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Category Archives: Aviation History
The Cessna 180
One of the best planes Cessna developed was the Cessna 180. Powered by a 230 horsepower Continental engine, the 180 could carry four at speeds of about 135 knots. At the same time, she could carry a load of luggage … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flying
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Tagged 230 horsepower Continental engine, 80-gallon long-range tanks, airplanes, airspeed, Alaska, altitude, bush pilots, Canada, Cessna 182, Cessnas, flight training, floats, flying, Geraldine “Jerri” Mock, gross weight, low-end flying characteristics, normal tires, oversized tundra tires, pilots, professional pilots, ranchers, skis, standard tanks, taildraggers, the airplane of choice, The Cessna 180, the first solo woman aviator around the world, the high-wing Cessnas, “para-lift” flaps
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6 Comments
Piper’s Comanche
One of the best single engine aircraft on the used airplane market today is the Piper PA-24 Comanche. Piper delivered the airplane with a variety of Lycoming engines ranging in power from 180 hp on the low end, to 400 hp … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flying, Life in General
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Tagged a solid instrument platform, airplanes, airspeed, altitude, bona fide four-place airplane, Comanche, flight training, flying, inexperienced pilots, instrument flying, judgment, learning to fly, Max Conrad, pilots, Piper PA-24 Comanche, Piper's Comanche, professional pilots, standard "T" instrument panel, the non-stop speed record from Casablanca to Los Angeles, “oil-canning” in the aft fuselage
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Comments Off on Piper’s Comanche
The World’s First Flight Attendant
In 1930, Ellen Church was a newly licensed pilot who wanted to fly. She went to Boeing Air Transport, the predecessor to United Airlines, and applied, even though she knew her chances of flying as a pilot were not good. … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, History
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Tagged Army Nurse Corps the Air Medal, Boeing Air Transport, Cresco IA, Ellen Church, Ellen Church Field, Ford Tri-motor, Iowa, passengers fearful of flying, reassuring frightened passengers, scared and airsick passengers, Steve Stimpson of BAT, stewards, the fledgling airline industry, the very first flight attendant in the world, The World’s First Flight Attendant, United Airlines, World War II
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4 Comments
The Aeronca Champ
The Aeronca Champ is one of the most classic of airplanes from the 1940s. As with most of the old airplanes from that era, the Champ was able to fly based on a very fine balance between large wing area … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flight Instructing, Flying
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Tagged a near-perfect landing, a very honest-flying airplane, adverse yaw, airplanes, airspeed, altitude, Cessnas, Continental C-65 engine, discipline, engine failures, first solo, flight training, flying, flying at very slow airspeeds, generous wing area, how to use rudders, inexperienced pilots, judgment, keep the stick back, learning to fly, Mr. Piper’s J-3 Cub, neophyte pilots, pilots, professional pilots, sitting in the backseat, slow flight, stalls, student pilots, taildraggers, the 7AC, The Aeronca Champ, the counterpart to the 11AC Chief, the most classic of airplanes from the 1940s, training aircraft, very well balanced controls, World War II, “purist pilots”
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3 Comments
Books About the Men and the Mission
Over the last couple of days of writing about General Doolittle and his raid, many who know me have stopped and talked specifically about the men and the mission. To each, I have recommended a couple of books. The first … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flying, History, Reading
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Tagged Air Force, airplanes, aviation in America, Bob Considine, Books About the Men and the Mission, Carroll V. Glines, discipline, Doolittle’s Raid, Florida, flying, friends, General Doolittle, I Could Never Be So Lucky Again, instrument flying, Jimmy Doolittle’s autobiography, judgment, memories, military service, Navy, Pearl Harbor, Phyllis Thaxter, pilots, professional pilots, Spencer Tracy, Ted W. Lawson, the first raid against Japan, Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, Van Johnson, World War II
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3 Comments
The Doolittle Goblets
Few know the story of the Doolittle Goblets. In 1959, the city of Tucson, AZ gave a wonderful gift to the men who flew the first mission against the Japanese mainland on April 18, 1942. The gift? A set of … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation History, Flying, History
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Tagged A set of 80 sterling silver goblets, Air Force, airplanes, Colonel Richard E. Cole, discipline, Florida, flying, friends, gunner of aircraft No. 7., inexperienced pilots, instrument flying, judgment, learning to fly, Lieutenant Colonel Robert L. Hite, Major Edward Joseph Saylor, Major Thomas C. Griffin, military service, Navy, Pearl Harbor, pilots, professional pilots, Staff Sergeant David J. Thatcher, the Air Force Academy, The Doolittle Goblets, the “Goblet Ceremony”, Tucson AZ, World War II, “Hennessey Very Special”
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4 Comments
The Doolittle Raiders
Sixty-nine years ago this morning, 80 very brave men in 16 B-25 Mitchell bombers launched from the deck of the aircraft carrier, USS Hornet. They and their leaders planned the mission well, but as they steamed toward their targets, they … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flying, History
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Tagged Air Force, airplanes, airspeed, altitude, discipline, flight training, Florida, flying, judgment, military service, Navy, Pearl Harbor, pilots, World War II
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11 Comments
Jerrie Mock Returns Home
Today, 47 years ago, Jerrie Mock returned from her trip. It was a special trip and she was no passenger. She was the pilot. And the only one onboard her 1953 Cessna 180 she named the “Spirit of Columbus.” … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flying, History
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Tagged 1953 Cessna 180, 1970), a rough running engine, airplanes, Airplanista, Amelia Earhart Memorial Award, bad weather, Cessnas, Charles Lindbergh, Columbus OH, Dan Pimental, electronic magazine, fatigue, Federal Aviation Administration Gold Medal for Exceptional Service, Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, First Flight, first to cross both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans solo., first woman to cross the Pacific Ocean in a single-engine aircraft, flying, her book titled Three Eight Charlie (Lippincott, Jerri Mock Returns Home, judgment, Kill Devil Hill, Louis Bleriot Silver Medal, pilots, professional pilots, radio malfunctions, taildraggers, the first solo circumnavigation of the globe by a woman aviator, the first woman to fly from the US to Africa via the North Atlantic, the first woman to solo around the world, “Spirit of Columbus”
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5 Comments
Flyboys
OK, have you seen the movie, Flyboys? If not, why not? You call yourself an aviation aficionado, right? Well then, you have to see this movie. The amazing thing about the movie is not the story, but story of these … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation History, Flying, History, Life in General
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Tagged airplanes, American flyers, aviation aficionados, Flyboys, flying for France in World War I, Frank Buckles, full-scale Nieuport 17s, gone west, Holden MO, Lafayette Escadrille, military service, open cockpit biplanes, original time schedules, pilots, Robert Baslee of Airdrome Aeroplanes, taildraggers, the 103rd Aero Squadron, the Escadrille Américaine 124, the movie Flyboys, the US Army Air Corps, The Valiant 38, the War to End All Wars, Verdun on May 13 1916, World War I, World War I aviation
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2 Comments
Columbia
Yesterday I wrote about the Shuttle Program coming to an end and all the remaining vehicles being retired. As always, it made me think about the first Shuttle launch I ever witnessed with my own eyes. I wrote about that … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation History, History, Personal
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Tagged a good safety record, Air Force, Columbia, Florida, images of the vehicle streaking across the sky, January 16 2003, landing in Florida on February 1, local law enforcement, lost communication, military personnel, military service, NASA, Navy, professional pilots, regular citizens, Saturday shortly before 9 a.m., search for debris, the Civil Air Patrol, the first Shuttle launch I witnessed, the loss of Columbia, the Shuttle Program, “anomalies”
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3 Comments
