October 2018 Fly Bites

[Angry Turnip]

Well,another new month,lets see what bits of interest happened this month in aviation history.


1st Oct 1861....The United States Army Balloon Corps,consisting of five balloons and fifty men,is formed.Ballons were used for recon and to assist with artillery range finding etc.

1st Oct 1917....The Royal Navy tests an aircraft catapult for the first time,using a compressed-air catapult aboard the catapult trials ship Slinger,to launch an unmanned Short 184 minus the engine.

1st Oct 1931....KLM begins a regular service between Amsterdam and Batavia by Fokker F.XII.It was the longest regular air route in the world at the time,all 8540 miles of it.

1st Oct 1935....Allied British Airways Ltd is formed,by merger of Hillman Airways,Spartan Air Lines and United Airways.29 Oct 1935,the name changed to British Airways Ltd,the corporate emblem was a                                       winged lion.

1st Oct 1936....CWA.Scott and Giles Guthrie,win the Schlesinger Race from England to Johannesburg,flying Vega Gull G-AEKE.They were the only ones to finish,winning the 10,000 pounds prize.

1st Oct 1940....A RAF bomber is shot down over the Netherlands by German anti-aircraft artillery,after being detected and illuminated by a radar-guided searchlight.

1st Oct 1942....First flight of the Bell P-59 Airacomet,a twin jet-engined fighter,the first produced in the US.One was supplied to the RAF in exchange for the first production Gloster Meteor I.

1st Oct 1947....First flight of the Beechcraft Model 34 "Twin-Quad",a prototype airliner.A four engine twinprop with a V-tail and a tricycle undercarriage were features of this odd design.

1st Oct 1950....The Royal Danish Air Force is re-established.As of V-E Day the Danish armed forces had no aircraft.It received six F-84E Thunderjet and 238 F-84G Thunderjet from the US.

1st Oct 1950....First flight of the Ilyushin Il-14,a Soviet twin-engine commercial and military personnel and cargo transport.It replaced the DC-3 and its Soviet built version,the Lisunov Li-2.

1st Oct 1958....NASA replaces NACA,most US space exploration efforts have been led by NASA,including the Apollo Moon landing missions,the Skylab space station,and later the Space Shuttle.

1st Oct 1959....Test pilot Johnny W.C. Squier,flying prototype English Electric Lightning T.4,ejects at Mach 1.7, becoming first UK pilot to eject above the speed of sound.He landed in the Irish Sea,                                             despite an extensive search,Squier has to make his way ashore by himself after 28 hours in a dinghy.

1st Oct 1964....The Dassault Mirage IV enters service.A supersonic strategic bomber and deep-reconnaissance aircraft,powered by two SNECMA Atar turbojets.All were retired by 2005.

1st Oct 1964....Derby Airways changes its name to British Midland Airways after buying Mercury Airlines.BMI was a member of Star Alliance from 1 July 2000 until 20 April 2012.

1st Oct 1969....Concorde 001 breaks the sound barrier for the first time.

1st Oct 1975....First flight of the Bell YAH-63 (Model 409),an experimental attack helicopter that lost to the Hughes' Model 77/YAH-64, later developed into the AH-64 Apache.Just 3 built.

[Angry Turnip]

2nd Oct 1910...The first mid-air collision takes place near Milan.Both pilots survive.René Thomas,flying in an Antoinette IV monoplane,collided with Cpt Bertram Dickson in a Farman III biplane.

2nd Oct 1923...First flight of the de Havilland DH.53 Humming Bird,an ultra light low wing single seat monoplane,powered by a Douglas 750 cc motorcycle engine.The RAF ordered eight as trainers.

2nd Oct 1938...First flight of the Dewoitine D.520,a French fighter aircraft that entered service in early 1940.It proved to be relatively capable as a dogfighter against the Luftwaffe's inventory.

2nd Oct 1941...Heini Dittmar sets a new airspeed record of 624 mph in a Messerschmitt Me 163A.The record is unofficial because the flight (and the Me 163 programme) is kept secret.

2nd Oct 1946...First flight of the Vought F6U Pirate,it featured turbojet power as the first naval fighter with an afterburner and a composite construction,the aircraft proved to be underpowered.

2nd Oct 1956...First flight of the Hughes TH-55 Osage,a piston-powered light training helicopter for the US.Army.It was also produced as the Model 269,and further developed by Schweizer after 1983.

2nd Oct 1966...First flight of the Grumman Gulfstream II,a twin engine business jet.Its Grumman model number is G-1159.It has served with civil and military operators in several versions.

2nd Oct 1969...The Hawker Siddeley Nimrod MR1 entered RAF Service.A maritime patrol aircraft,which was an extensive modification of the de Havilland Comet.All versions were retired by June 2011.

2nd Oct 1984...The US Navy awards McDonnell Douglas a $US 438 million contract to develop the T-45 Goshawk.Approx 60% of the work on the T-45 was undertaken by BAE Systems.

2nd Oct 2001...Once known as the “Flying Bank” thanks to its financial stability,Swissair grounds its fleet after running out of cash.Most of its routes and fleet are eventually taken on by Swiss.

[Angry Turnip]

3rd Oct 1901...Wilhelm Kress trials his Drachenflieger twin-hulled tandem triplane seaplane,the first powered marine aircraft,in Austria-Hungary.It manages a few hops before capsizing.

3rd Oct 1908...George P.Dicken of the New York Herald,becomes the first newspaper reporter to fly in an airplane,when he rides as a passenger with Wilbur Wright at Camp d’Auvours.

3rd Oct 1931...Hugh Herndon and Clyde Pangborn start the first non-stop flight across the Pacific Ocean.Leaving from Samushiro Beach,Japan to Wenatchee,Washington in 41 hours in a Bellanca Skyrocket.

3rd Oct 1935...Italy invades Ethiopia from its colony in Eritrea,beginning the Second Italo-Abyssinian War.The Italian force has 150 aircraft.The Imperial Ethiopian Air Force has 3 obsolete biplanes.

3rd Oct 1942...The first A4 rocket,later dubbed the V-2 flies from Peenemünde,covering 119 miles in 296 seconds at five times the speed of sound,reaching an altitude of 53 miles.

3rd Oct 1951...HS-1 is commissioned,the US Navy's first ASW helicopter squadron," The Seahorses " operated the Sikorsky H-19/HO4S-3 Chickasaw (1951-57).The unit was disbanded in 1997.

