Misplaced Pages

#977022

116-573: World War II created a great demand for military transport aircraft in the United States. Because of initial fears of a shortage of aluminum , the War Department explored the use of other materials for aircraft construction. Budd, the developer of the shotweld technique for welding stainless steel and a manufacturer of stainless steel railroad cars, automobile, bus, and truck bodies, hired an aeronautical engineering staff and worked with

232-491: A precipitate of aluminium hydroxide , Al(OH) 3 , forms. This is useful for clarification of water, as the precipitate nucleates on suspended particles in the water, hence removing them. Increasing the pH even further leads to the hydroxide dissolving again as aluminate , [Al(H 2 O) 2 (OH) 4 ] , is formed. Aluminium hydroxide forms both salts and aluminates and dissolves in acid and alkali, as well as on fusion with acidic and basic oxides. This behavior of Al(OH) 3

348-525: A "less classical sound". This name persisted: although the -um spelling was occasionally used in Britain, the American scientific language used -ium from the start. Most scientists throughout the world used -ium in the 19th century; and it was entrenched in several other European languages, such as French , German , and Dutch . In 1828, an American lexicographer, Noah Webster , entered only

464-499: A Swedish chemist, Jöns Jacob Berzelius , in which the name aluminium is given to the element that would be synthesized from alum. (Another article in the same journal issue also refers to the metal whose oxide is the basis of sapphire , i.e. the same metal, as to aluminium .) A January 1811 summary of one of Davy's lectures at the Royal Society mentioned the name aluminium as a possibility. The next year, Davy published

580-498: A chemistry textbook in which he used the spelling aluminum . Both spellings have coexisted since. Their usage is currently regional: aluminum dominates in the United States and Canada; aluminium is prevalent in the rest of the English-speaking world. In 1812, British scientist Thomas Young wrote an anonymous review of Davy's book, in which he proposed the name aluminium instead of aluminum , which he thought had

696-642: A few clusters of vacation homes. The Cedar Point community included several churches, a post office, and a gas station. Some of the old homes now serve as quarters for Navy personnel stationed there. In 1937, the Navy's Bureau of Aeronautics sought to consolidate aviation test programs, previously being conducted at several stations, including Dahlgren and Norfolk , the Washington Navy Yard , Naval Air Station Anacostia in Washington, D.C. , and

812-545: A living reminder of that debt." Since the end of the Cold War , the Pentagon 's Base Realignment and Closure measures have migrated research and testing facilities for both rotary and fixed-wing aircraft to NAS Patuxent River from decommissioned bases. The complex now hosts over 17,000 people, including active-duty service members, civil-service employees, defense contractor employees, and military dependents . The base

928-405: A portion of the wing was made of the metal; the trailing section of the wing and all control surfaces were fabric-covered. The RB-1/C-93 was radical for its day, introducing many of the features now standard in military transports. The flight deck could accommodate three crew members, pilot and copilot side-by-side, the navigator behind them. Stairs connected the flight deck to the cargo area, which

1044-441: A probable cause for it being soft with a low melting point and low electrical resistivity . Aluminium metal has an appearance ranging from silvery white to dull gray depending on its surface roughness . Aluminium mirrors are the most reflective of all metal mirrors for near ultraviolet and far infrared light. It is also one of the most reflective for light in the visible spectrum, nearly on par with silver in this respect, and

1160-683: A process termed passivation . Because of its general resistance to corrosion, aluminium is one of the few metals that retains silvery reflectance in finely powdered form, making it an important component of silver-colored paints. Aluminium is not attacked by oxidizing acids because of its passivation. This allows aluminium to be used to store reagents such as nitric acid , concentrated sulfuric acid , and some organic acids. In hot concentrated hydrochloric acid , aluminium reacts with water with evolution of hydrogen, and in aqueous sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide at room temperature to form aluminates —protective passivation under these conditions

1276-592: A prototype RB-1, "NC45354" was sold to the Tucker Motor Company to transport its demonstration 1948 Tucker Sedan to auto shows around the U.S.; it was reportedly later abandoned at an airfield in Oakland, California after repeated mechanical troubles. The V.A.S.D. (Viação Aérea Santos Dumont) was born on January 18, 1944. He started with the purchase of two Catalinas and a Budd Conestoga, both former Rubber development Corporation. Budd RB.1 Conestoga had

SECTION 10

#1732794553978

1392-525: A refractory material, and in ceramics , as well as being the starting material for the electrolytic production of aluminium. Sapphire and ruby are impure corundum contaminated with trace amounts of other metals. The two main oxide-hydroxides, AlO(OH), are boehmite and diaspore . There are three main trihydroxides: bayerite , gibbsite , and nordstrandite , which differ in their crystalline structure ( polymorphs ). Many other intermediate and related structures are also known. Most are produced from ores by

1508-532: A small outlying field , NOLF Webster . Commissioned on April 1, 1943, on land largely acquired through eminent domain , the air station grew rapidly in response to World War II and continued to evolve through the Cold War to the present. The 6,400 acres (26 km ) Naval Air Station Patuxent River site is located in Lexington Park, Maryland , at the confluence of the Patuxent River and

1624-474: A stable noble gas configuration. Accordingly, the combined first three ionization energies of aluminium are far lower than the fourth ionization energy alone. Such an electron configuration is shared with the other well-characterized members of its group, boron , gallium , indium , and thallium ; it is also expected for nihonium . Aluminium can surrender its three outermost electrons in many chemical reactions (see below ). The electronegativity of aluminium

