When, in April 1978, the Saur Revolution (also known as the April Revolution or April Coup) ended the rule of Mohammed Daoud Khan as President of Afghanistan, few expected that it would soon develop into […]
On 9 December 1988, the light multirole fighter JAS 39, developed by the Swedish aerospace company Saab AB, performed its maiden flight. The aeroplane was flown by Stig Holmström, a company test pilot. Yet in […]
On 6 December 1944, the new German single-engine jet fighter, the Heinkel He 162, made its maiden flight. The aircraft was developed under Jägernotprogramm (Emergency Fighter Programme), issued by Reichsluftfahrtministerium (Ministry of Aviation) on 3 […]
The Handley Page Halifax was a heavy bomber with twin vertical stabilisers, developed in response to Specification P.13/36 issued by the British Air Ministry in 1936. This document outlined the need for a medium-sized, high-performance […]
Aviation légère de l’armée de Terre (ALAT – the French Army Light Aviation) was formed on 22 November 1954 and assigned the tasks of providing observation, reconnaissance, assault and supply support for the Armée de […]
Convair B-58 Hustler was the first operational bomber in the world capable of Mach 2 maximum speed. Development and construction of two prototypes was performed in accordance with the highest security standards. Neither the shape […]
Tupolev Tu-114 was the Soviet long-haul passenger airliner, developed in the late 1950s. In August of 1955, in response to market demand, Совет министров СССР (the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union) issued a […]
The Farman brothers were British–French aviation pioneers and aircraft manufacturers. Richard Farman (né Tom Dickie Mudford Farman) was the eldest son of a British newspaper correspondent based in Paris, France, and was born in 1872. […]
On 20 October 1956, the Bell Model 204 (military designation XH-40), a prototype of a new US Army helicopter that would later become known as the UH-1 Iroquois, made its maiden flight. Approximately three years […]
On 14 October 1964, the YCH-53A, a prototype heavy-lift cargo helicopter which would later become known as the Sikorsky CH-53 Sea Stallion, made its maiden flight. The new rotorcraft owed its origins to the United […]
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