Connecting Skies • Bridging Continents
All 56 stations distributing Meteosat Third Generation data are now operational, as around 150 meteorologists and scientists meet in Eswatini to share their first experience
A new white paper from aviation advisory firm ALTEA argues that financing structures and certification timelines, not propulsion technology alone, will determine which electric, hybrid-electric
South Korea’s Air Force has taken delivery of its first production KF-21 Boramae, with the fighter’s domestically developed systems now seen as its strongest selling
The Embraer Group technology company unveiled its next-generation ATFM solution at ICAO Air Navigation World 2026 in Montreal, designed to let air navigation service providers
The 6,000 square metre building can produce up to five helicopter simulators at a time, as the site’s workforce has grown by more than 30%
A Learjet 45 air ambulance carried a patient, family member and medical crew between France and Lebanon, with departure timed around post-surgical medical clearance. CharterDesk
As more-electric aircraft add avionics, sensors and power electronics, engineers are rethinking cooling as a design decision rather than an afterthought, Honeywell says. Every electrical system added to an aircraft increases the heat that must be managed, and Honeywell Aerospace
An Air New Zealand DHC-8 Q300 descended to 1,022 feet above ground approaching Timaru at night in June 2023 before the crew recovered and landed safely; the Transport Accident Investigation Commission’s final report also found shortcomings in the regulator’s own
Cargo and aircraft movements also reached record levels last year, but ACI’s 2026 Annual World Airport Traffic Report finds growth cooling sharply this year amid geopolitical and economic headwinds. Airports Council International (ACI) World says global airports carried a record
1993 – Larry Walters, American “lawn chair” pilot dies. (b. 1949) He took flight on July 2, 1982 in a homemade aircraft constructed out of a patio chair and 45 helium-filled weather balloons. He reached an altitude of 16,000 feet (3 miles) and floated from San Pedro, California into federal airspace near Long Beach airport.
1990 – Launch: Space Shuttle Discovery STS-41 at 11:47:15 UTC. Mission highlights: Ulysses/IUS solar probe deployment.
1984 – First flight of the FMA IA 63 Pampa
1966 – First flight of the Bell OH-58 Kiowa (OH-58A)
1977 – The first prototype of the Mikoyan MiG-29, designated 9-01, makes its maiden flight.
1955 – First flight of the Convair CV-440 Metropolitan
1955 – McDonnell company test pilot George Shirley Mills bails out of McDonnell F3H-2N Demon over Carrollton, Illinois near St. Louis, Missouri after what appears to be a massive systems failure, including the J40 engine. Instead of crashing, fighter circles over two states for more than an hour sans canopy, ejection seat and pilot.
It eventually impacts in cornfield near Monticello, Iowa, 250 miles (400 km) from ejection.
1954 – First flight of the Fairey FD.2.
1944 – Cancelled: Fisher P-75 Eagle.
1939 – First flight of the Curtiss SO3C Seamew
1927 – Western Canada Airways commenced contract airmail service between Lac du Bonnet, Wadhope and Bisset, Manitoba.
1923 – Curtiss R2Cs win first and second place in the Pulitzer air race, the winning aircraft setting a new airspeed record of 243.6 mph (392 km/h).
1922 – Lt John A. Macready and Lt Oakley G. Kelly set a flight endurance record of 35 hours 18 min in a Fokker T-2.
1912 – At Oppama, Japan, Lieutenant Yōzō Kaneko makes the Imperial Japanese Navy’s first flight, piloting a Farman seaplane for 15 min and reaching an altitude of 30 m (100 feet).
1908 – Wilbur Wright and a French writer make the first passenger flight of over one hour.
