A handful of nice precision turning and machining images I found:
Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center: south hangar panorama, including Grumman G-22 “Gulfhawk II”, Boeing 367-80 (707) Jet Transport, Air France Concorde amongst other people
Image by Chris Devers
Quoting Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum | North American P-51C, "Excalibur III":
On May possibly 29, 1951, Capt. Charles F. Blair flew Excalibur III from Norway across the North Pole to Alaska in a record-setting 10½ hours. Utilizing a system of carefully plotted "sun lines" he created, Blair was in a position to navigate with precision exactly where traditional magnetic compasses usually failed. 4 months earlier, he had flown Excalibur III from New York to London in significantly less than 8 hours, breaking the current mark by over an hour.
Excalibur III first belonged to famed aviator A. Paul Mantz, who added additional fuel tanks for long-distance racing to this normal P-51C fighter. With it Mantz won the 1946 and 1947 Bendix air race and set a transcontinental speed record in 1947 when the airplane was named Blaze of Noon. Blair purchased it from Mantz in 1949 and renamed it Excalibur III, after the Sikorsky VS-44 flying boat he flew for American Export Airlines.
Gift of Pan American World Airways
Manufacturer:
North American Aircraft Firm
Date:
1944
Country of Origin:
United States of America
Dimensions:
Wingspan: 11.3 m (37 ft)
Length: 9.8 m (32 ft 3 in)
Height: three.9 m (12 ft ten in)
Weight, empty: 4,445 kg (9,800 lb)
Weight, gross: five,052 kg (11,800 lb)
Leading speed: 700 km/h (435 mph)
Supplies:
All round: Aluminum
Physical Description:
Single seat, single engine, low wing monoplane, Globe War II fighter modified for racing.
• • • • •
Quoting Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum | Grumman G-22 "Gulfhawk II":
One of the most exciting aerobatic aircraft of the 1930s and ’40s, the Grumman Gulfhawk II was constructed for retired naval aviator and air show pilot Al Williams. As head of the Gulf Oil Company’s aviation department, Williams flew in military and civilian air shows about the country, performing precision aerobatics and dive-bombing maneuvers to market military aviation throughout the interwar years.
The sturdy civilian biplane, with its robust aluminum monocoque fuselage and Wright Cyclone engine, almost matched the Grumman F3F standard Navy fighter, which was operational at the time. It took its orange paint scheme from Williams’ Curtiss 1A Gulfhawk, also in the Smithsonian’s collection. Williams personally piloted the Gulfhawk II on its last flight in 1948 to Washington’s National Airport.
Gift of Gulf Oil Corporation
Manufacturer:
Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation
Date:
1936
Country of Origin:
United States of America
Dimensions:
Wingspan: eight.7 m (28 ft 7 in)
Length: 7 m (23 ft)
Height: three.1 m (ten ft)
Weight, aerobatic: 1,625 kg (three,583 lb)
Weight, gross: 1,903 kg (four,195 lb)
Leading speed: 467 km/h (290 mph)
Engine: Wright Cyclone R-1820-G1, 1,000 hp
Components:
Fuselage: steel tube with aluminum alloy
Wings: aluminum spars and ribs with fabric cover
Physical Description:
NR1050. Aerobatic biplane flown by Main Alford "Al" Williams as demonstration aircraft for Gulf Oil Business. Related to Grumman F3F single-seat fighter aircraft flown by the U.S. Navy. Wright Cyclone R-1820-G1 engine, 1000 hp.
• • • • •
Quoting Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum | Boeing 367-80 Jet Transport:
On July 15, 1954, a graceful, swept-winged aircraft, bedecked in brown and yellow paint and powered by 4 revolutionary new engines very first took to the sky above Seattle. Constructed by the Boeing Aircraft Company, the 367-80, greater known as the Dash 80, would come to revolutionize industrial air transportation when its created version entered service as the well-known Boeing 707, America’s first jet airliner.
