Today in Aviation History - October

ausrere

ausrere

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October 1

In 1861... The United States Army Balloon Corps, consisting of five balloons and fifty men, is formed.

In 1881... William E. Boeing is born in Detroit, Mich. (d. 1956)

In 1906... United States Army Lieutenant Frank Lahm wins the 1st Gordon Bennett international balloon race.

In 1912... The Military Aviation Service is founded in Germany.

In 1926... An oil field accident cost aviator Wiley Post his left eye, but he used the settlement money to buy his first aircraft.

In 1942... First flight of the Bell XP-59 "Aircomet".

In 1947... Los Angeles Airways opens the world’s 1st regular airmail service by helicopter, using Sikorsky S-51 machines.

In 1947... North American's XP-86 Sabre Jet makes its first flight.

In 1958... NASA was created to replace NACA.

In 1969... The Concorde supersonic transport plane breaks the sound barrier for the first time.

In 1986... The B-1B achieved Initial Operational Capability.

In 1990... Curtis LeMay, American Air Force general, dies (b. 1906)
 
October 02

In 1918... The Kettering Bug pilotless airplane being developed by Charles F. Kettering makes its first successful unmanned flight test, albeit for only nine seconds.

In 1956... The Hughes Model 269, predecessor to the TH-55A and Model 300 Series helicopters, makes first flight.

In 1970... A plane carrying the Wichita State University football team, administrators, and supporters crashes in Colorado killing 31 people.

In 1990... A Chinese airline Boeing 737-247 is hijacked; after landing at Guangzhou, it crashes into two airliners on the ground, killing 132 people.

In 1996... An AeroPerú Boeing 757 crashes in Pacific Ocean shortly after takeoff from Lima, Peru, killing 70.
 
October 03


In 1785... Jean-Pierre Blanchard makes the 1st manned balloon ascent in Germany.

In 1942... Spaceflight: First successful launch of a V-2 /A4-rocket from Test Stand VII at Peenemünde, Germany: the first man-made object to reach space.

In 1953... Navy test pilot Jim Verdin takes off in a Douglas F4D Skyray from the Naval Air Station at El Centro, Calif., and breaks the world's speed record, flying at 752.9 mph.

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

In 1967... Air Force Capt. William "Pete" Knight took the X-15A-2 to the fastest speed recorded during the program, Mach 6.7,

In 1985... Space Shuttle Atlantis flies its maiden voyage. (STS-51-J)


*I don't know why this didn't show up on the 3rd.. I know I posted it. :dunno:
 
October 04


In 1784... James Sadler becomes the 1st British aeronaut when he makes a flight in a Montgolfier-type balloon of a 170-foot circumference.

In 1909... More than a million New Yorkers watch as Wilbur Wright makes a flight along the Hudson River.

In 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.

In 1958... Britain’s national overseas airline BOAC becomes the 1st carrier to fly the Atlantic route by jet airliner.

In 1960... Eastern Air Lines Flight 375, a Lockheed L-188 Electra, crashes on takeoff from Boston's Logan International Airport, killing 62 of 72 on board after a bird strike.

In 1975... A Cessna 310Q airplane crashes over Wilmington, North Carolina, killing the pilot and severely injuring several pro wrestlers affiliated with the NWA's Mid-Atlantic promotion. One of the survivors is the legendary Ric Flair.

In 1992... El Al Flight 1862: an El Al Boeing 747-200F crashes into two apartment buildings in Amsterdam, killing 43 including 38 on the ground.

In 2001... A Sibir Airlines Tupolev TU-154 crashes into the Black Sea after being struck by an errant Ukrainian S-200 missile. 78 people are killed.

In 2004... SpaceShipOne wins Ansari X Prize for private spaceflight.

In 2004... Gordon Cooper, one of the original astronauts in Project Mercury, dies. (b. 1927)
 
October 05

In 1751... Italian Andrea Grimaldi, exhibits a flying carriage: the machine, which remains untested, has a complex structure and a wingspan of 22 feet.

