Thematic Photographic 56: "Aviation" v.7.0

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"The Eagle Has Landed"
Washington, DC - April, 1999 (Click to embiggen)

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Since I'm finishing up the week with Aviation "firsts" it seems only fitting to close things out with the first time a human footprint was left on a naturally occurring celestial body other than Earth. This is (obviously) a replica of the Apollo 11 Lunar Landing Module that carried Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to the surface of the moon. (The third member of the crew, Michael Collins, drew the short straw and remained in lunar orbit aboard Command Module.) While there is known recording to back him up, Neil Armstrong solemnly swears that what he actually said as he put that first bootprint on the lunar surface was: "One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." All of the recorded versions leave out the article "a", but the quote makes much more sense with it in there. So I'm going to take Neil's word for it.

Even though I didn't hear it that way at the time.

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Thematic Photographic 56: "Aviation" v.6.0

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"Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star"
Washington, DC - April, 1999 (Click to embiggen)

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Though it was fielded too late to join the Second World War, the Lockheed F-80 Shooting star did make its production debut in 1945. In addition to being the first production jet fighter built in the US, the F-80 was also among the few -- and first -- aircraft used by the Air Force and adapted for carrier use by the Navy. (This kind of crossover can be problematic given the design constraints for carrier-based aircraft).

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Thematic Photographic 56: "Aviation" v.5.0

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"Messerschmitt Me 262"
Washington, DC - April, 1999 (Click to embiggen)

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Though there's a lot of discussion about who actually built the first jet fighter, there's no argument about the first jet fighter to actually see action. The German Luftwaffe claims the title with the Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe ("Swallow", which may or may not have something to do with the less polite nickname given to it by Allied pilots). Though its impact on the outcome of the war was essentially negligible, it did change the face of military aviation. Retired by the Luftwaffe at the end of WWII, the fighter was used by the Czechoslovakian Air Force until 1957.

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Thematic Photographic 56: "Aviation" v.4.0

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"Escadrille Lafayette (Probably)"
Washington, DC - April, 1999 (Click to embiggen)

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Rewinding again, this time not so far as the Wright Brothers, but not terribly long after them. I can't see enough of this plane to tell if it's a Nieuport 28 or Spad S-XIII, but I deduce that it's one of these. I further suspect it's either an original or replica of one of the fighters from WWI's Escadrille Lafayette. If you look closely, you'll see the emblem of the US Army Air Corps (the forebear of the US Air Force which didn't split off from the Army until 1947. Escadrille Lafayette was made up of American aircrews, flying French-built aircraft for the ... French during WWI. The squadron predated the US entry into the war by a couple of years, and was initially named Escadrille Americaine. But the Germans too issue with that since the US was officially "neutral", so the squadron was renamed for the French General that served with the American Continental Army during the American Revolution. This wouldn't be the last time American pilots would fly with a foreign air force. Americans would later serve during the Battle of Britain in 1940, this time flying with England's RAF.

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Thematic Photographic 56: "Aviation" v.3.0

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"Unidentified Flying Object, National Air and Space Museum"
Washington, DC - April, 1999 (Click to embiggen)

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One of the more worthwhile places to visit in Washington, DC is the National Air and Space Museum. In yesterday's Thematic entry I featured the beginning of aviation as we know it courtesy of that very museum. But it also features some fanciful designs that may or may not have ever made it into production. This is one of those. Any of you airplane buffs out there know what this is? From this angle I can't tell enough about it to identify it, but it sure looks racy enough.

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Thematic Photographic 56: "Aviation" v.2.0

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"Wright Flyer, National Air and Space Museum"
Washington, DC - April, 1999 (Click to embiggen)

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This aircraft is near to my heart, as it is to the heart of any North Carolinian or Ohioan. (Both states have a part in this bit of history.) This is the airplane that started it all. In fact, it wasn't even called an "airplane". It was -- and is -- known simply as the "Wright Flyer", and its maiden flight could have been surpassed by a Brett Favre forward pass. (Well, before he hurt his elbow anyway.) On December 17th, 1903 at Kitty Hawk on North Carolina's Outer Banks, Orville Wright piloted the Flyer for a whopping 40 yards in a flight that lasted all of 12 seconds. Not even long enough to finish the bag of pretzels. Most amazing of all? Total expenditures for development and construction came in at under $1000. Even adjusted for 106 years of inflation, you'll never see a better return on investment than that. I wonder if anyone at Grumman is taking notes.

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Two4Tuesday #18: "Historic/Futuristic"

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"Evolution of Destruction"
Washington, DC - April 1999 (Click to embiggen)
Voting for this theme closes 7.7.2009

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