On This Day in Aviation History: A Tuesday Twofer: May 14, 2005 Highest Landing and Takeoff and First Passenger

At five and a half miles, there are precious few “Bernoullis”available (especially for inefficient helicopters), “Bernoullis” being an aviator’s tongue-in-cheek way of expressing those lifting “agents” that help us to fly.  Bernoullis’s principle states that an increase in the speed of a fluid occurs simultaneously with a decrease in static pressure”, and it is this principle that creates lift.  As the air increases its speed over an airfoil (or wing…or a rotor blade, which is a type of wing), the pressure decreases above the wing.  Given that the pressure is constant on the underside of the wing, the pressure, then, is higher under the wing than on top of the wing, so the wing lifts.  Voilà!  We fly! 

The French word, voilà, or “there you have it” is appropriate for this aviation history vignette, as we’ll see below from “This Day in Aviation History” by Bryan Swopes.

Didier Delsalle approaches the summit of Mount Everest. (Eurocopter)

“On May 14, 2005, test pilot Didier Delsalle landed a Eurocopter AS 350 B3 Écureuil, c/n 3934, registration F-WQEX, at the summit of Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth, at 8,848 meters (29,029 feet).

“The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale required that the helicopter remain on the summit for at least two 2 minutes for the landing to be considered official. Delsalle actually landed on the summit twice, staying four minutes each time. The flight set two world records for the highest take-off.

“These records broke Delsalle’s previous records for highest take-off, 7,927 meters (26,007 feet), set just two days earlier.

Mount Everest, looking north. (Wikipedia)

“During flight tests to evaluate the practicality of the Everest flight, on 14 April 2005, Delsalle and the AS 350 set three time to climb world records over Istres, France. The Écueriel climbed to a height of 3,000 meters (9,843 feet) in 2 minutes, 21 seconds; 6,000 meters (19,685 feet) in 5 minutes, 6 seconds; and 9,000 meters (29,528 feet) in 9 minutes, 26 seconds. ³

“Delsalle also rescued two Japanese climbers at 16,000 feet (4,877 meters).

Didier DelSalle with F-WQEX, at Lukla, Nepal, 2005. Elevation 2,866 meters (9,403 feet). (Magazine Aviation)

“Didier Delsalle was born 6 May 1957, at Aix-en-Provence, France. He joined the Armée de l’Air (French Air Force) in 1979, and was trained as fighter pilot. In 1981 he transitioned to helicopters and was assigned to search-and-rescue operations. After twelve years military service, Delsalle became an instructor at École du personnel navigant d’essais et de réception, the French test pilot school at Istres, France. He then became the chief test pilot for light helicopters for Eurocopter, and later for the NH90 medium helicopter.

“Delsalle holds seven FAI world records, five of which remain current.”

And for our second Tuesday twofer vignette also from Bryan Swopes and “This Day in Aviation History”, like with that brave person who first cracked open an oyster shell and gulped downed the slimy mess inside, someone had to be first.  Someone had to be the first to bravely venture forth into the wild, blue yonder, to break gravity’s chains and do so as a passenger and with complete reliance on someone else at the controls. 

That someone was Charles William Furnas and he became the first airplane passenger on May 14, 1908.  Given some of our modern, flying woes (that if we really think about it, are actually merely minor irritants given the benefits of flying and are hardly worth complaining about) like delayed flights, bad food, and irritating fellow passengers, some might not think of Furnas as a hero.  Perhaps not a hero, but certainly very brave.

Charles William Furnas (1880–1941). (Wright-Brothers.org)

“Charles William Furnas, a mechanic for the Wright Company, was the first passenger to fly aboard an airplane.

“At the Kill Devil Hills, Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Furnas rode aboard the Wright Flyer III with Wilbur Wright as pilot. The flight covered approximately 656 yards and lasted for 29 seconds. Later the same day, Orville Wright flew the airplane, again with Charley Furnas aboard, this time covering 2.125 miles in 4 minutes, 2 seconds.

The Wright Flyer III at Kill Devil Hills, 1908. (Wright-Brothers.org)

“Charles William Furnas was born at Butler Township, Montgomery County, Ohio, 20 December 1880. He was the second of three sons of Franklin Reeder Furnas, a farmer, and Elizabeth J. Rutledge Furnas.

“Furnas enlisted in the United States Navy at Dayton, Ohio, 15 November 1902, and was discharged at New York City, 14 November 1906.

“Furnas, a machinist, married Miss Lottie Martha Washington, 3 June 1913.  Mrs. Furnas died 1 January 1931. On 30 January 1931, Charles Furnas was admitted to a Veterans Administration Facility in Jefferson Township, Montgomery County, Ohio, where he would remain for the rest of his life.

“Charles Furnas died at the Veterans Administration Hospital, Dayton, Ohio, at 9:00 a.m., 15 October 1941. His remains were interred at the Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum, Dayton.”