Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
February 14, 1920 In the Republic of Colombia, the first flight at an airport serving the city of Cartagena took place. The pilot for this flight was Jourdanet Jacques René Bazin, who flew a plane named Cartagena in the skies above that Caribbean port city. There were two passengers aboard the plane for this pioneering... Continue Reading →
February 7, 1996 British Airways (BA) supersonic airliner Concorde G-BOAD took only two hours, 52 minutes, and 59 seconds to fly between the United States and England. “British Concorde Sets Atlantic Speed Mark,” announced a headline in the Tampa Bay Times a couple of days later. This trip continues to hold the record as the... Continue Reading →
February 2, 1954 A major milestone for Japan Air Lines took place with the nighttime departure of its Douglas DC-6B plane known as City of Tokyo from Tokyo International Airport, also known as Haneda Airport, for a pioneering flight to Oakland Airport (renamed Oakland International Airport a few years later) in California. Japan Air Lines... Continue Reading →
December 22, 1956 The first tourist flight to Antarctica took place. The plane used for this trailblazing airborne journey was a DC6B plane of Linea Aerea Nacional (LAN), which was the flag carrier of Chile at that time and is now known as LATAM Chile. United Press (since renamed United Press International) reported a few... Continue Reading →
December 12, 1918 Lieutenant Dagoberto Godoy of the Chilean Army completed a record-breaking flight when he piloted a monoplane over the Andes. In April of that year, Lieutenant Luis C. Candelaria of the Argentine Army had become the first person to fly a plane over that mountain range when he piloted a French-built Morane-Saulnier Parasol... Continue Reading →
November 23, 1942 The first flight of the experimental Vought V-173 aircraft took place. This plane, which became better known as the "Flying Pancake," was designed by pioneering aeronautical engineer Charles H. Zimmerman for Vought Aircraft Companies. The "Flying Pancake" turned out to be one of the most unorthodox types of aircraft ever created. This plane was... Continue Reading →
November 14, 1930 The first flight of the prototype of the H.P.42 biplane airliners took place in the skies above Radlett Aerodrome, an airfield located in Hertfordshire County in southern England. This four-engine, 40-passenger plane, which was designed and manufactured by the British aviation company Handley Page, would achieve renown for several years as one... Continue Reading →
June 17, 1928 Aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart was among those departing on a plane from Trepassey Harbor at Newfoundland for what would be a pioneering flight across the Atlantic Ocean. Wilmer Stultz was the pilot of that plane, a Fokker F.VIIb/3m aircraft known as the Friendship, and Lou Gordon was on board as the co-pilot... Continue Reading →
June 7, 2019 The first commercial flight of a newly established airline in Nigeria took place. Ibom Air is operated by the government of Akwa Ibom State in the country’s southeastern region. With the launch of Ibom Air, Akwa Ibom became the first of Nigeria’s 36 states to have its own airline. The plane used... Continue Reading →
May 6, 2006 After making its final flight, the Lockheed C-141C Starlifter strategic airlift plane best known as “Hanoi Taxi” touched down at 9:30 a.m. at Wright Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) in Ohio for a formal retirement ceremony there at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force (USAF). This plane, which was delivered... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 