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On This Day in Aviation History

1898 – Birth of George Donald Tod, American World War I flying ace. 1915 – The first aircraft to be launched from a submarine (U-12) is a Friedrichshafen FF.29, a German two-seat floatplane. 1931 – Italian Gen. Italo Balbo leads the first formation flight across the South Atlantic; 12 Savoia-Marchetti S.55s land in Rio de […]

U-2 Funding Restarted, Missions Resume

The Pentagon is, once again, reversing its own position on which platform to use for its high-altitude reconnaissance mission – the venerable Lockheed Martin U-2 or Northrop Grumman RQ-4B Global Hawk unmanned aircraft. The Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) has directed the U.S. Air Force to restart modest funding not only for operations of the high-flying U-2, but […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1899 – Birth of Harold John “Jackie” Walkerdine, British World War I flying ace and World War II pilot. 1919 – Death of Hans Christian Friedrich Donhauser, German World War I flying ace and smallest aviator in the German air force, in a crash near Coblenz, Germany. 1936 – Howard Hughes begins a record-breaking sprint across the U.S. […]

P-38 Rescued from Guadalcanal Swamp

The journey to return U.S. Army Air Forces Maj. Peyton Mathis Jr.’s remains to his hometown, 70 years after he was killed on Guadalcanal, began with another pilot’s hunch. Anders Markwarth, 44, a Guadalcanal resident, has always been interested in airplanes, especially varbirds. A former airline pilot, he now works with a fuel company on […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1866 – The Aeronautical Society of Great Britain is founded in London (later to become the Royal Aeronautical Society); it remains in existence. 1912 – First flight of the Curtiss Model F (shown), an American early flying boat. 1913 – Birth of Chitoshi Isozaki, Japanese 2nd Sino-Japanese War and World War II fighter ace. 1953 […]

MiG-21 Flying Resto Begins in Australia

In Perth, Western Australia, an unusual warbird type is beginning its journey back into flying condition. A Mikoyan Gurevich MiG-21UM Fishbed twin-seater fighter jet recently arrived from the U.S.A. for restoration in Australia. Her new owner, Adrian Deeth, is a keen aviation enthusiast, and had been looking for a suitable warbird type to acquire for some time. His search […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1889 – Birth of Roger Amedee Del’Haye, Canadian World War I flying ace. 1911 – Joseph Joel Hammond reaches a speed of almost 50 mph and an altitude of 2,500 feet while giving a demonstration attended by the governor of Western Australia. 1952 – Death of Antonie Strassmann, German aviatrix and actress. 1955 – The Vickers Valiant, a British […]

The USAF Year in Review

2014 was an interesting year for the U.S. Air Force. From the start of the year, the service found itself moving from one crisis to another, both political and operational. Incoming Secretary Deborah Lee James barely had time to unpack her office before the nuclear cheating scandal exploded. That was followed by the start of the […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1863 – Birth of Léon Levavasseur, French powerplant engineer, aircraft designer and inventor; his innovations will include the V8 engine, direct fuel injection, and evaporative engine cooling. 1948 – First flight of the Lavochkin La-15, an early Soviet jet fighter and contemporary of the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15. 1950 – Last flight of the Sud-Ouest SO 8000 […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1898 – Birth of Wallace Alexander Smart, Scottish World War I flying ace. 1917 – Death of Paul Joannes Sauvage (shown), the youngest French World War I flying ace; he is killed by anti-aircraft fire. 1934 – First flight of the Curtiss XF13C (Model 70), a U.S. prototype carrier-based monoplane fighter; it is equipped with […]