Military Archives - Page 22 of 180

Dutch F-35 First to Make Overseas Debut

The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter will fly across the Atlantic Ocean this summer to make its international debut — but the United Kingdom won’t be the JSF’s first stop. At least one Dutch F-35A will appear at the Leeuwarden Air Show in the Netherlands in June, according to Lt. Col. Sidney Plankman, chief […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1932 – Birth of Corrado Gex, Italian aviator and politician; he was the first pilot authorized to land on a glacier. 1937 – Sir Frank Whittle ground-tests the first jet engine designed to power an aircraft at the British Thomson-Houston factory in Rugby, England. 1939 – First flight of the IAR 80 (shown), Romanian World […]

NMUSAF Begins New Hangar Move

Snow and a biting windchill didn’t deter Sidney C. Palomino and her 5-year-old son, Mauricio, from standing at the edge of a rope line Saturday to see one of the most famous planes in history emerge out of a Wright-Patterson Air Force Base hangar on an Ohio morning more like January than April. She and her son […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1900 – Birth of Wilmer Lower Stultz, American military aviator and test pilot; he made the first non-stop flight between New York City and Havana, Cuba. 1937 – First flight of the Junkers Ju 89, a German heavy bomber prototype. 1940 – A trio of Vickers Wellingtons of No.115 Squadron and two Bristol Blenheims of No.254 Squadron attack Stavanger-Sola airfield […]

March Base Air Show Returns

The commander of California’s March Air Reserve Base is throwing what amounts to a block party, for half a million people. “This really is about the community and the great support we get around here,” Brig. Gen. Russell Muncy said of the base’s air show on April 16-17. “I’ve never been to a base that […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1911 – Birth of Bozidar “Bosko” Petrovich, Yugoslavian flying ace of the Spanish Civil War. 1916 – Flying his new Nieuport 11 fighter, World War I Italian ace Francesco Baracca scores his first victory, holing the fuel tank of an Austrian Hansa-Brandenburg C.I and wounding its two-man crew. This becomes the first aerial victory for […]

Alaska Picked for First Overseas F-35 Base

Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, was selected as the new home for the Air Force’s first operational overseas Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning IIs. Air Force officials chose Eielson AFB after a lengthy analysis of the location’s operational considerations, installation attributes, environmental factors and cost. “Alaska combines a strategically important location with a world-class training environment. […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1892 – Birth of Ludwig Gaim, German World War I flying ace who also served in World War II. 1935 – Death of Robert Bajac, French World War I pilot, airline pilot and record setter; he dies in a crash while flying between Paris and London at night. 1947 – First flight of the Blackburn Firecrest (shown), […]

Texas-Based A-26 Readied for Show Season

The Commemorative Air Force’s A-26 Invader Squadron, based within the Vintage Flying Museum’s hangar at Meacham International Airport in Fort Worth, Texas, has spent the winter month’s working hard on its Douglas A-26B Invader 41-29427. The squadron began life in 2009, with the specific objective of getting the A-26 airworthy. Following years on the air show circuit as “Spirit of Waco,” […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1894 – Birth of Sergey Vladimirovich Ilyushin (shown), Soviet aircraft designer who founded the Ilyushin aircraft design bureau. 1917 – German Schutte-Lanz airship SL9 (E2) is destroyed during a storm with the loss of all hands. 1940 – First flight of the Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-1 (production LAGG-3), Soviet fighter aircraft of World War II. 1959 – […]