It’s National Aviation Day! OSG and its products support the continuous advancements being made in the aviation industry. So let’s celebrate the day by learning new facts about aviation!

1. The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird currently holds the record for the fastest manned aircraft at approximately Mach 3.3 in 1976, but the aircraft was decommissioned in 1998. Standard evasive action for a missile attack was to accelerate until it out ran the missile.

2. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is comprised of more than 50% composite materials and is over 20% more fuel efficient than comparable models of previous design.

3. Boeing’s Everett facility is the largest building in the world by square volume at over 472,000,000 ftᶟ and covers just almost 100 acres.

4. The McDonald Douglas F15 Eagle has over 100 aerial victories and 0 losses in air to air combat. It is currently expected to serve in the U.S. Air Force past 2025.

5. The commercial aerospace market is expected to grow from 20,000 aircraft to over 42,000 in the next 20 years, with a need for 36,000 new planes due to demand growth and decommissioned airplanes. This is over a $5 Trillion market.

6. Retired Air Force Brigadier General, Chuck Yeager, is credited as the first person to fly a plane past the speed of sound in 1947 on the experimental Bell X-1.

7. Ohio and North Carolina both claim to be the place where aviation first began. Ohio state license plates read, “Birthplace of Aviation,” and the North Carolina’s reads, “First in Flight.” The Wright brothers dreamed up the idea of the airplane in their hometown of Dayton, Ohio, but Kitty Hawk, North Carolina was where they had their first controlled powered airplane flights.

Sources:

http://www.boeing.com/commercial/787/#/design-highlights/visionary-design/composites/advanced-composite-use/

http://www.boeing.com/assets/pdf/commercial/cmo/pdf/Boeing_Current_Market_Outlook_2014.pdf