Cargo aircraft
A cargo aircraft is a fixed-wing aircraft, designed or converted for the carriage of cargo rather than passengers. Such aircraft do not incorporate passenger amenities and feature one or more large doors for loading cargo. Freighters may be operated by civil passenger or cargo airlines, by private individuals or by the armed forces of individual countries. Aircraft designed for cargo flight have features that distinguish them from conventional passenger aircraft: a wide/tall fuselage cross-section, a high-wing to allow the cargo area to sit near the ground, a large number of wheels to allow it to land at unprepared locations, a high-mounted tail to allow cargo to be driven directly into and off the aircraft. By 2015, dedicated freighters represent 43% of the 700 billion ATK capacity, while 57% is carried in airliner's cargo holds, Boeing forecast Belly freight to rise to 63% while specialised cargoes would represent 37% of a 1,200 billion ATKs in 2035. Aircraft were put to use carrying cargo in the form of "air mail" as early as 1911.
Although the earliest aircraft were not designed as cargo carriers, by the mid-1920s aircraft manufacturers were designing and building dedicated cargo aircraft. In the UK during the early 1920s, the need was recognized for a freighter aircraft to transport troops and materiel to pacify tribal revolts in the newly occupied territories of the Middle East; the Vickers Vernon, a development of the Vickers Vimy Commercial, entered service with the Royal Air Force as the first dedicated troop transport in 1921. In February 1923 this was put to use by the RAF's Iraq Command who flew nearly 500 Sikh troops from Kingarban to Kirkuk in the first strategic airlift of troops. Vickers Victorias played an important part in the Kabul Airlift of November 1928–February 1929, when they evacuated diplomatic staff and their dependents together with members of the Afghan royal family endangered by a civil war; the Victorias helped to pioneer air routes for Imperial Airways' Handley Page HP.42 airliners. The World War II German design, the Arado Ar 232 was the first purpose built cargo aircraft.
The Ar 232 was intended to supplant the earlier Junkers Ju 52 freighter conversions, but only a few were built. Most other forces used freighter versions of airliners in the cargo role as well, most notably the C-47 Skytrain version of the Douglas DC-3, which served with every Allied nation. One important innovation for future cargo aircraft design was introduced in 1939, with the fifth and sixth prototypes of the Junkers Ju 90 four-engined military transport aircraft, with the earliest known example of a rear loading ramp; this aircraft, like most of its era, used tail-dragger landing gear which caused the aircraft to have a decided rearward tilt when landed. These aircraft introduced the Trapoklappe, a powerful ramp/hydraulic lift with a personnel stairway centered between the vehicle trackway ramps, that raised the rear of the aircraft into the air and allowed easy loading. A similar rear loading ramp appeared in a somewhat different form on the nosewheel gear-equipped, late WW II era American Budd RB-1 Conestoga twin-engined cargo aircraft.
Postwar Europe served to play a major role in the development of the modern air cargo and air freight industry. It is during the Berlin Airlift at the height of the Cold War, when a massive mobilization of aircraft was undertaken by the West to supply West Berlin with food and supplies, in a virtual around the clock air bridge, after the Soviet Union closed and blockaded Berlin's land links to the west. To supply the needed numbers of aircraft, many older types the Douglas C-47 Skytrain, were pressed into service. In operation it was found that it took as long or longer to unload these older designs as the much larger tricycle landing gear Douglas C-54 Skymaster, easier to move about in when landed; the C-47s were removed from service, from on flat-decks were a requirement of all new cargo designs. In the years following the war era a number of new custom-built cargo aircraft were introduced including some "experimental" features. For instance, the US's C-82 Packet featured a removable cargo area, while the C-123 Provider introduced the now-common rear fuselage/upswept tail shaping to allow for a much larger rear loading ramp.
