Not the first UFO sighting in our holdings, but this one includes some great DIY possibilities, just in time for Halloween too:
There are schematics for flying saucers in the National Archives. Seriously!
At the same time that the Air Force was denying the existence of UFOs back in the 1950s, it was also secretly trying to build its own supersonic flying saucer.
A recently declassified document reveals that the Air Force, in 1956, contracted a Canadian company, Avro Aircraft Limited in Ontario to construct a circular craft that could take off and land vertically, as well as potentially reach a top speed of Mach 4 and fly as high as 100,000 feet over a range of 1,000 nautical miles.
You can also read the original post on the NDC Blog.
Manufacturing airplanes for the government by Dayton-Wright Airplane Company. Completed plane on exhibition. Plant-1. Operation Number 4. Dayton Wright Airplane Company., 07/25/1918
F-80 Shooting Star during a low-level napalm strike on a Communist supply depot. Faint traces of anti-aircraft fire can be seen rising from the bend in the road. (The lengthy original caption describes the action in more detail.) 05/08/1952
![Patent Drawing for a Flying Machine, 04/15/1913
On April 15, 1913, The Patent Office granted David Hamilton Coles a patent for an improvement in airships. In his application, Coles meticulously described his new designs for various parts of the airship, such as, the valves, propellers, and engine.
[note: image rotated 90° for the full airship effect]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m22echdjWd1qhk04bo1_r1_1280.jpg)
Patent Drawing for a Flying Machine, 04/15/1913
On April 15, 1913, The Patent Office granted David Hamilton Coles a patent for an improvement in airships. In his application, Coles meticulously described his new designs for various parts of the airship, such as, the valves, propellers, and engine.
[note: image rotated 90° for the full airship effect]
February 3, 1959 - The Day the Music Died
This is the Civil Aeronautics Board’s Accident Report of Buddy Holly’s deadly plane crash in Iowa on February 3, 1959. It includes details of the weather, a map of the location and a description of what the “entertainers” were doing in Iowa. On page two, we see the name of Buddy Holly as “Charles Hardin” and the other musicians — “The Big Bopper” (J.P. Richardson), and Ritchie Valens (Richard Valenzuela), who were traveling with him.
You can take a look at the entire 13 pages of the report here: Aircraft Accident Report , 02/03/1959.
Pioneering aviator Eugene Ely made the first shipboard landing of an aircraft on January 18, 1911 when he landed his airplane on the USS Pennsylvania.
Wright Brothers Take Flight
On December 17, 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first successful sustained powered flight of a heavy-than-air vehicle near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Surfman John T. Daniel of the U.S. Life-Saving Service snapped this picture when the Wright Flyer made its historic first flight.
“Original Wright Brothers 1903 Aeroplane (‘Kitty Hawk’) in first flight, December 17, 1903, at Kitty Hawk, NC. Orville Wright at controls. Wilbur Wright at right (First flight was 12 seconds)” By Orville Wright and John T. Daniels, December 17, 1903 (165-WW-713-6); Records of the War Department General and Special Staffs; Record Group 165; National Archives.
December 3, 1957 - Just an “unidentified aircraft” or was it a “UFO?”
Message from Commander, Air Technical Information Center to Commander, Air Defense Command reporting the sighting of an unidentified flying object with sketch of location, 12/03/1957; Project Bluebook #5415; Records of Headquarters U.S. Air Force (Air Staff); Record Group 341;
From the records of the Air Force’s “Project BLUE BOOK,” this message dated December 3, 1957, references the sighting of an “unidentified aircraft” by the pilot of an Air Force F-86 in the skies over Joliet, Illinois on November 27. From 1947 to 1969, a total of 12, 618 sightings were reported to Project BLUE BOOK. Of these 701 remain “Unidentified.”
December 1 is Civil Air Patrol Day
“Civil Air Patrol - Eyes of the Home Skies”, 1941 - 1945
As Requested - Biplanes and World War I-era aircraft for National Aviation History Month. (Watch for some civilian and non-WWI biplanes in a later post!)
Other aviation themes you’d like us to explore? Submit them here!
![October 18, 1918 First Lieutenant E. V. [Eddie] Rickenbacker, 94th Aero Squadron, American ace, standing up in his Spad plane. Near Rembercourt, France.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lt2bgzL6Rj1qhk04bo1_1280.gif)
October 18, 1918 First Lieutenant E. V. [Eddie] Rickenbacker, 94th Aero Squadron, American ace, standing up in his Spad plane. Near Rembercourt, France.