1740-820: A variety of wet processes using acid and base. Heating the hydroxides leads to formation of corundum. These materials are of central importance to the production of aluminium and are themselves extremely useful. Some mixed oxide phases are also very useful, such as spinel (MgAl 2 O 4 ), Na-β-alumina (NaAl 11 O 17 ), and tricalcium aluminate (Ca 3 Al 2 O 6 , an important mineral phase in Portland cement ). The only stable chalcogenides under normal conditions are aluminium sulfide (Al 2 S 3 ), selenide (Al 2 Se 3 ), and telluride (Al 2 Te 3 ). All three are prepared by direct reaction of their elements at about 1,000 °C (1,800 °F) and quickly hydrolyze completely in water to yield aluminium hydroxide and

1856-575: A way of purifying bauxite to yield alumina, now known as the Bayer process , in 1889. Modern production of aluminium is based on the Bayer and Hall–Héroult processes. As large-scale production caused aluminium prices to drop, the metal became widely used in jewelry, eyeglass frames, optical instruments, tableware, and foil , and other everyday items in the 1890s and early 20th century. Aluminium's ability to form hard yet light alloys with other metals provided

1972-459: A year of construction. Employing some 7,000 at its peak of construction, the area had a Gold Rush "boom town" feel as local residents were joined by workers from all over the country, eager to get on the high-paying jobs on station. On 20 October 1942, U.S. Marines first arrived and took over security. Today, the station utilizes Navy Masters-At-Arms (MA) and Navy Civilian Police Department of Defense Police for standard local law enforcement and

2088-434: Is Al. Al was present in the early Solar System with abundance of 0.005% relative to Al but its half-life of 728,000 years is too short for any original nuclei to survive; Al is therefore extinct . Unlike for Al, hydrogen burning is the primary source of Al, with the nuclide emerging after a nucleus of Mg catches a free proton. However, the trace quantities of Al that do exist are the most common gamma ray emitter in

2204-407: Is paramagnetic and thus essentially unaffected by static magnetic fields. The high electrical conductivity, however, means that it is strongly affected by alternating magnetic fields through the induction of eddy currents . Aluminium combines characteristics of pre- and post-transition metals. Since it has few available electrons for metallic bonding, like its heavier group 13 congeners, it has

2320-429: Is small and highly charged ; as such, it has more polarizing power , and bonds formed by aluminium have a more covalent character. The strong affinity of aluminium for oxygen leads to the common occurrence of its oxides in nature. Aluminium is found on Earth primarily in rocks in the crust , where it is the third-most abundant element , after oxygen and silicon , rather than in the mantle , and virtually never as

2436-483: Is 1.61 (Pauling scale). A free aluminium atom has a radius of 143  pm . With the three outermost electrons removed, the radius shrinks to 39 pm for a 4-coordinated atom or 53.5 pm for a 6-coordinated atom. At standard temperature and pressure , aluminium atoms (when not affected by atoms of other elements) form a face-centered cubic crystal system bound by metallic bonding provided by atoms' outermost electrons; hence aluminium (at these conditions)

SECTION 20

#1732794553978

2552-621: Is a United States naval air station located in St. Mary’s County , Maryland , on the Chesapeake Bay near the mouth of the Patuxent River . It is home to Headquarters, Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School , the Atlantic Test Range , Patuxent River Naval Air Museum , and serves as a center for test and evaluation and systems acquisition relating to naval aviation . The station also operates

2668-399: Is a chemical element ; it has symbol   Al and atomic number  13. Aluminium has a density lower than that of other common metals , about one-third that of steel . It has a great affinity towards oxygen , forming a protective layer of oxide on the surface when exposed to air. Aluminium visually resembles silver , both in its color and in its great ability to reflect light. It

2784-548: Is a metal. This crystal system is shared by many other metals, such as lead and copper ; the size of a unit cell of aluminium is comparable to that of those other metals. The system, however, is not shared by the other members of its group: boron has ionization energies too high to allow metallization, thallium has a hexagonal close-packed structure, and gallium and indium have unusual structures that are not close-packed like those of aluminium and thallium. The few electrons that are available for metallic bonding in aluminium are

2900-522: Is almost never found in the elemental state; instead it is found in oxides or silicates. Feldspars , the most common group of minerals in the Earth's crust, are aluminosilicates. Aluminium also occurs in the minerals beryl , cryolite , garnet , spinel , and turquoise . Impurities in Al 2 O 3 , such as chromium and iron , yield the gemstones ruby and sapphire , respectively. Native aluminium metal

3016-405: Is also easily machined and cast . Aluminium is an excellent thermal and electrical conductor , having around 60% the conductivity of copper , both thermal and electrical, while having only 30% of copper's density. Aluminium is capable of superconductivity , with a superconducting critical temperature of 1.2 kelvin and a critical magnetic field of about 100 gauss (10 milliteslas ). It

3132-553: Is extremely rare and can only be found as a minor phase in low oxygen fugacity environments, such as the interiors of certain volcanoes. Native aluminium has been reported in cold seeps in the northeastern continental slope of the South China Sea . It is possible that these deposits resulted from bacterial reduction of tetrahydroxoaluminate Al(OH) 4 . Although aluminium is a common and widespread element, not all aluminium minerals are economically viable sources of

3248-536: Is greatly reduced by aqueous salts, particularly in the presence of dissimilar metals. Aluminium reacts with most nonmetals upon heating, forming compounds such as aluminium nitride (AlN), aluminium sulfide (Al 2 S 3 ), and the aluminium halides (AlX 3 ). It also forms a wide range of intermetallic compounds involving metals from every group on the periodic table. The vast majority of compounds, including all aluminium-containing minerals and all commercially significant aluminium compounds, feature aluminium in

3364-492: Is in fact more basic than that of gallium. Aluminium also bears minor similarities to the metalloid boron in the same group: AlX 3 compounds are valence isoelectronic to BX 3 compounds (they have the same valence electronic structure), and both behave as Lewis acids and readily form adducts . Additionally, one of the main motifs of boron chemistry is regular icosahedral structures, and aluminium forms an important part of many icosahedral quasicrystal alloys, including