But it was the introduction of the turboprop that allowed the class to mature, one of its earliest examples, the C-130 Hercules, in the 21st century as the Lockheed Martin C-130J, is still the yardstick against which newer military transport aircraft designs are measured. Although larger and faster designs have been proposed for many years, the C-130 continues to improve at a rate that keeps it in production. "Strategic" cargo aircraft became an important class of their own starting with the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy in the 1960s and a number of similar Soviet designs from the 70s and 80s, culminating in the Antonov An-225, the world's largest aircraft. These designs offer the ability to carry the heaviest loads main battle tanks, at global ranges; the Boeing 747 was designed to the same specification as the C-5, but modified as a design that could be offered as either passenger or all-freight versions. The "bump" on the top of the fuselage allows the crew area to be clear of the cargo containers sliding out of the front in the event of an accident.
When the Airbus A380 was announced, the maker accepted orders for the freighter version A380F, offering the second largest payload capacity of any cargo aircraft, exceeded only by the An-225. An aerospace consultant has estimated that the A380F would have 7% better payload an
National Museum of the United States Air Force
The National Museum of the United States Air Force is the official museum of the United States Air Force located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, 6 miles northeast of Dayton, Ohio. The NMUSAF is the oldest and largest military aviation museum in the world, with more than 360 aircraft and missiles on display; the museum draws about 1 million visitors each year, making it one of the most visited tourist attractions in Ohio. The museum dates to 1923, when the Engineering Division at Dayton's McCook Field first collected technical artifacts for preservation. In 1927, it moved to then-Wright Field in a laboratory building. In 1932, the collection was named the Army Aeronautical Museum and placed in a WPA building from 1935 until World War II. In 1948, the collection remained private as the Air Force Technical Museum. In 1954, the Air Force Museum became public and was housed in its first permanent facility, Building 89 of the former Patterson Field in Fairborn, an engine overhaul hangar. Many of its aircraft were exposed to the weather.
Through the 1960s, Eugene Kettering, son of Charles F. Kettering, led the project to build a permanent structure to house the collections and became the first chairman of the board of the Air Force Museum Foundation; when he died in 1969, his widow Virginia took over the project. Her "determination and meticulous attention" kept it on track, the current facility opened in 1971. Not including its annex on Wright Field proper, the museum has more than tripled in square footage since 1971, with the addition of a second hangar in 1988, a third in 2003, a fourth in 2016; the museum announced a new name for the facility in October 2004. The former name, United States Air Force Museum, changed to National Museum of the United States Air Force; the museum is a central component of the National Aviation Heritage Area. The museum's collection contains many rare aircraft of historical or technological importance, various memorabilia and artifacts from the history and development of aviation. Among them is one of four surviving Convair B-36 Peacemakers, the only surviving North American XB-70 Valkyrie and Bockscar—the Boeing B-29 Superfortress that dropped the Fat Man atomic bomb on Nagasaki during the last days of World War II.
In 2010, the museum launched its 360-degree Virtual Tour, allowing most aircraft and exhibits to be viewed online. In 2016, the museum opened its 224,000 square foot fourth building, bringing its size to 1,120,000 sqft; the addition was financed by the Air Force Museum Foundation at a cost of $40.8 million. The building houses more than 70 aircraft and space vehicles in four new galleries - Presidential and Development, Space and Global Reach, along with three science, technology and math Learning Nodes. In 2018, the Boeing B-17F Memphis Belle was placed on permanent public display in the WWII Gallery; the famed B-17F Memphis Belle and its crew became iconic symbols of the heavy bomber crews and support personnel who helped defeat Nazi Germany in WWII. The museum has several Presidential aircraft, including those used by Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower; the centerpiece of the presidential aircraft collection is SAM 26000, a modified Boeing 707 known as a VC-137C, used by presidents John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon.
