Military Archives - Page 153 of 180

Newly Rebuilt Me 262 Loses Canopy at Texas Airport

An antique jet fighter lost its canopy Tuesday morning as it attempted to take off from Midland International Airport in West Texas, but the pilot and passenger escaped injury, according to a news release from the city of Midland. Midland police and firefighters responded to a report of the plane crash at 11:11 a.m. The cause […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1908 – Birth of Charles “Chuck” L. Sharp, Jr., who led China National Aviation Corp. through turbulent times in China, Burma and India. He flew the first flight over the Hump (the name given by Allied pilots in World War II to the eastern end of the Himalayan Mountains) for resupplying the Chinese war effort of Chiang Kai-shek and the units of the U.S. […]

After The Battle: The Flying ICU

Three critically injured patients need immediate transfer to a medical facility outside of Afghanistan. One has a shot to the head, the other has missing limbs and the last has an open abdominal wound. Without a mobile intensive care unit, these patients will not make the flight out. For members of the U.S Air Force […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1912 – Englishman Denys Corbett Wilson makes the first aeroplane crossing from Britain to Ireland. 1924 – Birth of William Harry Allen, U.S. Army Air Forces World War II fighter pilot who scored five victories on a single mission. 1939 – First flight of Lockheed Vega Starliner. 1948 – Introduction into service with the U.S. Air Force of […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1883 – Birth of James McKinley Hargreaves, Scottish World War I flying ace and one of the first aces in history. 1916 – First Zeppelin raid on the United Kingdom by the German Navy. They bomb the towns of Great Yarmouth and King’s Lynn in the UK, killing more than 20, in the first major aerial […]

USAF Combat Talons Fly for Last Time

The U.S. Air Force’s last four Lockheed MC-130E Combat Talon I’s spread their wings for a final mission from their home at Duke Field near Crestview, Fla., on April 15. The Talons will be officially retired in a ceremony at Duke Field April 25 and the aircraft will then be flown to the “boneyard” at Davis-Monthan […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1893 – Birth of Dr. Wolfgang Benjamin Klemperer, prominent German aviation and aerospace scientist and engineer, who ranks among the pioneers of early aviation. 1911 – Eugene B. Ely makes the first landing by an aircraft on a ship when he flies his Curtiss Model D pusher biplane from Selfridge Field near San Francisco to a specially prepared […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1886 – Birth of Glenn L. Martin, American aviation pioneer and founder of the Glenn L. Martin Co. 1920 – The Venezuelan Air Force is formed, with a flying school at Maracay. 1934 – First flight of the Fairey Swordfish, later used by the Royal Navy to help cripple the German battleship Bismarck. 1973 –Federal Express, later known as FedEx, delivers its first […]

Houston’s CAF Wing to Hold Open House

Those big, old airplanes with the mighty round engines will be flying again this weekend at West Houston Airport’s Hangar B-5 as the Houston Wing of The Commemorative Air Force presents its 2013 Open House on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. You can get an up-close view and hear the noise […]

The World’s 5 Finest Military Museums

Two of the top five military museums recently ranked by Maxim (you know, that well-known historical journal that only looks like a men’s magazine?) will interest aviation buffs: England’s Imperial War Museum and the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force (whose Republic P-47D Thunderbolt “Five by Five” is shown above), located in Dayton, Ohio. […]