3480-476: Is low in comparison with many other metals. All other isotopes of aluminium are radioactive . The most stable of these is Al : while it was present along with stable Al in the interstellar medium from which the Solar System formed, having been produced by stellar nucleosynthesis as well, its half-life is only 717,000 years and therefore a detectable amount has not survived since the formation of

3596-500: Is negligible. Aqua regia also dissolves aluminium. Aluminium is corroded by dissolved chlorides , such as common sodium chloride , which is why household plumbing is never made from aluminium. The oxide layer on aluminium is also destroyed by contact with mercury due to amalgamation or with salts of some electropositive metals. As such, the strongest aluminium alloys are less corrosion-resistant due to galvanic reactions with alloyed copper , and aluminium's corrosion resistance

Budd RB Conestoga - Misplaced Pages Continue

3712-521: Is not as important. It is a polymer with the formula (AlH 3 ) n , in contrast to the corresponding boron hydride that is a dimer with the formula (BH 3 ) 2 . Aluminium's per-particle abundance in the Solar System is 3.15 ppm (parts per million). It is the twelfth most abundant of all elements and third most abundant among the elements that have odd atomic numbers, after hydrogen and nitrogen. The only stable isotope of aluminium, Al,

3828-416: Is quite soft and lacking in strength. In most applications various aluminium alloys are used instead because of their higher strength and hardness. The yield strength of pure aluminium is 7–11 MPa , while aluminium alloys have yield strengths ranging from 200 MPa to 600 MPa. Aluminium is ductile , with a percent elongation of 50-70%, and malleable allowing it to be easily drawn and extruded . It

3944-435: Is soft, nonmagnetic , and ductile . It has one stable isotope, Al, which is highly abundant, making aluminium the twelfth-most common element in the universe. The radioactivity of Al leads to it being used in radiometric dating . Chemically, aluminium is a post-transition metal in the boron group ; as is common for the group, aluminium forms compounds primarily in the +3 oxidation state . The aluminium cation Al

4060-422: Is surrounded by six fluorine atoms in a distorted octahedral arrangement, with each fluorine atom being shared between the corners of two octahedra. Such {AlF 6 } units also exist in complex fluorides such as cryolite , Na 3 AlF 6 . AlF 3 melts at 1,290 °C (2,354 °F) and is made by reaction of aluminium oxide with hydrogen fluoride gas at 700 °C (1,300 °F). With heavier halides,

4176-547: Is termed amphoterism and is characteristic of weakly basic cations that form insoluble hydroxides and whose hydrated species can also donate their protons. One effect of this is that aluminium salts with weak acids are hydrolyzed in water to the aquated hydroxide and the corresponding nonmetal hydride: for example, aluminium sulfide yields hydrogen sulfide . However, some salts like aluminium carbonate exist in aqueous solution but are unstable as such; and only incomplete hydrolysis takes place for salts with strong acids, such as

4292-416: Is that of the preceding noble gas , whereas those of its heavier congeners gallium , indium , thallium , and nihonium also include a filled d-subshell and in some cases a filled f-subshell. Hence, the inner electrons of aluminium shield the valence electrons almost completely, unlike those of aluminium's heavier congeners. As such, aluminium is the most electropositive metal in its group, and its hydroxide

4408-433: Is the eighteenth most abundant nucleus in the universe. It is created almost entirely after fusion of carbon in massive stars that will later become Type II supernovas : this fusion creates Mg, which upon capturing free protons and neutrons, becomes aluminium. Some smaller quantities of Al are created in hydrogen burning shells of evolved stars, where Mg can capture free protons. Essentially all aluminium now in existence

4524-562: The -ium spelling as primary, and they list both where it is appropriate. The production of aluminium starts with the extraction of bauxite rock from the ground. The bauxite is processed and transformed using the Bayer process into alumina , which is then processed using the Hall–Héroult process , resulting in the final aluminium. Naval Air Station Patuxent River Naval Air Station Patuxent River ( IATA : NHK , ICAO : KNHK , FAA LID : NHK ), also known as NAS Pax River ,

4640-871: The AVG Flying Tigers immediately sold four RB-1 aircraft to other buyers, which paid for the entire WAA contract. The seven remaining National Skyways aircraft were used to transport a variety of cargo, shipping fruit and furniture from its base in Long Beach, California . Pilots reported that the Budd transports were temperamental; in particular, exhaust stacks kept falling off and causing engine fires. There were three more crashes of Conestogas while in service with National Skyway Freight, one each in Virginia , New Mexico , and Michigan . The crash in Virginia

4756-561: The Battle of the Coral Sea on 8 May 1942. The town's expansion had begun. The station was commissioned "U.S. Naval Air Station, Patuxent River, Maryland" on 1 April 1943. In a ceremony presided over by RADM John S. McCain, Sr. , then chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics , Patuxent River was referred to as "the most needed station in the Navy." The unofficial name had been Cedar Point or

Budd RB Conestoga - Misplaced Pages Continue

4872-398: The Chesapeake Bay on a peninsula known as Cedar Point. Naval Air Station Patuxent River (PAX) operated several landfills and other historical disposal areas. The landfills received solid and hazardous wastes . This included spent oil absorbents, solvents, paints, antifreeze, thinners, pesticides and photo lab wastes, sewage treatment plant sludge, cesspool wastes. In the late 1950s, DDT

4988-455: The Friedel–Crafts reactions . Aluminium trichloride has major industrial uses involving this reaction, such as in the manufacture of anthraquinones and styrene ; it is also often used as the precursor for many other aluminium compounds and as a reagent for converting nonmetal fluorides into the corresponding chlorides (a transhalogenation reaction ). Aluminium forms one stable oxide with