This aircraft took President and Mrs. Kennedy to Dallas on 22 November 1963—the day of the President's assassination. Vice President Johnson was sworn in as president aboard it shortly after the assassination, the aircraft carried Kennedy's body back to Washington, it became the backup presidential aircraft after Nixon's first term. It was temporarily removed from display on 5 December 2009, repainted and returned to display on President's Day in 2010. All presidential aircraft are now displayed in the new fourth building. A large section of the museum is dedicated to pioneers of flight the Wright Brothers, who conducted some of their experiments at nearby Huffman Prairie. A replica of the Wrights' 1909 Military Flyer is on display, as well as other Wright brothers artifacts; the building hosts the National Aviation Hall of Fame, which includes several educational exhibits. The museum has many pieces of U. S. Army Air Forces and U. S. Air Force clothing and uniforms. At any time, more than 50 World War II-vintage A-2 leather flying jackets are on display, many of which belonged to famous figures in Air Force history.
Others are painted to depict the air missions flown by their former owners. The displays include the jacket worn by Brigadier General James Stewart, P-38 ace Major Richard I. Bong's sheepskin B-3 jacket and boots, an A-2 jacket worn by one of the few USAAF pilots to leave the ground during the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Ronald Reagan's USAAF peacoat; the museum completed the construction of a third hangar and hall of missiles in 2004. It now houses post-Cold War era planes such as the Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, the Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk stealth ground attack aircraft and others. A fourth hangar was completed in 2016, to house the museum's space collection, presidential planes, an enlarged educational outreach area; these collections were housed in an annex facility on Area B of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Because the annex was physically located on the base itself, museum guests were required to go through additional security checks before taking museum buses to the hanger.
The museum has a large format theater that shows, for a fee, aviation- and space-oriented films interspersed with other documentaries. The museum owns other USAF
Boeing NC-135
The Boeing NC-135 and NKC-135 are special versions of the Boeing C-135 Stratolifter and Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker modified to operate on several different programs. In support of the U. S. Test Readiness Program, initiated in response to the Limited Test Ban Treaty of 1963, Sandia National Laboratories configured three NC-135 aircraft as flying laboratories to support atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons, should testing resume; these aircraft were based at Kirtland Air Force Base. Work was initiated in 1963 and the aircraft remained in service until 1976, flying principally for Sandia, the Los Alamos National Laboratory, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; the Atomic Energy Commission maintained controlling oversight of the NC-135 flight test aircraft. After 1976, the aircraft flew for Air Force Weapons Laboratory. While flying simulations for the Test Readiness Program, the science teams assigned to the NC-135 aircraft realized that their flying laboratories could be used to study solar eclipses as well as cosmic rays entering the atmosphere and the effects of magnetic fields in the ionosphere.
Program scientists petitioned the AEC to allow for a program-within-a-program to use the aircraft for such scientific research. The petition was approved, research continued through 1975; the first eclipse mission took place from Pago Pago International Airport in 1965. Flying in conjunction with several other science aircraft, one of the NC-135s managed to fly within eclipse totality for 160 seconds, providing valuable science data. Eclipse missions were flown in 1970, 1972, 1973, 1979 and 1980. Big Crow is the designation of the two NKC-135 test-bed aircraft modified for electronic warfare testing; these planes were used as a target simulator for flight testing the Boeing YAL-1 Airborne Laser. On March 15, 2007, the YAL-1 fired this laser in flight, hitting its target; the target was the NKC-135E Big Crow 1 test aircraft, specially modified with a "signboard" target on its fuselage. The test validated the system's ability to track an airborne target and measure and compensate for atmospheric distortion.
Big Crow aircraft are used as downrange telemetry assets in conjunction with Western Launch and Test Range launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Since 2008, 55-3132 and 63-8050 have been retired, relegated to the AMARG (Davis-Monthan AFB, Tucson, AZ. One aircraft, serial 61-2666, has been modified as an NC-135W to test systems and equipment used on RC-135V and W Rivet Joint reconnaissance aircraft. From 1975 to 1984, the US used an NKC-135 for its Airborne Laser Lab program; the modified NKC-135A carried 10.6 micrometer Carbon Dioxide Laser. Tests included successful interceptions of drone aircraft. Despite the combat potential of the system, it was kept experimental. However, the SCUD threat faced during the Gulf War reignited interest in an airborne laser system, resulting in the Boeing YAL-1. United StatesUnited States Air Force United States Navy 55-3123 - Originally built as a KC-135A, since 1984 NKC-135 Airborne Laser Lab has been on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio.
