Mysteries Of Flight: Who Was Really First To Fly?
The Backstory
The popular story of who flew first is easy. It was the Wright Brothers, at Kill Devil Hills …
More Pilot Talk
Want more pilot stories? Our More Pilot Talk section is full of informative and entertaining flying tales from accomplished pilot authors.
Plane Facts: Women In Aviation
First woman to receive a pilot’s license, worldwide: Raymonde de Laroche, March 8, 1910 (France)
Other aviation accomplishments: women …
Other aviation accomplishments: women …
Mysteries Of Flight: What Makes Airplanes Fly?
The Myth
While flying is something that creatures other than people have been doing for millions of years, we’ve …
While flying is something that creatures other than people have been doing for millions of years, we’ve …
Plane Facts: Airplane Names
Nickname of first plane capable of flight: Flyer
Nickname of first successful seaplane: Hydravion
Three planes with unofficial nickname of …
Nickname of first successful seaplane: Hydravion
Three planes with unofficial nickname of …
Missing In Alaska
With the recent introduction of a podcast, Missing In Alaska, about the 1972 disappearance of a Cessna 310 twin-engine …
Above The Clouds
One sunny January morning, arriving for a Ninety-Nines meeting at the Norwood Memorial Airport (KOWD), I was greeted by …
Plane Facts: Very Light Jets
Year that the term VLJ became widely used: Around 2000
Widely accepted definition of VLJ: Sub-10,000 pounds, single …
Widely accepted definition of VLJ: Sub-10,000 pounds, single …
Plane Facts: Aviation Training
First military flight training: 1908, Fort Myer, Maryland
First students: Lieutenants Frank Lahm and Frederic Humphreys
First trainer aircraft: Signal …
First students: Lieutenants Frank Lahm and Frederic Humphreys
First trainer aircraft: Signal …
Plane Facts: Fuel
Most commonly used aviation gasoline for piston engines: 100LL
Dye used in 100LL: 1,4-dialkylaminoanthraquinone (also called C.I …
Dye used in 100LL: 1,4-dialkylaminoanthraquinone (also called C.I …
Plane Facts: Disappearances
First reported missing aircraft: Hot air balloon Ville de Paris
Pilot: Matias Perez, lost and presumed dead
General location: Straits …
Pilot: Matias Perez, lost and presumed dead
General location: Straits …