3rd Oct 1962...Project Mercury – Sigma 7 launched from Cape Canaveral,with Astronaut Wally Schirra aboard for a six-orbit,nine-hour flight.

3rd Oct 1967...William J.Knight sets a new airspeed record in a North American X-15,of Mach 6.72 (4,543 mph).This is the fastest flight that the X-15 will make.The record still stands.

3rd Oct 1985...Launch:Space Shuttle Atlantis STS-51-J at 15:15:30 UTC.Mission highlights:Second classified DoD mission;DSCS satellite deployment;first flight of Atlantis.

3rd Oct 2002...Grumman F-14A Tomcat, BuNo 162594, coded AD 136, of VF-101,crashes in the Gulf of Mexico after the crew eject.5 May 2006,one of this Tomcat's tailfins is found on a beach near Cork.

3rd Oct 2006...Hakan Ekinci hijacks Turkish Airlines Flt1476,demanding to be flown to Rome,to speak to Pope Benedict XVI.Greek and Italian F-16's escort the plane to Brindisi,where Ekinci is arrested.

[Angry Turnip]

4th Oct 1784....James Sadler(balloonist),becomes the first British aeronaut when he makes a flight in a Montgolfier-type balloon,it rose to about 3,600 feet and landed near Woodeaton,six miles away.

4th Oct 1946....The B-29 Pacusan Dreamboat sets a world nonstop,unrefueled distance record of 9,500 miles on a flight from Honolulu to Cairo,Egypt.The flight took 39 hours, 36 minutes.

4th Oct 1957....The Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow rolls out from the Malton plant in Toronto,Canada.A delta-winged interceptor,testing began with RL-201 on 25/3/1958,the design demonstrated excellent handling.

4th Oct 1957....Sputnik 1,the world's first artificial satellite is launched into orbit by the Soviets,It was a 58 cm diameter polished metal sphere,with four external radio antennas.

4th Oct 1958....BOAC de Havilland Comet 4 G-APDB after making a positioning flight to New York G-APDB made aviation history,when it operated the first scheduled service by a jet-powered airliner from New York to London,in the then record time of 6 hours 11 minutes.At the same time G-APDC flew in the opposite direction,from London to New York,the Comets passing each other in mid-Atlantic,when congratulatory radio messages were exchanged.The westbound flight against the prevailing wind took ‘DC a total of 10 hours and 13 minutes,including a refuelling stop at Gander.

4th Oct 1968....First flight of the Tupolev Tu-154,a Soviet three-engine medium-range narrow-body airliner.It was the standard domestic-route airliner of Russia and former Soviet states until the mid-2000s.It was exported to 17 non-Russian airlines and used as a head-of-state transport by the air forces of several countries,with over 1000 built.

4th Oct 1984....61 year old Elaine Yadwin lands a Piper Cherokee Warrior II safely in Florida after her husband,the plane's pilot,dies during the flight.

4th Oct 2004....SpaceShipOne is retired.It was an experimental air-launched rocket-powered aircraft,with sub-orbital spaceflight capability.It won the US$10 million Ansari X Prize.

[Angry Turnip]

5th Oct 1907...British Army Dirigible No 1,the UK‘s first powered airship,flies from the School of Ballooning at Farnborough,to London in 3 hours 25 min.

5th Oct 1914...First aerial combat kill in history recorded when a Voisin of the French Air Service shot down a German two-seater Aviatik B.II,using what is believed to have been a Hotchkiss machine gun.

5th Oct 1918...French pilot Lt Roland Garros,is shot down and killed in combat.His adversary was probably German ace Hermann Habich from Jasta 49,equipped with Fokker D.VII fighter`s.

5th Oct 1929...First flight of the Boeing Model 40 B-4,It is the first plane in the Model 40 series to use the two-way radio,designed by Thorpe Hiscock,William Boeing’s brother-in-law.

5th Oct 1944...Five Pilots from the No.401 Squadron RCAF,destroyed a German Me-262,becoming the first jet-propelled aircraft shot down by the Royal Air Force or the Royal Canadian Air Force.

5th Oct 1951...First flight of the Convair CV-340,a slightly larger version of the CV-240 airliner.The fuselage and wings were lengthened,giving four more seats,and better handling.

5th Oct 1967...NASA astronaut Clifton Williams is killed ejecting from his stricken T-38.He was due to go on Apollo 12,The Apollo 12 mission patch has four stars on it,on extra for Williams.

5th Oct 1967...First flight of the Shin Meiwa PS-1 and US-1A,large STOL aircraft designed for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and air-sea rescue (SAR) work respectively.43 combined aircraft were built.

5th Oct 1984...Launch:Space Shuttle Challenger STS-41-G at 11:03:00 UTC.Mission highlights:Earth Radiation Budget Satellite deployment;First flight of two women in space; First spacewalk by US woman.

[Angry Turnip]

6th Oct 1912....Lieutenant Yōzō Kaneko makes the Imperial Japanese Navy's first flight, piloting a Farman seaplane for 15 min and reaching an altitude of 30 m (100 feet).

6th Oct 1922....Lt J.Macready and Lt O.Kelly set an unofficial flight endurance record of 35 hours 18 min in a Fokker T-2.With no barograph on board,it could not be officially recognized by the FAI.

6th Oct 1923....Curtiss R2Cs win first and second place in the Pulitzer air race,the winning aircraft setting a new airspeed record of 243.6 mph over a 31.1 mile course.

6th Oct 1939....First flight of the Curtiss SO3C Seamew,a scout floatplane for the USN.A number of the SO3C-1s,but a fixed undercarriage version, were ordered by the Royal Navy FAA.

6th Oct 1944....The General Motors/Fisher P-75 Eagle interceptor project is cancelled.It used the most powerful liquid-cooled engine then available,the Allison V-3420 via contra-rotating props.

6th Oct 1954....First flight of the Fairey Delta 2,a British supersonic research aircraft.It included a delta wing and a droop-nose.It was the last aircraft Fairey made as an independent manufacturer.

6th Oct 1955....First flight of the Convair CV-440 Metropolitan,a twin engine airliner.It featured improved soundproofing and an option for weather radar,plus a optional increase from 44 to 52 passengers.

6th Oct 1966....First flight of the Bell OH-58 Kiowa,a family of single-engine,multi-role military helicopters.It has been exported to several countries and has been produced under license in Australia. 

6th Oct 1973....Egypt and Syria launch air strikes on Israel,starting the Yom Kippur War.The conflict lasts 18 days.It saw Western weapons up against Soviet types in the air and on the ground.

