From Aviation Tales by John Skene
A lot seems to happen during December in our aviation world and I thought it appropriate to mention but a few.
➢ 7 December 1945. (New Zealand) New Zealand National Airways Corporation is founded with amalgamation of Union Airways, Air Travel and Cook Strait Airways.
➢ 12 December 1953. (USA) Mach 2.5 is achieved for the first time by Major Charles “Chuck” Yeager in the Bell X1A. The rocket propelled experimental aircraft reaches 1,650 mph at 70,000 feet.
➢ 24 December 1968. (Moon) The crew of Apollo 8 enters into orbit around the Moon, becoming the first humans to do so. They performed 10 lunar orbits and broadcast live TV pictures that became the famous Christmas Eve Broadcast, one of the most watched programs in history.
➢ 16 December 1979. (USA/England) A British Airways “Concorde” lands in London after flying from New York in 2 hours 58 minutes, at an average speed of 1,172 mph.
➢ 15 December 2020. A Rocket Lab Electron rocket, carrying a Synspective’ s small radar observation satellite, launches from the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand at 5:09 a.m. EST and deploys into sun-synchronous polar orbit approximately an hour after lift-off.
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