JUL04
1753 - Birth of Jean-Pierre Blanchard, aka Jean Pierre François Blanchard, French inventor, most remembered as a pioneer in aviation and ballooning.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Pierre_Blanchard
1858 - Birth of Marie Paul Jules Lebaudy, French industrial and politician, early dirigible pioneer along with his brother Joseph Marie Pierre Lebaudy.
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Lebaudy
1891 - Birth of William James Arthur "Art" Duncan, Canadian WWI flying ace, Hockey player and coach post WWI.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Duncan - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/canada/duncan2.php
1892 - Birth of Henry Maston Mullinnix, American aviator, engineer and Admiral of the US Navy during WWII, mainly responsible for developing the air-cooled engine for naval aircraft.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_M._Mullinnix
1893 - Birth of Alvin Andrew Callender, American WWI flying ace
http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/usa/callender.php
1894 - Birth of Arthur Laumann, German WWI flying ace who scored 28 victories in just over three months.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Laumann - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/laumann.php
1895 - Birth of Kurt Haber, German WWI flying ace
http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/haber.php
1898 - Alberto Santos-Dumont flies the 'Brazil', smallest balloon, during 5 hours.
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Santos-Dumont#Biographie
1908 - Glenn H. Curtiss is awarded the Scientific American trophy for a public flight of over 1 km. Curtiss flies 1,550 m (5,090 ft) with his Aerodrome #3, the famous June Bug.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_H._Curtiss#Aeronautics
1909 - 1st flight of the Etrich-Wels 'Praterspatz', Austrian early tractor monoplane, precursor of the famous 'Taube'.
http://www.technischesmuseum.at/objekt/etrich-ii-taube-baujahr-1910
1910 - Hubbard failed one attempted flight at the Montreal Air Meet. The Hubbard monoplane was the 1st aircraft ever sold in Canada and the first to be exported.
1911 - An Aeronautical Syndicate Valkyrie B, tail-1st canard monoplane, is used to transport the 1st air cargo in Britain (a box of Osram lamps) flown by Horatio Barber
http://www.aviastar.org/manufacturers/0068.html - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASL_Valkyrie_monoplanes
1911 - 1st flight of the Bates Monoplane, American pioneering aircraft. It crashed that same day.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bates_Monoplane
1915 - Lt Oswald Boelcke claims his 1st victory, a Blériot Parasol, while flying an Albatros C.I two-seater with Lt von Wühlisch as the observer & gunner.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oswald_Boelcke#1915 - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/boelcke.php
1917 - Death of Ivan Alexandrovich Orlov, Russian WWI flying ace, Self Glider and Aircraft designer, killed in a dogfight with 4 Germans, Loosing the lower right wing of his Nieuport and fatally crashing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Orlov_(aviator) - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/russia/orlov.php
1920 - Death of Jaime Gonzáles Grocier, Cuban pioneer aviator, killed in a crash, 1st cuban air casualty.
http://earlyaviators.com/ecrocier.htm
1922 - Death of Lothar-Siegfried Freiherr von Richthofen, German WWI fighter ace, younger brother of top-scoring ace Manfred von Richthofen, killed in the crash of his LVG C VI at Fuhlsbüttel due to an engine failure.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lothar_von_Richthofen - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/richthofen1.php
1927 - Carleton Cole Champion flying the Wright Apache XF3W powered with a Pratt & Whitney engine, reached 37,995 feet over Anacostia, D.C., thereby breaking his own world altitude record
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=64501160
1927 - 1st flight of the Lockheed Vega, American six-passenger monoplane. It became famous for its use by a number of record breaking pilots who were attracted to the rugged and very long-ranged design.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Vega
1929 - Masahi Goto, Early Japanese aviator, crashes and is killed in Utah’s Uinta Mountains in the beginning stages of an attempted flight around the world by crossing the continents of North America, Europe and Asia in his RYOFU-Co.
http://historytogo.utah.gov/salt_lake_tribune/in_another_time/103193.html - http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=57680976
1930 - 1st flight of the SPAD S-91/4, French Single seat biplane fighter prototype, evolution of the SPAD 91
http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=9216 - http://www.aviastar.org/air/france/bleriot_s-91.php
1930 - Brothers John, Kenneth, Albert, and Walter Hunter set a new record after a flight of 553 hours 40 minutes over Chicago using two Stinson SM-1 Detroiters as refueler and receiver.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerial_refueling#Pioneer_experiments
1933 - Death of Henri Robida, French raid aviator.
http://histoire.locale.free.fr/index.php?file=fiche&op=5608
1940 - Last scheduled airmail flight by autogiro Kellett KD-1 is flown.
http://www.aviastar.org/helicopters_eng/kellett_kd-1b.php
1941 - Death of Stepan Pawlowitsch Suprun , Soviet Test pilot and WWII pilot, killed in Action in his MIG-3.
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stepan_Pawlowitsch_Suprun
1942 - The China Air Task Force (CATF) is formed after the American Volunteer Group (AVG), better known as the Flying Tigers, is disbanded, claiming on their final mission that same day 4 Nakajima Ki-27.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Tigers#Combat_history - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Air_Task_Force
http://www.historynet.com/china-air-task-force-replaced-the-american-volunteer-group.htm
1942 - 1st USAAF unit to bomb targets in Europe, 15th Bombardment Squadron with 6 Douglas Boston light bombers accompany 6 Bostons of No.226 Squadron RAF in attacks upon Luftwaffe airfields at De Kooy, Bergen, Haamstede and Valkenburg in the Netherlands.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/15th_Bombardment_Squadron
1943 - Death of Ichirobei Yamazaki, Japanese WWII flying ace, killed in action
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_War_II_aces_from_Japan
1943 - A B-24 Liberator II crashed on Take off from Gibraltar. Only the pilot survived. Among the 9 killed were Wladyslaw Eugeniusz Sikorski, Polish military and political leader, and his Chief of Staff, Tadeusz Klimecki.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Sikorski#Death
1944 - Death of Sadao Yamaguchi, Japanese WWII flying ace, killed in action
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_War_II_aces_from_Japan
1946 - 1st flight of the SIPA S-11, French twin seat low wing monoplane military trainer.