6th Oct 1977....First flight of the Mikoyan MiG-29 "Fulcrum",a Soviet twin-engine multirole fighter.It entered service with the Soviet Air Forces in 1982.The type was a popular export.

6th Oct 1984....First flight of the FMA IA-63 Pampa,an advanced jet trainer.Similar in many aspects to the AlphaJet,but smaller with a single engine,and unswept wings.27 have been built to date.

6th Oct 1990....Launch:Space Shuttle Discovery STS-41 at 11:47:15 UTC.Mission highlights:Ulysses/IUS solar probe deployment.The 5 man crew was lead by Richard N.Richards (Parents put a lot of thought into that).

6th Oct 1993....Larry Walters,American “lawn chair” pilot dies.He took flight on July 2,1982 in a homemade craft made out of a patio chair and 45 helium-filled weather balloons reaching 16,000ft.

[Angry Turnip]

7th Oct 1908....Edith Berg became the first American woman airplane passenger when she flew with Wilbur Wright.They flew for two minutes at Auvours,France.

7th Oct 1909....Glenn Curtiss becomes the first American to hold an FAI airplane certificate.Curtis was a rival to the Wright Brothers,they took out a patent lawsuit against him in 1909.

7th Oct 1919....KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is founded,is the oldest airline in the world operating under its original name,it had 35,488 employees and a fleet of 119 as of 2015.

7th Oct 1926....First flight of the Boeing FB-5/Model 15,a biplane fighter for the USN.It also served with the USAAS as the PW-9.158 were built in total.

7th Oct 1932....First flight of the Stipa-Caproni,a very ugly prototype aircraft featuring Luigi Stipa’s “intubed propeller” concept,a forerunner of jet propulsion.Google it if you dare!

7th Oct 1934....First flight of the Tupolev ANT-40/Tupolev SB,a Soviet high speed twin-engined three-seat monoplane bomber.It was built under license and over 6650 were completed.

7th Oct 1963....First flight of the Learjet 23 prototype,the first Learjet built.A six-to-eight-seat twin,high-speed business jet.It created a completely new market for fast bizjets.

7th Oct 1989....First flight of the Enstrom 480 a small,light helicopter.The pilot controls the aircraft from the left seat,and it does not have a hydraulic system.Approx 140 have been built.

7th Oct 1995....First flight of the Learjet 45,a mid-size business jet.It was the first all-new design and significantly altered the Learjet line.It was replaced by the Model 75 variant in 2012.

7th Oct 1995....First flight of the Mitsubishi F-2,a multirole fighter derived from the F-16 for the JASDF.The first 76 aircraft entered service in 2008, with a total of 94 built.

7th Oct 2002....Launch:Space Shuttle Atlantis STS-112 at 19:45:51 UTC.Mission highlights:ISS assembly flight 9A:S1 truss.It had a six person crew led by Jeffrey S. Ashby,a former USN pilot.

[Angry Turnip]

8th Oct 1883....French brothers Albert and Gaston Tissandier,make the first flight with an airship powered by electricity,using a Siemens electric motor.

8th oct 1923....First British motor glider competition is flown,at Lympne,Kent.8th-13th October.Various companies offered prize money such as the Daily Mail,Abdulla Tobacco Co.and others.

8th Oct 1932....The Indian Air Force is founded in British India as an auxiliary air force.On 1 April 1933,the IAF commissioned its first squadron, No.1 Squadron, with four Westland Wapiti biplanes.

8th Oct 1965....The 20th Helicopter Squadron becomes the first U. S. Air Force cargo helicopter unit to deploy to South Vietnam,operating CH-3 C helicopters.

8th Oct 1967....The first helicopter gunship designed as such to see combat,the U. S. Army’s AH-1G Cobra,flies its first combat mission over South Vietnam escorting U. S. Army transport helicopters.

8th Oct 1973....First flight of the RFB Fanliner D-EJFL.An experimental German light aircraft propelled by a piston engine driving a ducted fan.Two examples were built, but no production followed.

8th Oct 1998....Oslo Airport,Gardermoen replaces Oslo Airport,Fornebu as Oslos main airport.Some locals wanted to keep Fornebu as a regional airport for the Oslo and Bærum area.

[Angry Turnip]

9th Oct 1906...First flight of Zeppelin LZ-3,a German experimental airship.It lasted 2 hrs 17 mins and carried 11 people.It was purchased by the Army and operated as Z-I until being retired in 1913.

9th Oct 1924...The Royal Auxiliary Air Force is established.It provides a primary reinforcement capability for the regular service.By March 1939,21 flying squadrons had been formed.

9th Oct 1987...First flight of the AgustaWestland AW101,a medium-lift helicopter,used in both military and civil applications.Prior to 2007,it had been marketed under the designation EH101.

9th Oct 1999...The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird makes its final flight.It was operated by NASA,AF Ser. No. 61-7980/NASA 844.The SR-71 had been retired in 1989,but three were re-activated in 1995.

9th oct 1999...First flight of the Boeing B767-400ER.It features a 21.1-foot (6.43-metre) stretch over the 767-300,total length of 201.25 feet (61.3 m).Wingspan is also increased by 14.3 feet (4.36 m)

A very quite day for aviation.

[Angry Turnip]

10th Oct 1907...Robert Esnault-Pelter made his first powered flight with the REP 1,his own design.He was the inventor of the "joystick" flight control,and owned a patent on the design.

10th Oct 1930...First flight of the Short S.15 K. F.1,prototype of the Kawanishi H3K.It was a version of the Short S.8/8 Rangoon.The first of the H3Ks was built by Short Brothers and four by Kawanishi.

10th Oct 1933...The United Airlines crash near Chesterton:A Boeing 247 is destroyed by a bomb over Chesterton,Indiana in the first proven case of air sabotage on a commercial aircraft.

10th Oct 1950...First flight of the Boulton Paul P.111,a British experimental aircraft designed to explore the characteristics of tailless deltas.It was powered by a RR Nene R3N2 turbojet of 5,100 lbst .

10th Oct 1953...An RAF EE Canberra PR3 wins the Christchurch Centenary air race,flying 12,270miles from Heathrow to Christchurch in 23hrs 50mins,plus 83mins on the ground.The record still stands.

10th Oct 1956...First flight of the Lockheed L-1649 Starliner,the last model of the Lockheed Constellation line.Service began on June 1,1957 on a TWA flight from New York to London and Frankfurt.

