"USS Dallas (SSN-770), a Los Angeles-class submarine, is one of two ships of the United States Navy to be named for Dallas, Texas, although another two ships were scheduled but never completed. The LA class serves as the backbone of the United States submarine force. The LA class is an attack submarine, whose mission is to engage enemy surface ships and submarines perform covert operations, and to protect carrier battle groups (CVBGs), which are the primary unit of US naval/military power. The USS Los Angeles (SSN-688) was ordered on January 8, 1971, and was commissioned on November 13, 1976. USS Dallas (SSN-700) was launched on April 28 1979 and was commissioned on July 18 1981. Dallas is assigned to the US Atlantic Fleet and is home ported at Groton, CT. Since then, eighty-five Los Angeles Class ships have been delivered to the US Navy, with most of them still operating in 2002. USS Dallas was featured prominently in the novel and film adaptation of Tom Clancy's The Hunt for Red October. The USS Dallas was also featured as the submarine commanded by Tessa's late father in Full Metal Panic!, it was the Dallas that was in peril and ended up being saved by Richard Merdukas. USS Dallas was mentioned in the BBC drama Threads as being sunk (presumably by Soviet forces) in the waters off Iran in the lead up to war. "
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"U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot (help•info), itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot (undersea boat), and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II. Although in theory, U-boats could have been useful fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, in practice they were most effectively used in an economic-warfare role, enforcing a naval blockade against enemy shipping. The primary targets of the U-boat campaigns in both wars were the merchant convoys bringing supplies from the British Empire and the United States to the island of Great Britain. Austrian submarines of World War I were also known as ""U-Boats"". The distinction between U-boat and submarine is common in English-language usage (where U-boat refers exclusively to the German vessels of the World Wars) but is unknown in German, in which the term U-Boat refers to any submarine. "
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"The PT-109 boat was commanded by 35th United States President John F. Kennedy, an Elco PT-103 class torpedo boat. During World War II, The Elco boats were the largest PT boats operated by the United States Navy. At 80 feet (24 m) and 40 tons, they had strong wooden hulls of 2-inch (5 cm) mahogany planking. Powered by three 12-cylinder 1,500hp (1100 kW) Packard gasoline engines (one per propeller shaft), their designed top speed was 41 knots (76 km/h). For space and weight-distribution reasons, the center engine was mounted with the output end facing forward, with power transmitted to the propeller shaft through a V-drive gearbox. Because the center propeller was deeper, it left less of a wake, and was preferred by skippers for low-wake loitering. The engines were fitted with mufflers in the stern to direct the exhaust under water, which had to be bypassed for high speed. These were used not only to mask their own noise from the enemy but to be able to hear enemy aircraft, which were rarely detected overhead before dropping their bombs. The only completely restored 80' Elco PT-boat in existence, PT 617, is on display at the Battleship Cove Museum in Fall River, Massachusetts. Decorated as the PT-109, PT 796 was used as a float in John F. Kennedy's inaugural parade."
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"PBR (Patrol Boat, River), also called “Riverine” and “Pibber”, is the US Navy designation for a type of rigid-hulled patrol boat used in the Vietnam War from March 1966 until the end of 1970. They were deployed in a force that grew to 250, the most common craft in the River Patrol Force, Task Force 116, and were used to stop and search traffic in areas such as the Mekong Delta, the Rung Sat Special Zone, the Saigon River and in I Corps, in the area assigned to Task Force Clearwater, in an attempt to disrupt weapons shipments. In this role they frequently became involved in firefights with enemy soldiers on boats and on the shore. PBR's were also used to infiltrate Navy SEAL teams. The Mark II version, 32 feet long and one foot wider beam, had improved drives to reduce fouling, and aluminum gunwales to resist wear. It usually operated with four enlisted men, of which the most senior crewman was designated the boat commander. They were powered by dual 220 hp (164 kW) Detroit Diesel engines with Jacuzzi Brothers water jet drives. The boats reached top speeds of 28.5 knots (53 km/h). The boat was typically armed with twin .50 caliber (12.7 mm) machine guns (the forward '50s), an M60 7.62 mm machine gun, a Mark 18 grenade launcher, and sometimes a 20 mm cannon. The machine gunners and conning tower were protected with ceramic armor. The Patrol Boat Riverine is currently displayed at the New Jersey Naval Museum in Hackensack, NJ. The PBR was featured in the movie Apocalypse Now (1979). This is the very same type of fiberglass craft used in the film. The units using the PBRs were often called “The Brown Water Navy” (and those rivers were pretty brown) and also “Swift Boats” (and at 30 Knots fully loaded they PBRs were swift). "
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"The first USS Gato submarine was first launched in 21 August 1941, commissioned in 31 December 1941 and decommissioned in 16 March 1946. It was the first submarine that was produced massively between 1941 and 1945. In New York and Baltimore, the submarine was placed in service as a Naval Reserve Training vessel. And in March 1 1960, it was placed out of service from the Navy. From its service in the Second World War, it received battle stars and a Presidential Unit Citation. It has the finest American design and has the standard type of US submarine from the Second World War. It was based on the Tambor submarine. Modifications and improvements were done on the Gato to increase its combat abilities. Batteries and its engines were improved to increase the period of its patrol."