http://aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=9672
1946 - Death of John C. "Pappy" Herbst, American WWII flying ace, 2nd highest-scoring fighter pilot in the China Burma India Theater, mortally injured in front of 30,000 people at the San Diego County Fair when his P-80 jet crashed after failing to pull up in a dive just west of the Del Mar Fairgrounds.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_C._%22Pappy%22_Herbst
1948 - A Scandinavian Airlines System Douglas DC-6 collided in mid-air with an Avro York C.1 transport operated by 99 Squadron of the Royal Air Force over Northwood, London close to RAF Northolt, killing all 71 on both planes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwood_mid-air_collision
1952 - 58 Republic F84 Thunderjets take off for a trans-ocean flight of 10,895 miles, with seven stops, from Georgia in the USA to Yokota in Japan.
1956 - 1st operational flight of a Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft over Soviet Union. Leaving from Wiesbaden, Germany, the pilot Harvey Stockman flew over Poland, Belorussia, and the Soviet Baltic, before returning to Wiesbaden.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_U-2#Operational_history
1957 - 1st flight of The Il-18 "Coot", well known russian large turboprop airliner.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilyushin_Il-18
1958 - 1st flight of The SAN Jodel D.140 Mousquetaire (Musketeer), French five-seat light touring monoplane.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAN_Jodel_D.140_Mousquetaire - http://aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=10093
1958 - Ghana Airways is formed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghana_Airways
1961 - Birth of Richard Allen Garriott (Richard Garriott de Cayeux), British / American video game developer and entrepreneur and space self-funded tourist.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Garriott
1964 - Last flight by the RCAF of the Canadian built Avro Lancaster B X.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avro_Lancaster#Variants
1967 - Birth of Nicolas Ivanoff, "The Quick Corsican", French Aerobatic pilot, Air racer and flying instructor.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Ivanoff
1973 - A Grumman HU-16 Albatross, American large twin-radial engine amphibious flying boat, sets a world record for twin-engine amphibians reaching 32,883 feet.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grumman_HU-16_Albatross#Survivors
1975 - 1st flight of The Boeing 747SP, modified version of the Boeing 747 jet airliner which was designed for ultra-long-range flights. The SP stands for "Special Performance".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_747SP
1977 - Patricia Undall and Nan Gaylord win the 30th and final annual women's United States transcontinental air race, nicknamed 'The Powder Puff Derby'.
1979 - Death of Frank H. Ellis, early Canadian aviator, aircraft designer and author ("Canada's Flying Heritage", the first major study of the History of aviation in Canada). He was the 1st Canadian to make a parachute jump from an airplane in Canada.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_H._Ellis
1982 - STS-4, Space Shuttle Columbia mission, is back on earth.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-4
1983 - Launch of BOR-5, Russian space vehicle, 1:8 Buran model designed to test the main aerodynamic characteristics, thermal and acoustic loads and stability for the Shuttle Buran program.
http://www.astronautix.com/thisday/july04.htm
1986 - 1st flight of The Dassault Rafale, French twin-engine delta-wing multi-role jet fighter aircraft which can also be carrier-based.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dassault_Rafale - http://aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=9643
1988 - Death of Donald Roderick MacLaren, Canadian WWI fighter ace, who helped to found the Royal Canadian Air Force, and later formed Pacific Airways
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_MacLaren - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/canada/maclaren.php
1989 - The pilot of a Soviet Air Force MiG-23M "Flogger-B" ejects shortly after take-off in Poland. The pilotless aircraft flies across Europe before crashing into a Belgian farmhouse
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Belgian_MiG-23_crash
1992 - USS George Washington (CVN-73), American nuclear-powered supercarrier, is Commissioned.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_George_Washington_(CVN-73)
1997 - Mars Pathfinder (MESUR Pathfinder), American spacecraft carrying a base station with roving probe, lands on Mars
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Pathfinder
1998 - 1st flight of the Embraer ERJ-135, Brazilian Regional jet airliner developped from a pre-serie EKJ-145.
http://www.aviastar.org/air/brazil/embraer_erj-135.php
2000 - Malév Flight 262 Tupolev Tu-154 B-2 performed a gear-up touchdown during the landing at Thessaloniki, skidded on the runway, but was able to take off and land normally after a go-around.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mal%C3%A9v_Flight_262
2001 - Vladivostok Air Flight 352 Tupolev Tu-154M stalled and crashed while approaching Irkutsk Airpor killing all 145
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladivostok_Air_Flight_352
2002 - Death of Benjamin Oliver Davis Jr., commander of the WWII Tuskegee Airmen , WWII and Korean war pilot, 1st African-American USAF general.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_O._Davis_Jr.
2005 - Deep Impact's impactor successfully collided with the 9P/Tempel 1 comet's nucleus.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Impact_(spacecraft)
2006 - STS-121 Mission – Space Shuttle Discovery mission to the ISS, is launched with Thomas Arthur Reiter, 1st german in space.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-121
2012 – Two Swedish advertising agency employees, Thomas Mazetti and Hannah Frey, take off from Pociunai Airport in Lithuania, make an illegal 90-minute flight into Belarus at an altitude of 50 meters (165 feet) in a Jodel, and drop 879 parachute-equipped teddy bears adorned with human rights and freedom-of-speech slogans into the southern suburbs of Minsk