Obituaries

[MiTasol]

Not directly aviation related but still very worthy of a salute

Eugene Nagel - Honorary Unsubscribe

Nagel got one of the first paramedic units up and running — and coined the term “paramedic”.

www.honoraryunsubscribe.com

 

[buffnut453]

Not sure this is the right place...but, sadly, the actress Sylvia Syms passed away today aged 89.

She never got the career breaks that her talent deserved...but she was still unforgettable in "Ice Cold in Alex."

 

[ColFord]

War and Pease: Heroic WWII pilot’s daring escapes

War hero Guy Pease cheated death a number of times as a pilot and fooled the Germans by escaping from a POW camp.

www.theage.com.au

 

[fubar57]

 

[Airframes]

 

[MiTasol]

 

[Snautzer01]

 

[Gnomey]

 

[Dash119]

 

[MiTasol]

Not directly aviation related but this woman is still very very worthy of a salute

Traute Lafrenz - Honorary Unsubscribe

“She is a heroine of freedom and humanity.”

www.honoraryunsubscribe.com

 

[SaparotRob]

Worthy of more than that. A very brave person indeed. Thanks for sharing her story.

 

[Nige Black Country UK]

A minor correction to the post

Johnny Johnson was the gentleman who passed away. He was the last surviving member of the 617 squadron Crews who took part in the Dambusters raid.
The man known as Johnnie Johnson was the highest scoring Western Allied pilot in the European theatre in WW2. He ended his RAF career as Air Vice Marshal James Edgar Johnson, CB, CBE,DSO & Two Bars, DFC & Bar, DL and passed away in January 2001.

.It was announced yesterday that 'Johnnie' Johnson, the last surviving dambuster died yesterday aged 101

 

[Snautzer01]

Thank you for the correction. Cant have wrong names here.

 

[SaparotRob]

I agree with Snauzzer01.

 

[Snautzer01]

I agree with Snauzzer01.

Dude...that pigeon was full of agent orange it seems. Snauzzer01... cant fail spelling control this time.

 

[Sabrejet]

Although I'll never find it now, Lt. Col Chilstrom broke the speed of sound in the XP-86 just before Yeager was to make his flight. Yeager and others were at the "Happy Bottom Riding Club" when, late in the evening, Chilstrom took the 86 past Mach in a shallow dive over the club breaking two windows. He was required to fly the 86 gear extended until Yeager made his official flight a week later.

To correct this. Ken Chilstrom's first flight in the XP-86 was on 2 December 1947: Yeager went supersonic on 14 October.

 

[SaparotRob]

Hi Sabrejet and welcome.

 

[Snautzer01]

Hi and welcome Sabrejet

 

[ODonovan]

To correct this. Ken Chilstrom's first flight in the XP-86 was on 2 December 1947: Yeager went supersonic on 14 October.

I think he was referring to George Welch, who was unofficially reported to have created a sonic boom, with the XP-86, on October 1, 1947, 13 days before Yeager's flight. Some who were there say he even "rubbed it in" by making a repeat performance, diving past the B-29 carrying Yeager and the X-1, just 20 minutes before Yeager broke Mach one. Since there were no official records of the incidents, we'll never know.


-Irish

 

[Sabrejet]

I think he was referring to George Welch, who was unofficially reported to have created a sonic boom, with the XP-86, on October 1, 1947, 13 days before Yeager's flight. Some who were there say he even "rubbed it in" by making a repeat performance, diving past the B-29 carrying Yeager and the X-1, just 20 minutes before Yeager broke Mach one. Since there were no official records of the incidents, we'll never know.


-Irish

This is also incorrect, even though it's been repeated often in recent history (It's a theory which began with Al Blackburn's book, and lacks any substantiating primary-source evidence then as it does now). The gestation of the XP-86 is well documented and the #1 aircraft was aerodynamically incapable of supersonic flight until early 1948 (again, documented and easy to prove). The first XP-86 to go supersonic was the #2 machine, in the spring of 1948. So there is no "we'll never know" - the XP-86 couldn't have gone supersonic in 1947.

For info the 'supersonic' XP-86 configuration was expressed as "S52", that is, the 52nd distinct iteration since first flight. Prior to this, various physical features of the airframe prevented supersonic flight, even in a vertical, sustained dive. "S52" was a combination of various wing, body, vertical tail, slat, engine and other airframe and system configurations and was not embodied until 26 April 1948 (its full expression was "W12B30H5V1D1X1C2G5f10at1rt1"). There are also flight characteristics that had been predicted (but not observed or reported), which were only seen on the 26 April 1948 flight.

Finally, the chronology of the first flight is misreported (or often not reported at all), and this also meant that the XP-86 was incapable of even high-speed flight until later in October 1947.

None of this will prevent the conspiracy theories because it's easier to say something happened with no effort or evidence than it is to properly research the same events.