JUNE11
1861 - Thaddeus S. C. Lowe transmits the 1st telegraphic message ever sent from a balloon during a test at the Columbia Armory, Washington, D.C.
1867 - Birth of René Hanriot, French Racing Driver, early aviation pioneer and aircraft designer.
1874 - Birth of Lyman Wiswell Gilmore, Jr., American Aviation pioneer.
1890 - Birth of Gerald Gordon Bell, Canadian WWI fighter ace
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Gordon_Bell - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/canada/bell4.php
1890 - Birth of Martinus Stenseth, American WWI flying ace who served in the Philippines during the 1930's and was Military Attache to Finland and Latvia in 1940. In 1941, he founded Nellis AFB.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martinus_Stenseth - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/usa/stenseth.php
1896 - Birth of Herbert Whiteley Sellars, British WWI flying ace.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Sellars - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/england/sellars.php
1897 - Birth of Henry George "Hal" Crowe, Irish WWI flying ace, who served the RAF until the end of WWII.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Crowe - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/ireland/crowe2.php
1911 - 1st flight of The Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.1 (Santos Experimental), British experimental aircraft pusher biplane with large balanced fore-elevators built at the Army Balloon Factory at Farnborough (later the Royal Aircraft Factory). Its place in aviation history is mainly that it was the 1st in the series of Royal Aircraft Factory designs - several of which played an important role in WWI.
1912 - Death of Arthur Laibel "Al" Welsh (born Welcher), Jewish, Russian-born American pioneer aviator, 1st flight instructor for the Wright Brothers, killed in the crash of his Wright Model C along with Leighton Wilson Hazelhurst, Jr., American aviation pioneer.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_L._Welsh#Death - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leighton_Wilson_Hazelhurst,_Jr.
1920 - 1st flight of The Verville VCP-1, American single-engined biplane fighter aircraft, later rebuilt into a successful racing aircraft.
1924 - Death of Armand Deperdussin, French industrialist and aircraft designer, founder of the Société de Production des Aéroplanes Deperdussin (SPAD).
1926 - 1st flight of The Ford Trimotor (also called the "Tri-Motor", and nicknamed "The Tin Goose"), American three-engined transport plane
1928 - 1st flight of the Lippisch Ente, 1st rocket-powered full-size aircraft, designed as a sailplane and flown by Fritz Stamer. This was the 1st rocket-powered manned airplane flight.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lippisch_Ente
1929 - 1st flight of The Vickers Type 143 or Bolivian Scout, British single-seat fighter biplane designed for Bolivia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vickers_Type_143 - http://www.aviastar.org/air/england/vickers_143.php
1929 - Marine Aircraft Corp is incorporated into Detroit Aircraft to specialise exclusively in all-metal amphibian and flying boat construction for commercial and naval uses.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit_Aircraft_Corporation#Subsidiaries
1929 - Aviation Tool, Co is incorporated into Detroit Aircraft to take over and continue the development of automatic riveting machines and their application to all types of aircraft.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit_Aircraft_Corporation#Subsidiaries
1930 - Death of Emil Thuy, German WWI fighter ace, who was an adviser to the Finnish air force involved in the secret origins of the Luftwaffe within the Soviet Union, Killed in the crash while testing a secret Albatros L 76 reconnaissance airplane.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emil_Thuy - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/thuy.php
1931 - The Handley Page HP-42, British four-engine long-range biplane airliner, enters service with the British airline Imperial Airways and sets new standards of passenger service and comfort. It carries 40 passengers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handley_Page_H.P.42
1932 - 1st flight of the Loire 60, French trimotor parasol wing training seaplane prototype for reconnaissance.
http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=1859
1933 - Spanish aviators Mariano Barberán y Tros de Ilarduya, Joaquín Collar Serra and Modesto Madariaga lands the 'Cuatro Vientos' (a specially built Br.19 TF Super Bidon) in Camagüey, Cuba after a transatlantic flight of 7320 km (39 hours and 55 minutes) from Seville Spain
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuatro_Vientos_(aircraft)
1936 - 1st flight of the Bloch MB-220, French twin-engine passenger transport airplane.
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloch_MB.220 - http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=1950
1937 - 1st flight of The Kawanishi E11K, Japanese night reconnaissance flying boat prototype.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kawanishi_E11K
1937 - Death of Reginald Joseph Mitchell,, British aeronautical engineer, best known for his design of the Supermarine Spitfire.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reginald_Mitchell
1937 - 1st flight of The Airspeed AS.30 Queen Wasp (landplane version), British pilotless target aircraft prototype.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airspeed_Queen_Wasp
1940 - The Caudron-Renault CR 760, French prototype lightweight fighter aircraft, is destroyed at Orleans-Bricy to prevent it falling into German hands.
http://www.aviastar.org/air/france/caudron_cr-760.php
1940 - Following the Italian declaration of war, Sudan-based Vickers Wellesleys carried out the 1st bombing mission of this aircraft against Asmara in Eritrea.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vickers_Wellesley#Operational_history
1940 - Beginning of the Siege of Malta, fight for the control of the strategically important island of Malta. The Regia Aeronautica carries out its 1st operation against the RAF of WWII. 35 Savoia Marchetti SM79 Sparviero (Hawk) bombers, escorted by Macchi MC200 Saetta (Lightning) fighters, attack the airfield at Hal Far and the seaplane base at Kalafrana in Malta
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Malta_(World_War_II)
1940 - Operation Haddock : Armstrong Whitworth Whitleys of Nos. 10, 51, 58, 77 and 102 Squadrons, a total of 63 aircrafts, take off from Jersey and Guernesey for the 1st RAF bombing of Italy. Heavy storms and severe icing caused the majority of the aircraft to turn back and only 13 reached their targets at Turin and Genoa. Two aircrafts failed to return. Wellingtons from Nos. 99 and 149 Squadrons were blocked at Marseilles as the French Army told them that Italian targets were not to be attacked.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armstrong_Whitworth_Whitley#Operational_history - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Haddock
1940 - RCAF No. 1 Fighter Squadron is shipped Overseas with its Hurricanes in time to take part in the Battle of Britain.
