August 17, 1927 marks the end of the Dole Derby--an ill-fated air race Charles Lindbergh’s Orteig Prize-winning, nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic inspired a number of aviators and aviation-enthusiasts to fly their way into history (such as Tailwind’s journey aboard the American Nurse). Lindbergh’s fame particularly inspired Hawaii pineapple magnate James D. Dole to [...]
There's something about flying in a heavier-than-air craft 30,000 feet in the air that leads to plentiful fact or fiction debate across the internet...even in this day and age where the answers are quite literally right at our fingertips. Regardless of how or why these flying urban legends continue to proliferate the good old American psyche, we at the [...]
Let slip the dogs of war Antis and Robert Bozděch (source: Daily Mail) January 1940: Phoney War. Václav Robert Bozděch and Pierre Duval were on a reconnaissance mission over the German front in their twin-seater Potez 630 aircraft when they were hit by anti-aircraft fire. They crashed in no-mans land between the French [...]
A Robotic SPIDER may hold the answer to furthering hybrid airship efficiency While the airship industry certainly isn't "huge" compared to other methods of [aviation] transportation technology, it is seeing a resurgence--especially with Lockheed Martin's P-791 Hybrid Airship. Hybrid Airships, Lockheed Martin claim, offer the benefits of "large cargo capacities with significant reductions in fuel [...]
Humans have always been rather obsessed with the notion of flight, well before the development of modern airplanes. In fact, many early civilizations bore myths and legends of mankind and gods alike taking flight. Perhaps the most well-known and referenced myth regarding man and flight is the Greek story of Daedalus and Icarus: Daedalus, an inventor, fashioned a [...]
Not your average flying fish A large, wide-bodied cargo aircraft, the Super Guppy refers to either of two variants: the first Super Guppy (SG), or the second “Super Guppy Turbine” (SGT). The aircraft was a successor to the Pregnant Guppy which got its name from its resemblance to (surprise, surprise) a pregnant guppy. Much like Frankenstein’s [...]
Supersonic commercial transport existed for 30 years--what happened? The 1950s was a time of communism, capitalism, polypropylene, and polio vaccines--not to mention the maturity and growth of television sets, solar-powered wrist watches, and the beginnings of the Concorde project. By the early 1950s, Arnold Hall (director of the Royal Aircraft Establishment) asked Morien Morgan (a [...]
The Berlin Airlift Historical Foundation Keeps the Spirit Alive In 1988, one pilot founded The Berlin Airlift Historical Foundation with the goal of preserving the memory and legacy of "the greatest humanitarian and aviation event in history": The Berlin Airlift. At the end of WWII, a defeated Germany was divided into four sectors [...]
All it might take to save black-footed ferrets is some vaccine-coated M&Ms Just last week we posted on the topic of drones and how their role in wildlife conservation is rather ambiguous: do they help with conservation efforts or do they cause harm to wildlife? For the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), drones may [...]
If you're into aviation, there's no better place to go this week than the Farnborough Airshow--that is, of course, unless Britain is a little out of your flight plan. From July 11-17, all the best in aviation will be unveiled 40 miles southwest of London. Biennial Showcase The Farborough Airshow takes place at the Farnborough Airport [...]
