Category: TDiFH

Full FAA Chronology at this link.

19300215: The Aeronautics Branch announced that it had issued the first rating under the Airport Rating Regulations to the municipal airport at Pontiac, Mich. The airport received the highest possible rating, A-1-A. The designation system enabled pilots to know at a glance what facilities to expect at any of the rated airports, which the Branch inspected in response to voluntary applications by airport operators. The program was part of the Aeronautics Branch’s efforts to encourage airport development through promotional activites, disseminating technical and statistical information, and giving expert advice to municipalities.
19460215: The Lockheed L-049 Constellation went into U.S. domestic passenger service. Designed for a three-man crew, the Constellation had a separate panel and side-facing seat for a flight engineer.

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19420214: The Douglas DC-4 Skymaster made its initial flight, thereafter becoming prominent in a generation of four-engine U.S. transports that advanced long-haul air travel. The plane was a scaled-down version of a prototype developed in 1939. The DC-4 carried a crew of six and up to forty-two passengers. Unlike the Boeing 307 and 307B, it did not have a pressurized cabin. The DC-4 entered military transport service with the military designation of C-54.
19630214: The Civil Aeronautics Board disapproved agreements reached by the International Air Transport Association at its Chandler, Ariz., conference the previous fall to increase certain passenger fares on North Atlantic and Pacific routes. The CAB stand for lower fares resulted in a major controversy among international air carriers and their governments.

Full FAA Chronology at this link.

19570213: CAA held ground-breaking ceremonies for construction of an expanded Aeronautical Center at Oklahoma City. Financed by the city with a $10,665,000 bond issue, the new buildings replaced temporary construction, mostly World War II metal barracks. CAA ultimately concentrated the shop and warehousing activities of the four continental regions and many of its new training programs at the enlarged facility. (See March 15, 1946.)
19580213: The Civil Aeronautics Board issued an amendment to the Civil Air Regulations that reaffirmed and clarified the authority and responsibility of the Civil Aeronautics Administration’s Administrator in the designation and use of restricted airspace areas.

Full FAA Chronology at this link.

19310212: The Department of Commerce placed the radio range beacon at Medicine Bow, Wyo., into continuous operation, completing the directional radio marking of the entire route from San Francisco to New York.
19310212: An amendment to existing regulations covering interstate airline operations required a copilot on all aircraft flying a schedule of five or more hours with eight or more passengers. (See October 1, 1931.)
19350212: The U.S. Navy’s rigid airship Macon crashed at sea off the California coast. This crash, coupled with the loss of the Macon’s sister ship, the Akron, two years earlier, ended U.S. interest in rigid airship development.

Full FAA Chronology at this link.

19460211: The United States and Great Britain signed the Bermuda Agreement, an Air Service Agreement for the operation of commercial air services, which set a pattern for the conclusion of subsequent bilateral civil aviation treaties by the United States. (See July 23, 1977.)
19570211: The Senate confirmed James T. Pyle as Administrator of Civil Aeronautics. He succeeded Charles J. Lowen, who died September 5, 1956 (see entry for December 8, 1955). Pyle had been Deputy Administrator under Lowen.

Full FAA Chronology at this link.

19530210: CAA and British aircraft experts concluded extensive discussions of technical problems relating to airworthiness certification of turbine-powered transports. The meetings, termed “exploratory,” sought eventual agreement on standards for U.S. certification of the airworthiness of jet transports, such as the British Comet. (See May 15, 1950.)
19720210: FAA consolidated the National Airspace System Program Office (NASPO) with the Systems Research and Development Service. On July 26 FAA abolished NASPO, established in 1966

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19340209: Postmaster General James A. Farley, carrying out the wishes of President Roosevelt, announced the cancellation of all existing air mail contracts, effective midnight, February 19, 1934. His action followed disclosures made by a special Senate investigating committee chaired by Senator Hugo L. Black (D-Ala.) and investigations made by Farley himself. The general basis for cancellation of the air mail contracts was the charge that competitive bidding had been bypassed and contract awards had been made as a result of collusion in a series of conferences of operators with Postmaster General Walter Folger Brown (see May 19, 1930).

Full FAA Chronology at this link.

19330208: The Boeing 247 first flew. Often considered the first modern airliner, this single-wing airplane of all-metal construction was powered by two Pratt & Whitney Wasp air-cooled radial engines. It had a gross takeoff weight of 12,650 pounds and accommodated 10 passengers. The Aeronautics Branch type-certificated the plane on March 16, 1933, and it entered scheduled airline service on March 30, 1933.
19590208: FAA announced plans to coordinate Federal research and development in aviation weather forecasting and reporting. The announcement followed general agreement between FAA, the Department of Commerce (Weather Bureau), and Department of Defense on the need for such a joint research program.
19850208: FAA established a policy that the Precision Approach Path Indicator (PAPI) would be the standard visual glideslope indicator for new, Federally-funded installations at fixed-wing airports.

Full FAA Chronology at this link.

19610207: FAA commissioned the Cleveland air traffic control center’s new building, followed by the Jacksonville center’s new building on February 25.
19610207: Affirming the decision of a neutral committee, the U.S. National Mediation Board ruled that the pilots and flight engineers of United Air Lines constituted one craft for purposes of representation. The Board ordered an election in which the Flight Engineers International Association (FEIA) faced certain defeat by the more numerous members of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA). On February 17, flight engineers walked off the job at seven airlines to protest the board’s decision, which they feared would set an industry-wide precedent.

Full FAA Chronology at this link.

19340206: A new Inter-Departmental Advisory Committee on Aviation met to study the establishment of a uniform Federal aviation policy. The Committee consisted of representatives of the Departments of Commerce, War, Navy, and the Post Office, plus the Interstate Commerce Commission.
19670206: FAA asked U.S. air carriers to help finance the supersonic transport (SST) prototype program by contributing $1 million in risk capital for each SST delivery position held (see November 19, 1963). The agency took the step at the direction of President Johnson, who considered it a way in which the airlines could demonstrate to the Congress and the public their faith in the SST program.