Milestones of Flight: 9/4

2007 - B-52 carried nuclear missiles over US by mistake. The U.S. military said it is investigating an alarming security lapse when a B-52 bomber flew the length of the country last week loaded with six nuclear-armed cruise missiles.

2007 - Israeli-based aviation and military equipment maker Rada Electronic Industries Ltd. announced that it received a purchase order worth more than $800,000 to develop and produce components of a system that will retrieve critical data lost in a disaster.

2007 - Steve Fossett's plane missing in western Nevada.

2006 - The Airbus A380, the world's largest passenger jet, took to the sky with a full load of passengers for the first time today.

The 308-ton jet touched down this evening after flying a seven-hour round trip from Toulouse, France, with 474 Airbus employees onboard, about 25 cabin equipment technicians and the remaining volunteers -- chosen from 15,000 Airbus staff who entered an internal lottery -- put the superjumbo's cabin fittings and features through their paces, testing out the seating, air conditioning, kitchens and in-flight entertainment on the first of four test flights scheduled this week to try out the plane's cabin environment and systems.

2004 - The nation's first 24-hour airport, with a 3,500-meter runway built on a manmade island off Osaka, observed its 10th anniversary on Saturday, but the management of Kansai International Airport is shackled by the debt from the colossal construction cost of some 1.5 trillion yen.

The cost, originally estimated at 1 trillion yen, rose because of ground subsidence and cost overruns on building luxurious facilities.

In addition, it has not achieved its goal of becoming a hub airport for Asia, a role that is increasingly being played by South Korea's Inchon International Airport, which was inaugurated three years ago.

2000 - In Australia a Beechcraft King Air 200 plane crashed near Mount Isa after flying for 6 hours on autopilot. Eight people were killed and believed to have blacked out after loss of cabin pressure following takeoff from Perth.

1998 - In Nevada two Air Force helicopters crashed during training and all 12 people aboard were killed.

1997 - First demonstration flight of the Ka-226 helicopter.

1994 - Kansai International airport (KIX) one of the world's most ambitious contruction projects¹ opened.

Designed to serve the Osaka-Kyoto region, it is named after an old term for central Japan--kansai, or "west of the barrier"--to differentiate it from the Tokyo region. The complex is situation on an artificial island 3 miles (5km) long by 2 miles (3km) wide, 3 miles offshore in Osaka Bay.

The double-decked Sky Gate Bridge, with a highway on the upper deck and a railway on the lower, connects the island to the mainland. Being offshore, KIX is able to function as East Asia's first 24-hour hub, linking around 30 central Japanese cities to 40 countries around the world.

1979 - World records for speed of light airplanes established: 379.7 km/hr (category C-1-b) and 380.9 km/hr, V.I. Loychikov in a Moscow Aviation Institute Special Design Bureau designed "Kvant."

1972 - First flight of the VVA-14 Ehkranopan designed by R.L. Bartini.

1970 - James Martin Taylor, U. S. Astronaut, USAF MOL Group 1--1965, killed in the crash of his T-38 trainer near Palmdale, California at age 39.

1962 - A modified Su-9 (designated T-431 by the Sukhoy OKB) piloted by Vladimir Sergeievitch Ilyushin establishes absolute world record for altitude in level flight of 21,270 meters.

In November of the same year Ilyushin set several new sustained speed/altitude records in the same aircraft.

1957 - Start of Moscow-New York-Moscow flight by Tu-104 (18,000 km in 24 hours and 36 minutes of flying time). External [link] to pictures.

1954 - U.S. Navy Aircraft Lost Off Siberian Coast.

A U.S. Navy P2V Neptune was shot down by Soviet fighters approximately 40 miles off the Siberian coast. The aircraft's navigator was missing and presumed dead; the 9 other crewmembers were rescued from the water by U.S. forces. The Soviet Union charged the plane had enetered Soviet airspace and fired on Soviet aircraft, charges rejected by the United States.

1950 - In the first H-5 helicopter rescue of a downed U.S. pilot from behind enemy lines at Hanggan-dong, Korea, Lt. Paul W. Van Boven saved Capt. Robert E. Wayne.

1948 - First flight of the Yak-30 jet fighter.

When the straight-winged Yak-25 was cancelled, Yakovlev OKB attempted to further develop the design by fitting it with a 35° swept wing. During testing, it reached a speed of Mach 0.935 in a dive. The aircraft's top speed was increased by 40 km/h (25 mph) and service ceiling was increased by 1,000 m (3,280 ft) compared to its predecessor. However, the swept wing was found to be unsatisfactory with poor aileron authority. Like Yak-25, the aircraft did not enter production because MiG-15 was superior and Lavochkin La-15 also powered by the RD-500 engine was already in production. The Yak-30 designation was later reused for a jet trainer.

1944 - First production V-2 delivered.

350 missiles were delivered in September, 500 in October, and 600 to 900 per month thereafter. There were many early failures of these production missiles - they had not been built for long-term storage. The solution was to use express trains to take the missiles from the factory to the launch areas and fire them within three days of leaving the production line

1936 - First flight of the KOR-1 shipbased aircraft.

1936 - Louise Thaden becomes the first woman to win the prestigious coast-to-coast Bendix trophy race.

1927 - Aleksandr Nikolayevich Matinchenko, Russian cosmonaut, Air Force Group 2--1963, is born in Verhhyi Mamon, Voronezh, Russia.

1922 - Lt. James H. Doolittle completed the first transcontinental flight in one day in a rebuilt DH-4B with Liberty 400 HP engines. He flew from Pablo Beach, Florida to Rockwell Field, California, and covered the 2,163 miles in 21 hours, and 20 minutes flying time.

1911 - Lt. Thomas DeWItt Milling became the first U.S. Army officer to fly at night.

While participating in a 160-mile tristate air race, Lt. Milling had to land his plane by the light of gasoline flares. He was unsuccessful in winning the race.

1888 - Edward Hogan in Quebec makes the first parachute descents in Canada from a hot-air balloon.

........................................................................................................
¹ KIX took almost eight years to complete at at cost of US$14.4 billion. Dominating the airport complex is the single four-story terminal, designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano. At a mile (1.7km) long, this is the longest building in the world. A giant atrium rises 200 feet (60m) from floor to ceiling, with escalators and glass-fronted elevators connecting the four levels. The first level is for internation arrivals, the second for domestic flights, the third for stores and restaurants, and the fourth for international departures. The most spectacular feature of the terminal is its undulating roof which is made from 82,000 identical panels of stainless steel.