In August 2011 it was removed from display in the Museum's Air Park to make room for the arrival of the Museum's C-5A Galaxy. The aircraft is in storage. General characteristics Crew: 3: pilot, boom operator Length: 136 ft 3 in Wingspan: 130 ft 10 in Height: 41 ft 8 in Wing area: 2,433 ft² Empty weight: 98,466 lb Loaded weight: 297,000 lb Max. Takeoff weight: 322,500 lb Powerplant: 4 × CFM International CFM-56 turbofan engines, 21,634 lbf each, 21,634 lbf eachPerformance Maximum speed: 580 mph Range: 3,450 mi Service ceiling: 50,000 ft Rate of climb: 4,900 ft/min AircrewRelated development Boeing 367-80 Boeing 707 Boeing C-135 Stratolifter Boeing C-137 Stratoliner Boeing EC-135 Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker Boeing OC-135B Open Skies Boeing RC-135 Boeing WC-135 Constant PhoenixAircraft of comparable role and era Beriev A-60 Boeing YAL-1 Convair UC-880 Douglas C-24
Military Airlift Command
For the current active command, see Air Mobility CommandThe Military Airlift Command is an inactive United States Air Force major command, headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois. Established on 1 January 1966, MAC was the primary strategic airlift organization of the Air Force until 1974, when Air Force tactical airlift units in the Tactical Air Command were merged into MAC to create a unified airlift organization. In 1982, the heritage of the World War II Air Transport Command and the postwar Military Air Transport Service were consolidated with MAC, providing a continuous history of long range airlift. Inactivated on 1 June 1992, most of MAC's personnel and equipment were reassigned to the new Air Mobility Command, with a smaller portion divided between U. S. Air Forces in Europe, Pacific Air Forces and the newly created Air Education and Training Command; the heritage of MAC was consolidated into AMC in 2016. See: Military Air Transport Service for history of organization prior to 1 January 1966MAC was the USAF successor organization to the Department of Defense's Military Air Transport Service, with MATS having been disestablished on 8 January 1966.
MAC's emblem reflected its predecessor's history by incorporating the globe-wings-arrows emblem of MATS into its shield. Although MATS was under the operational control of the United States Air Force, the 4-digit USAF Military Air Transport Service units at all levels were considered major command provisional units by USAF due to MATS being a Department of Defense Unified Command. Under the USAF lineage system, they did not possess a permanent lineage or history and were discontinued upon inactivation. AFCON units were activated under MAC, to which USAF personnel and equipment assigned to MATS MAJCOM units were reassigned effective 8 January 1966. No formal lineage or history between former MATS MAJCOM units and MAC AFCON units was made. With the establishment of MAC by the USAF, plans were made to discontinue the role of the United States Navy within the new command. MATS' shore-based naval air transport squadrons were assigned back to the Navy upon its inaction, most being converted to organic Operational Support Airlift roles for the Navy and renamed as fleet logistics support squadrons residing in the Naval Air Reserve.
