Main Categories Archives - Page 134 of 270

StarShipTwo Continues Supersonic Tests

Virgin Galactic continues to test its SpaceShipTwo in the Mojave desert in preparation for flights from New Mexico’s Spaceport America, which are likely to happen later this year. On Friday, the company completed its third rocket-powered supersonic flight of the ship over the Mojave. All of Virgin’s test objectives were successfully completed, the company said in a […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1793 – The first balloon flight in North America is made by Frenchman Jean-Pierre Blanchard, ascending from Philadelphia, Pa., and landing in Deptford, Gloucester County, N.J. 1900 – Birth of Richard Halliburton, American traveler, adventurer, and author; he would later fly around the world (Flying Carpet Expedition) in a Stearman C-3B. 1918 – Death of Max Ritter […]

On the Spitfire Mystique

When Hermann Goring, head of the Luftwaffe, the German air force, met some senior officers during the Battle of Britain, he asked if there was anything he could give them to improve the Luftwaffe’s performance. Adolf Galland, Germany’s leading fighter pilot of the Second World War, answered: “Give me a squadron of Spitfires.” Nothing sums […]

Two Crewmen Lost in Navy Crash

Two crewmen have died, the Navy says, after one of its helicopters crashed during a training mission off the coast of Virginia. The Navy said in a statement Wednesday that a Sikorsky MH-53E Sea Dragon helicopter had gone into the waters off Virginia Beach near Fort Story. The two who died were among four crewmen […]

Boeing Repairs 787, Won’t Say How

Boeing has repaired the Ethiopian Airlines 787 Dreamliner that was severely damaged in a fire at Heathrow Airport and the jet is back in passenger service with the airline. Boeing spokeswoman Kate Bergman said Wednesday that “the repair and refurbishment took approximately two months and has returned the airplane to full structural integrity, with no […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1863 – Birth of Léon Levavasseur, French power plant engineer, aircraft designer and inventor; his innovations include the V8 engine, direct fuel injection and evaporative engine cooling. 1959 – First flight of the Armstrong Whitworth AW.650 Argosy (shown), a British post-war military transport-cargo aircraft and the last aircraft produced by Armstrong Whitworth. 1987 – Death […]

B-25J ‘Tondelayo’ Flying Over San Francisco

North American B-25J Mitchell 44-28932 “Tondelayo” has been leased by the Collings Foundation to the Jimmy Doolittle Air and Space Museum Education Foundation (DASMF) at Vacaville’s Nut Tree Airport, near Sacramento in Northern California, reports Mike Shreeve of Aeroplane. The plane, N3476G, which has been inactive for much of the past five years at the […]

How a Wayward Part Doomed a Bomber

A sign in World War II’s Anglo-American Supply headquarters in London displayed the adage that begins with “For want of a nail, the shoe was lost.” It quickly marches through several increasingly larger military problems, each triggered by the one that came before. It ends with “For want of a battle, the kingdom was lost.” While the […]

USAF Pave Hawk Crew Killed in Crash

Investigations have been launched to determine what caused a U.S. Air Force Sikorsky HH-60G Pave Hawk combat search and rescue helicopter to crash during a training sortie being flown from RAF Lakenheath in the UK on Tuesday. All four crew members died when the aircraft came down at Cley next the sea on the north Norfolk coast […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1891 – Birth of Fernand Eugene Guyou, French World War I flying ace, airliner pilot and World War II pilot. 1931 – Australian Guy Lambton Menzies crash-lands the Avro Sports Avian “Southern Cross Junior” upside-down in the La Fontaine Swamp near Hari Hari on New Zealand’s west coast after an almost 12-hour flight from Blenheim, […]