Aviation Trivia Thread

[PaulThomas]

lol HUGE mistake on my part I indeed meant the atlantic. Sorry I was watching the Astros take it!!!!

Question 12:
Who designed and what was the plane called that made the first powered, heavier than air flight in Europe?

Definition of flight please.
Many got in the air for a few seconds, but couldn't do anything more. Then the ones who actually took off crashed because they didn't understand how to make an airplane turn.
I've know the name of the guy I consider first in flight in Europe, but I can't remember it now. I believe that flight happened in Long Champ (near Paris) after the designer got some info the the Wright's.

 

[PaulThomas]

Alberto Santos-Dumont? Bis- somethingorother?

Yes, I know he's a Brazilian (as some Brazilians have made sure I already know), but he did his flying in France, AFAIK.

I guess I should have read your answer before I posted mine.

The airplane was called 14 Bis.

It wasn't his first heavier than air design that lifted off the ground however, just the only that got high enough to claim the prize of 3000 francs (a lot of money back then) offered by ???

 

[ToiletDuck]

It was the first actual flight though. By definition, at least when they were determining if it was a flight or not, was that the aircraft had to be out of ground effect. While he and a few others flew a few times it is said that Alberto was the first to so. If you ask the French they might sing a different story because the first in flight got to pick the language

Question 13:
Who is the most decorated pilot in American history and why?

(I actually just read a good deal about this man today while flying up to Columbus OH to visit my sister and brother-in-law. I was completely amazed with this man)

 

[414Flyer]

Michael Novosel? Vietnam dustoff missions, also flew B-24 in WW2. Could have retired from USAF, but
could not get into Vietnam, so joind US Army and learned to fly helicopters. Also managed to fly with his
son in Nam too

 

[crash-proof]

I guess I should have read your answer before I posted mine.

The airplane was called 14 Bis.

It wasn't his first heavier than air design that lifted off the ground however, just the only that got high enough to claim the prize of 3000 francs (a lot of money back then) offered by ???

Ask ANY Brazilian who pioneered the first flight ever and their eye's will light up..."well of course, Santos Dumont!"

Wright, who? The argument goes that Wright had the aid of a catapult while the 14bis got off the ground on wheels, under own power. Technicality, but I guess you can't say they're wrong!

Sorry for breaking your sequence there, toiletduck, but I figure if we're talking about history...excellent thread, by the way!

 

[paulsalem]

Eddie Rickenbacker?

Just a guess based on the columbus, ohio visit.

 

[ToiletDuck]

Who is the most decorated pilot in American history and why?

Hint #1:He led the group of pilots to bomb Tokyo after Japan hit Pearl Harbor.

 

[TonyC]

Everybody knows that's Jimmy Doolitle.




.

 

[414Flyer]

Alec Baldwin?



I mean Jimmy Doolittle

 

[ToiletDuck]

That's right! Jimmy Dolittle. I tell you guys take some time to read on what all this man did. I can't believe i went so long knowing so little about this man. I don't have the book on me because i'm in Ohio but I believe he received ever medal possible for a pilot to get up till 1989. I'll research that more though

Question 14:
What pilot currently holds the world speed record?

 

[Metro752]

Herman Goering the grand marshall of the german flying circus of losers!

 

[AGuyThatFlys]

Question 14:
What pilot currently holds the world speed record?

Clarification, please:

1. Closed course or point-to-point?
2. Single-engine or multi-engine?

 

[EagleRJ]

If you're talking about the absolute speed record for an air-breathing vehicle, I believe it's still held by the SR-71. I don't know the pilot's name. Somewhere north of 2000 MPH.

Daryll Greenmeyer (sp?) holds a few speed records in a modified F-104, but his runs were made at sea level over the Black Rock desert.

 

[Floyd R. Turbo]

Sea level over the Black Rock Desert? That would be quite a trick..... Got to be hard on the engines though.

I think you're right about the Sled though. I want to say the pilot's name is Vida, but I'm not that sure.

And if we expand the category a little bit, I think the X-15 guys still have some records too. Apt, Knight, Kinchloe, etc.

 

[EagleRJ]

Well, here are the official records as they still stand. As suspected, the Blackbird is still the Big Dog in absolute speed records! While true that the X-15 went a lot faster, it was also rocket powered and didn't take off under its own power. Faster yet is the Space Shuttle, which beats the X-15 by a factor of four during launch and re-entry.
I believe the record for absolute top speed with respect to the Earth's surface was set by one of the Apollo crews on their way out to the Moon.

I think Darryl Greenamyer's record for low-level speed still stands. His F-104 was assembled out of parts that the Air Force considered non-airworthy. The official record was just under 1000 MPH, but the actual speed was slightly higher. I think he did most of his run below 500' AGL (not MSL ), which would have been a rush at Mach 1.4 or so!


Speed over a straight course:​

​

​

2,193.16 mph (3,529.56 kph).
USAF Capt. Eldon W. Joersz (pilot) and USAF Maj. George T.
Morgan Jr. (RSO) in Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird at Beale AFB,
Calif., July 28, 1976.
​

Speed over a closed circuit:​

​

​

2,092.294 mph (3,367.221 kph).
USAF Majs. Adolphus H. Bledsoe Jr. (pilot) and John T. Fuller
(RSO) in Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird at Beale AFB, Calif., July
27, 1976.​