Model Aircrafts and Ships

Commercial Service of Concorde

January 21 1976 - Commercial service of Concorde begins with London-Bahrain and Paris-Rio routes.

Concorde: British Airways

The Concorde was a supersonic airliner type of aircraft. It was the more successful of the only two supersonic passenger airliners that operated commercially. Its primary users are the British Airways, the largest airline and flag carrier of the United Kingdom; and the Air France, one of the largest airlines in the world.

Concorde: Air France

Its maiden flight was on the 2^nd of March 1969 and it was piloted by Andre Turcat. It was introduced commercially on the 21^st of January 1976. It flew regular transatlantic flights from London Heathrow and Paris Charles de Gaulle to New York JFK and Washington Dulles.

Concorde set many other records but as a result of the type’s only crash on the 25^th of July 2000, world economic effects arising from the 9/11 attacks, its operations has been ceased. And on the 26^th of November 2003, its last flight occurred.

USS Nautilus (SSN-571) Launched

The USS Nautilus (SSN-571) was the first operational nuclear-powered submarine in the world. It was also the first vessel to complete a submerged transit across the North Pole.

The Congress of the United States authorized the construction of a nuclear-powered submarine for the US Navy in July 1951. And on the 12^th of December 1951 the name of the submarine was announced by the US Department of Navy as the Nautilus and it will carry the hull number SSN-571.

On the 21^st of January 1954, it was christened and launched into the Thames River in Connecticut. It was sponsored by Mamie Eisenhower, wife of the former General and President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

January 18 1969 – United Airlines Flight 266 crashes into Santa Monica Bay resulting in the loss of all 32 passengers and six crew members.

The Flight 266 was scheduled to flight from Los Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles, California to General Mitchell International Airport, Milwaukee, Wisconsin via Stapleton International Airport, Denver Colorado. It has a total of 38 people on board as they are 32 passengers and 6 crews.

Approximately four minutes after takeoff, 11.5 west of LAX, it crashed into Santa Monica Bay, Pacific Ocean. The incident caused to the loss of the 38 people on board, all the passengers and crews. The incident was due to mechanical failure when two minutes into its flight, a fire warning in no.1 engine was reported by the pilot and shut it down. It departed with inoperable generators and afterwards the remaining generator overloaded and also shut down that result to the loss of electrical power.

United Airlines Aircraft: Douglas DC-3

During that time battery powered back up source was not required on commercial aircraft but because of the accident the Federal Aviation Administration require all transport category aircraft to have backup instrumentation installed and powered by independent source of the generators.

Other Events of January 18

1919 – World War I: The Paris Peace Conference opens in Versailles, France.

World War I Aircraft: Nieuport 17 (Allied)

The Paris Peace Conference was a conference organized by the victors of the First World War to negotiate the peace treaties between the Allied and Associated Powers and the defeated Central Powers.

It was opened in the Palace of Versailles in France on the 18^th of January 1919 and it was attended by participants from 25 nations.

T-38 Talon: replaced after the infamous incident Diamond Crash that killed four members of the team’s six demonstration pilots.

1982 - U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds: "Diamond Crash" kills four team members.

Martin 4-0-4: Eastern had the largest fleet with 60 type in operation

1991 - Eastern Air Lines goes out of business after 62 years, citing financial problems.

Palomares Hydrogen Bombs Incident

January 17 1966 – A B-52 bomber collides with a KC-135 Stratotanker over Spain, dropping four 70-kiloton hydrogen bombs near the town of Palomares and another one into the sea in the Palomares hydrogen bombs incident.The B-52G Bomber of the US Air Force Strategic Air Command runs into a KC-135 Stratotanker during mid-air refueling over the Mediterranean Sea, off the coast of Spain.

Gulf War: Operation Desert Storm

“The great duel, the mother of all battles has begun. The dawn of victory nears as this great showdown begins.”- Saddam Hussein

January 17 1991 – Gulf War: Operation Desert Storm begins early in the morning. Iraq fires 8 Scud missiles into Israel in an unsuccessful bid to provoke Israeli retaliation.

The massive air campaign codenamed Operation Desert Storm was launched by the coalition the day after the deadline set in Resolution. It began when eight (8) United States AH-64 Apache helicopter and two (2) MH-53 Pave Low helicopters destroyed Iraqi radar sites near the Iraqi-Saudi Arabian border.

