DEC23

1923 - Death of Lawrence Burst Sperry, American aviation pioneer, noted for having invented the 1st autopilot, while crossing the channel in his own designed sport plane, the Sperry Messenger.

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

1924 - The Dewoitine D 8, French high-altitude highwing monoplane fighter prototype established 100-, 200- and 500-km closed-circuit records while being flown by Marcel Doret.

http://www.aviastar.org/air/france/dewoitine_d-8.php

1925 - Birth of Henry Charles Gordon, USAF fighter pilot in the Korean and Vietnam wars, test pilot and astronaut in the X-20 Dyna-Soar program.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_C._Gordon

1927 - A Sikorsky S-36 amphibian plane takes off from Curtis Filed, NY to Harbor Grace, Newfoudland in order to prepare a transatlatic flight. The plane, known as 'the Dawn', disappeared and the remains of the crem were never found. Plane was flown by Lieutenant Oskar Omdal of the Norwegian Navy, with Frank Koehler, Brice Herbert Goldsborough and Frances Wilson Grayson for the 1st woman to cross.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oskar_Omdal - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brice_Goldsborough#The_crash - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Wilson_Grayson

1931 - 1st flight of the Bleriot-SPAD 91-7, French Single Seat biplane fighter prototype

http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=7953

1931 - 1st flight of the Bleriot-SPAD 91-9, French Single Seat biplane fighter prototype

http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=9302

1931 - 1st flight of the Gourdou-Leseurre GL-831 HY, French light shipboard reconnaissance floatplane of metal construction low-wing foldable monoplane with fabric covered wings and twin floats, Evolution of the GL-830 HY.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gourdou-Leseurre_GL-832_HY - http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=9317

1935 - Death of Robert Loraine, british successful Broadway and London stage actor, actor-manager and soldier who later enjoyed a side career as a pioneer aviator, believed to have been the 1st person to coin the phrase Joystick to describe aircraft stick controls.

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

1937 - French aviatrix Maryse Hilsz sets a Speed record between Paris and Saigon in less than 4 days.

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryse_Hilsz#Liste_non_exhaustive_de_records

1937 - Birth of Karol Joseph "Bo" Bobko, American engineer, USAF pilot and NASA astronaut.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karol_J._Bobko

1938 - 1st flight of The Blackburn B-25 Roc, British Fleet Air Arm two-seat fighter/dive Bomber aircraft, development of the Skua dive bomber using the same turret fighter concept as the Boulton Paul Defiant.

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

1939 - Death of Anton Herman Gerard "Anthony" Fokker, Dutch aviation pioneer and aircraft manufacturer.

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

1940 - Death of Eddie August Henry Schneider, American aviator, record setter and Spanish civil war pilot, in the crash of his Piper Cub after a mid air collision on approach for landing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_August_Schneider#Death

1941 - Brewster Buffalos of No.67 Squadron destroy six bombers and four fighters of the Japanese invasion force over the Burmese capital, Rangoon. The RAF loses 5 Buffalos.

http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/history-of-aviation-timeline/interactive-aviation-timeline/british-military-aviation/1941.aspx

1941 - 1st flight of the VL Myrsky, Finnish fighter aircraft.

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

1941 - 1st flight of the Bloch 800-P (SO-80), French twin engine low wing mail plane prototype.

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloch_MB.800#L.27autre_MB.800 - http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=10139

1941 - 1st flight of The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota, American military transport aircraft that was developed from the Douglas DC-3 airliner.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_C-47_Skytrain

1943 - Death of Kagemitsu Matsuo, Japanese WWII flying ace, killed in action in his Zero over Rabaul.

http://acesofww2.com/japan/

http://books.google.fr/books?id=K4akomzp2ncC&pg=PA66&lpg=PA66&dq=Matsuo+Kagemitsu+aviation&source=bl&ots=oquhFnfURR&sig=pLTfu8JPYu2evDzAImra3gcH0sE&hl=fr&sa=X&ei=7xWfUsHlLcjT0QWIsoCQDA&ved=0CEYQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=Matsuo%20Kagemitsu%20aviation&f=false

1943 - Death of Giulio Laureati, Italian WWI pilot and raid aviator.

http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giulio_Laureati

1943 - Death of Wallace Alexander Smart, Scottish WWI flying ace

http://theaerodrome.com/aces/scotland/smart.php

1945 - Death of Arthur Treloar "Art" Whealy, Canadian WWI fighter ace

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Whealy - http://theaerodrome.com/aces/canada/whealy.php

1953 - 1st flight (Unofficial..a Brief Hop) of The American Lockheed XFV (sometimes referred to as the Salmon), American experimental tailsitter prototype aircraft built to demonstrate the operation of a vertical takeoff and landing fighter for protecting convoys.

