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Swiss F/A-18 Crashes, Crew Killed

Swiss military officials said Thursday that they expected to recover the body of one of the two-man crew from a crashed McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet by the end of the day. The man’s body, which has not yet been identified, and the flight data recorder have both been located but had not yet […]

VIDEO: How to Hang an Airplane

Story and video by the Missouri History Museum Charles Lindbergh’s plane, which had previously hung in Terminal 1 at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport since 1979, has returned to its place of welcoming passengers to the St. Louis airport. The famous aviator’s 1934 Model D–127 Monocoupe, an iconic symbol to many St. Louis travelers, has been […]

Army Aviation’s Humble Start

It was 11:05 a.m, and U.S. Army Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker of the American 94th Aero Squadron decided to fly one last mission. On that date, Nov. 11, 1918, nobody was supposed to be flying over the battlefields in France, but Rickenbacker wanted to see what the front looked like when at peace. For close to […]

P-51, Crew Lost Off Texas Coast

A World War II-era North American P-51 Mustang airplane owned by a Texas museum crashed in shallow water near Galveston on Wednesday, killing the two people on board, the U.S. Coast Guard said. Petty Officer Steve Lehmann said the captain of a charter boat notified authorities after seeing the vintage P-51 Mustang, known as the […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1906 – The first officially witnessed unaided takeoff and flight by a heavier-than-air aircraft in Europe is made by Brazilian aviator Alberto Santos Dumont in his own airplane, the N° 14 bis, winning the Archdeacon prize at Bagatelle in France, flying a distance of 197 feet. 1913 – Birth of Shui-Tin “Arthur” Chin, Chinese-American pilot […]

Marine Pilot Recalls Grenada Invasion

Thirty years ago, U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Michael Mattie expected to spend a month with his helicopter squadron undergoing winter training in Norway. Instead, the 26-year-old helicopter pilot found himself in two of the world’s hot spots, dodging enemy fire. Mattie, now 56 and a father of five, related his involvement as the nation this week […]

Blue Angels to Fly Again in 2014

The return of the U.S. Navy Blue Angels for their 2014 air show season, including Florida’s Sun ‘n Fun Fly-In, has been funded by the Pentagon. The team been grounded since April, and thus through most of their 2013 schedule, due to the federal spending cuts known as sequestration. “We’re excited to be out there again for […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1880 – Death of Charles-Alphonse Pénaud, French pioneer of aviation and inventor of the rubber band-powered model airplane. 1922 – Amelia Mary Earhart with her yellow Kinner Airster biplane nicknamed “The Canary” reaches an altitude of 14,000 feet, setting a world record for female pilots. 1933 – Birth of Donald Herod Peterson, U.S. Air Force […]

USAF Pilots Train in Small World

Imagine graduating from college and commissioning through the U.S. Air Force ROTC as a brand-new officer, assigned to pilot training at an air force base 1,300 miles from home. Then imagine discovering that in the same squadron, in the same class and in the same flight is someone from your small hometown nestled among the […]

Learjet, 50 Years Later

This month Bombardier commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Learjet’s first flight even as the company struggles to launch a larger new flagship, the Model 85, and switch to composite airframe construction. Since 1963, Learjet has become one of the world’s most iconic brands, often generically misused to describe any make/model of private jet, and a […]