aviation history Archives - Page 6 of 6

The Vietnam War Had to Start Somewhere – Aerial assault on the first bridge

General Curtis E. LeMay, Air Force Chief of Staff, was not happy. First line U.S. fighters had been in South East Asia in small numbers since 1960. By mid-1964, more fighters began rotating through bases in South Vietnam and Thailand, as a show of force. Reconnaissance missions, with a pair of fighters as escorts, known […]

BAE Systems Hawk — The RAF’s amazing Trainer

A British single-engine, advanced trainer jet, the BAE Systems Hawk was first flown in 1974 as the Hawker Siddeley Hawk. Subsequently produced by its successor companies, British Aerospace and BAE Systems, the Hawk has been used in a training capacity and as a low-cost combat aircraft. Currently still in production in the UK and under […]

Set that Dial — “Survival in the Skies” series on Smithsonian Channel

Looking for great aviation history and information? Please keep these episodes of “Survival in the Skies” series on Smithsonian Channel in mind – this fascinating series tells the stories behind the machines and devices that help us survive in the skies–from parachutes and ejection seats, to jet engines–and how they evolved from humble beginnings to […]

An F-100 Driver Story

Del Rio was several times a movie set for a West Texas border town. It’s windy, and the weather tends toward extremes. A large U.S. Air Force Base 6 miles east of town was named after Jack T. Laughlin, a B-17 pilot and Del Rio native killed over Java within a few weeks of the […]

An F-8 Crusader Jet Pilot’s Story … I FELL 15,000 FEET AND LIVED

“‘Jud you’re on fire, get the hell out of there!” Needless to say that startling command got my attention. As you will read in this report, this was just the beginning of my problems! It had all started in the brilliant sunlight 20,000 feet above the Pacific Ocean as I nudged my F-8 Crusader jet […]

Flight Journal’s Budd Davisson recalls – the First Ride

Everyone has to start somewhere The trainer theme of this issue reverberates with me personally, so I hope you won’t mind if I climb out from behind my editor’s desk and talk like the pilot I am and always have been. When looking at some of the trainer images, I couldn’t help but reflect on […]

Flying for the American Airpower Museum — Nick Ziroli Warbird Pilot

Everyone in RC knows the name Ziroli and the father and son team of Nick Sr., and Jr. Nick the elder is known for being the father of giant scale Warbirds and Nick Jr., continues to be a driving force in the RC industry. Nick took over “Nick Ziroli Plans” when his father retired and turned it into […]

Aviation History – First Helicopter Flight-November 13, 1907

On 13 November 1907, French engineer and bicycle maker Paul Cornu made history by becoming the first man to fly in a rotary wing aircraft. The primitive helicopter – a twin-rotor craft powered by a 24-horsepower engine – only lifted Cornu about 1.5m off the ground, holding him there for 20 seconds at Coquainvilliers, near […]

Model 12 Pitts Special Biplane – The Definition of “Bitchin'”

What’s better than a biplane? That’s obvious: a biplane with a round motor. And what ís better than a biplane with a round motor? A round-motored biplane that’s designed by Curtis Pitts! When you’re saddling up the Model 12, it feels like a much bigger than a normal two-place Pitts, when in reality it’s not. […]