Northern Ireland Aviation Enthusiast's Forum
General Aviation Discussion => On This Day ... => Topic started by: Angry Turnip on May 01, 2018, 08:33:50 PM
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1st May 1912.....The first flight of the Avro Type F,an early single seat aircraft.It was the first aircraft in the world to fly with a completely enclosed cabin for the pilot as an integral part of the design.
1st May 1940.....The first flight of the Douglas SBD Dauntless,a US built naval scout plane and dive bomber.In the Battle Of Midway it gained the nickname "Slow But Deadly",nothing to do with flatulence.:-)
1st May 1942.....The first flight of the Miles M.35 or Miles Libellula was a tandem wing research aircraft built by Miles Aircraft as a precursor to a proposed naval carrier fighter.
1st May 1945.....The U. S. Navy’s mixed-propulsion,unfortunately named Ryan FR Fireball,becomes the first aircraft incorporating jet propulsion to qualify for use aboard aircraft carriers.
1st May 1952..... (TWA),British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) and Air France launch the world’s first scheduled tourist-class flights on their transatlantic routes from New York,London and Paris.
1st May 1954.....The Myasishchev M-4,the first Soviet bomber designed to reach the United States and return to the Soviet Union,is displayed to the public for the first time.
1st May 1960.....A CIA Lockheed U-2A,56-6693,flown by Francis Gary Powers is shot down by a SA-2 missile near Degtyarsk in the Soviet Union during an overflight codenamed Operation GRAND SLAM. OOPS!
1st May 1965.....A Lockheed YF-12 sets a new international airspeed record of 2,070 mph (3,331 km/h).
1st May 1982.....BAE Sea Harriers attack Falklands targets for the first time,and shoot down two Argentine Mirage III fighters.They are the first air-to-air kills of the Falklands War.
1st may 1982.....Black Buck 1,RAF Avro Vulcan XM607 bombs the airfield at Port Stanley involving a complex refueling operation that included eleven H.P Victor`s.Five of the seven planned raids were completed.
1st May 1990.....The first flight of the MD520N,introduced a revolutionary advance in helicopter design,dispensing with a conventional anti-torque tail rotor,for a NOTAR system.
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1st May 1945.....The U. S. Navy’s mixed-propulsion,unfortunately named Ryan FR Fireball,becomes the first aircraft incorporating jet propulsion to qualify for use aboard aircraft carriers.
The Fireball could shut-down either engine, but would normally cruise on the R-1820 ( same engine as the much earlier Wildcat ) and add the jet for combat. This gave lower cruising fuel consumption than a big piston engine yet better accleration for intercepting Kamikazes.
Somewhere on the web is a wartime anecdote of a schoolboy who lived near the Ryan plant at San Diego. One day he saw an aeroplane flying steadily with its propellor feathered, and another a few days later. At the time the jet engine was on the secrets-list and no-one believed him until he persuaded his best friend to cycle all morning to reach the edge of the airfield where they stood gobsmacked at Fireballs flying around with no visible means of propulsion!
(http://d2rormqr1qwzpz.cloudfront.net/photos/2015/10/28/55-82806-1-fireball-1446046849.jpg)
Ryan received orders for 1,300 Fireballs, which at the end of the war was cut to ... 66. It was the closest the company got to breaking into the big-league.
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2nd May 1909.....John-Moore Brabazon becomes the first resident Englishman to make an officially recognized aeroplane flight in England.He uses a Voison biplane.
2nd May 1925.....The Douglas C-1 biplane makes its first flight,it was a cargo transport aircraft for the USAAS.It was powered by a 435HP Liberty V-1650-1 V-12 water-cooled engine.
2nd May 1935.....The first flight of the Soviet Bolkhovitinov DB-A,a long range four engine bomber,it had many advanced features for the time.Only 14 aircraft were completed.
2nd May 1952..... BOAC introduces the de Havilland DH.106 Comet on its London-Johannesburg route,the first regular service flown by a jet airliner.G-ALYP makes the first flight.
2nd May 1957.....The McDonnell F-101 Voodoo,a supersonic jet fighter enters service with the USAF.The F-101A was powered by two Pratt & Whitney J57-P-13 turbojets.
2nd May 1966.....BEA (British European Airways) opens the first jet service between London Heathrow and Glasgow, using de Havilland Comet 4 Bs.
2nd May 1998.....The 100th and last Rockwell B-1B is delivered to the USAF.The Rockwell B-1 Lancer is a supersonic variable-sweep wing,heavy bomber.
2nd May 2009.....Uli Dembinski, German aerobatic pilot, establishes a record of 333 loops with his Yak-55. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exxTF_jmEWY
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3rd May 1923....U. S. Air Service Fokker T-2 pilots Lt`s Oakley G.Kelly and John A.Macready complete the first non-stop flight across the United States in 26 hours,50 min,38.4 seconds.
3rd May 1950....The prototype Blackburn B-54 Y. A.8.with a crew of three makes his first flight.It is a carrier-borne anti-submarine warfare aircraft,powered by a Griffon 57 engine.
3rd May 1950....HMS Ark Royal (R09) is Launched at Birkenhead.It was the first aircraft carrier to be commissioned with an angled flight deck.It was scrapped at Cairnryan in 1980.
3rd May 1952....The first landing at the North Pole is made by Americans Lt. Col. William Benedict and Lt. Col. J.Fletcher on a ski-and-wheel equipped Air Force Douglas C-47.
3rd May 1976....A Pan Am Boeing 747SP makes a record around-the-world flight, taking 1 day 22 hours.It took off on May 1,and refueled in Delhi and Tokyo.
3rd May 1977....The first flight of the Bell-XV15,tiltrotor VTOL aircraft.It was a successful experimental tiltrotor aircraft,and the first to demonstrate the concept's high speed performance.
3rd May 2009....XM715,a Handley Page Victor,briefly becomes airborne during a fast taxi run at Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGjPu6DPzWU
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4th May 1916.....Zeppelin LZ-32 is shot down and destroyed by British naval gunfire,from HMS Phaeton and HMS Galatea.
4th May 1924.....First flight of the Sikorsky S-29-A,it was an all-metal,twin-engine biplane airliner.It was the first aircraft that aviation pioneer Igor Sikorsky designed and built after coming to the United States.
4th May 1927.....First flight of the Short Crusader,a racing seaplane one-off,built to compete in 1927 Schneider Trophy race.It had a Bristol Mercury I 9 cylinder air-coled radial, 810 hp engine.
4th May 1936.....Amy Johnson sets out to set a new England-South Africa speed record in a Percival Gull Six,G-ADZO powered by a 200 hp (149 kW) de Havilland Gipsy Six.
4th May 1942.....The Battle of the Coral Sea begins-it is fought between USN and Japanese carriers.It is the first carrier vs carrier engangement.The battle rages for 4 days.
4th May 1949.....The Canadian "Blue Devils" Aerobatic team is formed.The unit was the RCAF's first postwar aerobatic team,and flew de Havilland Vampire jet aircraft from 1949 to 1951.
4th May 1950.....The sole prototype reconnaissance platform of the Northrop YRB-49A Flying Wing,takes to the air for the first time.After only 13 flights it is scrapped 1st Dec 1953.
4th May 1953.....Canberra B2 WD952,fitted with Rolls-Royce Olympus engines,set a world altitude record,flying at 63,668 ft (19,406 m).
4th May 1959.....The first flight of the Swiss built Pilatus PC-6 Porter,a single-engined STOL utility aircraft.Built with both piston and turboprop power,production is due to end in 2019.
4th May 1963.....The fist flight of the Dassault Falcon 20,it is a French business jet,it became the first of a family of business jets to be produced under the same name.
4th May 1989.....Launch: Space Shuttle Atlantis STS-30 at 14:48:59 EDT. Mission highlights: Magellan Venus probe deployment.
4th May 2004.....US Airways becomes the 15th member of the airline coalition Star Alliance.
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5th May 1926....The first flight of the Wright XF3W Apache,a racing aircraft for the US Navy.They used it as a test bed for the Pratt & Whitney R-1340 radial engine.
5th May 1930....Amy Johnson sets out from Croydon in de Havilland DH.60 Gipsy Moth G-AAAH,in attempt to fly to Australia.She arrives successfully at Darwin May 24th.
5th May 1950....Prototype Scottish Pioneer II (VL515),civil registered as G-AKBF makes its first flight.It was able to operate out of very short, unprepared strips.
5th May 1961....Alan Shepard became the second person,and the first American,to travel into space.He would later command the Apollo 14 mission,and play some Lunar Golf.
5th May 1967....Ariel 3 was the first artificial satellite designed and constructed in the United Kingdom.It was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base.
5th May 1968....A Grumman Gulfstream II becomes the first executive jet to make a non-stop Atlantic crossing after completing a 3,500-mile flight,New Jersey to London Gatwick.
5th May 1993....Jet Airways commenced flight operations-It operates over 300 flights daily to 65 destinations worldwide from its main hub at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport.
5th May 2004....Air France and Netherlands-based KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines) merge,the two airlines are now known as Air France-KLM.
