Aviation History

The Night Witches Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com, The Morning Brew, Alamy, Getty Images   As an “early bird”, I’m up before light (it’s 5:45am as I type this—early get-ups were “beat” into me by the Marines).  And like most of you, I’m sure, I’m always in bed well after dark, especially these days of…

On this day in 2001–New York City is devastated. Again. Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: Wikipedia, History.com, “The Aviators” by Winston Croom     We aviation enthusiasts celebrate aviation.  I would argue we do this, rightfully so.  The invention of man breaking the chains that shackled him to earth has been a force for good, right?…

Eddie Rickenbacker…One More Time on His “Anniversary” Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: Max Lucado, “In the Eye of the Storm”, (pp. 21, 225-226), History.net   Happy 249th Birthday to my fellow Marines out there and best wishes for a memorable Veteran’s Day, today, to all the veterans who so selflessly serve and served. An end of…

This Day in Aviation History–Election Edition. Eddie had it worse. Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: Historynet.com   This is the 2024 “election edition” of our aviation history vignettes.  As we approach election day, if you believe the news media and some of the constant barrage of political advertising from the individual political campaigns, we’re about to…

On This Day in Aviation History: First Steps Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: Wikipedia, History.com   We gotta start somewhere. “The journey of a thousand miles begins” the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu is quoted as saying, “with a single step.” Today in 1952, my mom, two years married and 24 years old, was six months pregnant…

KSOP and KFQD Disaster Relief Operations Contributor: Barry Fetzer   This aviation history vignette is less about history than it is about “current operations”.  And it’s a story not about me although I was a bit player in it, emphasis on the word “bit”.  So, I hope by telling it I don’t come off as…

The First Kamikaze Attacks 80 Years Ago Today Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: Wikipedia, Military Officer Magazine   According to Wikipedia, “In desperation during the last years of WWII, the Japanese developed the concept of formally organized suicide units.  Suicide attacks, beginning 80 years ago today in 1944, followed critical military and strategic defeats for Japan. …

On This Day in Aviation History: The First Working Parachute Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: Wikipedia, History.com   Ever jump out of an airplane while parachuting or skydiving?  Some of us jump for sport or a one-time, “bucket-list” thrill.  Military parachutists (those graduating from a military “jump school”) often claim they have voluntarily jumped out of…

This Day in Aviation History: First Person to Break the Sound Barrier in 1947 Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: Wikipedia, History.com   A toast one may hear from time-to-time in aviation circles is, “Live fast, die young, and have a good-looking corpse.”  Chuck Yeager may have made that toast a time or two, but as a…

This Day in Aviation History — The Boys of October Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: Wikipedia, History.com, Wikimedia Commons   As we approach the end of the regular baseball season and the “Boys of October” (the title of a book by Doug Hornig) , it’s appropriate to remember Ted Williams, one of the greatest of all…

History on September 26 in 1580, 1924, and 1996: An Aviation History Threefer Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com, Wikipedia, NASA, USAF Historical Research Center, and National Air and Space Museum   Everyone loves a bargain.  I got a BOGO at Harris Teeter here in Southern Pines yesterday on our favorite Greek yogurt and felt like…

Aviation in Itself is not Inherently Dangerous. But, it is Terribly Unforgiving of any Carelessness, Incapacity or Neglect. Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com, Quora.com, Wikipedia   In doing just a little research about the numbers of flying deaths since the Wright Brothers, a post on the website Quora.com states, “According to this website: Airplane Crashes…

This Day in Aviation History: Serendipity, Roswell, Aircraft Boneyards and Other Afterlife Places for Aircraft Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com, Atlas Obscura, the City of Roswell, NM, AirlineGeeks   I love serendipity.  And it… “serendipity”, or chance, Providence, fate, fortune, Karma, whatever you want to call it…happens often to most of us during our lives…

On This Day in Aviation History: The Space Shuttle Enterprise Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com, NASA   America’s lead in space continued after the Apollo program ended with the advent of our Space Shuttle Program. And now commercial space flight (SpaceX’s private Polaris Dawn astronauts splashed down last week making history with the first commercial…

On This Day in Aviation History: The First African American Woman in Space Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com, NASA   Ah, to be first in something. Many of us hope (perhaps hopelessly) to be first, especially in our youth. But few of us achieve that dream. Should we use the gifts with which we’ve been…

