Military Archives - Page 11 of 180

Italian Flight Demo Team Shows Skills

Italy’s national acrobatics flying team entertained Americans and Italians during a brief demonstration over Aviano Air Base in northeastern Italy Friday. Frecce Tricolori is based at nearby Rivolto Air Base and performs at air shows around the world. It’s become a tradition for the team to provide a brief demonstration of its abilities over Aviano. […]

Can Big Data Save Old Warplanes?

It’s been a tough year or so for Air Force maintainers. High-profile aircraft failures plagued the service recently, including emergency landings of C-5 cargo aircraft, the grounding of the B-1 bomber fleet, and the loss of a C-130 propeller in mid-flight. The immediate causes of these accidents vary, the but root cause is the same: age. The average age […]

Air Apaches

Brave Little Indians The 345th Bomb Group (BG) was first activated at Columbia Army Air Base, South Carolina, in November 1942 and was christened the “Air Apaches.” As a B-25 bomber group, it was broken into four squadrons: the 498th, known as the “Falcons”; the 499th, “Bats Outa Hell”; the 500th, “Rough Raiders”; and the […]

HA(L)-3 Seawolves – Attack of the Navy’s Little-Known Helicopter Squadron

“Riders on the storm. Riders on the storm. Into this house we’re born. Into this world we’re thrown.” —The Doors, 1971 Seawolf Formation In 1967, the U.S. Navy established Helicopter Attack (Light) Squadron Three, commonly known as HA(L)-3, unclassified call sign: “Seawolf.” The in-country formation and disestablishment in 1972 was a historic first. The Navy […]

B-52s Put on a Show of Force in the South China Sea

Two US bombers tore through the hotly-contested South China Sea on Oct. 16, 2018, an apparent power play signaling US determination to continue to fly and sail wherever international law allows ahead of a key meeting between US and Chinese defense chiefs Oct. 18, 2018. A pair of Guam-based US Air Force B-52H Stratofortress heavy […]

Photo by Chief Warrant Officer 4 Daniel McClinton, 1st ACB
October 15, 2007

An AH-64D Apache from Company B, 1st "Attack" Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, flies over a residential area in the Multi-National Division-Baghdad area Oct. 12. The Apache crew was conducting a reconnaissance mission to keep an eye out for enemy mortar and anti-aircraft systems.

On This Day in Aviation History

1918 – Death of Cecil Vernon Gardner, British World War I flying ace, from wounds received in actions three days before. 1932 – The only RWD-7, a Polish high-wing, single-engine sports plane, is flown by its designer Jerzy Drzewiecki and Antoni Kocjan, to a record height of 19,755 feet. 1964 – Birth of Stephen Nathaniel […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1906 – Robert Albert Charles Esnault-Pelterie makes a towed flight of more than 1,600 feet in a glider he equipped with ailerons. 1925 – Birth of Masajiro “Mike” Kawato, Japanese World War II fighter ace. 1945 – The No. 273 Squadron of the Royal Air Force, equipped with Supermarine Spitfire IXs, is deployed to Tan […]

MOUNTAIN HOME AIR FORCE BASE, Idaho -- Capt. Christopher Stricklin ejects from the USAF Thunderbirds number six aircraft less than a second before it impacted the ground at an air show at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, Sept. 14. Stricklin, who was not injured, ejected after both guiding the jet away from the crowd of more than 60,000 people and ensuring he couldn't save the aircraft. This was only the second crash since the Air Force began using F-16 Falcons for its demonstration team in 1982. The ACES II ejection seat performed flawlessly. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Bennie J. Davis III)

On This Day in Aviation History

1886 – Birth of Walter Carl Simon, American World War I flying ace and the first American “ace in a day” (5 scores in a single day). He also becomes the vice-director of the Peruvian Naval Flying School at Ancon, and a senior U.S. Army Air Forces officer in World War II. 1910 – The […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1886 – Amelie Beese, the first female German aviator and sculptor, is born. 1931 – The U.K. wins the Schneider Trophy when Lt. John Boothman completes the course at Calshot Spit in a Supermarine S.6B at 340.1 mph. 1940 – The Imperial Japanese Navy’s Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter scores its first aerial victories when a […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1893 – Birth of Garfield Finlay, Australian World War I flying ace. 1931 – Lowell R. Bayles flying the Granville Gee Bee Model Z “City of Springfield,” wins the Thompson Trophy in Cleveland, Ohio, at an average speed of 236.24 mph. 1940 – First flight of the Blohm & Voss BV 222, a large, six-engined […]