5104-475: The London Metal Exchange , the oldest industrial metal exchange in the world, in 1978. The output continued to grow: the annual production of aluminium exceeded 50,000,000 metric tons in 2013. The real price for aluminium declined from $ 14,000 per metric ton in 1900 to $ 2,340 in 1948 (in 1998 United States dollars). Extraction and processing costs were lowered over technological progress and

5220-637: The Naval Air Station at Cedar Point , but officials were concerned about possible confusion with the Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point , North Carolina , so the new facility was named for the adjacent river. In 1945 the Test Pilot School was established with the Navy's Flight Test Group transferred from Naval Air Station Anacostia , Washington, DC to NAS Patuxent River. On June 16, 1945,

5336-668: The Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania . Cedar Point was selected due to its remote location on the coastline, well removed from air traffic congestion, with ample space for weapons testing. The onset of American involvement in World War II spurred establishment of the new air station. Rear Admiral John Henry Towers , Chief of Bureau of Aeronautics, requested approval and authorization to begin construction on December 22, 1941. Secretary of

5452-578: The Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) for high-profile criminal investigations. During construction, housing needs far outstripped supply, and barracks were built for workers on the station. Later, several housing areas were erected off station for workers and their families in Lexington Park , formerly Jarboesville , named in honor of the USS Lexington , the Navy's second aircraft carrier, lost during

5568-416: The U. S. Navy to develop a new twin-engine transport aircraft constructed primarily of stainless steel. The U.S. Navy accepted the proposal for the new aircraft, and placed an order for 200, to be designated RB-1 . The U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) followed with an order for 600, designated C-93 . The Conestoga was a twin-engine high-wing monoplane with tricycle landing gear . The elevated flight deck

5684-475: The aluminum spelling in his American Dictionary of the English Language . In the 1830s, the -um spelling gained usage in the United States; by the 1860s, it had become the more common spelling there outside science. In 1892, Hall used the -um spelling in his advertising handbill for his new electrolytic method of producing the metal, despite his constant use of the -ium spelling in all

5800-423: The chemical formula Al 2 O 3 , commonly called alumina . It can be found in nature in the mineral corundum , α-alumina; there is also a γ-alumina phase. Its crystalline form, corundum, is very hard ( Mohs hardness 9), has a high melting point of 2,045 °C (3,713 °F), has very low volatility, is chemically inert, and a good electrical insulator, it is often used in abrasives (such as toothpaste), as

5916-584: The free metal . It is obtained industrially by mining bauxite , a sedimentary rock rich in aluminium minerals. The discovery of aluminium was announced in 1825 by Danish physicist Hans Christian Ørsted . The first industrial production of aluminium was initiated by French chemist Henri Étienne Sainte-Claire Deville in 1856. Aluminium became much more available to the public with the Hall–Héroult process developed independently by French engineer Paul Héroult and American engineer Charles Martin Hall in 1886, and

SECTION 50

#1732794553978

6032-551: The interstellar gas ; if the original Al were still present, gamma ray maps of the Milky Way would be brighter. Overall, the Earth is about 1.59% aluminium by mass (seventh in abundance by mass). Aluminium occurs in greater proportion in the Earth's crust than in the universe at large. This is because aluminium easily forms the oxide and becomes bound into rocks and stays in the Earth's crust , while less reactive metals sink to

6148-626: The 1970s. The Grumman F-14 Tomcat , the McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II jump jet, and the Lockheed P-3 Orion were just a few of the major aircraft programs undergoing the rigorous test and evaluation process at NAS Patuxent River. Helicopter programs also achieved major milestones during the 1970s. The Naval Air Test Center (NATC) at NAS Patuxent River took part in helicopter development and testing for new roles, such as minesweeping. The final flight of

6264-526: The 5th century BCE. The ancients are known to have used alum as a dyeing mordant and for city defense. After the Crusades , alum, an indispensable good in the European fabric industry, was a subject of international commerce; it was imported to Europe from the eastern Mediterranean until the mid-15th century. The nature of alum remained unknown. Around 1530, Swiss physician Paracelsus suggested alum

6380-627: The Air Combat Environment Test and Evaluation Facility, the Aircraft Test and Evaluation Facility, and the Captain Steven A. Hazelrigg Flight Test Facility. The physical plant was expanded by new construction: the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School academic building, an Aviation Survival Training Center pool facility and a new air-traffic-control tower . The base's social infrastructure has grown as well. In 2013,

6496-472: The Al–Zn–Mg class. Aluminium has a high chemical affinity to oxygen, which renders it suitable for use as a reducing agent in the thermite reaction. A fine powder of aluminium reacts explosively on contact with liquid oxygen ; under normal conditions, however, aluminium forms a thin oxide layer (~5 nm at room temperature) that protects the metal from further corrosion by oxygen, water, or dilute acid,

6612-459: The Germans' own Ju 290 four-engined transport aircraft as their Trapoklappe ramp in 1939. The RB-1's loading ramp, accessed by manually operated clamshell doors, along with the tricycle landing gear, meant cargo could be loaded/unloaded at truck-bed height. A manually operated two-ton (1814 kg) hoist for unloading trucks and a one-ton winch for pulling cargo up the ramp were also provided in

6728-611: The National Command Center and the ballistic missile submarine fleet. Two LTV A-7 Corsair II aircraft made the transatlantic crossing from NAS Patuxent River to Évreux, France, in 1967, racking up 3,327 nautical miles in just over seven hours, an unofficial long-distance, non-refueled flight by light attack jet aircraft. Cooperation with the British led to transatlantic visits to Pax River by RAF squadrons. Research and development at NAS Patuxent River forged ahead in

6844-759: The Naval Air Test Center was established as a separate entity, incorporating flight test and other test groups, at the Naval Air Station. The base became a center for testing as several facilities were constructed throughout the 1950s and 1960s, including the facilities for United States Naval Test Pilot School (1958), the Weapons Systems Test Division (1960), and the Propulsion System Evaluation Facility. The base also served as

