History Magazine nr.13 continues with History of airplanes and will be published in Slovenia.

History of airplanes II



First All-Metal Planes

At a time when airplanes were made out of fabric and wood, the German Junkers company manufactured an all-metal prototype that showed the aviation world that lighter metals could be used for aircraft. The Junkers J 1, nicknamed “Tin Donkey”  first flew in 1916, but never saw combat.



The Trans-Atlantic Prize

Charles Lindbergh, a one-time U.S. mail pilot, clinches the $25,000 Orteig Prize for the first non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean. The wave of publicity following the 20-21 May 1927 flight helps establish the airplane as a viable means of long-distance transportation.



Amelia Conquers An Ocean

Five years to the day after Charles Lindbergh crossed the Atlantic, Amelia Earhart shows its not just men who have the right stuff to be pilots. In this photo, crowds in Londonderry, Northern Ireland gather to cheer her after her historic flight across the ocean on May 21, 1932.



Airliner Pioneer

Boeing’s 247 could top 200 mph (322 km/h) - faster than any other passenger plane at the time. It was a star attraction at the 1933 Chicago World Fair and a harbinger of things to come.



Fiery End For Airships

For a while it looked like giant rigid airships known as dirigibles or Zeppelins would set the new standard of luxury for crossing the worlds great oceans and landmasses. That era ended when the Hindenburg exploded on May 6, 1937, killing 35 of the 97 people aboard.



The First Jets

The first operational turbojet fighter plane, the Me 262, sits on a captured German airfield just after the end of World War II. Before the war, both Hans von Ohain in Germany and Frank Whittle in Great Britain independently designed the first turbojet engines. Even though the British version was operational first (in 1937), it was the Germans who first designed an operational turbojet aircraft.



Breaking The Sound Barrier

Army Air Force Capt. Charles “Chuck” Yaeger climbed into the cockpit of the experimental Bell X-1 on Oct. 14, 1947, for the latest in series of test flights that had begun in August. But this time he reached a speed of Mach 1.06 and became the first person to fly faster than the speed of sound.



Monster Goose Barely Flies

Built by the Hughes Aircraft Company as the worlds heaviest transport aircraft, the H-4 Hercules - better known as the Spruce Goose - made its first and only flight on 2 November 1947. The plane was designed to carry 750 fully equipped troops or one M4 Sherman tank across the Atlantic. It was more than five stories tall with a wingspan longer than a football field. Weight at liftoff was 180,000 kilograms (400,000 pounds). With famed designer and pilot Howard Hughes at the helm, the massive plane flew at an altitude of only 21 meters (70 feet) for one minute, covering just over one
mile - proof that it could fly but little else. Now in an Oregon museum, it no longer holds the record for the worlds heaviest airplane but its wingspan has never been surpassed.

to be continued...