Civilian Archives - Page 137 of 175

On This Day in Aviation History

1917 – Birth of Rex Theodor Barber, American World War II fighter pilot, best known as a member of the top secret mission to intercept the aircraft carrying Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. 1919 – The first commercial flight, from Canada to the U.S., occurs as a Canadian Curtiss aircraft flies 150 pounds of raw furs from Toronto […]

Aircraft Crashes in Fireball at Spanish Air Show

A historic jet plane crashed into a hangar and exploded in a fireball at an airshow southwest of Madrid, Spain, on Sunday, severely injuring its pilot who later died in the hospital, officials said. A spokesman for Spain’s Defense Ministry said the pilot, Ladislao Tejedor Romero, 35, an experienced jet pilot and assistant to Defense […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1918 – Death of Samuel Parry, Welsh World War I flying ace, who was killed in a flying accident in a Bristol F.2b. 1923 – U. S. Air Service Lts. Oakley G. Kelly and John A. Macready complete the first non-stop flight across the U.S. in less than 27 hours from Long Island to Arizona in a Fokker […]

Alaskan Pilot Flies Cessna to North, South Poles

Alaskan pilot Art Mortvedt is due back in Fairbanks any day now from his solo flight to the North Pole. It was the second leg of a mission to realize his long-held dream of flying a single-engine aircraft to both North and South poles. KUAC-FM caught up with Art Mortvedt on Tuesday afternoon, somewhere in the skies […]

Oregon Man Leaves Behind Assortment of Warbirds

A world-class collection of historic military aircraft has long flown under the radar just across the Idaho border in eastern Oregon. The private collection of Ontario’s Merle Maine isn’t sitting in a museum. It’s long been hiding in plain view at the Ontario Airport. However, when Maine passed away in March, his trust made a decision […]

RAF Museum to Raise German World War II Bomber

The Royal Air Force Museum is pleased to announce the start of a ground-breaking operation to raise from the English Channel the last surviving Dornier Do 17, an historic World War II German bomber shot down 72 years ago during the Battle of Britain. The operation will see the retrieval of what is the only […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1892 – Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen (shown above), a German World War I pilot widely known as the Red Baron, is born. Still regarded today as the ace of aces, he amassed 80 aerial combat victories. 1926 – Richard E. Byrd and Floyd Bennett made the first flight over the North Pole. 1936 – American parachutist Clement Joseph “Clem” Sohn makes his first […]

California Pilot Had Long, Eventful Military Career

Warren H. Rice flew “every airplane in the book, or at least every airplane that mattered,” in a career that began during World War II and continued through the Korean War and Vietnam, collecting two Distinguished Flying Crosses (DFC) along the way. Rice was awarded his wings at Williams Army Airfield in Mesa, Ariz., when […]

Helicopter Crew Killed in Vietnam Will Be Buried in Arlington

The remains of a U.S. Navy helicopter pilot from Huntington Park who was shot down and killed in Vietnam nearly 46 years ago have been identified, the U.S. Defense Department announced Tuesday. Lt. Dennis W. Peterson will be buried Thursday in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C., along with the remains of three crew members who were […]

Historic Flying Workhorse Takes to Aussie Skies

It was lunchtime yesterday, a warm and sleepy autumn afternoon, when a museum piece from the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society hurtled unexpectedly down the runway at Albion Park Rail in New South Wales, Australia, and launched its ageing 8,000-kg. mass into the sky. As it climbed skyward, the sunshine caught a spider’s web over an […]