5th May 2005....The first flight of the Dassault Falcon 7X,is a large-cabin,tri-engine 5,950 nmi range business jet.It can carry up to 20 passengers and two crew.
5th May 2008....Philippine Airlines’ regional carrier PAL Express,began operations with 8 daily flights between Manila and Malay with Bombardier Dash-8-400 turboprops.
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6th May 1908.....The Wright brothers fly at Kittyhawk again,the first time since 1905.Wilbur flies the 1095 Flyer III,modified to carry a passenger.
6th May 1926.....Flying a Blackburn Dart,Flt Lt.Gerald Boyce makes the first night deck landing in history,aboard the British aircraft carrier HMS Furious.
6th May 1930.....The first flight of the Boeing Model 200 Monomail.It featured a single,low set,all metal cantilever wing.Retractable landing gear and a streamlined fuselage.
6th May 1935.....First flight of the Curtiss P-36 Hawk,also known as the Curtiss Hawk Model 75,an American-designed and built fighter aircraft.It was developed into the P-40 Warhawk.
6th May 1936.....First flight of the Latécoère 298,a French seaplane,designed primarily as a torpedo bomber,but served also as a dive bomber.It was powered by a Hispano-Suiza 12Ycrs liquid-cooled V-12, (880 hp).
6th May 1941.....Igor Sikorsky sets a world endurance record for helicopter flight of 1 h 32 min,in a Sikorsky VS-300.It was retired to the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn,Michigan.
6th May 1941.....The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt makes it`s first flight.The P-47 was designed around the powerful Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp engine.Primary armament was eight .50-caliber machine guns.
6th May 1942.....The first flight of the Kawanishi N1K Kyōfū.It was considered by both its pilots and opponents to be one of the finest land-based fighters flown by the Japanese in WWII.
6th May 1944.....First flight of the Douglas XB-42 Mixmaster was an experimental bomber aircraft,it had two engines within the fuselage driving a pair of contra-rotating propellers mounted at the tail in a pusher configuration.
6th May 1944.....First flight of the Mitsubishi A7M Reppū fighter,objectives were to achieve superior speed, climb, diving, and armament over the A6M Zero.Only 10 built.
6th May 1955.....United Airlines begins the first nonstop flights between New York and San Francisco.
6th May 1959.....The first flight of the SNECMA C.450 Coléoptère,it was a single-person aircraft with an annular wing designed to take-off and land vertically.
6th May 1968.....Astronaut Neil Armstrong ejects from Bell Aerospace Lunar Landing Research Vehicle No. 1,his only injiury is to bite his own tongue.
6th May 1993.....STS 55, 55th overall flight of the US Space Shuttle and the 14th flight of Columbia lands at Edwards AFB.
6th May 2006.....The US.Air Force retired the last Lockheed Martin C-141 Starlifter "The Hanoi Taxi"landed for the last time,and was received in a ceremony at the National Museum of the USAF.
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7th May 1912....A Wright biplane,flown by Lieutenant Thomas De Witt Milling at College Park in Maryland,becomes the first aeroplane to be armed with a machine gun.
7th May 1918....The first flight of the Curtis 18,a two-seat fighter triplane with single-bay wings,powered by a 400-hp (298-kW) Curtiss-Kirkham K-12 piston engine.
7th May 1926....The first flight of the Bleriot 127,it was a large monoplane bomber that featured open gunner's positions in its nose and at the rear of its two underwing engine nacelles.
7th May 1927....Varig,the Brazilian Airline is founded.It`s first aircraft was also the first registered in Brazil,a Dornier Do J Wal flying boat P-BAAA.
7th May 1932....The first flight of the Dornier Do 11,a German medium bomber although it was offically classed as a frieghter,it was a trainer for the still secret Luftwaffe.
7th May 1938....First flight of the Arpin A-1 was a two-seat low-wing monoplane powered by a single radial engine in pusher configuration,mounted behind the cabin between twin booms that carried the tail.Only one was built.
7th May 1943....Colonel Frank Gregory made the first helicopter landing aboard ship with a Sikorsky R-4,in Long Island Sound,USA.
7th May 1944....The first flight of the Beechcraft XA-38 Grizzly,a gound attack aircraft featuring a 75 mm cannon with 20 rounds,in a fixed position on the nose and two .50 cal M2 Browning machine guns.
7th May 1946....The first flight of the Handley Page H.P.67 Hastings,a 4 engine troop-carrier and freight transport aircraft.The Hastings was rushed into service because of the Berlin Airlift.
7th May 1959....First flight of the Italian Procaer F.15 Picchio,low-wing cantilever monoplane,with retractable tricycle undercarriage.Approx 50 were built.
7th May 1965....The first flight of the Canadair CL-84 "Dynavert",a V/STOL turbine tiltwing monoplane.the CL-84 was successful in the experimental and operational trials but no orders were placed.
7th May 1979....The Lockheed L-1011 Tristar 500,the last version enters service with British Airways.It has a 14ft shorter body,longer wings,andmore powerful RB211-524B engines.
7th May 1984....The first flight of the Swiss built Pilatus PC-9,a single-engine,low-wing tandem-seat turboprop training aircraft.It is still in production with 265 built so far.
7th May 1992....Launch: Space Shuttle Endeavour STS-49 at 7:40 pm EDT. Mission highlights: Intelsat VI repair;first flight of Endeavour.First 3 person EVA.
7th May 2011....Swiss “Jetman” Yves Rossy completed an eight-minute flight along the Grand Canyon,flying his jet-propelled wing attached to his back,and steering only by moving his body.
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8th May 1919.....A crew of USN aviators flew a Curtis NC-4 from New York State to Lisbon,Portugal,over the course of 19 days.Alcock and Brown made the first non-stop crossing a few weeks later.
8th May 1927.....Charles Nungesser and François Coli attempted to cross the Atlantic from Paris to New York City in a Levasseur PL-8 biplane,but they disappeared over the Atlantic.
8th May 1935.....Amelia Earhart makes a non-stop flight from Mexico City to Newark in New Jersey,in 14 hours 19 min,once more flying her Lockheed Vega.
8th May 1935.....The first flight of the Handley Page H.P.51,monoplane conversion of the earlier,unsuccessful biplane bomber-transport aircraft,the Handley Page H.P.43.
8th May 1943.....First flight of the Savoia-Marchetti SM.95,an Italian four-engine,mid-range transport aircraft.It was powered by 4 × Alfa Romeo 128 RC.18 radial engines,of 850 hp each.
8th May 1944.....The Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber enters service with the USAAF.It had 4 × Wright R-3350-23 Duplex-Cyclone turbosupercharged radial engines,of 2,200 hp
8th May 1945.....V-E Day.Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces.The formal surrender of the German forces occupying the Channel Islands did not occur until the following day,9 May 1945.
8th May 1953..... First flight of the SNCASO Farfadet,a gyrodyne type aircraft featuring a tip-jet driven,three-bladed rotor,a fixed wing and a turboprop engine driving a nose-mounted propeller.
8th May 1973.....The Airbus A300 B prototype makes the type’s first fully automatic landing in Toulouse,France.The A300 entered service 30th May 1974 with Air France.
8th May 2010.....Following an eight-year restoration and an estimated 18,000 man hours,a Boeing Model 40,had an aerial rendezvous with Boeing's newest passenger aircraft,the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
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9th May 1912..... Lt.Com.Charles Samson RN becomes the first person to fly an aircraft off the deck of a moving ship.He takes off in a Short S.38 from the deck of HMS Hibernia in Weymouth Bay.
9th May 1917.....William E. Boeing`s Pacific Aero Products Co,became the Boeing Airplane Company.They got a large order from the USN for the Model C training seaplanes.
9th May 1923.....The first flight of the Bleriot 115,a French biplane airliner.It was a large aircraft,mounting one pair of engines on the upper wing and the other pair on the lower.
9th May 1926.....American`s Byrd and Bennet make the first flight over the North Pole in a Fokker F.VIIa-3 m.Their total distance from Spitzbergen,Norway is 1,600 miles.
9th May 1932.....Cpt.Albert Hegenberger develops the first blind flying landing system.He makes the first complete solo blind flight from take-off to landing.
9th May 1934.....First flight of the de Havilland DH.87 Hornet Moth,a a single-engined cabin biplane.There was no interest from the RAF,so the aircraft was put into production for private buyers.
9th May 1936.....The German airship Hindenburg lands at Lakehurst, New Jersey after its first scheduled transatlantic flight.It was destroyed by fire 14 months later on May 6,1937.
9th May 1937.....The first flight of the Lockheed XC-35,it was a development of the Lockheed Model 10 Electra,and the second American aircraft to feature cabin pressurization.
9th May 1942.....Operation Bowery,64 Supermarine Spitfires are flown to Malta from the US aircraft carrier USS Wasp and the Royal Navy carrier HMS Eagle.
9th May 1943.....A German night fighter crew defects to the UK,in a Junkers Ju 88R-1.It gives Allied scientists and tacticians access to a Lichtenstein airborne interception radar.
