AUG05

1915 - Birth of Helmut Paul Emil Wick, German WWII Fighter ace.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmut_Wick - http://www.luftwaffe.cz/wick.html

1916 - Fighter pilot Major L.W.B. Rees of the Royal Flying Corps, wins the Victoria Cross. While flying an Airco DH2 he spotted a formation of eight enemy aircraft and decided to attack. Despite the odds, and injuries, Major Rees managed to force two aircraft down out of control before his ammunition ran out.

http://rafmuseum-1.titaninternet.co.uk/milestones-of-flight/british_military/1916_3.cfm

1917 - The 1st Aero Squadron of the Signal Corps leaves the United States for Europe under the command of Maj. Ralph Royce.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_Reconnaissance_Squadron#World_War_I

1918 - 1st American night patrol of the war takes place when a Felixstowe F.2A flying boat crewed by Ens. Ashton W. Hawkins and Lt. George F. Lawrence take off on patrol from RAF Killinghome, England.

http://www.history.navy.mil/branches/avchr2.htm

1930 - Norwegian explorers on White Island (Kvitöa) discovered the debris of the earliest balloon expedition to the North Pole, S. A. Andrée's Arctic Balloon 'Eagle' Expedition of 1897. They also found the remains of a balloonist, diaries and photos.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S._A._Andr%C3%A9e%27s_Arctic_balloon_expedition_of_1897#Speculation_and_recovery

1930 - Birth of Neil Alden Armstrong, American aviator, NASA astronaut, test pilot, aerospace engineer, university professor, and USN Aviator, 1st person to set foot on the Moon.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Armstrong

1931 - 1st flight of the Wilford WRK Gyroplane, American single-seat open-cockpit autogiro.

http://www.aviastar.org/helicopters_eng/wilford.php

1933 - French Paul Codos and Maurice Rossi takes off from New-York in the Blériot Bl-110 'Joseph Le Brix' for a world distance record.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bl%C3%A9riot_110 - http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=1678

1933 - Thomas (Tex) G. W. Settle of the U.S. Navy made the 1st flight solo in the 'Century of Progress' hydrogen gas balloon, but his ascent was aborted shortly after takeoff because a gas release valve malfunctioned.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeannette_Piccard#Balloon_and_Thomas_Settle_flights

1934 - Death of Frances Harrell Marsalis, American aviatrix and record setter, killed in the crash of her Waco during the Cleveland Air Races at Dayton, Ohio.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&dat=19340806&id=vowjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=HZkFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6758,570653

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=68054616

1936 - Chicago and Southern Air Lines Flight 4 Lockheed Model 10 Electra 'City of Memphis' rashed in a farm field near the Missouri River killing all 8. Preliminary reports believed the ground fog to have been a factor.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_and_Southern_Flight_4

1937 - Death of Jean Louis Conneau (aka André Beaumont), pioneer French aviator, Air racer, Naval Lieutenant and Flying boat manufacturer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andre_Beaumont

1939 - Death of Taro Kobayasho, Japanese Soviet-Japanese war flying ace, Ramming his Ki-27 into a I-16.

http://www.cieldegloire.com/010_kobayashi_t.php

1939 - Death of Karl Mohns, German aviator.

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Mohns

1941 - Birth of Leonid Denisovich Kizim, Soviet pilot and cosmonaut.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonid_Kizim

1941 - Death of Conrad Tolendal Lally, Canadian WWI flying ace

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conrad_Lally - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/canada/lally.php

1943 – The Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS) and the 319th Women’s Flying Training Detachment (WFTD), both organizations of civilian women ferry pilots employed by the U. S. Army Air Forces Air Transport Command, are merged to form the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_Airforce_Service_Pilots

1944 - Biggest escape of japanese POWS (1100 men) from Cowra camp, New South Wales: Resulting of the Death of Enji Kakimoto, Japanese WWII flying ace, committing suicide, and Hajime Toyoshima, 1st Japanese Prisoner of War to be captured in Australia after his A6M2 zero crash-landed on Melville Island, His A6M Zero was the 1st of that type (after those recovered after the Attack on Pearl Harbor) to be recovered relatively intact on Allied territory .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowra_breakout - http://www.cieldegloire.com/010_kakimoto_e.php - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hajime_Toyoshima

