A Brief History On January 6, 1930, a milestone in automobile engine history occurred when the first diesel powered automobile trip was taken from Indianapolis, Indiana to New York, New York. Clessie Cummins of Cummins Engine Company (1919) had installed one of his Diesel engines in a used Packard limousine and took the first short ride in a diesel powered car on Christmas, 1929. When the engine and automobile combination proved successful, Cummins then orchestrated the first road trip by a Diesel powered automobile with his trip to New York. Digging Deeper Internal combustion engines had been furiously developed during…
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A Brief History On December 29, 1939, the Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber made its first flight. Although largely eclipsed by its fellow US heavy bomber, the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, in myth, literature, and cultural references, the fact is that the B-24 was more numerous (most produced heavy bomber in history, most produced US military airplane in history) and could fly farther and faster than the more famous B-17. The B-24 also could carry more bombs than a B-17, and each plane had a normal crew of 10 men. Digging Deeper Powered by 4 Pratt and Whitney turbo-supercharged radial…
A Brief History On December 21, 1990, one of the greatest contributors to American military technology and perhaps the greatest airplane designer of all time passed away quietly in Burbank, California at the age of 80. Born in a small Michigan town to poor Swedish parents, Clarence L. “Kelly” Johnson was an enthusiastic student and showed a glimpse of the future when he designed his first airplane at the age of 13! Digging Deeper Education at Flint Junior College and the University of Michigan followed, where he was awarded a Master’s degree in Aeronautical Engineering. At Michigan Johnson realized a…
A Brief History On December 20, 1957, one of the most important flights in the history of passenger airlines took place when the Boeing 707 jetliner made its first flight. Although not the first jetliner to carry passengers, the 707 was the first successful commercial passenger jet, and remains in limited service today. Digging Deeper Developed from the Boeing prototype jetliner 367-80, circa 1954, the 707 also traces its lineage to the great Boeing bombers of the post-World War II era, the B-47 and the B-52. Like those bombers, the 707 has a relatively narrow fuselage and carries its 4…
A Brief History On December 5, 2014, the American space agency, NASA, successfully launched an Orion space capsule with a Delta IV Heavy rocket supplying the lifting power. The unmanned Orion space capsule launched on this test flight is the first of America’s next generation of manned space vehicles. Digging Deeper The US has been without a manned space system of its own since the last of the Space Shuttles were retired in 2011. American astronauts have had to hitch rides with spacecraft from other countries in order to go to and from the International Space Station. The Orion, named…