Military Archives - Page 148 of 180

On This Day in Aviation History

1896 – Birth of Carleton Main Clement, Canadian World War I fighter ace. 1928 – Rev. John Flynn founds the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia at Cloncurry, Queensland, using a de Havilland DH.50. The service takes medical services to remote parts of the Australian bush. 1938 – First flight of the first production Supermarine […]

USAF Launches Final A-10 Sortie in Europe

The final A-10 Thunderbolt II tactical sortie in Europe was launched by the U.S. Air Force from Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany on Tuesday. The airframe belongs to the 52nd Fighter Wing’s 81st Fighter Squadron, which inactivates in June. “I’m proud to be a part of the last sortie,” said Lt. Col. Jeff Hogan, the […]

Retired Jets May Have New Mission at Sea

Two U.S. Air Force jets that once were at home in the skies may soon find a more permanent residence at sea. The two McDonnell F-101 Voodoo aircraft recently removed from the Panama City Marina and Gulf Coast State College are now being proposed for use as artificial reefs in the Gulf of Mexico. Although […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1884 – Birth of Claude Honoré Desiré Dornier, German airplane builder and founder of Dornier Flugzeugwerke. 1915 – The U.S. Navy contracts with the Connecticut Aircraft Co. for its first airship. 1940 – The Allies lose 110 aircraft – 70 British Fairey Battles and Bristol Blenheims and 40 French planes – on one day in a disastrous attempt to bomb bridges over the River Meuse. 1973 – Skylab, the United […]

Flying Tigers Vet Honored at Georgia Middle School

One of only four surviving members of the 1st American Volunteer Group of the Chinese Air Force was honored Monday night with a concert performance by students of Lovinggood Middle School in Powder Springs, Ga., northwest of Atlanta. Maj. Edward Stiles Sr. is the honoree, is the grandfather of Lovinggood’s assistant band director Michelle Koenig. […]

Navy X-47B to Make History Today

The U.S. Navy plans to make aviation history on Tuesday by catapulting an unmanned jet off an aircraft carrier for the first time, testing a long-range, stealthy, bat-winged plane that represents a jump forward in drone technology. The Northrop Grumman X-47B, which can carry the equivalent of two precision-guided bombs and fly 2,000 nautical miles […]

Salute from the Shore Air Show to Go On

Each year on the Fourth of July, a group from Columbia, S.C., organizes “Salute from the Shore,” a flyover of military aircraft along the entire South Carolina coast from the North Carolina border to the Georgia state line. The crowds on the beach are urged to display American flags, wave and cheer as a video […]

Plane Buffs Have Plenty to See in Washington, Oregon

The world’s single largest building is located in Everett, Wash., a northern suburb of Seattle. And yet, if you didn’t make an effort to visit Paine Field, you might never know it was there. This structure is no high rise. It is 2.2 miles from one end to the other, sprawling across more than 98 […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1883 – Birth of Charles Alexander Holcombe Longcroft, British World War I pilot and squadron commander in the Royal Flying Corps who went on to become a senior commander in the Royal Air Force. 1912 – A Flanders F.3 Monoplane crashed at Brooklands in England, killing the pilot and his passenger. The accident was investigated […]

Last Summer for Mars Water Bomber as Canada Province Cuts Contract

The future of the last Martin Mars water bomber still in service is uncertain, now that Canada’s British Columbia provincial government has given notice that this is the last summer the aircraft, based in Port Alberni, will be given a direct-award contract. Wayne Coulson, owner of the 1940s-era aircraft that’s based on the Martin JRM Mars four-engined cargo […]