This Day in Aviation History: A Sock in the Face Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com and NASA   “When you wrestle with pigs”, so the old adage goes, “you both get dirty and the pig likes it.”  While most of us wouldn’t encourage resorting to violence over the words of a heckler, it’s hard to…

This day in aviation history: Failure and Persistence Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: Wikipedia   Okay.  Raise your hands if you (admittedly, I do, and my hand is raised right now) take a lot for granted.  I think taking our significant others for granted may be the biggest reason for relationship discord, but I’m not writing…

The Cleveland National Air Races Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: Wikipedia, YouTube, Case.edu, Freeola.com   We may never know for certain what might cause us to do what we end up doing, to whom or to what we owe a debt of gratitude for putting us on our path to our life’s pursuits.  Or it may…

On This day in Aviation History: Ramstein Air Base Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com, Wikipedia, Creative Commons, YouTube, Aerocorner.com, osi.af.mil.   Military airshows are vital for representative and open governments and militaries to show citizens how their tax dollars are being used.  They give civilians a glimpse into military life and are recruiting tools.  They…

1945th Anniversary of Mount Vesuvius Eruption Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com   Today’s little history lesson doesn’t really have much to do with aviation history except for the bit of personal aviation experience I had with Naples and Mount Vesuvius.  More on Mount Vesuvius in a moment. We’ve all got many stories to tell and…

On This Day in Aviation History: Telegraph and Voyager Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: Wikipedia, History.com   Way back a hundred and thirteen years ago on August 20, 1911 we were still using telegraph to communicate quickly.  My how fast technology changes!  If it changed so much, so quickly, between 1911 and then 1977, how fast…

Smokey Bear is Part of Aviation History! Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: National Public Radio, Getty Images, Smithsonian Institution, Obed Manuel   Who doesn’t know about Smokey and his enduring message of fire safety?  Smokey is one of the most successful marketing ideas of all time.  And like most things, timing had a role in its…

Aviation History: Luftskipsmasta (Airship Tower) Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: Atlas Obscura, Shadow of Norge   There’s just something about balloons that make us happy.  Airships too!  Lighter than air is a joyful thing, and a thing I’d bet we’d all like to be from time-to-time, floating lazily above the earth.  I know I would.  Simone…

On This Day in Aviation History-Explorer 6 Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com, Alchetron.com   In 1959, some of us were but a glimmer in our old man’s eye.  Others were still far from even that glimmer and far from making their arrival known to us.  Some of us (like me) were six-year-old kids playing in…

The FAA is fired on this day in aviation history Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: Business Insider   Most of us fly. Well, at least most of us fly for business or pleasure on commercial airliners.  But few of us have been inside an Air Traffic Control (ATC) airport control tower or in an enroute ATC…

On This Day in Aviation History: Shared Grief Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com   We forget (at our peril) to what lengths and what risks and what sadness and what grief we had to go to stop tyranny.  Today we can launch missiles from unmanned vehicles with little sadness in the ensuing death and destruction…

Aviation History: On This Day and Tomorrow Too Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com, Lonestar Flight Museum, Wikipedia.com, Marine Corps University   For we aviation heritage aficionados, July is a big month for aviation history. But it doesn’t take much digging at all to find aviation history everywhere we look, January through December. Still, July is…

Airmail Took Some Time Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: National Postal Museum, History.com, pbs.org   While few of us send letters anymore, we may still hear complaints about the cost of first-class postage going up. In fact, some of you may be unaware that the price for a first-class stamp just over a week ago on…

On this day in aviation history: the Moon! Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com   We cannot and should not allow today’s major aviation history event to go by unnoticed.  With less computer power than a modern, mid-sized car, today in 1969, like all of you alive at the time were too, I was glued (as…

A July 17th “Fourfer” Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com   July 17th was an epic day in aviation history that includes at least two massive aviation tragedies and two positive aviation events.  I like to focus on the positive (my call sign when I was on active duty was “Sunny” because of my alleged “sunny”…

How far we’ve come: Mariner 4 Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com   What were you doing and where were you in 1965?  Some of us were kids (I was 12).  Some of us weren’t even a glimmer in our old man’s eye.  Some of us were adults, already making a difference in our world. In…

Today in Aviation History: The USS Vincennes Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: Wikipedia, The Fog of War: USS Vincennes Tragedy   Aviation history includes some wonderful moments of success, joy, grit, and triumph, all events we should celebrate.  Unfortunately, like life, aviation history also includes tragedies, horrible mistakes, overconfidence, and incomprehensible sadness. And if we’re to…

