The Loss of the Space Shuttle Challenger
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
HistoricWings.com :: A Magazine for Aviators, Pilots and Adventurers
A Magazine for Aviators, Adventurers and Pilots
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
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.
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Published on December 21, 2012 “During the last year or so great strides have been made in Germany in the development of the aeroplane, although the progress has been by
Published on December 30, 2012 The Martin PBM-5 Mariner code-named G1 (or George One, in radio parlance at the time) made a long take off run, assisted by four JATO
Published on December 29, 2012 With the Battle of the Bulge in full swing, the Luftwaffe rose in large numbers to challenge Allied air power over front. Every element of
Published on December 28, 2012 At 20:37 on December 28, 1968, a flight of six Aerospatiale SA 321 Super Frelon helicopters loaded with special forces commandos with seven escorting Bell helicopters
Published on December 27, 2012 By Thomas Van Hare The Mauna Loa volcano on Hawaii erupted on November 21, 1935. At first, the eruption was watched with concern, but then
Published on December 26, 2012 The Lavochkin La-176 was a competitive Soviet jet fighter prototype that competed against the MiG-15 for selection as the Soviet Union’s premiere jet fighter of
Published on December 25, 2012 On December 24, 1968 — 44 years ago + one day — while orbiting the Moon, the three man crew of Apollo 8 took a
Published on December 25, 2012 Many of us know very well the yearly fun brought to old and young alike by NORAD and their tracking mission each year to watch
Published on December 23, 2012 “We found Mr. Jezzi quite alone in overalls, with a scarf round his neck and carpet slippers on his feet, busy in his shed. He
Published on December 22, 2012 Cecil Stanley Grace was an Irish-American who hailed from a wealthy, elite American family. His father, John William Grace, was a businessman and his uncle,
Published on December 21, 2012 By Thomas Van Hare Hélène Dutrieu was a professional bicycle racer from Belgium. Known as “La Flèche Humaine” (“The Human Arrow”), she was famous throughout
Published on December 20, 2012 Nguyen Van Coc rose rapidly to become North Vietnam’s leading ace in a combat career that lasted from 1965 to 1968. Yet before he shot