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Posted on 09/11/2004 11:24:21 PM PDT by snippy_about_it
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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| Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support. The FReeper Foxhole hopes to share with it's readers an open forum where we can learn about and discuss military history, military news and other topics of concern or interest to our readers be they Veteran's, Current Duty or anyone interested in what we have to offer. If the Foxhole makes someone appreciate, even a little, what others have sacrificed for us, then it has accomplished one of it's missions. We hope the Foxhole in some small way helps us to remember and honor those who came before us.
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 Civilian Test Pilot Captain John Miller had what it took to fly the weird ones -- the autogiro and the Grumman J2F Duck. By Bud Walker John Miller gently advanced the throttle with his left hand. As the autogiro's 225-hp radial engine roared to life, the huge rotor blades began to sweep precariously close to his head. Suddenly, the aircraft began vibrating violently, and the massive rotor blades ripped through the tail section. The autogiro began to disintegrate around Miller. "It tore the aircraft to shreds," Miller recalled. "Pieces flew all over the airport. I just held on and tried to avoid getting decapitated. It was not a real healthy place to be!"  It was 1937, and Miller's string of accident-free test flights had been broken. So had his neck. The cracked vertebrae in his neck didn't deter Miller from completing the testing program, however. Three years later, the Kellett KD-1 Autogiro became the first wingless aircraft to obtain official certification from the Civil Aeronautics Authority. After seven decades and more than 35,000 hours in the cockpit, John Miller is now being recognized for his pioneering role as a test pilot for two of the most eccentric and innovative aircraft in history--the autogiro and the Duck. First developed by Juan de la Cierva, the autogiro made its first successful flight in January 1923 in Madrid. Dubbed the "flying windmill" by the press because of its oversized rotor blades, the autogiro looked like an airplane but flew like a helicopter. Unlike a helicopter, however, the autogiro's rotor was not powered in flight. The standard propeller provided forward airspeed, causing the rotor to turn. That enabled the aircraft to perform nearly vertical descents, but because the rotor was unpowered, the autogiro could not hover or take off vertically.  John Miller was the first individual to purchase a Pitcairn PCA-2 autogiro, Serial No. 13, in 1931. That number had been offered to but turned down by Amelia Earhart. Two years later, Earhart received national recognition for making a transcontinental flight in an autogiro--although Miller had accomplished the same feat two weeks earlier. "I made it out and back," he mused after the flight. "She crashed it on the way out, then totaled it on the way back!" Miller honed his autogiro flying skills while performing incredible feats--such as loops and rolls--at airshows across the country, including the National Air Races in Los Angeles and the International Air Races in Chicago in 1933. "I was the only one who ever did loops and rolls at airshows [with an autogiro]," Miller declared. "Other pilots thought I was crazy. But I wasn't crazy--I was an engineer!" A 1927 graduate of Pratt Institute in New York City, Miller knew the autogiro could withstand the maneuvers, and he meant to prove to everyone that it was a safe aircraft. Wallace Kellett, president of the Kellett Autogiro Company, visited Miller in 1937 in Chicago, where he was stationed as a captain flying for United Airlines. He persuaded Miller, who by then was one of the most experienced autogiro pilots available, to finish the flight-test program for the world's first wingless autogiro.  The Kellett KD-1 was unprecedented in that it featured a perfected "direct-control" system originally developed by Cierva. It lacked wings, ailerons, elevators and rudder--all directional control for the KD-1 was provided through the unique tilting rotor head. This simplified a complex control system, enabling the pilot to use a conventional "stick" to tilt the rotor head for complete directional control. While Kellett was developing the wingless KD-1, Miller often accompanied him on trips to Washington, D.C., where they lobbied members of Congress to provide funding for an experimental rooftop operation to expedite mail delivery. "I'd land the autogiro in streets and parks throughout the capital, taking up senators and congressmen on flights all over the city," Miller remembered. "I even shuttled some of them to their golf courses. Only the White House was restricted. Everywhere else--no permission was necessary." Their efforts paid off, albeit sparingly. Miller recalled that he "leaned over President Franklin D. Roosevelt's shoulder as he signed a bill into law providing $63,000 for the rooftop mail operation. It wasn't much money even then. In fact, it was a very modest amount." Miller's reward was unemployment. The Kellett company did not wish to be an operator; it was strictly a manufacturer licensed to develop the wingless autogiro. Fortunately, Miller's lobbying skills bailed him out again. In early 1939, he convinced Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, then president of Eastern Airlines (and a decorated World War I flying ace), to take over the autogiro mail operation for publicity purposes.  