Remembered For His Dedication, Love Of Aviation History
Philip Charles O'Keefe, 73, aeronautical engineer and former
director of the New England Air Museum, passed away December 23,
2008, at the Mansfield Center for Nursing and Rehab in Storrs, CT
after a long battle with Parkinson's Disease.
The Short Stirling was the RAF's first operational four-engined
bomber and in its day was an advanced and formidable airplane. It
followed a line of highly successful four-engined flying boats, the
"Empire" class, built by Short Bros. during the 1930s. History has
been unkind to the Stirling. As far as we know, not a single
example survives, out of the 2383 constructed. Even the
manufacturer's drawings have been destroyed! The Stirling Project
aims to remedy this.
A streamlined fairing installed between the root of an airplane
wing and the fuselage. Wing fillets smooth the airflow where the
wing joins the fuselage and reduce the drag caused by this
junction.
"I have two tickets to the Celtics-Lakers game in my
hands, here at the pool bar in Maui... [but] We're happy we're not
stuck in the snow in Cleveland."
Source: Jim Kalmenson, who along with several
hundred other travelers were stranded at Maui's Kahului Airport on
Christmas Eve when an electrical short disabled the lights on the
airport's longest runway.
Read More
