By In August 1943, the USAAF’s 15 th Air Force began their vital strategic bombing campaign against the German oil refineries at Ploesti,…
By As the United States became embroiled in the war in Europe against the Axis, one of its earliest fronts was in the…
In the spring of 1928, after not participating in the Schneider Trophy contest for several years, the French Ministère de l’Air* (Air Ministry) set…
Since 10 April 1933, Italy had enjoyed ownership of the 3 km absolute world speed record for aircraft. Warrant Officer Francesco Agello set…
For the 1929 Schneider Trophy Contest, Italy fielded a number of different aircraft and engine combinations. The end result was that none of…
The rules of the Schneider Trophy Contest stated that any country that won the contest three consecutive times would retain permanent possession of…
The Bellanca 28-92 (construction no. 903) was developed by Giuseppe Bellanca in 1937 for Capt. Alexandru Papana. Papana was a Romanian Air Force…
Roscoe Turner, ever the showman, with his impeccable custom uniform and well trimmed mustache. Turner once admitted that he did not like wearing…
Since the early 1900s, Frenchman Louis Bréguet was interested in rotorcraft. But, the technical challenges of controlling such machines and the lack of…
Born in 1852, Irish inventor Louis Philip Brennan had contemplated the concept of a flying machine (helicopter) as early as 1884. However, the…
In 1916, Major Stephan Petróczy von Petrócz of the Austro-Hungarian Army envisioned replacing hydrogen-filled observation balloons with tethered helicopters. These helicopters would have…
The Papin-Rouilly Gyroptere as depicted on the cover of the September 1922 edition of Popular Science. The Gyroptere was designed in France from 1911-1914 by…