1784 – The first balloon flight made in Italy takes place from the grounds of a villa owned by Chevalier Paul Andreani near Milanand uses a modified hot air design built by the brothers Charles and Augustin Gerli. 1930 – Ralph O’Neil lands in Miami on the first mail service of America airline New York, Rio [...]
Film star Tom Cruise will have a Weston, England, tourist attraction to thank the next time he saves the world. A diverse range of helicopter parts have been assembled from The Helicopter Museum on Locking Moor Road to help build an Augusta Westland Lynx helicopter that will feature in Cruise’s latest sci-fi flick “All You [...]
Do you remember watching Twelve O’Clock High or Memphis Belle? Have your ever imagined what it would be like to train for – and fly – your own mission in the legendary B-17 Flying Fortress “Nine 0 Nine?” The Collings Foundation will be offering a very unique two-day program, set for May 29-30 in Stockton, Calif., [...]
Facing looming sequestration budget cuts that are due to take effect on March 1, the U.S. Air Force has decided to cancel a number of popular upcoming airshows. At the same time, the Defense Department says it is prepared to put a halt to all “non-essential” military flying on April 1, including performances this year [...]
The newest plane at the Chico (Calif.) Air Museum is very different than the others. This new plane makes museum members wildly excited because of its firsts. It is the first operational plane acquired by the museum, which had it flown from New Mexico to Chico. Because it can fly, it will enable museum members to [...]
The Pentagon on Friday grounded its fleet of F-35 fighter jets after discovering a cracked engine blade in one plane. The problem was discovered during what the Pentagon called a routine inspection at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., of an F-35A, the Air Force version of the sleek new plane. The Navy and the Marine [...]
1910 – Birth of Royal Air Force Group Capt. Sir Douglas Robert Steuart “Dogsbody” Bader, World War II legless fighter ace (shown above). 1930 – Death of Henrich Claudius Kroll, German World War I fighter ace. 1945 – First flight of the Hawker Sea Fury, a British fighter aircraft developed for the Royal Navy by Hawker. The last propeller-driven [...]
An Air Force fighter jet is grounded at a tiny Utah airport after making an emergency landing on one engine. Officials say the A-10 Thunderbolt II was being flown from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Ariz., on Wednesday when one of the two engines failed and couldn’t be restarted in mid-flight. The pilot landed at [...]
