Today in Aviation History - December

December 26


In 1948... I. V. Fedorov becomes the first Soviet pilot to break the sound barrier. He achieves the necessary speed by diving his Lavochkin La-176 jet, powered by a Rolls-Royce Nene engine, at full throttle.

In 1975... The Tupolev Tu-144 goes into service in Soviet Union.

In 1980... Aeroflot puts the Ilyushin Il-86 into service on its Moscow-Tashkent route.
 
December 27

In 1773... George Cayley is born in Scarborough, Yorkshire, England. Pioneer of early aviation regarded by many as the father of flight. His glider takes his coachman on the first manned flight in 1853.

In 1919... The Boeing Airplane Co. B-1 mail plane, the first Boeing-designed commercial aircraft, makes its first flight.

In 1949... US carriers American Airlines and TWA begin coast-to coast coach-class flights with 60-passenger DC-4s, charging US $110 one-way.

In 1968... Apollo 8 splashes down in the Pacific Ocean, ending humanity's first manned mission to the Moon.

In 1982... John Leonard 'Jack' Swigert, Jr., American astronaut, dies (b. 1931). Swigert was one of three astronauts aboard the ill-fated Apollo 13 moon mission, which was launched on April 11, 1970. Originally part of the backup crew for the mission, he was assigned to the mission just days before launch, replacing astronaut Ken Mattingly.
 
December 28


In 1948... The DC-3 airliner NC16002 disappears 50 miles south of Miami, Florida.

In 1988... An analysis of the wreckage of the Pan Am Boeing 747, which crashed at Lockerbie, Scotland a week ago, reveals that a bomb had been planted in the jet’s luggage hold.

In 1988... McDonnell Douglas F-15E dual-role fighters go into operational service at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C.
 
December 29

In 1921... Edward Stinson and Lloyd Bertaud set a world endurance record of 26 hours, 18 minutes and 35 seconds flying a BMW-engined Junkers-Larsen over Roosevelt Field.

In 1939... First flight of the Consolidated B-24

In 1972... An Eastern Air Lines Lockheed "Tristar" crashes on approach to Miami International Airport, Florida, killing 101.
 
December 30

In 1905... The Wright brothers sign a contract for one million francs with Frenchman Arnold Fordyce for the sale of a powered flying machine capable of flying a nonstop distance of 31 mi. When contingent of French government officials come to Dayton in April 1906 to change the agreement by seeking exclusivity for one year, the idea is dropped; for their trouble, the Wrights received 25,000 francs (then about US $5,000), the first money they earn from flying.

In 1947... The prototype of the second Mikoyan Type S fighter, an early version of the MiG-15, makes its first flight; it has an imported Rolls-Royce Nene 2 jet engine.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top