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USS Macon (ZRS-5) was a rigid frame airship built and operated by the United States Navy and designated for scouting purposes. In service for less than two years, in 1935 Macon was damaged in a storm and lost off the coast of California.
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"The Hindenburg (LZ-129) was a German zeppelin. Along with its sister ship the Graf Zeppelin II, it was the largest aircraft ever built. It was named after Paul von Hindenburg, the president of Germany from 1925 to 1934. During its second year of service, it was destroyed by a fire while landing at Lakehurst Naval Air Station in Manchester Township, New Jersey, on May 6, 1937. The Hindenburg was built by Luftschiffbau Zeppelin in 1931 to a new, all-duralumin design. It was a visually striking “ship of the air”, at 804 feet long and 135 feet in diameter. It was longer than three Boeing 747s placed end to end, longer than four Goodyear Blimps end to end, and only 79 feet shorter than the Titanic. It was originally equipped with cabins for 50 passengers and a crew complement of 40, though on the last flight there were an additional 21 crew members in training. To reduce drag, the passenger rooms were contained entirely within the hull, rather than in the gondola as on the Graf Zeppelin. During its first year of commercial operation in 1936, the Hindenburg flew 308,323 km carrying 2,798 passengers and 160 tons of freight and mail. It made 17 round trips across the Atlantic Ocean, with ten trips to the US and seven to Brazil. In July of that year it also completed a record Atlantic double-crossing in 5 days, 19 hours and 51 minutes. The German boxer Max Schmeling returned home on the Hindenburg to a hero's welcome in Frankfurt, after defeating Joe Louis. On August 1 the Hindenburg was present at the opening ceremonies of the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. Moments before the arrival of Adolf Hitler, the airship crossed over the Olympic stadium, trailing the Olympic flag from its gondola."
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"The Wright Flyer, also referred to as Flyer I and Kitty Hawk, was the first successful powered, piloted, controlled heavier-than-air aircraft. It was designed and built by brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright, and was based on their 1902 Glider. The Flyer was made of spruce and ash covered with muslin. Since the brothers could find no suitable automobile engine for the task, they commissioned their employee Charlie Taylor to build a new one from scratch. A sprocket chain drive, borrowed from bicycle technology, powered the twin propellers, which were also made by hand. The basic problems of mechanical flight, lift, propulsion and control were solved in the Wright design. The Flyer was a canard biplane configuration. The pilot flew lying on his stomach on the lower wing, with his head toward the front of the aircraft and his left hand operating the elevator control. Lateral control was achieved by warping the wing tips in opposite directions via wires attached to a hip cradle mounted on the lower wing. The pilot shifted his hips from side to side to operate the mechanism, which also moved the rudder. The Flyer's “runway” was a track of 2x4's stood on their narrow end, which the brothers nicknamed the “Junction Railroad”. On December 14, 1903, after practicing on the 1902 Glider, the brothers felt ready for their first attempt at powered flight. They tossed a coin to decide who would get the first chance at piloting, and Wilbur won the toss. However, he pulled up too sharply, stalled, and brought the Flyer back down with minor damage. The plane was ready again after three days of repairing. On December 17, 1903, at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the Wright Flyer achieved controlled, sustained flight. With Orville at the controls, the plane took off from a launching rail and flew for 12 seconds and a distance of 120 feet. The airplane was flown three more times that day, with the brothers alternating turns. Wilbur made the longest flight, flying for 59 seconds and 852 feet. "
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"The Wright Flyer (often retrospectively referred to as Flyer I and occasionally Kitty Hawk) was the first powered aircraft designed and built by the Wright brothers. It was the first successful powered, piloted, controlled heavier-than-air aircraft. The Wright Flyer was a canard biplane configuration. The Wright Flyer was based on the Wrights' experience testing gliders at Kitty Hawk between 1900 and 1902. The Wrights built the aircraft in 1903 using 'giant spruce' wood as their construction material. Since they could find no suitable automobile engine for the task, they commissioned their employee Charlie Taylor to build a new design from scratch. A sprocket chain drive, borrowing from bicycle technology, powered the twin propellers, which were also made by