May Aviation Bites

[Angry Turnip]

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.

[smudge]

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!



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.

[Angry Turnip]

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

[Angry Turnip]

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

[Angry Turnip]

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.

[Angry Turnip]

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.

[Angry Turnip]

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.

[Angry Turnip]

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.

[Angry Turnip]

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.

[Angry Turnip]

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.

[Angry Turnip]

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.

[Angry Turnip]

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.

[Angry Turnip]

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.

[Angry Turnip]

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.

[Angry Turnip]

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.

[Angry Turnip]

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.

[smudge]

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!

[Angry Turnip]

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.

[Angry Turnip]

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.

[Angry Turnip]

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.

[Angry Turnip]

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.

[Angry Turnip]

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.

[Angry Turnip]

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.

[Angry Turnip]

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.

[Angry Turnip]

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.