1st Fatal Airplane Crash, 1st Rescue From Fatal Airplane Crash for Future President September 3, 2009

Not a Good Demostration

On This Date in History: 

Orville and Wilbur Wright made their first public demonstration of their airplane on this date in 1908.   Actually, it wasn’t the same Wright Flyer that made the historic flight in December 1903. They had made a number of improvements over nearly 5 years, but no one really noticed. The day that they made their initial flight, they had invited the press but no one came. Instead, they had been focused on the ill-fated attempt at heavier than air flight by the more celebrated Samuel Pierpont Langley. Following the Wright’s flight at Kitty Hawk, NC the New York Daily Tribune printed a small story with the headline “Dayton Boys Fly Airship.” The newspaper obviously had no clue as to what they had accomplished. After that, the Wrights worked on improving their “airship” but even the farmers weren’t interested. A farmer once watched the Wrights fly a plane near Dayton, Ohio 24 miles in 38 minutes, but he didn’t even stop plowing his field.

Docs Couldn't Revive Selfridge

Well, the brothers on this date in 1908 began a series of demonstrations for the Army at Fort Myer, Virginia and the public was invited. The demonstrations went on for several days and it took but two short weeks for the Wrights to achieve a somewhat infamous aviation record when on September 17, Orville took Lt. Thomas E Selfridge on a ride to demonstrate the potential military value of the airplane. A guy wire broke and got tangled in a propeller and the plane “came down like a bird shot dead in full flight.” Orville shattered his hip and left leg but Selfridge was killed, going in the record book as the first aviation crash and first aviation fatality. So Orville got to make the first flight, was the first to crash, the first to be in a fatal air crash. Meanwhile, poor old Wilbur was the first Wright born on my birthday, the first to get typhoid fever around the time that the Titanic sunk in April 1912 and was the first Wright to die when he succumbed a month later. Talk about bad breaks…

On this date in 1944, a young Lieutenant pilot was recovering on a US submarine after his plane crash. He went to to at least earn the same fame as Orville Wright. Lt. George Bush was but 20 years old when his plane was shot down over the Pacific Ocean by enemy anti-aircraft fire. His two crewmen were killed. One of them was killed in the aircraft while the other bailed out with Bush. But, only Bush’s parachute opened. After paddling around in a life raft for 4 hours, Lt. Bush was picked up by the USS Finback. But the sub had other things to do and Bush spent the next month on board while the Finback continued its mission. Bush spent his time assisting in picking up other downed pilots.

Either Bush May Not Have Been President If not For Finback

For his heroism and actions during numerous sorties (58 missions in 1944 alone) Bush received the Navy’s Distinguished Flying Cross, three Air Medals and a Unit Citation shared with the rest of the crew of the USS Jacinto. He went on to be a Congressman, Ambassador to the UN, CIA Director, Vice-President, President of the United States and only the second former President to have a son also hold the nation’s highest elective office. Imagine all that the nation would have missed had the Finback not been in the area. You never know what one good turn can lead to.

tall sunflowers, fat stomach

Weather Bottom Line: 

High pressure that brought us such cool weather is drifting eastward.  Consequently, our humidity levels will be on the rise, though temperatures will be rising only modestly.  An upper disturbance to our southwest may be close enough to increase our rain chances some this afternoon and that type of scattered stuff will be around through the labor day weekend, though Saturday we’ll probably be in between the shortwaves so probabilities will be lowest then.  As it is, none of the shortwaves at this time seem to be too strong nor do they track right over us so its a fair bet that you won’t see any rain at all through Monday…that’s either a good thing or bad thing, depending on how you look at it.  My Sunflowers like rain.

First Flight, First Fatal Crash and First Snow December 17, 2008

Orville 12 Seconds Into History

 

Man Will Never Fly: That phrase was fairly common prior to the early 20th century. But, it seems odd that the pair of brothers who said that man would never fly in their lifetimes was none other than Orville and Wilbur Wright. But, theirs is a tale of perseverance and overcoming of obstacles that seem impossible.  In short, they did not quit and that is the lesson of this tale: you never know what you can do until you try.  (Here is Orville’s complete account)

The Wrights had tinkered with the idea of powered flight for some time.  Other, more noteworthy and educated

Wright 1901 Glider

individuals also pursued the prize.  These two brothers though were what might be called applied engineers.  They did things by trial, error and observation.  The built kites similar in design to their final plane design.  The found that the trouble that needed to be overcome was controlling the plane.  The observed that birds curved their wings and warped, or changed the wing shape to move about.  So, they solved their control problem by building a model with controls to warp the wings.  They also studied the experiments of others who had tried manned flight and used their own experience to build on aeronautical knowledge.