hand. In 1904, the Wrights continued refining their designs and piloting techniques in order to obtain fully controlled flight. Major progress toward this goal was achieved in 1904 and even more decisively with the modifications during the 1905 program, which resulted in a 39-minute, 24 mile nonstop circling flight by Wilbur on October 5. While the 1903 Flyer was clearly a historically important test vehicle, its near-mythical status in American imagination has obscured its place as part of a continuing development program that eventually led to the Wrights' mastery of controlled flight in 1905. In 1910 the Wrights first made attempts to exhibit the Flyer in the Smithsonian Institution but talks fell through with the ensuing lawsuits against Glenn Curtiss and the Flyer may have been needed as repeated evidence in court cases. In 1916, Orville brought the Flyer out of storage and prepared it for display at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. (Wilbur had died in 1912.) He replaced parts of the covering, the props, and the engine's crankcase, crankshaft, and flywheel. The crankcase, crankshaft and flywheel had been sent to the Aero Club of America for an exhibit in 1906 and were never returned to the Wrights. A number of individuals and groups have attempted to build reproductions of the Wright Flyer for demonstration or scientific purposes."
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"The Sikorsky VS-44 was a large four-engined flying boat built to compete in the transatlantic air travel trade carrying 40 or more passengers across the Atlantic Ocean. Sikorsky’s standard of luxury boasted full-length beds, dressing rooms, a full galley, a snack bar, a lounge, and fully controlled ventilation. American Export Airlines (AEA) ordered for three VS-44s. They were named Excalibur, Excambian, and Exeter. World War II began and put civilian transatlantic air service on hold. Now under a Navy contract and with the Navy designation JR2S-1, AEA's three VS-44s continued flying between New York, New York and Foynes, Ireland, carrying passengers, freight and war materiel. Excalibur, the first VS-44, crashed on takeoff in 1942. After the war, the two remaining VS-44s continued to fly for the airline, which had been renamed American Overseas Airlines (AOA). AOA sold Excambian in 1949 to Tampico Airlines. In 1946 Exeter was sold to TACI of Montevideo, Uruguay. It crashed on August 15, 1947 while landing in River Plate off Montevideo. In 1976, Excambian was donated to the Naval Aviation Museum at Pensacola, Florida and eventually put on permanent loan to the New England Air Museum (NEAM) in Connecticut. NEAM restored Excambian to its WWII livery with volunteer help from some of the former Sikorsky workers who had built the original VS-44. "
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"The Aerospatiale-BAC Concorde supersonic transport (SST) was first flown by Andre Turcat in 1969. The aircraft was initially referred to as ""Concorde"", with the French spelling, but the name was changed officially by Harold Macmillan to ""Concord"". Concorde pioneered a double-delta shaped wings, variable inlet ramps, supercruise capability, thrust-by-wire engines and a droop-nose section for improved landing visibility. In February 1965, there were two Concordes prototype built. The first was the 001, which was built by Aerospatiale at Toulouse and 002, built by BAC at Filton, Bristol. On September 4, 1971, Concorde embarked on a sales and demonstration tour, as the flight programme progressed. While the Concorde 002 toured the Middle and Far East on June 2, 1972. These trips resulted to 70 aircraft orders, but a number of incidents occurred that resulted to a sudden number of order cancellations such as the oil crisis in 1973 and the sonic boom, takeoff-noise and pollution. The Concorde service commenced in 1976 and still in service for about 27 years. The airliner flew regular transatlantic flights from British Airways and Air France to New York JFK and Washington Dulles in just less than half the time compared to other airliners. In 1971, the US had cancelled its supersonic transport (SST) programme. Concorde's scheduled flights started on January 21, 1976 on the London-Bahrain and Paris-Rio (via Dakar) routes. New York banned Concorde locally, the time When the Us ban on JFK Concorde operations was lifted in February 1977. From 1974 onwards, European Airlines flew both demonstration and test flights. There were 20 Concordes built in total, six for development and 14 for commercial service. "