In 1905... Wilbur Wright pilots Wright Flyer III in a flight of 24 miles in 39 minutes in Simms Station, Ohio, a world record that stood until 1908.

In 1907... The 1st British Army dirigible airship, the Nullis Secundus (second to none), makes a spectacular flight over the capital city of London.

In 1914... A German Aviatik becomes the 1st aircraft to be shot down in a dogfight by a French Army-owned Voisin airplane.

In 1929... The Boeing Model 40B-4 makes its first flight. 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.

In 1930... British Airship R101 crashed in France en-route to India on its maiden voyage.

In 1944... Canadian Air Force pilots shoot down the first German jet fighter over France.

In 1984... Marc Garneau becomes the first Canadian in space, aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger.

In 1991... An Indonesian military transport crashes after takeoff from Jakarta killing 137.
 
October 06

In 1908... Wilbur Wright and a French writer make the 1st passenger flight of over one hour.

In 1922... Lieutenants John Macready and O.G. Kelly set a new world flight endurance record, staying aloft in their Fokker T-2 monoplane for a total of 35 hours, 18 minutes and 30 seconds.

In 1955... A United Airlines DC-4 crashes in Medicine Bow Peak, Wyoming, killing 66 people.

In 1977.. The first prototype of the MiG-29, designated 9-01, makes its maiden flight.

In 1993... Larry Walters, American "lawn chair" pilot dies. (b. 1949) He took flight on July 2, 1982 in a homemade aircraft constructed out of a patio chair and 45 helium-filled weather balloons. He reached an altitude of 16,000 feet (3 miles) and floated from San Pedro, California into federal airspace near Long Beach airport.
 
October 07

In 1908... Edith Berg became the first American woman airplane passenger when she flew with Wilbur Wright.

In 1909... Glenn Curtiss becomes the 1st American to hold an FAI airplane certificate.

In 1926... The Boeing FB-5 (production version) makes its first flight.
 
ausrere said:
October 07

In 1926... The Boeing FB-5 (production version) makes its first flight.
Click to expand...
I was curious what the FB-5 (Hawk) was so I looked it up...

It was a fighter designed for the Navy and Marine Corps. They were also the first aircraft designed for carrier operations. Definite signs of a classic!

boeing_fb-5.jpg


There's a slight sign there this one was for the Marine Corps. That's okay. They polished the Captain's brass and decks so it seems reasonable to let them fly off our boats as well. :)
 
October 08


In 1883... French brothers Albert and Gaston Tissandier make the 1st flight with an airship powered by electricity.

In 1890... Edward Rickenbacker, American pilot, is born. (d. 1973) Rickenbacker is best known as a World War I fighter ace and Medal of Honor recipient.

In 1932... The Indian Air Force is established.

In 2001... A twin engine Cessna and Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) jetliner collide in heavy fog during takeoff from Milan, Italy killing 118.
 
October 09

In 1890... The 1st full-sized manned airplane to leave the ground under its own power is Frenchman Clement Ader’s steam-powered, propeller-driven aircraft.

In 1900... French aeronaut Count Henri de La Vaulx sets a world record for non-stop long-distance balloon flight. He flies for over 35 hours after taking off from Paris, France.

In 2006... The A/MH-6X manned/unmanned military light-turbine helicopter makes its first flight. It combines technologies of the A/MH-6M Mission Enhanced Little Bird with Unmanned Little Bird Demonstrator, a modified MD 530F civil helicopter.
 
October 10

In 1898... Augustus Herring pilots a powered biplane based on Octave Chanute’s glider design.

In 1907... Robert Esnault-Pelterie makes the 1st airplane flight with a control stick, using a single, broom handle-like lever.

In 1933... United Airlines Chesterton Crash: A United Airlines Boeing 247 is destroyed by sabotage, the first such proven case in the history of commercial aviation.

