A Night to Remember – 21st Century Edition

BySteeljawscribe 26 November 200728 March 2010

Photo essay (click on image) of the sinking of the Explorer, the first passenger ship to make the Northwest Passage.

This Date in Naval Aviation History – April 15

BySteeljawscribe 15 April 200816 April 2008

15 April 1935–Passage of the Aviation Cadet Act created the grade of Aviation Cadet in the Naval and Marine Corps Reserves. The Act set up a new program for pilot training in which otherwise qualified college graduates between the ages of 18 and 28 would be eligible for one year of flight instruction, benefits of…

history lessons

Happy Birthday Kitty Hawk: 29 April 1961 – 2008

BySteeljawscribe 29 April 200828 April 2008

29 Apr 1961: USS Kitty Hawk (CVA 63) is commissioned at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. The second ship to be named for the wind swept location on the Outer Banks of North Carolina where man’s heavier-than-air journey first met demonstrable success, she represents a substantial improvement in the “super carrier” design first seen with the Forrestal-class…

history lessons

Gray Eagles

BySteeljawscribe 10 November 2010

A little something for your viewing pleasure going into Veteran’s Day… Filmmaker and P-51 Mustang Pilot Chris Woods has put together a wonderful film that captures the emotional reunion between a humble WWII Mustang ace (Jim Brooks) and the historic plane he thought he’d never see again. Inspired by the flood of memories triggered by…

history lessons

Sixty Years Ago – The Beginning of the End of an Era

BySteeljawscribe 23 July 200723 July 2007

23 July 1947: VF-17A becomes the Navy’s first all-jet squadron with the initial delivery of 2 x FD-1 Phantoms at NAS Quonset Point, RI and the era of props on carriers begins to close. This followed by a year, the first carrier ops of a jet with a FD-1 onboard USS Franklin D. Roosevelt. Taking subsequent…

history lessons

This Date in Naval Aviation History – 14 Dec 1961

BySteeljawscribe 14 December 2008

14 Dec –Installation of the Pilot Landing Aid Television system (PLAT) was completed on Coral Sea, the first carrier to have the system installed for operational use. Designed to provide a video tape of every landing, the system was useful for instructional purposes and in the analysis of landing accidents making it a valuable tool…

Air Warfare | history lessons | Joint Warfare | Naval Aviation Centenary

Doolittle’s Raiders: Last Surviving Bomber Pilot of WWII Doolittle Raid, Dies at 93

BySteeljawscribe 16 January 2011

The last pilot from the Doolittle raid, Col Bill Bower, USAF-Ret., passed away Jan 10 at his home in Boulder CO: As a 25-year-old first lieutenant, Col. Bower commanded one of the 16 Army Air Forces’ B-25s in the top-secret mission under the direction of then-Lt. Col. James H. Doolittle. Col. Bower and the 79…

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