First reported missing aircraft: Hot air balloon Ville de Paris Pilot: Matias Perez, lost and presumed dead General location: Straits of Florida First missing airplane: December 22, 1910, Short S.27 Location: Somewhere over the English Channel Mission: Return to England Pilot: Cecil Grace; body recovered three months later Next three planes that disappeared: All Bleriot Model 11s  First military aircraft to go more »

It is a fascinating thing when we, especially in the aviation industry, attempt to improve upon performance and efficiency only to find that we are returning to old technology and ideas, some of which are nearly as old as aviation itself.  Let’s look at just three specific ideas, or technologies—two that are on the market more »

First flying car patent issued: 1918, Felix Longobardi, never developed First flying car built: Curtiss Autoplane, 1917 Designer: Glenn Curtiss Patent issued: 1919 Debut: Pan-American Aeronautic Exposition, NYC, February 1917 Flight: Reported to have made a few straight-ahead hops Style: Aluminum automobile body with detachable wings and tail Seats: 3 Engine: 100 hp Curtiss OXX (water-cooled V8) Propeller: 4-blade, rear-mounted Dimensions (flight mode): 27 ft. x 40 ft. more »

Average yearly cost of severe TS damage, U.S.: $10 billion Number of TS worldwide/year: 16 million Average number of TS in progress at any given time, worldwide: 2,000 Number of TS U.S./year: ~100,000 Most likely time of year: Spring/Summer Most likely time of day, Gulf Coast, Southeastern and Western States: Afternoon Most likely time of day, Plains States: Late afternoon/Night State with more »

First manmade aerial propellers: China, c. 500 BCE, child’s toy Leonardo da Vinci airscrew designs: c. 1480  First coaxial helicopter blade design: Mikhail Lomonosov, 1754 Year of first airborne propeller use: 1784 Aircraft it was used in: a balloon Means of power: hand-cranking Early experimenter with metal prop blades: Sir George Cayley, c. 1790 First practical aircraft propeller design: Wright Brothers Their discovery: the more »

First instrument flight: September 24, 1929 Site: Mitchel Field, Long Island, N.Y. Pilot: Lt. James Doolittle Plane: Consolidated N-2 (biplane similar to Stearman) Altitude data: Kollsman Altimeter Altimeter feature: Barometric setting (a first) Attitude data: Sperry Artificial Horizon Directional information: Sperry Directional Gyro Instrument approach equipment: Audible Localizer  Method of simulated IFR: Hood covered entire front-seat position Outside conditions: Clear, visibility unlimited Length of flight: 15 minutes more »

First successful flight of a seaplane-like craft (towed kite): 1905 First actual seaplane flight: 1910, the Hydravion First flying boat flight: 1912 First amphibian flight: 1913, Glenn Curtiss, Model D First large-scale production seaplane: Felixstowe F.5 (100 produced during WWI) Number of Curtiss NC-4s that in 1919 attempted the first Atlantic crossing: 4 Number that more »

Founder of EAA airshow: EAA Founder Paul Poberezny Location of first EAA airshow: Milwaukee Timmerman Field Name of umbrella airshow that year: Milwaukee Air Pageant Number of airplanes, 1953: Around 40 (EAA says it was a “handful” of mostly homebuilt or modified models) Number of airshow attendees: Approximately 150 Year of first EAA airshow: 1953 more »

Year “Cub” name first used: 1930 Manufacturer: Taylor Aircraft Location of factory: Harri-Emery Field, Bradford, Pennsylvania Designation of first Cub: Taylor E-2 Cub First Taylor E-2 engine: Brownbach Tiger Kitten What young tiger offspring (kittens) are called: Cubs Animal featured in Cub logo: Bear Horsepower of Brownbach Tiger Kitten: 20 Length of cinder runway at more »

Population of the United States in 1903: 80.6 million Total number of pilots in 1903: 1 Percentage of population: 0.00000001 Population of the United States in 1929: 121.8 million Total number of pilots in the United States in 1929: 9,215 Percentage of population: 0.000075 Population of the United States in 1975: 216 million Number of more »

I’d walk in the front door of my grandparents’ house with butterflies in my stomach and laughter held tight in the back of my throat, because I knew my Uncle Tom was waiting. My uncle was a professional wrestling fan, and his favorite wrestler at the moment was “The Claw” (aka Baron von Raschke). He’d more »