It was on this day in aviation history in 1915 and in 1945 that Naval Aviation made some big leaps forward.
Let's first take a look at the 6th of November 1915.
Lieutenant Commander Henry Mustin was catapulted off the USS North Carolina a US Navy Battleship. It was the first time an aircraft was launched from a ship while the ship was moving. The catapult accelerated the AB-2 flying boat to a speed of approximately 46 knots (53 mph - 85 kph) while the ship was moving at 5 knots of the coast of Pensacola, Florida. The AB-2 was a reclassified Curtiss Model F aircraft, specifications of an AB-2; General characteristics
Crew: 2
Capacity: 1x stretcher in ambulance conversions
Length: 27 ft 9.75 in (8.4773 m)
Wingspan: 45 ft 1.375 in (13.75093 m)
Height: 11 ft 2.8125 in (3.424238 m)
Wing area: 387 sq ft (36.0 m2)
Empty weight: 1,860 lb (844 kg)
Gross weight: 2,460 lb (1,116 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Curtiss OXX-3 V-8 water-cooled piston engine, 100 hp (75 kW)
Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch pusher propeller
Performance
Maximum speed: 69 mph (111 km/h, 60 kn)
Endurance: 5 hours 30 minutes
Service ceiling: 4,500 ft (1,400 m)
Time to altitude: 2,300 ft (700 m) in 10 minutes
(editorial note, different sources give different dates for this event, some say the 5th of November, others say the 6th of November)
Then the 6th of November 1945
It was this day in aviation history that the first jet-powered aircraft landed on an aircraft carrier.
Ensign Jake won est (from VF-41) was flying a composite-powered Ryan FR-1 Fireballaircraft (compete powered that it had a jet engine and a piston engine. While approaching the carrier USS Wake Island the Wright R-1820 radial failed. As the legend goes he managed to start the GE I-16 (also known as the J31) and after declaring emergency landed on the carrier under jet power, trapping the last wire and ending up in the barrier (that was raised because of the emergency) making him the first pilot to land a jet-powered aircraft on an aircraft carrier. Some specifications of the Ryan FR-1 FIreball;
General characteristics
Crew: 1
Length: 32 ft 4 in (9.86 m)
Wingspan: 40 ft 0 in (12.19 m)
Height: 13 ft 11 in (4.24 m)
Wing area: 275 sq ft (25.5 m2)
Empty weight: 7,689 lb (3,488 kg)
Gross weight: 11,652 lb (5,285 kg)
Powerplant: - 1 × Wright R-1820-72W Cyclone 9-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine, 1,350 hp (1,010 kW) - 1 × General Electric J31-GE-3 centrifugal-flow turbojet engine, 1,600 lbf (7.1 kN) thrust
Propellers: 3-bladed constant-speed fully-feathering propeller
Performance
Maximum speed: Both engines operating 351 knots (404 mph - 650 km/h) Cruise speed: 132 knots (152 mph - 245 km/h, 132) piston engine only
Ferry range: 1,620 mi (2,610 km, 1,410 nmi) (with 2 drop tanks)
Service ceiling: 43,100 ft (13,100 m)
Rate of climb: 1,800 ft/min (9 m/s) (Piston engine only, with 1 drop tank)