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Happy Birthday Chuck Yeager

Now 94, Charles Elwood “Chuck” Yeager was born February 13, 1923 and is a retired Major General of the United States Air Force. A noted test pilot, he was the first pilot to travel faster than sound (1947). Originally retiring in 1975 as a Brigadier General, Yeager was promoted to Major General while on the Air Force’s […]

Spike Aerospace Subsonic Jet

This summer, Spike Aerospace’s prototype of its 18-passenger supersonic business jet will take flight. The scale prototype of its S-512 Quiet Supersonic Jet will demonstrate low-speed aerodynamic flight characteristics. Bigger prototypes and a supersonic demonstrator will follow by the end of next year. Spike Aerospace president and CEO Vik Kachoria says, “We made a lot of progress […]

WW II Military and Aviation History Cartoonist: Milton Caniff

Milton Caniff never served in the military, but, his spirit was on virtually every battlefield of WW II. His artwork on the nose of fighters and bombers and in thousands of military papers touched those in combat in ways nothing else could. Born in 1907, Caniff moved from Ohio to New York in […]

Habbaniya Surprise – Battle of Britain, Iraqi Style

At 2:00 on the morning of 30 April 1941, employees of the British Embassy in Baghdad were awakened by large military convoys rumbling from al-Rashid barracks, across bridges and out into the desert in the direction of the town of Habbaniya, Iraq, where the Royal Air Force (RAF) maintained its largest flight school in the […]

On a Flying Wing and a Prayer

Spring, 1944. My head wound had healed but my back was still killing me when I jumped off the train in occupied France. I had recently escaped from neutral Switzerland after being blown out of my B-24 Liberator while making my 20th bomb run into Germany. Although I landed on the German side of the […]

Today in Aviation History: Corky Meyer Test-Flies the F9F Panther

Sixty-seven years ago today, Flight Journal’s old friend and former Grumman test pilot Corwin H. (“Corky”) Meyer took off from the company’s 5,000 foot runaway at Bethpage, Long Island, New York, in the first prototype XF9F-2 Panther, Bu. No. 122475. In this article, he takes the reader along on some wild rides. Corky was world renown as […]

No Tailhook? No Way!

Out-of-fuel Spitfire and a Carrier: No options As the Supermarine Spitfire Mk Vc approached the stern of the aircraft carrier USS Wasp (CV-7), Pilot Officer Jerry Smith, RCAF, knew he was quickly running out of options. His first approach had been high and much too fast, and the 21-year-old fighter pilot knew that unless he […]

Bob Hoover, Flying Legend, Goes West at 94

News of the death of legendary test pilot and aerobatics pioneer Bob Hoover this morning has brought grief to the aviation community. Hoover, known among his many fans as the “pilot’s pilot,” died at about 2 a.m. Pacific Time, according to reports. He was 94 years old. Hoover’s flying career began when he was a […]

Revisiting the Doolittle Raid

When vintage World War II bombers known as North American B-25 Mitchells thrill fans on the U.S. airshow circuit, they honor the legacy of one of the most daring military missions in American history. At Georgia’s Perry-Houston County Airport on Friday, a B-25 named “Show Me” sat at the end of Runway 36. Its powerful […]

USCG Aviation Among HoF Inductees

Eight individuals and organizations, including The Boeing Co. and an Apollo astronaut, will be inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame in November, the San Diego Air & Space Museum announced Monday. The inductees for the Nov. 17 ceremony at the museum are: — The Boeing Co., the maker of passenger and […]