Aviation and Heritage Roundup March 2025
Provided by Paul Squires, CAPA-ACCA Contact, Wetaskiwin, Alberta
2025 International Conference for Aviation Museum Professionals, Ottawa, May 12-16 2025
2025 International Conference for Aviation Museum Professionals – ICOM CIMUSET – ICOM CIMUSET
Comments on Trump White House orders on Museum exhibits (In no particular order)
Trump orders removal of ‘improper ideology’ from top US museums | Donald Trump News | Al Jazeera
and Trump breaks with 175 years of Smithsonian tradition and pushes for more control to rid it of ‘anti-American ideology’ | The Independent
and Trump order targets ‘improper ideology’ at famed US museums – CNA
and Trump targets ‘Anti-American ideology’ at Smithsonian museums
and Trump’s order on museums sparks debate among Americans on patriotism and history | Reuters
and Trump executive order targets the Smithsonian museums – Los Angeles Times
and Trump executive order targets DEI efforts at parks, museums and more
and Trump issues executive order targeting ‘woke’ and ‘anti-American’ culture in US museums | Euronews
and Trump is using his executive order targeting the Smithsonian to rewrite history
and Analysis: Trump order targets agency that provides crucial funding for libraries and museums | PBS News
and Donald Trump wants to take control of cultural institutions to restore ‘truth to American history’
and ‘It reminds you of a fascist state’: Smithsonian Institution braces for Trump rewrite of US history | Trump administration | The Guardian
and Trump order on Smithsonian targets programs with ‘improper ideology’ | AP News
The Trump Executive Order, March 27th 2025
Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History – The White House
March 30 – Flying the Lancaster
Exclusive Interview: Flying The Avro Lancaster with Chief Pilot Leon Evans – Vintage Aviation News
March 30 – Museum of Flight Aviation Expo
Collectibles featured at museum’s Aviation Expo — General Aviation News
March 30 – Delta Airlines celebrates 100th anniversary with re-vamped Museum
I visited Delta’s flight museum and saw 100 years of aviation history — including a legendary Boeing 747
and
Delta unveils re-imagined museum
March 30 – Early Television, with some reference to aviation. Not mentioned is the RCAF’s experiments with television guidance during the Second World War.
One of the most fertile inventive minds at the dawn of the television age and one of the few African American pioneers of that technology, William Bundy Still, part 1 | The Channel
and
One of the most fertile inventive minds at the dawn of the television age and one of the few African American pioneers of that technology, William Bundy Still, part 2 | The Channel
and
One of the most fertile inventive minds at the dawn of the television age and one of the few African American pioneers of that technology, William Bundy Still, part 3 | The Channel
March 29 – Yorkshire Air Museum turns 40
Yorkshire Air Museum Turns 40 – Vintage Aviation News
March 29 – Pilot training for Northern Indigenous students
9 Indigenous Sask. pilots-in-training almost ready to hit northern skies | CBC News
March 29 – UN Mission helicopter damaged in Sudan, story of return flight
South Sudan crisis: A UN rescue mission, a shoot-out and the injured helicopter pilot
March 28 – Effects of earthquake on airport in Myanmar
Myanmar Earthquake Hits Airline, Airport Operations
March 28 – New look at the Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum in Brandon
Air museum reopens with ‘fresh, modern look’ – Brandon Sun
March 28 – Pan Am Flight 160 loss 1973, Cargo Chemical fire
Masks, Smoke, and Mirrors: The untold story of EgyptAir flight 804 | by Admiral Cloudberg | Medium
March 27 – 40th anniversary of the Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association
Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association to Celebrate 40th Anniversary in 2025 – Vintage Aviation News
March 27 – Record breaking Wingsuit flight (Wonderful video)
Sebastián Álvarez aims for multiple FAI records with exceptional wingsuit flight | World Air Sports Federation
March 27 – Maintaining the U-2 and the A-10 – a comparison
A Crew Chief’s guide to looking after the U-2 spyplane | Hush-Kit
and
Hawg Tamer: I kept the A-10 in fighting order | Hush-Kit
March 27 – A History of Beechcraft in a nutshell
Legendary General Aviation Manufacturer: The History Of Beechcraft
March 27 – USAF Beaver on the move to new Museum
Estrella Warbird Museum Receives Three Aircraft from San Luis Obispo – Vintage Aviation News
March 26 – Penhold’s Harvard Historical Aviation Society plans new building
Harvard Historical Aviation Society has big plans – Red Deer Advocate
March 26 – Eighty Years since the first flight of the C-46 (and still flying in the North today)
Today in Aviation History: First Flight of the Curtiss C-46 Commando – Vintage Aviation News
March 25 – Two Alpha Jets of the Patrouille de France display team collide in practice.
