Military Archives - Page 116 of 180

On This Day in Aviation History

1887 – Birth of Agustin Paral, Cuban aviation pioneer and the first Cuban pilot. 1933 – A Boeing 247 belonging to United Airlines is destroyed by a bomb over Chesterton, Ind., in the first proven case of air sabotage on a commercial aircraft; all seven on board are killed. 1949 – Death of Chikuhei Nakajima, Japanese naval […]

Aussie Spitfire Group Ups Funding Effort

Broken Wings is a documentary film project currently in production in Melbourne, Australia. It explores the legend that as many as twelve brand new Spitfires still in their original packing crates, are buried somewhere in an around the township of Oakey in southern Queensland. James Carter and Karl von Moller, both warbird enthusiasts and film […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1890 – First flight of the Ader Éole, a French steam-powered aircraft; it flies about 164 feet at the Chateau d’Armainvilliers in Brie, reaching an altitude of about 8 inches. It’s considered by some to be the first true aeroplane, given that it left the ground under its own power and carried a person through […]

WWII Warbird Foundation Hosting Auction

Greatest Generation Aircraft, a Fort Worth, Texas-based foundation that operates a pair of World War II aircraft, will host a charity auction Friday, beginning at 7 p.m., at the Vintage Flying Museum hangar at 505 NW 38th Street. Among the many unique items set to roll across the auction block is a Cyclone radial engine overhauled […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1890 – Birth of Edward “Eddie” Vernon Rickenbacker, American World War I fighter ace, race car driver and automotive designer, a government consultant in military matters and a pioneer in air transportation, particularly as the longtime head of Eastern Air Lines. 1908 – The first European flight of the Wright Brothers is made by Wilbur […]

Roof Collapse Damages Airship

A $35 million lighter-than-air dirigible was damaged and leaked helium Monday after part of a hangar roof collapsed at a former military base, authorities said. The partial collapse was reported just after 7:45 a.m. at one of the World War II-era blimp hangars on the grounds of the former Marine Corps Air Station, said Capt. Steve […]

New USAF Transports Head to Boneyard

The Pentagon is sending $50 million cargo planes straight from the assembly line to mothballs because it has no use for them, yet it still hasn’t stopped ordering the aircraft, according to a report. A dozen nearly new Italian-built C-27J Spartans have been shipped to an Air Force facility in Arizona dubbed “the boneyard,” and […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1890 – Birth of Hubert William Godfrey Jones (Penderel), a Welsh World War I flying ace, Royal Air Force display pilot, air racer and World War II officer; he later undertakes a number of expeditions to explore the Gilf Kebir plateau in Egypt and one of his expeditions with Count László Almásy loosely forms the […]

CAF AirSho Celebrates 50 Years

Nine vintage military aircraft took to the skies above Harlingen’s Rebel Field in 1963, marking the Commemorative Air Force’s first warbird show dedicated to air stunts and flight aerobics. The tradition continues five decades later in the Permian Basin’s backyard with the CAF’s 50th annual AirSho on Oct. 12-13 at Midland International Airport. This year’s milestone […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1877 – Birth of François Victor Denhaut, early French aviator and aircraft designer; he also was known as the inventor of flying boats. 1909 – More than a million New Yorkers watch as Wilbur Wright makes a flight at New York City’s Hudson-Fulton celebrations, circling the Statue of Liberty and making a 33-minute flight up […]