FCL 1.200 were replaced by FCL .055 and FCL .055 D from April 9, 2013.

Un grand merci à Monsieur Thierry HERMAS, professeur d’anglais et de radiotéléphonie aéronautique aux Ecoles d’Officiers de l’Armée de l’air (EOAA à Salon de Provence) qui a compilé des documents de la DGAC et ses conseils pour préparer le FCL 1.200 (anciennement appelée QRI pour « Qualification de Radiotéléphonie Internationale« ) et le FCL 1.028 qui est une qualification de pratique de l’anglais OACI (Organisation de l’Aviation Civile Internationale).

Il importe toutefois de surveiller les mises à jours et les dates d’inscription sur le site de la DGAC, derniers liens en date du 29 avril 2012, puis mis à jour le 17 février 2019:

FCL 1.200

FCL .055

Compétences linguistiques OACI

Merci aussi à Xavier Cotton (webmestre de PASSION pour l’AVIATION) pour cette magnifique photo prise au Salon du Bourget (Paris Airshow) en 2009.

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Panic onboard – That is what happened on a JetBlue aircraft last week. The captain dashed to the bathroom’s door which was locked, got jittery, then running along the aisle, he hollered out insane things such as « They’re going to take us down! ». The passengers wrestled the pilot down, tied him up with seat belts, and he was handed over to the police after landing.

An incident of this kind had already been reported two weeks before. An American Airlines flight attendant had been giving the safety instructions just before takeoff. She suddenly ranted about mechanical issues which were immediately refuted by the other cabin crew members. She kept speaking incoherently about Al-Qaeda, and the 9/11 attacks, about her fears of crashing, etc. A few people managed to wrestle her down, and the passengers were startled and scared as they could hear her blood-curdling screams when she was being handcuffed by the police.

According to these reports, these insane behaviors are believed to be air-rage cases but the flight attendant who got temporarily mad would be deemed bipolar by doctors, and her condition could explain her behavior. As far as the JetBlue pilot is concerned, his neighbors cannot understand as they would see him as a kind person.

Another scary situations occurred in flight this week on Monday April 2, 2012. 80-year-old Helen Collins landed the Cessna 414 twin-engine aircraft in which the pilot – her husband – died a few minutes before at the controls!

Thanks to the video/audio tape hereafter, we can imagine now what was going through her mind as it was the first time she had flown an aeroplane: (video with transcripts – click on the link below)

http://youtu.be/QxZKKDTRgyk

Outstanding Helen Collins hurt her back, and cracked a rib but she managed to bring the plane to a safe stop at Door County Cherryland Airport, near Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.

Last but not least, HATS OFF to Braden Blennerhassett, an Australian pilot who never panicked last Tuesday as a SNAKE popped out from the dashboard; slithered down his leg while he was landing! Read the SCRIPT and listen to the video link about this story below:

Here is how this brave pilot kept his cool on his aircraft (interview):

Another interesting video with the air traffic controller about the emergency message she received:

These recent stories – not to mention the latest crash of an F/A-18D Hornet from Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia, on Friday in which the pilots managed to bail out safely before the fighter aircraft crashed into an apartment building fortunately left with no death toll – remind us of this well-worn saying: Flying is simply hours of boredom punctuated by moments of stark terror.

Special thanks to Xavier Cotton – Passion pour l’aviation‘s webmaster – for his help and support, and for passing these video links on to me. Thank you very much indeed.

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Felix Baumgartner, an Austrian skydiver, performed a challenging test jump on Thursday March 15, 2012.

Felix Baumgartner has the right stuff. He is a well known BASE jumper. B.A.S.E. means Buildings; Aerials; Spans (jumps from bridges); and Earth (jumps from cliffs). He performed numerous stunts such as jumping from the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, World Financial Center T101 in Taipei, and the Millau viaduct.