Miller was at the controls on the morning of July 6, 1939, for the first flight. "We had a one-year contract to fly the mail from the rooftop of the Philadelphia Post Office to Camden Airport in Philadelphia (and later, Philadelphia International Airport)," Miller said. "I guaranteed Captain Rickenbacker that I would make at least 75 percent of the scheduled flights. The operation was flawless, performed with a perfect safety record." Miller exercised an option in his contract to stay with Eastern at the completion of the one-year mail contract. At the outbreak of World War II, Igor Sikorsky successfully hovered his newly developed VS-300 helicopter, a development that led the military to drop the autogiro. Miller, meanwhile, was still flying full time for Eastern and, on his days off, operating Miller's Machine Works from his basement. Applying his engineering skills, Miller manufactured small parts for the Columbia Aircraft Corporation, located near his home on Long Island. They say history repeats itself, and in late 1941 the president of Columbia Aircraft asked Miller to lead the test-flight program for another strange-looking hybrid--the Grumman J2F Duck, originally developed by aviation pioneer Grover Loening. Part airplane, part boat, the Duck was as agile in the air as it was comfortable in the water. The Navy Department had requested Grumman to free its facilities for the manufacture of vitally needed F6F Hellcat fighters, and to transfer the production of 330 J2F-6 Ducks to Columbia Aircraft.  The amphibious Duck not only was capable of taking off and touching down on land or water but also was sturdy enough to be used with an arresting gear for aircraft carrier landings. Its wheels and struts retracted upward by means of chains and sprockets into a single huge float faired directly into the lower fuselage. The Duck was powered by a 1050-hp supercharged, 9-cylinder radial engine. Miller recalled that although engine failures during flight testing were infrequent, "they always seemed to occur at the worst possible time." One such incident occurred as Miller was flying 16,000 feet above Long Island, above a solid cloud overcast. Reaching down into the cockpit, Miller switched the fuel flow from the auxiliary tank. The engine suddenly died. With a 400-foot ceiling, Miller was forced to make a dead-stick instrument approach through the cloud cover. Miraculously, he was able to land safely at Floyd Bennett Field, a former naval base in Brooklyn. Columbia's contract was canceled at the end of the war. That placed the Duck, and subsequently Miller's test-piloting career, on the brink of extinction. However, four Ducks can be seen today in museums across the country. In addition, two planes Miller flew during his commercial career are now displayed in the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum.  "They've got a Boeing 247D that I flew with United, and a DC-3 that I captained when I was with Eastern," Miller pointed out with his customary dry wit. "I figure when I croak, they'll freeze-dry me and put me in one of them. It'll have to be in the DC-3 because I didn't save my United Airlines uniform."  Miller embarked on another aviation excursion after his mandatory retirement from Eastern at age 60. He started his own helicopter air charter service, flying a Bell 47G three-seat helicopter. Miller sold the charter service in 1971 and retired (again), but he remains active within the aviation community. Currently he is serving his seventh term as president of the United Flying Octogenarians (UFOs). Billed as "the most exclusive organization in the world," this unique aviation group recognizes active pilots age 80 and above. The club was founded in 1982 and has more than 120 active members. In addition to his leadership role with the UFOs, Miller lectures regularly and attends numerous airshows and conventions each year.  During the past few years, Miller has received several awards for his material role in the development of rotary wing aircraft. He was awarded the annual Sikorsky Award for his part in the evolution of the helicopter, and received a Certificate of Honor from the National Aeronautic Association for his contributions to aviation. Another signal honor for Miller was his honorary fellowship in the Society of Test Pilots, for having "promoted the moral obligation of the test pilot to the safety of the aerospace world." Miller joins an elite group of past recipients, including General Jimmy Doolittle, Howard Hughes, Charles Lindbergh and Igor Sikorsky. Miller views the awards with his normal self-deprecating style: "I think it's just that these organizations were looking at the history of the helicopter, and said, 'Gee, this guy Miller is getting kinda old. We'd better give him some awards before he kicks!'" ![](http://images8.fotki.com/v107/photos/1/133612/1319707/JOHN_MILLER-vi.jpg") New museum member, 97 year-old pilot John Miller, a contemporary of Amelia Earhart and Jimmy Doolittle, renews his acquaintance with our KD1A, an aircraft that he flew in the 1930's. Pondering his own remarkable flight through the chapters of aviation history, Miller is comfortable with an epilogue that simply records his legacy of hard work and dedication to the advancement of aviation: "I didn't go after records or the publicity. I just went out and did the work."      |
Join us Today at the rally we call:
What: A peaceful remembrance of those with whom we served in Vietnam - those who lived and those who died.
We will tell the story of their virtues and how that contrasts with the lies told by John Kerry.
When: Sunday, Sept. 12, 2004 @ 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM EDT
Where:Upper Senate Park, Washington, D.C. It is easy to get to, shady and pretty, with a great view of the Capitol dome in back of the speaker's platform. THIS IS A NEW LOCATION AS OF 7/17/04
Contact: kerrylied.com
Thanks. Dumb red x's!
