Civilian Archives - Page 24 of 175

Navy Pilot Reunites with Vietnam A-7B

It’s been 44 years since Sonny Kifer has sat in the cockpit of an LTV A-7B Corsair II, but he can still recognize it at a quick glance. Kifer was a U.S. Navy pilot in the Vietnam War, serving on an aircraft carrier about 90 miles offshore. Most of his missions involved flights just south of the DMZ (demilitarized […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1912 – The Michelin Cup is won by Samuel Cody after he completes a 186 mile course around Britain, flying a total of 220 miles. 1929 – First flight of the Curtiss Model 54 Tanager (shown), an American light biplane prototype. 1932 – Birth of Edwin Jacob “Jake” Garn, American politician and U.S. Navy pilot; […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1894 – Birth of Herbert Joseph “Jimmy” Larkin, Australian World War I flying ace, pioneering aviator, airmail and raid pilot; he also founded the Larkin Aircraft Supply Co. and served also in World War II. 1932 – The Indian Air Force is formed as an auxiliary air force of the Royal Air Force with the enactment of the Indian […]

Pop Sci Flies the Icon A5

I’ve never piloted an airplane before. I’ve never even so much as sat in the cockpit of a moving aircraft. So I’m naturally a bit nervous when Kirk Hawkins, founder and CEO of Icon Aircraft, asks me if I want the stick. We’re roughly 1,000 feet above New York’s Hudson River in Icon’s new A5 […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1914 – Birth of Josef František, Czech World War II fighter ace who flew for the air forces of Czechoslovakia, Poland and England. 1919 – KLM, flag carrier of the Netherlands, is founded and remains the oldest airline still operating under its original name. 1940 – A Tupolev ANT-44, a Soviet four-engine flying boat, achieves […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1912 – At Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal, Japan, Lt. Yozo Kaneko makes the Imperial Japanese Navy’s first flight, piloting a Farman seaplane for 15 minutes and reaching an altitude of 100 feet. 1918 – Death of Harold Goodman “Shoey” Shoemaker, American World War I flying ace, when he collides in mid-air with another Sopwith […]

Georgia Museum Adds P-51H to Collection

After finally getting a B-17 bomber in its arsenal of attractions, the Museum of Aviation in Warner Robins, Ga., now has the plane that protected it. The museum staff has reassembled a fully restored North American P-51 Mustang fighter and rolled it into the Century of Flight Hangar. It will remain there on display for […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1904 – Birth of Albert Aubrey “Aub” Koch, pioneering Australian military and civil pilot; he was the captain of the only Qantas aircraft known to be shot down during World War II. 1917 – Death of Colin Geen Orr MacAndrew, Scottish World War I flying ace, killed in action in his Bristol Fighter. 1941 – Heini Dittmar sets an […]

Red Bull Helo Pilot Retiring

Chuck Aaron announced on Instagram that he is retiring from flying the Red Bull helicopter, a Messerschmitt-Bölkow Blohm BO-105 modified to withstand the rigors of aerobatic flight. In his 10-year tenure with Red Bull, Aaron has performed about 250 airshows. His last show will be at the Red Bull Air Race at the Las Vegas […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1895 – Birth of Roscoe Turner (shown), American aviator and 3-time winner of the Thompson Trophy, one of the National Air Races of the heyday of airplane racing in the 1930s. 1927 – Death of Georg Wulf, German aviation pioneer, test pilot and aircraft designer; also co-founder of Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau AG; Wulf is killed in the crash […]