In the early 1950s, Boeing had begun to study the possibility of making a jet-powered military transport and tanker to complement the new generation of Boeing jet bombers getting into service with the U.S. Air Force. When the Air Force showed no interest, Boeing invested million of its personal capital to construct a prototype jet transport in a daring gamble that the airlines and the Air Force would purchase it once the aircraft had flown and verified itself. As Boeing had accomplished with the B-17, it risked the organization on one roll of the dice and won.
Boeing engineers had initially based the jet transport on research of improved styles of the Model 367, far better identified to the public as the C-97 piston-engined transport and aerial tanker. By the time Boeing progressed to the 80th iteration, the design bore no resemblance to the C-97 but, for safety causes, Boeing decided to let the jet project be recognized as the 367-80.
Work proceeded swiftly soon after the formal start off of the project on May 20, 1952. The 367-80 mated a large cabin primarily based on the dimensions of the C-97 with the 35-degree swept-wing design primarily based on the wings of the B-47 and B-52 but considerably stiffer and incorporating a pronounced dihedral. The wings have been mounted low on the fuselage and incorporated high-speed and low-speed ailerons as nicely as a sophisticated flap and spoiler technique. 4 Pratt & Whitney JT3 turbojet engines, each producing ten,000 pounds of thrust, have been mounted on struts beneath the wings.
Upon the Dash 80’s initial flight on July 15, 1954, (the 34th anniversary of the founding of the Boeing Business) Boeing clearly had a winner. Flying 100 miles per hour more rapidly than the de Havilland Comet and significantly larger, the new Boeing had a maximum range of far more than 3,500 miles. As hoped, the Air Force bought 29 examples of the style as a tanker/transport after they convinced Boeing to widen the design and style by 12 inches. Satisfied, the Air Force designated it the KC-135A. A total of 732 KC-135s have been constructed.
Quickly Boeing turned its consideration to selling the airline market on this new jet transport. Clearly the sector was impressed with the capabilities of the prototype 707 but in no way far more so than at the Gold Cup hydroplane races held on Lake Washington in Seattle, in August 1955. In the course of the festivities surrounding this occasion, Boeing had gathered a lot of airline representatives to enjoy the competition and witness a fly previous of the new Dash 80. To the audience’s intense delight and Boeing’s profound shock, test pilot Alvin "Tex" Johnston barrel-rolled the Dash 80 more than the lake in full view of thousands of astonished spectators. Johnston vividly displayed the superior strength and efficiency of this new jet, readily convincing the airline sector to get this new airliner.
In searching for a market place, Boeing found a ready client in Pan American Airway’s president Juan Trippe. Trippe had been spending significantly of his time searching for a appropriate jet airliner to enable his pioneering company to maintain its leadership in international air travel. Functioning with Boeing, Trippe overcame Boeing’s resistance to widening the Dash-80 design and style, now recognized as the 707, to seat six passengers in each seat row rather than 5. Trippe did so by placing an order with Boeing for 20 707s but also ordering 25 of Douglas’s competing DC-eight, which had yet to fly but could accommodate six-abreast seating. At Pan Am’s insistence, the 707 was made four inches wider than the Dash 80 so that it could carry 160 passengers six-abreast. The wider fuselage developed for the 707 became the common style for all of Boeing’s subsequent narrow-body airliners.
Although the British de Havilland D.H. 106 Comet and the Soviet Tupolev Tu-104 entered service earlier, the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-eight have been larger, quicker, had higher variety, and have been far more profitable to fly. In October 1958 Pan American ushered the jet age into the United States when it opened international service with the Boeing 707 in October 1958. National Airlines inaugurated domestic jet service two months later making use of a 707-120 borrowed from Pan Am. American Airlines flew the first domestic 707 jet service with its personal aircraft in January 1959. American set a new speed mark when it opened the very first often-scheduled transcontinental jet service in 1959. Subsequent nonstop flights amongst New York and San Francisco took only five hours – three hours much less than by the piston-engine DC-7. The 1-way fare, which includes a surcharge for jet service, was 5.50, or 1 round trip. The flight was nearly 40 % faster and almost 25 percent less expensive than flying by piston-engine airliners. The consequent surge of visitors demand was substantial.
