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Official "On This Day In Aviation History" Thread


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March 25, 1977

The YC-141B Starlifter "stretched" cargo aircraft completed its first test flight.

McChord Air Museum C-141B Page

Nice Comparison of C-141 Starlifter and C-5 Galaxy

March 25, 1966

U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. R. C. W. Blessley flew an F-111A on the longest low-level penetration flight to date (1,201.8 miles). He flew 1,000 feet above terrain ranging from 500 feet to over 10,000 feet.

Wikipedia's F-111 History

March 25, 1960

The first NASA flight in the X-15 hypersonic research program gets under way when test pilot Joseph A. Walker makes the first of his flights in this aircraft.

X-15.com

March 25, 1917

One of the greatest fighter pilots of WWI, Canada-born Lt. Col. William Avery Bishop, scores his first combat victory over an Albatros single-seat fighter while flying a Nieuport.

William Avery "Billy" Bishop, Canadian World War I flying ace, officially credited with 72 victories, the highest number for a British Empire pilot.

Wikipedia's Billy Bishop Biography

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March 26, 1949

The first 10-engined aircraft, the B-36 Peacemaker, made its first successful test flight.

Wikipedia's B-36 Peacemaker History

www.b36.net

YouTube B-36 Peacemaker Video (Part 1)

YouTube B-36 Peacemaker Video (Part 2)

YouTube B-36 Peacemaker Video (Part 3)

YouTube B-36 Peacemaker Video (Part 4)

YouTube B-36 Peacemaker Video (Part 5)

The above YouTube video is long, but so informative. If you have the time, you will enjoy watching it.

March 26, 1968

Maj. William J. Knight received the 1968 Octave Chanute Award for flying the X-15A-2 rocket aircraft to a new speed record of 4,354 mph.

Wikipedia's Octave Chanute Flight Award Page

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March 27, 1927

Young American airmail pilot named Charles A. Lindbergh registers his entry in the Raymond Orteig challenge for the first man to cross the Atlantic Ocean solo. The challenge and a $25,000 prize, has been issued in 1920, but no one had been successful in making the flight up to this point.

Wikipedia's Charles Lindbergh Biography

March 27, 1986

U.S. Marines take deliver of the first AH-1W "Whiskey" Super Cobra.

Wikipedia's AH-1 Super Cobra History

Prime Portal AH-1W Walkaround

March 27, 1994

First flight of the European Fighter Aircraft (Eurofighter) two years later than expected.

Wikipedia's Eurofighter Typhoon History

Prime Portal Eurofighter Walkaround

March 27, 2004

NASA's X-43A unmanned aircraft became the first jet to break Maj. William J. Knight's X-15 record of 4,520 mph. The X-43A did this by accomplishing 4,780 mph for 11 seconds at 95,000 feet. Current iterations of the X-43 are exceeding Mach 9.

Wikipedia's NASA X-43A Page

Sorry guys. Our club's annual contest was today and I'm only now getting to post these.

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March 28, 1944

The 15th Air Force flew its first "1,000-ton raid", striking targets in Italy.

15thaf.org

March 28, 1952

The first F-86F Sabre delivered to Tactical Air Command for the 21st and 50th Fighter-Bomber Wings.

Wikipedia's F-86 Saber History

Prime Portal F-86F Walkaround

March 28, 1986

The U.S. Air Force terminated the T-46A program.

T-46A History

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Now March 29th here;

In 1858... Two men - Brown and Dean - make the first balloon flight in Australia in a hydrogen balloon named the Australasian. (F&F)

In 1920... Located about 10 miles due south of the City of London, England, Waddon Airport at Croydon is used for the first time as London's airport. Until this date, Hownslow has been considered the capital's main airport. (F&F)

In 1951... Flight Safety Inc. begins operations at the Marine Air Terminal at LaGuardia Airport, New York with just one secretary and rented late night hours on a Link trainer simulator. (AYY)

On March 29, 1951, CVG-101 flew its first combat missions from Boxer, which marked the first carrier strikes by Reserve forces against North Korea. During the deployment, which lasted until 24 October 1951, air group pilots logged 23,627.4 flight hours, 8,567 traps and 8,833 combat sorties. Thirty aircraft were lost, including 18 to enemy fire. On the flight suits of most of the pilots, “USNR†followed their names.

On March 29, 1966 100th Lear Jet delivery.

