aviation history Archives - Page 5 of 6

Flying the Coolest Bizjet — Gulfstream G650

What’s the coolest airplane in the world, at least that a civilian could buy? There are some impressive contenders for that unofficial title, including a couple I’ve had the chance to fly in the past year, such as the Gulfstream G650 and the Cessna Citation X+. The Embraer Legacy 500, a long-awaited midsize marvel from […]

DC-3 Gooney – Memories of First Flight

Everyone has a first flight: Mine was in a Gooney Life is a million episodes stitched together to form a ragged continuum. However, regardless of how many episodes are involved, there is always the first one. This is especially true of those of us who have lived a sizeable portion of our lives in the […]

Loves the Oil Hawks!

When I saw the article on Al Williams, I remembered some photos and information given to me by the wife of Al’s son, Jack, back in the 80’s. I had met Jack when he and his family were living in Charlotte, NC, and he shared with me some of the fascinating photos and stories of […]

Restored Speed Wing Built for Final Flights

When the time comes, there is something to be said for going out in style. Richard Zeiler has just the ride for that. Zeiler, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel who flew a Cessna L-19 Bird Dog in Vietnam in 1968 and 1969, spent the better part of a quarter century leading a team of […]

What is the Aircraft?

Attached is a picture of my father (tall fellow standing) on an aircraft that appears to be shot down. My father immigrated from Denmark and joined the Canadian Army, 9 Canadian Field Squadron R.C.E.,formed in England April 1943. I know he was serving during the campaign in Italy. This picture came to my attention just last week […]

Travel Air A-6000A: Back from the Aerial Dead

Looking back at the Travel Air Manufacturing Company of the late 1920s from this end of history’s telescope, it looks like an aviation dream team. Of course, at the time, there was no way to know that each of the company’s founders, Walter Beech, Clyde Cessna and Lloyd Stearman would go on to become aviation […]

New Film Chronicles Secret WWII Training

Heroes on Deck, a one-hour documentary featuring secret World War II pilot training missions on Lake Michigan, will have its world premiere today in Kalamazoo, Mich. The film, written, executive produced, and directed by Emmy Award-winning and Kalamazoo College alumnus John Davies, “Heroes on Deck” tells the story of a little known chapter of United States […]

December 27, On this Day in Aviation History

1992 – U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons shoot down an Iraqi Air Force Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 over the country’s southern no-fly zone. 1968 – Apollo 8, the first manned spacecraft to enter the Moon’s orbit, splashes down into the Pacific carrying its crew of three: Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot James Lovell, and Lunar […]

Bomber Crew: A Day in Their Lives

B-17 crewmen remember the German missions Aboard each of the thousands of B-17 Flying Fortresses that left the soil of England bound for targets in Europe were 10 young men. Outwardly, they were no different from any late-teen or early-twenties boy you’d meet anywhere in America. Same faces, same names, same youthful vigor and sense […]

Fokker Dr.1 Triplane: Flying The Red Baron’s Beast

When you’re strapping into a Fokker Triplane the difference between it and most other airplanes is palpable. The instrument panel doesn’t exist and the few rudimentary gauges are snuggled between the butts of two dummy Spandaus that seem to be almost in your face. When you look outside, that middle wing sits exactly where youíd […]