Flight Journal - Page 8 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

Stipa-Caproni Flight Video

You don’t need to speak Italian to enjoy this unique bit of aviation history Check out this Stipa-Caproni “Flying Barrel” takeoff footage from 1932.This Italian experimental aircraft, while not the sleekest design, incorporated a ducted fan, which was way ahead of its time!

Going Supersonic with the Thunderbirds!

If you’ve ever dreamed of flying with the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds–and going supersonic!–this video is a must-watch!

Win the Ultimate WW II Fighter Experience!

Imagine soaring high over the iconic White Cliffs of Dover at the controls of a Supermarine Spitfire, just like the heroic pilots defending England during the harrowing days of the Battle of Britain in 1940. Or crossing the expanse of the English Channel in your P-40 Warhawk, returning from ground attack missions in occupied France. […]

“African Skies”

“African Skies” originated during Robert S. Grant’s childhood after opening a school textbook and discovering Stanley’s meeting with Dr. Livingston. In 1999, quests and interests began bringing him to nations where he recognized horror, hunger and hopelessness. After encountering refugee children in overcrowded camps, tents and tin-side streets, he stumbled face-first upon slavery, child soldiers, […]

Meeting the Legendary Kurt Tank

The FW 190 was truly one of the world’s greatest aircraft designs, but what of the man responsible for it? I had the good fortune to interrogate Kurt Tank when he was captured and taken to London at the end of the war, and he proved to be very interesting. I was already aware of […]

DRACO: The Ultimate STOL Bushplane

Short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft have been in development since the mid-1930s, when the Germans produced the Fieseler Storch. The Storch was famously used to rescue deposed Italian Dictator Benito Mussolini from his 9000ft high mountain-top prison in the Gran Sasso Massif in Italy, and was flown by Hanna Reisch on a trip to […]

Gallery: Laird LCW-300

One of the more exciting periods of aviation development was also the darkest period in America’s financial history. A completely contradictory statement to be sure, but one has only to look at the decade beginning in 1929 to see that the roots of American aviation were, for some unknown reason, wildly nurtured by the black […]

Operation Moolah

During the Korean War, Operation Moolah was an effort by United States Air Force (USAF) to obtain (through defection), a fully capable Soviet MiG-15 jet fighter. Communist forces introduced the MiG-15 to Korea on November 1, 1950. USAF pilots reported that the performance of the MiG-15 was superior to all United Nations (UN) aircraft, including […]

Robin Olds was born to be a fighter pilot and his career began in the P-38, where he made good use of the firepower concentrated in the nose. (Photo by John Dibbs/facebook.
com/theplanepicture)

Lightning Ace! P-38 legend Robin Olds

I knew about Muroc Dry Lake because my father had been involved with building a bombing target there in the late 1930s. It was still there. Considering the ongoing rivalry at that time with the admirals in the surface navy, it didn’t surprise me that the target turned out to be a large wooden replica […]

The amazing rescue of Fango 45

On 8 April 1982, the following crew conversation takes place inside Fango 43, an Idaho ANG RF-4C flying a twilight low-level radar mission over eastern Oregon: PILOT: “Ground speed set at 480.” WSO: “Okay, turn right to heading two-zero-three.” PILOT: “Steady two-zero-three.” WSO: “Okay, come one-half degree left and hold that.” PILOT: “Rawj.” WSO: “Clear […]