In 1997... An Austral Airlines DC-9-32 crashes and explodes near Nuevo Berlin, Uruguay, killing 74.
 
according to my calendar at work: October 10, "U.S. Patent Office issued a patent on Norden bombsight applied for 17 years earlier"
 
October 11

In 1910... Ex-president Theodore Roosevelt becomes the first U.S. president to fly in an airplane. He flew for four minutes with Arch Hoxsey in a plane built by the Wright Brothers at Kinloch Field

In 1968... Apollo program: NASA launches Apollo 7, the first successful manned Apollo mission, with astronauts Wally Schirra, Donn F. Eisele and Walter Cunningham aboard.

In 1990... First flight of the U.S.-German Rockwell-MBB X-31. the X-31 and the Enhanced Fighter Maneuverability program was designed to test fighter thrust vectoring technology.

In 1998... A Congo Airlines Boeing 727 is shot down by rebels in Kindu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing 40.

In 2000... The 100th Space Shuttle mission (STS-92) is flown.

In 2007... Renowned WWII fighter pilot "Tex" Hill dies (b. 1915). Hill joined the Flying Tigers, an American volunteer group based in China during World War II. He shot down 18 1/4 enemy aircraft during the war.
 
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October 12


In 1961... The Navy's first McDonnell-built F4H operational squadron, VF-74, is qualified for carrier duty.

In 1964... The Soviet Union launches the Voskhod 1 into Earth orbit as the first spacecraft with a multi-person crew and the first flight without space suits.

In 1976... The NASA/U.S. Army rotor systems research aircraft produced by Sikorsky as the S-72 makes its first flight.
 
October 13

In 1931... Canadian pilot Godfrey Dean performs the 1st loop in an autogyro, at Willow Field, near Philadelphia.

In 1953... North American's Navaho X-10 supersonic research vehicle makes its first flight.

In 1972... An Aeroflot Ilyushin Il-62 crashed outside Moscow killing 176.

In 1972... Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crashes in the Andes mountains, in between the borders of Argentina and Chile. By December 23, 1972 all 16 survivors were rescued.

In 1976... A Bolivian Boeing 707 cargo jet crashes in Santa Cruz, Bolivia killing 100 (97, mostly children, killed on the ground).

In 1977... Four Palestinians hijack Lufthansa Flight 181 to Somalia and demand release of 11 members of the Red Army Faction.
 
October 14


In 1910... English aviator Claude Grahame-White lands his Farman biplane on Executive Avenue (now Pennsylvania Avenue) near the White House.

In 1922... The Boeing-built MB-3A (No. 54) flown by Lt. D.F. Stace wins the Pulitzer Trophy Race at Selfridge Field, Mich., flying 147.8 miles per hour over a 200-mile course.

In 1943... U.S. 8th Air Force loses 60 B-17 Flying Fortresses during an assault on Schweinfurt.

In 1947... Captain Charles “Chuck” Yeager becomes the 1st person to fly faster than sound. Yeager “breaks the sound barrier” in his Bell X-1 airplane, Glamorous Glennis, named after his wife. He was able to reach 670-mph or Mach 1.015 at Muroc Dry Lake, California.

In 1962... Cuban Missile Crisis begins: A U-2 flight over Cuba takes photos of Soviet nuclear weapons being installed.
 
October 15

In 1783... The 1st man to ascend in a tethered balloon is French scientist Jean Pilatre de Rozier. His hot-air Montgolfier balloon ascends to 84 feet – the length of the rope holding the balloon.

In 1884... Arch Hoxsey, pioneer aviator, was born (d. 1910). Hoxsey was amongst one of the first Wright pilots to fly the Wrights' new Model B aircraft after having been trained by Orville on the model A-B which was a transitional aircraft.

In 1913... Lieutenant Ronin makes the 1st official airmail flight in France.

In 1927... Captain Dieudonne´ lands in Brazil becoming the 1st person to fly non-stop across the South Atlantic. The 2100-mile flight takes just over 18 hours.

In 1928... The airship, the Graf Zeppelin completed its first trans-Atlantic flight, landing at Lakehurst, New Jersey, USA.

