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Month: January 2013

McCurdy’s Crossing

admin January 31, 2013January 30, 2013

Published on January 30, 2013 It was January 1911 and in Cuba there was much talk of aviation.  News reached the island with frequency about the great flights underway at

Continue reading McCurdy’s Crossing

Cackle Corner

admin January 31, 2013February 1, 2013

Published on January 31, 2013 On January 31, 1928 — today in aviation history — the US Postmaster, Mr. Harry S. New, issued a Federal Government order to all US

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“Helicopteracione”

admin January 29, 2013January 29, 2013

Published on January 29, 2013 Raúl Pateras Pescara de Castelluccio was an Argentinian engineer living in France with an interest in helicopter design.  By January 1924, he had nearly five

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The Loss of the Space Shuttle Challenger

admin January 28, 2013January 28, 2013

Published on January 28, 2013 Today in aviation history, January 29, 1985, marks a dark moment in America’s long and storied space exploration programs.  At 11:38 EST, the Space Shuttle

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No Visible Support

admin January 28, 2013January 28, 2013

This Week’s Hints to help you along: Features a radical reduction in the number of struts for racing. Created for competition and aerobatics, especially for looping. Seemingly underpowered, but light

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Accessories for the Aviator — in 1913

admin January 27, 2013January 27, 2013

Published on January 27, 2013 One hundred years ago this week, the Royal Aero Club’s newsletter “Flight” carried a fascinating report on the essential accessories that every pilot should own. 

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The Black Knight

admin January 26, 2013February 14, 2013

Published on January 26, 2013 József Kiss de Ittebe et Elemer was born on January 26, 1896 (today in aviation history).  Kiss was a Hungarian and the son of a gardener

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A Shared Vision

admin January 25, 2013January 25, 2013

Published on January 25, 2013 On this day in aviation history, on January 25, 1930, a new airline company was founded.  It was an artful creation of an investment group

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The Nuclear Disaster of Kosmos 954

admin January 24, 2013January 25, 2013

Published on January 24, 2013 During the Cold War, the Soviet Union launched a series of reconnaissance satellites into Earth orbit.  Among them were a small number of powerful active

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An Unlikely Beginning

admin January 23, 2013January 24, 2013

Published on January 23, 2013 The light, twin-engined bomber was called the Douglas Model 7B.  It was sleek, narrow in profile, highly maneuverable and a joy to fly.  Still, the

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The Nazis in Antarctica

admin January 22, 2013January 22, 2013

Published on January 22, 2013 For decades, conspiracy theories have abounded about secret Nazi UFO bases in Antarctica, about secret U-Boat missions, and about Hitler surviving the war and holing

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A Strange Twist of Fate

admin January 21, 2013November 23, 2020

Published on January 21, 2013 By Thomas Van Hare Three weeks into 1944, the Allied bomber onslaught had accelerated, threatening to bring Germany to its knees.  The RAF’s Bomber Command

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A Red Firecracker

admin January 21, 2013January 22, 2013

This Week’s Hints to help you along: A two-seat hot rod with a 125 hp engine. Delayed by war and only a handful built. Developed further into agricultural applications. A

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Key Hole and the FIA

admin January 20, 2013January 20, 2013

Published on January 20, 2013 Two years ago on this day in aviation history, on January 20, 2011, the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) launched a classified, Top Secret project into

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Crash of Le Flesselle

admin January 19, 2013January 20, 2013

Published on January 19, 2013 On the 19th of January 1784, at Lyon, France, the largest Montgolfier balloon ever constructed was readied for flight.  Called “Le Flesselle”, it was 120

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100 Years Ago :: Flying in Mexico

admin January 18, 2013January 19, 2013

Published on January 18, 2013 One hundred years ago today, two members of the Royal Aero Club published a report about a trip they had made to the Americas, bringing

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First Lost, Last Found

admin January 17, 2013January 17, 2013

Published on January 17, 2013 It was past midnight when the combined strength of a coalition of 34 nations launched an unrelenting air attack against Saddam Hussein’s Iraq.  The singular

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Desoutter’s Lesson

admin January 16, 2013January 16, 2013

Published on January 16, 2013 “Young Marcel Desoutter, he is, by the way, only nineteen years of age, and withal one of the very soundest of the monoplane and biplane