Hey Darksheare, you know Captain Miller?
General characteristics
Autogyros can take off and land in short fields compared to conventional fixed-wing aircraft. They can even land straight down. When they have a jump start feature, they can jump vertically and then start flying forward so avoiding a take off run (but this does not give them a hovering ability); but this feature adds weight, complexity and expense so it is not common. If they have a variable-pitch rotor, they can flare to a soft vertical landing, using excess momentum in the rotor to perform a soft landing; this is related to the way the jump start feature is implemented.
Autogyros are notably safe. If the engine should fail, the autogyro does not stall or spin. Instead, it begins to settle like a parachute. The pilot can usually maintain some directional control by slipping the rotor.
Autogyros are neither efficient nor fast. Fixed-wing aircraft use less fuel over the same distance.
They are more maneuverable than fixed-wing aircraft, but cannot hover as a true helicopter can. When helicopters became practical, autogyros were neglected for nearly thirty years. Yet they were used extensively by major newspapers to move information from city roof top to roof top.
As the infrastructure for service, repair, training and building increases the number of gyrocopter users may increase. NASA is said to be exploring the use of these sporty flying machines to encourage personal air transportation for everyone.
There are three main types of autogyro: Early examples were tractor-type, meaning the engine and propeller were in the front of the aircraft, and pulled the plane forward. Such planes usually had small wings to provide better stability. Most autogyro today are pusher-type, meaning the engine and prop are mounted behind the pilot/passengers and push the plane forward.
The final type of autogyro has Vertical Take-Off or VTO capability. Aircraft(such as the Groen) with this feature have a rotor with adjustable blade pitch (like a helicopter's cyclic) and have the ability to use the engine to spin the rotor while on the ground. The rotor blades are turned flat so they produce no lift, and the engine is used to spin the rotor as fast as possible. When ready for takeoff, the engine is decoupled from the rotor and the blade pitch is set for maximum lift. The kinetic energy stored in the rotor lifts the plane a few feet off the ground, and the conventional propeller is used to give the plane horizontal airspeed before the (now unpowered) rotor speed decays too much to keep the gyroplane in the air.
History
Juan de la Cierva, a Spanish aeronaut, invented the autogiro sometime around 1923. His craft used a tractor-mounted forward propeller and engine, a rotor mounted on a mast, and a vertical stabilizer. His first three designs the C.1, C.2, and C.3, constructed by Parnall were unstable. His fourth design, the C.4, was successful.
The C-11 and some of his later designs had a power-coupling to the rotor, the so-called "jump" feature. The rotor would be sped up before the take-off roll. The coupling would be disengaged during the take-off as the airflow began to power the rotor. This allowed the craft to take off with almost no roll at all.
The C-19 was licensed to a number of manufacturers, including Harold Pitcairn in the U.S. (in 1928) and Focke-Achgelis of Germany. In 1931 Amelia Earhart flew a Pitcairn PCA-2 to a then world altitude record of 18,415 feet.
In World War II, Germany pioneered very small gyrogliders towed by submarines to provide aerial surveillance. It's reported that German gyro pilots were often forgotten in the heat of battle when the submarine dived suddenly. The Japanese also developed the Kayaba Ka-1 Autogyro for reconnaissance, artillery-spotting, and anti-submarine uses.
The autogyro was resurrected when Dr. Igor Bensen saw a captured German U-Boat's gyroglider, and was fascinated by its characteristics.
Modern autogyros, such as the Bensen B-8M gyrocopter, generally use a pusher configuration to increase visibility for the pilot. For simplicity, they lack both variable-pitch rotors and powered rotors.
Since Bensen, a number of improved designs have been constructed. Two FAA-certified designs have been commercial failures, despite performing well.
Modern autogyros are quite frisky on the ground, and versions with brakes and tied rotors have been driven successfully in heavy automobile traffic.
No problem, partner. :-)
Good night partner. Sweet dreams.
Good Night, Snippy.
Good morning, snippy and everyone at the Freeper Foxhole.
Present!
Read: Matthew 23:1-15
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe . . . and have neglected . . . justice and mercy and faith. —Matthew 23:23
Bible In One Year: Proverbs 13-15; 2 Corinthians 5
A good-Samaritan-turned-bad saved a woman's life and then stole her purse. Police in Los Angeles said that a passerby had noticed a distressed woman getting ready to jump off a bridge. The man struggled with the woman until she broke free and then fell back onto the concrete and was knocked unconscious. That's when the surprise came. According to witnesses, the suspect then grabbed the woman's purse and ran off.
