Published on May 19, 2013 The German Rumpler reconnaissance plane made a low altitude pass over the American aerodrome at Gengault Aerodrome near Toul, France.  There, the 94th Aero Squadron, the US Army’s first combat air unit in France, was based.  At first intercepted by an American pilot, the German intruder wasn’t brought down.  As [...]

Published on May 18, 2013 In 1966, Sheila Scott, a British actress who had learned to fly a few years earlier, decided to pursue her passion in aviation by setting a series of records.  To that end, she purchased a brand new Piper Comanche PA-24-260B, a single-engine American airplane that she had registered in the [...]

Published on May 17, 2013 The Memphis Belle, a B-17 with the 324th Bomb Squadron of the 91st Bomb Group, flew its 25 mission at this time in history — the crew, under the command of Capt. Bob Morgan, had completed a total of 29 missions in all, four on other aircraft.  With that, their [...]

Published on May 13, 2013 One hundred and one years ago today in aviation history, on Monday, May 13, 1912, there was a terrible accident at Brooklands.  Two men, the pilot, Edward Victor Beauchamp “E. V. B.” Fisher, and his passenger, Victor Mason, an American, were killed.  The plane, a Flanders F.3, burst into flames immediately [...]

This Week’s Hints to help you along: A twin-tailed plane designed for the military. Early enough that it uses wing warping! A Wright design — with Manning, however. 2,000 total load with a top speed of 60 mph / 95 kph. So do you know what this aircraft is?       Post a REPLY [...]

Published on May 12, 2013 It was clear day, VFR and with smooth seas when LTJG Robert “Rocket” Rabuse and his B/N, ENS Al Hux, USN, circled the USS Lexington for a landing.  At the time, the ship and squadron, VA-42 “The Green Pawns”, were doing carrier qualifications and both of the flight crew members [...]

Published on May 10, 2013 When Ernest Failloubaz climbed into the aeroplane, he had never flown before in his life.  Further, he had no flight instructor, nor was one available anywhere in all of Switzerland.  In fact, he and his compatriot, René Grandjean, were the first two aviators in the country.  What Failloubaz knew about [...]

Published on May 9, 2013 “I achieved my greatest victory on May 9, 1918.  For some time, I longed for a triumph in a single 24 hour period, to down five opponents, which I felt would be so many that none other could exceed it.”  So began René Fonck’s recollection of that day, 95 years [...]

Published on May 8, 2013 The plane was purpose-built for the flight, extensively modified from a proven design of the Levasseur PL4 reconnaissance seaplane and redesignated as the Levasseur PL.8. Its huge bulk carried thousands of pounds of gasoline, enough to hopefully achieve a singular goal — to claim the Orteig Prize. That award offered [...]

Published on May 7, 2013 By Guy Ellis, Guest Contributor The radar operator on the Bristol Beaufighter, Sergeant Rawnsley, focused on the AI — his only picture of the surrounding skies amidst the darkness of night.  Calmly, he called out instructions to his pilot, Squadron Leader John Cunningham, asking for a steady descent toward the [...]

Published on May 6, 2013 By Guy Ellis, Guest Contributor King George VI stood in the darkened “Starlights” caravan behind Squadron Leader Brown.  Together, they peered down at what seemed to be a fuzzy image on the radar’s cathode ray tube display.  From his position on the ground, Sqn/Ldr Brown relayed headings and altitudes directly [...]

This Week’s Hints to help you along: For the darkness of night, a shadow falls across the Moon. There might be a good clue in the tail design. This came after the War to End All Ends. 9Ady — yes, that’s not a typo. So do you know what this aircraft is?       [...]

Published on May 4, 2013 The key challenges of air racing are ones of weight, profile, horsepower and aerodynamic streamlining.  In 1927, at the height of the international competition in the Schneider Trophy seaplace races, the British team tried a radical experiment.  The idea was to mount the newly designed nine-cylinder Bristol Mercury radial engine, [...]