On This Day in Aviation History: Amelia’s Disappearance Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com   Perhaps there is no lingering aviation mystery greater than that of Amelia Earhart and her navigator’s, Fred Noonan, disappearance 87 years ago today.  My mom was to be 9-years-old at the end of July in 1937 and she loved Amelia Earhart. …

The Berlin Airlift Begins Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com   Our car temperature gauge showed 102 degrees driving through Southern Pines this afternoon.  I doubt the Germans had to deal with these kinds of temperatures back in 1948 but it WAS summertime when the airlift started.  Thank God for America and England for stepping up…

Aviation Archives: P-51 Mustang Contributor: Riley Yelverton Sources: National Museum of The United States Air Force, The National WWII Museum   The P-51 Mustang is often hailed as the best fighter of World War II due to its remarkable blend of speed, range, maneuverability, and firepower. Its versatility allowed it to excel in various roles…

On This Day in Aviation History: The Great Marianas Turkey Shoot Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com, Wikipedia   For the uninformed, a turkey shoot is a term for a fund-raising contest where shooters vie for a fresh or frozen turkey by shooting at targets.  In the past (and perhaps in some places still in more…

On This Day in Aviation History: Sally Ride. First American Woman in Space Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com   For most of us (including me), being good at many things, and I mean “good” at a professional level, is a nothing but a pipe dream.  And then you add being first at something to being…

 One of aviation’s greatest mysteries: Flight MH370 Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: Theconversation.com   Shutterstock. Bjoern Wylezich/Shutterstock Flight MH370: can underwater sound signals solve aviation’s greatest mystery? Reprinted here in its entirety from https://theconversation.com/flight-mh370-can-underwater-sound-signals-solve-aviations-greatest-mystery-230264?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-us by Usama Kadri. Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 disappeared on March 8 2014 with 239 people on board. Despite extensive search efforts, the final…

D-Day: A Legacy of Air Power Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: U.S. Defense Department, Newsweek, FlightGlobal   According to the US Defense Department, “thousands of U.S. paratroopers died during their drop behind enemy lines at Utah Beach, having been shot out of the sky by enemy fire or weighed down and drowned in flooded marshlands.”  Brothers…

Aviation Archives: F4U Corsair Contributor: Riley Yelverton Sources: Sikorsky Archives, National Museum of the United States Navy   On May 29, 1940, Vought-Sikorsky Aircraft Division test pilot Lyman A. Bullard, Jr. took the U.S. Navy’s new prototype fighter, the XF4U-1, Bu. No. 1443, for its first flight at Bridgeport Municipal Airport, Connecticut. Designed by Rex…

Monday Twofer On this Day in Aviation History Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: Foreign Affairs Magazine, History.com   “As the last of more than 300,000 overwhelmed Belgian, British, and French troops were evacuating Dunkirk, the Luftwaffe bombed Paris for the first time. In broad daylight on June 3, 1940, a thousand bombers and fighters struck French…

On This Day in Aviation History-JFK Calls For Congress to Support the Space Program Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com   I hope you have (or “had” if you’re just reading this on Tuesday) an enjoyable Memorial Day Holiday, and did more than merely enjoy BBQ’s, the beginning of our summer season, and family, but also…

On This Day in Aviation History-Surviving Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com I met a couple the other day who were, and are, “survivors”.  My dad used to say,  “That’s the name of the game, Barry.  Surviving.”  This couple…and Lindbergh as we’ll see below, too…remind me of dad’s aphorism.  This couple lost their youngest daughter as…

This Day in Aviation History: Memphis Belle Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com, Casinofreak.com   On May 17, 1943, the crew of the Memphis Belle became one of the first B-17 aircraft and crew to complete 25 missions over Europe and return to the United States. Completing twenty-five combat missions.  Most of us wouldn’t bet on…

On This Day in Aviation History: A Tuesday Twofer: May 14, 2005 Highest Landing and Takeoff and First Passenger Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: “This Day In Aviation History” by Bryan Swopes,    At five and a half miles, there are precious few “Bernoullis”available (especially for inefficient helicopters), “Bernoullis” being an aviator’s tongue-in-cheek way of expressing…