10th Oct 1972...Competitive fly-off between the Northrop YA-9 and Fairchild YA-10 begins,continuing until December 9.The YA-10 wins,and is developed into the cuddly Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II

10th Oct 1976...First flight of the Embraer EMB 121 Xingu,a twin-turboprop utility aircraft.It`s based on the EMB 110 Bandeirante,using its wing and engine design merged with an all-new fuselage.

10th Oct 1990...First flight of the Learjet 60,a mid-size cabin medium-range business jet.Powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW305A engines,it has a range (4 pax and 2 crew) of 2,405 nautical miles.

10th Oct 2011...Tripoli International Airport in Libya,officially reopens.It had been closed since 19 March,when international forces had begun to enforce a no-fly zone imposed by the UNSC.

 
 

[Angry Turnip]

11th Oct 1919....Handley Page Transport begins offering the first in-flight meals,on its London-Brussels service.They are sold at 3 shillings.They opertated from Hounslow Heath Aerodrome at first.

11th Oct 1922....First flight of the Navy-Wright NW or Mystery Racer,racing aircraft for the USN.Although innovative,both prototype`s were lost before achieving their true potential.

11th Oct 1928....The LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin crosses the Atlantic in 71 hours.It was designed to be operated by a crew of 36 officers and men.It was the longest rigid airship at the time.

11th Oct 1933....First flight of the Blackburn Perth,a tri-engined biplane flying boat.Developed from the Iris Mk. V,it had Rolls-Royce Buzzard engines,and an enclosed cockpit for the pilots.

11th Oct 1938....First flight of the Westland Whirlwind fighter,it was the first single-seat,twin-engined,cannon-armed fighter of the RAF.It`s RR Peregrine engines delayed the project.

11th Oct 1956....The first drop of a British nuclear weapon from an aircraft."Kite",a Blue Danube device was dropped from an RAF Vickers Valiant at Maralinga Range,as part of Operation Buffalo.

11th Oct 1962....First of 200 Canadian-built CF-104 Starfighters left for West Germany;to join strike-reconn squadrons.Eight squadrons were stationed in Europe as part of Canada's NATO commitment.

11th Oct 1968....NASA launches Apollo 7,the first successful manned Apollo mission,with astronauts Wally Schirra,Donn F.Eisele and Walter Cunningham aboard.Mission lasted just under 11days.

11th Oct 1984....Kathryn D.Sullivan becomes the first American woman to perform spacewalk aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger.A former USN captain,she was crew member on 3 Shuttle missions.

11th Oct 1990....First flight of the Rockwell-MBB X-31,an experimental jet fighter to test thrust vectoring.It borrowed heavily on design of previous production, prototype,and concept aircraft.

11th Oct 2000....Launch:Space Shuttle Discovery STS-92 at 19:17:00 EDT.Mission highlights:ISS assembly flight 3A:Z1 truss.This was the 100th of 135 Space Shuttle missions.

11th Oct 2011....William Whiteside sets an unofficial speed record for piston-engined aircraft in a modified Yak-3U,of 416mph over a 3-km (1.863-mile) course at the Bonneville Salt Flats.

[Angry Turnip]

12th Oct 1907....Augustus Gaudron crosses the North Sea in a hot air balloon named Mammouth.He flies 721 miles from Crystal Palace,London to Lake Vänern,Sweden.

12th Oct 1940....First flight of the Soviet Ilyushin TsKB-57,prototype of the Ilyushin Il-2.The Shturmovik was a ground-attack aircraft,36,183 units of the Il-2 were produced during the war.

12th Oct 1944....The first B-29 Superfortress lands on Saipan.For the first time, all of Japan proper is within range of United States Army Air Forces strategic bombers.

12th Oct 1964....Launched: Voskhod 1. This was the Soviet Union's first spacecraft with a multi-person crew and the first flight without space suits.The mission lasted just over 24 hours.

12th Oct 1967....Cyprus Airways Flight 284,a De Havilland DH-106 Comet 4B G-ARCO,is destroyed by a bomb over the Mediterranean.All 66 passengers and crew perish in the crash.

12th Oct 1976....First flight of the Sikorsky S-72,an experimental hybrid helicopter/fixed-wing aircraft.There were two versions,the RSRA and the X-Wing,one of each was built.

12th Oct 1997....Singer-songwriter John Denver was killed when the Long-EZ aircraft he was piloting crashed just off the coast of California at Pacific Grove.http://www.airsafe.com/events/celebs/denver.htm

12th Oct 2009....An IAC Pilatus PC-9M flying in poor weather conditions crashes at Crumlin East near Cornamona in County Galway,ROI killing the flying instructor and cadet pilot.

12th Oct 2011....Introduction: Boeing 747-8 (747-8F) with Cargolux.As of July 2018,confirmed orders for the 747-8 total 150: 103 of the freighter version, and 47 of the passenger version.

[Angry Turnip]

13th Oct 1914...The Imperial Japanese Navy attempts air-to-air combat for the first time,as a naval airplane joins three IJA fighters attacking a German recon plane during the Siege of Tsingtao.

13th Oct 1919...The Paris Convention of 1919 is signed.It was the first international convention to address the political difficulties and intricacies involved in international aerial navigation.

13th Oct 1920...First flight of the Naval Aircraft Factory TF,a US twin-engine flying-boat escort fighter.Four prototypes were built,a lack of reliable engines resulted in the project being scrapped.

13th Oct 1922...First flight of the de Havilland DH.27 Derby,a long-range heavy bomber.It was a large,single-engined two-bay biplane without sweep or stagger.It lost out to the lighter Avro Aldershot.

13th Oct 1930...First flight of the Junkers Ju 52/1m,a German transport aircraft.Originally designed with one engine,it was changed to 3,and became the Junkers Ju 52/3m.A small number remain airworthy.

13th Oct 1943...The Italian royal government declares war on Germany.Its air force will be constituted as the Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force and fight on the Allied side for the remainder of WW2.

13th Oct 1949...First flight of the Tupolev Tu-14 (NATO name:Bosun),a Soviet twin-turbojet light bomber.It was used as a torpedo bomber by the mine-torpedo regiments of Soviet Naval Aviation.

13th Oct 1950...First flight of the prototype Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation,the L-1049 was Lockheed's response to the Douglas DC-6.It had R-2800 engines,but later changed to R-3350`s.

13th Oct 1954...Lt.B.D.Mcfarlane has extraordinary escape when his Westland Wyvern TF1 suffers power failure on take-off from HMS Albion.He ejects underwater and survives with slight injuries.