Space Shuttle Columbia Takes OFF: Mission STS-107

The Final mission for the Space Shuttle Columbia carried a crew of seven astronauts:

Rick Husband: Commander

William C. McCool: Pilot

David M. Brown: Mission Specialist

Kalpana Chawla: Flight Engineer

Michael P. Anderson: Payload Commander

Laurel B. Clark: Mission Specialist

Ilan Ramon: Payload Specialist

The STS-107 was a multi-disciplinary microgravity and Earth science research mission with a multitude of international scientific investigations conducted continuously during 16 days in orbit.

On the 1^st of February 2003, morning, the shuttle re-entered the atmosphere after a 16 day orbit (scientific mission). Unfortunately, Space Shuttle Columbia disaster occurred that resulted with the loss of all seven crew minutes before concluding its 28^th mission.

According to investigations, the loss of the Columbia was caused by a piece of foam known as the Left Bipod Foam Ramp that broke off during launch and damaged the thermal protection system components on the left wing of the Shuttle orbiter and caused extensive heat build up.

“What was the America’s role in the world and what were the lessons of Vietnam?”

January 15 1973 – United States President Richard Nixon announces the suspension of offensive action in North Vietnam.

Vietnam War was also known as the Second Indochina War, and American War occurred from 1965 to the 30^th of April 1975; and Vietnam Conflict when include what occurred from 1959 to the 30^th of April 1975. It was fought between North Vietnam which is the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, and South Vietnam which is the US supported Republic of Vietnam.

On the 15^th of January 1973, US President Nixon announced the suspension of offensive action against North Vietnam. And on the 27^th of January 1973 the Paris Peace Accords on Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam were signed which officially ends the direct involvement of the United States in the Vietnam War.

On the 30^th of April 1975, Vietnam War was officially ended. North Vietnam emerges as the victor. The result of the end of war was territorial changes: dissolution of South Vietnam and reunification of Vietnam.

Some of the Aircrafts used during the Vietnam War:

American Aircraft:

- The Douglas A-1 Skyraider was formerly known as AD Skyraider. It was a US attack aircraft. It had a remarkably long and successful career well into space age.

- It carried various nicknames such as Spad, Able Dog, the Destroyer, Hobo, Firefly, Zorro, The Big Gun, Old Faithful, Old Miscellaneous, Fat Face, Guppy, Q-Bird, Flying Dumptruck, Sandy, and Crazy Water Buffalo.

- The Douglas A-26 Invader was a light attack bomber aircraft.

- It has an unusual design for an attack bomber during its period.

Enemy Aircraft:

Mil Mi-24 Hind

- The Mil Mi-24 has a NATO reporting name of Hind.

- It was a large attack helicopter and low capacity troop transport.

- It was called by Soviet pilots as letayushiy tank or flying tank or Krokodil (Crocodile) due to its camouflage and fuselage shape.

- Most common variant of MiG-15.

- It has a NATO reporting name of Midget

- It was a two-seat dual control jet trainer

Apollo 8 Splashes down in the Pacific Ocean, Ending Humanity’s First Manned Mission to the Moon

The Apollo program is definitely considered one of the most famous American history of the world. The program represents the very first time a human being sets foot on an extraterrestrial mass of land.

Apollo 8 was the first among the Apollo series which have successfully orbit the moon, and the first manned spacecraft to leave Earth’s gravity and reach the moon. On December 27, 1968, a tragic event happened. Apollo 8 splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, after a mission elapsed time of 147 hrs, 0 mins, 42 sec. The splashdown point was 8 degrees 7.5 min N, 165 degrees 1.2 min W, 1,000 miles SSW of Hawaii and 5 km (3mi) from the recovery ship U.S.S. Yorktown.

It was really fortunate that the spacecraft achieved operational experience and testing of the Apollo command module systems such as communications, tracking and life-support. Otherwise, history might just repeat itself. Remember the Apollo 1 tragedy that happened in January 27, 1967? It was considered one of the worst tragedies in spaceflight history wherein the spacecraft’s crews, Edward White, Roger Chaffee and Virgil Grissom were killed in the process in a fire inside the Apollo Command Module during a preflight test at Cape Canaveral. It was concluded that failure in communication was the culprit. The crews suffered from serious burns and massive smoke inhalation which caused their sudden deaths.

Since then, changes had been made to the Apollo Command Module as a result of the tragedy and which in turn, resulted in many highly reliable spacecrafts including the Apollo 8.

The Apollo 8 Command Module currently resides at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, Illinois.

About the Author:
Jules Elgincolin, is a copy writer of Warplanes.com

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