In 1932... Tata Airlines (later to become Air India) makes its first flight.

In 1937... Boeing test pilot Eddie Allen takes the mammoth Model 294 (XB-15) on its first flight. It has a 149-foot wingspan and accommodations for two complete crews. Because the lone XB-15 was an experimental airplane, it did not serve as a bomber during World War II. The military converted it into a cargo carrier, designated the XC-105.

In 1939... New York mayor Fiorello La Guardia dedicates an airport in Flushing bearing his name. La Guardia airport is the costliest to build at the time, $45 million.

In 2003... China launches Shenzhou 5, its first manned space mission.
 
October 16

In 1908... Samuel Cody becomes the 1st man to fly in Britain. Flying the British Army Aeroplane No 1, Cody flies for 1,391 feet before crashing.

In 1909... German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin forms the world’s 1st commercial airline.

In 1910... The 1st airship crossing of the English Channel is made by the French-built dirgible Cle´ment-Bayard II. The 244-mile route is completed in 6 hours.

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

In 1939... World War II: First attack on British territory by German Luftwaffe.

In 1944... First flight of the Junkers Ju 287.

In 1955... The Boeing Dash 80 flies nonstop from Seattle to Washington, D.C., and back, breaking all transcontinental records for a commercial transport, at average speeds of 592 mph and 567 mph.

In 1961... Cork Airport opened in Ireland.
 
October 17

In 1922... Lieutenant V.C. Griffin, in a Vought VE-7SF airplane, achieves the 1st take-off from the USS Langley, America’s 1st operational aircraft carrier.

In 1956... Mae Jemison, American astronaut, was born. Dr. Jemison became the first African American woman to travel in space when she went into orbit aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour on September 12, 1992.
 
ausrere said:
October 17

In 1922... Lieutenant V.C. Griffin, in a Vought VE-7SF airplane, achieves the 1st take-off from the USS Langley, America’s 1st operational aircraft carrier.

In 1956... Mae Jemison, American astronaut, was born. Dr. Jemison became the first African American woman to travel in space when she went into orbit aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour on September 12, 1992.
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according to my calendar:

1974: Sikorsky S-70 (UH/EH 60A Black Hawk and HH60A Night Hawk) takes first flight
 
tonycondon said:
according to my calendar:

1974: Sikorsky S-70 (UH/EH 60A Black Hawk and HH60A Night Hawk) takes first flight
Click to expand...

In my list it just says October 1974, but didn't say what day. I suppose I could have spent time digging through the internet to figure out what day, but my Bell Helicopter dad would probably have turned over in his grave if I'd spent that much time doing research on something belonging to Sikorsky! :D [kidding of course, he was like me, if it flew.. he was excited about it regardless of wing placement or logo worn..I've just been too busy at work to dig up extra stuff for the TIAH posts. Sorry.]
 
October 18

In 1909... Charles Comte de Lambert, Wilbur Wright’s 1st aviation pupil, flies around the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

In 1979... The Douglas DC-9 Super 80 twin-engine jetliner, sixth basic model and largest of the popular DC-9 series, makes its first flight.

In 1984... The Rockwell (North American) B1-B bomber makes its first flight.
 
October 19

In 1917... Love Field in Dallas, Texas is opened.

In 1968... USAF test pilot Major William “Pete” Knight wins the Harmon international aviator’s trophy for “exceptional individual piloting performance”.

In 1977... The supersonic Concorde made its first landing in New York City.
 
October 20

In 1920... Flying his Nieuport Delage, Sadi Lecointe set a world speed record flying at 187.99-mph.

In 1923... The Boeing NB-1, a two-seat seaplane trainer, makes its first flight. It is the first in its series, developed for the Navy from the Model 15. The Army and Navy eventually buy more than 157 derivatives of the Model 15.

In 1977... A plane carrying Lynyrd Skynyrd crashes in Mississippi, killing lead singer Ronnie Van Zant and guitarist Steve Gaines along with backup singer Cassie Gaines, road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary, and co-pilot William Gray.