Two French air display jets crash in rehearsal
March 25 – Effect of US tariffs on aircraft spares
Canadian aerospace groups warn fresh tariffs could raise costs
March 25 – Blended Wing Body Airline design company looking for manufacturing location.
Aircraft Manufacturer Natilus Begins Search for New Home to Build World’s Most Efficient Commercial Aircraft
March 25 – Book on Alaskan Indigenous work in the Aleutians during the Second World War
Book Talk Recalls Unique Relationship Between Alaska Natives and U.S. Military During World War II – Vintage Aviation News
March 25 – the most beautiful airports in the world
We’ve ranked the world’s most beautiful airports
March 25 – Archivist ‘Breaking Bad’, and the damage that ensued.
The 30-year quest to catch a national records thief
March 25 – Buried in mud for 5 years a discarded iPhone helps solve a museum heist.
How an iPad under the Thames solved museum thieves’ murder plot
March 24 – United flight forced to turn back after pilot forgot his passport
‘It’s quite embarrassing’: China-bound United flight turns around after pilot forgets passport
March 24 – One of the last of the Tuskegee Airmen looks at today’s purging of historic facts in USA, and the winning of the 1949 Gunnery Trophy that was suppressed until recently.
Tuskegee Airman laments prejudice as Trump tries to end DEI
March 21 – US Immigration blocks Canadians from historic trans-boundary library. Another development that might have effects on Museums and sharing information.
US blocking Canadian access to historical library on Quebec-Vermont border | Donald Trump News | Al Jazeera
and
U.S. limits Canadian access to iconic Stanstead, Que., border-straddling library, officials say | CBC News
March 21 – Controllers stop B.737 using taxiway to take off in error
Southwest flight nearly takes off on taxiway, not runway
March 21 – Heathrow fire may have been ruled accidental, but there have been other disruptions in electrical service that seem to be related to Russia. (In this article are the numerous images of the shutdown at Heathrow)
Counter terrorism police probe Heathrow fire amid claims of Russian sabotage: Substation blaze fits the pattern of Putin’s disruption attacks in Europe, and exposes ‘vulnerability’ in UK infrastructure, say experts | Daily Mail Online
March 21 – New US fighter contract approved
Trump awards Boeing contract for ‘sixth-generation’ F-47 jet
March 21 – NASA bows to pressure from White House. Will Canadian astronauts be next to be bumped?
Nasa drops plan to land first woman and first person of color on the moon | US news | The Guardian
and
NASA scrubs promise to land first woman, first person of colour on the moon from web pages | CBC News
March 20 – Autonomous helicopter being developed for naval use
Yeovil engineers building ‘helicopter that flies itself’
March 20 – Last Battle of Britain pilot dies
John Hemingway: Last surviving Battle of Britain pilot dies aged 105
March 19 – Every Cloud has a Silver Lining; unscheduled 9-month stay in space might help health of future missions.
Astronauts’ 9-month stay in space could help with healthier mission to Mars | CBC News
March 18 – 60th Anniversary of First Space Walk
60 years ago Alexei Leonov made the first ever spacewalk | World Air Sports Federation
March 17 – New destinations offered by airlines
The new flight routes to inspire your next holiday, from Croatia to Canada
March 17 – F-35s and the ‘kill switch’, in the Trump era
Whither the Panther? – Lawyers, Guns & Money
March 16 – 3D imaging ship and airplane wrecks
Shipwrecks litter the N.S. coast. Now we can see some in 3D | CBC.ca
March 16 – UK historian residency threatened because she ‘spent too much time’ researching in India. Seems short-sighted.
Oxford historian faces deportation from UK after doing research on India … in India | Higher education | The Guardian
March 15 – University of Waterloo studying electric powered aircraft
Would you fly in an e-plane? University of Waterloo researcher says it could be the future of the skies | CBC News
March 14 – Of particular interest in Canada now, F-35 vs. Gripen
F-35 versus Gripen E: A deep deep dive | Hush-Kit
March 14 – North Bay planning big airshow for 2025
Aerial spectacle promised in North Bay for Armed Forces Day 2025 – Sudbury News
March 13 – US Cuts ground Hurricane Hunters
Americans rely on NOAA weather data. Doge cuts may limit services
March 13 – A Look at Coulson Aviation, and the B.737 water bombers
How This Company Became The 1st In The World To Operate A Unique Pair Of Boeing 737s
March 13 – Art, and refuge
‘In plain sight’: how The Hague museum was secret hideout from Nazi forced labour | Netherlands | The Guardian
March 12 – Bravery award for three balloonists in England
Three Young British Balloon Pilots Awarded Britannia Trophy for bravery during tragedy | World Air Sports Federation
March 12 – underwater video of Lake Superior shipwreck
Explorers release footage of ship wreckage from 132 years ago
March 11 – Saturn’s Trojan asteroid
3 Things you should know about radon in your home, Saturn’s Trojan asteroid and 3D printed food | The Channel
March 9 – 10th Anniversary of start of Solar Impulse round-the-world flight
10th anniversary of the start of Solar Impulse’s historic solar-powered round-the-world flight | World Air Sports Federation
March 9 – Recreational Hovercraft!
