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Feature Article: Names And What
Bell decibel
Morse code
Doppler frequency change
Mach speed of sound
Pitot speed tube
Venturi suction tube
Bernoulli pressure
Newton laws of motion
Pascal pressure
Buys-Ballot wind/pressure
Coriolis force
Fahrenheit thermometer
Celsius metric thermometer
Kelvin absolute scale
Hertz frequency cycle
Kollsman altimeter window
Lear ADF
Famous Firsts
Hugh Robinson, Aviation pioneer invented basic aircraft arresting
gear system for carrier landings. First used landing on a ship
in San Francisco Bay after takeoff from shore.
Seat belts were first adopted in 1913 when W. D. Billingsley
was ejected from a Wright seaplane froml1600 AGL.
In the 1920's Maj. William C. Ocker and Capt. Carl J. Crane did
pioneering work toward instrument flying and developed an instructional
curriculum
David McCampbells was the first naval aviator to land on an aircraft
carrier at night.
Chandelle is French from montrer en chandelle, which means climb
around a candle.
Armed Pilots
Pilots carrying mail had to be armed enroute by order of the
U.S. Postal Service in the 20s and 30s.
Barry Schiff thinks that pilots sit on the left because of
ships passing left side to left side. This is not so. The left
to left passing of ships came from ancient times when the right
side of the ship used a protruding steering oar called a steerboard.
The left to left passing protected this particular oar which
was also under the captain's direction. Captains to this day
have their post and cabins on the right side of ships.
The pilot on the left side derived from the need to mount
a horse from the left side in order to maintain an effective
sword hand while mounting. Cavalry men were the first who were
volunteered into becoming pilots. Hence, the left side mounting
of aircraft from habit. Hence, left patterns
Air pockets
Term coined by Charles Willard in 1910. "The air was as
full of air pockets, as a Swiss cheese is full of holes."
N-numbers
An international convention Paris in 1919 assigned the letter
N to all U. S aircraft. N was selected because of the Curtiss
NC-4 that first flew across the Atlantic.
Hop
The term `hop' meaning a local flight came from abbreviated log
book entries in WW-1 for "high operational patrol".
First stall strips were used by Messerschmidt.
What is peculiar about the space shuttle orbiter's landing
gear? It cannot be retracted.
Leonard M. Greene invented the stall warner prior to 1950.
First bomb dropped from an aircraft was in 1910 at Tanforan
Racetrack near San Francisco.
First aircraft carrier takeoff occurred in San Francisco Bay.
First pilots license was issued to Glenn in 1911. Prior law was
that of gravity.
First airmail flight and delivery was between Petaluma and Santa
Rosa. Three emergency landings enroute.
First gyroscopic attitude indicators were tested on Blimps.
Mayday is the English word that sounds just like the second
French word of the phrase "venes m'aider", which means
"come help me".
Hangar--Comes from the French word 'hangar' meaning shed or
outhouse
Last Modified December 19, ©2025 TAGE.COM
