Now viewing articles in the category History.
- 2 min read
D-Day: Operation Overlord
June 6th, 2023
79 years ago today, June 6th, 1944, Operation Overlord (the official name for the D-Day invasion) made landfall in France on Adolf Hitler's "Festung Europa" (in English, Fortress Europe). It was orginally planned to start on June 5th, 1944 but due to bad weather, it was delayed by one day. On June 6... - 6 min read
Boeing 737 Variants
May 4th, 2023
The Boeing 737 is by far the most numerous aircraft type in the skies. Over 11,377 airframes have been built since its introduction over 56 years ago in 1967, and it has achieved much success mainly do to its reliability, such as one of the early landings of 737-100 on a grass and gravel runway in B... - 3 min read
The Doolittle Raid
April 18th, 2023
81 years ago today, April 18th, 1942, the Doolittle Raid occurred and was America's first attack on the Japanese mainland during World War II. Here is the background of the raid: after the Pearl Harbor Attack, the US government wanted to get revenge against the Japanese and they agreed to a plan tha... - 3 min read
Boeing EC-135 Variants:
April 11th, 2023
The Boeing EC-135 was one of the many variants of the Boeing 367-80 in the world, as well as the first successful jetliner. The 367-80 was built as a prototype for the 707 as well as all of the EC/RC-135 aircraft. This post is about the EC-135 variants - the RC-135 variants as well as the other 367-... - 1 min read
Boeing E-4B Nightwatch
April 7th, 2023
The Boeing E-4B Nightwatch is an Airborne Command and Control aircraft that is designed to survive a nuclear blast. It is also capable of completely destroying cities of billions, in seconds! Total, there are four E-4s and they were originally stationed at Andrews Air Force Base as well as Langley A... - 3 min read
Boeing 367-80 Variants:
January 11th, 2023
The Boeing 367-80 was one of the first jetliners in the world, as well as the first successful jetliner. The 367-80 was built as a prototype for the 707. The 367-80 was later evolved into the following on this list below, except for the EC-135/RC-135 variants that will be included on two other posts... - 3 min read
Boeing 747: Civilian Variants
January 4th, 2023
This post is a continued version of the previous 747 post and will have all of the 747 civilian variants from the -100 to the -800 that were planned or were built by The Boeing Company. Boeing planned with the Boeing 747 to only produce about 500 before the SSTs (Supersonic Transport aircraft) ruled... - 1 min read
Antonov An-225 Mriya
December 21st, 2022
34 years ago, today, December 24th 1988, the largest airplane in the world first flew in the Soviet Union. The An-225 was the largest airplane in the world and was powered by six Ivchenko Progress Lotarev D-18T engines which was the basically the Warsaw Pact version of the Rolls-Royce Trent 500, the... - 1 min read
Battle of the Bulge
December 16th, 2022
78 years ago, on December 17th 1944, the German Army succeeded in a breaking through Allied lines in an attempt to reach the Belgium port of Antwerp, which ultimately failed. If they had reached there, their plan was to invade Britain with the hope that both the U.S. and Great Britain would leave th... - 2 min read
James Doolittle
December 14th, 2022
126 years ago today, December 14th, 1896, James Doolittle was born. Doolittle was famous for hundreds of aviation-related feats such as setting several world records for aircraft and entering (and winning) every air race worth entering in the 1920s and '30s. He also lead the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo,... - 1 min read
Battle of Chosin Reservoir
December 13th, 2022
52 years ago on December 13th, 1950, the Battle of Chosin Reservoir ended. The battle was fought from November 26th to December 13th, 1950 and primarily was fought between the United Nations (UN) X Corps and the Chinese 9th Army. The UN X Corps was commanded by Major General Edward M. Almond, and... - 1 min read
Pearl Harbor Attack
December 7th, 2022
81 years ago today on December 7th, 1941, Japanese Navy aircraft attacked Pearl Harbor in Oahu, Hawaii, causing the United States to enter into World War II. The next day after the attack, December 8th, President Roosevelt gave his famous December 7th, 1941 Day of Infamy speech, which I have include... - 2 min read
Boeing 747
December 2nd, 2022
53 years ago today, December 2nd, 1969, the Boeing 747 was FAA certified. For about 50 years the Boeing 747 has been known by many names, such as: "The Queen of the Skies" and "Jumbo Jet". The Boeing 747 first rolled out of the Boeing Everett plant in February 1969, which was a remarkable feat, due ... - 2 min read
NASA Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA)
November 29th, 2022
The NASA Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) Boeing 747-100s (N905NA and N911NA) were the two aircraft dedicated to transport the Space Shuttle. The 747 was the winner of the SCA competition by beating both the Conroy Virtus (see top left picture) and the twin fuselage C-5 (see top right picture). Of the... - 1 min read
NASA/DLR SOFIA
November 28th, 2022
The NASA/DLR (National Aeronautics and Space Administration/German Aerospace Center) Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) Boeing 747SP was a Pan Am Boeing 747SP delivered on May 20th 1977 (N536PA). It was christened Clipper Lindbergh until it was sold to United Airlines on Februa... - 5 min read
Aircraft of the U.S. Air Force in the Vietnam War
November 8th, 2022
F-105 Thunderchief "Thud" bombing North Vietnam The Vietnam War started in 1955 and ended in 1975. The U.S. involvement of this war was between 1965 and 1972, and again in 1975. The U.S. Air Force operated quite a few different aircraft in the Vietnam War theater. This post is about the main on... - 1 min read
The Wild Weasels
November 6th, 2022
The Wild Weasels is a group of elite airmen who mission requirements are to be the first aircraft in on a bombing mission and the last ones out of the mission area. They also are tasked to destroy any SAM (Surface to Air Missile) launching sites before any aircraft get shot down. The Wild Weasels we... - 1 min read
4477th Test and Evaluation Squadron
November 5th, 2022
The Red Eagles (as the 4477th was know as) primary mission was to teach pilots the abilities of the MiG's and how to beat them in a dogfight. The legend was that the name 4477 is likely from the first commanding officer, who was 44 in 1977, the year that they were made a fight. The Red Eagles were b... - 1 min read
U.S. Navy Blue Angels
November 4th, 2022
The U.S. Navy Blue Angels is the oldest air demonstration team in the United States and the second oldest in the world, after the French air demonstration team, the Patrouille de France. The Blue Angels have been famously known as the Blues. The Blue Angels served briefly in Korea on the U.S.S. Prin... - 1 min read
East Coast Trip Part One
November 3rd, 2022
National Museum of the U.S. Air Force At our second stop on our East Coast Trip was Dayton, OH, were we went to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force twice! I saw a Wright Military Flyer (replica), the B-17 Flying Fortress, Memphis Bell,a B-24, a B-26, Me 109, Me 190, Me 163 Komet, Me 262, P-... - 2 min read
The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds
November 3rd, 2022
The U.S. Air Force Air Demonstration Team, The Thunderbirds, has been an Air Force active duty fighter squadron officially known as the 3600 Air Demonstration Team. They were based at Luke AFB outside of Phoenix, AZ and originally activated on June 1st, 1953. The team is now located at Nellis AFB, o...