Sunday, January 21, 1943 (and 1973). Lost flights

Lex Anteinternet: Sunday, January 21, 1943 (and 1973). Lost flights: 

Sunday, January 21, 1943 (and 1973). Lost flights

Today in World War II History—January 21, 1943: 80 Years Ago—Jan. 21, 1943: Stalingrad airlift ends when Soviets take Gumrak Airfield, the last Luftwaffe field in the city.

On Sarah Sundin's blog.

Obviously, by this point, the German 6th Army, or what was left of it, was doomed.   

FWIW, other sources report this as occurring on January 22.

Pan Am Flight 1104 crashed into a hillside in Mendocino County, California, due to bad weather and low visibility, killing all on board, including Rear Admiral Robert H. English, the commander of the the US submarine fleet in the Pacific.  The clipper had been en route from Hawaii.

The Civil Aeronautics Board determined:

Failure of the captain to determine his position accurately before descending to a dangerously low altitude under extremely poor weather conditions during the hours of darkness.

It took ten days to find the wreckage.

On this day in 1973, Aeroflot Flight 6263, crashed at Perm, killing four in the impact. Thirty-five survivors would freeze to death awaiting rescue.

Areoflot ranks number 1 in airline fatalities, with the rankings as of mid summer 2023 being as follows:

Areoflot - 11,270 fatalities

Air France - 1,756 fatalities

Pan Am - 1,652

American Airlines - 1,453 fatalities

United Airlines - 1,217 fatalities

Avianca - 992 fatalitie

Denver International Airport. Clearing the snow.

 

Lex Anteinternet: Best recruiting poster ever

Lex Anteinternet: Best recruiting poster ever:  

Best recruiting poster ever

 

Lex Anteinternet: Friday, January 5, 1973. Airport Screening makes its US debut.

Lex Anteinternet: Friday, January 5, 1973. Airport Screening makes ...: 

Friday, January 5, 1973. Airport Screening makes its US debut.

Mandatory screening of airline passengers went into effect in the United States.

Salt Lake City Airport.

Lex Anteinternet: The 2023 Wyoming Legislative Session. The Waking Up Edition (Vol 1).

Lex Anteinternet: The 2023 Wyoming Legislative Session. The Waking ...: 

This thread on our companion blog deals with legislation in the 2023 Wyoming Legislative Session.  I noted one that pertains to a type of aircraft, drones, here:

The second takes on drones over property.

SENATE FILE NO. SF0034

 

 

Trespass by small unmanned aircraft.

 

Sponsored by: Joint Judiciary Interim Committee

 

 

A BILL

 

for

 

AN ACT relating to crimes and offenses; creating the crime of trespass by small unmanned aircraft; providing a penalty; providing definitions; and providing for an effective date.

 

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:

 

Section 1.  W.S. 6‑3‑308 is created to read:

 

6‑3‑308.  Trespass by small unmanned aircraft.

 

(a)  A person is guilty of trespass by small unmanned aircraft if the person causes a small unmanned aircraft to enter into the immediate reaches of the airspace over the private property of a landowner and the entry substantially interferes with the landowner's or his authorized occupant's use and enjoyment of the land. For purposes of this section "aircraft", "unmanned aircraft" and "small unmanned aircraft" means as defined in 14 C.F.R. 1.1 as of September 13, 2022.

 

(b)  Any person convicted of violating subsection (a) of this section shall be punished by a fine not to exceed seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), by imprisonment not to exceed six (6) months, or both.

 

Section 2.  This act is effective July 1, 2023.

 

(END)

No flying those drones to the annoyance of others, in other words.

I didn't cover them all, however, there are a couple of others.  Here's one:

2023

STATE OF WYOMING

23LSO-0110

 

 

 

SENATE FILE NO. SF0032

 

 

Prohibiting drones over penal institutions.

 

Sponsored by: Joint Judiciary Interim Committee

 

 

A BILL

 

for

 

AN ACT relating to crimes and offenses; prohibiting the use of unmanned aircraft systems as specified; authorizing the department of corrections to take reasonable actions against unmanned aircraft systems trespassing over or in penal institutions; providing definitions; providing penalties; providing exceptions; requiring rulemaking; and providing for effective dates.

 

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:

 

Section 1.  W.S. 6‑5‑214 is created to read:  

 

6‑5‑214.  Unmanned aircraft systems and correctional institutions; definitions; penalties.

 

(a)  As used in this section:

 

(i)  "Contraband" means as defined in W.S. 6‑5‑213(c)(i);

 

(ii)  "Penal institution or correctional facility" means as defined in W.S. 6‑5‑213(c)(ii);

 

(iii)  "Unmanned aircraft system":

 

(A)  Means an unmanned, powered aircraft that:

 

(I)  Does not carry a human operator;

 

(II)  Can be autonomous or remotely piloted or operated; and

 

(III)  Can be expendable or recoverable.