13th Oct 1962...First flight of the Dassault Balzac V,a French VTOL testbed,using a prototype Mirage III aircraft to test the configuration for the Mirage IIIV.It was badly damaged during testing.

13th Oct 1972...Andes flight disaster.A Fairchild Hiller FH-227D, T-571,carrying a rugby union team from Montevideo to a match in Santiago,crashes in a remote region of the Andes.

13th Oct 1996...First flight of the Bombardier Global Express,a large cabin business jet.It has been modified for military missions,such as Sentinel,Globaleye,E-11A,Saab Swordfish etc.

13th Oct 2012...Syria bans Turkish civilian aircraft from flying over its territory.

[Angry Turnip]

14th Oct 1905....The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) is founded in Paris,it is the world governing body for air sports.It`s  and is headquarter`s are in Lausanne,Switzerland.

14th Oct 1908....Henry Farman makes the first cross-country flight in a power-driven aeroplane,from Bouy to Reims (27 km) in 20 min.

14th Oct 1910....English aviator Claude Grahame-White after flying over Washington DC,lands his Farman biplane on Executive Avenue (now Pennsylvania Avenue) near the White House.Do not try this!

14th Oct 1927....Dieudonne Costes and Joseph le Brix make the first non-stop aerial crossing of the South Atlantic,flying a Breguet 19 from Saint-Louis,Senegal to Port Natal in Brazil.

14th Oct 1929....First flight of the Airship R101 from Cardington,it was 731 ft (223 m) in length.It crashed in France during its maiden overseas voyage on 5 October 1930,killing 48 on board.

14th Oct 1938....First flight of the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk,a single-engined,single-seat,all-metal fighter and ground-attack aircraft.It served all over the world and 13,738 were built 1939-44.

14th Oct 1938....First flight of the Saro A.33,a prototype flying boat built by Saunders-Roe.The A.33 was a four-engined flying-boat with a parasol monospar wing,it lost out to the Short Sunderland.

14th Oct 1943....U. S. 8th Air Force loses 60 B-17 Flying Fortresses during an assault on Schweinfurt.It was called Black Thursday because of the enormous loss of aircraft and crews.

14th Oct 1947....Capt Chuck Yeager becomes the first person to offically fly faster than the speed of sound,past MACH 1 in the Bell X-1 named Glamorous Glennis at Muroc AFB, CA.

14th Oct 1949....First flight of the Fairchild C-123 Provider,a twinprop US military transport aircraft that served with the USAF,Coast Guard and ANG.Various "specials" were used in Vietnam.

14th Oct 1953....Second of two Bell X-5 swing-wing testbeds,50-1839,gets into irrecoverable spin condition at Edwards AFB,California during aggravated stall test,crashes in desert.

14th Oct 1962....A US Air Force Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance flight over Cuba reveals the presence of launchpads for Medium Range Ballistic Missiles,triggering the Cuban Missile Crisis.

14th Oct 1964....First flight of the YCH-53,the prototype that would become the Sikorsky CH-53/HH-53 heavy lift cargo helicopter.Variants have served with several military operators.

14th Oct 1965....Joe Engle became the first of only two pilots to accomplish a sub-orbital space flight in an X-15 without the assistance provided by the MH-96 adaptive flight control system.

14th Oct 1968....The first live telecast from any manned spacecraft,the Apollo 7,was launched by the NASA from Florida.

14th Oct 2005....Air Jamaica Express ceased operations.It operated domestic and inter-island scheduled flights and charter services.Established in 1973,it had operated the BN Islander and Short 360.

14th Oct 2012....General Chuck Yeager,age 89,breaks the sound barrier again in a commemorative flight over Edwards AFB in a F-15 Eagle piloted by Cpt David Vincent out of Nellis AFB

[Angry Turnip]

15th Oct 1913....Lieutenant Ronin makes the first official airmail flight in France in a Morane Saulnier monoplane aircraft.

15th Oct 1915....Orville Wright sold the Wright Company,which in 1916 merged with the Glenn L.Martin Company,to form the Wright-Martin Company.

15th Oct 1917....First flight of the Alcock Scout,a "one-off"experimental fighter biplane.It used parts from a Sopwith Triplane,Sopwith Pup and a Sopwith Camel.

15th Oct 1925....A de Havilland DH.53 Humming Bird is successfully launched from the British airship R.33.

15th Oct 1932....Tata Sons opens an airmail route between Karachi and Madras,the first regular air service within India.

15th Oct 1933....The Rolls-Royce Merlin engine is started for the first time,a British liquid-cooled V-12 piston aero engine.It was the most successful aircraft engine of the World War II era.

15th Oct 1936....First flight of the Nakajima Ki-27 "Nate",the main fighter aircraft used by the IJAAF up until 1940.It had an air-cooled radial engine and fixed landing gear.

15th Oct 1937....First flight of the Boeing XB-15 (Boeing 294),a US 4-engine heavy bomber prototype.Just one was built,May 1943 it was converted to a cargo aircraft designated XC-105.

15th Oct 1938....First flight of the Bristol Beaufort,a British twin-engined torpedo bomber.A development of the Blenheim light bomber,1,180 Beauforts were built by Bristol and others.

15th Oct 1946....Commander of the German Luftwaffe from 1935 to 1945,Hermann Göring commits suicide by poisoning himself in his jail cell at Nuremberg,the day before his execution for war crimes.

15th Oct 1952....First flight of the Douglas X-3 Stiletto,an experimental jet to investigate the design of an aircraft suitable for sustained supersonic speeds,data was used for the F-104 Starfighter.

15th Oct 1985....First flight of the Fairchild T-46,a light jet trainer to replace the Cessna T-37.Powered by two Garrett F109 turbofans with pilot and instructor sitting side by side.Just 3 built.

15th Oct 1997....The Cassini probe,built to explore the rings and moons of Saturn,is launched from Cape Canaveral aboard a US Air Force Titan IV/Centaur rocket.

15th Oct 2003....The People's Republic of China's first man in space is Major General Yang Liwei in Shenzhou 5,making China the third country to independently send humans into space.

15th Oct 2007....Airbus delivers its first A380 to Singapore Airlines.Registered as 9V-SKA,it entered service on 25 October 2007 with flight number SQ380 between Singapore and Sydney.

15th Oct 2012....Retired Space Shuttle Endeavour completes a 12-mile journey from LAX to the California Science Center for museum display.It`s 25th and final mission,was STS-134,in May 2011.

