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Rhode Island Teacher Makes History Flying Biodiesel Plane

A Lincoln, R.I., teacher made history Saturday, flying the first ever biodiesel-fueled airplane in U.S. history. Ross McCurdy, a local teacher and pilot pioneered the flight to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the destination of the Wright Brothers historic flight back in 1903. “I think this is the shape of the future,” he said. McCurdy has taken […]

Fundraising Taking Flight at N.Y. Aircraft Museum

Despite the winter weather, activity at the 1941 Historical Aircraft Group Museum in Geneseo, N.Y., is in full swing with a pair of fundraising campaign, including one that seeks to raise $2 million for a new hanger. The museum is also developing a second campaign to help get one of its planes to France for the […]

Thunderbirds Air Show Season Cancelled

As the Air Force braces for potential sequester, leadership has cancelled all aviation support to public events for at least the remainder of the fiscal year and is standing down the Thunderbirds aerial demonstration team beginning April 1 to save flying hours to support readiness needs. Active-duty, Reserve and Guard units ceased all aviation support […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1921 – Pierre Clostermann, French World War II pilot, was born. Colstermann was a French flying ace, author, engineer and politician. 1937 – First flight of the Mitsubishi Ki-30 (Allied reporting name “Ann”). It is the first Japanese aircraft to be powered by a modern two-row radial engine. 1947 – U. S. Army Air Forces Captain Robert E. Thacker (pilot) and Lieutenant […]

Reminder: WWII Aircraft Foundation Charity Auction

Greatest Generation Aircraft, a Fort Worth, Texas-based foundation that operates a pair of World War II aircraft, will host a charity auction this Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon, at the Vintage Flying Museum hangar at 505 NW 38th Street. Among the many unique items set to roll across the auction block is a Cyclone radial […]

Doolittle Raider, Who Shunned Title of ‘Hero,’ Dies

Now, he’s flying with the angels. Tom Griffin, one of just five surviving Doolittle Raiders, died Tuesday night in his sleep at the Fort Thomas VA hospital in Kentucky. He navigated one of 16 North American B-25 Mitchell bombers from an aircraft carrier in the middle of the Pacific during the early dark days of […]

Aussies Show Off New Tanker Transport

The two Boeing F/A-18 Hornet fighters approach the 27-meter-long hoses trailing from the wings of the Airbus airliner like hungry calves seeking out a mother’s teat. High above Lakes Entrance in East Gippsland, Australia, yesterday afternoon, the latest inclusion to the Royal Australian Air Force inventory, the KC-30A multirole tanker transport, demonstrated how Australia was now […]

787 Return to Flight Still Long Way Off

Federal Aviation Administration chief Michael Huerta said Wednesday that Boeing won’t get its 787 Dreamliners back in passenger service without extensive testing and recertification of its proposed fix for the jet’s lithium ion battery problem. In testimony before a Congressional subcommittee, Huerta said he expects a report back from his technical staff next week that […]

Book Review: Roy Grinnell, Artist of the Aces

There were some high clouds in the sky over Bernieres-sur-Mer, a tiny town in the Normandy region of France, on June 29, 1944. It was typical weather along the English Channel, yet probably more pleasant than the previous week or so, when a storm lasting four days battered the area. Still, an accurate forecast for […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1896 – Birth of Saint Cyprian Churchill Tayler, British World War I flying ace. 1937 – First flight of the Fiat G.50 Arrow, a World War II Italian fighter and Italy’s first single-seat, all-metal monoplane with an enclosed cockpit and retractable landing gear to go into production. 1941 – Philippine Airlines is founded, making it Asia’s first and oldest […]