Aviation History

The National WASP WWII Museum in Sweetwater, Texas, said in a news release that more than 1,000 people showed up to Avenger Field on May 8 to celebrate the WASP Homecoming 2021 and the BT-13 & Warbird Fly-In. More than 200 children learned about the Fly Girls and the warbirds they flew in the fly-in’s […]

The pandemic certainly took a toll on almost every event in the US and around the world including the National Aviation Hall of Fame (NAHF). The organization cancelled last year’s induction ceremony and recently decided to pass on 2021′s as well. But NAHF trustee Phil Roberts took a bold step a few weeks ago to […]

On the spectrum of popularity, various aircraft types ebb and flow from decade to decade, and the most sought-after models become easy to spot. Cessna 170s and Carbon Cubs are currently among the most desirable types, and while their popularity and reputation are not necessarily undeserved, the resulting prices often stretch out of reach for […]

Is there any way to thank a friend for inviting you to ride in a Boeing B-29 Superfortress—and even in the “candy” bombardier’s seat? After realigning my dropped jaw and babbling, “Oh, gosh, yes,” I blathered on with: “Really? You’re sure? You’re not kidding? But, David, how can I even begin to thank you?” And […]

Each week, Flying receives dozens of news releases pitching us a new product or service, or informing us of an important upcoming event. Every so often we see one that makes us stop and think about the people that make the aviation industry work, such as the story we received on March 23 from the National Aviation […]

Now that millions of people in the US are being vaccinated against the coronavirus each week, the country is inching towards some sort of return to normalcy. For warbird fans, the announcement from the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) that their B-17 bomber Aluminum Overcast is returning to a 2021 national tour is welcome news—and takes […]

This spring, in Xenia, Ohio, a very special mission is planned to honor and celebrate the centennial birthday of Jim “Pee Wee” Martin. The Inland Empire Wing of the Commemorative Air Force in Riverside, California, has committed to flying its C-53D, D-Day Doll, to Xenia for the event on April 23 to 25, 2021, joined […]

Yes, it feels like a great match—the National Aviation Heritage Invitational’s 20th year will be celebrated at the STIHL National Championship Air Races in Reno, Nevada, on September 15 to 19, 2021. The vintage aircraft competition, founded in 1998, pits restored aircraft from five categories against each other for the Neil A. Armstrong Aviation Heritage […]

A few years ago, I strolled a back alley in Volterra, Italy, and stumbled upon a cluttered workshop where craftsmen were sculpting large chunks of alabaster into gorgeous works of art. Every surface wore a light coating of fine alabaster dust probably dating back to the 16th century. The worn hand tools and the techniques […]

Three-quarters of the globe behind them, Amelia Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, now had only the Pacific Ocean left to cross. They took off midmorning from Lae, Papua New Guinea, on July 1, 1937, bound for Howland Island, an 8,200-foot-long, paramecium-shaped speck halfway to Honolulu. A runway had been carved out on the uninhabited […]