Aviation History - Page 3

The 1930s was an important decade in aviation history. The rudimentary designs of the first few decades of airplanes gave way to more advanced designs that could fly further, carry more people, and were safer. What are the planes that best demonstrate these advances in technology? Read on to find out! The 1930s saw a

Barnstorming refers to an aerial display or exhibition performed by pilots flying small aircraft, typically biplanes. These exhibitions typically involved pilots performing stunts, such as wing walking, and giving airplane rides to public members for a fee to attract attention, leading to “stunt flying.” The word “barnstorming” comes from the phrase “to fly a barnstorm.”

Though around long before, the modern aviation industry was born in the so-called “Golden Age of Aviation” – the 20 or so year period during the 1920s and 1930s which saw rapid development of the aviation industry. The period saw unrivaled breakthroughs in aviation which revolutionized how people fly. It progressed from slow and wooden biplanes (an

While the Vietnam War is by far the conflict most closely associated with helicopter warfare in movies and media, much of the groundwork for that was laid during the Korean War, both in the helicopters that served and those that came afterward. The US Armed Forces began significantly investing in helicopters in the late 40s

Before the computer-aided, laser-guided smart bombs of today, quick-thinking and well-trained bombardiers had to use math to calculate their bomb drops. At the dawn of aviation, it was easy enough in slow-moving fabric-on-frame biplanes. But when the fast-moving high-altitude bombers of World War II came along, the challenge required new technology. Bombsights were devices that

Often “remembered” as a “Forgotten War,” the Korean War ushered in an unforgettable age of modern warfare, particularly in the form of jet-to-jet aerial combat. These jets that battled above Korea (and a couple that never did) defined the era. Though not technically the start of the jet age of aerial combat (technically a few

Airplanes can become famous for a number of reasons, including their design, their purpose, or their popularity, and it isn’t always easy to narrow the list of famous planes down to a manageable size because each plane is so unique. If you love airplanes and want to learn more about the planes considered famous for

As President, as in life, the right choice is often hard and hardly apparent. The answer is often more complex than first imagined and, to quote Obi-Wan, “depends greatly on our own point of view.” For example, what’s the answer to this Presidential quandary – who was the first President to fly? The answer: Roosevelt.

One of the periods where aviation took some massive leaps in development was WW1. European governments invested big budgets for developing airplanes that would come out on top. Military aviation soon transformed from observation balloons to the first fighter planes. Let’s take a look at how airplanes were used in WW1. World War I was