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Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center: south hangar panorama, including Grumman G-22 “Gulfhawk II”, Boeing 367-80 (707) Jet Transport, Air France Concorde amongst other folks
Image by Chris Devers
Quoting Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum | Grumman G-22 "Gulfhawk II":
A single of the most exciting aerobatic aircraft of the 1930s and ’40s, the Grumman Gulfhawk II was constructed for retired naval aviator and air show pilot Al Williams. As head of the Gulf Oil Company’s aviation department, Williams flew in military and civilian air shows around the nation, performing precision aerobatics and dive-bombing maneuvers to market military aviation throughout the interwar years.
The sturdy civilian biplane, with its robust aluminum monocoque fuselage and Wright Cyclone engine, practically matched the Grumman F3F regular Navy fighter, which was operational at the time. It took its orange paint scheme from Williams’ Curtiss 1A Gulfhawk, also in the Smithsonian’s collection. Williams personally piloted the Gulfhawk II on its last flight in 1948 to Washington’s National Airport.
Present of Gulf Oil Corporation
Manufacturer:
Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation
Date:
1936
Nation of Origin:
United States of America
Dimensions:
Wingspan: 8.7 m (28 ft 7 in)
Length: 7 m (23 ft)
Height: three.1 m (10 ft)
Weight, aerobatic: 1,625 kg (3,583 lb)
Weight, gross: 1,903 kg (4,195 lb)
Leading speed: 467 km/h (290 mph)
Engine: Wright Cyclone R-1820-G1, 1,000 hp
Supplies:
Fuselage: steel tube with aluminum alloy
Wings: aluminum spars and ribs with fabric cover
Physical Description:
NR1050. Aerobatic biplane flown by Significant Alford "Al" Williams as demonstration aircraft for Gulf Oil Business. Related to Grumman F3F single-seat fighter aircraft flown by the U.S. Navy. Wright Cyclone R-1820-G1 engine, 1000 hp.
• • • • •
Quoting Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum | Boeing 367-80 Jet Transport:
On July 15, 1954, a graceful, swept-winged aircraft, bedecked in brown and yellow paint and powered by four revolutionary new engines first took to the sky above Seattle. Constructed by the Boeing Aircraft Firm, the 367-80, far better known as the Dash 80, would come to revolutionize industrial air transportation when its created version entered service as the well-known Boeing 707, America’s first jet airliner.
In the early 1950s, Boeing had begun to study the possibility of creating a jet-powered military transport and tanker to complement the new generation of Boeing jet bombers getting into service with the U.S. Air Force. When the Air Force showed no interest, Boeing invested million of its personal capital to develop a prototype jet transport in a daring gamble that the airlines and the Air Force would acquire it as soon as the aircraft had flown and verified itself. As Boeing had done with the B-17, it risked the organization on 1 roll of the dice and won.
Boeing engineers had initially based the jet transport on studies of improved styles of the Model 367, better identified to the public as the C-97 piston-engined transport and aerial tanker. By the time Boeing progressed to the 80th iteration, the design and style bore no resemblance to the C-97 but, for security motives, Boeing decided to let the jet project be recognized as the 367-80.
Work proceeded speedily after the formal commence of the project on May 20, 1952. The 367-80 mated a huge cabin based on the dimensions of the C-97 with the 35-degree swept-wing design and style based on the wings of the B-47 and B-52 but considerably stiffer and incorporating a pronounced dihedral. The wings were mounted low on the fuselage and incorporated high-speed and low-speed ailerons as properly as a sophisticated flap and spoiler system. 4 Pratt & Whitney JT3 turbojet engines, each producing 10,000 pounds of thrust, had been mounted on struts beneath the wings.
Upon the Dash 80’s first flight on July 15, 1954, (the 34th anniversary of the founding of the Boeing Company) Boeing clearly had a winner. Flying one hundred miles per hour more quickly than the de Havilland Comet and significantly bigger, the new Boeing had a maximum variety of much more than 3,500 miles. As hoped, the Air Force bought 29 examples of the style as a tanker/transport soon after they convinced Boeing to widen the design and style by 12 inches. Satisfied, the Air Force designated it the KC-135A. A total of 732 KC-135s had been constructed.
Speedily Boeing turned its attention to promoting the airline industry on this new jet transport. Clearly the industry was impressed with the capabilities of the prototype 707 but in no way more so than at the Gold Cup hydroplane races held on Lake Washington in Seattle, in August 1955. For the duration of the festivities surrounding this occasion, Boeing had gathered several airline representatives to get pleasure from the competitors and witness a fly previous of the new Dash 80. To the audience’s intense delight and Boeing’s profound shock, test pilot Alvin "Tex" Johnston barrel-rolled the Dash 80 over the lake in full view of thousands of astonished spectators. Johnston vividly displayed the superior strength and functionality of this new jet, readily convincing the airline industry to buy this new airliner.
In searching for a market place, Boeing located a prepared buyer in Pan American Airway’s president Juan Trippe. Trippe had been spending much of his time browsing for a suitable jet airliner to enable his pioneering firm to preserve its leadership in international air travel. Working with Boeing, Trippe overcame Boeing’s resistance to widening the Dash-80 design and style, now recognized as the 707, to seat six passengers in each seat row rather than 5. Trippe did so by putting an order with Boeing for 20 707s but also ordering 25 of Douglas’s competing DC-eight, which had yet to fly but could accommodate six-abreast seating. At Pan Am’s insistence, the 707 was produced 4 inches wider than the Dash 80 so that it could carry 160 passengers six-abreast. The wider fuselage developed for the 707 became the regular design for all of Boeing’s subsequent narrow-body airliners.