 

(B)  Does not include:

 

(I)  A satellite orbiting the earth;

 

(II)  An unmanned aircraft system used by the United States Government or a person who is acting pursuant to a contract with the United States Government;

 

(III)  An unmanned aircraft system used by the state for purposes of state business;

 

(IV)  An unmanned aircraft system used by a law enforcement agency, emergency medical service agency, hazardous materials response team, disaster management agency, or other emergency management agency for the purpose of incident command, area reconnaissance, personnel and equipment deployment monitoring, training, or a related purpose.

 

(b)  Except as authorized by a person in charge of the penal institution or correctional facility, no person shall intentionally:

 

(i)  Photograph, surveil, broadcast or otherwise record a penal institution or correctional facility through the use of an unmanned aircraft system;

 

(ii)  Convey or attempt to convey contraband to a person confined in a penal institution or correctional facility through the use of an unmanned aircraft system; or

 

(iii)  Deliver or attempt to deliver a deadly weapon into a penal institution or correctional facility through the use of an unmanned aircraft system.

 

(c)  Any person who violates paragraphs (b)(i) or (ii) of this section is guilty of misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for not more than one (1) year, a fine of not more than two thousand dollars ($2,000.00), or both. Any person who violates paragraph (b)(iii) of this section is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than ten (10) years, a fine of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00), or both.

 

(d)  A person who uses an unmanned aircraft system under one (1) or more of the exclusions specified in subdivisions (a)(iii)(B)(II) through (IV) of this section shall provide reasonable notice of the intended use of the unmanned aircraft system at the penal institution or correctional facility to the person in charge of the institution or facility.

 

(e)  The person in charge of a penal institution or correctional facility may take or authorize the use of reasonable actions to prevent or stop the use of unmanned aircraft systems operating in violation of this section consistent with rules and regulations promulgated by the department of corrections pursuant to W.S. 25‑1‑105(h).

 

Section 2.  W.S. 25‑1‑105 by creating a new subsection (h) is amended to read:

 

25‑1‑105.  Powers of department; care of persons committed outside of state.

 

(h)  The department of corrections shall promulgate rules specifying reasonable actions a person in charge of a penal institution or correctional facility may take to stop or prevent a violation of W.S. 6‑5‑214(b).

 

Section 3.  The department of corrections shall promulgate any rules necessary to implement this act.

 

Section 4.  

 

(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, this act is effective July 1, 2023.

 

(b)  Sections 3 and 4 of this act are effective immediately upon completion of all acts necessary for a bill to become law as provided by Article 4, Section 8 of the Wyoming Constitution.

 

(END)

And here's one that pertains to manned aircraft.

SENATE FILE NO. SF0033

 

 

Defining aircraft for purposes of hunting prohibitions.

 

Sponsored by: Joint Judiciary Interim Committee

 

 

A BILL

 

for

 

AN ACT relating to game and fish; providing a definition of "aircraft" for purposes of the prohibition on the use of aircraft for hunting and other purposes as specified; and providing for an effective date.

 

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:

 

Section 1.  W.S. 23‑3‑306(a) is amended to read:

 

23‑3‑306.  Use of aircraft, automobiles, motorized and snow vehicles and artificial light for hunting or fishing prohibited; exceptions; penalties.

 

(a)  No person shall harass, pursue, hunt, shoot, or kill any Wyoming wildlife except predatory animals with, from, or by use of any aircraft, automotive vehicle, trailer, motor‑propelled wheeled vehicle, or vehicle designed for travel over snow. No person shall use any aircraft, to aid in the taking of any Wyoming wildlife, except predatory animals, whether by spotting or locating the wildlife, communicating with any person attempting to take the wildlife, or by providing other aid to any person taking the wildlife. Nothing in this subsection shall apply to the use of any aircraft by governmental agencies, their employees, contractors or designees performing any lawful duties. The commission may exempt handicapped hunters from any provision of this subsection. For purposes of this section "aircraft" means any machine or device capable of atmospheric flight including but not limited to an airplane, helicopter, glider, dirigible or unmanned aerial vehicle.

 

Section 2.  This act is effective July 1, 2023.

 

(END)

Dirigible?

Tragedy. P63 hits B-17 at Dallas Airshow. (Graphic)

I'm sorry, it's hard to see how this could happen.

