Naval aviation centennial

Celebrating the Wrights, and naval aviation's 100th

By Bill McMichael on December 8, 2011 Aviation, Historical, Naval aviation centennial, Photos, Wright Brothers

East Coast aviation buffs should mark their calendars for Saturday, Dec. 17, when the 108th Celebration of Powered Flight will be held at the Wright Brothers National Monument in Kill Devil Hills, N.C. Well, it’s probably not exactly the 108th celebration … no one likely paid any attention to such things for a few decades. But this event does promise to be special. It starts at 8:30 a.m. and, weather permitting, there’ll be a military aircraft flyover at exactly 10:35 a.m. — precisely when the Orville Wright “powered” off a 60-foot monorail guide and flew the brothers’ biplane a total…

50 years ago, a Navy pioneer

By Bill McMichael on May 5, 2011 Admirals, NASA, Naval Academy, Naval aviation, Naval aviation centennial, Photos, Space travel

A tip of the hat to the Navy and its Facebook notifications for the reminder that today marked the 50th anniversary of an event frozen in the minds of many Americans of a (ahem!) certain age: the day Navy Cmdr. Alan Shepard became the first American launched into space. His feat captivated the nation, and won back some American pride bruised by Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin beating him into space by 23 days. The Naval Academy grad and jet test pilot had in 1959 become one of the original Mercury astronauts — the guys with the “Right Stuff,” as Tom…

Realism, circa 1929

By Joshua Stewart on April 12, 2011 Aviation, Historical, Naval aviation, Naval aviation centennial, Navy, Sea Air Space

Tucked between displays of what will become the future of naval aviation is a tribute to the previous century of naval flight. An early flight simulator is one of the more interesting attractions. It looks like a really intense kiddie ride, one of those machines found outside of grocery stores that that blare really loud music and buck kids around for a quarter. Basically, the aviation simulator is a miniature open-cockpit airplane — it’s around the size of a golf cart — sitting atop a hydraulic system. The cockpit has a series of controls that make the whole device move…

Naval aviation history, brought to life

By Bill McMichael on November 12, 2010 Aviation, Historical, Naval aviation centennial, Navy, Photos

The skies over the Hampton Roads, Va., region are daily crisscrossed by some of the most modern jets in the U.S. military’s inventory, from Navy F/A-18 Super Hornets to Air Force F-22s. But at Norfolk Naval Station on Friday, nothing — nothing — could top the ultra-retro replica Curtiss pusher biplane piloted by the builder, retired Navy Cmdr. Bob Coolbaugh, who flew over Chambers Field as part of the Navy’s commemoration of the first flight off a warship, 100 years ago. On Nov. 14, 1910, at 3:16 p.m., civilian aviator Eugene Ely, seated in his Curtiss on a temporary wooden…

The future of naval tacair arrives at Pax River

By Bill McMichael on November 12, 2010 Aviation, Historical, Naval aviation centennial, Navy, Video

A seminal event in naval aviation history will be celebrated today at Norfolk Naval Station when officials and dignitaries gather for a (non-public) celebration of civilian flier Eugene Ely’s gutty Nov. 14, 1910, biplane flight off a makeshift shipboard flight deck — the first time it had ever been done. Last week, the latest in a long line of official successor aircraft — and the fighter jet on which the Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps are pinning their future manned tactical aircraft programs — arrived at Naval Air Station Patuxent River. The F-35C Lightning II, the carrier-capable variant of…

Current aircraft, vintage paint schemes for centennial

By Bill McMichael on November 11, 2010 Aviation, Historical, Naval aviation centennial, Navy, Photos

Although the flight that launched naval aviation is being commemorated Nov. 12 in Norfolk, the Navy will officially celebrate 100 years of naval aviation throughout 2011, as the first naval aircraft were requisitioned 100 years earlier. The year will be filled with events across the country, starting with the Feb. 10 kickoff event in San Diego — roughly 100 years and a few weeks after civilian aviator Eugene Ely made the first aircraft landing on a warship. Flyovers and vintage aircraft will play prominently in the events, and part of the fun will be the vintage paint schemes some current…

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