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 [...]
In the summer of 2008-09, Qantas flew three of its ageing Boeing 747 jumbos to the U.S. to park them at a giant graveyard for commercial planes in the Arizona desert. Each more than two decades old, the workhorses of Qantas’ international fleet were near the end of their working lives for a full-service airline. The [...]
Two upgraded Northrop Grumman E-2K Hawkeye airborne early warning aircraft operated by the Republic of China Air Force, sent to U.S. for upgrading several years ago, were transported to Kaohsiung International Airport Station in southern Taiwan Saturday for follow-up tests and inspections. In October 2008, the U.S. agreed to the first arms sales deal to [...]
Seattle’s Museum of Flight already owns the only known piece of the Lockheed Model 10-E Electra that Amelia Earhart was flying on her ill-fated attempt to fly around the world in 1937. Now, it’s getting a whole Electra. The aircraft is scheduled to arrive in September from Reno and become the centerpiece of a new exhibit [...]
Two officers from the operational test community are among the six pilots in the first Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II pilot training course after an Air Education and Training Command decision to start training at northwest Florida’s Eglin Air Force Base in January. Lt. Col. Benjamin Bishop, the 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron director of [...]
1915 – The first British tactical bombing raids in support of ground troops made in Menin and Courtai, Belgium. 1932 – First flight of the Junkers Ju 52/3m, a tri-motor transport that flew into the 1980s. 1956 – Dan Perkins, engineer at Britain’s Royal Aircraft Establishment, makes his first flight in an inflatable airplane in Bedfordshire, England. It takes 25 minutes to inflate [...]
Glass cases are polished and shining. Walls are hung with photos and memorabilia. The Norton Air Force Base Museum in San Bernadino, Calif., is nearly ready for its big day on Wednesday. The occasion is the grand opening of the museum. “The base closed in 1994, so this is something that is long overdue,” said Bob Edwards, [...]
For the first time in a decade, the B-17 Flying Fortress will cast its fearsome shadow over Brownsville, Texas. “Texas Raiders,” a 67-year-old, four-engine heavy bomber flown and maintained by the Commemorative Air Force’s Gulf Coast Wing in Houston, will be the biggest star at this weekend’s Air Fiesta 2013, which celebrates 50 years of CAF [...]
