Military Archives - Page 138 of 180

A ‘Sentimental Journey’ Aboard a B-17

It sputtered like a seasoned smoker as the propellers started whipping around at full speed. I was on board the “Sentimental Journey,” the Second World War Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress — owned by the Arizona Airbase of the Commemorative Air Force — on display this week at the Canadian Warplane Heritage museum, and was seriously […]

Indian C-17 Makes First Deployment

The big bird has taken to the skies. In its first operational deployment since it landed in India on June 18, the Indian Air Force’s gigantic Boeing C-17 Globemaster III strategic airlift aircraft transported an Army infantry battalion to the country’s last military outpost in the Andman and Nicobar Islands on Sunday. “Operating from the […]

Reporter Takes Bumpy Ride in B-17

A little bit of World War II history flew into St. Louis Downtown Airport in Cahokia on Monday. The Experimental Aircraft Association’s Boeing B-17G-VE Flying Fortress “Aluminum Overcast” touched down to spend a couple of days on display and give rides to paying customers. Despite my affinity for air sickness, I rode along on a media flight. […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1872 – Louis Blériot (shown above), the pioneer aviator who made the world’s first airplane flight across the English Channel, is born in Cambrai, France. 1915 – German Air Service Leutnant Kurt Wintgens achieves the first aerial victory by a true fighter plane in history when he downs a Morane-Saulnier two-seat observation aircraft with his Fokker M.5 K/MG production prototype of the Eindecker. He later becomes […]

Alaska Aviation Centennial Gets Special Gift

Alaska’s Centennial of Flight celebration now includes a particularly special aircraft, a Vultee BT-13B Valiant World War II training plane that was formally donated to the Commemorative Air Force Thursday by longtime Anchorage resident Howard “Mike” Hunt. The BT13B flew earlier this month in Kenai as part of aviation celebrations underway across Alaska all summer, culminating in Fairbanks on July […]

Aviation Museum Owner: We’re Fine for Now

A gleaming silver and banana-yellow Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, a vintage bomber from World War II, rolled past the window behind David Hunt. It’s up for sale. Seated at his desk inside the Military Aviation Museum in Pungo, Va., Hunt, the museum’s director, reiterated Saturday that the business is fine – for now. Although the […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1891 – Birth of Carl Andrew “Tooey” Spaatz, American World War I pilot, World War II general and first chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force. 1927 – Lester Maitland and co-pilot Albert Francis Hegenberger takes off their U.S. Army Fokker C-2 “Bird of Paradise” from Oakland, Calif., to Honolulu for the first non-stop flight between the U.S. […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1899 – Birth of Juan Terry Trippe, American airline entrepreneur and pioneer; he founded Pan American World Airways. 1923 – First mid-air refueling between two aircraft occurred between two Airco DH-4B biplanes of the U.S. Army Air Service. 1939 – Hiromichi Shinohara, (known as the Richtofen of the Orient and shown above) the highest-scoring fighter ace of the Imperial Japanese Army […]

Idaho Museum to Host Warbird Roundup

There’s something about the industrial F sharp hum of an old fighter plane that pricks the ears. For those who served in World War II, it’s the signal to drop what you’re doing and look to the sky. This weekend, the Warhawk Air Museum in Nampa, Idaho, hosts the Warbird Roundup, featuring the Republic P-47 […]

F-16 Crashes in Arizona; Pilots OK

A Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon of the U.S. Air Force crashed near Luke Air Force Base in suburban Phoenix on Wednesday evening, but both pilots ejected safely, authorities said. The pilots were on a routine training mission when their jet went down just before 7 p.m. in a desert area just west of the airfield, […]