[Angry Turnip]

16th Oct 1908...S.F.Cody takes off from Farnborough in his British Army Aeroplane No 1,a biplane powered by a 50 hp Antoinette engine.His flight covers 424 mtrs before crash-landing,which he survives.

16th Oct 1910...First airship crossing of the English Channel is made by the French-built dirgible Cle´ment-Bayard II.After the flight it was damaged during ground transit and never flew again.

16th Oct 1912...First use of an airplane as bomber when a Bulgarian Air Force Albatros F.II attacked the Turkish railway station of Karaagac with two bombs during the Balkan War.

16th Oct 1917...Final testing is made for the US Army-designed air-to-air radio communication system with a wireless set.

16th Oct 1937...First flight of the Short S.25 Sunderland,a four engine flying boat patrol bomber.It was fitted with machine gun turrets, and carried bombs,aerial mines,and depth charges.

16th Oct 1937...First flight of the Fokker T.V bomber for the Netherlands AAF.It was outclassed by the Luftwaffe,powered by 2× Bristol Pegasus engines,it carried a 20mm canon and 4 machine guns.

16th Oct 1939...After being attacked by Spitfires of Nos. 602 and 603 Squadrons over Lothian in Scotland,an He 111 bomber became the first German aircraft to be shot down over the UK.

16th Oct 1952...First flight of the Sud Aviation Vautour,a French jet-powered multirole aircraft.It never saw combat usage with the French Air Force but saw action with the  Israeli Air Force.

16th Oct 1961...Cork Airport opened in Ireland at Ballygarvan.In its first year the airport handled 10,172 passengers.It is the 2nd largest airport in ROI after Dublin,Shannon is 3rd.

16th Oct 1963...A USAF B-58 Hustler bomber sets a new speed record by flying from Tokyo,to London,via Alaska and Greenland in 8 hours 35 minutes at an average speed of 938 mph.

16th Oct 1992...Flt Lt Nicky Smith,graduated from 89 Course at Shawbury to become the RAF's first female helicopter pilot.

16th Oct 1997...First flight of the Boeing 777-300.It has a strengthened fuselage stretch of 33ft,a new evacuation door pair,ground maneuvering cameras for taxiing and a tailskid to rotate.

[Angry Turnip]

17th Oct 1913....German Navy Zeppelin L 2,LZ18,is destroyed by an exploding engine during a test flight.Hydrogen gas which was being vented was sucked into the forward engine and ignited.

17th Oct 1922....Lt. Virgil C.Griffin makes the first take-off from a US aircraft carrier in a Vought VE-7 from USS Langley.The USN adopted the VE-7 as their first fighter.

17th Oct 1940....First flight of the Airspeed AS.39 Fleet Shadower.A prototype patrol aircraft,which became obsolete due to the introduction of radar on long-range patrol aircraft such as the Liberator I.

17th Oct 1965....Over North Vietnam,US aircraft carry out their first successful Iron Hand (SAM) site detection and suppression mission.Four A-4Es with an A-6 Intruder,destroy a site NE of Hanoi.

17th Oct 1977....The US ban on Concorde was lifted when the Supreme Court of the United States declined to overturn a lower court's ruling rejecting the Port Authority's efforts to continue the ban.

17th Oct 1977....Four days after it was hijacked,Lufthansa Flight 181 lands in Mogadishu,Somalia where a team of German GSG 9 commandos later rescues all remaining hostages on board.

17th Oct 1996....The Vickers Vanguard/Merchantman retires,G-APEP goes to the Brooklands Museum.A four RR Tyne turboprop engine short/medium-range airliner/freighter.Only 44 were built.

17th Oct 2008....The Russian Air Force grounded all its MiG-29s following a crash in Siberia.Air Force officials admitted that most of it`s MiG-29s were unserviceable due to poor maintenance.

[Angry Turnip]

18th Oct 1909....Charles Comte de Lambert,Wilbur Wright’s first aviation pupil,flies around the Eiffel Tower in Paris.He was one of the 3 main contenders to attempt flying across the English Channel.

18th Oct 1933....First flight of the Grumman F2F,a single-engine,biplane fighter with retractable undercarriage.It served as the standard fighter for the United States Navy between 1936 and 1940.

18th Oct 1958....The last Canadian-built North American Sabre,the 1815th produced,was delivered to representatives of West Germany.The RAF operated over 400 during the 1950`s.

18th Oct 1979....First flight of the McDonnell Douglas MD-80,a series of twin-engine,short/medium-range,single-aisle jet airliners.It was lengthened and updated from the DC-9.Nearly 1200 were built.

18th Oct 1983....Pan Am and American Airlines announce they will trade aircraft;Pan Am will send 15 DC-10s to American in exchange for 8 Boeing 747s.The first time two airlines agree to a swap.

18th Oct 1989....Launch:Space Shuttle Atlantis STS-34 at 12:53:40 EDT.Mission highlights:Galileo Jupiter probe deployment,IMAX.Crew of five lead by Donald E. Williams USN.

18th Oct 1993....Launch:Space Shuttle Columbia STS-58 at 10:53 am EDT.Mission highlights:Spacelab.The mission primarily devoted to experiments concerning the physiological effects of spaceflight.

18th Oct 2002....Boeing reveals its Bird of Prey stealth technology demonstrator,which has conducted a number of flights during the period 1996 to 1999.

18th Oct 2011....Iran Air Flight 742,a Boeing 727-200,from Moscow,to Tehran,lands without nose gear at Mehrabad International Airport.All passengers and crew survive without injuries.

[Angry Turnip]

19th Oct 1901...Alberto Santos-Dumont flies his dirigible Number 6 from the Parc Saint Cloud,to the Eiffel Tower and back,winning the Deutsch de la Meurthe prize,which he donated to the poor of Paris.

19th Oct 1908...First flight of the Antoinette IV,a high-wing monoplane with a fuselage of extremely narrow triangular cross-section,and a cruciform tail.It was powered by a 50 hp engine.

19th Oct 1917...Love Field in Dallas,Texas is opened as an aerodrome for the US.Army until 1919.It became a civil airport in the mid-1930`s,was Dallas' main airport until 1974.

19th Oct 1932...First flight of the Mitsubishi 3MT5,a twin-engined biplane bomber.It proved to be unsuitable for carrier use,and the eleven aircraft built were instead used as land-based trainers.

19th Oct 1964...First flight of the Agusta A.101,a large prototype transport helicopter.The Italian government favoured the SH-3 SeaKing,the single prototype is preserved at the Museo Agusta.