The 707 was originally designed for transcontinental or 1-quit transatlantic variety. But modified with further fuel tanks and a lot more efficient turbofan engines, the 707-300 Intercontinental series aircraft could fly nonstop across the Atlantic with full payload below any conditions. Boeing built 855 707s, of which 725 were purchased by airlines worldwide.
Possessing launched the Boeing Business into the industrial jet age, the Dash 80 soldiered on as a hugely productive experimental aircraft. Till its retirement in 1972, the Dash 80 tested numerous advanced systems, a lot of of which have been incorporated into later generations of jet transports. At 1 point, the Dash 80 carried three different engine sorts in its four nacelles. Serving as a test bed for the new 727, the Dash 80 was briefly equipped with a fifth engine mounted on the rear fuselage. Engineers also modified the wing in planform and contour to study the effects of diverse airfoil shapes. Many flap configurations had been also fitted including a highly sophisticated technique of "blown" flaps which redirected engine exhaust more than the flaps to boost lift at low speeds. Fin height and horizontal stabilizer width was later enhanced and at one particular point, a unique multiple wheel low pressure landing gear was fitted to test the feasibility of operating future heavy military transports from unprepared landing fields.
Following a long and distinguished profession, the Boeing 367-80 was lastly retired and donated to the Smithsonian in 1972. At present, the aircraft is installated at the National Air and Space Museum’s new facility at Washington Dulles International Airport.
Present of the Boeing Company
Manufacturer:
Boeing Aircraft Co.
Date:
1954
Nation of Origin:
United States of America
Dimensions:
Height 19′ 2": Length 73′ 10": Wing Span 129′ 8": Weight 33,279 lbs.
Physical Description:
Prototype Boeing 707 yellow and brown.
• • • • •
Quoting Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum | Concorde, Fox Alpha, Air France:
The very first supersonic airliner to enter service, the Concorde flew thousands of passengers across the Atlantic at twice the speed of sound for over 25 years. Developed and built by Aérospatiale of France and the British Aviation Corporation, the graceful Concorde was a beautiful technological achievement that could not overcome significant financial troubles.
In 1976 Air France and British Airways jointly inaugurated Concorde service to destinations around the globe. Carrying up to one hundred passengers in great comfort, the Concorde catered to initial class passengers for whom speed was vital. It could cross the Atlantic in fewer than 4 hours – half the time of a standard jet airliner. Nonetheless its high operating fees resulted in very higher fares that restricted the number of passengers who could afford to fly it. These problems and a shrinking market place ultimately forced the reduction of service until all Concordes had been retired in 2003.
In 1989, Air France signed a letter of agreement to donate a Concorde to the National Air and Space Museum upon the aircraft’s retirement. On June 12, 2003, Air France honored that agreement, donating Concorde F-BVFA to the Museum upon the completion of its last flight. This aircraft was the initial Air France Concorde to open service to Rio de Janeiro, Washington, D.C., and New York and had flown 17,824 hours.
Gift of Air France.
Manufacturer:
Societe Nationale Industrielle Aerospatiale
British Aircraft Corporation
Dimensions:
Wingspan: 25.56 m (83 ft ten in)
Length: 61.66 m (202 ft three in)
Height: 11.three m (37 ft 1 in)
Weight, empty: 79,265 kg (174,750 lb)
Weight, gross: 181,435 kg (400,000 lb)
Top speed: 2,179 km/h (1350 mph)
Engine: Four Rolls-Royce/SNECMA Olympus 593 Mk 602, 17,259 kg (38,050 lb) thrust each and every
Manufacturer: Société Nationale Industrielle Aérospatiale, Paris, France, and British Aircraft Corporation, London, United Kingdom
Physical Description:
Aircaft Serial Number: 205. Which includes 4 (four) engines, bearing respectively the serial quantity: CBE066, CBE062, CBE086 and CBE085.
Also included, aircraft plaque: "AIR FRANCE Lorsque viendra le jour d’exposer Concorde dans un musee, la Smithsonian Institution a dores et deja choisi, pour le Musee de l’Air et de l’Espace de Washington, un appariel portant le couleurs d’Air France."
