On January 22, 1970, a new era of flight quietly but decisively began as a Boeing 747 lifted off from John F. Kennedy International Airport, bound for London Heathrow Airport. Operated by its launch customer, Pan American World Airways, the world’s first “jumbo jet”…
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On January 12, 1962, the Vietnam War crossed a quiet but decisive threshold. In a rubber plantation northwest of Saigon, American helicopters ferried South Vietnamese troops into combat against communist guerrillas, marking Operation Chopper—the first American combat mission and first U.S.-backed helicopter assault of…
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On October 14, 1947, in the Bell X-1 rocket-powered aircraft, Chuck Yeager did something no one had ever done before. He flew faster than the speed of sound, reaching a speed of Mach 1.06, approximately 700 miles per hour. This achievement, which took place…
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On September 30, 1968, the public saw the “Queen of the Skies” for the first time, the Boeing 747. One of the most iconic and influential commercial aircraft in aviation history, its story began in the late 1960s when Boeing initiated the development of…
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