MISTY 40 FAC has Flown His Final Flight Contributor: Barry Fetzer   Nine days ago, we lost one of the our most accomplished aviators, Dick Rutan.  The following tribute is by Jim Moore, Managing Editor-Digital Media for AOPA. A decorated war hero and aviation pioneer, Dick Rutan, who “played an airplane like someone plays a…

On This Day in Aviation History: May 9, 1926. Over the North Pole…or not? Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: Wikipedia   According to Wikipedia, “Inaptronyms are names inappropriate for what the person does, such as Rob Banks, who is a British Police Officer.  On the other hand, an aptronym, aptonym, or euonym is a personal name…

The Grand Canyon’s Original Airport Lies Abandoned Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: Atlas Obscura.   Perhaps like many of you, I’ve always liked exploring old, abandoned buildings.  As a kid growing up in a village outside of Cleveland, Ohio there was this abandoned mansion…it really was a mansion…called the “Andrews Mansion”.  It was way back in…

36 Years ago Today in Aviation History Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com   Courtesy FAA. Where were you 36 years ago today?  Hopefully not on Aloha Airlines Flight 243. According to History.com, “On April 28, 1988, a seemingly routine, 35-minute flight from Hilo to Honolulu turned into terror when an 18-foot-long section of the upper…

Aviation history: the bloody Red Baron Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: Wikipedia, History.com   “Curse you Red Baron!” Snoopy exclaims, shaking his fist at the invisible German fighter pilot who just put imaginary bullet holes in the Peanuts character’s dog-house-turned-biplane.  Snoopy pretending to be a WWI fighter pilot is a lovable cartoon drawn by Charles Schulz. …

On This Day in 1978: KAL Flight 902 Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com, Wikipedia.com   We Americans tend—at least as far as our borders’ air defense is concerned—to ask questions first and then shoot if necessary. Not so the Russians, who seem to shoot first and then ask questions, the latest example being Malaysia Airlines…

Thursday Twofer: Tokyo and Beirut Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com, Wikipedia.com   America was already at war with the Empire of Japan and it took four months to plan and execute the Pearl Harbor “revenge attack”, an audacious, risky, and uniquely American “suicide mission” requiring only volunteers (of which there were none lacking), all of…

On This Day in Aviation History: April 14, 1918 Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com   The last edition of the Tideland News and the Carteret News Times…(out of Swansboro and Morehead City, NC…yes, we still take that paper as we did for 20+ years while living in eastern NC.  Today, though, living now in the…

This Day in Aviation Friday Evening Twofer. April 12th. Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com   This evening it’s all space, all the time for our aviation history vignettes and it’s a twofer to boot.  And what a twofer it is and a what a day April 12th was in the annuls of aviation history!  Two…

This Day in Aviation History: Flight Hardships and First Flight Around the World Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com   It’s hard to imagine and nearly impossible to remember given that to actually remember, we’d have to have been born at least 105 or 106 years ago (to be past the age of childhood amnesia) and…

This Day in Aviation: April 4th, 1933 Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com   Balloons are fun!  Even the big ones…the gargantuan ones.  Even their names are fun.  Dirigible.  Airship.  Zeppelin.  Blimp.  Seeing one of these gigantic machines lazily (apparently lazily…but not really…as there’s much work in designing, building, and flying them) floating by.  And while…

Aviation History Twofer: Okinawa and the Royal Air Force Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com   While most of us are probably too “mature” to put salt in the sugar bowl, cigar loads in dad’s cigar, or tell your spouse with a straight face that you’ve decided to sell everything and become a Tibetan Monk…and then…

On This Day in Aviation History: Iwo Jima Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com   When we think about Iwo Jima, we typically (and rightfully) think about the USMC infantry that slogged their way through horrific battle conditions to wrest the island from the hands of its Japanese defenders, with tragic consequences for those killed and…

On this day in aviation history: Pancho Villa and the First Aero Squadron Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com   Being the first at something is a pretty special accomplishment.  Being named “the First” and then actually “being” the first is really unique.   Except, I suppose, for being first-born in my family, I’ve never been…

This Day in Aviation History: Aunt Effie and Outdoors Play Time Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com   When I was a kid, we experimented a lot with launching things into the air.  We found a pipe that was just the right diameter to have a golf ball slip down. Jammed into the ground at an…

Tuesday Twofer Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com   Happy Leap Year in two days!  Speaking of leaping, we’re going to leap between yesterday’s aviation history and today’s aviation history in our “Tuesday Twofer”.  First, today’s aviation history.  Being the very first at something in our great, big country is a goal many might pursue.  But…