9th May 1948.....First flight of the Percival Merganser,a light civil transport,with twin de Havilland Gipsy Queen 51 six-cylinder inverted air-cooled in-line piston engines of 296 hp each.
9th May 1949.....First flight of the Republic XF-91 Thunderceptor,not one of Gerry Anderson`s creations,but a mixed-propulsion interceptor using a jet engine for flight, and four small rocket engines for added thrust.
9th May 1960.....The first flight of the Auster D.6,a four-seat British light aircraft,a development of the Auster Autocar with a horizontally opposed engine.A 160 or 180 hp engine was available.
9th May 1962.....The Sikorsky CH-54 Tarhe twin-engine heavy-lift helicopter makes it`s first flight.It is powered by 2 × Pratt & Whitney T73-P-700 turboshaft engines, 4,800 shp.
9th May 1967.....Another first flight,the Fokker F28 Fellowship,a short range jet airliner.Production ran from 1967-1987 with 241 aircraft built.It was used by civil and military operators.
9th May 1978.....David Cook makes the first crossing of the English Channel in a powered hang-glider.
9th May 1981.....The British aircraft carrier HMS Hermes re-enters service with the Royal Navy as the world’s first carrier with a ski-jump ramp,developed by Lt.Com D. R. Taylor.
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10th May 1913.....First flight of the The Sikorsky Russky Vityaz,was the first four-engine aircraft in the world,designed by Igor Sikorsky and built at the Russian Baltic Railroad Car Works.
10th May 1925.....The first flight of the Armstrong Whitworth Atlas was a British single-engine biplane.It served as an army co-operation aircraft for the Royal Air Force.
10th May 1941.....Rudolf Hess parachutes into Scotland to try to negotiate an alliance with Britain against the Soviet Union.He was taken prisoner and committed suicide in Spandau 17thAug 1987 aged 93.
10th May 1946.....First successful launch of an American V-2 rocket at White Sands Proving Ground,part of Operation Paperclip.The Soviet Union also built a version of the V2.
10th May 1950.....The first flight of the de Havilland DH.114 Heron a small four engine prop airliner.It was operated by several military and civil operators.150 were built during it`s production.
10th May 1961.....A Convair B-58 cruises at 1,302 miles per hour,and wins the Blériot trophy,created 30 years earlier for the first airplane to maintain a speed of more than 1,200 mph for more than 30 min in a closed circuit.
10th May 1967.....Northrop M2-F2,NASA 803,during the 16th glide flight,crashes at Edwards Air Force Base.Footage used for television program "The Six Million Dollar Man". Pilot Bruce Peterson survives.
10th May 1972.....First flight of the Fairchild Republic YA-10 (later A-10),a single-seat,twin-engine,straight-wing jet designed for close air support.It has a 30 mm (1.18 in) GAU-8/A Avenger rotary cannon.
10th May 1986.....The U. S. Navy selects the F/A-18 Hornet as the official airplane of the Blue Angels flight demonstration squadron.The team was founded in 1946.
10th May 1990.....Flt`s Julie Ann Gibson and Sally Cox become the first female pilots to fly solo in Royal Air Force (RAF) jet aircraft.They fly Jet Provost`s at RAF Linton-on-Ouse.
10th May 1991.....The first flight of the Bombardier CRJ100/200,a twin jet regional airliner.Lufthansa CityLine was the launch customer for the CRJ100,over 1000 were built,production ended 2006.
10th May 2012.....The first flight of the AgustaWestland AW169,a twin-engine, 10-seat,4.8t helicopter.It is currently operated by civil and government users.AW169M is the militarised variant.
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11th May 1911....Édouard Nieuport,sets a new speed record of 74.4 mph (119.7 km/h) flying his Nieuport 11-N.He was co-founder with his brother Charles of the Nieuport aircraft company.
11th May 1927....Charles Lindbergh lands his new Ryan airplane,the Spirit of St. Louis,in St. Louis after a record non-stop overnight flight from San Diego of 14 hours,25 min.
11th May 1934....The first flight of the Douglas DC-2,a 14-seat twin-engined airliner.In 1935,Douglas produced a larger version called the DC-3,which became one of the most successful aircraft in history.
11th May 1936....The first flight of the Bristol Type 138,a high-altitude research aircraft,powered by a Bristol Pegasus P.E.6S radial of 500 hp.In 1937 it reached what was later certified as 53,937ft.
11th May 1964....Jackie Cochran sets a new women's airspeed record of 1,429 mph (2,300 km/h) in a F-104 Starfighter.
11th May 1969....A Royal Navy F-4 Phantom of 892 Naval Air Squadron set a new world air speed record between New York and London in 4 hours and 46 min,including a refuel from a Victor tanker.
11th May 1987....The first flight of the Learjet 31,a high speed business jet.Normal cruise altitudes range from 41,000 to 47,000 feet,but only 38 Learjet 31s being built.
11th May 2009....Launch: Space Shuttle Atlantis STS-125 at 18:01:56 UTC. Mission highlights: Last Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission (HST SM-04). Final Non-ISS flight.
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12th May 1927....First flight of the Yakovlev AIR-1,a Soviet two-seat light biplane the first aircraft designed and built by Aleksandr Sergeyevich Yakovlev.It was powered by an ADC Cirrus 60 hp engine.
12th May 1927....The Armstrong Whitworth A.W.14 Starling makes it`s first flight.A biplane fighter,but it lost out to the Bristol Bulldog.Just two were completed.
12th May 1936....First flight of the Messerschmitt Bf 110,a twin-engine heavy fighter and fighter/bomber.The Bf 110 served with considerable success in the early campaigns of WWII.Over 6000 were built.
12th May 1941....The Platt-LePage XR-1,also known by the company designation PL-3,an experimental twin engine helicopter.It proved to be troublesome in flight tests,and the project was ended.
12th May 1949....Berlin Blockade by the Soviets is lifted at one minute after midnight.The Berlin Airlift continued for 4 more months,lasting from 26 June 1948 to 30 September 1949
12th May 1952....Squadron Leader P. G. Fisher makes the first non-stop,unrefuelled flight from England to Australia in an English Electric Canberra bomber in a record 23 hours 5 min.
12th May 1954....The Republic F-84F Thunderstreak enters service with the USAF.A swept-wing turbojet fighter-bomber,it also saw service with several European nations air forces.
12th May 1964....American pilot Joan Merriam Smith lands her Piper Apache to complete the second round-the-world flight by a woman.She took 56 days.Starting and ending in Oakland,California.
12th May 1967....First flight of the Aermacchi AM.3,an Italian single engine high wing observation aircraft.It was powered by a Lycoming GSO-480-B1B6 piston engineof 340 hp.
12th May 1982....Braniff Airways ceased all operations,thus ending 54 years of service in the American airline industry.Outbound flight passengers were forced to disembark,being told that Braniff ceased to exist.
12th May 2004....The Israeli Air Force retires it`s F-4 Phantom II`s from service.
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13th May 1912...A Flanders Monoplane crashed at Brooklands,The accident was investigated by the Royal Aero Club,which issued the first report into an aviation accident and established the science of aviation accident investigation.
13th May 1912...The RFC is established one month after King George signed a royal warrant approving the plan,by the end of that year it had 12 manned balloons and 36 aeroplanes.
13th May 1927...Colonial Air Transport offers a sightseeing trip from Teterboro,New Jersey,around New York City for just $8,less than the price of a similar trip in a taxi.
13th May 1934...Airmail pilot William Frye sets a new United States coast-to-coast record,carrying mail from Los Angeles to Newark.The journey is completed in 11 hours 31 min with a Douglas DC-1.
13th May 1940...First flight of the Bell XFL Airabonita,a experimental shipboard interceptor similar to the land-based P-39 Airacobra,differing mainly in the use of a tailwheel undercarriage.
13th May 1940...First flight of the unfortunate looking General Aircraft G.A.L.38 Fleet Shadower,it was a long-range patrol aircraft that could shadow enemy fleets at night.
13th May 1949...The English Electric Canberra makes it`s first flight,a first-generation jet-powered medium bomber.It set many world records during service.The RAF retired them June 2006.
13th May 1957...Three USAF North American F-100 Super Sabres set a new world distance record for single-engine aircraft.London to Los Angeles in 14 hours and 4 min using in-flight refueling.
13th May 1980...The first flight of the Antonov AN-3,it is essentially a turboprop-powered development of the An-2,designed to upgrade or replace it.
13th May 1989...The Antonov An-225 Mriya,Soviet strategic airlift cargo aircraft makes its first carrying flight of the Buran space shuttle.
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14th May 1908....Charles Furnas becomes the first North American passenger in an aeroplane.Wilbur Wright flew with him for a distance of 2.5 miles in a Wright Model B.
14th May 1909....Pilot S.F.Cody makes first flight of more than a mile in Britain using British Army Aeroplane No 1.Cody was born in Iowa,and came to Britain in 1890.
