November 22 - Fantastic Flyers Day

  Posted on November 22, 2021

This is an update of my post published on November 22, 2010:

On this day in 1899, aviator Wiley Post was born. He got his flying license in 1926—and it was signed by Orville Wright—despite the fact that he wore an eye patch because he'd lost his left eye in an oilfield accident.

Post made some contributions to the world of aviation, aside from being an early flyer. With navigator Harold Gatty, he set a record for around-the-world travel, and he was the first to fly around the world solo. He invented one of the first pressurized suits to wear when he flew around the world, and he did research on jet streams.

Post's pressurized suit

Unfortunately, Post died flying. In 1935 he piloted a small plane with humorist Will Rogers as his passenger. They traveled from Seattle to Alaska safely, despite the fact that the small plane was nose-heavy due to the size of the floats needed for water landings, but on one take-off (at Point Barrow, Alaska), the engine failed and the plane crashed. Both men died instantly.

On this day in 1971, Elgen Long became the first person to fly over both poles in one flight. Long flew around the world, starting and ending at San Francisco, California, and flying over both the North and South Poles.

In that one flight, Long set 15 world records and firsts! He also received worldwide acclaim.

What are jet streams?

Jet streams are fast-moving air currents. They are caused by Earth's rotation, because the air around the equator has to move very quickly to “keep up” with the planet's rotation, but the air at the poles has to move hardly at all. This speed difference makes a difference as the air at higher altitudes “slips” and falls behind the speed of the air below.

The slipped air is affected by temperature differences and differences in water content—and these differences are affected, in turn, by the location of continents and oceans.

The upshot is that some parts of the atmosphere travel faster than other parts.

Jet streams are important in weather prediction and especially in air travel. Flights that can take advantage of the jet streams, which flow from west to east, can travel more quickly than can flights that have to battle against the flow. Also, turbulence is associated with the edges of jet streams.

To learn more about jet streams, check out Kids Ahead. 

Also on this date:

Saint Cecilia Day in Saint Lucia

Anniversary of a Canadian Revolutionary War?

Anniversary of the discovery of Robinson Crusoe Island

Astronaut Guy Bluford's birthday

Independence Day in Lebanon

More Fantastic Fliers: the Concorde and the stealth bomber

John F. Kennedy Day

Anniversary of the eruption of Mount Saint Helens

Birthday of actor and author Jamie Lee Curtis

Day of 1970 Invasion in Guinea

Birthday of Francis Willughby, student of birds and games, among other things

Plan ahead:

Check out my Pinterest boards for:

• November holidays
• November birthdays
• Historical anniversaries in November

And here are my Pinterest boards for:

• December holidays 
• December birthdays
• Historical anniversaries in December
  

October 26 – Happy Birthday, C. W. Post!

Posted on October 26, 2013

Munch some cereal today in honor of Mr. Post, one of America's first and most famous cereal manufacturers.

Post was born on this date in 1854, growing up in the hometown of Abraham Lincoln, in Illinois. As an adult, he began to manufacture farm implements.

However, he fell ill and suffered several breakdowns and also digestive woes. Eventually he went to the sanitarium owned by the Kellogg brothers. He was impressed by the corn flakes he ate there and, after resuming his life outside of the sanitarium, Post started a new company to manufacture his own version of breakfast cereal.

The first product is still around – and is one of my favorites: Grape Nuts. Post followed up with “Elijah's Manna,” a corn flake cereal, which he soon renamed “Post Toasties.” Post now sells more than 15 varieties of cereal. I say “more than 15” because I am only counting Great Grains once, but there are six different flavors!

Yummy in our tummy...

Cereal is a favorite breakfast choice for many – and some people eat it as a snack or dessert as well! However, before stocking up on our favorite cereals, we should check the ingredients and nutritional information carefully because, like any processed food, cereal can be high on delicious while low on nutritious.

Yeah, when a cereal is named
for a not-very-natural, not-very-
healthy dessert, it's probably not
going to be on the most-nutritious
list!

Here is a website with a sortable list comparing a variety of cereals.  The “best” list includes Post's Grape Nuts and also Shredded Wheat. The “worst” list includes some other Post cereals, probably invented by people long after Mr. Post died, during the modern era of the super-sugary cereal: Oreo Os, Waffle Crisp, Cocoa Pebbles, and Fruity Pebbles.