However, some naval aircrews assigned to MATS continued to fly USAF C-130Es for MAC until 1968, when all MAC C-130s were transferred to Tactical Air Command as part of the theater troop carrier mission being reassigned. In addition, MAC continued the missions of several other activities under MATS: the Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Service. In addition to these organizations, MAC supported select USAF Special Operations forces organized under MATS on an as-required basis until 1984, when all USAF Special Operations under Tactical Air Command were transferred to MAC's 23rd Air Force. USAF Special Operations forces remained part of MAC until the establishment of the Air Force Special Operations Command in 1990. Established at the height of the United States' involvement in the Vietnam War, MAC provided long-range strategic airlift from bases in the United States to Military Airlift Support Squadrons located on Pacific Air Forces bases in the Pacific AOR; these were: Clark Air Base, Philippines, NAS Agana, Mactan AB, Philippines Henderson Field Airport, Midway Island, Yokota Air Base, Osan Air Base, South Korea, Cam Ranh Air Base, South Vietnam Tan Son Nhut Air Base, South Vietnam Phu Cat Air Base, South Vietnam Bien Hoa Air Base, South Vietnam Da Nang Air Base, South Vietnam Pleiku Air Base, South Vietnam U-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Airfield, Thailand In addition, MAC operated MASS Squadrons on Non-CONUS bases in both Alaska and Hawaii: Elmendorf AFB, Hickam AFB, Hawaii, By 1968, MAC military and contract transports were hauling 150,000 passengers and 45,000 tons of cargo monthly to and from Southeast Asia.
At first, MAC transports to Vietnam landed only at Tan Son Nhut AB, necessitating considerable transshipment within Vietnam by the Common Service Airlift System. New air bases opened at Da Nang AB and Cam Ranh AB in January 1966, at Pleiku, Bien Hoa and Phu Cat Air Bases, reducing the need for redistribution. Major unit movements by MAC aircraft from the United States required further airlifts to operating areas by in-country transports. Introduction of the C-5 Galaxy transport in the summer of 1970 created new problems of in-country distribution, since C-5 deliveries were massive, the planes could land only at Cam Ranh Bay. However, C-5s could unload at Tan Son Nhut and elsewhere. MAC transports carried high-value cargo such as aircraft and equipment parts, while MAC civilian-contract flights transported passengers to and from the combat zone. In the winter of 1965-66, MAC conducted Operation "Blue Light," the deployment of elements of the 25th Infantry Division from Hickam AFB, Hawaii to Pleiku, South Vietnam.
During the 1968 Tet Offensive, MAC transports airlifted additional troops from the 101st Airborne Division from Fort Campbell, Kentucky to South Vietnam, supporting a buildup of forces in South Korea in response to the seizure of the Uni
United States Secretary of the Air Force
The Secretary of the Air Force is the head of the Department of the Air Force, a component organization within the United States Department of Defense. The Secretary of the Air Force is appointed from civilian life by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate; the Secretary reports to the Secretary of Defense and/or the Deputy Secretary of Defense, is by statute responsible for and has the authority to conduct all the affairs of the Department of the Air Force. The Secretary works with his or her civilian deputy, the Under Secretary of the Air Force; the first Secretary of the Air Force, Stuart Symington, was sworn in on 18 September 1947 upon the re-organization of the Army Air Forces into a military department and a military service of its own, independent of the War Department/Army, with the enactment of the National Security Act. On 16 May 2017, Heather Wilson was sworn in as the next Secretary of the Air Force. Wilson was nominated by President Donald Trump on 23 January 2017, confirmed by the U.
S. Senate on 8 May 2017. On 9 March 2019, Secretary Wilson announced her resignation which will take effect on 31 May 2019; the Secretary is the head of the Department of the Air Force, analogous to that of a chief executive officer of a corporation. The Department of the Air Force is defined as a Military Department, it is not limited to the Washington headquarter staffs, rather it is an entity which includes all the components of the United States Air Force and the Air National Guard: The term'department', when used with respect to a military department, means the executive part of the department and all field headquarters, reserve components, installations and functions under the control or supervision of the Secretary of the department. The exclusive responsibilities of the Secretary of the Air Force are enumerated in Title 10 Section 9013 of the United States Code, they are not limited to: Recruiting. Organizing. Supplying. Equipping. Training. Servicing. Mobilizing. Demobilizing. Administering.
