Connecting Skies • Bridging Continents
NASA has awarded Advanced Space a contract for CAPSTONE 02, a 2027 mission flying two identical 400-kilogram spacecraft in lunar orbit to demonstrate rendezvous, proximity
Aviation analyst John Strickland has warned that European and US carriers are likely to strip frequencies from winter schedules and ground more aircraft than usual
Safran Helicopter Engines and Aura Aero have signed an agreement covering the development and integration of Safran turbogenerators for the ERA prototype, defining the propulsion
Leonardo has completed its transition to the revised ISO 37001:2025 anti-bribery management standard following the successful conclusion of its annual surveillance audit, with the certification
ACC Aviation has completed an independent aircraft asset monitoring assignment for an international aviation finance institution, providing continuous technical oversight across a portfolio of next-generation
Textron has reported second quarter 2026 revenues of $3.8 billion and adjusted earnings of $1.62 per share, with revenue growth across all four manufacturing segments
ICAO’s 2025 Safety Report documents commercial aviation’s safest year by accident rate on record, with fatal accidents falling 60% year-on-year to just four — but total fatalities rose from 296 to 387, with a single accident accounting for 260 deaths,
Boeing’s 2026 Services Market Outlook and Pilot and Technician Outlook project a $4.9 trillion commercial aviation support and services market through 2045, alongside demand for 674,000 new pilots, 728,000 maintenance technicians and 1,023,000 cabin crew, as digitisation, sustainability and geographic
IATA’s 2025 World Air Transport Statistics, drawn from data covering 1,315 airlines, document a year of broad aviation growth led by a 4.5% increase in international premium-class travel, continued Asian dominance of the world’s busiest airport pairs and a decisive
2011 – A General Dynamics F-16C Block 30H Fighting Falcon, 87-296, c/n 5C-557, of the 187th Fighter Wing, Alabama Air National Guard, flying out of Montgomery Air National Guard Base, overruns the runway at the EAA AirVenture Oshkosh air show at Wittman Regional Airport, Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The nose gear collapsed, the nose radome broke and the air-frame skidded to a stop. Pilot was uninjured.
2008 – Deceased: Margaret Ringenberg, 87, an American aviator, who had logged more than 40,000 hours.
2003 – First flight of the Adam A700 AdamJet
1982 – The first McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet is delivered to the Canadian Forces Air Command.
1976 – Speed Records set. Two records set; USAF Capt Eldon W Joersz, 2193.16 mph over a straight course, and USAF Maj Adolphus H Bledsoe, 2092.29 mph over a closed circuit, both in Lockheed SR-71As at Beale AFB CA.
1976 – Altitude record of 85,069′ attained in horizontal flight set in a Lockheed SR-71 A at Beale AFB CA by USAF Capt Robert C. Helt.
1958 – Two B-47 Stratojet bombers of the U.S. Air Force’s 305th Bombardment Wing set speed records, when one flies from RCAF Goose Bay, Labrador, to RAF Fairford, England, in 4 hours 14 minutes and the other flies from Limestone Air Force Base, Maine, to RAF Fairford in 4 hours 45 minutes.
1950 – The first scheduled passenger service flown by a gas-turbine powered airliner (turboprop) is British European Airway’s (British European Airways) Vickers V. 630 Viscount.
1938 – Pan American World Airways Flight 229, a Martin M-130 flying boat named the Hawaii Clipper, disappears westbound from Guam to Manila with 6 passengers and 9 crew
1935 – The Boeing Model 299 (XB-17), prototype of the B-17, makes its first flight at Boeing Field in Seattle. Newspaper reporters nickname it “The Flying Fortress. ”
1934 – Nelly Diener becomes Europe’s first air stewardess.
1933 – Dr. Albert Forsythe and Charles Alfred “Chief” Anderson land at Atlantic City to complete the first return flight to the West Coast by African-American pilots.
1926 – During United States Navy experiments with the operation of seaplanes from a submarine equipped with an aircraft hangar, the submarine USS S-1 (SS-105) carries out for the first time a full cycle of surfacing, removing the disassembled seaplane from its hangar, assembling it, launching it, retrieving it, disassembling it, stowing in its hangar, and submerging, on the Thames River at New London, Connecticut.
1918 – Royal Air Force Sopwith Dolphin E4449 flown by Tone Bayetto crashed in Hampshire, England when the wings folded back and it dived into the ground from 200 feet.
1913 – A Caudron G.3 amphibian takes off from a platform aboard the Hermes while she is underway and lands at Great Yarmouth.
1914 – outbreak of World War I Aviation changes war in a twofold way. The aeroplane turns the sky into a new battle field where about 20,000 flyers, most of them trained pilots die. Aircraft eliminate the distinction between frontline and hinterland, with the civilian population far behind the frontline also becoming a target.
1858 – Nadar takes first airborne photo (in a balloon).