19th Oct 1965...U. S. Army attack helicopters and U. S. Air Force cargo aircraft play a major role in lefting the Siege of Plei Me in South Vietnam.
 
19th Oct 1970...Hindustan Aeronautics completes its first licence-built MiG-21.They built 657 MiG-21FL, MiG-21M and MiG-21bis,India was the 3rd largest operator of the type.

19th Oct 1977...Concorde made its first landing in New York City and for New Yorkers,it was love at 1st sight! Well for most of them.

[Angry Turnip]

20th Oct 1919....French pilot Bernard de Romanet,flying a Nieuport-Delage 29v,sets a new world speed record of 166.92 mph.Racing versions of the aircraft gained eight world speed records.

20th Oct 1922....Lt Harold Harris makes the first parachute escape from a stricken aircraft,bailing out of a Loening PW-2 when the aileron began oscillating badly over Dayton,Ohio.

20th Oct 1923....First flight of the Boeing NB,a primary training aircraft for the USN.It was a two-bay, equal-span biplane of conventional configuration with wheeled or float undercarriage.

20th Oct 1929....First flight of the Tupolev ANT-7,known by the VVS as the Tupolev R-6 was a reconnaissance aircraft and escort fighter.411 of these early multirole aircraft were built.

20th Oct 1934....MacRobertson Air Race from England to Melbourne to mark the centenary of the state of Victoria.£75,000 prize is won by C.W.A.Scott and Tom Black flying DH.88 Comet Grosvenor House.

20th Oct 1948....First flight of the McDonnell XF-88 Voodoo,a long-range,twin-engine jet fighter for the USAF.Although it never entered service,its design was adapted for the supersonic F-101 Voodoo.

20th Oct 1956....First flight of the Bell UH-1 Iroquois,a utility military helicopter.The UH-1 first saw service in combat operations during the Vietnam War,with around 7,000 helicopters deployed.

20th Oct 1969....Finnair introduces an inertial navigation system on its aircraft,becoming the first airline to dispense with the need for a navigator aboard.

20th Oct 1977....In the 1977 Convair CV-300 crash,the airliner chartered by the band Lynyrd Skynyrd runs out of fuel en route to Baton Rouge,Louisiana,crashing five miles north of Gillsburg Mississippi.

20th Oct 1995....Launch:Space Shuttle Columbia STS-73 at 9:53:00 am EDT.Mission highlights:Spacelab mission.The crew of seven was lead by USN Cpt Kenneth D. Bowersox.

[Angry Turnip]

21st Oct 1921....First flight of the Thomas-Morse MB-6,a racing biplane aircraft built for the USAAS.It competed in the 1921 Pulitzer Trophy,it came in third,with a speed of 160.71 mph.Just 3 built.

21st Oct 1926....The British airship R.33 makes further parasite fighter tests,releasing two Gloster Grebes from 2,500 feet.The Grebe was a single-seat,single-engined biplane fighter.

21st Oct 1947....First flight of the Northrop YB-49,a prototype jet-powered bomber.It featured a flying wing design and was a turbojet-powered development of the earlier,Northrop XB-35 and YB-35.

21st Oct 1947....First flight of the Leduc 0.10,a research aircraft built in France,one of the world's first aircraft to fly powered solely by a ramjet.It was built at the Breguet Aviation factory.

21st Oct 1950....First flight of the Martin 4-0-4,a twin engine,short/medium range airliner.Early customers were Eastern Airlines (60) and TWA (40).They also served with the USN and Coastguard.

21st Oct 1961....First flight of the Breguet Br.1150 Atlantic,a twin engine long-range maritime patrol aircraft.Operators have included military forces from France, Germany,Italy,Netherlands and Pakistan.

21st Oct 1966....First flight of the Yakovlev Yak-40,a small three-engined jet airliner.Standard layout seating is for 24 to 27 passengers three-abreast.It has been operated by Civil and Military users.

21st Oct 1970....Caledonian Airways takes over British United Airways.BUA had become the UK's leading private scheduled airline.They adopted the British Caledonian name as of September 1971.

21st Oct 1971....First flight of the Italair F.20 Pegaso,a twin-engine utility aircraft.The aircraft was notable at the time for its high speed,much greater than that of its competitors.3 built.

21st Oct 1978....Frederich Valentich disappears while flying a Cessna 182L over the Bass Strait in Australia after reporting a UFO.His transmission ended with 17 seconds of metallic scraping sounds.

21st Oct 2009....Agreement announced for sale of London Gatwick Airport from BAA Limited to Global Infrastructure Partners,to comply with Competition Commission requirements.

[Angry Turnip]

22nd Oct 1911....First powered aircraft to be used in war,an Italian Army Blériot XI,flies from Tripoli to Azizia to spy on Turkish positions.

22nd Oct 1912....The Australian Flying Corps is formed,it was not until 1914 that it began flight training.Pilots and mechanics were appointed,aircraft ordered,site of a flying school was chosen.

22nd Oct 1938....Lieutenant Colonel Mario Pezzi of Italy sets a world altitude record of 17,083 m (56,047 feet) in a Caproni Ca.161bis.This record still stands for piston-engined aircraft.

22nd Oct 1955....First flight of the Republic F-105 Thunderchief an American supersonic fighter-bomber.The F-105 was one of the primary attack aircraft of the Vietnam War; over 20,000 sorties flown.

22nd Oct 1968....Apollo program – Apollo 7 safely splashes down in the Atlantic Ocean after orbiting the Earth 163 times.It was the first time a Saturn IB vehicle put a crew into space.

22nd Oct 1981....The United States Federal Labor Relations Authority votes to de-certify the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization for its strike the previous August.

22nd Oct 1992....Launch:Space Shuttle Columbia STS-52 at 1:09:39:6433 p.m. EDT.Mission highlights:LAGEOS II,microgravity experiments.Six person crew was lead by James D. Wetherbee.

[Angry Turnip]

23rd Oct 1906....Alberto Santos-Dumont wins the Archdeacon prize as he flies his 14-bis aircraft at Bagatelle,France a distance of 197 ft.Santos-Dumont is a national hero in his native Brazil.

23rd Oct 1923....First flight of the Handley Page H.P.24 Hyderabad,a twin-engine biplane heavy bomber which served with the RAF between 1925 and 1933.It was a development of the Handley Page W.8 airliner.

23rd Oct 1934....Francesco Agello sets a new airspeed record in the Macchi MC.72, of 440 mph.The M.C. 72 record still stands today as the world's fastest propeller-driven seaplane.

