California Flying

In the mid-70s the supersonic transport (SST) was thought to be the next great thing in aviation. It travelled at twice the speed of conventional aircraft shortening a trip from New York City to London from seven hours to something under three. It was not cheap. A flight could cost upwards of $10,000.

There were a couple variations of SST; one was built by the Russians (Tupolev Tu-144) and the other through a cooperative venture between the French and the British (Concorde). Both Russian and European planes could transport about 120 passengers.

According to airlinereporter.com, in the 1960s Boeing made an attempt, with a subsidy from the US government, to develop an SST that would have double passenger capacity of either Tupolev or Concorde. In early 1971, funding got cut and Boeing’s program was scrapped.

In 1973, noise generated by the SSTs spurred the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to ban supersonic flight over land in the US by civil aircraft, severely curtailing travel lanes for the SSTs. The Tupolev program was shutdown in 1978, but the Concorde continued to fly until 2003.

However, there is a development which may give resurgence to large passenger transports via supersonic aircraft. ScienceDaily reports that Qiqi Wang, Rui Hu, and Antony Jameson have shown through a computer model that a modified biplane can, in fact, produce significantly less drag than a conventional single-wing aircraft at supersonic cruise speeds. In theory, less drag equates to less fuel consumption and it would produce less of a sonic boom.

Conceptual drawing of a supersonic biplane. (Credit: Christine Daniloff/MIT News based on an original drawing courtesy of Obayashi laboratory, Tohoku University)

Honestly, it’s the design of the airplane that peaked my interest most. It reminded me of a picture of my dad in the backseat of a biplane. The picture was taken sometime in the mid-1930s during flying lessons. It seems that before they were married, my parents took flying lessons in Burbank, California.

The name on the plane is California Flyers. I Googled California Flyers and all I could find was an all star cheerleading group. How disappointing, especially since my mom doesn’t really remember much about the organization.

I’d like to know more about the California Flyers of Burbank, California circa 1938. Does anyone have any information regarding this organization?