6960-474: The Navy, Frank Knox , gave approval on 7 January 1942. Construction began on 4 April 1942. The original civilian residents had about a month, until 1 March 1942, to relocate, as the federal government purchased all the land at a cost of $ 712,287 for 6,412 acres (26 km ), which in 2013 dollars would be the equivalent of being paid $ 1,261 per acre. Many residents were forced to sell land that had been in their families for generations. Some families had roots in

7076-712: The PP-SDC "Tio Sam" enrollment. It was damaged in an emergency landing at Campo dos Afonsos on 04.01.1947, landing with one train collected, declared unrecoverable and there scrapped. A single unrestored Budd RB-1 is on display at the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson , Arizona . Data from Jane's fighting aircraft of World War II General characteristics Performance Aluminium Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English )

SECTION 60

#1732794553978

7192-418: The United States dollar, and alumina prices. The BRIC countries' combined share in primary production and primary consumption grew substantially in the first decade of the 21st century. China is accumulating an especially large share of the world's production thanks to an abundance of resources, cheap energy, and governmental stimuli; it also increased its consumption share from 2% in 1972 to 40% in 2010. In

7308-514: The United States, Western Europe, and Japan, most aluminium was consumed in transportation, engineering, construction, and packaging. In 2021, prices for industrial metals such as aluminium have soared to near-record levels as energy shortages in China drive up costs for electricity. The names aluminium and aluminum are derived from the word alumine , an obsolete term for alumina , the primary naturally occurring oxide of aluminium . Alumine

7424-553: The air station. Known as the U.S. Government Railroad, the rail line was steam-powered and operated south of Brandywine for exclusive official use until 1954, when the Pennsylvania Railroad assumed operation of the line. Rail service ended in 1965, and the line was scrapped, although the right-of-way is still very visible. A highway extension to the new air station was required by the project—250,000 tons of material were transported by either truck or water routes during

7540-453: The aircraft crashed, killing one of the crew. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair and written off, but the pilot reported that the stainless steel construction of the aircraft contributed to saving his life. Production RB-1 aircraft never entered squadron service with the Navy, but a few were briefly used by Naval Air Stations as utility aircraft. With only 17 aircraft in inventory, the RB-1

7656-455: The aircraft skidded over them; the flight engineer survived. In 1947, the U.S. Army (and later the U.S. Air Force) gave National Skyway Freight a large contract for trans-Pacific freight, for which it leased military aircraft. The company changed its name to Flying Tiger and replaced the RB-1s with C-47s for its U.S. freight routes; the RB-1s were sold off to other buyers. One of these aircraft,

7772-578: The aluminium atoms have tetrahedral four-coordination and the other half have trigonal bipyramidal five-coordination. Four pnictides – aluminium nitride (AlN), aluminium phosphide (AlP), aluminium arsenide (AlAs), and aluminium antimonide (AlSb) – are known. They are all III-V semiconductors isoelectronic to silicon and germanium , all of which but AlN have the zinc blende structure. All four can be made by high-temperature (and possibly high-pressure) direct reaction of their component elements. Aluminium alloys well with most other metals (with

7888-730: The area going back 300 years. These included traditional farming, crabbing and fishing families and there were protests. National wartime urgency was felt in Washington at the time to take precedence, and the process of eminent domain went through. A lack of transportation in Saint Mary's County led the Navy to acquire and revitalize a branchline called the Washington, Brandywine and Point Lookout Railroad , aka "The Farmers' Railroad", from Brandywine to Mechanicsville , Maryland , in June 1942 and build an extension south from Mechanicsville to

8004-594: The cargo area. The aircraft could accommodate: The prototype first flew from the Budd Red Lion Factory Airfield in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 31 October 1943, piloted by Guy Miller. The prototype had a takeoff run when empty of just 650 feet (200 m), and could carry a maximum payload of 10,400 pounds (4,700 kg) with a takeoff run of 920 feet (280 m). However, the aircraft demonstrated greater than expected fuel consumption;

8120-436: The characteristic physical properties of a post-transition metal, with longer-than-expected interatomic distances. Furthermore, as Al is a small and highly charged cation, it is strongly polarizing and bonding in aluminium compounds tends towards covalency ; this behavior is similar to that of beryllium (Be ), and the two display an example of a diagonal relationship . The underlying core under aluminium's valence shell

8236-801: The construction of new processing facilities, and other more conventional cargo aircraft (such as the Curtiss C-46 Commando and the Douglas C-47 Skytrain ) were being produced in large numbers. This caused the Army to cancel its order for the C-93 and the Navy to reduce its RB-1 order from 200 to 25, of which 17 were delivered in March 1944. On 13 April 1944, during a Naval Air Training Command (NATC) evaluation flight of RB-1 prototype U.S. Navy NX37097 at Patuxent River NAS , Maryland,

8352-419: The coordination numbers are lower. The other trihalides are dimeric or polymeric with tetrahedral four-coordinate aluminium centers. Aluminium trichloride (AlCl 3 ) has a layered polymeric structure below its melting point of 192.4 °C (378 °F) but transforms on melting to Al 2 Cl 6 dimers. At higher temperatures those increasingly dissociate into trigonal planar AlCl 3 monomers similar to

8468-428: The core. In the Earth's crust, aluminium is the most abundant metallic element (8.23% by mass ) and the third most abundant of all elements (after oxygen and silicon). A large number of silicates in the Earth's crust contain aluminium. In contrast, the Earth's mantle is only 2.38% aluminium by mass. Aluminium also occurs in seawater at a concentration of 2 μg/kg. Because of its strong affinity for oxygen, aluminium