Maintaining. The construction and repair of military equipment; the construction and repair of buildings and utilities and the acquisition of real property and interests in real property necessary to carry out the responsibilities specified in this section. By direction of the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Air Force assigns military units of the Department of the Air Force, other than those who carry out the functions listed in 10 USC 8013, to the Unified and Specified Combatant Commands to perform missions assigned to those commands. Air Force units while assigned to Combatant Commands may only be reassigned by authority of the Secretary of Defense. However, the chain of command for Air Force units for other purposes than the operational direction goes from the President to the Secretary of Defense to the Secretary of the Air Force to the Commanders of Air Force Commands. Air Force Officers have to report on any matter to the Secretary, or the Secretary's designate, when requested.
The Secretary has the authority to detail, prescribe the duties, to assign air force service members and civilian employees, may change the title of any activity not statutorily designated. The Secretary has several responsibilities under the Uniform Code of Military Justice with respect to Air Force service members, including to authority to convene General Courts Martial and to commute sentences; the Secretary of the Air Force may be assigned additional responsibilities by the President or the Secretary of Defense, e.g. the Secretary is designated as the "DoD Executive Agent for Space", as such:... shall develop and integrate plans and programs for space systems and the acquisition of DoD Space Major Defense Acquisition Programs to provide operational space force capabilities to ensure the United States has the space power to achieve its national security objectives. The Secretary of the Air Force's principal staff element, the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, has responsibility for acquisition and auditing, comptroller issues, inspector general matters, legislative affairs, public affairs within the Department of the Air Force.
The Office of the Secretary of the Air Force is one of the Department of the Air Force's two headquarter staffs at the seat of government, the other one is the Air Staff. The Office of the Secretary of the Air Force is composed of: Under Secretary of the Air Force The Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force for International Affairs The Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force for Space Programs Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Financial Management and Comptroller Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Installations and Logistics Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Manpower and Reserve Affairs General Counsel of the Department of the Air Force Inspector General of the Air Force Chief of Legislative Liaison Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Air Force Auditor General of the Department of the Air Force Air Reserve Forces Policy Committee Air Force Cross Department of the Air Force Decoration for Exceptional Civilian Service Title 10 United States Code Subtitle A – General Military Law CHAPTER 1 – DEFINITIONS § 101.
Definitions Subtitle D – Air Force CHAPTER 6 – COMBATANT COMMANDERS § 162. Combatant command: assigned forces.
Aircraft engine
An aircraft engine is a component of the propulsion system for an aircraft that generates mechanical power. Aircraft engines are always either lightweight piston engines or gas turbines, except for small multicopter UAVs which are always electric aircraft. In commercial aviation, the major players in the manufacturing of turbofan engines are Pratt & Whitney, General Electric, Rolls-Royce, CFM International. A major entrant into the market launched in 2016 when Aeroengine Corporation of China was formed by organizing smaller companies engaged in designing and manufacturing aircraft engines into a new state owned behemoth of 96,000 employees. In general aviation, the dominant manufacturer of turboprop engines has been Whitney. General Electric announced in 2015 entrance into the market. 1848: John Stringfellow made a steam engine for a 10-foot wingspan model aircraft which achieved the first powered flight, albeit with negligible payload. 1903: Charlie Taylor built an inline aeroengine for the Wright Flyer.
1903: Manly-Balzer engine sets standards for radial engines. 1906: Léon Levavasseur produces a successful water-cooled V8 engine for aircraft use. 1908: René Lorin patents a design for the ramjet engine. 1908: Louis Seguin designed the Gnome Omega, the world's first rotary engine to be produced in quantity. In 1909 a Gnome powered Farman III aircraft won the prize for the greatest non-stop distance flown at the Reims Grande Semaine d'Aviation setting a world record for endurance of 180 kilometres. 1910: Coandă-1910, an unsuccessful ducted fan aircraft exhibited at Paris Aero Salon, powered by a piston engine. The aircraft never flew, but a patent was filed for routing exhaust gases into the duct to augment thrust. 1914: Auguste Rateau suggests using exhaust-powered compressor – a turbocharger – to improve high-altitude performance. VI heavy bomber becomes the earliest known supercharger-equipped aircraft to fly, with a Mercedes D. II straight-six engine in the central fuselage driving a Brown-Boveri mechanical supercharger for the R.30/16's four Mercedes D.