On this day in aviation history: German zeppelin L-4 Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com   My Aunt Ann who died recently in Fort Smith at age 93 was our family matriarch, my mom’s sister, and one of two daughters of my maternal grandfather, Theophil Tröhler, his first name Americanized to Ted when he immigrated to…

A February 13th Twofer Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com   It is said that, “To the victors go the spoils”.  According to a web search on Bing, this term is a “proverbial expression that means the winner of a contest not only wins the subject of the contest, but receives all additional benefits as well.…

CH-53E Accident and Personal Recollections of a Near Mishap Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: news.unsi.org   This week five Marines were killed in a CH-53E “Super Sea Stallion” crash in rough terrain in California.  All five Marines were assigned to the “Flying Tigers” of Marine Heavy Helicopter (HMH) Squadron 361, Marine Aircraft Group 16, 3rd Marine…

The Flying Banana Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com.   This historical aviation vignette brings back memories of my time flying CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters.  The Piasecki/Vertol H-21 is strangely reminiscent of the CH-46 Sea Knight and many of the H-21’s design features (affectionately called the Flying Banana) were obviously used by Boeing to design the…

A February 3rd Aviation History “Threefer” Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com. Featured Image via Surf Ballroom and Museum   The Day the Music Died Crash site.  Photo Credit: Civil Aeronautics Board. Today we have a February 3rd aviation history “Threefer”.  First up, on this date in 1959, “the music died”.  When you consider the ages…

Today in Aviation History: The Space Shuttle Columbia Disaster Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com   “Life is a magical thing.”- Laurel Clark, astronaut and medical doctor aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia once said.  Yes, it is.  It is a magical thing and a blessing.  We forget that sometimes in the trials and tribulations of our…

Today in Aviation History: Has Amelia’s Plane been Found? Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: Wikipedia.com   I have mentioned before in these historical aviation vignettes when writing about Amelia Earhart that my mom, like many girls of her age (mom was born in 1928 and is now gone), was a big fan of “America’s Sweetheart” as…

NASA’s Mars Helicopter Ingenuity has Flown its Final Flight Amidst Rotor Damage   Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: Mike Wall via Space.com   When I was a young helicopter pilot in the Marines I was doing “confined area landings” into a tiny landing zone at Camp Lejeune, NC.  I was the aircraft commander of our CH-46 “Sea…

Today in Aviation History: Frisbees Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com   You may ask, “What, Fetzer, does a Frisbee have to do with aviation history?”  Well, “Wilber”, I might respond, “Frisbees fly!”  And they fly by the millions! Is there any one of us who has not tossed a Frisbee or its successor, the Aerobie,…

On This Day: “Broken Arrow” Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com   We are a flawed species, we Homo sapiens, are we not?  We act before we think and say things we ought not to say and tweet things we ought not to write (and then fruitlessly attempt to delete them). We fail far too often…

Sully’s “Miracle on the Hudson” Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com   US Airways Flight 1549/Airbus A320 in the Hudson.  Photo Credit: Chris McGrath/Getty Images. Fifteen years ago?  Is it possible this iconic aviation example of “calmness under fire” happened 15 years ago?  Our eldest grandsons are 15 years old.  They don’t know about the “Miracle…

The First US President to Fly on Official Business Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com   What was unique is now so commonplace that we don’t even bat an eye when the President flies in everything from helicopters (devices that according to newsman Harry Reasoner “…don’t want to fly.  Helicopters are maintained in the air by…

Amelia Earhart, Hawaii to California Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com   Enduring mysteries are fodder for the imagination.  What happened to the ghost ship, The Mary Celeste?  How about D. B. Cooper after high jacking Northwest Orient Flight 305 out of Portland (Oregon).  How did Stonehenge or the Great Pyramids get built?  Is the Bermuda…

Paying for the Luxury of Supersonic Flight Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com   Happy New Year!.  I hope each of you reading this will enjoy a happy and healthy 2024.  Talk about flying, especially time flying?  Where did 2023 get up and go off to so fast?  As I sit here writing this and shaking…

Eve-Eve Aviation Twofer Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com   Good Christmas Eve-Eve fellow aviation history enthusiasts.  We have an “eve-eve twofer” for you this evening about 28 hours before midnight on December 25th and the beginning of Christmas Day. Aviation history is full of feats of great invention and risk.  There’s sadness in aviation history. …

