Military Archives - Page 120 of 180

USAF Still Building Afghan Air Force

The mission: build an independent, self-sustaining air force from the inside out, from the ground up. The commander leading that effort calls it the most complex undertaking NATO and the U.S. Air Force have ever tackled. Air Force Brig. Gen. John Michel leads NATO Air Training Command Afghanistan, the organization charged with training the Afghan […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1902 – The Wright Brothers begin testing their third glider at Kitty Hawk, N.C. 1918 – Birth of Viktor Vasilevich Talalikhin, Soviet flying ace during the Winter War and World War II; he was the first to perform aerial ramming at night. 1921 – The first regular scheduled airline service in Latin America commences when Colombian airline SCADTA, operating float-equipped Junkers F.13s, begins flying between Barranquilla and Girandot. 1962 – First […]

Singapore F-15SGs Declared Operational

By TODAYOnline.com Singapore’s new Boeing F-15SG Eagle multi-role fighter aircraft are now operationally ready, marking full operational capability status with a ceremony officiated by Singaporean Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen at Paya Lebar Air Base in central-eastern Singapore yesterday. The F-15SG, operated by 149 Squadron, is one of the most advanced variants of the F-15 strike […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1908 – Death of Thomas Etholen Selfridge, a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army and the first person to die in a crash of a powered airplane, while Orville Wright, who suffers severe injuries but later recovers, was demonstrating the Flyer at Fort Myer, Va. 1916 – Manfred von Richthofen, better known as the “Red […]

B-17 ‘Texas Raiders’ to Visit Houston

It has been nearly 70 years since the last Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress lifted into the air during World War II to join the largest air armada ever to fill the skies, but this Saturday, the four giant Wright-Cyclone engines of “Texas Raiders,” a fully restored B-17, will be roaring over Houston’s Hobby Airport. Of […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1883 – Birth of Frederick Erastus Humphreys, American aviator; he becomes one of the original three military pilots trained by the Wright brothers and the first to fly solo. 1914 – The Canadian Aviation Corps is authorized to be formed; it is the beginning of Canada’s military air force and is composed of two officers and […]

Civil Air Patrol Raising Profile

When Hurricane Sandy ravaged the state’s coastline, a team of New Jersey’s Civil Air Patrol pilots flew hundreds of flights to photograph destruction from the air and give government agencies and homeowners a glimpse of the storm’s toll. The mission is just one example of the work performed by the nonprofit organization, an auxiliary of the […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1896 – Birth of Marcel Emile Haegelen, a French World War I fighter ace, test pilot for Hanriot, record setter and World War II fighter pilot. 1906 – Alberto Santos-Dumont successfully flies his Santos-Dumont 14-bis aircraft at Château de Bagatelle, for the first time. 1935 – First flight of the Hughes H-1, an American racing aircraft […]

Canadian Astronaut Arrives in F-86 Style

Jeremy Hansen’s arrival on Canada’s Gatineau airstrip in Quebec is nothing if not dramatic. The former Canadian Forces fighter pilot turned astronaut looks every bit the military hero as he taxis up the runway in a gold Canadair F-86 Sabre, the vintage aircraft known as Hawk One he piloted Thursday morning to promote the Wings […]

Louisiana’s Navy Hornets Squadron Hangs On

When the U.S. Navy considered moving two flight squadrons from Belle Chasse in 2003, Louisiana’s elected officials rallied to challenge what they saw as a threat to the Naval Air Station-Joint Reserve Base’s survival. The crippling effect of losing two of the three Navy squadrons would have left the air station vulnerable to closure, officials said, at the time when […]