14th May 1936....First flight of the Miles Whitney Straight M.11 G-AECT,a two-seat cabin monoplane with dual-controls.Engine was a de Havilland Gipsy Major I air-cooled, 4-cylinder inline of 130 hp.
14th May 1937....First flight of the Focke-Wulf Fw 187 Falke,a twin-engine high-performance fighter.Only nine aircraft were completed as the Luftwaffe favoured the Messerschmitt Bf 110.
14th May 1939....The Short Stirling made it`s first flight.It has the distinction of being the first four-engined bomber in RAF service.2,371 were built,but no complete aircraft survive.
14th May 1940....The Yermolayev Yer-2,a long-range Soviet medium bomber,has its first flight.Production was halted in 1941,but resumed in 1943.They were phased out in 1949-1950.
14th May 1973....Skylab,United States'first space station,is launched.It was launched unmanned by a modified Saturn V rocket,the final mission and launch of a Saturn V.Skylab lasted from 1973 to 1979.
14th May 1997....Star Alliance is founded.The five founders were the world's leading airlines Air Canada,Lufthansa,Scandinavian Airlines,Thai Airways International and United Airlines.
14th May 2005....An AS350 helicopter piloted by test pilot Didier Delsalle touched down for 3mins 50 secs on the top of Mt. Everest,at 8,850 m (29,035 feet) setting a world record.
14th May 2010....Launch: Space Shuttle Atlantis STS-132 at 10:21:22 UTC. Mission highlights: ISS assembly flight ULF4: Mini-Research Module 1.
14th May 2013....The world's first catapult launch of an unmanned aircraft from an aircraft carrier takes place,when the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) launches a Northrop Grumman X-47B demonstrator.
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15th May 1918....The first regular US airmail service commences,between New York and Washington DC.It is operated by the U.S. Army Signal Corps,using a Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny".
15th May 1918....The Packard-Le Père LUSAC-11 makes it`s first flight,a French designed,American two-seat fighter.Destined for the USAAC,they proved unsuitable for combat and only 30 were built.
15th May 1919....The U.S.Post Office Department begins its first air mail service operations between Chicago and Cleveland,later extended to New York and San Francisco.An Airco DH.4 is used.
15th May 1921....Laura Bromwell loops in New York State 199 times in 1 h,20 min,setting a new women’s record for consecutive loops.She was killed in a crash 5th June 1921 at Mineola,Long Island.
15th May 1928....Mickey Mouse makes his debut in a cartoon called Plane Crazy,an animated homage to Charles Lindbergh.Disney fails to find a distributor for his first Mickey cartoon until March 1929.
15th May 1928....Rev John Flynn formed the AIM Aerial Medical Service,which later became the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia at Cloncurry, Queensland, using a de Havilland DH.50.
15th May 1930....Ellen Church became the first the first stewardess to fly,she was a pilot and a registered nurse.She worked for Boeing Air Transport (BAT).
15th May 1941....Frank Whittle’s jet,the Gloster E.28/39,the first British jet,flew for the first time.Whittle had built his first engine in 1935 and completed a successful test in 1937.
15th May 1957....A RAF Valiant B(K).1 dropped the first British hydrogen bomb,the "Short Granite" (AKA "Green Granite Small"), over the Pacific as part of Operation Grapple.
15th May 1957....First flight of The Miles Student M.100,a lightweight two-seat,side-by-side,all-metal jet trainer.Miles had hoped to secure an RAF order,they lost to the Jet Provost.
15th May 1963....Launch of Mercury-Atlas 9,final manned space mission of the U. S. Mercury program,The spacecraft,completed 22 Earth orbits before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.
15th May 1984....The first flight of the AMX International AMX,a ground-attack aircraft for battlefield interdiction,close air support and reconnaissance missions.
15th May 1997....Launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis STS-125 at 4:07:48.62 am EST. Mission highlights: Shuttle-Mir docking.
15th May 2000....Helios Airways operated its first charter flight to London Gatwick.It ceased operations in 2006 despite a re-brand as Ajet.
15th May 2008....Aloha Air Cargo commenced operations as an independent airline after Aloha Airlines ceased operations.They operate 3x B737`s 1x B767 and 1x Saab 340.
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15th May 1957....A RAF Valiant B(K).1 dropped the first British hydrogen bomb,the "Short Granite" (AKA "Green Granite Small"), over the Pacific as part of Operation Grapple.
And for a local connection the aircraft wotdunnit, XD818, staged through Aldergrove westbound on 2 March 1957. The weather at Goose Bay was dreadful and what was meant to be a night-stop dragged on until they departed Aldergrove at 13:00 on 7 March. During the layover the aircraft was parked on a remote dispersal and guarded continuously.
The route was Wittering - Aldergrove - Goose Bay - Namao - Travis AFB - Honolulu - Christmas Island, lots of fuel stops as that time the Valiant hadn't been cleared for the big underwing tanks. The same route was followed by the supporting Valiants on subsequent days: XD822, XD823, XD824. This was still the era when trans-Atlantic flights checked-in with the weather ships strung across the ocean.
The 'device' went by sea.
Group Captain Keith Hubbard wrote an interesting book about commanding XD818, entitled 'Operation Grapple'. It's quite dryly written but you won't be surprised to know I read it on my honeymoon!
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16th May 1915....Two Royal Naval Air Service Avro 504s intercept the Imperial German Navy Zeppelins LZ 38 and LZ 39,badly damaging LZ39 with four 20-lb (9-kg) bombs dropped on its envelope.
16th May 1930....The first flight of the Blériot 110,a large high-wing cantilever monoplane.For its long-distance mission,it was equipped with six fuel tanks in the wings and four in the fuselage.
16th May 1942....Canadian Pacific Airlines was formed,their HQ was at Vancouver International Airport in Richmond,British Columbia.They ceased trading in 1987.
16th May 1943....Operation Chastise,attacks on German dams by Royal Air Force No. 617 Squadron,subsequently known as the "Dambusters",using a specially developed "bouncing bomb" invented and developed by Barnes Wallis.
16th May 1957....First flight of the Saunders-Roe SR.53,a prototype interceptor aircraft of mixed jet/rocket propulsion developed for the Royal Air Force.One survives at RAF Cosford.
16th May 1959....Newly-formed RCAF aerobatic team the Golden Hawks,flying gold-finished North American F-86 Sabre`s performed its first demonstration at Torbay, Newfoundland.
16th May 1992....The 2,000th C-130 Hercules rolls off the production line.The Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules is currently the only version still in production,2500 C-130`s have been built as of 2015.
16th May 1992....Munich-Riem Airport the main international airport of Munich is closed down.Operations moved to the new location near Freising.The IATA airport code,and ICAO code move as well.
16th May 1992....STS-49, maiden flight of the Space Shuttle Endeavour lands at Edwards AFB.
16th May 2011....Space Shuttle Launch Endeavour STS-134 at 12:56:28 UTC.Mission highlights:ISS assembly flight ULF6,ELC 3,ROEU,Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer.Final flight of Endeavour.
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17th May 1911....First flight of the Blackburn Mercury,a monoplane trainer that accommodated pilot and student in tandem,open cockpits.Engine was a Isaacson seven cylinder aircooled radial of 50hp.
17th May 1919....The US War Department in Washington,D.C. orders the use of the national insignia on all U. S. military aircraft.
17th May 1927....First flight of the Bristol Bulldog Mk1,a single-seat biplane fighter.More than 400 Bulldogs were produced for the RAF and overseas customers.
17th May 1928....Mrs. Elliot-Lynn lands in London,becoming the first woman to fly solo from Cape Town,South Africa to London,England in an Avro Avian 594 Avian III.
17th May 1928....The Vickers Vellore makes it`s first flight.A large biplane designed as a freight/mail carrier,in single-engined and twin-engined versions.A final version,the Vellox was built as an airliner.
17th May 1943....Boeing B-17 F-10-BO Flying Fortress Serial 41-24485,"Memphis Belle",324th Bomb Squadron,makes her 25th Bombing mission.The aircraft and crew then returned to the United States.
17th May 1943....Colonel Frank Gregory made the first helicopter landing aboard ship in Long Island Sound,USA with a Sikorsky XR-4,two-seat helicopter.
17th May 1945....First flight of the Lockheed P-2 Neptune,a maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft.The type was successful in export and saw service with several armed forces.
17th May 1946....First flight of the Douglas XB-43 Jetmaster,a prototype jet bomber.The first American jet bomber to fly,it suffered stability issues and did not enter production.
17th May 1964....Lord Brabazon,English aviation pioneer,first person to qualify as a pilot in the United Kingdom,awarded Royal Aero Club Aviator's Certificate number 1 dies at the age of 80.
17th May 1987....An Iraqi Mirage F1 fighter jet fires two Exocet missiles into the U. S. warship USS Stark in the Persian Gulf,killing 37 and injuring 21 crew.
17th May 1997....First flight of the McDonnell Douglas X-36 tailless fighter technology demonstrator,powered by a 700 lb. s. t. Williams International F112 turbofan.
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18th May 1907....Wilbur Wright sails for Europe to discuss the sale of his Flyer III in London,Paris,Moscow and Berlin.