IVa engines. 1918: Sanford Alexander Moss picks up Rateau's idea and creates the first successful turbocharger 1926: Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar IV, the first series-produced supercharged engine for aircraft use. 1930: Frank Whittle submitted his first patent for a turbojet engine. June 1939: Heinkel He 176 is the first successful aircraft to fly powered by a liquid-fueled rocket engine. August 1939: Heinkel HeS 3 turbojet propels the pioneering German Heinkel He 178 aircraft. 1940: Jendrassik Cs-1, the world's first run of a turboprop engine. It is not put into service. 1943 Daimler-Benz DB 670, first turbofan runs 1944: Messerschmitt Me 163B Komet, the world's first rocket-propelled combat aircraft deployed. 1945: First turboprop-powered aircraft flies, a modified Gloster Meteor with two Rolls-Royce Trent engines. 1947: Bell X-1 rocket-propelled aircraft exceeds the speed of sound. 1948: 100 shp 782, the first turboshaft engine to be applied to aircraft use. 1949: Leduc 010, the world's first ramjet-powered aircraft flight.
1950: Rolls-Royce Conway, the world's first production turbofan, enters service. 1968: General Electric TF39 high bypass turbofan enters service delivering greater thrust and much better efficiency. 2002: HyShot scramjet flew in dive. 2004: NASA X-43, the first scramjet to maintain altitude. In this entry, for clarity, the term "inline engine" refers only to engines with a single row of cylinders, as used in automotive language, but in aviation terms, the phrase "inline engine" covers V-type and opposed engines, is not limited to engines with a single row of cylinders; this is to differentiate them from radial engines. A straight engine has an number of cylinders, but there are instances of three- and five-cylinder engines; the greatest advantage of an inline engine is that it allows the aircraft to be designed with a low frontal area to minimize drag. If the engine crankshaft is located above the cylinders, it is called an inverted inline engine: this allows the propeller to be mounted high up to increase ground clearance, enabling shorter landing gear.
The disadvantages of an inline engine include a poor power-to-weight ratio, because the crankcase and crankshaft are long and thus heavy. An in-line engine may be either air-cooled or liquid-cooled, but liquid-cooling is more common because it is difficult to get enough air-flow to cool the rear cylinders directly. Inline engines were common in early aircraft. However, the inherent disadvantages of the design soon became apparent, the inline design was abandoned, becoming a rarity in modern aviation. For other configurations of aviation inline engine, such as U-engines, H-engines, etc.. See Inline engine. Cylinders in this engine are arranged in two in-line banks tilted 60–90 degrees apart from each other and driving a common crankshaft; the vast majority of V engines are water-cooled. The V design provides a higher power-to-weight ratio than an inline engine, while still providing a small frontal area; the most famous example of this design is the legendary Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, a 27-litre 60° V12 engine used in, among others, the Spitfires that played a major role in the Battle of Britain.
A horizontally opposed engine called a flat or boxer engine, ha
Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base
Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base is a joint installation shared by various active component and reserve component military units, as well as aircraft flight operations of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration under the aegis of the nearby Johnson Space Center. The host wing for the installation is the Texas Air National Guard's 147th Reconnaissance Wing. Opened in 1917, Ellington Field was one of thirty-two Air Service training camps established after the United States entry into World War I, it is named for 1st Lt. Eric Ellington, a U. S. Army aviator, killed in a plane crash in San Diego, California in 1913; the United States Air Force's 147th Attack Wing is an Air National Guard unit operationally-gained by the Air Combat Command. The 147 AW provides a 24/7 capability with MQ-9 Reaper Unmanned Aerial Systems. In its conduct of combat support sorties, the 147 AW provides theater and national-level leadership with critical real-time Intelligence and Reconnaissance and Air-to-Ground Munitions and strike capability.
