This day in history...Dec 22

A decidedly Soviet feel to today.

1976 saw the Ilyushin IL86 taking to the skies for the first time

A year later and Antonov get in on the act with the maiden flight of the AN72

We start a journey west now, first stop being Denmark and Cimber disappearing as it was merged into a new entity Cimber Sterling in 2009.

Even further west and right into the Pacific and another airline disappears. This time into the parent. Continental Micronesia is merged into Continental in 2010. I can't find my Micronesia image so here is an example from Torsten Maiwald/Wiki Commons.

If you are interested in a brief history of different aircraft types based around their first flights then take a look at my book called ‘Flying Firsts’, information available by clicking the image below.