Centennial of Naval Aviation

Grumman FF-1 FiFi

Naval Aviation Nicknames From Fifi to Rhino, and everything in between

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Scooter, Spad, Ford, FiFi, and Willy Fudd are among the many nicknames given to U.S. Navy aircraft over the past 100 years. Like family pet names, some are endearing, some …

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Marine 1st Lt. Alfred A. Cunningham

Marine Corps Aviation Centennial: A Century of Innovation

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First Lt. Alfred A. Cunningham became the first Marine to enter the world of aeronautics when he arrived at the aviation camp at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., …

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Convair F2Y-1 Sea Dart Test

XF2Y-1 Sea Dart: A Jet Fighter on Water Skis Convair's Sea Dart waterborne jet fighter was a brilliant mistake whose time never came

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“From the sea…” was a strategic doctrine that might have included jet fighters if the Convair F2Y Sea Dart had succeeded.

The Sea Dart began as Convair’s entry to a …

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Stone Elmer NC4 crew

The Coast Guard’s Role in Naval Aviation Wings of America’s fifth service

The U.S. Coast Guard has been a part – indeed, a leading innovator – in maritime aviation from early in the history of flight at sea. Although the official Coast …

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P6M SeaMaster

The Martin P6M SeaMaster – What Might Have Been Big, fast, beautiful, and doomed

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In the 1950s, the U. S. Navy saw itself being left out of all-important strategic bombing duties while the Air Force seemingly monopolized the mission with 2,000 long-range bombers ready …

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Douglas A2D-1 In Flight 1954

The U.S. Navy’s Douglas A2D Skyshark Turboprop Heavy Attack Aircraft The Skyshark was planned as a turboprop heavy attack aircraft for Navy carrier decks

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In the 1950s, some in naval aviation believed that pure jet aircraft weren’t ready to operate from ships at sea. Some naval aviators and aero engineers wanted the Navy’s carrier …

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Lockheed XFV-1 Flight Test

The Convair XFY-1 Pogo and the Lockheed XFV-1 Brilliant Mistakes: The tail-sitters tried for a different kind of VTOL

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Today, the U.S. Marine Corps has the leading role in developing and fielding short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) warplanes like the AV-8B Harrier II and F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter. …

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The Blue Angels

The Blue Angels: A 65 Year History 65 Years of Angels Over America

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At the end of World War II, the Chief of Naval Operations, Fleet Adm. Chester W. Nimitz, ordered the formation of a flight demonstration team “to keep the public interested …

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MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopters

Challenge in Transition Four leaders articulate the future of Naval Aviation

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Of all the presentations at the 2011 Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space Exposition in Washington, D.C., perhaps the most interesting was the professional development seminar: “Naval Aviation Centennial: What is the Future …

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MH-60S Knighthawks

Responsive, Relevant, Rotary-wing A history and appreciation of the helicopter in Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard aviation

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Eighty years ago, the U.S. Navy bought three XOP-1 autogyros for testing. After three historic landings on the carrier Langley and five months with Marines in Nicaragua, the pioneering rotorcraft …

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