Civilian Archives - Page 123 of 175

On This Day in Aviation History

1891 – Birth of Carl Andrew “Tooey” Spaatz, American World War I pilot, World War II general and first chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force. 1927 – Lester Maitland and co-pilot Albert Francis Hegenberger takes off their U.S. Army Fokker C-2 “Bird of Paradise” from Oakland, Calif., to Honolulu for the first non-stop flight between the U.S. […]

Expert: Concorde Will Never Fly Again

There is no chance that an Aerospatiale-BAC Concorde will ever return to flight as an aviation heritage project, the man who brought the Vulcan bomber back to life has said. Dr. Robert Pleming, chief executive of the Vulcan to the Sky Trust, was responsible for overseeing a 14-year, £7 million (more than $10 million U.S.) […]

L-1011 Drop-Launches NASA Satellite

NASA reported “a great insertion orbit” for its newest orbiting telescope for studying the Sun’s dynamic temperature bands, which was drop-launched from a former airliner off the central California coast Thursday night. The Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) spacecraft is to operate from about a 400-mile-high sun synchronous orbit from which it will study solar […]

Aussies Get Hi-Tech Observation Plane Demo

An Australian aviation company in Hervey Bay, Queensland, could soon be supplying planes to those at the forefront of catching criminals, fighting fires or even protecting nations. Urangan’s Seabird Aviation, which manufactures specialist aeroplanes known as Seekers, demonstrated its new machine at Hervey Bay airport on Thursday. Police representatives, energy company staff and others were on […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1899 – Birth of Juan Terry Trippe, American airline entrepreneur and pioneer; he founded Pan American World Airways. 1923 – First mid-air refueling between two aircraft occurred between two Airco DH-4B biplanes of the U.S. Army Air Service. 1939 – Hiromichi Shinohara, (known as the Richtofen of the Orient and shown above) the highest-scoring fighter ace of the Imperial Japanese Army […]

Idaho Museum to Host Warbird Roundup

There’s something about the industrial F sharp hum of an old fighter plane that pricks the ears. For those who served in World War II, it’s the signal to drop what you’re doing and look to the sky. This weekend, the Warhawk Air Museum in Nampa, Idaho, hosts the Warbird Roundup, featuring the Republic P-47 […]

Wanna Buy a Jump Jet? There’s One on Ebay

From time to time, some unusual items appear on eBay, such as the state of West Virginia, but this latest one is actually obtainable. Yep, it’s a genuine British Aerospace Sea Harrier, the naval version of the Hawker Siddeley Harrier, best known as the Jump Jet. The model in question is actually an FA2, the updated version […]

British Airways Gets First 787

British Airways received its first Boeing 787 Dreamliner today at London’s Heathrow Airport today at 12:10 pm local time. The airplane was welcomed to its Heathrow home by Willie Walsh, chief executive officer of International Airlines Group (IAG), the company that owns British Airways. “The 787 is a tremendous, innovative aircraft which sets new standards for environmental performance […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1869 – Largest hydrogen balloon ever to make a free (untethered) ascent, makes a short flight from the Champs de Mars in Paris, France. It has a capacity of 424,000 cubic feet. 1902 – Birth of William “Bill” Powell Lear, American inventor and businessman best known for founding the Lear Jet Corp., a manufacturer of business jets. 1942 – First […]

Popular Science: Six Awesome Aircraft

For those of us who couldn’t make it to the 2013 edition of the Paris Air Show, the folks at Popular Science (you know, the publication that predicted we’d all have flying cars by now) posted a story yesterday on some of the aircraft that were displayed at Paris-Le Bourget Airport. While not a comprehensive […]