On This Day In Aviation History

Threads about the world of aviation outside of airshows. General aviation, airlines, spotting, etc.
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Post by n33d4sp33d_85 » Fri Jul 17, 2020 3:37 pm

81 years ago today:
On this date in 1939 the Bristol Beaufighter flew for the first time. Watch for a feature about this juggernaut coming soon to Avgeekery.com.

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67 years ago today:
On this date in 1953 Lieutenant Guy P. Bordelon scored his fifth aerial victory, making him the only United States Navy ace of the Korean War. Bordelon only needed 18 sorties in his trusty Vought F4U-5N Corsair night fighter to chalk up his 5.
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Post by n33d4sp33d_85 » Sat Jul 18, 2020 5:50 am

78 years ago today, the Messerschmitt Me 262, the world's first operational jet-powered fighter aircraft, flew for the first time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0z3RNZ1KpU

65 years ago today, the Folland Gnat flew for the first time. This airplane was the first to be used by the RAF Red Arrows, and it was also the plane that portrayed the fictional carrier-based "Oscar EW-5894 Phallus Tactical Fighter Bomber" in the 1991 comedy film Hot Shots!.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BJIQsKSOBg

52 years ago today, the Tupolev Tu-142 (NATO code-name: Bear F/J), a maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft derived from the Tu-95 strategic bomber, flew for the first time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrJ5l8zzs_w

50 years ago today, the Aeritalia G.222 flew for the first time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Y7CWG8ElMI

18 years ago today, the Boeing YAL-1 Airborne Laser, a modified Boeing 747-400F fitted with a megawatt-class chemical oxygen iodine laser on the nose, flew for the first time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2eehBk_DNQ
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Post by n33d4sp33d_85 » Sat Jul 18, 2020 5:35 pm

77 years ago today:
#OTD in 1943, the US Navy airship K-74 was shot down by the German submarine U-134 over the Straits of Florida, becoming the only airship lost to enemy fire during World War II. The crew was picked up eight hours later, except for one crew member who was lost to a shark attack.

K-class blimps built by Goodyear were used extensively for patrol and anti-submarine warfare during WWII. Their ability to operate at low altitudes and slow speeds for as long as 24 hours at a time resulted in the detection of numerous enemy submarines.

After the war, Goodyear obtained one K-ship, K-28, from the Navy as a test of its commercial blimp program. Named Puritan, it was the largest ever Goodyear blimp. Used mostly to experiment with copy signs attached to the envelope, she was costly to operate and maintain, and was was retired in 1948 after only one year in the Goodyear fleet.
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65 years ago today:
On this date in 1955 the first KC-135 rolled out.
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46 years ago today:
On this date in 1974 NASA bought an American Airlines 747 that would be modified to become the first Shuttle Carrier Aircraft.
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10 years ago today:
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner made its first public appearance at the Farnborough Airshow in the UK on this date in 2010.
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Post by n33d4sp33d_85 » Sun Jul 19, 2020 5:20 am

77 years ago today, the Curtiss-Wright XP-55 Ascender flew for the first time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybEDawKLvjE

2 years ago today, the Airbus Beluga XL flew for the first time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4cnor4zhvc
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Post by n33d4sp33d_85 » Sun Jul 19, 2020 4:48 pm

57 years ago today:
Joe Walker flew a North American X-15 to a record altitude of 106,010 meters (347,800 feet) during X-15 Flight 90 on this date in 1963. At over 100 kilometers, Walker's altitude record qualified as human spaceflight under international convention.
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Post by n33d4sp33d_85 » Mon Jul 20, 2020 5:07 am

69 years ago today, the Hawker Hunter flew for the first time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQB_-jzo4-E

67 years ago today, the Martin B-57 Canberra, a license-built version of Great Britain's English Electric Canberra, flew for the first time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C57bevfjNY

51 years ago today, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin took their first steps on the moon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwZb2mqId0A
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Post by n33d4sp33d_85 » Tue Jul 21, 2020 1:49 am

51 years ago today:
On this date in 1969 the first word spoken from the moon was "Houston." After some momentous steps and a leap or two, (and a L O N G trip back home) Old 66 was there to fish the crew of Apollo 11 out of the Pacific and deposit them aboard the Hornet after their return to Earth.
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Post by n33d4sp33d_85 » Tue Jul 21, 2020 2:57 pm

76 years ago today:
It was #OTD in 1944 that the very last SBD Dauntless rolled off the assembly line at the Douglas plant in El Segundo, CA. Though the faster, longer-ranged Helldiver eventually replaced the Dauntless on the fleet carriers, it was too big for the smaller escort carriers, which used the Dauntless throughout the war. Considered the most destructive air weapon of the U.S. Navy, the SBD sank over 300,000 tons of enemy ships, a greater tonnage of Japanese shipping than any other Allied aircraft.
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It was #OTD in 1944, that US troops landed to retake Guam. US Navy Task Force 53 landed the Third Marine Division, the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade, and the Army's 77th Infantry Division. This operation was the first coordinated use of both naval gunfire and aerial bombardment in the same coastal area in the Pacific. A total of 274 ships fired 44,978 two and five-inch shells, and the planes of 13 aircraft carriers delivered 4,283 bombs from July 18-20 in preparation for the landing. Do you know the codename for the landing operation?

The island was declared secure on August 10, though pockets of Japanese resistance were encountered even after V-J Day.
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74 years ago today:
On this date in 1946 a McDonnell FH Phantom made the first landing aboard an aircraft carrier (the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt CVB-42) by a jet-powered aircraft.
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72 years ago today:
On this date in 1948 a great game of hide and seek began. https://www.avgeekery.com/an-rb-29-on-a ... d-war-mi…/
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59 years ago today:
On this date in 1961, Virgil Ivan "Gus" Grissom's Mercury space capsule, Liberty Bell 7, was lost at sea after Grissom splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean.
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44 years ago today:
On this date in 1976 the Lockheed CP-140 Aurora was announced as the eventual replacement for the Canadair CP-107 Argus.
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Post by n33d4sp33d_85 » Wed Jul 22, 2020 3:08 pm

87 years ago today:
on this date in 1933 one-eyed pilot Wiley Post landed his Lockheed Vega "Winnie Mae" after completing the first solo flight around the world.
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77 years ago today:
#OTD in 1943, three Avro Lancasters converted for transport use by Trans-Canada Air Lines, begin transatlantic service. By the end of 1944 they were making three round trips per week between Canada and the UK and had carried over 1,000,000 pounds of mail and 2000 passengers. The inaugural flight on July 22, 1943 set a non-stop speed record from Montreal, Canada, to Prestwick, Scotland, of 12 hours 26 minutes. After the war, Avro produced an airliner version of the Lancaster, do you know what it was called?
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65 years ago today:
On this date in 1955 the Republic XF-84H Thunderscreech flew for the first time.
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9 years ago today:
On this date in 2011 the Space Shuttle Atlantis returned from STS-135- the last Space Shuttle mission.
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Post by n33d4sp33d_85 » Thu Jul 23, 2020 4:34 am

80 years ago today, Yakovlev Yak-7 flew for the first time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2CrYs4IlZU

68 years ago today, the Fouga CM.170 Magister flew for the first time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoFqE9w6Ba0

65 years ago today, the PZL TS-8 Bies flew for the first time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=472wqAJ44eA
Last edited by n33d4sp33d_85 on Thu Jul 23, 2020 4:35 am, edited 1 time in total.
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