Today’s post is written by Richard Elsom, an Archivist at the National Archives at Denver. Since the early years of the twentieth century, the US Forest Service has been occupied by fire. What began with hastily formed crews of locals, usually with no firefighting experience, later developed into a trained and organized firefighting force that … Continue reading Growing Pains: Army Air Service Patrols of National Forests, 1919-1920
Today’s post is written by Dr. Greg Bradsher, Senior Archivist at the National Archives at College Park, MD. This is the second of two blog posts about John Barry Ryan, Capt. Washington I. Chambers, USN, Eugene B. Ely, and the USS Birmingham, November 14, 1910. While arrangements were being made for the flight off the … Continue reading The First Aeroplane Take Off from a Ship, November 14, 1910, Part II
Today’s post is written by Dr. Greg Bradsher, Senior Archivist at the National Archives at College Park, MD. This is the first of two blog posts about John Barry Ryan, Capt. Washington I. Chambers, USN, Eugene B. Ely, and the USS Birmingham, November 14, 1910. At the beginning of 1909 the number of airplanes in … Continue reading The First Aeroplane Take Off from a Ship, November 14, 1910, Part I
Today’s post is written by Dr. Greg Bradsher, Senior Archivist at the National Archives at College Park, MD. On April 6, 1917, America entered World War I. On June 8, 1917, public announcement was made that a great fleet of 20,000 airplanes was about to be created and would be decisive of the war, months … Continue reading “Penguins Don’t Fly”: The Senate Military Affairs Committee, Secretary of War Baker, and Aircraft Production, 1918
Today’s post was written by Dr. Greg Bradsher, Senior Archivist at the National Archives in College Park. Part 1 of this series can be found here. During August and September Galland lobbied unsuccessfully against the plane being used as a bomber. During September, 72 were produced as bombers and only 19 as fighters. Galland was, however, able … Continue reading The German Jet Me-262 in 1944: A Failed Opportunity – Part II
Today’s post was written by Dr. Greg Bradsher, Senior Archivist at the National Archives in College Park. As early as 1937, the German Messerschmitt Company developed the jet plane, the Me-262 Schwalbe (Swallow). It was flown experimentally in 1941 with a piston engine and then successfully in 1942 with jet engines, but was rejected by the … Continue reading The German Jet Me-262 in 1944: A Failed Opportunity – Part I