18th May 1908....First flight of the AEA White Wing.The wings were equipped with ailerons controlled by a harness worn around the pilot's body;leaning in one direction would cause the aircraft to bank.
18th May 1919....Harry Hawker and his navigator set off to fly across the Atlantic from Newfoundland.Their Sopwith Atlantic`s engine overheated but they managed to be rescued by ship.
18th May 1934....The Douglas DC-2 entered service with TWA,one week after the first flight.Pan Am and KLM also bought them,as did the military in several countries.198 were built.
18th May 1940....First flight of the Saab 17,a Swedish bomber-reconnaissance aircraft.It was powered by 1 × Piaggio P.XIbis R.C.40D 9 cyl. air-cooled radial piston engine.
18th May 1945....Boeing B-29-45-MO (serial number 44-86292) Superfortress bomber 'Enola Gay',is rolled out.It dropped the first atomic bomb of WWII on Hiroshima 6th Aug.
18th May 1951....First flight of the Vickers-Armstrongs Valiant,a British four-jet high-altitude bomber,and the first of the RAF V-Bomber force.107 aircraft were built.
18th May 1953....Jacqueline Cochran becomes the first woman to break the sound barrier.She flew a borrowed RCAF Sabre 3.She later went on to set several records in a T-38.
18th May 1953....First flight of the Douglas DC-7,a four engine transport,It was the last major piston engine-powered transport made by Douglas.338 aircraft were built.
18th May 1958....An F-104A Starfighter sets a world speed record of 2,259.82 km/h (1,404.19 mph).
18th May 1966....British pilot Sheila Scott takes off from London Heathrow for the first round-the-world solo flight.She will fly approx 31,000 miles in stages in her Piper Comanche 'Myth Too'.
18th May 1967....NASA announces crew members for the Apollo 7 space mission (first manned Apollo flight): Walter M. Schirra, Jr., Donn F. Eisele, and R. Walter Cunningham.
18th May 1969....Launch of Apollo 10,fourth manned mission in the Apollo space program,for testing all of the procedures and components of a Moon landing without actually doing so. Must have been tempting!!!
18th May 1979....First flight of the Piper PA-42 Cheyenne,a larger development of the earlier PA-31T Cheyennes I and II.It has a crew of 1 or 2,and nine passengers.
18th May 2011....Space Shuttle Endeavour docks to the ISS for its final mission.
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Second time of asking-I had it all done and then I backspaced by moo-steak,and lost it all--blah,fimp and plim.
19th May 1917...A Royal Naval Air Service Curtiss H-12 Large America flying boat bombs and sinks the German submarine U-36,the only German submarine sunk by an aircraft during World War I.
19th May 1924...Captain Georges Pelletier d'Oisy and Adjutant Lucien Besin crash their Breguet 19.A.2 on a golf course in Shanghai,ending their attempt to fly around the world eastbound.
19th May 1924...The first aerial circumnavigation of Australia is carried out, by an RAAF crew in a Fairey IIID.Australia received six IIIDs, the first being delivered in August 1921.
19th May 1934...First flight of the Russian Tupolev ANT-20 Maxim Gorky,a Soviet eight-engine aircraft,at the time the largest aircraft in the world,and capable of carrying 80 passengers.
19th May 1946...The first flight of the Handley Page Marathon (Snickers) hee hee,a four engine transport.It was designed by Miles Aircraft,the Miles company went bankrupt,Handley Page bought the assets.
19th May 1947...First flight of the Cunliffe-Owen Concordia,a 12-seat medium range transport aircraft.It failed to find any buyers,production was halted after two were completed.
19th May 1951...First flight of the Fokker S.14 Machtrainer,a Dutch two-seater military training jet for the RNAF.Twenty one were built.
19th May 1952...The first flight of the Grumman XF10F Jaguar,a prototype swing-wing fighter.It`s research pointed the way toward the General Dynamics F-111 and Grumman's own F-14 Tomcat.
19th May 1956...The Aerfer Sagittario 2 makes it`s first flight,a prototype all-metal single-seat lightweight fighter.It was the first Italian aircraft to break the sound barrier.
19th May 1961...Venera 1,the first planetary probe launched to Venus by the Soviet Union,passed within 100,000 km of Venus and entered a heliocentric orbit.
19th May 1967...The first flight of the Dassault Mirage V,a supersonic attack aircraft,derived from Dassault's popular Mirage III fighter and spawned several variants of its own,including the IAI Kfir.
19th May 1971...Boeing announces that it has canceled its Supersonic Transport (SST) project,the Boeing 2707.Rising costs and an uncertain market lead to the cancelation.
19th May 1978...First prototype Sikorsky YUH-60A Black Hawk,crashes during testing at the Sikorsky plant,the airspeed sensor for the tailplane actuating system was inadvertently left unconnected.
19th May 1978...McDonnell Douglas delivers its 5,000th F-4 Phantom II aircraft,twenty years after the first flight of the prototype.Production ended 1981 with 5195 aircraft built.
19th May 1996...Space Shuttle Endeavour STS-77 at 6:30:00.066 am EDT. Mission highlights: SPACEHAB; SPARTAN.Canadian astronaut Marc Garneau's second trip into space.
19th May 2000...Space Shuttle Atlantis STS-101 at 6:11 am EDT. Mission highlights: ISS supply.
19th May 2008...First flight of the Sukhoi Superjet 100,a Russian modern fly-by-wire regional jet,in the 75- to 95-seat category.160 have been built so far.
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20th May 1918....German bombs fall on London for the last time in World War I.The Germans have dropped 84,745 kg (186,830 lbs) of bombs and lost 61 bombers,during their year long aerial bombing campaign.
20th May 1927....Charles Lindbergh flies across the Atlantic nonstop from New York City to Paris.It is the first solo transatlantic flight.His Ryan monoplane Spirit of St. Louis covers the 3600 miles.
20th May 1932....Amelia Earhart,flying a Lockheed Vega,becomes the first woman to make a solo flight across the North Atlantic,flying from Harbour Grace,Newfoundland to Culmore,Northern Ireland.
20th May 1933....Turkish Airlines is founded.The early fleet was two five-seat Curtiss Kingbirds,two four-seat Junkers F.13s,and one ten-seat Tupolev ANT-9.
20th May 1937....First flight of the de Havilland DH.91 Albatross,a four engine transport,it was notable for the ply-balsa-ply sandwich construction of its fuselage.Seven were built.
20th May 1941....Germany invades Crete in Operation Merkur,the Luftwaffe’s first large airborne assault,and the first mainly airborne invasion in military history, dropping 10,000 paratroopers and 750 glider troops.
20th May 1951....USAF Captain James Jabara becomes the first fighter ace to score his five victories in a jet (F-86 Sabre) against jets (Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 s).
20th May 1959....First flight of the Aérospatiale N 262 (MH.250),a twin-turboprop high-wing airliner,built first by Nord Aviation as the Nord 262.It was operated by civil and military users.
20th May 1965....First flight of the de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter,a twin turboprop utility aircraft.They are still in production with Canadian firm Viking Air.
20th May 1973....The first flight of the PZL M-15,a jet-powered biplane.For its strange looks and noisy engine it was nicknamed Belphegor,after the noisy demon.It is an agri aircraft.
20th May 1977....The first flight of the Soviet Sukhoi T-10,a prototype multi-role fighter,that evolved into the Sukhoi-SU-27.It is famous for the Cobra manoeuvre. "Yee Haa Sergi "
20th May 1977....The Embraer EMB 121 Xingu enters service with the Brazilian AF.A twin turboprop utility aircraft,based on the EMB 110 Bandeirante with an all-new fuselage.
20th May 2003....First flight of Burt Rutan`s SpaceShipOne.An experimental air-launched rocket-powered aircraft,with sub-orbital spaceflight capability.First flight was unmanned.
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21st May 1927....Charles A. Lindbergh landed his Spirit of St. Louis near Paris,completing the first solo airplane flight across the Atlantic Ocean.
21st May 1938....First flight of the Dornier Do26,a transport and recon flying boat.Its four engines,Junkers Jumo 205C diesels,were mounted in tractor/pusher pairs in tandem nacelles.
21st May 1945....The Grumman F8F Bearcat enters service with USN VF-19. It would be Grumman Aircraft's final piston engined fighter aircraft.Modified versions are popular among warbird owners and air racers.
21st May 1946....Royal Dutch Airlines, KLM,inaugurates a scheduled service to New York.It is the first European airline to open post-war flights to New York.
21st May 1949....A Sikorsky S-52 sets a new helicopter altitude record of 21,200 ft.It broke several speed records,and is widely believed to be the first helicopter to be looped.
21st May 1956....A B-52 Stratofortress drops the US's first air-dropped hydrogen bomb,a 3.75 MT device on Bikini Atoll.
21st May 1969....First flight of the Antonov An-26,a twin-engined turboprop civilian and military transport.1,403 of these versatile aircraft had been produced when production ended 1n 1986.
