Pennsylvania Pilot John Hicks

Pilot who taught himself to fly celebrates 100th birthday
Pennsylvania Pilot John Hicks celebrated his 100th birthday this week and reminisced about his historic flight in a one-passenger Aeronca C-2 plane from New York to Los Angeles in 1936. Hicks, who was denied flight training because one leg was shorter than the other, taught himself to fly by studying manuals. "I read everything I could possibly read about planes," said Hicks.

DC-2 at Oshkosh 2010

DC-2 TO JOIN OSHKOSH DC-3 CELEBRATION
A rare Douglas DC-2, the predecessor to the DC-3, will join the July 26 mass arrival of 40 airplanes at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2010.

Overdue awards for WASPS

AOPA

Congress to award female pilots in WWII WASP program
Congress plans to award about 180 members of the Women Airforce Service Pilots with the Congressional Gold Medal today. The female pilots transported military personnel and flew other non-combat missions during World War II. The WASP pilots served at 120 Army Air Bases in the U.S. until 1944 but did not receive partial veterans benefits until 1977.

Update: Oshkosh DC-3’s number now At 40!

Aviation Publishing Group announced on AVWEB:

http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/OshkoshDC3FormationAt40_202114-1.html?type=pf

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It is fantastic that the organizers of a mass arrival of DC-3s and C-47s at EAA’s AirVenture Oshkosh 2010 now expect 40 aircraft to take part. in a flight to Wittman Regional Airport for a formation flyby at 1,000 feet to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the first flight of the Douglas DC-3 aircraft.

Movie: Test Pilot 1938

While watching the 1938 movie “Test Pilot” on TV
staring Clark Gable and Myrna Loy
saw some great pictures of DC-3’s …one in United Airline markings.

Joe Grant, DC-3 pilot for Saudi King

EARLY MIDEAST AVIATION CHRONICLED IN BOOK
Joe Grant, DC-3 pilot for Saudi King
The story of aviation's early days in Saudi Arabia and the pilot ins are told in King Abdulaziz...His Plane and his Pilot, a book launched at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2009 and currently available at EAA's online store Aeronautica. Author Michael Saba, Ph.D, tells the story of the king's personal pilot, 101-year-old pilot Capt. Joe Grant. A barnstormer from the 1920s, Grant flew the DC-3 given to King Abdulaziz by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in February 1945 and was instrumental in helping to develop relations between the US and Saudi governments during World War II. Grant was at AirVenture last year, appearing at a special AeroShell Square ceremony with the grandsons of FDR and King Abdulaziz. Grant also told his story in an evening program at Theater in the Woods. Listen to the program from the EAA Radio vault.

Support EAA… They are

supporting General Aviation

TANGO , MIKE , MIKE

If this does not make you proud of our military, nothing will.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZ7968BbMnU

This is not DC-3… But is Medal Of Honor and needs to be said and seen…”Bear”