First Jump. October 20, 1922

Lt. Harold R. Harris bailed out of a Leoning PW-2A over Dayton, Ohio, being the first U.S. military pilot to make an emergency parachute exist from an aircraft.  The aircraft crashed at 403 Valley Street without injuring anyone.

Harris.  He wasn't the first man saved by parachute, contrary to what this caption states.  Balloon crews had used them during World War One and passengers in disabled aircraft had used them before this day in 1922 as well.  He was the first aircraft pilot to use one.

Harris was a test pilot, and unlike many in that field, he lived a long life, serving in the military twice as well as having a role in commercial aviation.  He died at age 92 in 1988.

The crash site.

Indeed Crimean pilot Pavel Argeyev, who had served in the French and Imperial Russian militaries, died this day in an aircraft accident in Czechoslovakia, which he was flying as a test pilot.

This Day in Aviation: Lieutenant Commander Virgil Childers (“Squash”) Griffin, Jr., United States Navy, made the first takeoff from an aircraft carrier of the U. S. Navy.

This Day in Aviation: Lieutenant Commander Virgil Childers (“Squash”) Griffin, Jr., United States Navy, made the first takeoff from an aircraft carrier of the U. S. Navy.

Vought VE-7 approaching the USS Langley in October 1922.  This is the same ship, with the same sort of aircraft, involved in the item noted above.

Lex Anteinternet: Monday, September 21, 1942. First flight of the B-29

Lex Anteinternet: Monday, September 21, 1942. First flight of the B-29:  

Monday, September 21, 1942. First flight of the B-29

 YB-29s.

Today in World War II History—September 21, 1942: British and Indian troops launch assault into the Arakan Peninsula in Burma. First test flight of Boeing XB-29 Superfortress heavy bomber, Seattle, WA.

From Sarah Sundin's blog.

The B-29 was one of the great aircraft of the Second World War and was also, during the war, one that was downright dangerous to fly due to its frequent engine failures and fires.  It's loss rate early on in China, from which many were flown, was appalling.  Nonetheless, they were an advance that could be regarded as generational.

Forever associated with Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the plane became the world's first nuclear bomber, a status it retained for a while post-war.  By the Korean War, however, they were beginning to show their vulnerabilities in the new jet and rocket age. The B-36 resulted in them being reclassified as a medium bomber, an odd thought, and the B-29 was retired in 1960, and overall long run for a bomber of that period.  A late variant, the B-29D, which was reclassified as the B-50, continued on in limited use until 1963.  Ironically, a version copied by the Soviet Union from an example that landed on their territory during the war, the TU-4, remained in active service slightly longer and also saw service with the Red Chinese, meaning that for a time the airplane equipped both sides in the Cold War.

B-50.

The aircraft was not introduced into service until 1944 and its use was limited to the CBI and Pacific Theaters. Post-war, the British were briefly equipped with a limited number, a small number of which went on to serve with Australia.  An airliner version went on to become an early post-war transoceanic airliner, one of the ones that effectively put an end to flying boats.

Lex Anteinternet: Thursday, September 10, 1942. WAFS founded.

Lex Anteinternet: Thursday, September 10, 1942. WAFS founded.: 

Thursday, September 10, 1942. WAFS founded.

WAFS, 1943.

Today in World War II History—September 10, 1942: US forms WAFS (Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron) under Nancy Harkness Love for already-licensed pilots, a precursor to the WASP program.

From Sarah Sundin's blog.

The WAFS were civilians by regulation, not military pilots, and operated under ninety day contracts. They had to be licensed pilots with 200 hours of experience when they hired on, and while they wore uniforms, they had to buy them, although that was required of Army officers as well. Unlike officers, however, they had to pay for their own room and board as well.  There were only forty at the height of the program.

While they were required to have 200 hours of flight time, in reality the average for those signing on was 1,400 and a commercial pilots license. This made the WAFS not only quite experienced as pilots, in context, but unusual for female pilots.

Betty H. Gillies.

Betty H. Gillies was the first member, in that she was the first to report for training. She was an experienced pilot of fourteen years and married to the vice president of Grumman.

Lex Anteinternet: Tuesday, September 1, 1942. Casper Air Base gets the thumbs up.

Lex Anteinternet: Tuesday, September 1, 1942. Miscarriages of Justice.: According to the Wyoming State Historical Association, on this day in 1942 official approval was given to commence use of the Casper Air Base, which had been constructed in an incredibly small amount of time.  The existing county airport was Wardwell Field, the Casper area's second airport (the first was in what is now Evansville).  Today, what was Casper Air Base is the Natrona County International Airport, which actually uses at least one fewer runway than was constructed by the Army in 1942.  Wardwell Field's runways, in contrast, are city streets in the Town of Bar Nunn.