21st May 1975....First flight of the Rutan Varieze,a high performance composite homebuilt aircraft.It is powered by a Continental O-200-B air-cooled flat-four engine of 100 hp.
21st May 1977....Concorde makes a special trip from New York to Paris to mark the 50th anniversary of Charles Lindbergh’s flight.It takes 3hrs 44mins,Lindbergh took 33hrs 29mins.
21st May 1982....The Argentinian Air Force begins a seven-day-long bombing campaign again British ships in Falkland Sound and San Carlos Water.
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22nd May 1906....The Wright brothers are granted US patent No. 821,393 for their airplane control system.
22nd May 1931....First flight of the Berliner-Joyce XFJ,a prototype biplane fighter or the United States Navy.It a tendency to ground loop when landing, and it was never ordered for production.
22nd May 1946....First flight of the de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk,a tandem,two-seat,single-engined primary trainer aircraft.They were built in Canada,UK and Portugal,total built 1,284.
22nd May 1953....S/L Keith R. Greenaway won the McKee Trans-Canada Trophy,in recognition of his new methods of aerial navigation in the Arctic regions.
22nd May 1958....Flying a Douglas F4D-1 Skyray,USMC Major N. LeFaivre breaks five world climb-to-height records,including 15,000 m (49,221 feet) in 2 min 36 seconds.
22nd May 1969....Thomas P. Stafford & Eugene Cernan pilot the Apollo 10 lunar module to within 15 kms above the moon's surface,in a dress rehearsal for the first lunar landing.
22nd May 1982....The first aircraft carrier to be launched in Spain, Principe de Asturias,is launched at Ferrol.It operated AV-8B Harrier II`s plus helicopters.It was sold in 2017.
22nd May 1990....The Luftwaffe flies the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter for the last time before it is withdrawn from service.Italy was the last to retire theirs in October 2004.
22nd May 2002....First flight of the Boeing X-45 unmanned combat air vehicle.a concept demonstrator for a next generation of autonomous military aircraft,developed by Boeing's Phantom Works.
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23rd May 1915...First flight of the Fokker Eindecker,a German WWI monoplane single-seat fighter,based on Fokker's M.5K,fitted with an early version of the Fokker synchronizer mechanism controlling a single Parabellum MG14 machine gun.
23rd May 1917...First flight of the Sopwith 5F.1 Dolphin,a biplane fighter used by the RFC and later RAF.Over 2,000 were built but were retired soon after the end of WWI.
23rd May 1923...Belgian airline SABENA is formed,it was the national airline of Belgium from 1923 to 2001,based at Brussels National Airport.Its first commercial flight Brussels to London,1st July 1923.
23rd May 1928...Umberto Nobile commands the Italian airship Italia,on an ill-fated flight over the North Pole.The airship crashes on its way back,and Roald Amundsen is killed trying to rescue survivors.
23rd May 1938...First flight of the Fiat CR.42,Italian single-seat sesquiplane WWII fighter.It served primarily in Italy's Regia Aeronautica both before and during WWII.
23rd May 1943...An aircraft sinks an enemy submarine with air-to-surface rockets for the first time,as a Fairey Swordfish from HMS Archer sinks the German submarine U-752 in the Atlantic.
23rd May 1944...First flight of the Martin-Baker MB 5,a prototype fighter.Powered by a Rolls-Royce Griffon 83 liquid-cooled V-12, producing 2,340 hp and driving two three-bladed contra-rotating propellers.
23rd May 1947...First flight of the French SNCAC NC.1070,a piston engined attack and torpedo bomber.Powered by 2 × SNECMA 14R 14 cylinder two-row air-cooled radial engines,1,600 hp each.
23rd May 1956...The experimental jet,the Douglas X-3 Stiletto is retired after compeleting 51 flights.It was to test features of an aircraft suitable for sustained supersonic speeds.
23rd May 1958...First flight of the PZL-102 Kos (blackbird),a Polish two-seat touring and training monoplane.Only 10 were built.
23rd May 1967...First flight of the Hawker Siddeley Nimrod,a jet engined maritime patrol aircraft.It was an extensive modification of the de Havilland Comet,all versions were retired by 2011.
23rd May 1994...Air Nostrum is formed,a regional airline based in Valencia,Spain.It is an independent carrier which operates as a franchisee of Iberia Airlines as Iberia Regional and as Binter Canarias.
23rd May 2005...SpiceJet is formed,a low-cost airline baseed in Gurgaon,India.The airline operates a fleet of Boeing 737 and Bombardier Dash aircraft.
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23rd May 1938...First flight of the Fiat CR.42,Italian single-seat sesquiplane WWII fighter.It served primarily in Italy's Regia Aeronautica both before and during WWII
Some of them fought in the Battle of Britain! Sent as part of the Italian Air Corps with medium-bombers. They didn't score any kills but later in the war one bagged a P-38 over Italy to achieve the last biplane victory
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24th May 1910....Prince Charles of Romania becomes the first royal aeroplane passenger,in a Farman piloted by M. Osmontat at Bucharest.
24th May 1910....First and only flight of the Blackburn First Monoplane,it lasted for around one minute,and ended in a crash in which the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.
24th May 1918....Order No. 385 of the Bolshevik People’s Commissariat on Military and Naval Affairs,creates the Workers and Peasants Red Air Fleet,the predecessor of the Soviet Air Forces.
24th May 1919....Avro Civil Aviation Service begins the first domestic airline service in Britain,offering daily flights between Manchester,Southport and Blackpool.The service lasts 4 months.
24th May 1920....First flight of the Boeing Model 8,was an American biplane aircraft designed by Boeing specifically for their test pilot,Herb Munter.It was destroyed in a hanger fire in 1923.
24th May 1930....Amy Johnson lands her de Havilland Moth 'Jason' G-AAAH in Darwin,Northern Territory,becoming the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia.
24th May 1936....First flight of The Fieseler Storch Fi 156,a German WWII liaison aircraft.It remains famous to this day for its excellent STOL performance.2,900 were built.
24th May 1939....The English Imperial Airways Short Seaplane Cabot is successfully refueled in mid-air by a Handley Page bomber modified to carry aviation fuel.
24th May 1939....First flight of the Caproni-Reggiane Re.2000 Falco I,an Italian WWII interceptor/fighter,it was ordered by several nations,including the Hungarian, Swedish,and Italian governments.
24th May 1941....Nine Swordfish torpedo bombers from the British aircraft carrier HMS Victorious,score a torpedo hit on the German battleship Bismarck in the North Atlantic.
24th May 1956....First flight of the Piper PA-24 Comanche,an American four-seat or six-seat low-wing all-metal light aircraft.4,857 were built between 1957 and 1972.
24th May 1963....CIA pilot Ken Collins is forced to eject from Lockheed A-12,60-6926,S of Wendover,Utah.The cover story refers to it as a Republic F-105 Thunderchief.
24th May 1967....First flight of the Aero Spacelines Mini Guppy,a US cargo aircraft used for aerial transport of outsized cargo components.It was developed from the Boeing 377.
24th May 1969....First flight of the SIAI-Marchetti SM.1019,an Italian STOL liaison monoplane built by SIAI-Marchetti for the Italian Army,based on the Cessna O-1 Bird Dog.
24th May 1976....Two Concorde supersonic airliners – one in British Airways colors,the other in those of Air France – Land at Washington’s Dulles International Airport.
24th May 1982....RN Sea Harriers of No. 800 Squadron,attack 4 Argentinian Dassault Mirage 5 fighter-bombers off the Falkland Islands,and use AIM-9L Sidewinder missiles to shoot down three of them.
24th May 1982....The last service by a British Airways Boeing 707,is a flight from Cairo to London.
24th May 1988....British Airways takes over British Caledonian.BA made a take-it-or-leave-it deal worth more than SAS's offer.After the merger landing slots/routes at Gatwick were given to other operators.
24th May 2011....NATO stages the largest air attacks against Tripoli,with more than 20 airstrikes hitting Tripoli near Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's compound.
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25th May 1889....Igor Sikorsky,Russian/American aviation engineer who developed the first successful helicopter,was born.
25th May 1909....French Paul Tissandier,sets a world Flight Airspeed Record for an aeroplane in a Wright biplane,achieving 34mph.
25th May 1912....First plane of the Royal Norwegian Navy to arrive in Norway is the HNoMS Start,an Etrich Taube,a multi role single engine monoplane.It was powered by an 86hp Mercedes engine.
25th May 1917....A mass air-raid by 21 Gotha G.V bombers attacks Folkestone in Kent.It is the first of 22 German heavier-than-air raids on England during World War I.
25th May 1927....Lieutenant James Doolittle was the first person to do an outside loop,in a Curtiss fighter at Wright Field in Ohio.
25th May 1928....First flight of the Sikorsky S-38,a twin-engined eight-seat sesquiplane amphibious aircraft.They were used by civil and military operators including Howard Hughes.
25th May 1937....First flight of the Gasuden Koken,a Japanese long-range research aircraft.It was used to break the world record for longest flight,setting a closed circuit record of 7,240 miles in March 1938.
