Military Archives - Page 111 of 180

Indian Navy Inducts Hawk 132 Trainer

The Indian Navy inducted the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) Hawk 132, a fourth-generation advanced jet trainer aircraft, on Wednesday at an impressive ceremony held at Naval Air Station INS Dega. Admiral DK Joshi, chief of the naval staff, who was the chief guest at the event, inducted the aircraft in the presence of Vice Admiral Anil […]

Former U-2 Pilot Recounts Flights

Retired U.S. Air Force Col. Art Saboski participated in the Civil Air Patrol as a youth growing up in a small town in North Carolina, never imaging he would be among the first Lockheed U-2 pilots and ending up commander of the 17th Reconnaissance Wing (England), operating a fleet of U-2s providing reconnaissance and battlefield […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1887 – Birth of Vivian Claude Walsh, New Zealand pioneer aviator and the first man to fly in New Zealand; he becomes the co-founder (with brother Austin Leonard Walsh) of the New Zealand Flying School. 1929 – First flight of the Junkers G.38 (shown above), a large German four-engined transport aircraft that features a blended […]

Israel Prepares for ‘Blue Flag’ Exercise

The Israeli Air Force will conduct a joint drill with a bevy of some 1,000 pilots from three other nations in the Negev Desert later this month. The two-week exercise will take place at the Uvda air base, near the southern resort city of Eilat, and will include air crews from the United States, Italy […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1900 – Birth of James Herman Banning (shown above), American aviation pioneer and the country’s first black aviator to fly coast-to-coast. 1910 – The Willows No. 3, an airship named “City of Cardiff,” arrives in France after the first dirigible flight across the English Channel, making the trip from London in 10 hours, 30 min.; […]

SOCOM to Keep NASA OV-10s for Awhile

The U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) will keep two borrowed North American Rockwell OV-10G+ Broncos until early next year, when the results of the recently completed Combat Dragon II evaluation are in. What happens to the aircraft afterwards depends on the Department of Defense. “If DoD has no further interest in the OV-10s, then the […]

USAF Museum Shows Off X-Planes

Story and photo by NASA Three unique research aircraft previously flown by NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center or its predecessor organizations have recently been placed on display at the Air Force Flight Test Museum at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. Museum staff and volunteers moved the Northrop X-4 Bantam and one of two General Dynamics F-16XL aircraft to the exhibit area on […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1888 – Birth of John Leacroft, British World War I fighter ace who also served in World War II. 1909 – As a joke to prove pigs could fly, British aviator John Moore-Brabazon put a small pig in a wastepaper basket tied to a wing strut of his Short Biplane No. 2; the flight may have […]

UK Pilot Starts 7,000-Mile Trip in Stearman

With support from Boeing, pilot Tracey Curtis-Taylor has taken off on a 7,000-mile solo journey, in a reconditioned Boeing Stearman open-cockpit biplane, to retrace Lady Mary Heath’s historic 1928 flight between South Africa and the United Kingdom. Heath was the first pilot, male or female, to make such a journey. Curtis-Taylor, a UK-based pilot, departed […]

Hemet-Ryan Air Show Thrills Crowd

Some came to look back at their past, others came to glimpse into their future. No matter their motive, the thousands of people in attendance appeared to enjoy the Hemet-Ryan Air Show in California on Saturday. The crowd spread out across the grounds of the Hemet-Ryan Airport, many in lawn chairs, others on blankets and some […]