Flight Journal - Page 257 of 286 - Aviation History | History of Flight | Aviation History Articles, Warbirds, Bombers, Trainers, Pilots

D-DAY INVASION: JUNE 2024

1930'S FIGHTER FLIES AGAIN: APRIL 2024

The Legend of Maj. Paul "Pappy" Gunn

Their Finest Hour

Butcher Bird Hellcat & Corsair: A test pilot recalls

Stinson’s Big-Guy L-Bird

Stalin’s Flying Hammer

LATEST

X-47B UCAS Completes Historic Catapult Launch

The Northrop Grumman X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator successfully completed its inaugural land-based catapult launch at the Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., yesterday, marking the start of a new era for naval aviation. “Carrier-based unmanned aircraft will change the concept of operations for the carrier-controlled airspace,” said Rear Adm. Mat Winter, the program executive […]

‘Out of Africa’ Gipsy Moth Headed to Auction

It’s not often the general public has a chance to buy the star of an Oscar-winning film, but that’s exactly what Bonhams, a U.K.-based auction house, is offering during an auction in Paris next February. The 1929 de Havilland DH.60G Gipsy Moth biplane featured in the 1985’s Out of Africa will be part of a large […]

Squadron of ‘Lost’ Spitfires Could Fly in Three Years

Archaeologists will begin digging for the historic hoard of at least 36 British fighter planes in January, experts said on Wednesday. A proportion of the aircraft will then be carefully packaged and brought back to the UK next spring, where they will be restored. David Cundall, a farmer and aviation enthusiast from Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, has spent […]

High School Students Repair Hill AFB’s Vintage Aircraft

Students at Clearfield High School in Utah are getting hands-on experience in repairing airplanes at Hill Aerospace Museum as part of an aeronautical mechanics course. On Tuesday, a small group of students lined up around a C-7 Caribou that was damaged during a windstorm last year. Using a hydraulic lift, several students were lifted to […]

Police Drone Plans Hitting Severe Turbulence

One of the latest crime-fighting gadgets to emerge on the wish lists of U.S. law enforcement agencies – drone aircraft – has run into heavy turbulence in Seattle over a plan by police to send miniature robot helicopters buzzing over the city. A recent push for unmanned police aircraft in several cities is being driven largely […]

Fastjet Set for Thursday Launch

Africa’s new low-cost carrier Fastjet is set to launch commercial operations tomorrow. Fastjet’s first Airbus A319 twin jet is stationed at the airline’s inaugural base at Dar es Salaam (DAR), Tanzania, and has received operating approval from the Tanzanian Civil Aviation Authority. Two more aircraft are due to arrive in time for the launch of […]

Legacy 500 Makes ‘Flawless’ First Flight

A new generation of business jets was ushered in Tuesday when Embraer’s midsize Legacy 500 made a successful first flight from São José dos Campos, Brazil, marking the beginning of its flight test program. Deliveries of the first aircraft are expected to begin in 2014. “This remarkable airplane symbolizes the future of executive aviation and […]

The Giant Benoist Flies! [VIDEO]

Bob Walker’s 15-foot-span giant-scale flying boat has taken to the air! This RC model was built to celebrate the 10oth anniversary of the first passenger carrying aircraft in the world (on January 1, 1914 the full-size Benoist flew a passenger from St. Petersburg to Tampa). Here’s a note from Bob: HEY GUYS WE FLEW the […]

Sunken Hellcat Fighter Found Off Miami Beach

The crew of a research submarine studying artificial reefs off Miami-Dade County has discovered the mostly intact wreck of a U.S. Navy World War II fighter plane lying upside down 240 feet deep off Miami Beach. Researchers aboard the Antipodes were using three-dimensional sonar gear to investigate a blip on the sea floor last June […]

X-47B Loaded Onto U.S.S. Truman for Tests

The next step toward unmanned, carrier-borne fighter aircraft was taken yesterday when sailors aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Harry S. Truman assisted with the loading of Northrop Grumman’s X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator. The air vehicle arrived in Norfolk Naval Shipyard by barge Monday from Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. A team […]