Day Tripping: May 15

Let’s take to the skies

A Soaring Claim

Perhaps a forgotten first aviator, Lyman Gilmore of Grass Valley, California claimed to have been the first man to fly on this day in 1902, months before the famous Wright brothers’ flight. Gilmore had constructed a thirty-two-foot steam-powered airplane which he said he flew successfully, but there’s little evidence to back up his claim. The weight of his mammoth aircraft made it seem all the more implausible.

Lyman Gilmore did, however, build and successfully fly a glider with an eighteen-foot wingspan, drawn by a horse in 1890. Borrowing the horse of his employer, Gilmore proved his craft would fly but he spooked the horse so badly, Lyman was promptly fired.

Queen Of The Air

In a real feat of flying expertise, Amy Johnson successfully landed her aircraft at Croydon Aerodrome in England after completing a solo flight to and from South Africa in record time. A leading influence for women’s equality in 1936, Johnson flew her single-seater aircraft to Capetown in just over three days and returned over the deserts and rough skies in just under five days.

Amy Johnson ready owned several other aviation records including as the first woman to fly to Australia and back solo. She set out to prove that women were also equipped to handle the gruelling endurance of long flights, despite the backlash from her male counterparts. Amy was a relative rookie flyer when she broke her records, having only just before achieving her pilot’s license.

Longer and Further

The final flight of the Project Mercury program launched the Atlas 9 rocket dubbed Faith 7 into space in 1963. Gordon ‘Gordo” Cooper was the last astronaut to fly solo and spent the longest time in space as a solo pilot. In all, Cooper made 21 orbits of the Earth and splashdown occurred just a little over 34 hours in space, more than any other American.

The near picture-perfect trip included photographs taken by the pilot as he flew, the first television broadcast from space, and the craft touched down only four miles from its proposed coordinates. It is the closest landing of a spacecraft other than the shuttles to this day.

Musical Milestones

After turning down The Beatles because “guitar bands were on their way out”, Decca records signed The Rolling Stones to a recording contract in 1963.

Narratives

The Cannes Film Festival showed two short John Lennon films in 1971. The Stones film Gimme Shelter appears later at the same festival.

Remembrance

Fred Willard’s deadpan comedy style made him a favourite with Rob Reiner, Christopher Guest, and several successful television series. He died in 2020 at 86.

Notable Births

1923 — Richard Avedon was a fashion and portrait photographer who captured many of the world’s most famous on film.

1953 —Mastermind behind Tubular Bells and original signee with Virgin Records, Mike Oldfield

K. Barrett Katie Wallace Maria Rattray Maryam Merchant Dr Mehmet Yildiz Tree Langdon Myriam Ben Salem Phil Truman Chelsea Mandler MAT Terry Mansfield Hollie Petit, PhD. Terry Trueman Dr Preeti Singh John Gruber Bill Abbate James G Brennan ScienceDuuude Marcus Liam Ireland Claire Kelly Noorain Hassan, BMS Amy Pierovich David Acaster Nora Thewriteyard David Perlmutter Joe Luca Noah Levy

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