This Day in Aviation History: Reporting a UFO Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com, Craig Lindsay / Sheffield Hallam University When I was kid in the 1960’s, flying saucers or Unidentified Flying Objects (UFO’s) were all the rage. Did the Twilight Zone and Outer Limits on TV exacerbate our fears and therefore our sightings? We tossed…
This Week in Aviation History-9-11 Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: Microsoft Copilot AI, Reuters, American Legion, National September 11th Memorial and Museum The 24th anniversary of 9-11 came and went this past Thursday and it’s worth the time and effort to review it one more time, this time from a mostly aviation perspective with no…
This Week in Aviation History: Zeppelins Attack London Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com, hellfirecorner.co.uk, YouTube When I was a kid there was a “Boy Scouts-like” and church-based boys’ club called the “Christian Service Brigade” (CSB). We met at our church in Eastlake, Ohio, had uniforms and badges like the Boy Scouts, had camp-outs and…
This Month in Aviation History: The Last WWII ACE Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: Military Times and US Navy https://www.militarytimes.com/veterans/military-history/2025/08/22/world-war-iis-last-american-ace-dies-at-103/ We missed an aviation milestone a couple of weeks ago with the death on August 14, 2025 of a man believed to be the last surviving American ACE of WWII: Don McPherson. He was 103 years…
This Day in Aviation History: Laboring in Aviation Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: Good Fellows Foundation, Creative Commons My wife, Arlene, and I have been reminiscing about our first jobs today, Labor Day. How about your first jobs? Mine was washing dishes and pots and pans at a local “greasy spoon” restaurant, named “Paul’s and…
63 Years Ago Today: Mariner 2 Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: Space.com/Smithsonian Institution Where were you on this date 63 years ago in 1962? Some of you were only a “twinkle in your old man’s eye”, if that, and not yet breathing. I was a 7-year-old boy looking forlornly the end of summer vacation and…
Today in Aviation History: 1978 and The First Balloon to Cross the Atlantic Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com and the Bettmann Archive Balloon crosses the Atlantic Courtesy of the Bettmann Archive Good Sunday afternoon fellow ECAHF’ers. When we were kids (or had a similar experience with our own kids), it was a real disappointment…
Solar Powered Aircraft Here We Come! But only if CAVU. Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: CBS News, Getty Images Pilot breaks altitude record for solar-powered plane, crossing paths with commercial airliner, his team says August 14, 2025 / 11:00 AM EDT / CBS/AFP Downloaded on August 15, 2025 from: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pilot-altitude-record-solar-powered-plane-raphael-domjan-solarstratos/?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us No instrument flight (at least…