U.S. Air Force Maj. General Richard C. Johnston has flown every variant of the Lockheed Martin C-130 tactical transport in the last 31 years, but none soared through the clouds more efficiently than the newest C-130 J-model plane. “I actually have flown the 1961 (E-model) when I first started flying C-130 (aircraft) back in 1982,” [...]
A Boeing plan to redesign the 787 Dreamliner’s fire-plagued lithium-ion batteries won approval Tuesday from the Federal Aviation Administration, moving the cutting-edge planes a step closer to flying passengers again. The plan includes changes to the internal battery components to minimize the possibility of short-circuiting, which can lead to overheating and cause a fire. Among [...]
The upcoming 100th anniversary edition of Jane’s All the World Aircraft will credit Connecticut’s Gustave Whitehead as the first man to build an operational heavier-than-air aircraft, a move that for many will shatter the widely held view that the Wright brothers were the first to fly. Jane’s has been long considered the bible of just about every human-made object [...]
1908 –Frederick W. Baldwin piloted the AEA Red Wing, a silk-winged aircraft powered by a V-8 engine, off the frozen Keuka Lake near Hammondsport, N.Y., in what would be the first public demonstration of a powered aircraft flight in the U.S. as well as the first flight by a Canadian pilot. 1930 – Death of Canadian World War I fighter ace and [...]
As many as 200 aircraft will retrace trail of the first crossing of Australia’s Blue Mountains in what organisers say could be among the largest flyovers in Australian history. Scheduled for May 25, the event will be part of the Blue Mountains Crossings Bicentenary 2013-2015 program marking the first recognised European crossing of the mountains by [...]
The mandatory budget cuts in Washington, D.C., known as the sequester is taking its toll on air shows including Georgia’s Thunder in the Valley Air Show as the armed forces have pulled out. “All branches of the armed forces have informed us they cannot participate,” said Phaedra Childers, the show’s event coordinator, in a release [...]
A U.S. Navy aircraft from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island crashed in eastern Washington on Monday morning, and a newspaper reported that all three crew members died. The Northrop Grumman EA-6B Prowler was reported to have crashed about 8:45 a.m. Monday, Whidbey Island officials said. Mike Welding, an information officer for the base, said he had [...]
1912 – U.S. Army Lt. Frank P. Lahm opened an Army air school at Fort William McKinley, Philippines, with two volunteer students, Lt. Moss L. Love and Cpl. Vernon L. Burge, who later became the first enlisted pilot. 1918 – The first regular international airmail service begins, with Hansa-Brandenburg C.I biplanes linking Vienna, Lviv, Proskurov, and Kiev. 1956 – Curtis L. Brown Jr., U.S. astronaut on [...]
