Browsing: Vehicles

A Brief History On May 31, 2003, Air France retired their Concorde supersonic jet airliners after a career that started in 1976.  Air France had a fleet of seven of the fast jets, while British Airways also fielded a fleet of seven.  An additional six of the so called SSTs were made for non-commercial users. Digging Deeper The first supersonic airliner, the Concorde was costly to operate and to fly on. The only competition ever created was the Russian Tu-144, jokingly called the “Concordski.”  The Russian version of supersonic airliner lasted from 1975 to 1978, although cargo versions remained in…

A Brief History On May 29, 1945, the Consolidated B-32 Dominator, an American heavy bomber, made its first combat flight.  First flown in 1942 and on active duty in January of 1945, the B-32 was an alternative to the Boeing B-29 Superfortress in case the B-29 did not work. Digging Deeper A development based on the B-24 Liberator, the B-32 used the same engines as the B-29 and had retractable gun turrets bristling with 10 .50 caliber machine guns for defense.  Also proposed were rear facing 20 mm cannons in the engine nacelles.  The pressurized cabin never worked, a major…

A Brief History On May 27, 1975, a bus carrying 45 elderly women crashed in North Yorkshire, England at Dibble’s Bridge, resulting in the driver and 32 passengers killed and the other 13 occupants injured.  The accident was the worst motor vehicle accident in British history by number of fatalities. Digging Deeper The bus, called a coach in England, was a 1967 Bedford VAM5 taking the ladies on a day trip.  The driver was a substitute, and apparently the recently changed brakes had an issue that resulted in the bus being unable to slow down going downhill, causing the vehicle…

A Brief History On May 26, 2002, Interstate highway I-40 in Oklahoma was the scene of a disaster when barges towed on the Arkansas River struck a support pier on a bridge, crashing it to the water and killing 14 people.  Another 11 people were injured in the wreck. Digging Deeper The captain of the towboat pulling the barges suffered a fainting spell, leading to the accident.  Eight passenger cars and three semi-trucks fell into the water.  Some other major Interstate highway disasters include: A church bus on I-71 in Kentucky was struck head on by a drunk driver in…

A Brief History On May 23, 1939, the submarine USS Squalus demonstrated the dangers faced by submarine sailors even in peacetime.  Squalus was commissioned in March of 1939, with a length of 310 feet and a normal crew of five officers and 54 enlisted men. Digging Deeper With four bow torpedo tubes and four more aft, Squalus was a formidable warrior, boasting a 3-inch gun and four machine guns.  After completing a series of test dives, Squalus once again dove on May 23, 1939, and suffered the catastrophic failure of her fresh air intake valve, partly flooding the sub, drowning 26 men…