This Day in History
This Day in History (1961): Pilot completes survey of Hofuf
Pilot in Dornier DO-27 moonplane shoots 2,000 serial photos for mapping purpose.
From the Dec. 22, 1961, edition of the Sun and Flare
Gerhard Winkelmann, pilot of a Dornier DO-27 moonplane arrived at Dhahran Airfield from Frankfurt, Germany, this past week. Winkelman flew to Saudi Arabia to make an aerial survey of the Hofuf agricultural area for the Saudi Ministry of Agriculture.
Approximately 2,000 aerial photos were shot from the plane, with a precision automatic mapping camera.
The German-made aircraft is designed for short field operation, with a cruising speed of 110 knots and a minimum speed of 27 knots. It has a capacity of eight people, including the pilot, and it can stay aloft for approximately six hours without refueling.
Caption for top photo: Gerhard Winkelmann, second from left, pilot of the Dornier DO-27 monoplane, who arrived at Dhahran Airfield after a five-day flight from Frankfurt, Germany, was greeted upon his arrival by, from left, D.E. Nelson, superintendent of Airport Refueling; Henry Prestel, Lufthansa station manager; and Helmut Hilbig, Lufthansa station engineer.
Also on this day in history:
2005 — Angela Merkel becomes the first female chancellor of Germany.
2003 — England defeats Australia in the 2003 Rugby World Cup Final to become the first team from the Northern Hemisphere to win the cup
1995 — Toy Story debuts as the first feature-length film created completely using computer-generated imagery
1995 — The Gulf of Aqaba earthquake shakes the Sinai Peninsula and Saudi Arabia region, killing eight and injuring 30
1977 — A regular London to New York City supersonic Concorde service is launched
1963 — John F. Kennedy, former U.S. president, is assassinated in Dallas, Texas
1956 — The Summer Olympics are opened in Melbourne, Australia
1943 — Lebanon gains independence from France
1890 — Charles de Gaulle, former president of France, is born
1837 — William Lyon Mackenzie calls for a rebellion against the United Kingdom in his essay "To the People of Upper Canada," published in his newspaper The Constitution.
