On 3rd November 1957, another milestone in space exploration was achieved. On that very day, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 2, the first spacecraft to carry an animal into the Earth´s orbit – a space […]
On 5th April 1948, a British Vickers VC.1B Viking airliner and a Soviet Air Force Yakovlev Yak-3 fighter aircraft collided in mid-air in the airspace above Berlin, near RAF Gatow station. Historical background of the […]
On 29th March 1990, prototype of new Soviet turboprop airliner, Ilyushin Il-114, performed its maiden flight at Zhukovsky airfield. In the early 1980s, several airlines in the world were looking for a new, comfortable and […]
On 22nd March 1989, Antonov An-225 Mriya performed a test-flight with 156,3 tons of cargo on board. During the flight that lasted 3 hours and 45 minutes, the aeroplane set 110 aviation records in speed, […]
Sukhoi Su-7BM (c/n 5516, formerly ´5516´ of the Czechoslovak Air Force), static display at open doors event at 21st Tactical Air Base, Čáslav, May 2023. On 14th May 1953, Pavel Sukhoi was appointed the Chief […]
On 16th June 1963, Vostok 6 spacecraft was launched from Baikonur cosmodrome, with just one cosmonaut on board – Valentina Tereshkova, who became the first woman in space. Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova was born in 1937, […]
On 14th April 1958, the Sputnik 2 – the second spacecraft that was launched into the orbit – re-entered the Earth´s atmosphere after spending 162 days in space and encircling our planet 2570 times. The […]
On 8th April 1950, four Lavochkin La-11 fighters intercepted a US Navy aircraft, performing signal intelligence (SIGNIT) mission off the Soviet coast of the Baltic Sea. That aircraft, a Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer, was shot down […]
Ilyushin Il-18B (c/n 189001604, OK-NAA, formerly operated by Československé aerolinie), exhibited at Letecké muzeum Kbely (Kbely aviation museum), Prague, September 2021. In the mid-1950s, the piston-powered passenger aircraft were being slowly replaced by faster and […]
Sukhoi Su-31 (reg. LY-LJK, c/n 35125) and Jurgis Kairys at the controls, getting ready for departure, Lotnicza Majówka Iława, May 2019, Poland. A brief history of that ´aerobatic beast´ – which Su-31 undoubtedly is – […]
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