All posts in 'Pilots & Everyone Else'

George Hickman Jr. dies, original Tuskegee airman

Posted on August 27th, 2012 · Posted in Pilots & Everyone Else

George Hickman Jr., one of the original Tuskegee airmen and a longtime usher at University of Washington and Seattle Seahawks games, died Sunday in Seattle. He was 88. Hickman was one of the country’s first black military pilots and ground crew members who fought in World War II. In 2007,..
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Joe Engle Recalls the Legacy of the X-15 Rocket Plane

Posted on August 26th, 2012 · Posted in Pilots & Everyone Else

By Jay Levine, NASA Dryden Flight Research Center On the eve of one of NASA’s major space science milestones – the landing of its Mars Science Lab Curiosity rover on the red planet – retired Air Force test pilot and NASA astronaut Maj. Gen. Joe H. Engle recalled several earlier..
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Michael Welchman, WW2 Tactical Reconnaissance Pilot SAAF

Posted on August 25th, 2012 · Posted in Pilots & Everyone Else

  Michael joined the SAAF in 1940 while he was a second year medical student at Wits university. After he qualified as a SAAF pilot he was demobilized and sent back to Wits but he persuaded the SAAF command to be re-enlisted. He was sent to North Africa in Sept..
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B-17 pilot finally lands his medal from WWII

Posted on August 25th, 2012 · Posted in Aviation News, Pilots & Everyone Else

Article By Sig Christenson, San Antonio Express-News Second Lt. Samuel Smith knew what he was up against when his B-17 bomber group got orders to strike a German base that was home to 16 of the war’s newest planes, the Messerschmitt Me-262 — the first jet-powered aircraft to be used..
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GOLDEN AGE OF FLIGHT TEST, X-Planes at Edwards AFB, 1947-1977, Painting by Mike Machat

Mike Machat, Your ‘Go-To’ Source for Aviation Art & Information

Posted on August 21st, 2012 · Posted in Pilots & Everyone Else, Wings & Airpower Articles

Artist, author, and historian Mike Machat is a well-known American aviation personality who has dedicated his career to the preservation and documentation of aviation history. If it’s about airplanes, Mike can illustrate it, write about it, or talk about it. His extraordinary archival resources and aviation experience allow him to..
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WWII Spitfire pilot takes controls 70 years later

Posted on August 20th, 2012 · Posted in Aviation News, Pilots & Everyone Else

He survived the daily dangers of being a pilot in the Second World War and even risked his life on a clandestine operation in the Soviet Union. Now aged 91, and seven decades on from his wartime exploits, Eric Carter has taken to the skies again at the controls of..
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