March 29, 1983 Opening of the Smoketown Airport, PA

On March 29, 1945 the final wartime V2 rocket was launched

Julien

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March 29, 1923

Lt. Russell Maughan set a world speed record of 236.587 mph in a Curtiss R-6.

Wikipedia's Russell Maughan Biography

March 29, 1957

Bell delivers two H-13J helos to the U.S. Air Force for presidential use.

Wikipedia's Bell H-13 History

Flickr Photo of Presidential H-13J

March 29, 2001

At Edwards AFB, California, the Boeing's X-32B Joint Strike Fighter demonstrator made its first flight. The 50-minute flight featured a series of initial airworthiness tests.

Wikipedia's Boeing X-32 History

Pax River Museum X-32 Page

YouTube X-32 Video

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March 30, 1928

A Macchi MC-72 seaplane is the first aircraft in the world to exceed 300mph. The MC-72 went on to exceed 440mph.

Wikipedia's MC-72 History

March 30, 1939

The German Heinkel He 100 fighter sets a world speed record of 463mph. The Messerschmitt Me-109 had been vying for the accomplishment as well, and loses with this record.

Wikipedia's Heinkel He 100 History

Luftwaffe Resource Center's He 100 page

March 30, 1953

A prototype heavy cargo aircraft the Convair XC-99 established a new, world's load-lifting record of 104,000 pounds.

Goleta Air and Space Museum's XC-99 History

March 30, 1961

X-15 reaches 169,000 ft.

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March 31, 1951

The U.S. Navy issued a development contract to Convair for the XFY-1 "Pogo" propeller-driven vertical takeoff fighter.

Wikipedia's XFY-1 History

YouTube XFY-1 Flight Test Video

March 31, 1954

Joe deBona set a transcontinental speed record for piston-engine planes, when he flew an F-51 Mustang 2,467 miles from Los Angeles to New York in 4 hours, 24 minutes, and 17 seconds. That is an average speed of 560mph.

March 31, 1966

The U.S. Air Force Strategic Air Command SAC phased out its last B-47 Stratojet.

Wikipedia's B-47 Stratojet History

Prime Portal B-47B Stratojet Walkaround

March 31, 1981

Bell receives the contract for their D-292 airframe in competition for the U.S. Army's Advanced Composite Airframe Program. The technology from this competition later helped to create much of the composite in the RAH-66 Comanche project.

Wikipedia's RAH-66 Comanche History

Gents,

I'm moving out of my home, and relocating 800 miles away, today and won't be back online until 4/5/2010 at the soonest. If another ARCer would like to "fill in the gaps" between now and then to keep the thread going, I'd greatly appreciate the help.

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April 2nd

On this day, Jed is flying with his two ship formation on a low level route through the Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama landscape in a rental truck.

Don't forget Tennessee!

I'll be back in business tomorrow guys!

Sorry for the delay, but it couldn't be helped.

In fact, I plan to do some "catch up" history so we'll have every day covered.

JED

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April 1, 1954

Last operational flight by an RAF Spitfire, a photo-reconnaissance sortie against bandits in Malaya.

April 1, 1969

The Hawker-Siddeley Harrier enters service with the RAF.

April 1, 1978

The Canadian Snowbirds aerobatic team officially becomes the 431 Air Demonstration Squadron.

Gents,

On these "catch-up histories", I won't do links because I'm typing these from work and don't have the time to search the internet for cool supplemental info.

Once the internet is up and running at my house, I'll commence with our normally scheduled programming.....and maybe go back and add some hot links.

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April 2, 1976

The last C-118A Liftmaster in the active inventory went to Davis- Monthan AFB, Arizona for storage.

April 2, 1990

In the McDonnell Douglas NF-15B Short Takeoff and Landing (STOL) Maneuvering Technology Demonstrator, Maj. Erwin Bud Jenschke demonstrated in-flight thrust reversing for the first time over Edwards AFB, California.

April 2, 1997

A Boeing 777, powered by twin Rolls-Royce Trent 892 turbofans, returns to Seattle to set a new Eastbound speed around the world record of 553 mph.

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April 3, 1933

Two British-built aircraft, the prototype Westland Wapiti V modified into the Wallace (G-ACBR), become the first to fly over the top of Mt. Everest, at 29,802 ft. the highest point of land on earth, and to photograph the summit from above.

