Aviation History

A map of the first US non-stop transcontinental flight in 1923

The First Non-Stop US Transcontinental Flight

In early May of 1923 two Army Air Service lieutenants departed from Long Island, NY en route to San Diego, CA in a Fokker T-2 to complete the first non-stop transcontinental airplane flight. The 26...

A photograph of Lt. JG David S. Ingalls, USN pilot and the very first US Navy Fighter Ace in 1918

The First US Navy Ace

The U.S. Navy has traditionally had a lot of excellent fighter pilots who performed extremely well in World War I, World War II, and in the Vietnam War. But did you know who was the very first U.S....

The Shootdown of Tiger #620

Being a test pilot is a dangerous job sometimes, and unusual events occur on a regular basis. In this case a test pilot shoots himself down but survives.

The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force in the Second World War

Riding A Spitfire

The Spitfire is the most famous and beloved aircraft of World War II. Its unique design and superior agility in dog fighting gave the British Royal Air Force a decisive advantage over the German Lu...

A Rolls-Royce Nene-powered Armstrong-Whitworth-A.W.52-TS363 installed in a British "Flying Wing" aircraft in 1949

How To Exit An Aircraft Quickly

Until the closing days of the Second World War the only way to exit a fatally damaged aircraft was to jump through a door or hole, or after removing the canopy to roll the aircraft upside down and ...

Image of the seating in a Boeing RB-47H reconnaisance aircraft

A "Ferret" Mission

I had the honor of serving in the USAF from 1960 through 1965 as a Russian Linguist. This was during one of the most interesting periods in the history of the Cold War with the Soviet Union. Most c...

An aerial shot of bombed out Berlin shortly after the end of World War II

The First Cold War Crisis

The Berlin airlift of 1948-1949 was a test of the will of the Allies in the face of strong Soviet interference with the Marshall Plan and access to Berlin. Not to be intimidated nor deterred, the A...

Tupolev ANT-25RD N0251 in flight on March 1, 1934.

The World's First Transpolar Flight

From June 18, 1937, through June 20, 1938, the first transpolar flight occurred when a Soviet-era ANT-25 aircraft, crewed by three Russians, flew from Moscow to Vancouver, WA, across the North Pole...

Alvin S. White, North American Aviation Test Pilot, standing beside the XB-70 Valkyrie Escape Capsule

Alvin Swauger White, North American Aviation Test Pilot

Alvin S. White was the Pilot in Command of the XB-70 on June 8, 1966, when it was involved in an accident that ended the XB-70 program. Al White was a talented experimental aircraft test pilot with...

Flying the SR-71 and setting world speed records. Example: New York to London, a distance of 3,470 Miles, average speed of 1,817 mph, 1:55:32 time enroute

Can You Safely Eject From An SR-71 At Speed And Altitude And Survive?

Flying the SR-71 was not only a lot of fun for the pilots but presented them with some real danger should something go wrong. So, could they survive ejecting from an SR-71 at 85,000 feet plus and M...

A photograph of Yuri Alexseyevich Gagarin, the first man in space and continued his military service becoming a Colonel in the Soviet Air Force before his aircraft accident on March 27, 1968.

Yuri Gagarin, The First Man In Space

On April 12th, 1961, a Soviet Vostok-1 rocket launched the first man into Earth orbit, becoming the first man in space. Yuri Gagarin slips the surly bonds of Earth to become the first human in spac...

The United States Air Force Academy

The U.S. Air Force Academy is the youngest of the military academies, and is focused on continuing to improve the quality of officers and leadership in the corps.