on this day Archives - Flight Journal

On this Day: December 19 – Last Manned Mission to the Moon Splashes Down

45 years ago today! It was twelve days after launching from Kennedy Space Center, the 3-man crew of Apollo 17 splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on December 19, 1972. The last of six missions that successfully put men on the moon, the program fell victim to budget cuts and shrinking interest from the public. […]

On this Day in Aviation History — Japan Fighters Intercept Chinese Plane

Japan scrambled fighter jets after a Chinese plane was seen Thursday near small islands in the East China Sea that are claimed by both countries. This is the first time that the dispute over the islands — which Japan calls Senkaku and China refers to as Diaoyu — has involved aircraft, introducing a new sphere of […]

On this Day in Aviation History: November 20

1963: The U.S. Air Force Tactical Air Command accepted its first two production McDonnell F-4C Phantom II jet fighters, F-4C-15-MC 63-7415¹ and F-4C-15-MC 63-7416. These aircraft were the ninth and tenth production F-4Cs. They were flown to MacDill Air Force Base, Tampa, Florida, by Brigadier General Gilbert Louis Meyers, commanding the 836th Air Division, and […]

Last Mercury Flight

1963 NASA astronaut Gordon Cooper launched into space on the Faith 7 mission in his Mercury space capsule. Mercury-Atlas 9 was the final manned space mission of the U.S. Mercury program, launched from Launch Complex 14 at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The spacecraft, named Faith 7, completed 22 Earth orbits before splashing down in the Pacific […]

16 April 1941. On this Day in Aviation History

Igor I. Sikorsky impressively demonstrates the capabilities of his VS-300 helicopter by hovering virtually motionless over Stratford (Connecticut) Airport for one hour, five minutes. Powered by a large, 90-hp engine, it sets a new helicopter record.

April 2. On this Day in Aviation History

1987 – A Royal Air Force Vickers VC-10 lands in Perth 16 hours and 1 minute after leaving England, setting a new UK-Australia speed record. 1986 – A bomb explodes onboard TWA Flight 840, a Boeing 727-200 (N54340) flying from Rome to Athens. Four people are ejected from the plane and killed, and nine […]

April 2, 1942 — The Response begins — USS Hornet Leaves Port on this Day

Apr 02, 1942 — The aircraft carrier, the USS Hornet quietly departs San Francisco with Lt. Col. James Doolittle and his 16 US Army B-25 Mitchell bombers on board. This bombing mission was in response to the Japanese sneak attach on Peril Harbor on December 7, 1941. The now famous Tokyo Raid took place on […]

On this Day in Aviation History — Actor Jimmy Stewart Inducted — March 22, 1941

On March 22nd 1941, one of Hollywood’s most popular actors took on a challenging new role. James Maitland “Jimmy” Stewart was inducted into the US Army at the age of 32. As a licensed private pilot in his own right, Stewart was assigned to the Army Air Corps after basic training. On March 22nd 1944, […]

Happy Birthday Strategic Air Command! March 21, 1946

The Strategic Air Command (SAC) was both a major command in the United States Air Force and a “specified command” in the United States Department of Defense. SAC was the operational establishment in charge of America’s land-based strategic bomber aircraft and land-based intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) strategic nuclear arsenal from 1946 to 1992. SAC also […]

March 5, 1962 — On this Day in Aviation History – World Record B-58 Hustler Flight

Aircraft 59-2458 (Cowtown Hustler), now on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, OH, on March 5, 1962, participating in Operation-Heat-Rise, flew from Los Angeles to New York City and back again, (with air-refueling) and set three separate speed records, while also earning the crew the […]