Operation Pluto (Pipe Line Under The Ocean) is one of the greatest engineering feats of the war. Huge pipelines were successfully fabricated and laid under the Channel between southern England and France. This allowed fuel to be transported safely to the troops in Europe. The pipelines contributed much to the success of Allied operations.
The P.L.U.T.O. (Pipe-Lines Under The Ocean) program was conceived in 1942 by British engineers to meet the fuel needs of the armed forces after an amphibious operation. As early as 1942, preparations were therefore made to lay pipelines under the Channel between southern England and France. After secret and successful trials in Medway and Scotland, two pipelines were laid in the summer of 1944, from Shanklin on the Isle of Wight to Port-en-Bessin and from Dungeness to Ambleteuse.
In Dungeness, short sections of pipe were supplied by rail. There they were connected together and wrapped around huge reels (ConunDrum). Subsequently, the pipeline was laid in the ocean by tugs. To counter the threat of enemy attacks, gas stations were camouflaged as ordinary buildings. Some of these buildings – ice cream parlors, garages and bungalows – still exist, such as Pluto House in Dungeness. After the first teething troubles, the pipeline supplied about 4 million liters of fuel per day. By the end of the war, nearly 700 million liters had been delivered to France – a remarkable feat of engineering that is believed to be key to the successful invasion of Europe after D-Day.
On this date June 3rd 1973; The second production Tupolev Tu-144 broke apart in mid air in front of the audience at the Paris Air Show, killing all six crew as well as eight people on the ground. Considering the TU-144 was facing off publically in their rivalry with the Anglo-French Concorde, the pilots may have attempted a maneuver that was beyond the capabilities of the aircraft
The Soviet TU-144 pilot, Mikhail Kozlov, had bragged that he would outperform the Concorde. "Just wait until you see us fly," he was quoted as saying. "Then you'll see something." On the final day of the show, the Concorde, which was not yet in production, performed its demonstration flight first. Kozlov was determined to show how much better his aircraft was.
During its demonstration, the TU-144, was approaching show center in dirty configuration, , gear out and the "moustache" canards extended, then Kozlov selected full afterburners pulling the behemoth into a sharp climb with all four engines screaming. As the 144 approached 2,000 ft, it pitched over and dropped into a steep dive. During the attempted recovery, the left wing came away first, followed by the complete disintegration before the remaining pieces impacted the surface.
Bob Hoover was a witness to the accident, and believed that the rivalry of the Tu-144 and Concorde led the pilot of the Tu-144 to attempt a maneuver that went beyond the abilities of the aircraft: "That day, the Concorde went first, and after the pilot performed a high-speed flyby, he pulled up steeply and climbed to approximately 10,000 before levelling off. When the Tu-144 pilot performed the same maneuver he pulled the nose up so steeply l didn't believe he could possibly recover."
Policemen inspects a "lumber truck" that reeks of alcohol during prohibition, 1926.