Between 1899 and 1901, they built and flew several gliders. Some were manned and others unmanned.  They generally took their experiments from their bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio to the Outer Banks of North Carolina because the dunes were high there and the winds were strong enough and consistent enough to make numerous testing possible.  In 1900, at Kitty Hawk, they successfully tested a 50 pound glider with a 17 foot wingspan.  So, the following year, they returned to Kill Devil Hills and tried a 100 pound, 20 foot wingspan model.  That one had problems.  The wings warping mechanism failed several times, causing the plane to spin out of control.  They had trouble with lift and with pitch.  It was this failure that led the boys to decide they wouldn’t live to see a man fly.  But, they pressed on.

Orville Sports The Moustache

They went home and checked their calculations and found that poor mathematics was the root of their problem.  They then had the bright idea to build a wind tunnel in which they could study the behavior of an airfoil.  From these observations, they determined that a tail would help in the control issue and they went bigger, designing a glider with a 32 foot wingspan.  In 1902, they returned to North Carolina and found that their tail idea was a winner.  It was now time to take the final step.  They couldn’t find a suitable motor so they built their own 12 horsepower came engine to turn two propellers.  The propeller idea was inspired by propellers that were used in marine operations.  I doubt that they knew it at the time but it made perfect sense since the properties of air are similar to those of the air, which is why meteorologists have to study fluid mechanics.   The glider needed to be redesigned to support both a man and the motor.  The craft weighed in at about 700 pounds and was known as the Flyer.  They went to Kitty Hawk and put the plane on a track the was tilted downhill.  That would give the plane adequate takeoff speed in relation to the headwind.  Twice they tried and twice they failed with one of the failures resulting in crash with minor damage.  Third time proved to be the charm.  On this date in 1903 at 10:35AM,Orville Wright became the first man to fly a powered aircraft when he flew for 12 seconds and 120 feet.  They flew 3 more times on that day with the fourth at last at noon lasting 59 seconds and 852 feet.  A year later, Wilbur had the first flight to last more than 5 minutes in the Flyer II.

Orville's 2nd 1st That He'd Rather Us Forget

In 1908, the Wrights had a more forgettable first in flight.  They had begun taking passengers on flights in May 1908 and it was just a few months later on September 17 that Orville crashed.  He survived but his passenger, Lt. Thomas Selfridge of the Signal Corps, became the first flight fatality.

Snow/Ice total Dec 15-16 (courtesy Louisville NWS)

Weather Bottom Line:  Here’s the story….it would appear that my assessment was correct…as long as you live in Louisville and surrounding areas.  We had a little sleet and freezing rain and then just a dusting of snow.  If you recall, the GFS was oddly suggesting not much precip while the NAM was much more aggressive with precip totals of .75″.  Well, in my estimation, they both were right.  When we had the short period of time when the vertical temperature profile supported snow, a band of heavier precip set up south of Louisville oriented from the Southwest to the Northeast.  So, from Owensboro to Lexington there was generally 2-4 inches with some places as much as 5 inches.  That would be equivalent to about .25″ to .50″ of rain…or close to what the NAM called for.  Okay..so that’s the epitaph.  As for the future, we’re basically going to be stuck with clouds on the ground or close to it.  When clouds are on the ground, we call it fog and there will likely be drizzle or at least dampness.  The temperatures aloft will be warm but  at the surface it will be freezing…icy spots on some roads will develop, particularly on untreated and secondary road.  NAM takes only up to freezing and the GFS is in the mid to upper 30′s.  Truth is probably somewhere in between.  A bit warmer, but still chilly on Thursday.  Then we jump on Friday and stay in the mid to upper 50′s throguh the weekend…until the temperatures dive Sunday afternoon and we go back into the ice bucket again.  It remains to be seen if the set up Sunday evening through Monday morning mirrors what we just went through.

Tropical Storm Hanna and Tropical Storm Ike Hope Life is Like George Bush, Not Wilbur Wright September 3, 2008

for a more recent update on Hanna and Ike, CLICK HERE

For access to a Gustav Radar Loop or a Tropical Storm Hanna Radar Loop, CLICK HERE.

Information on Tropical Storm Hanna, Tropical Storm Ike and Tropical Storm Josephine can be found below.

Louisville Weather: Bad news…its going to stay hot and dry. Good news is that the threat of Tropical Storm Hanna becoming a strong, well developed Hurricane has diminished so its track should not allow for any subsidence to speak of to reach the Ohio Valley and so a front on Friday will be able to bring some moisture from Gustav into the area. You won’t have to build an ark and the rain will just by scattered in nature, but something is better than nothing. A better chance for area-wide rain shows up with a strong cold front Tuesday. Temperatures do back off for the weekend with Hanna’s passing and the advance of the front.

