Personalities Archives - Page 4 of 5

Pilot Harry Atwood: Aerial P. T. Barnum

The airplane had barely been invented when the daring new breed of men known as “pilots” began stretching the airplane’s purpose and the public’s imagination. Apparently seeking a place in the public’s eye, they began trying to outdo one another in distance and speed. Harry Atwood, of Boston, Massachusetts, took a slightly different tact, however. […]

The Last Doolittle Raider is Still Going Strong – Aviation History News

At 101 years of age, Lt. Col. Richard Cole (USAF, retired) is still a man with a mission. The last survivor of the 80 officers and enlisted men who followed then Col. Jimmy Doolittle off the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Hornet for the first air raid against Japan on April 18, 1942, Cole’s […]

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 […]

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 […]

Neil Armstrong 1930-2012

For all practical purposes, the simple statement Neil Armstrong, 1930-2012, would be sufficient information to key the memories of millions of people about one of America’s greatest heroes. Armstrong was a man who avoided publicity and sought instead to focus on how to best use of his talents. To the general public, he became by […]

Double Ace, Two Crosses

A glint of light in the sky above North Korea attracted the F-86 Sabre pilot’s attention, so he descended from 41,000 feet and saw four MiG-15s. But as then-Capt. Ralph S. Parr surveyed the rest of the sky, he realized he and his fellow pilots in Shark Flight actually were facing 16 enemy fighters. The […]

Horizon Air Meet: Up close with Matt Chapman

The first ever Horizon Air Meet was held last weekend at the Sanford, Maine regional airport and in addition to nonstop RC jet and heli flying and an off-road RC car race, spectators were treated to a spectacular noontime air show featuring professional airshow pilot Matt Chapman! Matt took some time out before the show […]

General James Doolittle

General James Harold “Jimmy” Doolittle, USAF (December 14, 1896 – September 27, 1993) was an American aviation pioneer. Doolittle served as a brigadier general, major general and lieutenant general in the United States Army Air Forces during the Second World War. He earned the Medal of Honor for his valor and leadership as commander of […]

Bernard H. Pietenpol

Bernard H. Pietenpol (1901 – 1984) was an aircraft designer. Father of home built aircraft, Pietenpol was a self-taught mechanic who lived most of his life in the small community of Cherry Grove in southeastern Minnesota. His most well-known design, The Pietenpol Air Camper, is an airplane he designed to be built and flown by […]

Manfred Von Richtofen – The Red Baron

Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen (2 May 1892 – 21 April 1918), also widely known as the Red Baron, was a German fighter pilot with the Imperial German Army Air Service (Luftstreitkräfte) during World War I. He is considered the ace-of-aces of that war, being officially credited with 80 air combat victories, more than any […]