Re: Ditching. Landing a plane on water
- From: msb@xxxxxxx (Mark Brader)
- Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2009 16:22:16 -0600
Glenn Arthur:
FWIW, what verb is used to describe bringing a seaplane to rest
afloat on its pontoons at the end of a flight?
"Land". Which leads to this question: is there a single word for
the converse emergency situation, where a seaplane is forced to
touch down on land?
Incidentally, the first airplane to cross the Atlantic was a
seaplane: a US Navy plane, the NC-4, in 1919. It was one of a
group of four planes built for the trip; three set out, as one was
destroyed by weather before they started. They planned to stop at
Newfoundland and the Azores, and made additional stops en route to
deal with emergencies. The other two planes were both damaged after
emergency landings in the open sea; one crew was rescued by a passing
ship, and the other got safely into port by taxiing over 200 miles.
As I've already written up the story for an old newsgroup posting,
I'll repeat it below.
But first, the first airplanes to travel around the world -- a group
of US Army planes, in 1924 -- were also seaplanes, *for the first
part* of the trip. They traveled as seaplanes around the Pacific
Rim from the US west coast to southeast Asia someplace, then had the
pontoons removed and wheels put on, and operated as land places for
the rest of the journey! (This group also started with four planes;
one was delayed and flew separtely, and crashed -- I think in Alaska --
but the crew survived. The other three completed the trip. With many
delays for repairs, it took 175 days.)
[old posting, slightly edited, follows]
The story of the NC-4 is told by Hy Steirman and Glenn D. Kittler
in "The First Transatlantic Flight, 1919", published by Drum Books,
ISBN 0-931933-19-6. (The copyright date on my copy is given as "1961,
1986" without explanation.) This article is based entirely on that.
There were originally 4 planes, NC-1 through NC-4, flying-boat
biplanes especially built to a new design. They turned out to be
too heavy for the 3 engines originally planned, so a 4th was added
in the rear. Then the NC-2 was smashed by a storm into the pier that
it was moored beside (because the hangar built for the 4 planes was
only big enough to hold 2 of them!!), and the NC-1 was damaged in a
fire, and the remaining pieces of both planes were used to build one
(with slightly mismatched wings!), which kept the number NC-1.
So 3 planes set out on the flight. After that...
May 8, 1919
- All 3 planes take off from Rockaway navy base, NY
- NC-4 loses rear engine near Nantucket Shoals
- NC-4 then loses center front engine, lands 100 miles offshore
- NC-1 and NC-3 land at Halifax, NS
- NC-4 crew spends 2 hours working on engines before giving up
and deciding to taxi to shore overnight (speed 10 knots)
May 9
- NC-4's left and right engines overstrained during taxi, both
fail, but are repaired
- NC-4's left and right engines fail again 1 mile from Chatham
navy base, MA; plane is towed in; center front engine turns
out not to be repairable, and another, smaller engine is put
on instead
- 4 propellers on NC-1 and NC-3 are found to be cracked; at
first it's thought replacements will have to be flown in, then
someone remembers where there are some left over from the war
May 10
- NC-3's left and right engines' mechanical starter won't
- NC-1 takes off from Halifax, but another propeller cracks
40 miles out; they land at sea to inspect it, then return
to Halifax
- NC-4 is repaired and replacement engine put on, but *its*
left and right engines' mechanical starter won't
- New starter for NC-4 is flown from Rockaway to Montauk, NY,
there to meet faster Chatham-based plane, but Chatham-based
plane hit a sandbar at takeoff; slower plane carries starter
to Chatham and NC-4 is repaired, but does not take off due to
storm forecast
- NC-1 and NC-3 are repaired, some hours apart, and fly separately
to Trepassey, NF, each landing there in bad weather
May 11-13
- All 3 planes remain grounded by storm
May 14
- Chatham's weather clears first and NC-4 takes off
- NC-4 exchanges radio-telegrams with F.D.Roosevelt (Asst. Sec.
of Navy), but Marconi company refuses to forward any personal
messages because they have no tariff for telegrams originating
in airplanes!