In 1988... Sheila Scott, English aviatrix died (b. 1922). Scott broke over 100 aviation records through her long distance flight endeavours, which included a 34,000 mile (54,400 km) "world and a half" flight in 1971 on which she became the first person to fly over the North Pole in a small aircraft.
 
October 21

In 1929... The Colonial Flying Service and Scully Walton Ambulance Company organize the United State’s 1st civilian air ambulance service.

In 1970... Caledonian Airways takes over British United Airways.
 
October 22

In 1797... The modern parachute is born as Andre-Jacques Garnerin makes the 1st human parachute descent from the air. Garnerin jumps from a hydrogen balloon at a height of 2,300 feet in Paris.

In 1898... Augustus Herring pilots a powered biplane based on Octave Chanute’s glider design.

In 1962... Cuban Missile Crisis: US President John F. Kennedy announces that American spy planes have discovered Soviet nuclear weapons in Cuba, and that he has ordered a naval "quarantine" of the island nation.

In 1968... Apollo program: Apollo 7 safely splashes down in the Atlantic Ocean after orbiting the Earth 163 times.

In 1981... The United States Federal Labor Relations Authority votes to decertify the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization for its strike the previous August.

In 1986... WNBC traffic reporter Jane Dornacker is killed when the helicopter she is riding in stalls and crashes into the Hudson River.

In 2005... Crash of Bellview Airlines Flight 210 in Nigeria kills all 117 on board.
 
Oct. 22 from my work calendar:

Bell 204 (Huey) makes first flight, I believe the year was 1956, cant remember.
 
October 23

In 1906... Brazilian aviator Alberto Santos Dumont makes the 1st sustained airplane flight in Europe in his own airplane, the N° 14 bis.

In 1911... First use of aircraft in war: An Italian pilot takes off from Libya to observe Turkish army lines during the Turco-Italian War.

In 1929... The first North American transcontinental air service begins between New York City and Los Angeles, California.

In 1942... All 12 passengers and crewmen aboard an American Airlines DC-3 airliner are killed when it is struck by a U.S. Army Air Forces bomber near Palm Springs, California. Among the victims is award-winning composer and songwriter Ralph Rainger ("Thanks for the Memory", "Love in Bloom", "Blue Hawaii").

In 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.

In 1952... The Hughes Model XH-17 "Flying Crane" Heavy Lift Helicopter, the first helicopter program undertaken by Hughes, makes its first flight.
 
October 24



In 1911... Orville Wright remained in the air 9 minutes and 45 seconds in a glider at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina setting a new world record that stood for 10 years.

In 1912... Harry Hawker wins the British Empire Michelin Cup for endurance. He flies for over 8 hours in a Burgess-Wright airplane.

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

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

In 1957... The USAF starts the X-20 Dyna-Soar program. "Dynamic Soarer" was a United States Air Force program to develop a spaceplane that could be used for a variety of military missions, including reconnaissance, bombing, space rescue, satellite maintenance, and sabotage of enemy satellites. The program was canceled just after spacecraft construction had begun in 1963.

In 2003... Concorde makes its last commercial flight.
 
ausrere said:
October 24
In 1911... Orville Wright remained in the air 9 minutes and 45 seconds in a glider at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina setting a new world record that stood for 10 years.
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considered to be the first real soaring flight in history. that trip back to NC is the source of the quote in my sig. they had told many that they were going back to fly gliders for some research or something. fact was, flying gliders is more fun :D
 
October 25

In 1922... The Douglas Co. begins its association with the Army Air Service when it receives a memo requesting information on a modified version of the DT-2.

In 1939... The prototype Handey Page Halifax (serial no. L7244) makes its first flight from RAF Bicester with J.L.B.H. Cordes at the controls.

In 1940... The North American prototype, NA-73X was rolled out. The NA-73X went on to become the P-51 Mustang.

In 1979... The Air Force 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.

