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On This Day in Aviation History

1917 – Death of John Edward Sharman, Canadian World War I flying ace; he is killed in action in his Sopwith Triplane by a direct hit from anti-aircraft fire. 1921 – Donald Wills Douglas, Sr., founds the Douglas Aircraft Co. 1921 – Birth of Umberto Bernardini, Italian test pilot; he became the first Italian to […]

Another Lancaster Seat Offered on eBay

If you’re still smarting about losing out in May’s bidding war for the $79,100 Avro Lancaster flight of a lifetime to Great Britain next month, here’s your chance to land a seat on the return trip. A spokesperson from the Canadian Warplane Heritage museum, which owns the famous warbird, said on Monday that another ticket […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1891 – Birth of Gilbert Marie de Guingand, French World War I flying ace. 1939 – First flight of the Short S.26 G-class (shown), a British four-engined flying boat. 1941 – More than 190 Luftwaffe bombers attack the Soviet capital of Moscow for the first time. 1951 – A Canadian Pacific Airlines Douglas DC-4 departs […]

Group to Toast F-15 Eagle at Ohio Air Base

Those responsible for designing and sustaining a historic airplane will gather this weekend at Hope Hotel and Conference Center to remember — and toast — an achievement worth remembering. Dubbed the “F-15 Gathering of Eagles 2014,” the event happens Friday through Sunday at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The gathering is open to the men and women, civilian and […]

The Soccer War

I was seated in first class enjoying a cocktail at 33,000 feet, looking west at the vast Pacific Ocean en route to Guatemala on a Pan Am 707 when a thought passed: “I sure hope this isn’t a one-way trip.” It was the summer of 1969. But while the Vietnam War proceeded, an unlikely feud […]

A Wingspan From Disaster

BY CHARLES O’MAHONY Our Martin B-26 Marauder crew arrived on the island of Sardinia in the Mediterranean Sea to begin our combat tour in July of 1944. We joined the 320th Bomb Group, and we were assigned to one of the four squadrons, the 441st. The Group was operating off Decimomannu airfield, a one-of-a-kind dirt […]

Unarmed and Unafraid

RA-5 Vigilante: Going to war with a camera The Vigilante was doing 650 knots near the North Vietnamese port of Hon Gai when there was a huge explosion behind the tail from either heavy caliber antiaircraft fire or a SA-2 missile. On fire and with the flight controls failed, the crew, Lt. Cdr. James Bell, […]

Double Nickel Killers

Late war aerial combat with the 55th Fighter group by James P. Busha The early strategy of the 8th Air Force fighter groups was to stay with the bombers, escort them, save them, and to not leave them and go chasing after the Luftwaffe. That all changed when General Jimmy Doolittle took over in early […]

Hunting the Hunters

Memories of a Night Intruder Pilot The seemingly endless air war over Europe did not stop when the sun went down. The skies over England came alive almost every night as British Bomber Command sent wave after wave of medium and heavy bombers to selected targets all over the Nazi-controlled continent. These bomber crews had […]

Ruff Stuff

Memories of an Early War South Pacific Fighter Pilot By the time newly minted U.S. fighter pilots entered WW II in late 1941, they faced a Japanese adversary whose pilots had been flying combat since 1937. Not only were these “flying Samurai” pilots old hats, but they also flew a trump card in the form […]