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Iconic Firepower: Bomber Turret Developments

Once airplanes became viable weapons, they became tempting targets. Bombers, often single-engine biplanes with an observation capability during World War I, were targeted, prompting defensive armament intended purely for destroying attacking aircraft. The Scarff ring, a Royal Flying Corps contribution to bomber longevity during the Great War, was a mechanical mount for .30-caliber machine guns. […]

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 […]

Solar Impulse Coming to Texas

The world’s only 100-percent solar aircraft will fly into Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport this week and will be on display for aviation enthusiasts at an event tentatively scheduled for noon Saturday. Swiss pilots Andre Borshberg and Bertand Piccard will be the first to pilot a solar aircraft across the country. D/FW Airport is the third stop in the cross-country journey from the […]

New Airline Flying into Florida

A new Memphis, Tenn.-based airline has announced plans to offer direct flights between the Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport (ECP) and cities around the Southeast. Southern Airways Express will launch service to ECP, Destin and other destinations in the Southeast at the end of the month. Instead of large passenger jets, Southern Airways Express will […]

Wright Flyer: Free Online Drawing

This wonderful Wylam drawing of the Wright Flyer from the Air Age Archive will answer a lot of technical questions about how wing warping works and the geometry of things like the flying/landing wires and the dimensions of the canard and rudder surfaces. The three-view is so complete a model could easily be built from […]

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 […]

TV Station Takes Rare Look at HondaJet

WFMY News 2 of Greensboro, N.C., recently took a rare look at aviation innovation inside Honda Aircraft Co. The headquarters is home of what’s known as the fastest and most fuel-efficient business jet on the planet. Honda Aircraft President and CEO Michimasa Fujino designed the seven-seat HondaJet. “Every time I see this airplane, this is art,” he said. “I […]

Farming Looks to Drones as ‘Flying Tractors’

Drones in the tens of thousands will be in the skies by 2030, the Federal Aviation Administration predicts. But where some may fear precision weapons or flying spy cameras, Steve Markofski sees flying tractors. Markofski, a new business planner for Yamaha, hopes to repeat in the United States the success that the company has had in […]

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 […]