Main Categories Archives - Page 170 of 270

On This Day in Aviation History

1834 – Birth of Samuel Pierpont Langley, American astronomer, physicist, inventor of the bolometer and pioneer of aviation. 1909 – The first international aviation meeting begins in Bétheny, France; 23 European airplanes make 87 flights during one week and the meeting will have a strong influence on the technical and military aspects of flight. 1914 – […]

Sukhoi Fighters to Put on Show at MAKS

Russia’s fifth-generation T-50 and Su-35S multirole fighter jets will perform stunning aerobatics at Moscow’s MAKS International Aviation and Space show next week, their maker Sukhoi said Thursday. The jets will display dramatic maneuvers, including what is known as the Puchagev Cobra in which a flying airplane suddenly raises its nose to the vertical position and slightly beyond, and […]

USMC Squadron Says Farewell to ‘Phrogs’

The Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 262 “Flying Tigers” are in their final days flying the Boeing Vertol CH-46 Sea Knights. Later this year, the squadron will transition to the Bell Boeing MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft and decommission the Sea Knights, according to U.S. Marine Corps officials. The Marine Corps has been flying Sea Knights, or […]

Final North American A318 Retired

The Airbus A318 can be thought of as the black sheep of the Airbus family. With a grand total of only 79 airframes built, the A318 program was simply not meant to be. Earlier this month, the final A318 based in North America, belonging to Frontier Airlines, has been retired at the young age of […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1879 – Birth of Claude Grahame White, English aviation pioneer and the first to make a night flight; he also founded Grahame-White Aviation Co. 1929 – Nicholas B. “Nick” Mamer and and Arthur Walker lands in Spokane, Wash., after a 120-hour flight using inflight refueling to make the distance from Spokane to San Francisco, New […]

Chinese Aerobatic Team to Perform in Russia

The August 1st Air Demonstration Team, China’s first and best-known aerobatic flight display team, will stage its first overseas show in Moscow with Chengdu J-10 jet fighters, which will fly outside China for the first time. An unidentified number of J-10s from the aerobatic team, part of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force, left an […]

First Production AT-6 Makes Smooth Flight

Beechcraft Corp. completed the inaugural flight of the first production AT-6 multimission light aircraft Tuesday morning in Wichita, Kan., as employees, dignitaries and others watched. Pilots Lionel Alford and J.D. O’Malley started the engine, taxied to the runway and took to the skies. “It is a fantastic airplane to fly,” Alford said after landing. “We call […]

Catalina Takes to London Skies

A 70-year-old amphibious aircraft flew along the River Thames on Wednesday morning as it set off to trace the route of the 1913 Circuit of Britain Race. PBY Catalina G-PBYA, operated by Plane Sailing Air Displays Ltd. and built in Canada in the 1940s, took off from its base at IWM Duxford on Wednesday morning […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1832 – Birth of Thaddeus Lowe, American Civil War aeronaut. 1910 – First U.S. Army experiments with firing a rifle from an airplane takes place when Lt. Jacob Earl Fickel conducts firing trials from a Curtiss biplane piloted by Glenn Curtiss himself. 1935 – Boeing’s prototype B-17 Flying Fortress, designated the Model 299 (shown above), […]

B-1B Crashes in Montana, Crew Escapes

A Rockwell B-1B Lancer bomber crashed in a remote area of southeastern Montana on Monday, but its four U.S. Air Force crew members survived after ejecting from the South Dakota-based aircraft, Air Force officials said. Two pilots and two weapons system officers ejected before the bomber crashed about 9:30 a.m. near Broadus, Mont., said Col. […]