Wilbur Not As Lucky As Orville

On This Date in History: On this date in 1908, Orville and Wilbur Wright made their first public demonstration of their airplane. Actually, it wasn’t the same Wright Flyer that made the historic flight in December 1903. They had made a number of improvements over nearly 5 years, but no one really noticed. The day that they made their initial flight, they had invited the press but no one came. Instead, they had been focused on the ill-fated attempt at heavier than air flight by the more celebrated Samuel Pierpont Langley. Following the Wright’s flight at Kitty Hawk, NC the New York Daily Tribune printed a small story with the headline “Dayton Boys Fly Airship.” The newspaper obviously had no clue as to what they had accomplished. After that, the Wrights worked on improving their “airship” but even the farmers weren’t interested. A farmer once watched the Wrights fly a plane near Dayton, Ohio 24 miles in 38 minutes, but he didn’t even stop plowing his field. Well, the brothers on this date in 1908 began a series of demonstrations for the Army at Fort Myer, Virginia and the public was invited. The demonstrations went on for several days and it took but two short weeks for the Wrights to achieve a somewhat infamous aviation record when on September 17, Orville took Lt. Thomas E Selfridge on a ride to demonstrate the potential military value of the airplane. A guy wire broke and got tangled in a propeller and the plane “came down like a bird shot dead in full flight.” Orville shattered his hip and left leg but Selfridge was killed, going in the record book as the first aviation crash and first aviation fatality. So Orville got to make the first flight, was the first to crash, the first to be in a fatal air crash. Meanwhile, poor old Wilbur was the first Wright born on my birthday, the first to get typhoid fever around the time that the Titanic sunk in April 1912 and was the first Wright to die when he succumbed a month later. Talk about bad breaks…

Lt. George H. W. Bush is Rescued

On this date in 1944, a young Lieutenant pilot was recovering on a US submarine after his plane crash. He went to to at least earn the same fame as Orville Wright. Lt. George Bush was but 20 years old when his plane was shot down over the Pacific Ocean by enemy anti-aircraft fire. His two crewmen were killed. One of them was killed in the aircraft while the other bailed out with Bush. But, only Bush’s parachute opened. After paddling around in a life raft for 4 hours, Lt. Bush was picked up by the USS Finback. But the sub had other things to do and Bush spent the next month on board while the Finback continued its mission. Bush spent his time assisting in picking up other downed pilots. For his heroism and actions during numerous sorties (58 missions in 1944 alone) Bush received the Navy’s Distinguished Flying Cross, three Air Medals and a Unit Citation shared with the rest of the crew of the USS Jacinto. He went on to be a Congressman, Ambassador to the UN, CIA Director, Vice-President, President of the United States and only the second former President to have a son also hold the nation’s highest elective office. Imagine all that the nation would have missed had the Finback not been in the area. You never know what one good turn can lead to.

1890 Census Tabulating Machine; Uncle Sam Has Been Nosey Ever Since

One thing we do know that we can count on is government bureaucracy and its been going on since the beginning of our Republic. The Constitution calls for a census to be taken every ten years in order to determine, among other things, the representation in the House of Representatives from each state. The first census of 1790 took 18 months to complete. So, one hundred years later they got smart and decided to get smart and introduced the world’s first punch-card tabulation system. Should happen fast, right? Wrong. See, the boys in the Capitol thought that the new machine gave them Carte-Blanche to not just take basic information, but instead collect all sorts of information. The form consisted of 13,000 pieces of information!!! Talk about an intrusive government….and it’s been getting nosier by the day ever since.

Tropical Storm Hanna NHC Forecast track 11pm 0902

Tropical Storm Hanna. Nothing much has changed since the previous update.

Tropical Storm Hanna Spaghetti Model 0903 00Z

For part of the day Tuesday, Hanna was loitering east of the Bahamas and actually drifing Southeast. It spent much of the day getting kicked by upper level shearing and its hanging out in one area didn’t do itself any favors as for water temperatures. But, its still expected to get moving and swing along the Florida coast with a landfall near Savannah Georgia, though this forecast track is on the left edge of the model consensus. It is expected to reach only a cat 1 status. The exact landfall will be difficult to pinpoint given the geography of the coastline but at this time it appears that it will mainly be a story of beach erosion and rain issues.

Tropical Storm Ike NHC Forecast Track 0902 11PM

Tropical Storm Ike: Tropical Storm Ike still looks like a potential trouble maker

Tropical Storm Ike Spaghetti Model 0903 00Z

on down the road. The spaghetti model indicates that the greatest clustering of tracks takes it westward through Bahamas and across Cuba into the Gulf. Indications are that it will intensify into a formidable storm before crossing Cuba. What happens after that remains to be seen how it handles the mountains of Cuba and atmospherice conditions thereafter. Both the GFS and CMC models keep it south of Florida. The ECMWF has a different solution. It takes it through the Bahamas and then tends to move it slightly north of west toward the southern tip of Florida by Tuesday. This is perhaps in response to a strong cold front moving through the Ohio Valley at that time. It may be day or so soon with turning the storm in response to the trof but it raises an interesting question regarding the front. If it digs far South, then the front would pick up Ike and turn it toward the US. If Ike is able to sneak below the trof, then it would open the door for a storm going deeper into the Gulf of Mexico. It will be interesting to see how it shakes out…but I still think Ike is going to be a trouble maker.

Tropical Storm Josephine is still a long way out with many scenarios and with many miles and days before it becomes an issue with which I care to concern myself. So you shouldn’t worry about it either.