Yesterday’s jump test is just a stage in his attempt to break a new free-fall record. He jumped above Roswell, New Mexico at an altitude of 71,581 feet ie 21.8 kilometers; 13.6 miles; or Flight Level 716. He should then carry out another jump test before leaping again from a capsule lifted by a helium balloon at around 120,000 ft ie 23 miles or 37 km this year, and could become the first man to break the sound barrier while free falling.

MEDICAL CHALLENGE

This is not a simple leap in the sky. People may not understand how dangerous skydiving at such heights is. The air density is so low that it cannot brake movements as drag becomes poorer up there.

Therefore, a position mistake can make the human body tumble violently or spin very fast. High rotation speeds involve high-G forces due to the centrifugal force, and may lead to G-LOC (G-force induced Loss Of Consciousness), and even to the rupture of blood vessels.

Moreover, if a spacesuit were to leak (due to a dormant seal failure or a cracked/crazed faceplate, for instance), the blood could be boiling (ebullism at 37°C above 63,000 ft or 19 km) because of the very low air pressure, and the body could be swelling, and actually freezing to death as the external temperature can reach down to -70°C, and even lower, not to mention the risk of pulmonary barotrauma.

The current record is held by Joseph Kittinger (a former USAF pilot who is curently advising Felix Baumgartner on his project) who jumped from 102,800 feet in 1960. He temporarily lost the use of his hand which got twice as big as a glove seal was leaking during the final part of the ascent. With this test jump, Felix Baumgartner already belongs to the highest three skydivers along with Joe Kittinger, and Russian Eugene Andreev who performed the longest parachute jump from 83,523 feet (25.5 km).

The following video shows that this feat is not only a matter of pushing limits as researchers are working on this Red Bull Stratos project to prepare flight safety of the future spacecraft:

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The British Harriers were to be replaced by the F-35Cs. Do you remember? You may have learnt from the recent news that the carrier variant of the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Joint Strike Fighter – CV JSF (Carrier Vessel variant’s Joint Strike Fighter) – F-35C was unable to catch the wire onboard the aircraft carrier during the latest landing tests.

Strange as it may seem, the F-35C’s designers may have not forecast what would unfold during a test flight while landing on an aircraft carrier:

The arresting hook (tailhook) never engaged the arresting wire as the clearance between the tail hook and the main landing gear’s tyre tread is too short for such a speed. An F-35C Lightning II missing her carrier landing has been reported even though some U.S. officials would have dismissed such information which might result from simulated tests.

Added to that is a software bug which had grounded the CV JSF for 6 days a few month earlier for the fifth-generation fighter aircraft might have encountered wing-folding input while flying!

As a result, the British Ministry of Defence might find a Plan-B solution as these design flaws, and some others which date back to November 2011 are deemed unacceptable for such an expensive fighter aircraft – $139.5 million for the F-35C (CATOBAR – Catapult Assisted Take Off But Arrested Recovery), and $150 million for the F-35B (STOVL – Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing). The latter can land on carriers but she is more expensive, and the JSF program costs have already increased several times.

Moreover, the JSF would not be able to fire AMRAAM air-to-air missiles as reported in this video:

And there’s even more: according to a Pentagon study team report, 13 areas of concern that remained to be addressed in the F-35 would have been identified. For instance, the Helmet Mounted Display System (HMDS) would not work properly…

The British MoD is therefore considering the purchase of either F/A-18E Super Hornets or RAFALEs for the RAF. The French Dassault which has already lost the Swiss NAC tender due to replace the Swiss Air Force’s F-5s, would be proposing a new offer with 18 RAFALEs at a cost deemed lower than the 22 SAAB Gripens’ one according to the Swiss press.

The RAFALE is still in competition with the Eurofighter in the Indian MMRCA tender. the Indian officials are expected to make a decision this week. To be continued… ==> We have just learnt (on January 31, 2012) that the RAFALE has won the MMRCA tender…

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Scary flight onboard British Airways BA 0206 – It happened over the Atlantic Ocean at 35,000 feet on Friday January 13, 2012 at 03.00 AM.