Despite the fact that the British de Havilland D.H. 106 Comet and the Soviet Tupolev Tu-104 entered service earlier, the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8 were larger, quicker, had greater range, and had been a lot more lucrative to fly. In October 1958 Pan American ushered the jet age into the United States when it opened international service with the Boeing 707 in October 1958. National Airlines inaugurated domestic jet service two months later making use of a 707-120 borrowed from Pan Am. American Airlines flew the very first domestic 707 jet service with its personal aircraft in January 1959. American set a new speed mark when it opened the very first frequently-scheduled transcontinental jet service in 1959. Subsequent nonstop flights amongst New York and San Francisco took only five hours – 3 hours less than by the piston-engine DC-7. The one-way fare, such as a surcharge for jet service, was 5.50, or 1 round trip. The flight was virtually 40 % more rapidly and nearly 25 % less expensive than flying by piston-engine airliners. The consequent surge of targeted traffic demand was substantial.
The 707 was initially designed for transcontinental or one-stop transatlantic range. But modified with extra fuel tanks and far more effective turbofan engines, the 707-300 Intercontinental series aircraft could fly nonstop across the Atlantic with complete payload under any conditions. Boeing constructed 855 707s, of which 725 had been purchased by airlines worldwide.
Obtaining launched the Boeing Company into the industrial jet age, the Dash 80 soldiered on as a very productive experimental aircraft. Until its retirement in 1972, the Dash 80 tested several advanced systems, many of which had been incorporated into later generations of jet transports. At one point, the Dash 80 carried three different engine types in its 4 nacelles. Serving as a test bed for the new 727, the Dash 80 was briefly equipped with a fifth engine mounted on the rear fuselage. Engineers also modified the wing in planform and contour to study the effects of diverse airfoil shapes. Numerous flap configurations have been also fitted like a hugely sophisticated method of "blown" flaps which redirected engine exhaust more than the flaps to boost lift at low speeds. Fin height and horizontal stabilizer width was later enhanced and at one particular point, a specific numerous wheel low pressure landing gear was fitted to test the feasibility of operating future heavy military transports from unprepared landing fields.
Soon after a long and distinguished career, the Boeing 367-80 was ultimately retired and donated to the Smithsonian in 1972. At present, the aircraft is installated at the National Air and Space Museum’s new facility at Washington Dulles International Airport.
Gift of the Boeing Business
Manufacturer:
Boeing Aircraft Co.
Date:
1954
Country of Origin:
United States of America
Dimensions:
Height 19′ two": Length 73′ 10": Wing Span 129′ eight": Weight 33,279 lbs.
Physical Description:
Prototype Boeing 707 yellow and brown.
• • • • •
Quoting Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum | Concorde, Fox Alpha, Air France:
The first supersonic airliner to enter service, the Concorde flew thousands of passengers across the Atlantic at twice the speed of sound for over 25 years. Made and constructed by Aérospatiale of France and the British Aviation Corporation, the graceful Concorde was a beautiful technological achievement that could not overcome critical economic problems.
In 1976 Air France and British Airways jointly inaugurated Concorde service to destinations around the globe. Carrying up to one hundred passengers in fantastic comfort, the Concorde catered to initial class passengers for whom speed was crucial. It could cross the Atlantic in fewer than 4 hours – half the time of a traditional jet airliner. Even so its high operating costs resulted in very higher fares that restricted the quantity of passengers who could afford to fly it. These problems and a shrinking industry at some point forced the reduction of service until all Concordes had been retired in 2003.
In 1989, Air France signed a letter of agreement to donate a Concorde to the National Air and Space Museum upon the aircraft’s retirement. On June 12, 2003, Air France honored that agreement, donating Concorde F-BVFA to the Museum upon the completion of its final flight. This aircraft was the 1st Air France Concorde to open service to Rio de Janeiro, Washington, D.C., and New York and had flown 17,824 hours.
Gift of Air France.
Manufacturer:
Societe Nationale Industrielle Aerospatiale
British Aircraft Corporation
Dimensions:
Wingspan: 25.56 m (83 ft ten in)
Length: 61.66 m (202 ft three in)
Height: 11.3 m (37 ft 1 in)
Weight, empty: 79,265 kg (174,750 lb)
Weight, gross: 181,435 kg (400,000 lb)
Top speed: two,179 km/h (1350 mph)
Engine: Four Rolls-Royce/SNECMA Olympus 593 Mk 602, 17,259 kg (38,050 lb) thrust every
Manufacturer: Société Nationale Industrielle Aérospatiale, Paris, France, and British Aircraft Corporation, London, United Kingdom
Physical Description:
Aircaft Serial Number: 205. Which includes four (4) engines, bearing respectively the serial number: CBE066, CBE062, CBE086 and CBE085.
Also included, aircraft plaque: "AIR FRANCE Lorsque viendra le jour d’exposer Concorde dans un musee, la Smithsonian Institution a dores et deja choisi, pour le Musee de l’Air et de l’Espace de Washington, un appariel portant le couleurs d’Air France."