Categories
TDiFH

This Day in FAA History: July 2nd

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19260702: A drop of tree seeds over a burned area in Hawaii on this date was the first recorded instance of reforesting by airplane.
19320702: Franklin D. Roosevelt became the first U.S. presidential candidate to fly when he chartered a Ford Trimotor from Albany to Chicago to address the Democratic National Convention. (See January 14, 1943.)
19370702: A Lockheed Electra 10E carrying navigator Fred J. Noonan and famed pilot Amelia Earhart was reported overdue at Howland Island in the Pacific, a stop on an eastward trip planned as the first flight to follow an equatorial path around the globe. A massive search failed to locate the aircraft, and theories as to its fate abound.
19810702: PATCO’s nine-member executive board recommended unanimously that the union’s members reject the tentative contract agreed to on June 22 by PATCO President Robert Poli and Secretary of Transportation Drew Lewis.

Categories
TDiFH

This Day in FAA History: July 1st

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19270701: Frank Gates Gardner of Norfolk, Va., received the first Federal aircraft mechanic license.
19270701: The Secretary of Commerce appointed Clarence M. Young as Director of Aeronautics to administer the Aeronautics Branch under the general supervision of the Assistant Secretary for Aeronautics. A lawyer from Des Moines, Iowa, Young had served as a pilot on the Italian front in World War I and was later active in civil aeronautics. (See October 1, 1929.)
19270701: The transcontinental airway was transferred to the Department of Commerce from the Post Office Department. Extending from New York to San Francisco, the airway was 2,612 miles long, with 2,041 miles lighted (see January 29, 1929). Its facilities included 92 intermediate landing fields, 101 electric beacons, and 417 acetylene beacons. Also included were 17 radio stations (see March 1, 1960). Personnel involved in the transfer included 45 radio operators, 14 maintenance mechanics, and 84 caretakers.

Categories
TDiFH

This Day in FAA History: June 30th

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19270630: The Aeronautics Branch issued Transport License No. 199 to Phoebe Fairgrave Omlie, probably the first woman to obtain a pilot license from a civilian agency of the U.S. government. (Other American women had previously received pilot licenses from the Joint Army and Navy Board on Aeronautic Cognizance, which issued civilian flying licenses during 1918-19, as well as from organizations such as the Federation Aeronautique Internationale.) The Aeronautics Branch also issued one of the early aircraft and engine mechanic’s licenses to Omlie.
19270630: The Aeronautics Branch announced that its first airways strip map was available for purchase: Moline, Ill., to Kansas City, Mo.
19280630: During the quarter that ended on this date, the Commerce Department’s Aeronautics Branch established a five-member Aircraft Accident Board

Categories
TDiFH

This Day in FAA History: June 29th

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19270629: Army lieutenants A. F. Hegenberger and L. J. Maitland made the first nonstop flight between the U.S. mainland and Hawaii, taking off from Oakland, Calif., in a Fokker three-engine monoplane.
19450629: CAA announced that it was conducting extensive tests of six different types of airport approach lighting systems under development at its Experimental Station at the Indianapolis Municipal Airport.
19460629: The Douglas DC-6 made its first flight, and CAA certificated the plane nine months later.

Categories
TDiFH

This Day in FAA History: June 28th

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19390628: Pan American Airways inaugurated the first regularly scheduled transatlantic passenger airline service by heavier-than-air craft (see May 19, 1939). A Boeing 314 flying boat made the flight from New York to the Azores, Lisbon, and Marseilles. Pan American opened passenger service between New York and Southhampton, England, on July 8. The outbreak of World War II in Europe soon forced curtailment of these routes, and by October 3, 1939, only the New York to Lisbon portion was operating. (See June 1, 1945.)
19660628: The design of the Dulles International Airport terminal building won for Eero Saarinen and Associates one of three “first honors” awards for architectural excellence presented by the American Institute of Architects for 1966.

Categories
TDiFH

This Day in FAA History: June 27th

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19350627: The Supreme Court of the United States handed down its ruling in the case of Rathbun (Humphrey’s Executor) v. United States–a ruling that was to have a direct effect on the structure of the Civil Aeronautics Authority (see June 23, 1938). The Court held that President Roosevelt had exceeded his power in dismissing William E. Humphrey, a Republican member of the Federal Trade Commission, without assigning a statutory cause. The decision was based on the Court’s finding that the FTC, since it included quasi-legislative functions among its responsibilities, was a creature of Congress; therefore, Congress had been within its powers in specifying by law the basis for removal of appointees.

Categories
TDiFH

This Day in FAA History: June 26th

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19610626: FAA announced that as a result of a recent decision by the U.S. Civil Service Commission, many air traffic controller positions in approach control towers and air route traffic control centers would be raised one grade to reflect increased job requirements and complexity. Primarily affected were the positions of certain controllers performing coordination and radar control duties as well as facility chiefs and other supervisors. (See December 15, 1968.)
19640626: FAA issued a rule requiring Cockpit Voice Recorders to be installed in certain aircraft used by air carriers or commercial operators.

Categories
TDiFH

This Day in FAA History: June 25th

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19270625: Construction of the Propeller Research Tunnel was completed at the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). The largest research facility of its kind up to that time, the wind tunnel could accommodate the entire fuselage of a full-sized airplane, making it possible to conduct aerodynamic tests on full-scale fuselages, propellers, and other airplane parts. The facility, which was to make great contributions to aeronautical development (see November 1928), was part of a series of wind tunnels. NACA had begun operating its first wind tunnel on June 11, 1920.

Categories
TDiFH

This Day in FAA History: June 24th

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19470624: A reported sighting of “flying saucers” near Mt. Ranier, Wash., began widespread interest in unidentified flying objects (UFOs) among the American public. In 1948, the Air Force began gathering data on UFO reports under its Project Blue Book. In 1969, a study sponsored by the Air Force rejected the theory that UFOs were extraterrestial visitors, and Blue Book was discontinued on December 17 of that year.
19480624: The Soviet Union stopped rail and road traffic between Berlin and the West. The Western Powers began airlifting vital supplies to the beleaguered city.

Categories
TDiFH

This Day in FAA History: June 23rd

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19380623: President Roosevelt signed the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938 into law. Most of its provisions, however, were to become effective 60 days later (see August 22, 1938). The law created a new kind of Federal agency–one designed, in the light of the Brownlow Report (see January 12, 1937) and court decisions (see June 27, 1935), to keep its functions as the agent of Congress distinct from its functions as the agent of the President. This new Civil Aeronautics Authority was composed of three elements.
19810623: Administrator Helms announced FAA’s decision to adopt the Threat Alert and Collision Avoidance System, soon renamed the Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS). The TCAS system was an evolutionary improvement of the Beacon Collision Avoidance System (BCAS) that the agency had been developing (see March 1976).