Civilian Archives - Page 92 of 175

In Memoriam: A Canadian Airman’s Story

The land appears more blue than green; the lakes splashed randomly amidst the untamed forest seemingly go on forever. This is northern Manitoba. They look like white sentinels; the ramrod straight headstones rising from the manicured lawn seemingly never end. This is England’s Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery. That a line can be drawn from one to the […]

Iruma: Japan’s Hidden Aviation Museum

Tucked inside a hangar behind one of this country’s best aviation museums is a sight few people get to see: The first aircraft to fly above Japan. The Henry Farman biplane and a kamikaze glider are among the many highlights at the hangar and museum on the Japan Air Self-Defense Force’s Iruma Air Base northwest […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1909 – Birth of Noel Francis Parrish, U.S. Air Force pilot, commander of the Tuskegee Airmen in World War II and brigadier general after the Korean War. 1935 – Man first sees the Earth’s curvature when the National Geographic Society and the U.S. Army Air Corps launch their new helium-filled, high-altitude balloon “Explorer II.” It […]

Air Force Museum Brings Vets Together

Paul Young rarely talked about his service during World War II – about the North American B-25 Mitchell bomber he piloted, about his 57 missions, about the dangers he faced or the fears he overcame. “Some things you just don’t talk about,” he said. But Susan Frymier had a hunch that if she could journey […]

Brother Details Bombardier’s Story

Bill Heath was barely 21 back in the fall of 1943 when he arrived at Thorpe Abbots airfield in southeastern England, a second lieutenant reporting for duty as a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombardier. It was the early days of the U.S. Army’s controversial daylight bombing campaign over Nazi-occupied Europe. The Newport, Wash., kid was […]

T-6 Pilots: Caretakers of History

John Ockenfels sits poised in the cockpit of his vibrant yellow North American T-6 Texan airplane, the eyes of three fellow pilots glued to him. As he raises his hand, the engine of his slumbering 1940s warbird kicks to life. The other pilots follow suit. A soft hiccup and a plume of white smoke flow […]

Doolittle Raiders Honored at Ceremony

By Air Force News Service The remaining Doolittle Raiders gathered at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force Saturday to partake in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Doolittle Raider memorial in Memorial Park here, followed by a flyover of North American B-25 Mitchell aircraft. The speakers of the memorial tribute include retired Lt. Col. […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1907 – Birth of Ernesto “Gamba di Ferro” Botto, Spanish War and World War II Italian flying ace. 1916 – U.S. Navy Lt. Clarence K. Bronson and Lt. Luther Welsh, on an experimental bomb test flight at Naval Proving Ground, Indian Head, Maryland, are instantly killed by the premature explosion of a bomb in their […]

Warbirds, Aerobatics Headline NC Show

A variety of warbirds, from trainers to fighters, plus aerobatic teams and solo acts, will be flying high this weekend at the Warbirds Over Monroe Air Show in Monroe, N.C. Held at the Charlotte-Monroe Executive Airport southeast of Charlotte on Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., the event is slated to host a […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1889 – Birth of Andrew Cameron Kiddie, South African World War I fighter ace. 1910 – The first flight for the purpose of delivering commercial freight occurs in the U.S. between the Ohio cities of Dayton and Columbus; the trip, which takes just over an hour, is flown by Wright Co. pilot Philip Parmalee. 1945 – […]