Indy Transponder 17-DEC-2011 2345z

Graduation Ceremony for the new Pilots and UAE's new PC-21 Trainers - Swiss Air Force by Grimmi | On last day of military activity - especially the Jets will stay in the Shelters 'till 3rd January - the new Pilots of Pilotenklasse'05 (www.torqmax.ch) had their Graduation Ceremony in Central Switzerland. The fresh Pilots and their guests where visited by the Patrouille Suisse and the Super Puma Demo Team....

DVD Review: Bournemouth Air Festival 2011 - Flightline UK | The Bournemouth Air Festival 2011 was one of the most outstanding events of airshow season. Following a very, very damp Thursday which led to the cancellation of the day’s activities, the following three days saw some outstanding weather with the flying displays enjoyed by huge...

Homesick - Neptunus Lex | Courtesy of occasional reader SpazSinbad, a helmet cam video (everybody’s doing it) of an FA-18C air demo.

Wright Brothers Take Flight - Planeshots | On December 17, 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first successful sustained powered flight of a heavy-than-air vehicle near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Surfman John T. Daniel of the...

Wright brothers anniversary marks Navy flight - Eyewitness News 9 | KILL DEVIL HILLS, N.C. (AP) - The annual celebration of the day human beings overpowered gravity with flying machines is marking a century of U.S. naval aviation.  The National Park Service and First Flight Society marks the first flight on Saturday at the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills. Saturday...

My Own History, in History - Blog SouthWest | December 17, 2011 will mark the 108th anniversary of flight!  That date is also my birthday…64 years after the first documented flight!  From what I have read, many people were trying to learn how to fly around 1903.  The Wright Brothers, Wilbur and Orville, documented their success via a photograph.  The first flight took place on Kill Devil Hills, NC in an area of North Carolina known as ...

The Great Debate: are great pilots born or made? - Air Facts | Many say Lindbergh was one--but are great pilots born or made?  “Boy, he sure is a great pilot.” We’ve all heard some version of this, usually standing around the airport as someone passes judgment on a fellow aviator. And most pilots can think of at least one...

WWII pilot survived five crash landings - Ocala.com | Robert Kilmark commanded 43 bombing missions over Europe during World War II, some so harrowing his prayer-filled cockpit became known as "Kilmark's Chapel."  "I spent four years bombing and 40 years healing," said Kilmark, 90, of Ocala.  He still has a leather bomber jacket that has remained crusty from a....

WWII pilot's invite from Tendulkar - Adelaide Now | ...Mr Ellis and his remarkable team, which included future Test stars Flying Officer Keith Miller and Warrant Officer Lindsay Hassett, were honoured at the function, which took place in the shadow of the Memorial's G for George Lancaster bomber.  It's the same type that Mr Ellis flew in 11 missions over occupied Europe - including two when he landed the heavily damaged plane wheels up....

Blue Angels No.7 F/A-18B Hornet Display Dedicated at St. Louis Science Center  - The Aero Experience | The St. Louis Science Center dedicated its U.S. Navy Blue Angel No.7 F/A-18B Hornet display Friday.  The aircraft, BuNo 161746, F/A-18B no.19, was built in 1983 and served as the actual Blue Angels No. 7 before retirement to the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, FL.  The aircraft was transported to the St. Louis Science Center in....

B-29 FIFI Superfortress Flight - Flightglobal | We were 9 passengers and 6 crew members including two  engine spotters in the gunnery compartment watching the engines during the start up and flight. The pilots cannot see the engines and as the engine used had a persistent issue with fires etc this is a good way to catch anything nasty in the buds. With the new engine re-fit...

Ditching a B-36 - The Unwanted Blog | In 1947, NACA-Langley conducted ditching tests on a  1/20 scale model of the XB-36. This involved accelerating the model under a rail system and releasing it over water, letting it glide down to a landing. In order to more accurately represent the configuration of the aircraft, panels were removed from the ...

On This Day in Aviation History: December 17th - NYC Aviation

George Lucas film, Red Tails, premieres to Alaska Air Force Reserve audience - Pacific Air Forces | JOINT BASE ELMENDORF RICHARDSON, Alaska  -- A select group of Reserve Airmen and Anchorage citizens were treated to an advanced screening of the new George Lucas film, Red Tails, about the famed Tuskegee Airmen at the Tikhatnu movie theater in Anchorage Dec. 15.  The screening was offered to members of the 477th Fighter group because its heritage traces back to these heroic aviation pioneers. The Group's 302nd Fighter Squadron historically was part of the 332nd Fighter Group, also known as "The Redtails" the famous all-black unit that fought both American prejudice and Nazi militarism....

Flying to Mexico with The Flying Samaritans - West Coast Adventures | A friend Mark that also has a Cessna 210 invited me to fly a mission for the Flying Samaritans, a group of doctors that run free clinics in Mexico.  The chapter closest to me, the Mother Lode Chapter, runs a clinic in San Quintin, about 1/3 of the way down the baja peninsula.  The first mission you fly has to be with a pilot that has done it before, so Mark...

Second Soyuz Launches from French Guiana  - Spaceports | Video: The second Soyuz ST from Kourou in French Guiana lifted off from Friday, Decemeber 16, 2011 with France's Pléiades 1 and the Chilean SSOT -- both of which are Earth observation satellites developed for....

Paul Allen to develop dream of space travel - Seattle Times | ...The energy requirements to get anything into space are so large that an average human will not be in a position to afford it, now or in the future. Even if the scheme can be successfully developed, it will appeal to those who can afford it and can exercise their right to exploit the opportunity. Their decision will not be...