Civilian Archives - Page 57 of 175

D-Day Douglas Still in Service

For more than 20 years, Stan Brock has taken to the skies from the Downtown Island Airport in Knoxville, Tenn., in an old Douglas C-47 aircraft. Brock and other volunteers with the group Remote Area Medical (RAM) have used the plane as a heavy lifter to deliver the gift of healing medicine from above. “There’s no such thing […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1896 – Birth of Henry William Allingham, British World War I pilot and engineer; he became the last surviving member of the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) and the last surviving founding member of the Royal Air Force (RAF). 1917 – Raymond “Collie” Collishaw, Canadian World War I fighter ace, scores 3 Albatross D.III kills […]

Mustangs to Fly Over Seattle for D-Day

Look above the Seattle waterfront about noon Friday for a glimpse of the past. In honor of D-Day’s 70th anniversary, a trio of museum-owned North American P-51 Mustang fighter planes — one of which actually flew in the D-Day invasion — is scheduled to soar over communities from Bellingham to Olympia between 9 a.m. and […]

Canadian WWII Pilot Recalls 90 Missions

Norm Howe and his childhood buddy Jack MacLean were both 19 years old when war broke out in 1939. The duo were inseparable. They spent time together in their hometown of Toronto, played competitive tennis together and decided to enlist together. “We were getting a little antsy that we’d be called up to the army, so we […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1898 – Birth of Leonard Monteagle Barlow, British World War I flying ace. 1943 – U.S. Army Air Forces pilot Fred Hargesheimer, flying a Lockheed P-38F-4 on a photo reconnaissance mission over the island of New Britain, Papua New Guinea, is shot down by a Japanese Kawasaki Ki-45 Nick fighter. Despite his injuries and […]

747 Only for President as Jumbo Era Ends

Boeing’s iconic 747 jumbo jet is gliding deeper into its twilight years, with a new Air Force One fleet offering the strongest sales prospect for a passenger model that no longer fits most airlines’ needs. Even as Boeing talks with Emirates about an order for the upgraded 747-8, the carrier played down the chances of […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1910 – Igor Sikorsky makes a 12-second first flight in his Sikorsky S-2 (B.I.S.I or S-1 rebuilt), a biplane with a pusher engine. 1923 – Birth of Jean Dabos, French World War II fighter pilot, test pilot and aircraft designer. 1936 – Death of Godwin Brumowski, most successful fighter ace of the Austro-Hungarian Air Force […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1849 – First air raid in history takes place when Austria launches pilotless balloons against the city of Venice. 1892 – Birth of Albert Desbrisay Carter, Canadian World War I fighter ace. 1958 – First flight of the Vought XF8U-3 Crusader III (shown), a U.S. aircraft developed by Chance Vought as a successor to the […]

Montana Museum Gets Historic Bell 47

Missoula’s aviation museum in Montana has itself a whirlybird. Maybe you’ve seen Bell 47 helicopters like this, on “M*A*S*H” reruns, if nowhere else. Ron Gipe has been on the inside looking out of their bubble cockpits for more than four decades, logging 30,000-plus hours in them and counting. “The best of the best,” a fellow pilot called […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1892 – Birth of Clive Wilson Warman, American World War I flying ace and sole American winner of the British Distinguished Service Order. 1942 – Launch of Operation Millennium, the first Allied 1,000-bomber raid; Cologne, Germany, is the target and is struck with 1,455 tons of explosives, two-thirds of which are incendiary. 1948 – First flight […]