Flight Journal - Page 144 of 286 - Aviation History | History of Flight | Aviation History Articles, Warbirds, Bombers, Trainers, Pilots

D-DAY INVASION: JUNE 2024

1930'S FIGHTER FLIES AGAIN: APRIL 2024

The Legend of Maj. Paul "Pappy" Gunn

Their Finest Hour

Butcher Bird Hellcat & Corsair: A test pilot recalls

Stinson’s Big-Guy L-Bird

Stalin’s Flying Hammer

LATEST

F-35C Due to Start Carrier Tests

The naval version of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is due to start flight tests on an aircraft carrier at sea in October after Lockheed Martin Corp. said it had fixed the tailhook used to arrest the plane’s landing on a ship’s deck. Lockheed was forced to redesign the tailhook, and said Wednesday that the […]

Russian Combat Trainer to Fly Singapore Airshow

Russia’s new Yak-130 combat trainer will take part in demonstration flights at the Singapore Air Show next month, a government agency said Wednesday. According to the Federal Service for Military and Technical Cooperation, Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation will also showcase models of Su-35 and T-50 fighter jets as well as several civilian aircraft: the Sukhoi […]

UK Releases Taranis First Flight Details

The UK Ministry of Defense has released some details about the first flight of the BAE Systems Taranis unmanned combat air vehicle concept demonstrator last year. After several months of unconfirmed rumours, the MoD confirmed on Feb. 4 that the aircraft made its first 15-minute flight on Aug. 10, 2013, from an “undisclosed” test facility, […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1892 – Birth of Marcel Anatole Hugues, French World War I fighter ace, World War II pilot and commanding officer. 1929 – First flight of the Fairey Firefly II, a British biplane fighter of all-metal construction. 1933 – Death of James Herman Banning, America’s first black aviator to fly coast-to-coast; he is killed in a plane crash […]

Area 51 Spy Plane, Other Aviation Tales

It looks like an upside-down bathtub with wings, pretty odd for a spy jet that was among the nation’s most highly classified pieces of military hardware. As I stand in front of the plane code-named Tacit Blue at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, near Dayton, Ohio, I’m reminded that it still holds a bit of […]

Kansas Museum to Get Upgrades

The Kansas Aviation Museum in Wichita, Kans., will receive some badly-needed building improvements, thanks to a Wichita City Council vote Tuesday. The council unanimously approved a $1.8 million project to provide handicapped-accessible restrooms and modern heating and air conditioning to the historic museum, housed in the old city airport terminal at 3350 S. George Washington […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1898 – Birth of Robert Wallace Farquhar, British World War I flying ace. 1920 – Pierre van Ryneveld and Quintin Brand set out in a Vickers Vimy from Cairo to cross Africa by air from north to south. 1935 – First flight of the Mitsubishi A5M “Claude” (shown), a Japanese carrier-based fighter aircraft; it is […]

Turkey Accepts First Boeing AEW&C 737

U.S. aircraft manufacturer Boeing has silently delivered the first airborne early-warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft to Turkey under a program that was launched more than a decade ago. Now, however, the buyer and the seller are wrangling over penalties for delays. The defense procurement agency, the undersecretariat for defense industries (SSM), and the Turkish Air […]

Lockheed Plans Civil Version of C-130

Lockheed Martin has filed for a type design update with the Federal Aviation Administration for a civil-certified variant of its C-130J airlifter. The civil variant of the Super Hercules will be designated the LM-100J — the first civilian model of a C-130 since the L-100, which was produced between 1964 and 1992. “The LM-100J is a natural […]

On This Day in Aviation History

1894 – Birth of Arthur Thomas Drinkwater, Australian World War I flying ace. 1928 – First flight of the Boeing F3B (shown), an American biplane fighter and fighter-bomber. 1943 – Death of Reinhold Knacke, German World War II night fighter ace; while shooting down a British Halifax bomber, Knacke is shot down and killed by one of the Halifax’s gunners. […]