History & Legends, Military Aviation
Quick FactsNationalityFrench 🇫🇷Aerial Victories18 (shot down aircraft of 4 different nations)Aircraft FlownMorane-Saulnier 406, Dewoitine D.520WarsWWII (France, Syria, North Africa)Born / Died27 Jul 1913 – 11 Sep 1943 (age 30)UnitGC III/6 Morane D-3801 J-143 — via...
Aviation World, History & Legends
In 1921, no flight school in the United States would take her. Not because she lacked ability — she hadn’t been given the chance to prove it. They turned her away because she was Black, and because she was a woman. So Bessie Coleman learned French, saved her...
History & Legends, Military Aviation
Quick FactsNationalitySouth African/British 🇿🇦🇬🇧Aerial Victories50+ (possibly the highest Commonwealth ace)Aircraft FlownGloster Gladiator, Hawker HurricaneWarsWorld War II (North Africa, Greece)Born / Died3 Jul 1914 – 20 Apr 1941 (age 26)UnitNo. 80 Sqn RAF 33...
History & Legends, Military Aviation
He painted his aeroplane red so the enemy would know exactly who was coming. By the time Manfred von Richthofen fell from the sky on 21 April 1918, he had destroyed 80 enemy aircraft — a record that stood as the highest confirmed tally of any fighter pilot in the...
History & Legends, Military Aviation
Quick FactsNationalityBritish 🇬🇧Aerial Victories38 (highest confirmed British ace of WWII)Aircraft FlownSpitfire Mk.II through Mk.XIVWarsWorld War IIBorn / Died9 Mar 1915 – 30 Jan 2001 (age 85)Unit616 Sqn RAF, No. 144 Wing RCAF Supermarine Spitfire Mk. IX in the Air...
Aviation World, History & Legends
On the morning of October 19, 1901, a small, open gondola suspended beneath a cigar-shaped hydrogen balloon rounded the Eiffel Tower at low altitude, straightened out over the Seine, and docked at the Saint-Cloud aerodrome in a time of 29 minutes and 30 seconds. The...
History & Legends, Military Aviation
Quick FactsNationalityAmerican 🇺🇸Aerial Victories34.5 (WWII) + 6.5 (Korea) = 41 totalAircraft FlownP-47 Thunderbolt, F-86 SabreWarsWorld War II (Europe), Korean WarBorn / Died28 Jan 1919 – 31 Jan 2002 (age 83)Unit56th Fighter Group (WWII), 51st Fighter Interceptor...
Aviation World, History & Legends
On July 26, 2016, a strange, slow, silent aircraft landed at Abu Dhabi International Airport, completing a journey that had begun 16 months earlier at the same airfield. Solar Impulse 2 had just circumnavigated the Earth — crossing Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North...
History & Legends, Military Aviation
Quick FactsNationalityAmerican 🇺🇸Aerial Victories40 (US all-time record)Aircraft FlownP-38 LightningWarsWorld War II (Pacific)Born / Died24 Sep 1920 – 6 Aug 1945 (age 24)Unit9th Fighter Squadron, 49th Fighter Group, 5th Air Force Lockheed P-38 Lightning –...
Aviation World, History & Legends
On October 4, 2004 — the 47th anniversary of Sputnik — a small, white aircraft climbed to 112 kilometres above the Mojave Desert, briefly reached space, and returned safely to Earth. It was the third such flight in five days. The pilot was different each time but the...
History & Legends, Military Aviation
Quick FactsNationalitySoviet 🇷🇺Aerial Victories11 (aerial victories + ground)Aircraft FlownYak-1, LaGG-3WarsWorld War IIBorn / Died7 Jul 1916 – 19 Jul 1943 (age 27)Unit586th Fighter Aviation Regiment, 73rd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment...
Aviation World, History & Legends
On December 14, 1986, a strange-looking aircraft — long, thin, with two fuselages, a pusher engine, a puller engine, and wings so flexible they bent visibly under their own weight — rolled down a runway at Edwards Air Force Base in California and lifted off. It was...
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