Civilian Archives - Page 153 of 175

‘Pieces of History’ Still Soar at Opa-Locka Airport

It’s where old planes come to roost. Florida’s Opa-Locka Executive Airport is home to about a dozen large propeller planes, such as Douglas DC-3s and Convair 340s — planes that originally flew for the airlines or the military in the 1940s and 1950s. Although aviation enthusiasts consider them classics, suitable for museums, these “freight dogs” and “skytrucks” still […]

Lancaster Repair Costs Soar, Canadian Warplane Museum Appeals for Help

The warplane museum in Hamilton, Ont., Canada, is making a public plea for donations to help keep its famous World War II Lancaster bomber flying. “We expect the Lancaster to be flying at the June airshow,” says Al Mickeloff, spokesman for the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum. “But there is a bit of urgency — we […]

Firefighting Airplane to Strut Stuff at Reception

One of Leesburg, Fla.’s newest businesses will present a unique demonstration today: a firefighting airplane that scoops up water. Wipaire Inc. — a Minnesota-based aircraft service provider of aircraft and float maintenance, avionics repair and installations, aircraft interior refurbishments and float installations — has branched out with a Southeastern service center at the Leesburg International […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1902 – Charles Augustus Lindbergh, American pilot, was born. Also known as “Lucky Lindy” and “The Lone Eagle,” he was famous for the first solo, non-stop flight across the Atlantic in 1927 from Roosevelt Field, Long Island, to Paris in the “Spirit of St. Louis.” 1935 – First flight of the Mitsubishi A5M Claude, a Japanese carrier-based fighter aircraft. World’s […]

Pearl Harbor Flight Recalls Uncle’s USS Arizona Death

After 11 hours nonstop from New York to Honolulu, I had no plans to hit the beach for surfing. I was hooking up with an outfit called Pacific Warbirds that takes tourists on thrill rides aboard a vintage North American SNJ-5 airplane. I would fly over Pearl Harbor on the single-prop aircraft at the same altitude as the Japanese […]

Bomb Group that Fought Nazis Renovates Museum

A World War II military history museum, an effort by the veterans, spouses and friends of the 390th Bomb Group, is getting a multimillion-dollar upgrade. The 390th Memorial Museum is located on the grounds of Arizona’s Pima Air and Space Museum and is known as a “museum within a museum.” It houses memorabilia and artifacts […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1885 – Death of Stanislas Charles Henri Dupuy de Lôme, French naval architect and Navigable balloons designer. 1913 – Birth of Jeffrey Kindersley Quill, OBE, AFC, FRAeS, World War II Royal Air Force officer, Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve officer and test pilot. He test-flew every mark of the Supermarine Spitfire. 1920 – World War I U.S. ace (twelve […]

Army Aviation Episode of History Channel’s “Top Gear” Airs Feb. 5

Top Gear, an American motoring television series on the History Channel, is scheduled to air their second episode of its third season on Tuesday, February 5, which was filmed inside the gates of Fort Campbell, Ky., last fall. The week-long production combined Hollywood magic with the military might of the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division […]

Foundation to Retrace and Document Secret Air Route to Russia

The story of the top-secret northern and Alaska-Siberia air routes and the incredible effort that delivered nearly 8,000 military aircraft from the U.S. to the former Soviet Union during World War II is being told in “Warplanes to Siberia,” an upcoming documentary by the BRAVO 369 Flight Foundation. As part of the project, a fact-based, multi-part feature […]

New Exhibit Reveals Alaska’s Aviation Heritage

In 1913, a group of Fairbanks, Alaska, merchants shipped an airplane from Seattle to Fairbanks via steamboat. A pair of Lower 48 barnstormers flew the biplane 200 feet above Weeks Field, putting along at 45 miles per hour. The merchants sold tickets to the show: The flight was considered nothing more than a spectacle. On […]