Discoverer XIV was a Key Hole KH-1 satellite of the Corona Program. It carried a 70mm reconnaissance camera, and was launched into a polar orbit aboard a Thor-Agena rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. After 17 orbits, 7 of which crossed over “denied territory,” the satellite was de-orbited. A Fairchild C-119J Flying Boxcar, 51-8037, of the 6593rd Test … Continue reading 19 August 1960
19 August 1954: The Valley News reported: ‘Old Hodgepodge’, Lockheed’s Doughty Jet, Retiring to Scientific Service on Ground Skyworn and airweary, but still full of flight, the grand-daddy of Lockheed jets has dodged the junkman’s grimy grip and flown proudly from California to new York to sit out the rest of its life on … Continue reading 19 August 1954
19 August 1940: At Mines Field (now known as Los Angeles International Airport), the first North American Aviation B-25 twin-engine medium bomber, serial number 40-2165, took off on its first flight with test pilot Vance Breese at the controls and engineer Roy Ferren in the co-pilot’s position. The airplane, North American model NA-62, serial number 62-2834, was … Continue reading 19 August 1940
In 1939, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, President of the United States of America, proclaimed Orville Wright’s birthday, 19 August, as National Aviation Day. © 2015, Bryan R. Swopes
19 August 1871: Orville Wright, co-inventor with his brother Wilbur of the first successful airplane, was born at Dayton, Ohio. © 2015, Bryan R. Swopes