The Constellation of Orville

On this date in 1944, Orville Wright took the controls of a United States Army Air Force Lockheed C-69 Constellation during a short demonstration flight over Dayton, Ohio. It was his first piloting experience in 25 years. Below is an excerpt from This Day in History site:

After the flight, Wright said, “It was absolutely marvelous. . . You can say that I ran the whole thing. Put exclamation points and question marks around that—because all I had to do was just let it take care of itself. . . I enjoyed every minute. I guess a ran the whole plane for a minute. But I let the machine take care of itself. I always said airplanes would fly themselves if you left them alone.”

Speed Queen

 

On this date in 1970, Colonel Jacqueline "Jackie" Cochran, United States Air Force Reserve, was presented the Legion of Merit for exceptionally meritorious conduct in service to the United States. Following the presentation, her retirement orders were read, bringing an end to her twenty years of service in the Air Force Reserve. 

Cochran was endlessly establishing new records as early as 1938 when she became the only woman to compete in the Bendix Race. She worked with Amelia Earhart to open the race to women. She set a new women's world speed record that same year, becoming known as the best female pilot in the US. Cochran was the first woman to break the sound barrier on 18 May 1953. Sometimes called the "Speed Queen", at the time of her death, no other pilot held more speed, distance, or altitude records in aviation history than Cochran.

Read about her full career at: https://wikimili.com/en/Jacqueline_Cochran

A World Record for Hypoxia

 

On this day in 1979, Sabrina Patricia Jackintell established a Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) World Record and Soaring Society of America National Record for Absolute Altitude. The duration of the flight was 3 hours, 18 minutes. Flying her Grob G102 Astir CS glider from the Black Forest Gliderport, north of Colorado Springs, Colorado, she soared to an altitude of 41,460 feet over Pikes Peak. This record still stands.

  
When conditions are right, the wind creates a powerful updraft called a mountain wave. Pilots from every walk of life came to Black Forest for a fun week or weekend of soaring. At Jacintell's altitude, at the edge of the stratosphere, temperatures can drop to lower than -60° Fahrenheit. Hypothermia is a life-threatening danger, in addition to the risk of hypoxia. Gliders don’t have heaters, and in order to keep the canopy from frosting over, pilots keep the air vent open, allowing outside air to blow in. She suffered from hypoxia on the record-breaking flight and a subsequent flight. Fortunately, she fully recovered in about 24 hours.

The Speed Queen

 

Jacqueline "Jackie" Cochran (1906-1980) was an American pilot and business executive. She pioneered women's aviation as one of the most prominent racing pilots of her generation. She set numerous records and was the only woman to compete in the 1937 Bendix air race, working with Amelia Earhart to open the race to women. That year, she also set a new women's world speed record. By the next year, she had won the Bendix championship and set a new transcontinental speed record as well as altitude records. She was the first woman to fly a bomber across the Atlantic. Cochran was the wartime head of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) from 1943–44. By 1948, Cochran joined the U.S. Air Force Reserve as a lieutenant colonel. Encouraged by lifelong friend, Chuck Yeager, she was the first woman to break the sound barrier in 1953. She was promoted to colonel in 1969 and retired in 1970. Flying jet aircraft, she continued setting numerous records, including becoming the first woman pilot to achieve supersonic speed. Known to many as the "Speed Queen", no other pilot held more speed, distance, or altitude records in aviation history than Cochran. Detailed history at Cochran. 

The Pilot Ejected

 

On this day in 1964, Gene Roddenberry's original draft of the first Star Trek pilot, "The Cage," was released. NBC reportedly called it "too cerebral", "too intellectual", and "slow with not enough action." Apparently having some faith in the concept, the network commissioned a second pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before." The series struggled for ratings its entire run, not becoming iconic until the movie franchise was well underway. The USS Enterprise was under the command of Captain Christopher Pike, played by noted film actor, Jeffrey Hunter, seated far left above. Illogically, Leonard Nimoy plays a rather emotional Spock but the first officer was played by Majel Barrett, known as Number One. Much of the footage from "The Cage" was later incorporated into season one's two-parter episode, "The Menagerie" (1966). Hunter bowed out of any future episodes to concentrate on his movie career, which ended tragically in 1969 by a brain hemorrhage and subsequent fall down a three-stair set of steps at his home, fracturing his skull. The same year the Star Trek series was canceled.