The First of the First AND Kimmel Relieved of Command Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com, General Aviation News   Every year on this day we cover an aviation first of the first in an attempt to keep the memory alive amongst we aviation enthusiasts, so please forgive the repeated “on this day in aviation history”…on…

This Day in Aviation History: The Bermuda Triangle and Flight 19 Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com   Have you ever been lost?  Those of us older than 50 probably can relate to that sinking feeling (no pun intended regarding the below article) when you begin to realize you have no idea where you are.  Perhaps…

Admiral Byrd and the South Pole Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com   I meant to get this out the other day, highlighting November 29, 1929, just a few days after the 1929 stock market crash that was a contributing factor to the Great Depression and also the 94th anniversary of American explorer and US Navy…

D.B. Cooper Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com   I hope you had an enjoyable Thanksgiving recalling and celebrating the many blessings we’ve been granted. In 1971, I was a senior in high school and, being the self-absorbed young adult focused on getting accepted to college I was, even I recall the interest we had in…

QUESST Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: Robert Lea, NASA   Best wishes for a happy Thanksgiving to all readers of the Moore County Airport Website.  Speaking of Thanksgiving, think turkeys can’t fly? See the video here to settle the argument once and for all: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWyMbMTAvgY “Turkey” can be used as a synonym for a slow, lumbering…

The Thundering Herd Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com, Wikipedia   One of the most tragic aviation mishaps in American history was the day the “Thundering Herd” thundered no more.  Even as a self-absorbed Ohio high school junior—me—with no connection to Marshall University or West Virginia, I remember the day this tragedy occurred.  And I could…

Press On: Back to the Past Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: Mark Harris via TechCrunch.com   Today’s aviation history vignette, is appropriately (since we’re talking history here 😊) titled, “Back to the past”.  Commercializing airships and airship passenger service and cargo hauling—even arming them with aircraft and other weapons—have been “tried”…and have failed…multiple times in the…

On This Day in Aviation History – Dogs in Space Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com, Wikipedia   Muttley is a fictional dog created in 1968 by Hanna-Barbera Productions; he was originally voiced by Don Messick. He is the sidekick to the cartoon villain Dick Dastardly.  Courtesy of Hanna-Barbera. Dogs.  In.  Space. (cue eerie space music). …

The Spruce Goose and Other Aviation Behemoths Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: Wikipedia, Sometimes Interesting.   One of humankind’s eternal questions, “Does size really matter?” is the subject of today’s aviation history vignette.  Like most things in life, the answer is, “It depends.” Notwithstanding the question—and answer—as it may be posed in other areas of our…

Kamikaze Attacks Begin in The Pacific Theater Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com, Wikipedia   Americans generally find the idea of suicide warriors and weapons, like Kamikazes…or terrorists strapped with bombs…as inconceivable.  Some have described it as, “Americans glorify life and those who employ suicide on the battlefield glorify death”.  But is that true?  Americans “commit”…

The First Parachute Jump Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com   If we think the first person to attempt to eat a raw oyster was brave (this person as mentioned in my last post is lost to the dustbin of history), what about the first person to trust his life to a large bed sheet? When…

This Day in Aviation History – The First Person Saved by a Parachute Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: thisdayinaviation.com, Bryan R. Swopes   Being the first at something can be a worthy achievement.  Not always, but often.  The first person to eat a raw oyster, for example, was a worthy achievement and that act has been…

Glamorous Glennis Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com   Breaking the speed of sound was a real milestone—and a risky one too.  If you ever watched the Twilight Zone TV show, several episodes dealt with the fear of what could happen should humans continue to achieve such speeds, including disappearing for a while, perhaps in alien…

The R-101 Airship Crashes Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com   I just finished reading a book about airships, focused on the conception, development, and ultimate demise of one of the biggest aircraft ever to grace the skies: the British airship R-101.  The book by S.C. Gwynne is entitled His Majesty’s Airship—The Life and Tragic Death…

This Day in Aviation History: The V2 Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: Wikipedia, History.com   Could it be that what was designed, implemented, and used to deadly affect as a weapon of mass destruction could ultimately be our earthly savior? In the animated 2008 Pixar movie “WALL-E” (according to Wikipedia), “The film follows a solitary robot…