Published on May 3, 2013 The commanding general of the Alaskan Air Command, Major General William D. Old, USAF, squared off in front of his new Special Projects Officer, Lt. Col. William Pershing Benedict, USAF, who had joined the command just a month earlier.  The General wanted to know, can it be done, to fly [...]

Published on May 2, 2013 By extraordinary luck, that one SA-2 missile fired by Voronov’s SA-2 missile battery tracked true.  It exploded in the wake of the American U-2C spy plane.  The blast force tore the fragile wings from the fuselage and the stricken plane began a spinning descent toward the ground below.  In the [...]

Published on May 1, 2013 It was May Day in 1960, 53 years ago today in aviation history when the Soviets celebrated their national holiday.  Military parades marched through Moscow’s main square in front of the Kremlin while the leadership looked on.  It was a day off for workers and even the military.  Unbeknownst to [...]

Published on April 29, 2013 Brig. Gen. Vladimir Kokkinaki and his copilot, Major Mikhail Kh. Gordienko, had set out from Moscow on April 28, 1939, in the Russian prototype Ilyushin TsKB-30 twin-engined bomber on an international mission.  Though the aircraft was a bomber by design, their flight was one of peace.  Nonetheless, it wouldn’t be [...]

Published on April 28, 2013 The Flight Data Recorder, most would say, traces its lineage to the first efforts of two Frenchmen, François Hussenot and Paul Beaudouin, who created their revolutionary “HB” device in 1939.  The HB used photographic processes, in which an eight meter long, 88 mm wide film recorded the progression of altitude, [...]

Published on April 27, 2013 Since 1911, the Pommery Cup prize had been standing, a twice yearly competition with a large prize of 7,500 francs given each six months until the last competition in the Fall of 1913.  Thus, two prizes were awarded each in 1911, 1912 and then 1913.  A total of 50,000 francs were [...]

Published on April 26, 2013 From the first minutes with the launch Operation Rügen, the bombs began to rain down indiscriminately on the small Basque town of Guernica.  No effort was made to avoid civilian areas — in fact, the deadly intent of the Luftwaffe’s Condor Legion was to utterly destroy the town itself and [...]

Published on April 25, 2013 Belgium’s top balloon-busting ace, Willy Coppens, would drop down from on high, his Hanriot HD-1 fighter plane swooping in toward his favorite target — a German artillery observation balloon, the type known as a “sausage” or “dragon”.  Time and again, his deadly fire would hit the German balloons, igniting their [...]

Published on April 24, 2013 At the end of the war, the US Army Air Forces made surplus a wide range of aircraft.  Among the most prominent were the Douglas C-47 Dakotas, military versions of the Douglas DC-3 airliner, a proven aircraft for commercial air passenger transport from before the war.  As thousands were retired [...]

Published on April 23, 2013 When Ensign Marion F. Jackson, Jr., USNR, and Aviation Machinist’s Mate 1c Willis D. Atchison, USN, took off that day from their temporary base at RNAS Hatston, a British airfield located near Kirkwall on Mainland Island in Scotland’s Orkneys, they expected a routine flight in their Vought SB2U-2 Vindicator.  Scouting [...]

Published on April 22, 2013 Damer Leslie Allen and Denys Corbett Wilson were two Irishmen who were among the first pilots in the early days of aviation.  In 1912, both were flying regularly at Hendon and knew each other well.  Both men flew Blériot XI monoplanes and had many shared experiences.  Thus, it was not [...]

This Week’s Hints to help you along: Just whose roundel insignia is that — French, British, something else? Are those Americans in uniform walking around the plane? Developed for very special, truly strategic, military mission. No bomb bay, no weapons and no cargo hold?  What was it for then? So do you know what this [...]

Published on April 21, 2013 The news reports carried word of a flight across the Arctic that had departed nearly a week earlier, on April 15 and 16, 1928.  Five days after departure, still the flyers were not yet safe.  As the day broke on April 21, 1928 — today in aviation history — the [...]

