On This Day in Aviation History: A Precursor to 9-11? Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com and Bettman archive In 1945 the Empire State Building in New York City was the tallest building in the world. We were told as kids that if you dropped a penny from the observation deck on the 86th floor,…
A July 2025 “This month in aviation history”: Quiet Supersonic Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: Space.com and NASA When I was a kid growing up in the 50’s and 60’s, the North American “X-15” was the “plane du jour” for kids dreaming of becoming pilots…or better yet, astronauts. Pilots of the X-15 earned their astronaut…
The First Spacewalk by a Woman Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: www.space.com, TASS/Getty Images On this day in space! July 25, 1984: First spacewalk by a woman Downloaded July 25, 2025 from: https://www.space.com/39251-on-this-day-in-space.html?utm_term=80CFE072-3D22-4ED3-B366-38D5778C5AB2&lrh=979456b06da101021af8477d820fe42a8b8fac61060c8f48a99307e6facca454&utm_campaign=58E4DE65-C57F-4CD3-9A5A-609994E2C5A9&utm_medium=email&utm_content=87EBF5C8-7B28-4810-B182-4DF63BCF324E&utm_source=SmartBrief By Hanneke Weitering On July 25, 1984, the Russian cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya became the first woman to embark on a spacewalk, also…
First Cape Canaveral Launch Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: Space.com, NASA. On this day in space! July 24, 1950: First launch from Cape Canaveral By Hanneke Weitering Downloaded today from: https://www.space.com/39251-on-this-day-in-space.html?utm_term=80CFE072-3D22-4ED3-B366-38D5778C5AB2&lrh=979456b06da101021af8477d820fe42a8b8fac61060c8f48a99307e6facca454&utm_campaign=58E4DE65-C57F-4CD3-9A5A-609994E2C5A9&utm_medium=email&utm_content=AC8B93AD-2AA3-4D07-9BD0-912487D7BCB4&utm_source=SmartBrief Here’s another of those “firsts” we’ve written about from time-to-time over the years of these aviation history vignettes being published. And this one was a…
An Aviation History Fourfer Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com, ESPN, San Diego Air and Space Museum, Jay Nemeth/Red Bull In honor of the 95 degrees we’re experiencing in the Sandhills, welcome to a sizzling “hot” mid-July aviation history “fourfer” (fourfer the price of one) starting with today, July 20th, remembering the anniversary of first…
Aviation and Music Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com, Wikipedia, MGM, YouTube When we were kids in the 1960’s, we’d run next door from our grandmother Mary’s home in Bedford, Ohio at 20 Harrison Street (Mary was my dad’s mom) to Mary’s sister’s home, to visit our great aunt Luella who lived catacorner to her…
Yesterday in Aviation History: The Ryan FR-1 Fireball Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: Today in Aviation History, US Navy, Wikipedia First Flight of the Ryan FR-1 Fireball Story by Austin Hancock An FR-1 launching from the escort carrier Badoeng Strait, 1947. Note the jet engine exhaust in the tail, just under the horizontal stabilizer. U.S. Navy…
On This Day in Aviation History: The Battle of The Philippine Sea Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com, US Navy, National Archives, US Navy History and Heritage Command In Battle of the Philippine Sea, U.S. cripples Japanese naval air power on this day in aviation history. HISTORY.com Editors According to History.com and downloaded today from…