That man's outrageous behavior illustrates the pattern of the Pharisees. They too seemed ready to go to the rescue of others (Matthew 23:15). They were advertised as men of prayer, men of the Scriptures, champions of the faith, and helpers of the needy. But the intentions of their hearts revealed that they were actually thieves and exploiters of people.
None of us is above such behavior. We too can reach out to others with an honest desire to help them, yet underneath we may become more interested and concerned about our own welfare than about theirs.
Lord, we don't want to be like that. We long to be as real and loving as Your Son. Help us not to succumb to selfishness. As we express Your love to others, don't let our motives turn into a desire for self-advantage. —Mart De Haan
Nope, afeared that I do not know him.
:-(
But he does sound familiar: "Other pilots thought I was crazy. But I wasn't crazy--I was an engineer!"
Today's classic warship, USS Morgan County (LST-1048)
LST-511 class tank landing ship
Displacement: 2,366 t.
Length: 328'
Beam: 50'
Draft: 14'1"
Speed: 11.6 k.
Complement: 119
Armament: 8 40mm; 12 20mm
USS LST-1048 was laid down 7 January 1945, by the Dravo Corp., Neville Island, Pa.; launched 17 February 1945; sponsored by Mrs. L. P. Struble; placed in partial commission 15 March 1945 for the cruise down the Mississippi River; and commissioned at New Orleans 28 March 1945, Lt. Robert G. Stevenson in command.
After shakedown off Florida, LST-1048 departed New Orleans 1 May 1945 for Hawaii, arriving Pearl Harbor 3 June. She sailed to the Marshall Islands, where she transported ammunition between various bases for the next 3 months, before departing Saipan 14 September with units of the 3d Marine Division destined for duty in Japan.
LST-1048 decommissioned in Japan 14 May 1946, and was turned over to the Army for the next 5 years to aid in the task of repatriation. Following the outbreak of hostilities in Korea, she recommissioned at Yokosuka, Japan, 26 August 1950, reaching Korea in time to play an important role in the Inchon invasion.
She continued to operate in Korean waters into early 1951, before returning home, arriving San Diego 21 April. Her next western Pacific tour included a survey of the Marshalls for CINCPACFLT. She then returned to Japan, arriving Yokosuka 26 April 1952, to resume cargo and transport operations in the war zone, in support of UN forces meeting the challenge of Communist aggression. In December she returned to the west coast.
Following a run to supply stations in the Arctic region, she departed San Diego 19 October 1953 again for the Far East, where she participated in amphibious exercises, returning to the United States May 1954. Following overhaul at Mare Island, she reported to her new base at Long Beach, Calif., June 1955. LST-1048 was named MORGAN COUNTY 1 July.
She decommissioned 10 May 1956, and was turned over to the Military Sea Transportation Service. She was struck from the Naval Register 1 August 1959, and sold 10 June 1960 to Ships Inc.
MORGAN COUNTY received three battle stars for Korean service.
On This Day In History
Birthdates which occurred on September 12:
1720 Frederick Philipse III NYC, land owner (Bronx, Westchester & Putnam)
1788 Alexander Campbell founded Disciples of Christ
1806 Andrew Hull Foote Rear Admiral (Union Navy), died in 1863
1818 Richard Jordan Gatling US, inventor (hand-cranked machine gun)
1880 Henry L Mencken Baltimore, Md, newspaperman/critic (Prejudices)
1888 Maurice Chevalier Paris, thanked heaven for little girls (Gigi)
1892 Alfred A Knopf US, publisher (1966 Alexander Hamilton Medal)
1902 Margaret Hamilton Ohio, wicked witch of the west (Wizard of Oz)
1909 Spud Chandler baseball player (AL MVP 1943)
1913 Jesse Owens track star, spoiled Hitler's 1936 Olympics with 4 gold
1921 Frank McGee Monroe La, news anchor (NBC Evening News)
1921 Stanislaw Lem Poland, science-fiction writer (Solaris)
1931 George Jones country singer (White Lightning, Oh Lonesome Me)
1931 Ian Holm Ilford Essex England, actor (Himmler-Holocaust)
1934 Gunther Gebel-Williams lion tamer (Ringling Bros Circus)
1935 Richard H Hunt Chicago, sculptor (Pyramidal Construction)
1940 Linda Gray Santa Monica Calif, actress (Sue Ellen Ewing-Dallas)
1940 Stephen J Solarz (Rep-D-NY)
1943 Maria Muldaur Greenwich Village, NY, singer (Midnight at the Oasis)
1944 Barry White Galveston Tx, singer (Love's Theme)
1949 Irina Rodnina USSR, pairs figure skater (Olympic-gold-1972, 76, 80)
1954 Peter Scolari New Rochelle NY, actor (Jerry-Newhart)
1958 Wilfredo Benitez PR, boxer (world champ at 17y176d)
Morning E.G.C.
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