Afterburner - The Aviation Magazine

8 August 2025

AVIATION HISTORY

8 August 1934 – the first transatlantic flight from mainland Canada

On 8ᵗʰ August 1934, James R. Ayling and Leonard G. Reid flew from Wasaga Beach in Ontario, Canada, to Heston Airfield, in the vicinity of London. It was the first non-stop flight between mainland Canada and England, as well as [...]
OTHER

Charlie 33 at the Bordeaux pélicandrome

At the beginning of August 2025, Armée de l’Air et de l’Espace (the French Air and Space Force) announced the latest addition to the firefighting fleet at Bordeaux-Mérignac Air Base (base aérienne 106 – BA 106): a Eurocopter AS350 Écureuil [...]
PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Swift S-1

Swift S-1 (c/n 124, D-6081), flying display at Den ve vzduchu 2025 air show, Plasy, April 2025. The post-war history of Polish aerobatic gliders began with the IS-4 Jastrząb (English: hawk), developed in 1949 by the then Instytut Szybownictwa (Gliding [...]
SPACE

Boeing X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle set for its eighth mission

Last week, Boeing announced that its X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV) is being prepared for its eighth space mission, OTV-8. The vehicle is scheduled to launch from Florida’s Space Coast no earlier than 21st August 2025. As stated by the [...]
AVIATION HISTORY

1 August 1977 – death of Francis Gary Powers

On 1st August 1977, Francis Gary Powers, one of the best-known American pilots of the Cold War era, died in a helicopter crash. Powers was born on 17th August 1929, in Jenkins, Kentucky. Reportedly, he had been interested in aviation [...]

P-2 Neptune – from a private venture to the ruler of the Cold War seas

AVIATION HISTORY

23 July 2025

On 6th December 1941, just a day before the attack on Pearl Harbor, Vega Aircraft Corporation launched development of a new, land-based patrol aircraft. Initially, the project started as private venture of the company and [...]

Operation K – the longest bomb raid at the time

AVIATION HISTORY

26 May 2025

Between 3rd and 5th March 1942, the naval aviation of the Japanese Imperial Navy performed the long-range bomb raid on Oahu Island, commonly known as the second attack on Pearl Harbor. Officially codenamed Kē-Sakusen (K作戦 [...]

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