- NC-4 lands at Halifax, intending only a short stop, but engine
cleaning is found to be necessary, taking the rest of the day
for an incomplete job
- NC-1 and NC-3 are mysteriously unable to take off from Trepassey
May 15
- NC-4 takes off from Halifax, but center front engine gives
more trouble; plane lands at sea and cleaning job is completed
- NC-4 takes off and flies to Trepassey, finds NC-1 and NC-3
still attempting takeoffs and failing
- NC-4's engineer explains that fuel gauges read differently
according to whether plane is fueled on land or in water,
due to angle of plane; NC-1 and NC-3 were overweight with fuel
- NC-4's center front engine is replaced by proper type and all
3 planes are checked over
May 16
- Even correctly fueled, with fuel for the longest hop the planes
prove too heavy to fly; they abandon the long-range radio and
various other items, and one very disappointed NC-3 crew member
- All 3 planes finally take off from Trepassey; the NC-1 gains
altitude so slowly that icebergs are a hazard for some hours
- When night falls, the NC-3's lights are found not to work,
and unexpected broken clouds form
May 17
- NC-1 and NC-3 almost collide in the clouds and darkness;
decision to fly separately rather than in loose formation
- Visibility worsens with daytime; clouds and fog; both NC-1
and NC-3 eventually get off course and decide to land at sea
to get a radio bearing for a better position fix; NC-1 is
100 miles from nearest point of the Azores, NC-3 45 miles
- Surface fog conceals 50+ foot waves; both planes are smashed
up as they attempt to land at sea, but their hulls (designed
to be very seaworthy) hold together all right
- NC-3 crew moves generator from damaged front center engine to
left engine, gets radio bearings
- NC-4 crew sights the Azores and hopes to reach planned landing
point there, Ponta Delgada; but more fog appears and they
decide to land short, at Horta
- NC-4 crew lands at wrong bay and has to take off for a short hop
to correct location of Horta; time from Trepassey, 15 hr 18 min
- NC-1 crew sights a freighter, but flare pistol fails
- Crew of another freighter, the Ionia from Greece, sights the
NC-1 *before* its crew sights the Ionia; all rescued, then
US navy's ship Gridley makes rendezvous and collects them;
NC-1's remains are untowable and are sunk as navigation hazard
May 18
- NC-3 is gradually becoming more damaged by sea, but keeps an
engine running and is also being blown toward Azores
- NC-4 grounded by fog
May 19
- NC-3 taxis into Ponta Delgada under its own power, after
60 hours and 205 miles at sea!
- NC-4 grounded by fog
May 20
- NC-4 takes off from Horta after storm delay, and finally
reaches Ponta Delgada
May 21
- NC-4's generator gives trouble before takeoff, and is replaced
May 22-26
- NC-4 grounded by storm
May 27
- NC-4 found to require engine cleaning, then finally takes off
from Ponta Delgada
- NC-4 goes off course, but misaligned compass detected in time
to recover proper route
- NC-4 lands at Lisbon, Portugal; flying time from Rockaway
41 hr 58 min spread over 19 days; distance 3322 miles
May 28-29
- rest and partying
May 30
- NC-4 takes off from Lisbon, circles and lands again for
photographers, takes off again
- NC-4's left engine develops radiator leak; plane lands on
Mondego River, Figueria, Portugal; after repairs the tide has
gone out, forcing some hours' delay
- NC-4 takes off from Figueria and flies as far as El Ferrol,
Spain before dark
May 31
- NC-4 takes off from El Ferrol despite weather forecast, and
flies successfully through fog and rain to Plymouth, England.
THE CREW OF THE NC-4:
- Lt. Cmdr. Albert C. "Putty" Read, commander
- Walter Hinton, pilot
- Elmer F. Stone, co-pilot
- James L. Breese, engineer
- Eugene S. Rhoads, machinist
- Herbert C. Rodd, radioman
(I don't have ranks for all the crew members)
IN COMMAND OF THE FLIGHT:
- Cmdr. John H. Towers, aboard the NC-3
(By naval tradition and regulations Towers should have taken charge
of the NC-4 from Ponta Delgada. The Secretary of the Navy, Josephus
Daniels, felt that this would be bad PR as the public would not
understand the custom, and kept Read in charge.)
This flight used an unusual form of navigational aid. On each of the
long oceanic segments, the navy stationed ships at regular intervals
along the route! For the Trepassey - Ponta Delgada leg there were
25 of them.
--
Mark Brader, Toronto / "A computer makes it possible to do, in half an hour,
msb@xxxxxxx / tasks which were completely unnecessary to do before."
My text in this article is in the public domain.
.
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- Ditching. Landing a plane on water
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- Re: Ditching. Landing a plane on water
- From: D. Glenn Arthur Jr.
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