A collocated Air Support Operations Squadron provides terminal control for weapons employment in a Close Air Support scenario, integrating combat air and ground operations. New construction designated under the "Grow the Army" project was completed in 2010; the project consisted of ten buildings for the Army National Guard and reserve units, including a battle command training center complete with state-of-the-art computerized equipment. "This will be a tremendous cost benefit to the Army Reserve as travel and logistical costs will be streamlined," noted Major General Eldon Regua, 75th division commander. The $80 million construction project includes a 40,000-square-foot Battle Command Training Center, which simulates war conditions in Iraq and Afghanistan. A second Armed Forces Reserve Center with an assembly hall and offices, a Welcome Center, which will handle retention and military identification services; the military ID center is expected to bring thousands of retired and active military annually to Greater Houston to renew or pick up IDs, Marine Corps and Army Reserve maintenance and storage facilities, a security checkpoint and the relocation of Coast Guard Sector Houston/Galveston from Galena Park to a new $20 million facility scheduled to be completed in 2013.
Ellington now has the rare distinction of having all five military branches of the U. S. Department of Defense – Army and Marine Reserve units and Air National Guard – in addition to the Coast Guard under the Department of Homeland Security, NASA operations – on one base. In 1917, the U. S. government purchased 1,280 acres of land from Dr. R. W. Knox and the Wright Land Company to establish an airbase in Houston; the location, near Genoa Township in southeast Houston, was selected because the weather conditions were ideal for flight training. Soldiers from nearby Camp Logan assisted with the construction of the airfield when civilian workers went on strike. Soon after construction began on the airfield, the base was named after Lt. Eric Lamar Ellington, an Army pilot killed four years earlier in a plane crash in San Diego; the base, which consisted of a few hangars and some wooden headquarters buildings, was completed in a matter of months. By the end of 1917, the field was ready to receive its first squadron – the 120th Aero Squadron, transferred from Kelly Field in San Antonio, along with its Curtiss JN4 Jenny biplanes, which were shipped in wooden crates via railroad.
In December, the first planes from Ellington Field flew over Houston for a benefit for the American Red Cross. A flight of ten JN-4s took off from grass runways and followed the interurban tracks stretching north from Genoa to Houston. Throngs of men and children watched in amazement as the JN-4s flew overhead; the roar of the aircraft was drowned out by the wail of sirens and factory whistles as the planes passed over. As the planes circled the city, they dropped paper flyers for the American Red Cross. Next, the formation flew to Camp Logan and turned south toward Galveston Island; the entire flight took about an hour. During World War I, Ellington served as an advanced flight training base; as of 1918, Ellington had its own gunnery and bombing range on a small peninsula in the Gulf of Mexico near San Leon, Texas. Training units assigned to Ellington Field were: Post Headquarters, Ellington Field, November 1917-January 1920 120th Aero Squadron, November 1917-February 1918 69th Aero Squadron, February 1918Re-designated as Squadron "A", July–November 191870th Aero Squadron, March 1918Re-designated as Squadron "B", July–November 1918113th Aero Squadron, March 1918Re-designated as Squadron "C", July–November 1918232d Aero Squadron, April 1918Re-designated as Squadron "D", July–November 1918233d Aero Squadron, April 1918Re-designated as Squadron "E", July–November 1918250th Aero Squadron, November 1917Re-designated as Squadron "F", July–November 1918272d Aero Squadron, April 1918Re-designated as Squadron "G", July–November 1918285th Aero Squadron, March 1918Re-designated as Squadron "H", July–November 1918286th Aero Squadron, March 1918Re-designated as Squadron "I", July–November 1918303d Aero Squadron, June 1918Re-designated as Squadron "K", July–November 1918Squadron "L", August–December 1918 Squadron "M", September–December 1918 Squadron "N", November–December 1918 850th Aero Squadron,Re-designated as Squadron "O",Squadron "X", September–December 1918 Squadron "Y", September–December 1918 Squadron "Z", September–December 1918 Flying School Detachment, November 1918-September 1919For the first months of opera
