Church was a licensed pilot, so she originally applied to Boeing Air Transport hoping to become a pilot, but women were not hired as airline pilots at the time. Instead, she proposed that airlines place trained nurses aboard flights to reassure nervous passengers during the early years of commercial aviation, when flying was still considered […]
Amelia Earhart’s Non-Stop Flight from Mexico City to Newark in New Jersey in 14 hours and 19 min
The aircraft was the same model Earhart had used for several of her record-setting flights. The Lockheed Vega was a single-engine aircraft famous for long-distance flights and was also used by other pioneering aviators of the era. Lastly, during the flight, Earhart carried approximately 35 pieces of commemorative mail aboard the aircraft.
Captain Tammie Jo Shults Performed a Safe Emergency Landing At Philadelphia International Airport
The damage to the Boeing 737 caused rapid, violent depressurization. Passengers described a chaotic scene but Captain Shults’ “nerves of steel” allowed her to calmly land the aircraft. At the controls, Captain Shults relied on her fighter pilot training — and her history of defying the odds. Captain Shults is heard calmly telling air traffic […]
Charles Lindbergh Became the Chief Pilot for Robertson Aircraft Corporation
Lindbergh and his team completed survey flights around this date before officially inaugurating the mail service on April 15, 1926. In his chief pilot role, Lindbergh oversaw the preparations and in a de Haviland DH-4 flew the route connecting Lambert Field, in St. Louis, to Maywood Field, in Chicago, with stops in Springfield and Peoria. Lindbergh […]
Flight of the First Commercially Certified Helicopter Bell Model 47 NC1H
The NC1H fell to the ground from a height Demming estimated at 30–50 feet (9–15 meters). Photos from the helicopter suggested that the hub failed and the associated parts were thrown outward, away from the axis of rotation. With nothing to support it in flight, the rest of the helicopter dropped to the ground. As […]
Reduced Vertical Separation Minima (RVSM) Phase 1
RVSM is an aviation standard that reduces the required vertical separation between aircraft from 2,000 feet to 1,000 feet between flight levels FL290–FL410. This effectively doubled the number of usable cruising altitudes, improving airspace capacity and fuel efficiency. Phase 1 was essentially a controlled trial (operational evaluation) to validate safety, aircraft performance, and monitoring systems before […]
Amelia Earhart’s Second Leg of Her Around-the-World Flight
On March 20, 1937, at 5:30 a.m. Earhart restarted the engines. At 5:40 a.m., she began to taxi to the northeast corner of the runway. At 5:53 a.m. with good weather and visibility 3,500 feet in pre-dawn darkness, Earhart accelerated for takeoff. The twin-engine airplane gained momentum but suddenly, at the 1,000 foot mark the […]
First Pilot to Fly a Million Miles in a Jet Airplane
In 1959, Garlow was flying a jet-prop Vickers Viscount, which Capital Airlines first put into service on July 26, 1955. Garlow’s record was described as “a million miles of jet flying,” even though the aircraft had propellers, because in the late 1950s, turboprops like the Viscount were widely marketed as “jet-prop” or turbine aircraft since […]
Rudolph W. “Shorty” Schroeder Reached World-Record Height of 33,114 Feet
On February 27, 1920,U.S. Major Rudolph W. “Shorty” Schroeder reached a world-record height of 33,114 feet in a LePere airplane fitted with a General Electric turbo-supercharger. When he removed his goggles to change oxygen flasks in order to continue breathing in the rarified atmosphere, the minus 63 degree air temperature immediately froze his eyeballs. Schroeder […]