Ruth Law Oliver, who was featured in our Women in Aviation History post earlier this month, passed away 46 years ago on December 1, 1970 in San Francisco. She was 83 years old. Image: PD-US A Brief Biography She was born on May 21, 1887 in Massachusetts. Ruth was a pioneering aviatrix in her [...]
45 years ago, on November 24, 1971, an unidentified man hijacked a Boeing 727 aircraft somewhere in the airspace between Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington. The perpetrator has never been located or identified, despite an extensive manhunt and FBI Investigation. To this day, he is known only by his alias Dan Cooper—or, more popularly, “D.B. [...]
A CNN article touts it as the "most historic plane in the world." The Air Force One of JFK. It's the SAM 26000, and its a beauty. "This ain't just ANY Air Force One. SAM 26000 saw more historic events than any other -- ranging from the tragic to the hilarious. A national treasure, the [...]
To read The History of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Part 1: WWI, click here. Post-WWI: Target and Assault Drones Interwar Years After World War I, the aviation industry advanced exponentially. These advancements (particularly within the air transport sector) hindered the testing and operation of unmanned systems. As post-war hostilities decreased, so did military interest in unmanned flight; [...]
In continued celebration of National Aviation History Month, we’re focusing now on one incredible portion of aviation history: Night Witches. During World War II, women became involved in positions typically reserved for men. Little known are the Night Witches, who were a large part of the 588th Night Bomber Regiment in the Soviet Air Forces. [...]
The Douglas DC-3 is one of the most revolutionary transport aircraft of the 1930s and 40s… or perhaps of all time. The Propeller driven DC-3 is a twin-engine monoplane, powered by a pair of Pratt & Whitney R-1830-S1C3G Twin Wasp piston engines. The DC-3, Then known as the DST or Douglas Sleeper Transport took its [...]
Earlier this year, Alaska Airlines operated the first successful commercial flights using a blend of traditional jet fuel and biofuels. The idea of renewable jet fuel is not often given too much consideration among the world’s airlines – while most are aware of the excessive amounts of fuels burned every day in aircraft engines, there [...]
When we think of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), it’s easy to limit our thought to present-day UAVs—after all, drones have been receiving a lot of media attention lately. While modern drones and remotely piloted vehicles (RPVs) have become critical to the US Military due to their advancements, the development of such vehicles is, like so [...]
Is it a plane? Is it a helicopter? Is it both?! The Rotor Systems Research Aircraft (RSRA) X-Wing, produced by Sikorsky Aircraft, is certainly an odd bird. First produced in in the 1980s, this plane was an experimental hybrid of both a helicopter and a fixed-wing aircraft. Only two were built by the Sikorsky Aircraft [...]
Earlier this year, we wrote about the history of aviation. Today, we’re going to take that in a slightly different direction and look at some significant women in aviation history. Women aviators, often called an aviatrix, are plentiful throughout aviation’s history. Here are just a few of our favorites: Raymonde de Laroche Raymonde de [...]