8584-474: The decay of Al was responsible for the melting and differentiation of some asteroids after their formation 4.55 billion years ago. The remaining isotopes of aluminium, with mass numbers ranging from 21 to 43, all have half-lives well under an hour. Three metastable states are known, all with half-lives under a minute. An aluminium atom has 13 electrons, arranged in an electron configuration of [ Ne ] 3s 3p , with three electrons beyond

8700-399: The environment, no living organism is known to metabolize aluminium salts , but this aluminium is well tolerated by plants and animals. Because of the abundance of these salts, the potential for a biological role for them is of interest, and studies are ongoing. Of aluminium isotopes, only Al is stable. This situation is common for elements with an odd atomic number. It is

8816-478: The exception of most alkali metals and group 13 metals) and over 150 intermetallics with other metals are known. Preparation involves heating fixed metals together in certain proportion, followed by gradual cooling and annealing . Bonding in them is predominantly metallic and the crystal structure primarily depends on efficiency of packing. There are few compounds with lower oxidation states. A few aluminium(I) compounds exist: AlF, AlCl, AlBr, and AlI exist in

8932-520: The fact that its nuclei are much lighter, while difference in the unit cell size does not compensate for this difference. The only lighter metals are the metals of groups 1 and 2 , which apart from beryllium and magnesium are too reactive for structural use (and beryllium is very toxic). Aluminium is not as strong or stiff as steel, but the low density makes up for this in the aerospace industry and for many other applications where light weight and relatively high strength are crucial. Pure aluminium

9048-730: The gas phase after explosion and in stellar absorption spectra. More thoroughly investigated are compounds of the formula R 4 Al 2 which contain an Al–Al bond and where R is a large organic ligand . A variety of compounds of empirical formula AlR 3 and AlR 1.5 Cl 1.5 exist. The aluminium trialkyls and triaryls are reactive, volatile, and colorless liquids or low-melting solids. They catch fire spontaneously in air and react with water, thus necessitating precautions when handling them. They often form dimers, unlike their boron analogues, but this tendency diminishes for branched-chain alkyls (e.g. Pr , Bu , Me 3 CCH 2 ); for example, triisobutylaluminium exists as an equilibrium mixture of

9164-453: The gaseous phase when the respective trihalide is heated with aluminium, and at cryogenic temperatures. A stable derivative of aluminium monoiodide is the cyclic adduct formed with triethylamine , Al 4 I 4 (NEt 3 ) 4 . Al 2 O and Al 2 S also exist but are very unstable. Very simple aluminium(II) compounds are invoked or observed in the reactions of Al metal with oxidants. For example, aluminium monoxide , AlO, has been detected in

9280-646: The halides, nitrate , and sulfate . For similar reasons, anhydrous aluminium salts cannot be made by heating their "hydrates": hydrated aluminium chloride is in fact not AlCl 3 ·6H 2 O but [Al(H 2 O) 6 ]Cl 3 , and the Al–O bonds are so strong that heating is not sufficient to break them and form Al–Cl bonds instead: All four trihalides are well known. Unlike the structures of the three heavier trihalides, aluminium fluoride (AlF 3 ) features six-coordinate aluminium, which explains its involatility and insolubility as well as high heat of formation . Each aluminium atom

9396-433: The low-pressure polymerization of ethene and propene . There are also some heterocyclic and cluster organoaluminium compounds involving Al–N bonds. The industrially most important aluminium hydride is lithium aluminium hydride (LiAlH 4 ), which is used as a reducing agent in organic chemistry . It can be produced from lithium hydride and aluminium trichloride . The simplest hydride, aluminium hydride or alane,

9512-512: The mass production of aluminium led to its extensive use in industry and everyday life. In the First and Second World Wars, aluminium was a crucial strategic resource for aviation . In 1954, aluminium became the most produced non-ferrous metal , surpassing copper . In the 21st century, most aluminium was consumed in transportation, engineering, construction, and packaging in the United States, Western Europe, and Japan. Despite its prevalence in

9628-529: The metal remained rare; its cost exceeded that of gold. The first industrial production of aluminium was established in 1856 by French chemist Henri Etienne Sainte-Claire Deville and companions. Deville had discovered that aluminium trichloride could be reduced by sodium, which was more convenient and less expensive than potassium, which Wöhler had used. Even then, aluminium was still not of great purity and produced aluminium differed in properties by sample. Because of its electricity-conducting capacity, aluminium

9744-655: The metal to be isolated from alum was alumium , which Davy suggested in an 1808 article on his electrochemical research, published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society . It appeared that the name was created from the English word alum and the Latin suffix -ium ; but it was customary then to give elements names originating in Latin, so this name was not adopted universally. This name

9860-465: The metal with many uses at the time. During World War I , major governments demanded large shipments of aluminium for light strong airframes; during World War II , demand by major governments for aviation was even higher. By the mid-20th century, aluminium had become a part of everyday life and an essential component of housewares. In 1954, production of aluminium surpassed that of copper , historically second in production only to iron, making it

9976-491: The metal. Almost all metallic aluminium is produced from the ore bauxite (AlO x (OH) 3–2 x ). Bauxite occurs as a weathering product of low iron and silica bedrock in tropical climatic conditions. In 2017, most bauxite was mined in Australia, China, Guinea, and India. The history of aluminium has been shaped by usage of alum . The first written record of alum, made by Greek historian Herodotus , dates back to

10092-485: The monomer and dimer. These dimers, such as trimethylaluminium (Al 2 Me 6 ), usually feature tetrahedral Al centers formed by dimerization with some alkyl group bridging between both aluminium atoms. They are hard acids and react readily with ligands, forming adducts. In industry, they are mostly used in alkene insertion reactions, as discovered by Karl Ziegler , most importantly in "growth reactions" that form long-chain unbranched primary alkenes and alcohols, and in

