19 May 1976: A Strategic Air Command Boeing B-52D Stratofortress eight-engine bomber took off from Carswell Air Force Base, Fort Worth, Texas on a training flight. As the airplane’s landing gear was retracting, the hydraulic system failed leaving the right front gear with its 2-wheel bogie partially retracted and unlocked. The hydraulic system failure also disabled the […] The pos…
20 May 1927, 7:52 a.m.: In his effort to advance the Art and Science of Aviation, to win the $25,000 Orteig Prize, to fly from New York to Paris, 25-year-old aviator Charles A. Lindbergh is ready to take off from Roosevelt Field, Long Island, New York and to head north-eastward over the Atlantic Ocean on his solo, record-breaking flight […] The post 20 May 1927 appeared first on This Day…
20 May 1932: At 7:12 p.m., local, aviatrix Amelia Earhart departed Harbor Grace, Newfoundland, on a solo transoceanic flight. Her airplane was a modified single-engine Lockheed Vega 5b, registration NR7952. Her plan was to fly all the way to Paris, but after her altimeter had failed, encountering adverse weather, including heavy icing and fog, a […] The post 20–21 May 1932 appeared first…
After her Lockheed Electra 10E, NR16020, was repaired following a takeoff accident at Wheeler Field, Oahu, Amelia Earhart repositioned it to Oakland Airport to begin the second attempt to fly around the world. Because of changing world weather patterns since their earlier attempt in March, this time their route will be eastward. On 20 May […] The post 20 May 1937 appeared first on This D…
20 May 1941: North American Aviation test pilot Robert C. Chilton takes the first XP-51 for its maiden flight. The fourth production Mustang Mk.I for the R.A.F., AG348, it was reassigned to the U.S. Army Air Force as XP-51 serial number 41-038 and sent to Wright Field for evaluation. Later it was extensively tested by NACA at Langley Field, […] The post 20 May 1941 appeared first on This…
20 May 1967: Colonel Robin Olds, USAF, commanding officer of the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing based at Ubon Rachitani Royal Thai Air Force Base, and Weapons System Officer 1st Lieutenant Stephen B. Croker, destroyed two Vietnam People’s Air Force MiG-17 fighters with AIM-7 Sparrow radar-guided and AIM-9 Sidewinder heat-seeking air-to-air missiles while flying McDonnell F-4C-24-MC Phantom II,…
20 May 1969: The Apollo 11 Saturn V SA-506 “stack” was rolled out of the Vehicle Assembly Building aboard a Mobile Launch Platform, carried by a Crawler-Transporter and moved to Launch Complex 39A. The rocket would be launched for the Moon at 13:32:00 UTC, 16 July 1969. The Saturn V rocket was a three-stage, liquid-fueled heavy launch […] The post 20 May 1969 appeared first o…
16 May 1977: At approximately 5:32 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, New York Airways Flight 971, a Sikorsky S-61L helicopter, landed at the Pan Am Building rooftop heliport (JPB) in New York City. Flight 971 had originated at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and carried 20 passengers and a crew of three. The helipad was […] The post 16 May 1977 appeared first on This Day in Aviation.
The Hangar
The Hangar