Aviation History of March

Concorde Prototype First Flight

The Concorde prototype (designated 001) (displayed above) took its first flight on March 2^nd, 1969. This was a revolutionary invention of aviation with advanced afterburning engines, the introduction of the “droop snoop,” and being the first airliner to use a fly-by-wire system which replaced traditional manual controls with electronic systems. The Concorde was a marvel of engineering for its time and is still to this day.

Capable of maintaining a cruise speed of Mach 2.04 (1,341 MPH), Concorde was unparalleled in speed, being able to travel from JFK, New York City, to Heathrow, London, in just 3 hours, compared to a typical airplane’s flight time of 7-8 hours. While its prototype flight lasted less than 30 minutes, it marked the beginning of the supersonic era and remarkable journey that lay ahead of it.

Supermarine Spitfire First Flight

Another Prototype flight —though 33 years earlier than the Concorde. The Supermarine Spitfire is one of, if not the, most famous fighter aircraft of World War II. Its creator, R.J. Mitchell, had a very brilliant, yet eccentric mind. One famous incident occurred in which he urinated in the tea of a foreman whom he disliked. Though he enjoyed practical jokes such as this it did not affect his work nor his brilliance.

By 1935, Mitchell had already earned a reputation for designing award-winning planes such as his Supermarine S6B which went on to win the Schneider Trophy for seaplanes. Around this time, the government urgently needed a faster, stronger, more modern plane to replace their current slow, weak biplanes in service. Because of Mitchell’s record, his team was selected to develop the new aircraft.

Working with Rolls-Royce, their new Merlin engines (the Merlin II and Merlin III models specifically) were powerful, streamlined, and optimized for high performance. These V-12 liquid-cooled engines, capable of producing 1,030 hp, were exactly what Mitchell’s design required. So, on March 5^th, 1936, a year after his team was selected for the project, the Supermarine Spitfire took its maiden flight.

First Female Pilot, Raymonde de Laroche

Elise Raymonde Deroche, later taking the stage name Raymonde de Laroche, was born on August 22nd, 1882, in Paris, France. Wilbur Wright’s 1908 flight demonstration in Paris and being personally acquainted with aviators of the time, such as Léon Delagrange, one of the first people to take up aviation in Europe, inspired Laroche to become a pilot. Later in 1909, de Laroche had her friend and aviator Charles Voisin teach her how to fly at Chalons, the Voisins brothers’ base of operations and airfield. Due to Voisins’ aircraft only being able to hold one person, de Laroche would have to pilot while Voisins instructed from the ground. In the first few attempts, Voisin only allowed taxiing but once de Laroche had mastered this, she took off without Voisins’s approval and flew about 270m (300 yards) and going about 10-15 feet high, making this the first flight piloted by a Woman.

Later on, March 8th, 1910, Raymonde de Laroche received her pilot’s license from aeroclub de France, #36 of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (International Aeronautics Federations, F. A. I.), making her both the first woman to pilot a plane and the first woman to have her pilot’s license.

Edited by: Mathias Munoz Gonzalez, Evelyn Johns, Austin Nguyen