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March 9 On this Day in Aviation History — Space Shuttle Discovery makes its Last Flight

Today in 2011: Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-133) landed at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center completing its 39th and final flight. The longest-serving orbiter, Discovery flew more missions than any of its sister ships, spending altogether 365 days in space. Blasting off on its 133rd mission in NASA’s Space Shuttle program; during the mission, Space Shuttle Discovery […]

March 6, 1990 On this Day in Aviation History — The SR-71’s Last Flight

On this day in 1990, the SR-71 Blackbird made its last flight, when Lieutenant Colonels Ed Yielding (pilot) and Joseph Vida (reconnaissance systems officer) flew US Air Force SR-71 A (serial number 61-17972) from Palmdale, CA, to Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia, setting a Los Angeles, California-to-Washington, D. C. world record time of 1 […]

March 5, 1962 — On this Day in Aviation History – World Record B-58 Hustler Flight

Aircraft 59-2458 (Cowtown Hustler), now on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, OH, on March 5, 1962, participating in Operation-Heat-Rise, flew from Los Angeles to New York City and back again, (with air-refueling) and set three separate speed records, while also earning the crew the […]

Treasures from the Deep — The USS Lexington gives up its Secrets

On March 4, 2018, billionaire Paul Allen, the Microsoft co-founder and Seattle Seahawks owner, made another huge nautical find: the USS Lexington, which was lost at the Battle of Coral Sea 76 years ago. The fleet aircraft carrier, the first to be sunk by opposing carrier aircraft in World War II, was found near Australia […]

On this Day in Aviation History: March 1

1 March 2003 1 March 2003: The Star of Abilene, the first operational Rockwell B-1B Lancer supersonic heavy bomber, serial number 83-0065, made its final flight at Dyess Air Force Base, Abilene, Texas. It was delivered to the 96th Bombardment Group, Heavy, Strategic Air Command at Dyess on 7 July 1985, and was retired after […]

WW II Snapshot: A Moment Frozen in Time

What do you see in this picture? Sharper than most WW II images, this one is of a fairly tranquil scene on the deck of CV-6, USS Enterprise. The shot was taken on May 15, 1942, and the red circles in their insignias had been painted over. That’s barely five months after Pearl Harbor and […]

On this Day, 15 February 1946—First flight of Douglas XC-112A

In 1944, the U.S. Army Air Corps had requested a faster, higher-flying variant of the Douglas C-54E Skymaster, with a pressurized cabin. Douglas Aircraft Company developed the XC-112A in response. It was completed 11 February 1946 and made its first flight 4 days later. With the end of World War II, military requirements were scaled […]

Aviation Legend: Interview with General Chuck Yeager

On the occasion of his 95th birthday, we celebrate General Yeager and hope you’ll enjoy watching this interview from 2016 as much as we did. He is an amazing human being … they don’t make ’em like that anymore!

SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch Big Success! — Launches Starman in a Tesla

On February 6, SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy, the world’s most powerful rocket, thundered to life and cleared the launch gantry powered by 27 engines and nearly 5 million pounds of thrust. Kicking off a spectacular maiden flight for the Falcon Heavy, it sent founder Elon Musk’s cherry red Tesla Roadster on a journey that will reach […]

On this Day in 1971–Apollo 14 Lands on the Moon

February 5, 1971: Apollo 14 touched down on the Moon in the “Fra Mauro” highlands, which was the intended landing site for Apollo 13. Apollo 14 was the eighth manned mission in the United States Apollo program, and the third to land on the Moon. It was the last of the “H missions,” targeted landings […]