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Air Force test pilot Captain Charles Elwood "Chuck" Yeager flew the Bell XS-1 through “the sound barrier,” something many experts had believed might not be possible. His maximum speed during this flight was Mach 1.06 (699.4 miles per hour/1,125.7 kilometers per hour). Read more at This Day in Read More...

Lieutenant David Rittenhouse with Curtiss CR-3 A-6081, 1923. (National Air and Space Museum) Lieutenant David Rittenhouse, United States Navy, won the 1923 Coupe d’Aviation Maritime Jacques Schneider (the Schneider Cup) race, held at Cowes, England. Lieutenant Schneider’s aircraft was a Curtiss Read More...

On 24 September 1929, Lieutenant James H. Doolittle, U.S. Army Air Corps, made the first completely blind airplane takeoff flight and landing, solely by reference to instruments on board his aircraft. Flying from the rear cockpit of a NY-2 Husky manufactured by Consolidated Aircraft in Buffalo, NY, Read More...

On Thursday, September 13th, 2018, Dr. James Hansen spoke to an enthusiastic group as he presented “Apollo 11: The Most Dangerous Mission in History?” Dr. Hansen is the author of the book, First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong. This event was sponsored by AIAA.  The event was the first in a Read More...

On 7 September 1956 at Edwards Air Force Base, California, test pilot Captain Iven Carl Kincheloe, Jr., U.S. Air Force, flew the Bell X-2 rocketplane, serial number 46-674, to a speed of Mach 1.7 and an altitude of 126,200 feet (38,465 meters). He was the first pilot to fly above 100,000 feet Read More...

August 28th, 2018, is the 110th anniversary of the U.S. Military accepting its first powered aircraft, Baldwin Dirigible SC-1, for Signal Corps #1. It was made in Hammondsport, NY, by the Baldwin Airship Company, and powered by a 20 hp Curtiss engine made in Hammondsport as well. The acceptance Read More...