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On This Day in Aviation History

1908 – The members of the Aerial Experiment Association enter a competition sponsored by the Scientific American; the winner is to receive $25,000 for a flight of over 0.62 miles. The Wright brothers refuse to enter because the rules state the airplane must take off without help. 1911 – Birth of Bozidar “Bosko” Petrovich, Yugoslavian […]

Iowa Museum Showcases Hawkeye Aviation

Twenty-five years ago, Roger Pointer had an idea. He envisioned a place that would house memorabilia honoring both the state’s military aviation and general aviation history. Pointer is a member of the Commemorative Air Force, based in Texas. It was founded to “acquire, restore and preserve in flying condition a complete collection of combat aircraft […]

Minnesota Steps Up Firefighting Fleet

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ fleet of wildfire-combating airplanes has doubled this year, and not a moment too soon. Dozens of wildfires have local and regional firefighters in full alert across the state. Ron Stoffel, the DNR’s wildfire suppression supervisor, estimated his department responded to “about 50 or 60” different wildfires across the state […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1918 – Birth of Erbo Graf von Kageneck (shown), German fighter pilot and World War II flying ace. 1937 – Swedish airplane manufacturer Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget (SAAB) is established in Trollhättan, Sweden. 1947 – First flight of the Convair XB-46, an American medium jet bomber prototype. 1954 – Death of Hoyt Sanford Vandenberg, American pilot, […]

A-10s Head East to Romania

The U.S. has deployed 12 Fairchild Republic A-10 Warthog planes to Romania as part of a theater-security effort to counter Russian aggression in Ukraine – all while debate over whether to retire the close-air support platform rages on in Congress and the Pentagon. “The 354th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron forward deployed 12 A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft and approximately […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1918 – The Royal Air Force is born; it is formed from the army’s Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service. 1939 – First flight of the Mitsubishi A6M Zero (A6M3 Model 22 shown), a long-range fighter operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service. 1973 – Birth of Sergei Aleksandrovich Volkov, Russian […]

Combat Jets Gather Over Yemen

After Houthi rebels toppled the Yemeni government causing president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi to flee to Aden earlier this month, a Saudi-led coalition of Middle Eastern states launched an air campaign to intervene. Operation Decisive Storm began on March 26 and has resulted in one of the most extraordinary gatherings of air power seen in […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1912 – The world’s first seaplane competition, held in Monaco, is won by a Henri Farman biplane flown by Belgian Jules Fischer, one of only two non-French pilots of the eight starters. 1944 – Death of Mineichi Koga, Japanese admiral and commander-in-chief of the Imperial Japanese Navy‘s Combined Fleet; 1951 – Royal Canadian Air Force […]

Solar Impulse 2 Lands in China

A groundbreaking solar-powered plane successfully flew from Myanmar to central China early Tuesday as part of an historic round-the-world journey promoting renewable energy use. The organizers of the Solar Impulse 2 flight wrote in a statement that the plane landed in Chongqing, China, at 1:35 a.m. Tuesday, after leaving Mandalay, Myanmar, more than 20 hours […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1894 – Birth of Sergey Vladimirovich Ilyushin, Soviet aircraft designer who later founds the Ilyushin aircraft design bureau. 1936 – The first successful bail-out from a rotary-winged aircraft takes place when William H. “Bill” McAvoy and engineer John Wheatley abandon their Pitcairn YG-2 Autogiro when the rotor fails. 1941 – The first powered flight of […]