1950 - Death of Brigadier General Robert F. Travis while acting as command pilot on a B-29-85-BW Superfortress, 44-87651, with bombs loaded. The aircraft suffered two runaway propellers and landing gear problems 15 minutes after takeoff at Fairfield-Suisun Air Force Base. The crew attempted an emergency landing but the aircraft crashed, causing a huge explosion. Fairfield-Suisun AFB was officially renamed Travis Air Force Base in his honor.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_F._Travis

1950 - Death of Louis Joseph "Lou" Sebille, US fighter pilot in the United States Army Air Corps during WWII and later the USAF during the Korean War. Killed in actions if his F-51 Mustang during the Battle of Pusan Perimeter.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_J._Sebille#Medal_of_Honor_action

1951 - 1st flight of The Hindustan HAL HT-2, Indian two-seat low-wing cantilever monoplane with a fixed tailwheel landing gear primary trainer, 1st company design to enter production for the Indian Air Force and Navy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HAL_HT-2

1955 - 1st flight of the Farman F-510 'Monitor' II, french 2 seat single engine monoplane trainer prototype.

http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=4603

1957 - Birth of Gregory Allen "Greg" Feith, American Senior Air Safety Investigator who appeared on several television shows (Mayday, Survival in the Sky,Seconds from Disaster...)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Feith

1959 - Birth of Scott Douglas "Scooter" Altman, USN test pilot and NASA astronaut

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Altman

1964 – Vietnam War: Operation Pierce Arrow – American aircraft from carriers USS Ticonderoga and USS Constellation bomb North Vietnam in retaliation for strikes against U.S. destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Pierce_Arrow

1965 - Death of Henry Meyrick Cave-Browne-Cave, British engineering officer in the Royal Naval Air Service during WWI and senior commander in the RAF.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Cave-Browne-Cave

1969 – Mariner 7, NASA space probe, makes its closest fly-by of Mars (3,524 kilometers).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariner_6_and_7

1973 - Launch of Mars 6, unmanned soviet spacecraft to explore Mars.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_6#Mars_6

1973 - 1st flight of the Trident TR-1 Trigull, Canadian amphibious flying boat prototype, cantilever high-wing four to six seat in an enclosed cabin with a retractable tricycle landing gear and a single engine in pusher configuration, developped from the Republic RC-3 Seabee.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trident_TR-1_Trigull

1976 - Death of Norman MacMillan, Scottish WWI flying ace, test pilot and author who also served in WWII

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_MacMillan_(pilot) - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/scotland/macmillan.php

1984 - Biman Bangladesh Airlines Fokker F-27 Friendship 600 Crashed on approach to Zia International Airport, inbound from Chittagong, some 500 metres (1,600 ft) short of the runway, after several missed approaches amid inclement weather, killing all 49.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biman_Bangladesh_Airlines#Accidents_and_incidents - http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19840805-1

1984 - A Soviet Navy Antonov AN-12B loses all 4 engines after flying into heavy hail and crashes near Nawabshah, Pakistan, killing all 24 aboard.

http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19840805-0

1989 - Piedmont Airlines is merged into USAir.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Aviation/Historical_anniversaries/August_in_aviation/August_5

1994 - Death of Clive Robertson 'Killer' Caldwell, Leading Australian WWII fighter ace, highest-scoring P-40 pilot from any air force and the highest-scoring Allied pilot in North Africa and who also served in the South West Pacific Theatre.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clive_Caldwell - http://www.cieldegloire.com/002_raaf_caldwell_c_r.php

1997 - Launch of Soyuz TM-26, Russian spacecraft that ferried cosmonauts and supplies to the Mir Station.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_TM-26

2003 - Death of Hans Zacher, German engineer who brought many new ideas in the soaring for development of standards to determine flight characteristics. His greatest achievement is the Zacher Protocol.

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Zacher

2010 - 1st flight of The AeroVironment Global Observer 1001, American concept for a high-altitude, long endurance unmanned aerial vehicle, designed by AeroVironment (AV) to operate as a stratospheric geosynchronous satellite system with regional coverage.

http://www.avinc.com/globalobserver/news/aerovironments_stratospheric_global_observer_unmanned_aircraft_system_makes

2011 - Launch of Juno, NASA New Frontiers mission to the planet Jupiter.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juno_(spacecraft)