Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
Robbie Hood, a member of the Cherokee Nation, has made notable flight-oriented contributions as an atmospheric scientist. She is a direct descendant of John Ross (1790-1866), whose tenure as principal chief of the Cherokee Nation from 1828 to 1866 was the longest of anyone serving in that role. Ross achieved lasting prominence for his pivotal... Continue Reading →
November 7, 1924 The world airspeed record for seaplanes was decisively broken in the skies above southeastern Virginia. The pilot for this flight was Lieutenant Victor E. Bertrandias of the U.S. Army Air Service (USAAS). He was accompanied by USAAS Lieutenant George C. McDonald. Their flight began at 10:45 a.m. and it entailed traveling a... Continue Reading →
Richard Francis "Dick" Gordon Jr., who made notable contributions as both a U.S. Navy aviator and NASA astronaut, died at his home in the city of San Marcos, California. He was 88. Gordon had been born in Seattle on October 5, 1929. After graduating from the University of Washington in 1951 with a B.S. in... Continue Reading →
October 29, 1960 In Peru, Lima International Airport in the seaside city and constitutional province of Callao made its public debut. This airport, which is about 6.8 miles (11 kilometers) northwest of the historic district of the country's capital city of Lima, was officially opened a little over four months after its first international flight... Continue Reading →
October 28, 1967 An airport in the town and locality of Chinchilla in the Australian state of Queensland was officially opened. The inaugural duties for the occasion were performed by Reginald Swartz (1911-2006), who was Australia’s minister for civil aviation from 1966 to 1969. This ceremony took place two days after the first aircraft had... Continue Reading →
Olga D. González-Sanabria, who made notable professional contributions during more than three decades of service at NASA, was born in southeastern Puerto Rico’s town and municipality of Patillas. She graduated from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez with a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering. González-Sanabria went to pursue her graduate studies at... Continue Reading →
Luis Ramón de Florez, who earned renown as a U.S. Navy aviator and officer, was born in New York City on March 4, 1889. His father Raphael V. de Florez was Spanish and his mother Marie Stephanie (Bernard) de Florez was French. Luis Ramón de Florez attended preparatory schools in both Paris, France, and the... Continue Reading →
Trailblazing airline pilot Linda Pauwels was born Linda Pfeiffer in San Pedro, a city in Argentina’s Province of Buenos Aires, in 1963. She was the daughter of Mabel Gaspard Pfeiffer, a native Argentinian who worked as a schoolteacher; and Jerzy “Jorge” Pfeiffer, a Polish-born naturalized Argentine citizen. Pauwels was only six years old when her... Continue Reading →
September 16, 1946 In the aftermath of World War II, the airline Aerolinee Italiane Internazionali was formally instituted in Rome. “British European Airways and the Italian Institute for Industrial Reconstruction signed an agreement today establishing a new British-Italian airline to be called the ‘Italian International Airlines,’” reported the Associated Press. “At the start the line... Continue Reading →
August 12, 1971 Walter Owen “W.O.” Bentley, who achieved renown for the automobiles that he designed and built, died in a nursing home in northwestern England’s town and borough of Woking. He was 83. Bentley was born on September 16, 1888, in the Hampstead area of London. He attended Clifton College in Bristol from 1902... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 