Published on April 20, 2013 It was ninety-nine years ago that the second Schneider Cup seaplane races were held off the shores of Monaco.  The year before, Marcel Prévost had won in a Deperdussin monoplane.  In 1914, England wasn’t considered much of a contender, as European aircraft manufacturers were viewed by most to be far [...]

Published on April 19, 2013 Maurice Chevillard was a French aviator who passed some time in 1913 in England.  Others were content in easing their uncertain machines around the aerodrome, seeking speed records or flying long distance flights.  Some sought to make a living by flying paid exhibitions or flying passengers in chartered airplanes.  Yet [...]

Published on April 18, 2013 Seventy one years ago today in aviation history, on April 18, 1942, sixteen B-25B Mitchell bombers, each with a five man crew, took off from the decks of the US Navy aircraft carrier Hornet and made their way over 600 miles to Japan where they bombed and strafed a series [...]

Published on April 17, 2013 IIt was 100 years ago this week that a detailed report was published regarding two episodes where hapless aviators had found themselves, by trick of ill-winds, suddenly upside down in midair.  In both cases, somehow, against all odds, despite in one of the cases having not even been belted in, [...]

Published on April 16, 2013 Harriet Quimby’s flight had been carefully planned.  The challenge was nothing less than matching the famous flight of Louis Blériot from 1909 by taking a plane across the English Channel.  If successful, she would become the first woman to make the crossing on her own, as the pilot.  She planned [...]

Published on April 15, 2013 “Deep Sea 129″, the code name for a reconnaissance flight, took off from the Naval Air Station at Atsugi, Japan, at 6:50 am local time on April 15, 1969, on what should have been a routine Beggar Shadow mission.  The plane, operated by the US Navy’s Airborne Reconnaissance Squadron One (VQ-1) [...]

This Week’s Hints to help you along: Designed specifically for ground attack, yet a triplane! The personnel look quite lax — yet is it from the interwar period? A single pilot airplane — no copilot! — but had two gunners. Fitted with armor plates so it could survive while strafing trenches. So do you know [...]

Published on April 14, 2013 When he entered the Link Trainer room, he saw that there were ten of the machines neatly lined up to either side, a walkway separating the two rows.  Like all new USAF pilots, he was assigned to undergo intensive instrument training in the Link ANT-18, which consisted of a small, [...]

Published on April 13, 2013 Against all odds, their plane had made it across the Atlantic Ocean from Europe to North America.  The flight was an aviation first that happened today in history, on April 13, 1928.  Until that moment, every successful transatlantic crossing had been heading west toward Europe, thus taking advantage of the [...]

Published on April 12, 2013 When Bill Lancaster took off from Reggane, Algeria, ahead of him was the empty expanse of the Sahara desert.  Having risked it all in an attempt to break the flying time record that linked London to Cape Town, South Africa, he was already running behind schedule.  He had the nearly [...]

Published on April 11, 2013 Today in aviation history, on the evening of April 11, 1955, precisely five hours into its flight to Jakarta, Indonesia, the chartered Air India Lockheed L-749 Constellation “Kashmir Princess” was suddenly rocked by an explosion.  An instant later, the pilots saw flames streaming from behind the number three engine on [...]

Published on April 10, 2013 The Arado Ar 234B-1 streaked overhead at high altitude, beyond the reach of Allied interceptors.  Its sleek lines and twin jet engines gave it speeds that were in excess of 700 km per hour.  On board, a pair of Rb 50/30 reconnaissance cameras captured a nine kilometer wide swath of [...]

Published on Mr. Slack Crosses the Channel. ACCOMPANIED by his little son, Mr. Robert Slack, on the 27th ult., flew across the channel from Dover to Calais on his Blériot monoplane.  With an unfavourable wind he took three-quarters of an hour for the trip.

Published on April 9, 2013 One hundred years ago in aviation history, on this date, British aviators were reading about the latest prize offerings from the Daily Mail, a newspaper in London that had been sponsoring the advancement of aviation since its first days.  Widely distributed, the newspaper had deep pockets and, in exchange for [...]