PSA Flight 182 Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: Wikipedia, History.com   When I was stationed overseas, about this same time thirty years ago, we were blessed to take a trip from Okinawa to China.  While in China, we flew on regional Chinese airlines to several different locations in China.  We were just a couple of the…

B-29 History Twofer Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: Wikipedia, History.com, warfarehistorynetwork.com     With this edition of “This day in aviation history” we’re bookending today with a two-events “twofer”, one historical event that occurred yesterday and one history-making event that will occur this weekend.  Happy History! In a nod to the success and valiant achievements of…

Sharing the glory of winning the space race Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com   Life’s events often provide indelible memories.  The recent anniversary of 9-11 is one for those of us older than 6 or 7 in 2001. For me, a child of the early 50’s, President Kennedy’s election and assassination are others.  I remember…

Battle of Britai Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com, Getty Images, Wikipedia, Time&Life   Time has a way of erasing bad memories.  The old adage, “time cures all ills” tells that story.  Imagine yourself in England in September of 1940, 15 months before Japan attacked Pearl Harbor thrusting America into WWII, Europe being crushed under the…

Space Twofer Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: Wikipedia, Encyclopedia Britannica   Now that we’re past Labor Day and the unofficial end of summer, we’re all looking forward to lower temperatures and being bombarded by pumpkin spice fragrances this, and pumpkin spice flavors that… …well, maybe not the pumpkin spice.  I personally have never had pumpkin spice…

MH Flight 370 – Will we ever locate it? Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: Jess Thomson, Newsweek, iStock, Getty Images, AFP – This article is a re-print   Hello fellow Moore County airport enthusiasts.  Isn’t it amazing how technology can help us in so many ways, including a report from Newsweek’s Tech & Science as reported…

Viking 1 and 2 Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com   1975. Can we really remember that far back? I was 22 years old. How about you? Well, we should try because on August 20, 1975, Viking 1, an unmanned U.S. planetary probe, was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida on a mission to Mars. From History.com:…

Duane Hackney Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com, Wikipedia   There really are super heroes, it turns out, and not the Marvel or DC Comics or video game “fake news” versions of them.  They come in the form of skin and bones, flesh and blood human beings who accomplish extraordinary acts by mere force of human…

Aviation History: September 6, 1522 Contributor: Barry Fetzer   The ease at which we board a cruise ship or a jet airliner today and sail the “Seven seas” or circumnavigate the globe by air, well, they mask the great risk and difficulties of those early explorers who led us to these benefits…these gifts…these blessings…of the…

September 1, 1983 Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com and Wikipedia I opined several issues ago that perhaps the worst kind of mishap is one in which a nation’s military makes a series of mistakes and downs a civilian passenger aircraft.  America, unfortunately, is not blameless in these kinds of tragic mistakes. On this day in…

Balloons! Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: The New York Times Archives Balloons!  Discounting the recent Chinese Spy balloon debacle, balloons (perhaps the simplest of aerial phenomena),  are fun!  But we’re not talking party balloons, get-well balloons, or chintzy (but certainly daring…or was it intoxicated?)  lawn chair balloon flights, one of the first one of these “intoxicating”…

JAL Flight 123 Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com, Wikipedia Suffering a mishap that takes control away from pilots is perhaps the most frightening of mishaps.  No one of us humans like to lose control of anything (although the old adage that “Man plans and God laughs” applies here), but when a pilot and copilot can…

Nagasaki, August 9, 1945 Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com, New Yorker Magazine, This Day in Aviation, National Archives The recently released movie Oppenheimer highlights the history of the development of the atom bomb and the drive to beat the Germans at developing a nuclear bomb, the moral dilemmas and political affiliations that tore at some…

The Atomic Age Begins Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com View of “The Bomb” over Hiroshima, August 6, 1945 Debate rages even 78-years later and will continue to rage for decades, even centuries, (if we don’t first blow ourselves back to the Stone Age) about whether Americans should have used its terrible weapon against Japan during…

Operation Tidal Wave Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com and NBC Universal, Inc. While I’m quite certain there were many individual cases of what we once called “shell shock” (now PTSD) amongst the aircrewmen (with 10 in each aircraft’s crew, a total of some-1770 men in the aircraft and countless numbers of men in the support…

End of July Twofer Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com and Wikipedia As we transition to the month of August from July, what is it about July?  Perhaps we should be glad today is the last day of the month given the tragic aviation history of this month. Today we have a Sunday evening “twofer” for…

