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Aviation History

Major Richard Ira Bong, United States Army Air Forces, Medal of Honor recepient.

The "Ace of Aces"

During World War II the air war was necessary to win to protect the troops on the ground. Of the many pilots swho became Aces (pilot with 5 or more aerial combat victories) arose a phenomenal pilot...

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Kenneth Hunter makes repairs to the “City of Chicago” in mid-flight during their world record setting flight of 23 days.

Twenty-Three Days In The Air

In 1930 four brothers worked together to set a world endurance record for flying an airplane non-stop for 553 hours, 41 minutes and 30 seconds in a 1927 Stinson SM-1 "Detroiter" aircraft.

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A UH-1 helicopter on a landing pad in Vietnam

Helicopters Over Vietnam

On Novmber 9, 1967, a rescue helicopter crew heard a call for help while on their way back to base. Tired, weary, and heading home, the crew decided it was more important to help their fellow soldi...

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A photo of Bessie Coleman standing on the wing of her Jenny in 1922

Bessie Coleman Soars Across the Sky

The 1920s and 1930s were the heyday of early aviation, but African Americans were excluded from all of the fun. That is, until a smart, attractive African American girl decided she just wouldn't ac...

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The B-24D, Liberator, Serial Number 41-11819, named "Raunchy", landing at Benghazi, Libya 1943

The Disappearance of the "Lady Be Good"

On April 4, 1943, a Consolidated B-24D Liberator with a crew of 9 departed an airfield in Libya on a night mission to bomb Naples, Italy. Discover the story of how the aircraft and crew disappeared...

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Operation Baby Lift Lockheed C-5A Galaxy 68-0218 lifts off from Tan Son Nhut Air Base, South Vietnam, 4 00 p.m., Friday, 4 April 1975.

Operation Baby Lift

Operation Baby Lift was a humanitarian effort undertaken by the US government to save South Vietnamese orphans from the North Vietnamese. Like so many other government programs, this one did not en...

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A Boeing 707 sitting on the tarmac belonging to SABENA Airlines in 1961

A Boeing 707 Death Spiral

The Boeing 707 was one of the first jet powered intercontinental aircraft, it had four engines and one of the most interesting features of the aircraft were it's swept wings and tail surfaces. Spec...

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Buffalo Airways Lockheed L188 Electra aircraft in flight

The Sole Surviver

This is an interesting story about an aircraft accident that occurred over the Amazon jungle and the sole survivor of that accident. The aircraft involved was a Peruvian airline Lockheed Electra L1...

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The U-2 "Dragon Lady" in flight on a reconnaisance mission.

Gary Powers and the U-2 Program

The wreckage of the U-2 flown by Gary Powers over the Soviet Union an downed near Sverdlovsk The Aftermath Of The Downing The CIA's first indication that something was wrong with Power's mission oc...

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A Blue Angles F11F 'Tiger" in flight

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.

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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 ...

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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...

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