The passengers were given the scare of their lives by an emergency message which said that the aircraft was about to crash into the ocean, and that they have to brace themselves for impact. It just was not true, as the message was pre-taped, and was sent-out by mistake. The flight attendants dashed into the cabin to calm down the panic surging. Then, an announcement added that such warnings – if re-iterated – should be diregarded.

British Airways has apologized to the people who were onboard BA 0206 for this incident. Watch the video:

The post PASSENGERS DID BELIEVE THEIR AIRCRAFT WOULD CRASH appeared first on AVIATION ENGLISH.

To whom it may concern, a short vocabulary review could be useful in case of (let’s hope you won’t deal with it) either natural disasters or a nuclear powerplant accident.

For instance:

• « Fallout » is used in the headline above, and it means « consequences » but it also means « fallout » like in « radioactive/radiological fallout » (retombees radioactives/radiologiques)
• NRBC (Nuclear, Radiological, Biological, and Chemical) or CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear)
• Meltdown scenario = scenario de fusion du coeur du reacteur
• Plume of smoke = Panache de fumee
• Tidal wave, tsunami = Tsunami
• Earthquake, quake = Tremblement de terre
• Tremor = Secousse, replique
• Shake, shaking = Secousse
• Mud slide (prononcez [meud slaïd])/Land slide = Coulee de boue/Glissement de terrain
• Flood/Flooding (prononcez [fleud] ou [fleuding]) = innondation
• Fire/Arson = Incendie/Incendie criminel

…and so on. Watch, and listen carefully to this PBS News-Hour video:

The post FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR ACCIDENT FALLOUT appeared first on AVIATION ENGLISH.

11/30/2011 – The news broke today : The Swiss Air Force is to acquire 22 Sweedish SAAB GRIPEN fighter aircraft. The Swiss government had warned that they were compelled to squeeze their budget for this $3.36 billion bid as they could not afford to purchase the 33 fighter aircraft planned for the replacement of their F-5 Tiger fleet.

In spite of its outstanding performance during the tests as well as over the battlefields in Afghanistan, and in Libya, the Dassault Rafale was not chosen. Moreover, like the EADS Eurofighter/Typhoon, it was deemed too expensive for Switzerland could not buy as many aircraft within the budget allocated.

The Gripen is a good option for Switzerland since it is the cheapest one. The version to be delivered – JAS 39E/F or Gripen Demo/NG – is believed to be an excellent one – IRST (InfraRed Search and Track); ES-05 Raven AESA (Active Electronically Scanned Array) radar & SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar); Electronic Warfare (EW) systems; Helmet Mounted Sight and Display (HMSD)…

However, this new-generation Gripen NG is a single engine fighter aircraft. It was tactically outperformed by its opponents, and last but not least, it has not yet been produced. As a matter of fact, the Swiss should be involved in the R&D works.

The post SAAB GRIPEN wins tender in Switzerland appeared first on AVIATION ENGLISH.

According to the comments of His Highness General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, the French Dassault RAFALE multirole fighter aircraft might be rejected as he was paying a visit to the 12th Dubai International Airshow.

About the Rafale deal, he said that Dassault seemed unaware that all the diplomatic and political will in the world could not overcome uncompetitive and unworkable commercial terms.

Dassault was deemed to race ahead in this $10-billion sale to the United Arab Emirates. The contest has taken a dramatic turn as EADS Eurofighter/Typhoon seems to receive a decisive momentum, and the Boeing F-15 and F-18 programmes would be back on track in this competition.

The Rafale performances in Libya were thought to have outclassed the other allied fighter aircraft, and it clearly headed above the competition indeed. However, some commercial negotiations would have failed. To be continued…

Photo courtesy: © Xavier Cotton http://passiondesavions.blogspot.com/

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