A celebration honoring those who fought for our freedom will be held this Memorial Day, May 27, by the Commemorative Air Force (CAF) at its Midland (Texas) International Airport base. The event begins 11 a.m. where families can see the North American B-25 Mitchell Devil Dog and enjoy traditional ceremonies, Open Cockpit Day, and free admission [...]
1887 – Birth of Ruth Bancroft Law, pioneer American aviatrix and the first woman to loop the loop in an airplane as well as the first woman to make a night flight. 1927 – Charles A. Lindbergh lands his Ryan NYP monoplane Spirit of St. Louis (shown above) at Le Bourget, France; he is the [...]
It was a little after 6 a.m. on Sept. 9, 1942. A tiny seaplane with red balls painted on its wings was making its way through the skies over Brookings, Ore. At the controls was a young man named Nobuo Fujita; behind him, in the observer’s seat, looking intensely at the ground, was another, named [...]
The last remaining Avro Vulcan V bomber will be taking to the skies at the annual Weston-super-Mare Air Day on England’s Bristol Channel coast this summer. The iconic aircraft, used by the Royal Air Force between 1956 and 1984 and known as XH558, will take to the skies above the resort on June 22. The aircraft [...]
1883 – Birth of Jan Kašpar, first Czech aviator, aircraft constructor, designer and engineer. 1917 – A Curtiss H-12 Large America flying boat of the Royal Naval Air Service destroys the first hostile submarine to be sunk by an aircraft without any form of assistance. Flight Sub-Lieutenant C.R. Morrish on a patrol from Felixstowe sighted [...]
With Afghan troops increasingly leading combat operations on the ground, the Afghan Air Force’s fledgling helicopter fleet based in Kabul has learned new techniques to support them from the air. The U.S. Army’s 101st Combat Aviation Brigade started a new training program at Bagram Air Field for Afghan helicopter pilots to learn how to perform [...]
Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen is selling some of his abstract art, and buying a historic rocket. The eclectic Seattle billionaire has procured a rare Wernher von Braun-designed V-2 rocket, the first human-made object to fly into outer space. Allen’s Flying Heritage Collection — located at Paine Field in Everett, Wash. — is taking possession of the rocket on Monday. The Mittelwerk [...]
1895 – Birth of Georg Wulf, German aviation pioneer, test pilot and aircraft designer. He was a co-founder of the Focke-Wulf aircraft company. 1924 – During its first aerial circumnavigation of the world, the westbound U.S. Army Air Service flight of Douglas World Cruisers arrive in northern Japan, completing the first crossing of the Pacific Ocean by airplane. 1943 – Boeing B-17F Flying Fortress ”Memphis Belle” (shown above) of the [...]
