Post by aerofoto - HJG Admin on Jul 15, 2008 20:48:16 GMT
Today's another very important historical day on the HJG classic jetliners calendar.
At 2:14PM on July 15th 1954 .... 54 years ago today .... B367-80 took to the air from Boeing Renton for the very first time ever.
This first ever flight by B367-80 was crewed by A.M "Tex" JOHNSTON, and R.C "thingy" LOESCH. The aircrafts T/O roll was 2,100FT and the it remained aloft for 1 hour 24 minutes.
During this debut flight the aircraft climbed to 20,000FT and its basic flight handling characterizes briefly assessed before returning to Boeing Renton. Upon the triumphant conclusion of this flight JOHNSTON was recorded to state .... "she flew like a bird only much faster".
This first ever flight by B367-80, and subsequent development of the aircraft, ushered the USA into the jetliner era .... spawning Boeing's extensive USAF C135 project, as well as its equally successful civil B707/720 project, and elevating the company from obscurity (as a civil aircraft producer) to triumph and the forefront of modern jetliner technology as one of the worlds greatest producers of civil aircraft today.
Throughout its long service career B367-80 was extensively used by Boeing for demonstration and development work in support of its military C135 and civil B707, B727 aircraft programs. Scientific research in conjunction with NASA, and systems analysis in association with the Seattle Flight Test Center were also undertaken using this aircraft. All of these projects resulted in B367-80 being constantly modified over the years with various combinations of powerplants, alterations to both wing and flap systems, experimental landing gear, and various other features.
By 1971 B367-80 had outlived its usefulness to Boeing as a research/development platform and was withdrawn from service. The aircraft was donated to the National Air & Space Museum/Smithsonian Institution on November 26 1972 and stored at Davis-Monthan AFB Arizona for some 18 years. Resurrected from the desert on May 7 1990, B367-80 returned to its Seattle birthplace for refurbishment and display inside the Boeing Museum of Flight as one of the single most important aircraft of the jet age.
B367-80 had a fuselage length of 127ft 10in with a cross-section diameter of 132in, and a wingspan of 130ft. At the time of its first flight the aircraft was powered by 4 P&W JT3P turbojet engines (with water methanol injection) rated at 9,500-11,000lb/st e/a and was not equipped with thrust reverser's. The aircraft had a MTOW of 190,000lb, and payload range of some 2,600nm.
I had originally hoped to bring everyone another one of my in-depth illustrated historic articles/features about B367-80 and with which to celebrate today .... but .... due to the imposition of other more important personal/private circumstances I've simply not had time to complete it. Hopefully this feature will become available a little later on .... sorry !
Mark C
AKL/NZ
At 2:14PM on July 15th 1954 .... 54 years ago today .... B367-80 took to the air from Boeing Renton for the very first time ever.
This first ever flight by B367-80 was crewed by A.M "Tex" JOHNSTON, and R.C "thingy" LOESCH. The aircrafts T/O roll was 2,100FT and the it remained aloft for 1 hour 24 minutes.
During this debut flight the aircraft climbed to 20,000FT and its basic flight handling characterizes briefly assessed before returning to Boeing Renton. Upon the triumphant conclusion of this flight JOHNSTON was recorded to state .... "she flew like a bird only much faster".
This first ever flight by B367-80, and subsequent development of the aircraft, ushered the USA into the jetliner era .... spawning Boeing's extensive USAF C135 project, as well as its equally successful civil B707/720 project, and elevating the company from obscurity (as a civil aircraft producer) to triumph and the forefront of modern jetliner technology as one of the worlds greatest producers of civil aircraft today.
Throughout its long service career B367-80 was extensively used by Boeing for demonstration and development work in support of its military C135 and civil B707, B727 aircraft programs. Scientific research in conjunction with NASA, and systems analysis in association with the Seattle Flight Test Center were also undertaken using this aircraft. All of these projects resulted in B367-80 being constantly modified over the years with various combinations of powerplants, alterations to both wing and flap systems, experimental landing gear, and various other features.
By 1971 B367-80 had outlived its usefulness to Boeing as a research/development platform and was withdrawn from service. The aircraft was donated to the National Air & Space Museum/Smithsonian Institution on November 26 1972 and stored at Davis-Monthan AFB Arizona for some 18 years. Resurrected from the desert on May 7 1990, B367-80 returned to its Seattle birthplace for refurbishment and display inside the Boeing Museum of Flight as one of the single most important aircraft of the jet age.
B367-80 had a fuselage length of 127ft 10in with a cross-section diameter of 132in, and a wingspan of 130ft. At the time of its first flight the aircraft was powered by 4 P&W JT3P turbojet engines (with water methanol injection) rated at 9,500-11,000lb/st e/a and was not equipped with thrust reverser's. The aircraft had a MTOW of 190,000lb, and payload range of some 2,600nm.
I had originally hoped to bring everyone another one of my in-depth illustrated historic articles/features about B367-80 and with which to celebrate today .... but .... due to the imposition of other more important personal/private circumstances I've simply not had time to complete it. Hopefully this feature will become available a little later on .... sorry !
Mark C
AKL/NZ
.... I've got a sticky keyboard here 
