Civilian Archives - Page 10 of 175

On This Day in Aviation History

1895 – Birth of William Otto Brash Winkler, Scottish World War I fighter ace. 1917 – In daylight, German Gotha heavy bombers make a third attack on England, killing 65 people and injuring 245. 1927 – T.B. Tull and J.V. Medcalf are the first Canadians to attempt a transatlantic flight but after they depart Harbour Grace in Newfoundland, the duo […]

Ex-Marine Aviator Awarded FAA’s Top Honor

If Paul Chapman had crash-landed his plane over the King Ranch in south Texas after the engine started to chuck and putt he might not have been awarded the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award. The Federal Aviation Administration awards the Wright Brothers honor to pilots who have made significant contributions to aviation and have 50 […]

Lease Woes Doom Virginia Aviation Museum

The Capital Region Airport Commission on Tuesday voted down a request to transfer a lease for the airport property that houses the Virginia Aviation Museum in Richmond to a new operator. Despite numerous meetings over the past eight months, airport officials were unable to come to terms with the nonprofit Virginia Aeronautical Historical Society, which […]

Museum of Flight Opens New Pavilion

The Museum of Flight in Seattle, Wash., recently opened its new three-acre Aviation Pavilion. The nine-story roofed outdoor gallery doubles the museum’s exhibit space with the biggest expansion in its 51-year history. The Pavilion exhibit focuses on the development of large aircraft and commercial airliners from the 1930s to the present, and includes planes that cannot be […]

Penultimate Living Doolittle Raider Dies

Now it’s down to one. David Thatcher, one of the last two airmen from the fabled Doolittle Raiders of World War II, died early Wednesday in a Missoula, Mont., hospital. His son Jeff said Thatcher, 94, had been going downhill for the past month or so and suffered a massive stroke on Sunday, Father’s Day. […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1910 – Birth of Chow Ting-Fong, Chinese Sino-Japanese War flying ace. 1921 – First flight of the Bristol Ten-seater (Bristol Type 62), British single-engine biplane transport aircraft. 1946 – First airmail flown by jet is made by a U.S. Air Force Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star. 1993 – Death of Ernest Graham Joy, Canadian World War […]

South Pole Rescue Launched

Two Canadian Twin Otter aircraft are in Punta Arenas at the southern tip of Chile waiting out weather to launch a rescue at the South Pole. The aircraft operated by Kenn Borek Air, of Calgary, Alberta, were dispatched last Wednesday to pick up a person who has fallen ill at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. Because of […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1884 – Birth of Alessandro Marchettí, Italian engineer and airplane designer. 1917 – Scottish World War I fighter ace William Charles Campbell scores a trio of victories with his Nieuport Scout in a one-hour mission, earning him England’s Military Cross. 1940 – First flight of the Shavrov Sh-7 (shown), a Soviet amphibious flying boat. 1943 – […]

FJ’s Dorr, 76, Goes West

Robert F. Dorr, a master historian whose books and columns on aircraft and the U.S. military made him an invaluable author for decades, died Sunday after a battle with brain cancer. Dorr’s family announced on his Facebook page that he died peacefully at the age of 76 at INOVA Fairfax Hospital in Northern Virginia. Dorr was a prolific […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1886 – Birth of Friedrich Altemeier, German World War I fighter ace. 1910 – American Walter Brookins, the first pilot trained by the Wright brothers for their exhibition team, sets a world’s record for altitude of 4,380 feet. 1944 – The first V1 rocket is shot down by Royal Air Force Flight Lt. J.G. Musgrave in a Mosquito […]