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“Bill, you’re in the airplane business.”

admin January 15, 2013January 15, 2013

Published on January 15, 2013 Bill was a Harvard graduate and a well to do oil man.  He knew nothing of airplanes except for what he read in the newspapers

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Ellehammer’s Dragons

admin January 14, 2013January 15, 2013

Published on January 14, 2013 Born in the Danish town of Bakkebolle, as a young man Jacob Christian Hansen-Ellehammer apprenticed as a watchmaker.  Coming of age, he taught himself a

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A Strange Bird

admin January 14, 2013January 15, 2013

This Week’s Hints to help you along: The tail shape (and tail flash) tell a lot. Whose markings are those on the side of the fuselage? Twin-engined but so aerodynamically

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Jules Vérdines and La Vache

admin January 13, 2013January 13, 2013

Published on January 13, 2013 One hundred and one years ago today in aviation history, on January 13, 1912, a Frenchman named Jules Védrines set out from Pau in a

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“Wildcat” Wade

admin January 12, 2013November 9, 2021

Published on January 12, 2013 Today marks the anniversary of the 1944 death of one of America’s greatest aces, Lance C. “Wildcat” Wade.  This East Texan scored 23 kills against

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Ding Hao!

admin January 11, 2013May 27, 2018

Published on January 11, 2013 By Thomas Van Hare “Col. Howard, with his group, at once engaged the enemy and himself destroyed a German ME. 110.  As a result of

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100 Years Ago in France

admin January 10, 2013January 10, 2013

Published on January 10, 2013 At this time, 100 years ago, the French were continuing to press forward in pursuit of aviation firsts and new achievements in the air.  They

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The Flying Carpet

admin January 9, 2013February 20, 2017

Published on January 9, 2013 Today in aviation history marks the birthday of Richard Halliburton, adventurer, aviator, author, grand lecturer and world traveler.  Born in 1900, Halliburton was a graduate

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The Last Enemy

admin January 8, 2013January 9, 2013

Published on January 8, 2013 “September 3rd dawned dark and overcast, with a slight breeze ruffling the waters of the Estuary.  Hornchurch aerodrome, twelve miles east of London, wore its

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“Question Mark”

admin January 7, 2013January 7, 2013

Published on January 7, 2013 Today in aviation history, on January 7, 1929, a very special airplane landed in Los Angeles at Metropolitan Airport (now Van Nuys Airport) after a

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Not Quite Defiant

admin January 7, 2013January 7, 2013

This Week’s Hints to help you along: No relationship to the Boulton Paul Defiant. Incredible firepower through the nose! A V-12 engine gave it extraordinary power and speed. Designed by

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The Hero of My Lai

admin January 6, 2013March 19, 2018

Published on January 6, 2013 By Thomas Van Hare The massacre at My Lai during the Vietnam War was a horrific event.  US troops of the Army’s Americal Division, acting

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Ending the Fokker Scourge

admin January 5, 2013January 5, 2013

Published on January 5, 2013 Since the summer of 1914, when the Great War broke out in Europe, aviation advanced quickly.  As the war progressed into 1915, the new Fokker

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Splash Two MiGs

admin January 4, 2013January 4, 2013

Published on January 4, 2013 On January 4, 1989 — today in aviation history — based on an intelligence advisory, two Grumman F-14A Tomcats of VF-32 “The Swordsmen” launched from

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The Miracle of Saint Nazaire

admin January 3, 2013January 4, 2013

Published on January 3, 2013 On January 3, 1943, exactly 70 years ago today in aviation history, the USAAF launched a bombing raid on the staging yard for U-Boat torpedoes

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Miss Trehawke Davies Loops the Loop

admin January 2, 2013January 2, 2013

Published on January 2, 2013 “On Friday, the 2nd inst., some New Year’s records were put up by Gustav Hamel, who looped the loop with Miss Trehawke Davies on his

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The SPT Airboat Line

admin January 1, 2013January 2, 2013

Published on January 1, 2012 On January 1, 1914 — 98 years ago today in aviation history — the world’s first airline made its maiden passenger flight.  Using a Benoist

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