Browsing: Military

A Brief History On May 25, 1953, the United States Army conducted a live nuclear artillery test shot, the only time the US ever conducted such a test. Digging Deeper Conducted in the Nevada desert (Nevada Test Site, later renamed the Nevada National Security Site) the test firing and detonation of a live nuclear (fission type) bomb fired from a cannon was called by the code-word Upshot-Knothole Grable.  One of only 4 “gun” type atom bombs ever detonated by the US, the warhead was constructed similar to the “Little Boy” bomb that obliterated Hiroshima in 1945.  It used 2 chunks…

A Brief History On May 18, 1958, the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter set the world speed record for an airplane by flying 1404.19 mph over a 15 mile course, at the same time becoming the first aircraft ever to hold both the world speed record and the world altitude record at the same time (91,243 feet on May 7, 1958). Digging Deeper An incredible plane in many ways, this little single jet engine powered interceptor went on to a production run of over 2500 planes and served with 15 different countries, until finally retired in 2004 (Italy). Designed as a Mach…

A Brief History On May 15, 1941, the Gloster E.28/39 jet powered fighter prototype made its first flight. This first of the Allied jet powered aircraft would be further developed into the first operational Allied jet fighter, the Gloster Meteor. The test aircraft could only make 338 mph, much slower than piston engine propeller driven fighters, but the Meteor was superb for its day when it was introduced in July of 1944, later variants capable of 600 mph. Although with limited combat experience, including no air to air combat (except against V-1 cruise missiles) the Meteor joined the War too…

A Brief History On May 8, 1945, Victory in Europe was declared by the victorious Allied Powers, which included Canada and Nova Scotia. The Port City of Halifax, Capital of Nova Scotia, was the scene of the Halifax Riot, an event simmering just under the surface waiting for the War to end in Europe for the War to begin at home. Digging Deeper Nova Scotia, Canada’s second smallest province, is on the Atlantic Coast and its Capital, Halifax, served during World War II as the important Western terminus of the vital ship lanes to and from England. The influx of…

A Brief History On May 7, 1937, while Europe watched the prelude to World War II develop during the Spanish Civil War, the German “volunteer” Condor Legion was deployed with the Heinkel He-51 biplane fighter, an anachronism already obsolete when it was built. More like a relic of World War I, that is exactly the opposition the He-51 first had in the Nieuport biplane fighters flown by the Spanish Republican Air Force. Digging Deeper Monoplanes and all metal planes were definitely not unknown when the He-51 made its combat debut, but the older fabric covered fuselage and wings, upper and…