25th May 1940....HMS Illustrious (R87) enters service with the Royal Navy as the world's first fully armored aircraft carrier.
25th May 1951....The English Electric Canberra B2,first-generation jet-powered light bomber enters service with RAF 101 SQN.900 were built in the UK,403 in USA,49 in Australia.
25th May 1953....First flight of the North American F-100 Super Sabre,a supersonic jet fighter.They served with the USAF from 1954 to 1971 and with the (ANG) until 1979.2,294 were built.
25th May 1960....A Vickers Valiant of No.214 Sqn RAF,captained by Squadron Leader J. H. Garstin,takes off for the first non-stop flight between the UK and Singapore.
25th May 1964....First flight of the Ryan XV-5 Vertifan,a jet-powered V/STOL experimental aircraft.It had an unusual intake position above the two-seat side-by-side seating cockpit,and a T-tail.
25th May 1968....First flight of the Northrop Grumman EA-6B Prowler,a twin-engine,mid-wing electronic warfare aircraft.it was developed from the Grumman A-6 Intruder.
25th May 1969....Apollo 10-Stafford and Cernan tested the Lunar Module,separating it from the Command and Service Module and descended to within 50,000 feet of the lunar surface.
25th May 1973....Launch of Skylab 2, first manned mission to Skylab,the first U. S. orbital space station.
25th May 1976....First Flight of the Boeing E-3 Sentry, a U. S. military (AWACS) aircraft based on the Boeing 707 that provides all-weather surveillance, command, control and communications.
25th May 2003....Boeing 727 tail number N844AA mysteriously disappears in Angola,along with pilot Ben Charles Padilla.
25th May 2011....First flight of the e-Genius,a German manned electric airplane,a two seat high wing configuration aircraft completely manufactured of fibre composites and equipped with retractable gear.
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26th May 1904....The Wright brothers make their first successful flight in the Wright Flyer II.It is the first of 100 flights they will make in the Flyer II during 1904.
26th May 1909....The Zeppelin LZ-5 sets an endurance record by completing a 600-mile nonstop trip in 38 hours.It is destroyed on the ground in a storm 10th March 1910.
26th May 1910....Frederick Handley Page sets out to teach himself to fly by building his own aircraft.He makes several hops in his 'Bluebird' monoplane at Barking but crashes while attempting to turn.
26th May 1919....The three-wing,six-engine Tarrant Tabor bomber,attempts first flight at RAE Farnborough.It noses over on lift-off,crushing the fuselage and it crashes killing the crew.
26th May 1920....French aviator Alfred Fronval sets an aerobatic record by completeing 962 loops in 3 h 52 min.You have got ask why?
26th May 1924....First flight of the Tupolev ANT-2,an all metal 2 seat cantilever high-wing monoplane with a triangular cross-section.It was powered by a Bristol Lucifer engine of 100hp.
26th May 1932....First flight of the Farman F.220,a high-winged,four engined monoplane bomber.Engines were 4 × Gnome-Rhône 14N-11 radial engines,of 950 hp each.
26th May 1941....First flight of the Kayaba Ka-1,the Kayaba Ka-1 and Ka-2 were Japanese autogyros,seeing service during World War II for artillery spotting.
26th May 1941....First flight of the Northrop XP-61 Black Widow prototype.The first operational U.S. warplane designed as a night fighter,and the first aircraft designed to use radar.
26th May 1958....The second prototype Short SC.1 made the first tethered vertical flight.It was attached to a specially-devised gantry,which allowed only a limited amount of freedom.
26th May 1965....Sir Geoffery de Havilland dies aged 82.
26th May 1969....Apollo 10 astronauts returned to Earth after a successful eight-day dress rehearsal for the first manned moon landing.
26th May 1970....The prototype Tupolev Tu-144 supersonic airliner reaches a speed of 1,335mph, becoming the first commercial transport in the world to exceed Mach 2.
26th May 1977....First flight of the NDN Firecracker,a UK single piston-engined trainer designed to replicate the handling of a jet trainer.Nigel Desmond Norman,of Britten-Norman was behind the venture.
26th May 1983....A Learjet 55 sets a world speed record in its class of 448 mph over the 5,655 mile route between Los Angeles and Le Bourget.
26th May 1989....Eurofly is founded,a privately owned airline based in Milan,Italy controlled by Meridiana,it was Italy’s leading carrier in leisure flights market.They merged with Meridiana in 2010.
26th May 2010....The Boeing X-51A Waverider makes a successful first flight,reaching nearly Mach 5.It is the first time an aircraft flies powered by a practical thermally balanced hydrocarbon-fueled scramjet engine.
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27th May 1912.....The French Navy’s Foudre,the world’s first seaplane carrier embarks her first floatplane,a Canard Voisin.It was first commissioned in 1896 as a torpedo boat tender.
27th May 1924.....Adrienne Bolland wins the women’s record for looping from Laura Bromwell,performing the feat 212 times in 1 h,1 min in her Caudron 127 in Paris.Bunch of loopers! :-).
27th May 1931.....The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Laboratory at Langley Field,Virginia,begins operation of a full-scale wind tunnel.
27th May 1933.....First flight of the de Havilland Leopard Moth,a three-seat high-wing cabin monoplane.A total of 133 aircraft were built,production ended in 1936.
27th May 1936.....First flight of the Fairey Seafox,a reconnaissance floatplane for the Fleet Air Arm.Of the 66 built,two were finished as landplanes.It`s engine was a Napier Rapier VI piston of 395hp
27th May 1941.....The German battleship Bismarck is sunk by British naval and air forces.Swordfish torpedo bombers from HMS Ark Royal,had badly damaged Bismark`s rudder.
27th May 1954.....The Canadian Government awarded Canadair a contract to produce 13 maritime patrol/ASW aircraft based on the Bristol Britannia.It was designated Canadair CL-28 ARGUS.
27th May 1955.....First flight of the Sud Aviation Caravelle,a French short/medium-range jet airliner.The Caravelle became one of the most successful European first-generation jetliners.
27th May 1958.....The Republic F-105 Thunderchief enters USAF service.A Mach 2 capable fighter bomber,the F-105 was commonly known as the "Thud" by its crews.
27th May 1958.....First flight of the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II,a multi-role combat aircraft originally develoed for the USN.It served with many counties armed forces,with a small number still active.
27th May 1961.....The first crossing of the English Channel by a VTOL aircraft is made by the Short SC.1,is flown by A. Roberts from England to Paris for the Paris Air Show.
27th May 1999.....First flight of the Bombardier CRJ-900,a Canadian regional airliner.In 2007,Bombardier launched the CRJ900 NextGen to replace the initial version.
27th May 1999.....Launch:Space Shuttle Discovery STS-96 at 06:49 EDT.A logistics and resupply mission for the International Space Station,carrying the Spacehab Double Module (DM) 13th Spacehab overall.
27th May 2011.....NATO aircraft conduct 151 sorties over Libya,striking a command and control facility in Tripoli,ammunition storage facilities near Sirte,Mizda,and Hun.
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28th May 1914....Glenn Curtiss successfully flies the refurbished Langley Aerodrome,an experimental powered aircraft,for a distance of approximately 150 ft. at Keuka Lake,New York.
28th May 1916....First Flight of the Sopwith Triplane flown by Harry Hawker,a single seat fighter,it was the first military triplane to see operational service.Only 147 were built.
28th May 1920....The first Lewis & Vought VE-7 is delivered to the USN.It was designed as a two-seat trainer,but the USN used it as it`s first fighter aircraft.
28th May 1931....A Bellanca CH-300 with a Packard DR-980 diesel engine flew for 84 h: 32 m without landing for fuel setting a record,which was not broken until 55 years later by the Rutan Voyager.
28th May 1947....BSAA trials non-stop flights operating a converted Avro Lancaster,from London to Bermuda using aerial refueling over the Azores.
28th May 1947....First flight of the Sukhoi Su-11 (1947),an early Soviet jet with Lyulka TR-1 turbojets.Testing revealed that it lacked stability at speed,and project was cancelled.
28th May 1948....The Royal Netherlands Navy commissions its first fleet aircraft carrier,HNLMS Karel Doorman (R81),which formerly had served in the Royal Navy as HMS Venerable.
28th May 1969....First flight of the Saunders ST-27,a regional airliner developed from the de Havilland Heron.It featured two Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 turboprops and a stretched fuselage.
28th May 1971....First flight of the French Dassault Mercure,a twin-engined narrow-body jet airliner.The Mercure had very little success on the market,only 12 were built for Air Inter.
28th May 1987....Mathias Rust flew illegally into Soviet airspace in a Cessna 172 and landed in Moscow's Red Square.He was officially pardoned by Andrei Gromyko,and released after 14 months in prison.
28th May 1989....First flight of the AIDC F-CK-1 Ching-kuo,an indigenous Taiwanese multirole fighter.It resembles aspects of the F-16 and F-20 Tigersahrk,both of which the US had refused to sell them.
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29th May 1908....First passenger flight in Europe as Henri Farman takes up Ernest Archdeacon for a brief flight at Issy-les-Moulineaux,France.