A down to earth machine which could… fly – MHV Industries Limited / Modern Hover Vehicles Limited of Ottawa, Ontario, and its multi-purpose recreational hovercraft, part 1 | The Channel
and
A down to earth machine which could… fly – MHV Industries Limited / Modern Hover Vehicles Limited of Ottawa, Ontario, and its multi-purpose recreational hovercraft, part 2 | The Channel
and
A down to earth machine which could… fly – MHV Industries Limited / Modern Hover Vehicles Limited of Ottawa, Ontario, and its multi-purpose recreational hovercraft, part 3 | The Channel
Editors Note: A similar personal hovercraft was built by an engineer in Yellowknife in the same period, modified from a snowmobile, but just for his own use).
March 10 – Images of the Philippine Mars being prepared for it’s final move
The Disassembly of The Philippine Mars at Lake Pleasant – Vintage Aviation News
March 9 – Dealing with death on an airliner
What happens when a plane passenger dies during a flight?
March 9 – Enola Gay images deleted in government purge
Pentagon’s DEI Purge Mistakenly Flags B-29 Enola Gay Images – Vintage Aviation News
March 8 – Paramotor pilot encourages women to try the sport
Unforgettable moments of pride: paramotor pilot Sandra Moreels encourages women to follow her flight path | World Air Sports Federation
March 8 – Final results of the 2025 electric powered thermal glider competition in New Zealand
Results: 2025 FAI F5J World Champions for Electric Powered Thermal Duration Gliders | World Air Sports Federation
March 7 – Sixty Five years ago the Caravelle began US domestic jet service. It should have been the Avro Jetliner, sadly.
United Airlinesand La Belle Caravelle – New York Aviation History
March 6 – Passengers disarm man who boarded airliner with a shotgun
Australia: Teen armed with gun overpowered by passengers onboard plane
March 6 – Space X failure stops flights (Editors comment: I suppose, ‘a rapid unscheduled disassembly’ is more polite than saying, ‘She blowed up, real good!).
SpaceX’s Starship failed launch: Florida airports halt flights
March 6 – Again. Lunar Lander ends up on it’s side, and this time not even close to its target.
Athena spacecraft lands on Mon but appears to be on its side
and
Athena spacecraft declared dead after toppling over on moon | Space | The Guardian
March 5 – Women in Aviation Trades at Alberta Aviation Museum
Alberta Aviation Museum to host Women in Trades event | Watch News Videos Online
March 5 – Glenn Martin Museum announces expansion and re-location.
Aviation museum to ‘soar into the future’ with expansion, new location | Local | avenuenews.com
March 4 – KF Museum Kelowna celebrates women in aviation.
KF Aerospace celebrates women in aviation to attract more to workforce – Okanagan | Globalnews.ca
March 3 – US FAA dropping it’s own communications development for Starlink
FAA close to canceling $2.4 billion Verizon contract in favor of Musk’s Starlink – The Washington Post
Paywall, but gist here
FAA May Transfer $2.4B Verizon Contract To Starlink – Joe.My.God.
March 4 – First International Drone Soccer Championship to be held in Shanghai
Drone Soccer makes history: Shanghai to host the first ever FAI World Championships in 2025 | World Air Sports Federation
March 4 – International 2025 Helicopter Races set for Poland
Elite Pilots to Compete in International Helicopter Races 2025 in Poland | World Air Sports Federation
March 2 – Time, and Navigation
Plane GPS systems are under sustained attack – is the solution a new atomic clock?
March 1 – Theft of artifact from BC Railway Museum. Something we’ve all experienced from Museums
Horn heist: B.C. Train museum gets railroaded by targeted thefts | CBC News
March 1 – How hard can it be to shift a runway a few metres? Very!
Gatwick: Why is it so hard to move a runway 12 metres?
Feb. 27 – In-flight theft from overhead bins is on the rise. Advice is to put your bags in bin across from your seat, and stay awake and vigilant. ie, “Please do NOT enjoy your flight.”
How To Keep Your Valuables Safe From Thieves On Planes — So You Don’t Become The Next Inflight Theft Victim – 8days
Feb. 28 – Images from the moon by commercial lander (…before it landed and fell over)
Blue Ghost spacecraft captures marvelous views of the moon
Dec. 21, 2024 – EgyptAir 804 in-depth investigation, chilling but reading.
Masks, Smoke, and Mirrors: The untold story of EgyptAir flight 804