In 1913, a group of Fairbanks, Alaska, merchants shipped an airplane from Seattle to Fairbanks via steamboat. A pair of Lower 48 barnstormers flew the biplane 200 feet above Weeks Field, putting along at 45 miles per hour. The merchants sold tickets to the show: The flight was considered nothing more than a spectacle. On [...]
A 100,000-pound training tool for future pilots and airplane mechanics will arrive at Sun ‘n Fun in Lakeland, Fla., on Friday. A Boeing 727-200 donated by FedEx Express will give students at Polk State College and Central Florida Aerospace Academy hands-on practice they haven’t had in the past. The gift to Sun ‘n Fun will arrive [...]
1891 – Birth of Walter Herschel Beech, American pioneer aviator, co-founder with his wife of Beech Aircraft Co. 1911 – Longest over-water flight to date was made by Canadian J. A. D. McCurdy on a Curtiss pusher biplane. He attempted to fly from Key West, Florida, to Havana, Cuba, but crashed after covering 96 miles. The U.S.S. [...]
Bristol, England, Mayor George Ferguson has backed a plan to create a new aviation museum at the former Filton airfield. The site closed at the end of 2012 after its owner, BAE Systems, sold the bulk of the land to developers. The Bristol Aero Collection Trust (BACT) plans to create an aviation heritage museum and learning centre [...]
When the Douglas A-26 Invader light bomber now sitting in a hangar at a Guthrie, Okla., airport finally takes to the sky it won’t exactly be a miracle, but it will be a testament to the value of people working together for a common goal. The World War II-era A-26 was acquired by the Sierra [...]
A new look has been bestowed upon the Memphis Belle (The Movie), the B-17 Flying Fortress used as the platform for the 1990 movie Memphis Belle, a fictionalized depiction of the airplane’s final mission. The B-17 is still in service and is operated by the Liberty Foundation, which uses the airplane to educate the public about the [...]
Royal Air Force pilots and engineers arrived in the U.S. this week to begin training exercises with their U.S. Air Force colleagues for the first joint training exercise featuring the Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4 and the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor. About 200 personnel from XI Squadron, stationed at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire, England, have joined forces with [...]
1895 – Birth of Paul Frank Baer, American World War I flying ace who scored the first aerial victory ever for U.S. military aviation. 1918 – First unqualified air combat victory at night against another aeroplane takes place, when two Sopwith Camels of the Royal Air Force No. 44 Squadron (formed the previous year) shoot down a [...]
