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…
Paper as a Weapon: Bombing with Leaflets Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com, USAF Photo of American USAAF soldier loading leaflets in bomb, circa 1944. Courtesy USAF. We typically don’t consider paper as a weapon, but it has been used as a weapon in many cases during war and aviation has been a major transporter…
This Day in Aviation History: First American Walks in Space Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com and NASA Courtesy NASA. According to History.com and downloaded today from https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/june-3/an-american-walks-in-space, “On June 3, 1965, 120 miles above the Earth, Major Edward H. White II opened the hatch of the Gemini 4 and stepped out of the capsule,…
This Day in Aviation History: Star Wars Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com “Star Wars” Opens in Theaters Image credit: Disney Studios Who amongst we 70-somethings (even those of us far younger) don’t remember the opening day of the highly-hyped first-of-a-series movies that included galactic battle cruisers and epic aerial (in space) dog fighting battles? …
A May 21st Aviation Heritage Vignette Twofer Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com, Getty Images, W.C. Persons from Charles Lindbergh’s book The Spirit of St. Louis. While I may have covered in the past these two aviation history events tied together by only five years of separation, they’re worth mentioning every year on this day…
Today in Aviation History: Skylab Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com, NASA, Pinterest Only ten years prior to Skylab’s launch in 1973, we 10-year-olds were dreaming in 1963 of space and space stations, even playing with them in toy form like the one pictured below. It is the imaginations of kids that lead to innovations…