Military Archives - Page 135 of 180

Patriots Jet Team Headline Oregon Air Show

Organizers made sure that the 2013 Oregon International Air Show would be known for what appeared in the sky above Hillsboro Airport, more than what didn’t appear. Sequestration, otherwise known as federal budget cuts, forced the U.S. Navy Blue Angels to cancel their scheduled appearance, but the air show quickly added the Patriots Jet Team, a […]

Thunderbirds Return to Skies Over Vegas

Next week, Las Vegans will be the first to catch a glimpse of the U.S. Air Force Thunderbird aircraft up in the sky for the first time since April 5, when the precision flying team stood down for lack of money. The Thunderbirds expect to take to the air again, starting Monday, for a limited […]

Berlin Airlift Pilot Recalls Missions

During the Berlin Airlift, one U.S. pilot threw candy from his aeroplane for the kids in West Berlin. Since then, children have honored him for his work. German broadcaster Deutsche Welle met the Candy Bomber. In the summer of 1948, the young American pilot, Gail S. Halvorsen, ran across the landing strip at Tempelhof airport in West […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1892 – Birth of Edwin Harris Dunning, who later flies for Britain’s Royal Naval Air Service and becomes the first pilot to land an aircraft on a moving ship. 1914 – First flight of the Vickers F.B.5 (Fighting Biplane 5 and known as the “Gunbus”), a British two-seat, World War I military biplane. It is the first aircraft purpose-built for […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1911 – The LZ 10 Schwaben, a German rigid airship, enters commercial service; it will go on to become the first commercially successful passenger aircraft. 1918 – Awdry Morris “Bunny” Vaucour, British World War I flying ace, dies in a “friendly fire” incident when an Italian Hanriot pilot shot down Vaucour’s Sopwith Camel. 1923 – Birth of Ralph Dayton Albertazzie, U.S. Air […]

USAF Combat Planes to Resume Flights

Many U.S. Air Force combat aircraft that have been grounded since April because of budget cuts will soon begin flying again, the military announced Monday. The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds and 16 Air Force squadrons will begin training flights, military officials announced. Still the Thunderbirds’ popular aerial demonstrations remain canceled for all of 2013. An Air […]

World War I Ace Not Forgotten

Bill Martin takes exception with the title of a book about Lt. Col. William Lambert of Ironton, Ohio, that labels the aviator as America’s “forgotten” aviation ace of World War I. Lambert, who passed away in 1982, flew the Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5a for the British Army’s Royal Flying Corps. “I don’t think people really forgot […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1891 – Birth of Frederick Libby, first American ace of World War I. 1927 – Death of Paul Wilhelm Bäumer, German World War I ace, who dies in a crash near Copenhagen while test flying a Rohrbach Rofix fighter. 1941 – Luftwaffe ace Werner Mölders shoots down two Soviet aircraft, raising his victory total to 101. He becomes the first […]

Battle Rages Over Global Hawks

June is the start of the rainy season in the South Pacific, six months of storms that come in fast and unpredictable. And when the wind starts blowing, that takes its toll on U.S. intelligence-gathering far off in North Korea. A substantial amount of the intel on the Hermit Kingdom comes from the three massive […]

Warbird Maintenance Full-Time Job at Museum

The space inside the cockpit of the Beechcraft T-34A Mentor trainer belonging to the Cactus Air Force Wings and Wheels Museum is about the same as inside as a standard refrigerator shipping box. Maybe a foot or two shorter. And narrower. There are 20 or so gauges and dials on the dashboard, some with familiar […]