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

1964 - Death of Väinö Elias Bremer, Finnish biathlete and modern pentathlete and also an aviation pioneer.

http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%A4in%C3%B6_Brem

1966 - 1st flight of The Dassault Mirage F1, French air-superiority fighter and attack aircraft, successor of the Mirage III.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dassault_Mirage_F1 - http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=9640

1971- Birth of Ewa Wisnierska Cieslewicz, German paraglider champion, who survived lightnings, pounding hails, minus 40-degree temperatures and oxygen deprivation after a storm system sucked her to an altitude higher than Mount Everest.

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ewa_Wi%C5%9Bnierska

1971 - Death of Alessandro 'Sandrin' Cagno, Italian Aviation pioneer, Car and boat racing driver.

http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alessandro_Cagno

1972 - Death of Andrei Nikolayevich Tupolev, pioneering Soviet aircraft designer.

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

1972 - Braathen SAFE Flight 239 Fokker F-28 Fellowship 'Sverre Sigurdsson' crashed near the Asdøltjern Lake, 15 km (9 mi) from Oslo Airport, Fornebu whilst making a night time approach in Fog and low clouds, Killing 40 over 45.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braathens_SAFE_Flight_239

1973 - The Hertfordshire Pedal Aeronauts (HPA) Toucan, British two-seat man-powered aircraft, 1st two-man man-powered aircraft to fly, makes a flight of 640 metres(2,100 feet)

http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/history-of-aviation-timeline/interactive-aviation-timeline/british-civil-aviation/1973.aspx

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

1973 - 1st flight of The Aero Boero 260AG, Argentinian low-wing monoplane with a single seat and fixed tailwheel undercarriage agricultural aircraft.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aero_Boero_260AG

1974 - 1st flight of The Rockwell (now part of Boeing) B-1 Lancer, American four-engine variable-sweep wing strategic bomber.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-1_Lancer

1978 - Alitalia Flight 4128 McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 crashed into the Tyrrhenian Sea about 3 km (1.9 mi) north of Palermo while on approach, Killing 108 over 129.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alitalia_Flight_4128

1979 - Turkish Airlines Fokker F28 Fellowship 1000 'Trabzon' flew into the side of a hill at 1,400 m (4,600 ft) near the village of Kuyumcuköy in Çubuk district of Ankara Province, 32 km (20 mi) north by north-east of Esenboga Airport, Ankara, Turkey on approach to landing after The crew had deviated from the localizer course while on an ILS approach experiencing severe turbulence, killing 41 over 45.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1979_Turkish_Airlines_Ankara_crash

1980 - Death of Ralph Ambrose O'Neill, American WWI flying ace, commercial pilot. He helped to set the modern Mexican air force and sole Latin American representative for both Boeing and the Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Ambrose_O'Neill - http://theaerodrome.com/aces/usa/oneill.php

1982 - 1st flight of The Short C-23 Sherpa, British Twin-engined high wing small military transport aircraft.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_C-23_Sherpa

1986 - The Rutan Model 76 Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, lands back at Edwards AFB, completing 1st fly around the world without stopping or refueling in 9 days 3 minutes and 44 seconds.The aircraft flew easterly 26,366 statute miles (42,432 km; the FAI accredited distance is 40,212 km)[1] at an average altitude of 11,000 feet (3,350 m).

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

1991 - 1st flight of The Kaman K-MAX (K-1200), American helicopter with intermeshing rotors (synchropter), optimized for external load operations, and is able to lift a payload of over 6,000 pounds, which is more than the helicopter's empty weight, 1st helicopter specifically designed, tested and certified for repetitive external lift operations such as logging, fire fighting, construction, reforestation and oil/mineral exploration.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaman_K-MAX

1998 - 1st flight of The Sikorsky S-92, American four-bladed twin-engine medium-lift helicopter

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikorsky_S-92

2002 – A MQ-1 Predator is shot down by an Iraqi MiG-25, making it the 1st time in history that an aircraft and an unmanned drone had engaged in combat.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MQ-1_Predator#Iraq

2005 - Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 217 Antonov An-140-100 crashed into the Caspian Sea after a night-time departure from Baku Airport as 3 independent gyroscopes were not providing stabilised heading and altitude performance information to the crew. All 23 on board were killed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azerbaijan_Airlines_Flight_217

2010 - Death of Fred Hargesheimer, USAAF WWII pilot. Shot down over Papua New Guinea in June 1943. He became a philanthropist who helped out the village which had hidden him from the Japanese for many months.

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