Plane Facts: The Oldest Everything in Aviation
Cool and interesting facts about old planes, airports, and more.
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In many walks of life, the word "old" can mean really old, like prehistorically so. In terms of aviation, this is limited to the last hundred years and change, unless you dig a little deeper, which, of course we did. We also came to realize that in general, something or someone being old, when when it comes to aviation, isn't usually that good a thing. Old engine? Usually bad. Old pilots? Well, we have our challenges. Old avionics? Obsolete! Still, as young as aviation is and as diverse the subjects that get filed under "flying" are, there is no shortage of really cool and really old stuff to talk about.
Oldest flyable aircraft: Two Blériot XIs
Year built: 1909
Located at: The Shuttleworth Collection (UK) and the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome (U.S.)
Oldest person to get a pilot's license: Lt. Col. (ret.) James Collins Warren
Age at which he received his pilot's license: 87 6. History: Former navigator with the Tuskegee Airmen
Oldest active pilot in the United States: Ernest Eli Smith, Red Oak, Iowa. 100 years young.
Year Ernie soloed: 1943
Year that he got his ticket: 1946 (after the war)
Oldest continuously operating airport in the United States (and the world): College Park, Maryland
Opened: 1909
College Park's first flight instructor: Wilbur Wright
Longest continuously produced civilian aircraft: Beechcraft Bonanza
First flight: 1945
Canada's longest continuously operated airport: Edmonton/Cooking Lake Airport
First opened: 1926
Canada's oldest seaplane base: Also Edmonton/Cooking Lake Airport
Longest continuously produced U.S. military plane: Lockheed C-130
First flight: 1954
Longest continuously operated U.S. military plane: Boeing B-52
First flight: 1952
Number built: 744
Last year in production: 1962
Longest helicopter in production: Vertol/Boeing CH-47 Chinook
Production run: 1962-present
Number built: More than 1,200
World's oldest known A&P mechanic: Azriel Blackman, American Airlines, 92 years old
First year on the job: 1942 (16 years old)
Oldest commercial airport: Flughafen Hamburg (Hamburg, Germany)
Opened: 1911
Oldest active pilot ever recorded (2007): Cole Kugel, Longmont, Colorado
Age at time of last flight: 105 years old
Oldest air traffic control tower, world-wide: Croydon Airport, London
Opened: 1920
Oldest air traffic control tower, U.S.: Cleveland-Hopkins International Airport (originally called Cleveland Municipal Airport), Cleveland, Ohio
Year tower opened: 1930
Oldest commercial airliner still in production: Boeing 737, 1968-present.
Longest-produced turbine civil aircraft: Beechcraft King Air
Production: 1964-present
Oldest aircraft manufacturer: Short Brothers, Belfast, Northern Ireland, 1908-present
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