Category Archives: Aviation

FBI Rounds Up Japanese in Hunt for Subversives, Dec. 8, 1941

Posted on December 8, 2025 by lmharnisch

December 8, 1941: The FBI begins rounding up 200 “alien Japanese suspected of subversive activities.”
Several truckloads of Japanese were seen passing through Brea toward Pomona, Brea police reported, and orders to stop all cars bearing Japanese and to confiscate maps and binoculars or radios were given. Continue reading →

Posted in Art & Artists, Aviation, Columnists, Comics, Film, Hollywood, Jimmie Fidler, Nuestro Pueblo, Tom Treanor, World War II | Tagged , , | Comments Off on FBI Rounds Up Japanese in Hunt for Subversives, Dec. 8, 1941

October 14, 1947: Capt. Chuck Yeager Breaks the Sound Barrier

Posted on October 14, 2025 by lmharnisch

October 14, 1947: Capt. Charles E. “Chuck” Yeager breaks the sound barrier. But the Los Angeles Times holds the story until June 1948 “in the interest of national security.” Continue reading →

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September 19, 1944: Allies 310 Miles From Berlin!

Posted on September 19, 2025 by lmharnisch

September 19, 1944: Times reporter and columnist Gene Sherman files a first-person report from Palau and describes fierce fighting against the Japanese. Continue reading →

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September 16, 1947: Stanley Beltz, Colorful Lockheed Test Pilot

Posted on September 16, 2025 by lmharnisch

September 16, 1947: Colorful Lockheed test pilot Stanley Beltz is in trouble again. Beltz died in 1955 testing a F-94B Starfire and his despondent fiancee killed herself less than two weeks later. Continue reading →

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Oct. 14, 1947: Capt. Chuck Yeager Breaks the Sound Barrier

Posted on December 8, 2020 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. Hm…. U.S. prison population up for the first time since World War II…. Lawsuits over deed restrictions in South Pasadena…. A 35-year-old merchant seaman in San Francisco … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Dick Grace, Hollywood’s Daredevil Sky Pilot

Posted on May 4, 2020 by lmharnisch

  Dick Grace in action. Note: This is an encore post from 2014. Hollywood and aviation took off at about the same points in history, helping to put each other on the map. Early American aviators inaugurated the fledgling field … Continue reading →

Posted in Aviation, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Feb. 3, 1959: The Day the Music Died

Posted on February 4, 2019 by lmharnisch

I’m a day late but trying to catch up. Here’s the Mirror’s front page from 1959. This post originally ran on latimes.com and is available via Archive.org.

Posted in 1959, Aviation, Music | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Jan. 12-13, 1959: Soviet Leader Mikoyan Visits L.A.

Posted on January 12, 2019 by lmharnisch

Jan. 12-13, 1959: Protests force the plane carrying Deputy Soviet Premier Anastas Mikoyan to divert to Burbank! Mikoyan did a grip and grin with L.A. Mayor Norris Poulson, but Norrie would not be so friendly during Nikita Khrushchev’s time in … Continue reading →

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Nov. 24, 1947: Airline Passenger Dies En Route to L.A.; Shabby Drug Runner Carried a Fortune in Heroin

Posted on November 24, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. He was a shabby little man of 44 when he died with $111 in his pockets and a suitcase full of mystery and drugs. Although some … Continue reading →

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October 1947: New DC-6 Catches Fire in Midair, Crashes 30 Seconds Short of Landing Field

Posted on October 26, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. America’s first postwar airliner, the DC-6, was given a royal debut in a ceremony March 28, 1947, at Douglas’ Santa Monica plant attended by 15,000 people, … Continue reading →

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Oct. 14, 1947: Capt. Chuck Yeager Breaks the Sound Barrier

Posted on October 17, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. Hm…. U.S. prison population up for the first time since World War II…. Lawsuits over deed restrictions in South Pasadena…. A 35-year-old merchant seaman in San Francisco … Continue reading →

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Sept. 16, 1947: Stanley Beltz, Colorful Lockheed Test Pilot

Posted on September 16, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. Low flying charges have been filed by the Civil Aeronautics Administration against Stanley Beltz, Lockheed test pilot, who reportedly took a four-engined Constellation down to 200 … Continue reading →

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June 14, 1947: U.S. Customs Bars Welcoming Committee From Greeting Mexican Official

Posted on July 10, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. Finger-pointing gestures and assurances that the State Department and other higher echelons will hear protests were features of an “international incident” yesterday when Dr. Francisco Villagran, … Continue reading →

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July 3, 1947: Flying Saucers Over Beverly Hills!

Posted on July 3, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. This is where the 1947 Project intersects with other 1947 Project. Mysterious flying discs were reported June 28 over New Mexico, prompting sarcastic letters to The … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Aviation | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

June 26, 1947: Helicopter Hovers Over Clipper Ship

Posted on June 26, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. An unknown press photographer in Long Beach captured them in a small fraction of a second, the old three-masted square-rigger and the brand-new helicopter: old and … Continue reading →

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June 18, 1947: Actor Jon Hall Says Tale of Being Shot Down in Plane Was a Hoax

Posted on June 18, 2018 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project. The day before, The Times reported a curious incident in which a bullet tore into the propeller of the plane shortly after it took off for … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Aviation, Hollywood | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Black L.A., 1947: Famous Flier James O. Plinton Jr. Visits L.A.

Posted on April 6, 2018 by lmharnisch

April 3, 1947: James O. Plinton Jr., a pioneering African American aviator, visits Los Angeles to buy two Grumman amphibious planes. At the beginning of World War II, Plinton went to the Tuskegee Institute, where he was a flight instructor, … Continue reading →

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Jan. 16 in L.A. History

Posted on January 16, 2016 by lmharnisch

Jan. 16, 1910: The Times recaps Aviation Week.   A Week of Aviation Triumphs, Jan. 16, 1910 Library Officials May Remove Books on Making Alcohol, Jan. 16, 1920  TV Writers Go on Strike Over Residuals, Jan. 16, 1960 Matt Weinstock, … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Dick Grace, Hollywood’s Daredevil Sky Pilot

Posted on October 13, 2014 by lmharnisch

  Dick Grace in action. Hollywood and aviation took off at about the same points in history, helping to put each other on the map. Early American aviators inaugurated the fledgling field in the early 1900s, just as early filmmakers … Continue reading →

Posted in Aviation, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Allies 310 Miles From Berlin! Sept. 19, 1944

Posted on September 19, 2014 by lmharnisch

  Sept. 19, 1944   At a Town Hall luncheon at the Biltmore, RAF Wing Cmdr. Christopher Currant tells the audience that what we now know as the V-2 rocket is the greatest argument against isolationism. “It can be dropped … Continue reading →

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