Twenty-nine-year-old self-taught engineer and aviation pioneer Albin Longren made his first successful flight in a plane that he had built himself in Topeka, Kansas, on Sept. 2, 1911. Inspired, Longren started his own company, and the Longren Aircraft Corp. began turning out planes. One of his most interesting creations was aimed at Kansas farmers: aContinue reading “Longren Aircraft executive Hampden Wentworth’s successful career ended in tragedy”
Tag Archives: aircraft
The 1910 Los Angeles International Air Meet at Dominguez Hill put aviation in the spotlight
What if I were to tell you that a French pilot had flown an airplane from a dusty hillside on the outskirts of Carson to the Santa Anita racetrack in Arcadia and back, safely? I’m guessing you’d be underwhelmed by the 45-mile trip, but tens of thousands of spectators gathered on Dominguez Hill just eastContinue reading “The 1910 Los Angeles International Air Meet at Dominguez Hill put aviation in the spotlight”
Celebrated pilot Bob Hoover’s famous World War II flight tells only part of his story
Robert Anderson “Bob” Hoover piloted more than 300 different planes during a lifetime dedicated to aviation, but perhaps his most unusual flight took place in a German Focke-Wulf Fw190 airplane in the waning days of World War II in 1945. On Feb. 9, 1944, the 22-year-old U.S. Army Air Forces pilot was flying a SpitfireContinue reading “Celebrated pilot Bob Hoover’s famous World War II flight tells only part of his story”