10208-506: The most produced non-ferrous metal . During the mid-20th century, aluminium emerged as a civil engineering material, with building applications in both basic construction and interior finish work, and increasingly being used in military engineering, for both airplanes and land armor vehicle engines. Earth's first artificial satellite , launched in 1957, consisted of two separate aluminium semi-spheres joined and all subsequent space vehicles have used aluminium to some extent. The aluminium can

10324-614: The next decade, the -um spelling dominated American usage. In 1925, the American Chemical Society adopted this spelling. The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) adopted aluminium as the standard international name for the element in 1990. In 1993, they recognized aluminum as an acceptable variant; the most recent 2005 edition of the IUPAC nomenclature of inorganic chemistry also acknowledges this spelling. IUPAC official publications use

10440-429: The only primordial aluminium isotope, i.e. the only one that has existed on Earth in its current form since the formation of the planet. It is therefore a mononuclidic element and its standard atomic weight is virtually the same as that of the isotope. This makes aluminium very useful in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), as its single stable isotope has a high NMR sensitivity. The standard atomic weight of aluminium

10556-407: The oxidation state 3+. The coordination number of such compounds varies, but generally Al is either six- or four-coordinate. Almost all compounds of aluminium(III) are colorless. In aqueous solution, Al exists as the hexaaqua cation [Al(H 2 O) 6 ] , which has an approximate K a of 10 . Such solutions are acidic as this cation can act as a proton donor and progressively hydrolyze until

10672-460: The patents he filed between 1886 and 1903. It is unknown whether this spelling was introduced by mistake or intentionally, but Hall preferred aluminum since its introduction because it resembled platinum , the name of a prestigious metal. By 1890, both spellings had been common in the United States, the -ium spelling being slightly more common; by 1895, the situation had reversed; by 1900, aluminum had become twice as common as aluminium ; in

10788-404: The planet. However, minute traces of Al are produced from argon in the atmosphere by spallation caused by cosmic ray protons. The ratio of Al to Be has been used for radiodating of geological processes over 10 to 10  year time scales, in particular transport, deposition, sediment storage, burial times, and erosion. Most meteorite scientists believe that the energy released by

10904-414: The range with a standard payload was only 700 miles (1,100 km), 650 miles (1,050 km) with a maximum payload. Three prototype aircraft: NX37097 , NX41810 , and NC45354 were built; one was used for testing radio equipment, while the other two were used for flight test evaluations. During testing, a few aircraft had difficulty with the simultaneous deployment of the right and left landing gear. With

11020-514: The remaining areas, investigations and remedy selection activities continue. For example, in April 2021 the Navy disclosed at a NAS Patuxent River Restoration Advisory Board meeting that 84,757 ppt of PFOS were detected in the groundwater at Webster Field. Prior to 1937 the area was prime farmland , consisting of several large plantations, Mattapony , Susquehanna , and Cedar Point, as well as numerous tenant and sharecropper properties and

11136-423: The respective hydrogen chalcogenide . As aluminium is a small atom relative to these chalcogens, these have four-coordinate tetrahedral aluminium with various polymorphs having structures related to wurtzite , with two-thirds of the possible metal sites occupied either in an orderly (α) or random (β) fashion; the sulfide also has a γ form related to γ-alumina, and an unusual high-temperature hexagonal form where half

11252-501: The same engines as the C-47, but 3,000 pounds (1,400 kg) heavier (empty), the aircraft was relatively underpowered; it was reportedly said that, for an aircraft built by a railroad car company, it indeed handled like one. At the Budd factory and airfield in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, there were construction delays due to cost overruns and problems with stainless steel fabrication. By late 1943, aluminum production had been increased with

11368-485: The scale of the economies. However, the need to exploit lower-grade poorer quality deposits and the use of fast increasing input costs (above all, energy) increased the net cost of aluminium; the real price began to grow in the 1970s with the rise of energy cost. Production moved from the industrialized countries to countries where production was cheaper. Production costs in the late 20th century changed because of advances in technology, lower energy prices, exchange rates of

11484-528: The service acceptance trials for the Bell AH-1 SuperCobra gunship was made at NATC Patuxent River. On 1 April 1976, Patuxent River's airfield was named after pioneering aviator VADM Frederick M. Trapnell , a former commander of the Naval Air Test Center at the station. Keynote address speaker, ADM Frederick H. Michaelis , Chief of Naval Material , noted: "All who fly in Navy blue remain indebted to Vice Admiral Trapnell. This field will serve as

11600-408: The structure of BCl 3 . Aluminium tribromide and aluminium triiodide form Al 2 X 6 dimers in all three phases and hence do not show such significant changes of properties upon phase change. These materials are prepared by treating aluminium with the halogen. The aluminium trihalides form many addition compounds or complexes; their Lewis acidic nature makes them useful as catalysts for

11716-747: The testing facility for the V-22 Osprey . In addition to its role in testing naval aircraft, during the 1950s to 1970s Patuxent River served as an operational base for a Transport Squadron - VR-1, a TACAMO squadron - VQ-4, Airborne Training Unit Atlantic - AEWTULANT, and VW-11, VW-13 AN VW-15 and a number of Patrol Squadrons including VP-8 , VP-44, VP-49, VP-24, VP-30 and VP-68. By 1965, reconnaissance Squadron VQ-4, based at NAS Patuxent River, began using Lockheed C-130s equipped with special communications equipment to perform their around-the-clock Take Charge and Move Out (TACAMO) mission. VQ-4 provided long-range, very-low-frequency communications relay between

11832-536: The two therefore look similar. Aluminium is also good at reflecting solar radiation , although prolonged exposure to sunlight in air adds wear to the surface of the metal; this may be prevented if aluminium is anodized , which adds a protective layer of oxide on the surface. The density of aluminium is 2.70 g/cm , about 1/3 that of steel, much lower than other commonly encountered metals, making aluminium parts easily identifiable through their lightness. Aluminium's low density compared to most other metals arises from