April 3, 1969

Alvin Marks flew a Cessna 210 around the world from Sacramento, California and back. He completed the 23,356-mile journey in 13 days, 8 hours, and 41 minutes.

April 3, 1981

Pan Am Airlines founder Juan Terry Trippe dies in Los Angeles.

Edited by B-1 Nut
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April 4, 1924

Four U.S. Army Douglas Biplanes took off from Seattle on the first global flight. Only two crews completed the 26,345-mile flight after 363 hours flying time in an elapsed time of 175 days.

April 4, 1938

The Bell XP-39 Airacobra first flew.

April 4, 1949

Curtiss-Wright announced that the Bell X-1 rocket plane with a Curtiss-Wright engine flew at a world record speed of 1,100 mph for piloted planes.

April 4, 1984

Oleg Konstantinovich Antonov, Russian airplane engineer died.

April 4, 2010

A U.S.-Russian crew in a Russian Soyuz space ship docked at the International Space Station.

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April 5, 1959

First flight of the first jet aircraft designed and built in Czechoslovakia, the Aero L-29 Delfin.

April 5, 1949

Fairchild Aviation Corporation completed the first two production models of the C-119 Flying Boxcar troop-carrying transport.

April 5, 1976

Howard Hughes dies aboard a Learjet, aged 70.

April 5, 1996

Tests to help determine C-17A Globemaster III's suitability for its aeromedical evacuation role took place through April 9 at Pope AFB, North Carolina.

Edited by B-1 Nut
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April 5, 1937

First flight of the first jet aircraft designed and built in Czechoslovakia, the Aero L-29 Delfin.

I think you mean April 5 1959 for this aircraft.

and by the way..this is awesome!!!! I keep checking back every day!!!!!!

Sean

Edited by martin_sam_2000
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April 6, 1941

The first aircraft ejection seat, a compressed air unit, is fitted to the German Heinkel He 280 jet fighter.

April 6, 1965

The BAC TSR.2 is cancelled in favor of the General Dynamics F-111 for the Royal Air Force.

April 6, 1984

Astronauts made the first successful capture and repair of a satellite, the sunwatching Solar Maximum Mission satellite, in space.

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April 7, 1908

The members of the Aerial Experiment Association enter a competition sponsored by the Scientific American, which has offered $25,000 for a flight of over 0.62 miles.

April 7, 1958 -- Brig. Gen. William E. Eubank Jr, 93rd Bombardment Missile Wing Commander at Castle AFB, California, flew a KC-135 through April 8, on an 18-hour flight from Tokyo, Japan, to Lajes Field, Azores, to set two records. The marks included longest straight-line distance without refueling, 10,229.3 miles in 18 hours 48 minutes and speed 492.262 mph from Tokyo to Washington, D.C. in 13 hours, 45 minutes and 46.5 seconds.

April 7, 1967

Air Force Systems Command's 6511th Parachute Test Group dropped 50,150 pounds from a C-130 to claim an unofficial world record.

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March 22, 1950

The only jet-powered U.S. Air Force flying wing, the YB-49, crashed at Edwards AFB, California.

Wikipedia's YB-49 History

YB-49 Photo Gallery

The Wiki article contradicts your date claim. It says the entire program had been cancelled a week before your entry. In addition, there were TWO crashes, both at MUROC Field. Muroc was renamed Edwards in honor of one of the YB-49 pilots who perished but that was a bit later.

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April 8, 1959

Col. E. H. Taylor set a world record of 700.05 mph in an RF-101C over a 1,000-kilometer closed-circuit course.

Prime Portal RF-101C Walkaround

Great video after first few slides.

April 8, 1925

Lt. John D. Price, flying a plane of VF-1, made a night landing on the USS Langley, off San Diego, California, U.S.A.

April 8, 1913

Amelia Earhart flew an Autogiro to an altitude of 19,000 feet at the Pitcairn Aviation Field near Philadelphia., Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

Wikipedia's Amelia Earhart Biography

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The Wiki article contradicts your date claim. It says the entire program had been cancelled a week before your entry. In addition, there were TWO crashes, both at MUROC Field. Muroc was renamed Edwards in honor of one of the YB-49 pilots who perished but that was a bit later.

Sorry about that.

I really don't have the time to fact check each of the items I post. I grab them from several different places on the internet and from a calendar that I have. Due to time restraints I just can't do the background every day. I started off doing it and realized I was wasting way too much time.

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