Yummly offers a lot of recipes using Grape Nuts: cookies, muffins, cereal bars, bread, pudding, and much, much more! 

Or make your own homemade version of Grape Nuts! 

Also on this date:

Mule Day 

Anniversary of the opening of the Erie Canal

Plan Ahead:

Check out my Pinterest boards for:

• October holidays
• October birthdays
• Historical anniversaries in October
  

And here are my Pinterest boards for:

• November holidays
• November birthdays
• Historical anniversaries in November

July 22, 2011 - Firsts Around the World

On this day in 1933, Wiley Post became the first person to fly solo around the world.

On this day in 1983, Dick Smith became the first person to fly a helicopter solo around the world.

And on this day in 1989, Tony Aliengena, age 11, became the youngest pilot to fly around the world.

Wiley Post's around-the-world flight took just 7 days and 19 hours, beating his own world's record for speed around the world (which previous feat he accomplished with a navigator on board). Post stopped three times for repairs to his autopilot, once to replace his airscrew, and three more stops, presumably for refueling and rest and refreshment!

When Post arrived at the airfield in New York that he had left a week before, he was greeted by a crowd of fifty thousand cheering people!

Dick Smith, an Australian entrepreneur, took his time making his solo round-the world flight, but in so doing managed to honor the early aviation pioneers. Smith took off from an airfield in Texas in August of 1982, and his journey across the Atlantic ended on the 50^th anniversary of James Mollison's solo crossing of the same ocean. Once he arrived in his native Australia, Smith took more than half a year off. When he resumed his journey, he deliberately timed his arrival back in Texas to be the 50^th anniversary of Wiley Post's solo feat.

Dick Smith is one of those guys who has the desire and the means to do grand round-the-world gestures. He has also flown around the world “vertically,” stopping off at both the North and South Poles, and a few years ago he and his wife completed a two-and-a-half-year drive around the world via wheeled vehicle. I assume the car spent some time on ferry boats?

Tony Aliengena's round-the-world flight began and ended very near me, at John Wayne Airport, Orange County, California. It took seven weeks. When at a stopping place in Alaska, just a few days before the ending of the trip, Aliengena's father took the controls of the small plane and loaded too many people into the plane to go somewhere for a fishing trip. He flipped the plane and crashed it! So then Mr. Aliengena had to go find another plane so his son could continue the world-record feat.

It looks to me like this particular round-the-world adventure was being pushed on the fourth grader by his publicity-seeking dad. Apparently the FAA no longer allows youngest pilot feats—which means Tony Aliengena's world record may stand for a long time!

November 22, 2010

Fantastic Flyers Day

On this day in 1899, aviator Wiley Post was born. He got his flying license in 1926—and it was signed by Orville Wright—despite the fact that he wore an eye patch because he'd lost his left eye in an oilfield accident.

Post made some contributions to the world of aviation, aside from being an early flyer. With navigator Harold Gatty, he set a record for around-the-world travel, and he was the first to fly around the world solo. He invented one of the first pressurized suits to wear when he flew around the world, and he did research on jet streams.

Unfortunately, Post died flying. In 1935 he piloted a small plane with humorist Will Rogers as his passenger. They traveled from Seattle to Alaska safely, despite the fact that the small plane was nose-heavy due to the size of the floats needed for water landings, but on one take-off (at Point Barrow, Alaska), the engine failed and the plane crashed. Both men died instantly.

On this day in 1971, Elgen Long became the first person to fly over both poles in one flight. Long flew around the world, starting and ending at San Francisco, California, and flying over both the North and South Poles.

In that one flight, Long set 15 world records and firsts! He also received worldwide acclaim.

What are jet streams?

Jet streams are fast-moving air currents. They are caused by Earth's rotation, because the air around the equator has to move very quickly to “keep up” with the planet's rotation, but the air at the poles has to move hardly at all. This speed difference makes a difference as the air at higher altitudes “slips” and falls behind the speed of the air below.

The slipped air is affected by temperature differences and differences in water content—and these differences are affected, in turn, by the location of continents and oceans.

The upshot is that some parts of the atmosphere travel faster than other parts.

Jet streams are important in weather prediction and especially in air travel. Flights that can take advantage of the jet streams, which flow from west to east, can travel more quickly than can flights that have to battle against the flow. Also, turbulence is associated with the edges of jet streams.

To learn more about jet streams, check out Kids Ahead.