29th May 1923....The Consolidated Aircraft Corporation was founded,by Reuben H. Fleet in Buffalo,New York.Among their best known aircraft were the PBY Catalina,the B-24 Liberator heavy bomber.
29th May 1935....First flight of the Messerschmitt Bf 109,often called the Me 109,which is incorrect,it became the backbone of the Luftwaffe's fighter force.The Bf 109 is the most produced fighter aircraft in history,with a total of 33,984 airframes produced from 1936 up to April 1945.
29th May 1940....First flight of the Vought F4U Corsair,a US fighter that saw service primarily in World War II and the Korean War.Demand was so high they were also produced by Goodyear and Brewster.
29th May 1941....The USAAC forms Ferrying Command to fly newly manufactured aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean to the United Kingdom under the lend-lease Act.
29th May 1944....Aircraft carrier USS Block Island is torpedoed and sunk near the Azores,by three torpedoes from U-549.It was the only US Navy carrier lost in the Atlantic.
29th May 1947....A captured, modified V-2 rocket,launched from White Sands Proving Grounds,New Mexico,fails to reach its maximum altitude,and comes down ~three minutes later,impacting in Tepeyac cemetery.
29th May 1951....Cpt C. Blair makes the first solo flight over the North Pole,in a P-51 Mustang "Excalibur III". He married actress Maureen O`Hara in 1968,and died in 1978 piloting a Grumman Goose.
29th May 1952....Aerial refueling is used on a combat mission for the first time,with twelve F-84 Thunderjets of the 159th Fighter Bomber Squadron being refueled by a KB-29 Superfortress.
29th May 1953....The first of two 40 passenger de Havilland Comets arrived in Ottawa for the RCAF.
29th May 1980....Canadian Armed Forces accepted the first CP-140 Aurora maritime patrol aircraft at CFB Greenwood,NS.It was to replace the CP-107 Argus and to further support Canada's NATO obligations.
29th May 1981....The Bell X-14B,NASA N704NA,originally USAF 56-0422,an experimental VTOL aircraft is damaged beyond repair in a landing accident.
29th May 2002....First flight of the Aceair AERIKS 200,a Swiss sports plane.It has a highly streamlined,bullet-shaped fuselage,with a T-tail and large ventral fin,pusher propeller,and canard.Ceased trading 2004.
29th May 2003....First flight of the Van's Aircraft RV-10,a four-seat,single-engine,homebuilt airplane sold in kitform.Richard VanGrunsven,designed the RV-10 to satisfy a demand for a four-seat version of the RV series.
29th May 2004....First flight of the NAL Saras (Sanskrit: "Crane"),a Indian multi-purpose civilian aircraft.It is a twin turboprop with a pusher configuration.
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29th May 1923....The Consolidated Aircraft Corporation was founded,by Reuben H. Fleet in Buffalo,New York.
And they were 'poached' by San Diego in the 1930s, to some ill-feeling amongst the New York institutions that had funded them. But the Californians offered tempting terms...
Later in the war they stumbled and in an emergency arrangement were bought by Vultee to create Consolidated-Vultee Aircraft - Convair, see :)
Later merged into General Dynamics and then Lockheed-Martin.
The San Diego factory closed in the 90s but the Fort Worth factory now builds F-35s.
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Indeedly doodley,but that does nay fit into one line :-)
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30th May 1908....The first European flight of over 15 minutes takes place when Leon Delagrange flies his Voisin-Delagrange in France.
30th May 1912....Aviation pioneer Wilbur Wright dies of typhoid fever at the age of 45.
30th May 1924....First flight of the Marinens Flyvebaatfabrikk MF.8,a military training seaplane built in Norway.
30th May 1942....Royal Air Force Bomber Command carries out Operation Millenium,its first thousand-bomber raid,in which 1,047 British bombers attack Cologne.Forty-one bombers are lost.
30th May 1944....First flight of the Pilatus SB-2 Pelican a civil utility aircraft.Powerplant was 1 × P+W R-985 Wasp Junior TB 9-cyl air-cooled radial piston engine of 440 hp
30th May 1947....First flight of the Boulton Paul Balliol,a military advanced trainer to replace the North American Harvard trainer.It used the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine.
30th May 1948....First flight of the Martin P5M Marlin,a twin-piston-engined flying boat.They served with the US.Navy,US Coast Guard and French Navy.Most had retired by 1967 with 285 built.
30th May 1949....Test pilot Jo Lancaster becomes first British pilot to save his life with an ejection seat when he bails out of experimental twin-jet flying wing Armstrong Whitworth A.W.52, TS363.
30th May 1958....The Douglas DC-8 airliner makes it`s first flight.It is a four-engine long-range narrow-body jet which remained in production until 1972 with 556 built.
30th May 1971....The NASA space probe Mariner 9 blasts off from Cape Kennedy,on a journey to Mars.It`s mission was to map over 70% of the Martian surface from the lowest altitude 930miles.
30th May 1972....First flight of the Northrop YA-9,a prototype attack aircraft developed for the USAF A-X program.It lost to the Fairchild Republic YA-10 that entered production as the A-10 Thunderbolt II.
30th May 1974....The Airbus A300 wide-body twin-engine jet airliner entered service with Air France.Five airframes became Airbus Beluga`s or A300-600ST if you prefer.
30th May 1979....First flight of the Cessna Citation III bizjet.It was the first of the Model 650 series of Citation jets,which are mid-sized high-performance bizjets.
30th May 1982....The Royal Australian Navy decommissions its last aircraft carrier,HMAS Melbourne (R21).It was involved in two major collisions,and other incidents gave it a reputation for being jinxed.
30th May 2003....Air France made its final commercial Concorde landing in the United States in New York City from Paris.Air France's final Concorde flight took place on 27 June 2003 when F-BVFC retired to Toulouse.
30th May 2008....All business class airline Silverjet ceases trading.Silverjet's fleet consisted of three Boeing 767-200(ER) aircraft,they operated Luton to Newark,and Luton to Dubai.
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31st May 1911....Andre Beaumont beats Roland Garros in the Paris to Rome air race,completing the 910 mile course in 28 hours,5 min.
31st May 1916....A Short Type 184,the only RN aerial recon flight of the Battle of Jutland,sighting three cruisers and ten destroyers of the German Fleet before a broken fuel pipe forces it to end the mission.
31st May 1919....First wedding held in an aircraft.Marjorie Dumont and Lt.R.W.Meade were married by an Army chaplain in a converted Handley Page bomber 2000 ft above Houston Texas.
31st May 1919....US Navy aviators flew a Curtiss NC-4 from New York State to Lisbon,Portugal,over the course of 19 days.It was the first aircraft to fly across the Atlantic Ocean.
31st May 1928....Capt.Charles Kingsford-Smith and crew in a Fokker F-VIIB/3 m Southern Cross,set out to fly across the Pacific Ocean.They start from Oakland Field,California.
31st May 1935....First flight of the Fairchild Model 45,a luxary five-seat cabin monoplane.It was powered by a 225 hp (168 kW) Jacobs L-4 radial engine.17 aircraft were built.
31st May 1941....The short Anglo-Iraq War ends with the collapse of Iraqi resistance.It was a British military campaign against the rebel government during the Second World War.
31st May 1946....London Airport is officially opened,it originated in 1929 as a small airfield,Great West Aerodrome,and became Heathrow Airport in 1966.Sir Frederick Gibberd,designed the original terminals.
31st May 1967....First operational mission of an A-12 (937).Pilot Mele Vojvodich flew at 80,000ft Mach 3.1.The target was North Vietnam SAM sites,and marked the start of Operation Black Shield.
31st May 1978....First flight of the 2nd prototype RFB Fantrainer,a two seat trainer using a mid mounted ducted fan propulsion system.50 were built,later developed by Rockwell as the Ranger2000.
31st May 1991....First flight of the Pilatus PC-12,a single-engine turboprop passenger and cargo aircraft.The main market has been corporate transport and regional operators.
31st May 1995....The first flight of the Schweizer RU-38 Twin Condor long-range surveillance aircraft.It is a two or three-seat,fixed gear,low wing,twin boom covert recon aircraft.
31st May 2002....First flight of the Toyota TAA-1,a prototype general aviation aircraft substantially built and test flown by Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites under contract with Toyota.
31st May 2008....Launch: Space Shuttle Discovery STS-124 Mission highlights: ISS assembly flight 1J: JEM - Japanese module Kibo & JEM RMS.
31st May 2008....Champion Air ceased operations.It operated general charter services to sports teams,vacation wholesalers and government agencies.It had a fleet of 16 Boeing B727-200`s.
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31st May 1919....US Navy aviators flew a Curtiss NC-4 from New York State to Lisbon,Portugal,over the course of 19 days.It was the first aircraft to fly across the Atlantic Ocean.
Four of the type set out but only two made it to the Azores, one taxying like a boat, and only one could go on to Lisbon. That one was restored for the 50th anniversary at which one of the crew was present! It's now in the naval museum in Pensacola.