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"The Saab 340 “American Eagle” is a two-engine turboprop passenger aircraft designed and initially produced by a partnership between Saab and Fairchild in 65:35 ratios. Under the initial plan Saab built the aluminium fuselage and plastic vertical stabilizer, and also performed final assembly in Linköping, Sweden while Fairchild was responsible for the plastic wings, empennage, and wing-mounted nacelles for the two turboprop engines. After Fairchild ceased this work, production of these parts was shifted to Sweden. Within the 65/35 Saab - Fairchild partnership split Saab was responsible for the fuselage, fin and final assembly, while Fairchild was responsible for the wings, engine nacelles and empennage. The two companies selected the General Electric CT7 (a commercial development of the T700 which powers Sikorsky's S70 series of military helicopters) to power the new airliner. The resulting SF340 design was launched in September 1980 with the aim of capturing 25 to 30% of its market. The American Eagle flew for the first time on January 25, 1983. As of October 2005, there were 430 Saab 340's in service with 56 operators in 25 countries. In August 2006 a total of 361 Saab 340 aircraft (all variants) remain in airline service around the "
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"More than a million spectators were cheering as RAF Flight officer H.R.D. Waghorn set down his Supermarine S-6 in southern England's Solent Channel on September 10, 1929. Waghorn had just flown an average of 328 mph around the triangular course to defeat his Italian rivals and capture Britain's second straight Schneider Trophy win. France, Italy and the U.S. had all won the Schneider trophy in the past, as had Britain. But none of the four had managed to win three out of five consecutive races, as required for retiring the trophy. Now Britain stood within reach of the elusive goal and, shortly after Waghorn's victory, Prime Minister McDonald vowed that England would do her level best to win the next race in 1931. But a few months later, McDonald's Air Ministry stunned the Aero Club of Britain -- sponsors of the country's Schneider Trophy entries -- by announcing the government would give no financial support to future Schneider trophy efforts. Without this financial support, the Aero Club could not develop a new racer to compete with heavily subsidized French and Italian challengers expected in 1931. The British public was outraged. Their country's prestige was at stake. Soon several million pounds were raised to support the home team. Disaster struck the Italian and French teams. Mid-summer crashes claimed a top plane and top pilot from each. Crippled by these losses, both countries withdrew from the race a week before it was scheduled to be run. On Sunday, September 13, 1931, RAF Lieutenant John Boothman flew the S-6B, unopposed, over the Solent Channel course at an average speed of 340 mph. With courage, skill and a little bit of luck, England had retired the Schneider Trophy. Was it worth all the money, work and heartache to claim a fairly ugly, now almost forgotten trophy? The British think it was. Because five years after the 1931 race, Reginald J. Mitchell introduced a new Rolls Royce powered interceptor fighter incorporating many lessons he had learned designing Schneider Trophy seaplanes. Someone gave Mitchell's fighter a nickname, which stuck: ""Spitfire."" "
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"The Sabreliner, manufactured by North American, is a mid size corporate jet. The airplane was successfully developed for both military and civil use. North American Aviation began work on the Sabreliner as a private venture but it was formally launched in August 1956 in response to the US Air Force's UTX (Utility Trainer Experimental) requirement for a utility jet aircraft capable of performing transport and combat readiness training missions. A civil configured prototype (designated NA264) flew for the first time on September 16 1958 powered by General Electric YJ85 turbojets. On June 29 1977, The Model 65 had its first flight. The Sabreliner 65 has an eight passenger interior with two forward facing chairs in the rear of the cabin, four club seating chairs in the mid-cabin, one place side facing divan on forward left hand side of cabin, luggage area located on the right side of forward cabin. In 1981, the last production Model 65, S/N 465-076, was delivered to Acopian Technical. "
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"S-43 is an amphibious aircraft manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft in the 1930s. It was also known as the Baby Clipper in airline service. The S-43 was a smaller version of S-42 flying boat. The S-43 was used primarily by Pan American World Airways. Pan American Airways used the S-43 in Caribbean and South American routes. The S-43 was also operated by other airlines including Norway, West Africa, Russia, China, Hawaii and Philippine islands. There were 15 S-43s used primarily by the Navy as utility transports and some were also assigned to the Army and the Marines. The S-43 incorporates two Pratt & Whitney R-1690-52 radials with 750 hp each. It has a crew of two pilots and a seating capacity of 15 passengers. It has a maximum speed of 190 mph and a range of 775 miles. "
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