PHOTO OF THE WEEK
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AVIATION HISTORY
5 September 1934 – Wiley Post becomes the first to use pressure suit
On 5th September 1934, the American aviator Wiley Post became the first person to fly in pressure suit, reaching an altitude of 12,000 metres (40,000 feet) over Chicago. Wiley Hardeman Post, born on 22nd November […]
SHORT AVIATION STORIES
Sophie Blanchard
On 18 August 1805, Sophie Blanchard became the first woman in aviation history to pilot an aircraft solo when she successfully completed a balloon flight from Toulouse, France. Marie Madeleine Sophie Blanchard (née Armandt) was […]
SHORT AVIATION STORIES
The world’s first military aeroplane
OOn 2 August 1909, the US Army Signal Corps received the first Wright Military Flyer. Officially designated Signal Corps No. 1 and commonly known as Aeroplane No. 1, it became the world’s first military aeroplane. […]
SPACE
25 billion kilometres from Earth and counting – Voyager 1
At the moment we publish this article, the Voyager 1 space probe is approaching another milestone in space exploration – the distance of 25 billion kilometres (15.534 billion miles / 167.115 Astronomical Units) from Earth. […]
SHORT AVIATION STORIES
Birth of the naval aviation
The origins of Austro-Hungarian naval aviation can be traced back to 1910, when the naval department of k.u.k. Kriegsministerium (the Imperial and Royal Ministry of War) began to consider the military potential of aircraft. By […]
SHORT AVIATION STORIES
Jean-Pierre Blanchard
Jean-Pierre Blanchard, a French inventor, aviation pioneer and the world’s first professional balloon pilot, was born on 4 July 1753, in Les Andelys, France. From an early age, Blanchard displayed remarkable mechanical talent and a […]
SHORT AVIATION STORIES
Jacob Ellehammer
Jacob Christian Hansen-Ellehammer was born in 1871, in Bakkebølle, Denmark. He trained as a watchmaker, then served with the Royal Danish Navy before moving to Copenhagen, where he worked as a mechanic. In 1898, he […]
DREAMERS AND DOERS
Stanisław Skarżyński
Stanisław Skarżyński was one of the most remarkable aviation pioneers of the interwar period, best known for his record-breaking solo flight across the Atlantic in 1933. Although he had already gained recognition through long-distance flights […]
SHORT AVIATION STORIES
Transatlantic flights
The idea of crossing the Atlantic by air dates back to the era of ballooning. In the late 1850s, John Wise attempted to build a balloon capable of such a journey, but his project ended […]