Question Mark (aircraft)

rdf:langString Question Mark (aircraft)

rdf:langString Question Mark

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rdf:langString September 2017

rdf:langString Converted to Atlantic C-7 in 1931 and scrapped at Randolph Field in 1934

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rdf:langString Question Mark ("?") was a modified Atlantic-Fokker C-2A transport airplane of the United States Army Air Corps. In 1929, commanded by Major Carl A. Spaatz, it was flown for a flight endurance record as part of an experiment with aerial refueling. Question Mark established new world records in aviation for sustained flight (heavier-than-air), refueled flight, sustained flight (lighter-than-air), and distance between January 1 and January 7, 1929, in a nonstop flight of 151 hours near Los Angeles, California. Following the record-setting demonstration, the C-2A was returned to transport duties. In 1931, more powerful engines replaced those used in the endurance flight and it was redesignated as a C-7 transport. The aircraft was damaged beyond economical repair in 1932, when it crash-landed in Texas after running out of fuel, and was scrapped. The flight demonstrated the military application of the concept, but while it inspired numerous efforts to set even greater endurance records, development of a practical in-flight refueling system was largely ignored by the world's air forces before World War II. Civilian development of aerial refueling in Great Britain was more successful, but in the end, it, too, was disregarded. However, Spaatz, two decades after the flight of the Question Mark, became head of the United States Air Force and using the British system as a starting point, implemented in-flight refueling on a worldwide operational basis.