1910 – Henri Fabre makes the first flights in the world’s first seaplane, which he invented, at Matigues, France. 1931 – Boeing Air Transport, National Air Transport, Varney Airlines and Pacific Air Transport combine as United Air Lines, providing coast-to-coast passenger and mail service in the U.S. It takes 27 hours to fly the route in one direction. 1961 – The Royal Canadian [...]
McChord Field, near Tacoma, Wash., has been home to several military cargo aircraft going back to World War II: the Douglas C-47 Skytrain, the Fairchild C-82 Packet, the Douglas C-124 Globemaster II and the Lockheed C-141 Starlifter. But none has been called to war for as long as the four-engine Boeing C-17 Globemaster III. McChord [...]
A solar-powered plane that has wowed aviation fans in Europe is preparing to fly across North America. The Swiss creators of the Solar Impulse are announcing today which U.S. cities the experimental plane will visit during its “Across America” tour that kicks off in May. Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg will display the aircraft and discuss [...]
The plane used by Chinese President Xi Jinping for his ongoing four-nation visit will, unknown to many, be shared by common passengers after the tour, a senior official has revealed. Lu Peixin, former chief of the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Protocol Department and former Chinese ambassador to the Republic of Slovenia, told regional newspaper the Legal [...]
1907 – Romanian Trajan Vuia begins tests of his airplane, newly fitted with steering surfaces. He makes a short flight of 33 feet in Paris, France. 1931 – The crash of a TWA Fokker F.10 at Bazaar, Kan., prompts the first grounding of an aircraft type. The grounding was ordered by the U.S. Commerce Department. 1945 – The final V-2 missile to hit England [...]
A rising rock band are hoping to drum up support for the world’s last flying Avro Vulcan V bomber, “The Spirit of Great Britain.” Metal outfit Knock Out Kaine have pledged all the proceeds from their upcoming single to the campaign to keep XH558 — based at Robin Hood Airport in Doncaster, England — in the skies. The Midlands-based [...]
Aviation Nation, an annual fixture that draws thousands of people to Nellis Air Base near Las Vegas, is the latest victim of federal budget cuts. U.S. Air Force Col. Barry Cornish, 99th Air Base wing commander, announced cancellation of the event, which had been scheduled this year for Nov. 9-10. “Aviation Nation is a very [...]
A Boeing 787 Dreamliner took to the sky on Monday in a test flight aimed at showing that the plane’s new lithium-ion battery system meets regulatory safety standards, a key step in ending a two-month, worldwide grounding of the high-tech jet. Monday’s roughly two-hour flight, which Boeing said “went according to plan,” lacked the crowds [...]