11948-435: Was 25 feet (7.6 m) long with an unobstructed cross-section of 8 × 8 feet (2.4m) throughout its length. Cargo loading and unloading could be accomplished in two ways: through 40 × 60 inch (102 × 152 cm) doors on both sides of the fuselage or by an electrically operated 10 × 8 foot (3.0 × 2.4 m) ramp at the aft end of the cargo area under the upswept tail , a similar development to what had been initially fitted to

12064-404: Was a belly landing at a country club brought on by fuel exhaustion following weather-related problems. The Albuquerque, New Mexico crash was due to a downdraft during a snow storm, 80 miles (130 km) from Albuquerque.<Widow of Lawrence Molloy Feemster, Ruth Mae (Feemster) Hill & preserved newspaper clippings> Pilot and copilot were killed when they were thrown through the windshield and

12180-573: Was a branch of the Naval Air Warfare Center, created in 1991, and located in Washington, DC. Its mission was the development and improvement of weapons. The partnership of these two units led to a "flourishing" of aircraft research and development at Patuxent. A number of new laboratory facilities on the forefront of research were created: a manned flight simulator, the Aircraft Anechoic Test Facility,

12296-461: Was a salt of an earth of alum. In 1595, German doctor and chemist Andreas Libavius experimentally confirmed this. In 1722, German chemist Friedrich Hoffmann announced his belief that the base of alum was a distinct earth. In 1754, German chemist Andreas Sigismund Marggraf synthesized alumina by boiling clay in sulfuric acid and subsequently adding potash . Attempts to produce aluminium date back to 1760. The first successful attempt, however,

12412-494: Was borrowed from French, which in turn derived it from alumen , the classical Latin name for alum , the mineral from which it was collected. The Latin word alumen stems from the Proto-Indo-European root *alu- meaning "bitter" or "beer". British chemist Humphry Davy , who performed a number of experiments aimed to isolate the metal, is credited as the person who named the element. The first name proposed for

12528-422: Was completed in 1824 by Danish physicist and chemist Hans Christian Ørsted . He reacted anhydrous aluminium chloride with potassium amalgam , yielding a lump of metal looking similar to tin. He presented his results and demonstrated a sample of the new metal in 1825. In 1827, German chemist Friedrich Wöhler repeated Ørsted's experiments but did not identify any aluminium. (The reason for this inconsistency

12644-470: Was contained in a distinctive, almost hemispherical nose section. Its two 1,200 hp (890 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-1830 -92 air cooled 14-cylinder, twin-row, radial engines , the same engines fitted to the C-47 , drove three-bladed Hamilton Standard Hydromatic constant-speed, full-feathering propellers and powered a 24-volt electrical system. While the fuselage was thin-gauge stainless steel, only

12760-496: Was criticized by contemporary chemists from France, Germany, and Sweden, who insisted the metal should be named for the oxide, alumina, from which it would be isolated. The English name alum does not come directly from Latin, whereas alumine / alumina obviously comes from the Latin word alumen (upon declension , alumen changes to alumin- ). One example was Essai sur la Nomenclature chimique (July 1811), written in French by

12876-418: Was invented in 1956 and employed as a storage for drinks in 1958. Throughout the 20th century, the production of aluminium rose rapidly: while the world production of aluminium in 1900 was 6,800 metric tons, the annual production first exceeded 100,000 metric tons in 1916; 1,000,000 tons in 1941; 10,000,000 tons in 1971. In the 1970s, the increased demand for aluminium made it an exchange commodity; it entered

12992-708: Was not feasible to maintain on the active list, and it was retired from U.S. Navy service in early 1945. The extant RB-1s were then transferred to the War Assets Administration (WAA) to be sold as war surplus. In 1945, the WAA sold 12 Conestogas to the National Skyway Freight Corp for $ 28,642 each (equivalent to $ 384,400 in 2023 dollars) at a time when new C-47s were selling for approximately $ 100,000 each (equivalent to $ 1.3 million in 2023 dollars). The new company, founded by members of

13108-433: Was only discovered in 1921.) He conducted a similar experiment in the same year by mixing anhydrous aluminium chloride with potassium and produced a powder of aluminium. In 1845, he was able to produce small pieces of the metal and described some physical properties of this metal. For many years thereafter, Wöhler was credited as the discoverer of aluminium. As Wöhler's method could not yield great quantities of aluminium,

13224-661: Was sprayed and from 1962–1989 various pesticides, including fungicides and insecticides and herbicides, were used, contaminating the ground surface water and groundwater. Base residential housing was within a quarter mile. In May 1994, PAX was added to the Superfund program's National Priorities List . As of 2022, several areas were considered "cleaned up" after removing contaminated soil, but there are ongoing maintenance activities such as monitoring and treatment of landfill gas , groundwater, and using land use controls and institutional controls, eg. restricting fish consumption. At

13340-679: Was used as a filming location for the Harrison Ford film Random Hearts (1999). Ford and director Sydney Pollack both visited Naval Air Station Patuxent River. Ford, a certified pilot, flew the aircraft himself. In January 1992, the Pax River Station acquired the Aircraft Division of the Naval Air Warfare Center (NAWCAD). The Naval Test Wing Atlantic (NTWL) was already located there, which

13456-580: Was used as the cap of the Washington Monument , completed in 1885. The tallest building in the world at the time, the non-corroding metal cap was intended to serve as a lightning rod peak. The first industrial large-scale production method was independently developed in 1886 by French engineer Paul Héroult and American engineer Charles Martin Hall ; it is now known as the Hall–Héroult process . The Hall–Héroult process converts alumina into metal. Austrian chemist Carl Joseph Bayer discovered

#977022