Crossing the Pond Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: Oleg Makarenko, Simplyflying.com, and History Press It’s hard to imagine a world without commercial jet aircraft. But, like everything, there was a first and, in this case, it was not in America, arguably the world’s most prolific aviation innovator. It was our friends in Great Britain who were…

Wiley Post Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com and Wikipedia Hello again fellow lovers of aviation history. This historical vignette reminds me of the story of “Lucky”, the mangey, stray, three-legged, castrated, one-eyed, “Heinz-57” (mixed breed) dog that despite his adversities somehow was still making it in the canine world…somehow had found a way to survive…

Apollo and Viking Contributor: Barry Fetzer Sources: History.com and Wikipedia Good morning.  Today we have an outer space “twofer” to celebrate our aviation heritage:  Apollo and Viking.  “The most Greek of the gods”, according to Wikipedia, “Apollo was the god of archery, music and dance, truth and prophecy, healing and diseases, the Sun and light,…

A Busy Aviation History Day Contributor: Barry Fetzer Source: History.com Happy mid-July.  The autumn solstice is only two months and six days away (September 23, 2023).  The eternal and unstoppable passage of the seasons…and time…continues to “fly” unabated.  Yes, it’s hot but we’ll be commenting on the cold weather before we know it. Today’s aviation…

Presidential Helicopter Squadron Author: Barry Fetzer Can you imagine the “dog fight” that would occur today if the military services were competing for the honor of being the “Presidential Helicopter Squadron”?  In many ways, life was simpler back in 1957 and in the early 1970’s, when the Marines, who had been pioneering use of helicopters…

Amelia Disappears Author: Barry Fetzer Like many girls of her “vintage” (she was born in July, 1928), my mom’s heroine when she was a young girl was Amelia Earhart.  Mom is dead, now, but scrap books of hers cobbled together as a kid and retained as an adult are replete with newspaper clippings of Earhart’s…

Atlantis and Mir Author: Barry Fetzer It’s probably just me (although I’d feel better if I knew others are as nuts as I am), but why is it I like round numbers so much?  It may be my “manageable OCD” (manageable, depending on the eye of the beholder I suppose), enhanced, a bit, by my…

The Berlin Airlift Author: Barry Fetzer Actions by the Soviet Union today in 1948 became the impetus for one of the largest, aviation-centric logistical efforts ever undertaken: the Berlin Airlift.  Only two days after the Soviets closed all surface access to west Berlin, in what turned out to be a vain attempt to gain concessions…

Firsts in Flight Author: Barry Fetzer It’s easy to forget how many “firsts” the Soviet Space Program had.  They “beat the pants” (and the skirts) off of us until all their firsts were pretty much forever buried by America’s first steps on the moon by Neil Armstrong, who coasted along to become the “toast of…

James Elms Swett Author: Barry Fetzer “Time,” it is said, “cures all ills.”  Time, also, unless we take care to ensure it doesn’t, erases history.  New history is created over time, burying the older history.  Generations come and go and the experiences—the history—that meant so much to past generations, means increasingly less to succeeding generations. …

Memphis Bell Author: Bryan R. Swopes Submitted by: Barry Fetzer Completing twenty-five combat missions. Most of us wouldn’t bet on those odds. But we might bet on the odds at the casinos. According to Casinofreak.com, “The average payout percentage for slot machines in Las Vegas is around 85 cents per dollar earned.” Flying B-17’s in…

5–6 June 1944 (D-Day -1) Author: Bryan R. Swopes Submitted by: Barry Fetzer Will we ever see it again, almost 1500 aircraft stretching for over 300 miles delivering troops to battle?  It must have been a sight to behold…or at least to hear since it occurred on the evening of D-Day minus 1.  Can you…

Southern Cross Author: Bryan R. Swopes Submitted by: Barry Fetzer Where has May gone? It has “flown away” with June dawning its first day. And then before we know it, June will be gone. Try to enjoy the moments, for they rapidly fly away. Can you imagine making a flight across the vastness of the…

Aviation History Author: Barry R. Fetzer Today’s historical aviation vignette comes from my memories of tracking an arc (verses a straight line) to a Non-Directional Beacon, one of the best methods (we found, at least, flying multi-mission CH-46 helicopters in the Marines) to get to where we were intending to go. Of course, this low-tech…