23rd Oct 1939....First flight of the Mitsubishi G4M,was the main twin-engine,land-based bomber used by the IJNAS in World War II.The Allies gave the G4M the reporting name Betty.2435 were built.

23rd Oct 1943....First flight of the Vickers Windsor,four-engine heavy bomber,designed by Barnes Wallis and Rex Pierson.It was a possible replacement for the pre-war Vickers Wellington medium bomber.

23rd Oct 1944....First flight of the Nakajima G8N Renzan,a four-engine long-range bomber designed for use by the Imperial Japanese Navy.It`s Allied code name was "Rita", just 4 were built.

23rd Oct 1945....The last of 10,174 military DC-3/C-47 transport aircraft built by Douglas is handed over to the U.S. Army Air Forces.Some are still flying with military and civil operators.

23rd Oct 1952....First flight of the Hughes XH-17 "Flying Crane" had a two-bladed main rotor with a diameter of 134 feet,it still holds the world record for flying with the largest rotor system.

23rd Oct 1957....British European Airways Vickers Viscount 802 G-AOJA crashes while landing in rain and low clouds at Nutts Corner Airport in Belfast,Northern Ireland.All 7 on board are killed.

23rd Oct 1962....In Operation Blue Moon,six USN RF-8 Crusader photographic reconnaissance aircraft flying from Key West,Florida,conduct the first American low-level flights over Cuba.

23rd Oct 1967....First flight of the Canadair CL-215 (Scooper),a twin-engine,high-wing aircraft designed to operate at low speeds and in high gust-loading environments,as found over fires.

23rd Oct 2003....Concorde makes its final commercial flight from London Heathrow to New York JFK as Speedbird Concorde 1.Aviation had taken a huge backwards step with the retirement of Concorde.

23rd Oct 2007....Space Shuttle Discovery STS-120 launches at 15:38:19 UTC.Mission highlights (ISS assembly flight 10A):US Harmony module,crew rotation.Crew of 7 was led by Col.Pamela Melroy USAF.

[Angry Turnip]

24th Oct 1911...Orville Wright soars in a new glider he was testing for safety and stabilization,for 9 min and 45 seconds over dunes near Kitty Hawk,North Carolina.He had a 50pmh headwind.

24th Oct 1912...Harry Hawker wins the British Empire Michelin Cup for endurance,he flies for over 8 hours in a Burgess-Wright airplane.He went on to co-found Hawker Aircraft now part of Raytheon Inc.

24th Oct 1940...The Regia Aeronautica’s (Italian Royal Air Force’s) Corpo Aereo Italiano (Italian Air Corps) launches its first bombing raid over England,using 18 Fiat BR.20 bombers.

24th Oct 1944...The first bombing mission of the 21st Bomber Command against Japan involves 88 Boeing B-29 s in the first heavy bomb strike on Tokyo.

24th Oct 1945...Using a Douglas C-54 Skymaster,American Overseas Airlines begins the first scheduled commercial transatlantic airline service by a landplane,New York to Bournemouth-Hurn Airport.

24th Oct 1947...First flight of the Grumman HU-16 Albatross,a large twin–radial engine amphibious flying boat,used by the USAF,USN and USCG,mainly for SAR,it was redesignated the HU-16 in 1962.

24th Oct 1953...First flight of the Convair F-102 Delta Dagger,a interceptor/fighter aircraft to intercept invading Soviet strategic bomber fleets.1,000 F-102s were built.

24th Oct 1956...The last Boeing-produced B-47 is delivered to the Air Force from Wichita.Douglas and Lockheed will continue to produce B-47 s for several more months.

24th Oct 1984...First flight of the PZL 130 Orlik (Eaglet),a Polish single engine turboprop,2 seat trainer.Polish PZL-130TBs were upgraded to the TC-1,with better ejection seats and avionics.

24th Oct 2000...First flight of the Lockheed Martin X-35,a concept demonstrator for the Joint Strike Fighter program.It went into production and is entering service as the F-35 Lightning II.

24th Oct 2003...British Airways retires it`s Concorde fleet from service.The final flight of a Concorde worldwide took place on 26 November 2003 with a landing at Filton, Bristol,UK.

[Angry Turnip]

25th Oct 1930....TWA,begins the first regular passenger flights between New York and Los Angeles.The route took 36 hours and initially called for overnights in Kansas City.

25th Oct 1940....F/L GR McGregor and F/O BD Russel,No. 1 Squadron,were awarded the DFC for services in the Battle of Britain.

25th Oct 1944....The first kamikaze mission,with aircraft of the 201st Kokutai sinking the carrier USS St Lo.3,800 kamikaze pilots died during the war,and more than 7,000 were killed by their attacks.

25th Oct 1951....Japan Airlines commenced flight operations,using three Northwest Airlines Martin 2-0-2 aircraft,flown by Northwest crews.It became the national airline of Japan in 1953

25th Oct 1955....First flight of the Saab 35 Draken,a Swedish fighter aircraft.It was the first fully supersonic aircraft to be deployed in Western Europe.Austria retired theirs in 2005.

25th Oct 1960....First flight of the Boeing Vertol BV 107-II,a commercial version of the Boeing Vertol CH-46 Sea Knight medium-lift tandem-rotor transport helicopter.

25th Oct 1979....The ROKAF takes delivery of the last U.S.-built McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II.It is the 5,057 Phantom to roll out from the plant at St. Louis, Mo., since May 1958.

25th Oct 1985....Emirates began flight operations with a flight from Dubai to Karachi using an Airbus A300 leased from Pakistan International Airlines.

25th Oct 1991....First flight of the Airbus A340,a long-range,four-engine,wide-body jet airliner.It can carry 375pax or up to 440pax in the 600 series.The A340 was produced in four fuselage lengths.

25th Oct 1994....First flight of the Bell 430,a twin-engine light-medium helicopter.It is a stretched and more powerful development of the Bell 230,which,in turn,was based on the earlier Bell 222.

25th Oct 1999....A Learjet 35 flying between Orlando,and Dallas crashed after flying for almost four hours and 1,500 miles until it ran out of fuel.The aircraft had suffered a de-compression.

25th Oct 2007....The first Airbus A380 passenger flight,operating for Singapore Airlines,with flight number SQ380,flying scheduled service between Singapore and Sydney, Australia.

25th Oct 2009....CSA Czech Airlines discontinues all long-haul routes from Prague,including New York and Toronto.