Civilian Archives - Page 111 of 175

Canadian Air Show to Feature Jets, Warbirds

A celebration of 70 years of Canadian Air Force History in the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island will take place Saturday as the Comox Armed Forces Day and Air Show takes flight. “We have planned carefully to welcome thousands of Comox Valley residents and visitors from across British Columbia to 19 Wing, CFB Comox, to […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1897 – Birth of Langley Frank Willard Smith, Canadian World War I fighter ace. 1935 – Death of Wiley Post, famed American aviator and the first pilot to fly solo around the world. His hybrid Lockheed Orion, which had the wings of a wrecked experimental Lockheed Explorer, crashes in Barrow, Alaska, killing him and Will […]

Golden State Gets Wildfire Help

Two Bombardier 415 Super Scoopers and an Erickson S-64 Air-Crane Helitanker arrived in California Wednesday at Van Nuys Airport from Quebec to bolster Los Angeles County Fire Department’s efforts against wildfires. The county annually leases the aircraft from the Canadian province of Quebec, where the wildfire season customarily ends in August. The fixed-wing Super Scoopers skim […]

NASA Takes to Houston Skies for Study

A multi-year NASA science mission soon will be airborne over Houston to help scientists measure and forecast Texas air quality. A pair of NASA aircraft equipped with scientific instruments will be stationed at Ellington Field in Houston on Tuesday, Sept. 3 as the planes are being readied for a month-long series of flights over the […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1881 – Birth of Arthur Laibel “Al” Welsh (born Welcher), a Russian-born Jewish-American aviator who became the first flight instructor for the Wright brothers. 1914 – The first true bomber, the French Voisin III, is used in combat for the first time in an attack on German airship hangars at Metz-Frascaty, Germany. 1937 – Beginning of […]

Two Dead in UPS Crash

A large UPS cargo plane crashed early Wednesday morning near the airport in Birmingham, Ala., killing the pilot and co-pilot, in the latest in a series of aviation accidents in the U.S. this year. “I can confirm they were killed in the crash,” Birmingham Mayor William Bell said of the pilot and co-pilot, who were […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1894 – Birth of Edwin Charles Musick, chief pilot for Pan American World Airways and pioneer of many of Pan Am’s transoceanic routes, including the famous route across the Pacific Ocean on the China Clipper. 1930 – Frank Hawks with a Travel Air Type R “Mystery Ship” named “Texaco 13” (shown above) sets a transcontinental […]

Iraqi Airways Receives its First 737-800

Boeing delivered a Next-Generation 737-800 to Iraqi Airways, the first of 30 that the airline ordered in 2008, marking a milestone in its relationship with the airline, one of the oldest in the Middle East. “The Next-Generation 737-800 will play a key role in helping us modernize our fleet and integrate into the regional and […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1893 – Birth of William “Bill” Thaw II, an American World War I flying ace who also was the first to fly up New York’s East River under all four Manhattan bridges. 1915 – Royal Navy Flight Commander Charles Edmonds becomes the first pilot to attack a ship with an air-launched torpedo; flying a Short Type 184 from […]

Michigan Air Show Packs ‘Em In

The Thunder Over Michigan air show rumbled the heavens over Willow Run Airport during its final day Sunday. Preliminary estimates indicate up to 40,000 people attended the two-day event that kicked off Saturday — serving up excitement and American aviation history, which was not always airborne. Retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Alexander Jefferson knows […]