This week on The Historians Podcast, Patrick Chaisson discusses his multi-media presentation “Wings of Victory: Aircraft Production in New York State during WWII.” Chaisson is a retired (after 26-years) US Army and National Guard Lieutenant Colonel from Scotia. [Read more…] about Fighting Zeros: New York Made Aircraft in World War Two
Aviation History
New York’s Forgotten Aeronaut & Diver: William Warren Rulison
When seventy-eight-year-old William Rulison passed away in August of 1931, the only newspaper in Upstate New York that carried the news was Cooperstown’s Otsego Farmer. In this obituary, he was noted only as a “pioneer in balloon flying in this part of the country,” and a man who went by the title of Professor. This report of his passing left much untold, and in the material that follows I hope to give a complete account of his full and varied life. [Read more…] about New York’s Forgotten Aeronaut & Diver: William Warren Rulison
NY’s Air National Guard in the Vietnam War
The Air National Guard began flights regularly in 1966 to support Military Airlift Command operations to Japan and South Vietnam during the Vietnam War.
Other Air Guard elements supported aeromedical evacuation flights across the country to free up active duty Air Force resources for similar missions in Southeast Asia between 1965 and 1969. [Read more…] about NY’s Air National Guard in the Vietnam War
Helicopter Heroine: French General Valerie Andre
Valérie André is one of the great military aviators of the twentieth century. She was the first woman to fly a helicopter in combat and one of the first three helicopter medevac pilots. Flying more than 150 helicopter rescue missions during the French war in Indochina (including at Dien Bien Phu), and parachuting into the field twice, André was a trailblazer, a pioneer of flying helicopters in combat and an innovator of battlefield medicine, who risked her life to treat the wounded, whether they were French or Vietnamese, whether they were friend, civilian, or foe. [Read more…] about Helicopter Heroine: French General Valerie Andre
Grumman’s Long Island Test Pilot Bruce Tuttle
Jet fighters once roamed the skies above Long Island. Grumman, the aviation powerhouse behind such planes as the Hellcat and the Avenger, turned its attention to jets by the end of the Second World War. And to test those jets, they turned to men like Bruce Tuttle. [Read more…] about Grumman’s Long Island Test Pilot Bruce Tuttle
The Search Continues For A WWII Bomber Lost in Lake Ontario
At the height of World War II, a B-24 Liberator bomber vanished with its crew while on a training mission over Upstate New York. The final hours and ultimate resting place of pilot Keith Ponder and seven other US aviators aboard the plane remain mysteries to this day. [Read more…] about The Search Continues For A WWII Bomber Lost in Lake Ontario
Edward McNeil Named 2023 Harold K. Hochschild Awardee
The Adirondack Experience, The Museum on Blue Mountain Lake (ADKX) will be celebrating their annual Benefit Gala & Harold K. Hochschild Award ceremony on Saturday, July 29th from 6 to 9 pm, under the stars at their museum in the heart of the Adirondacks. [Read more…] about Edward McNeil Named 2023 Harold K. Hochschild Awardee
Queens of the Air: American Women Aviation Pioneers
Within the holdings of the National Archives, you will find many resources documenting the history and early days of aviation. Among these records include the stories and flights of American women aviation pioneers, captured by newsreel footage and World War I era photographs. [Read more…] about Queens of the Air: American Women Aviation Pioneers
A New Book On The 1962 B-47 Crash At Wright Peak
This week on The Historians Podcast the guest is Alan Maddaus, author of Wright Peak Elegy: A Story of Cold War, Nuclear Deterrence and Ultimate Sacrifice (Epigraph, 2022).
The book tells the story of a US Air Force B-47 jet bomber that crashed into Wright Peak in New York’s Adirondack Mountains in January 1962. [Read more…] about A New Book On The 1962 B-47 Crash At Wright Peak
Small Plane Crashes Into Great Sacanadga Lake
According to a press release issued by New York State Police, on Sunday, October 9th, at about 11:54 am, State Police responded to a reported accident involving a small single engine plane on Great Sacandaga Lake in the area of 328 Houseman Street in Northampton, Fulton County. [Read more…] about Small Plane Crashes Into Great Sacanadga Lake