In 2006... The first production CH-47F Chinook helicopter successfully completes its first flight.

In 2007... The first Airbus A380 passenger flight, operating for Singapore Airlines, with flight number SQ380, flying scheduled service between Singapore and Sydney, Australia.
 
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October 26

In 1907... Henry Farman flies his Voisin Farman I flying machine just under 2,530 feet, breaking the world distance record.

In 1940... First Flight of the P-51.

In 1958... Pan American Airways makes the first commercial flight of the Boeing 707 from New York to Paris.

In 1962... The last Boeing B-52H, the eighth and final version of the intercontinental bomber, was delivered to the Air Force.
 
ausrere said:
October 25

In 1922... The Douglas Co. begins its association with the Army Air Service when it receives a memo requesting information on a modified version of the DT-2.

In 1939... The prototype Handey Page Halifax (serial no. L7244) makes its first flight from RAF Bicester with J.L.B.H. Cordes at the controls.

In 1940... The North American prototype, NA-73X was rolled out. The NA-73X went on to become the P-51 Mustang.

In 1979... The Air Force 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.

In 2006... The first production CH-47F Chinook helicopter successfully completes its first flight.

In 2007... The first Airbus A380 passenger flight, operating for Singapore Airlines, with flight number SQ380, flying scheduled service between Singapore and Sydney, Australia.
Click to expand...

Ive got lots of friends who worked on the displays for the 47F

Also on the 25th, 1965: Bell Huey/Cobra records sustained level cruise speed of 200 mph
 
ausrere said:
October 26

In 1907... Henry Farman flies his Voisin Farman I flying machine just under 2,530 feet, breaking the world distance record.

In 1940... First Flight of the P-51.

In 1958... Pan American Airways makes the first commercial flight of the Boeing 707 from New York to Paris.

In 1962... The last Boeing B-52H, the eighth and final version of the intercontinental bomber, was delivered to the Air Force.
Click to expand...

1972, Igor Sikorsky dies at age 83
 
October 27

In 1909... Mrs. Ralph van Denman flies for four minutes with Wilbur Wright at College Park, Maryland, becoming the U.S.'s 1st female passenger.

In 1917... Arthur Rhys Davids, English WWI Fighter Pilot pilot, dies (b. 1897). Davids was credited with having brought down Germany's Werner Voss on 23 September 1917, in one of the most famous dogfights of World War I.

In 1962... Major Rudolph Anderson of the US Air Force became the only direct human casualty of the Cuban Missile Crisis when his U-2 reconnaissance airplane was shot down in Cuba by a Soviet-supplied SA-2 Guideline surface-to-air missile.

In 1962... The plane of Enrico Mattei, Italian industry's most relevant figure, crashes in mysterious circumstances.
 
October 28

In 1891... Ormer Locklear, American movie stunt pilot is born (d. 1920).

In 1914... Aviators in Melbourne form an Australian Aero Club.

In 1816... Oswald Boelcke, German pilot, dies (b. 1891). Boelcke was a WWI fighter ace and is considered the father of the German fighter Airforce.

In 1952... The Douglas A3D (A-3) Skywarrior makes its first flight.

In 1957... The first production Boeing Model 707-120 jet rolls out.

In 1972... The first Airbus A300 flies.

In 1998... An Air China (Mainland China) jetliner is hijacked by disgruntled pilot Yuan Bin and flown to Taiwan.
 
ausrere said:
In 1952... The Douglas A3D (A-3) Skywarrior makes its first flight.
Click to expand...
Among it's several nick names, one is "All Three Dead" as it has no ejection seats. Another is "Whale" which is indeed appropriate. It's got to be one of the least appealing birds I saw on the flight deck. It made the Viking look like a graceful guppy.

Whale also made since with its max weight was somewhere around 80,000 lbs; nearly twice that of the Greyhound, a much larger plane. I don't know the highest weight it ever launched from the boat with but I can't help but think the strain on that catapult shuttle had to be pretty great.
 
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