First Flight and the Photograph
Today is perhaps the most important date in aviation history. It was 10:35 in the morning on December 17, 1903, when Orville Wright flew a powered aircraft on the sands near Kitty Hawk, North...
View ArticlePresidential Aviating
Presidents and flight had a quiet start in the summer of 1909, when Orville returned to Ft. Myer to complete the Army trials that ended abruptly with his crash in September of the previous year. The...
View ArticleRemembering a Doolittle Raider
Thomas Griffin died in late February - he was one of 80 American servicemen who flew a legendary mission in World War Two. They were known as Doolittle's Raiders. Griffin lived in Cincinnati and...
View ArticleThe Relationship Between Flight and Time
Aviation commentator Dan Patterson has a different kind of story this week, not about a famous date in history - but instead about the connection between flight and time. You can always spot a pilot,...
View ArticleThe Memphis Belle and the Aerial War
Seventy years ago this week American aviators were at war in Europe. In airplanes known as the B-17 Flying Fortress they were flying bombing missions over Germany. One of those planes, nicknamed “The...
View ArticleA Local Paratroop's D-Day Story
Tomorrow is the 6th of June. Sixty-nine years ago, the allied forces at war with Hitler’s Germany invaded northern France in what will always be known as D-Day. On that morning in 1944, when Ohioans...
View ArticleSpectacle and Heroism - the Colorful History of the Air Show
Earlier this summer, a pilot named Charlie Schwenker and a wing-walker named Jane Wicker were killed at the Vectren Air Show in Dayton, a tragedy in the midst of an event laden with history. Air Shows...
View ArticleFlight Jackets And The Look Of The Aviator
If you're going to fly an airplane, you've got to have the right look. An aviator's kit is not complete without the real deal flight jacket - plus the big watch, sunglasses, checklist charts and...
View Article70 Years Ago, A Crucial Time for the U.S. and Aerial Warfare
Seventy years ago, World War 2 was in full cry. American was in combat across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. In Europe, during 1943, the US Army Air Force was engaged against Hitler's Germany. The...
View ArticleLooking Back on the Early Days of Aerial War
2014 marks the one hundredth anniversary of the beginning of World War One. Millions of soldiers and untold numbers of civilians died on European battlefields during that conflict which was called...
View ArticleRemembering Pearl Harbor
History is broken down into the moments we remember about our own lives, like weddings and birthdays and graduations, and then there are days when we pause to remember together, as a nation, an event...
View ArticleRussian Aviators' Accidental 1937 Landing in Washington State
Russia has our attention now, with the Sochi Winter Olympics about to open on February 7th. This got our aviation commentator Dan Patterson thinking about the vast country and how it is connected by...
View ArticleThe P-51 Mustang: An Allied Advantage
Seventy years ago, the country was deep into World War Two, and the US was on the offensive in the air. Commentator Dan Patterson says that the big US four engine bombers were being shot down in...
View ArticleUshering In Modern Warfare With The Air War
A hundred years ago, the world was racing headlong into war in Europe. Aviation was a new and untried tool for military leaders, and it soon became a powerful weapon. In July of 1914, it had only been...
View ArticleThe History of Flying Hats
The most famous photograph in the world captures the moment manned flight began in 1903. Orville Wright is flying the plane, his brother Wilbur stands expectantly off to the side. It’s a windy day, and...
View ArticleLooking Back On A WWII Veteran's First Flight
November 11 marks Veterans Day, when the country honors all who served. Our aviation commentator Dan Patterson has some thoughts about one of the veterans in his family and her remembrances of flight.
View Article70 Years Ago, A Crucial Time for the U.S. and Aerial Warfare
Seventy years ago, World War 2 was in full cry. American was in combat across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. In Europe, during 1943, the US Army Air Force was engaged against Hitler's Germany. The...
View ArticleLooking Back on the Early Days of Aerial War
2014 marks the one hundredth anniversary of the beginning of World War One. Millions of soldiers and untold numbers of civilians died on European battlefields during that conflict which was called...
View ArticleRemembering Pearl Harbor
History is broken down into the moments we remember about our own lives, like weddings and birthdays and graduations, and then there are days when we pause to remember together, as a nation, an event...
View ArticleSupporting The Ground From The Air In WWII
Friday, May 8th is recognized as VE Day, which stands for Victory in Europe. 70 years ago, in the spring of 1945, American armies were streaming across Europe – the war was nearly over. Part of the...
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