Military

1888 – Birth of Edward Darby, British World War I flying ace. 1934 – Juan de la Cierva lands an autogyro on the Spanish Navy seaplane and ballon carrier Dédalo. It is the first time an autogyro lands on a Spanish ship. 1942 – The Royal Air Force commits Supermarine Spitfires to the defense of Malta for […]

1896 – Birth of Dan Able Kimball, American World War I pilot, executive of rocket engine producer Aerojet Engineering Co. and secretary of the U.S. Navy. 1926 – A quartet of Royal Air Force Fairey IIIDs commanded by Wing Commander Conway Walter Heath Pulford begin a long-distance flight from Cairo, Egypt, to Cape Town, South […]

1896 – Birth of Saint Cyprian Churchill Tayler, British World War I flying ace. 1931 – Frenchmen Lucien Bossoutrot and Maurice Rossi take off in the Blériot 110 “Joseph Le Brix” to attempt a closed-circuit world distance record. 1935 – Adolf Hitler orders the Luftwaffe to be reformed, violating the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles. […]

Eric “Winkle” Brown, a British pilot who flew more kinds of aircraft than anyone in history and was the first person to land a jet on an aircraft carrier, has died. He was 97. Brown’s family said he died Sunday at a hospital in southern England after a short illness. Often dubbed Britain’s greatest pilot, […]

A former Italian Army Cessna O-1E Bird Dog took off on her first post-restoration flight into the crisp winter skies over Montagnana airfield near Padova, in northeastern Italy, earlier this month after a thorough rebuild by owner Andrea Rossetto. Save for a minor radio problem, the initial sortie was a complete success. Vintage military aircraft are rare on the Italian civil […]