1943 - 1st flight of The H.P. 75 Manx, British experimental aircraft, twin-engine tailless design in pusher configuration.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handley_Page_Manx
1943 - Operation Corkscrew ends. Italian garrison on Pantellaria surrenders after taking heavy bombing, 1st ground captured by air power alone.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Corkscrew
1943 - 326 Lancasters, 202 Halifaxes, 143 Wellingtons, 99 Stirlings and 13 Mosquitos raid Dusseldorf. 130 acres were claimed as destroyed, and this proved to be the most damaging raid of the war for this city.
http://www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/jun43.html
1944 - F/O L. Sherman and crew in Consolidated Canso of No. 162 Squadron sank the German submarine U-980 north of the Shetland Isles.
http://uboat.net/boats/u980.htm
1944 - Birth of James Dougal Adrianus "Ox" van Hoften, NASA Astronaut.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_van_Hoften
1950 - 1st flight of the Starck AS-90 'New Look', French Sports single seat monoplane sports aircraft for homebuilt construction.
http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=3319
1951 - Death of John Robertson Duigan, Australian pioneer aviator who built and flew the 1st Australian-made aircraft.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Robertson_Duigan
1951 - William "Bill" Barton Bridgeman set a new unofficial airplane speed (over 1,200 mph) and altitude record (70.000ft) at Edwards AFB, Muroc Dry Lake, Calif. flying the Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket.
http://www.astronautix.com/astros/brigeman.htm
1953 - The 2nd Gloster Javelin prototype, British "all-weather" interceptor aircraft, crashes. Gloster test pilot Peter Godfrey Lawrence delayed his ejection too long in order to ensure that the aircraft would land on open ground. Finally ejecting at an altitude of about 400 feet (122 m) his parachute was unable to open in time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloster_Javelin#Design_and_development - http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=20519
http://thetartanterror.blogspot.co.uk/2007/12/peter-g-lawrence-1920-1953.html - http://www.flightglobal.com/FlightPDFArchive/1953/1953%20-%200777.PDF
1955 - 1st flight of the SIPA S-1000 'Coccinelle', French light civil utility aircraft prototype, two-seat side-by-side low-winged aircraft with fixed-tricycle undercarriage which incorporated a number of standard automobile parts. It intended to be a very low cost all-metal trainer of very simple construction for aero club use.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SIPA_S.1000_Coccinelle - http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=2868
1962 - Launch of Rhebar II, Pakistan Sounding Rocket, Experimental Technology mission with a small payload of small weather satellite.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rehbar-I#Launch_log
1963 - 1st flight of the Republic Thunderchief F-105F, Two-seat trainer version with lengthened forward fuselage, dual controls, taller fin, fully combat-capable
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_F-105_Thunderchief#Variants
1965 - Luna 6 (lunik 6), Soviet unmanned spacecraft intending to land on the moon, misses its target. Although the main retro-rocket engine (the S5.5A) ignited on time, it failed to cut off and continued to fire until propellant supply was exhausted.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luna_6
1965 - 1st flight of the HAL Chetak (Indian Assembled Alouette III, single-engine, light utility helicopter developed by Sud Aviation).
http://www.aviastar.org/helicopters_eng/snias_alu3.php
1966 - 1st flight of the Indraéro Aéro 20, French small, 2-seat, single-engined monoplane prototype for general and sports flying.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indra%C3%A9ro_A%C3%A9ro_20 - http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=9870
1967 - Death of Donald Hudson, American WWI flying ace, South American aviation pioneer, 1st to overfly the Andes Mountains, Instructor for the Bolivian Air Force and record setter.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Hudson_(aviator) - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/usa/hudson1.php
1971 - British pilot Sheila Scott takes off for the 1st flight by a light plane from equator to equator via the North Pole. Flying in a Piper Aztec D, she covers 34,000 miles (54,718 km).
http://www.wingnet.org/rtw/RTW006E.HTM
1972 - Death of Louis Mark Thompson, Canadian WWI flying ace (as observer/gunner)
http://theaerodrome.com/aces/canada/thompson4.php
1977 - Death of Paul Albert Pierre Tarascon, French WWI flying ace, known as "l'as à la jambe de bois" (the ace with the wooden leg) after having lost his right foot in a crash.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Tarascon - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/france/tarascon.php
1978 - Death of Alfred Fleischer, german WWI flying ace who served in WWII
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Fleischer - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/fleischer.php
1983 - Launch of Giuseppe Garibaldi (551), Italian aircraft carrier, 1st through deck aviation ship ever built for the Italian Navy, and 1st Italian ship built to operate fixed wing aircraft.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_aircraft_carrier_Giuseppe_Garibaldi_(551)
2003 - Launch of Optus (and Defence) C1, Australian communications satellite.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optus_(satellite)#Optus_.28and_Defence.29_C1
2004 - Cassini–Huygens, flagship-class NASA-ESA-ASI spacecraft sent to the Saturn system, flies by the moon Phoebe, 1st opportunity for close-up studies of this moon of Saturn.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassini-Huygens#Phoebe_flyby
2008 - 1st flight of The Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II, STOVL variant of the single-seat, single-engine, 5th generation multirole fighter
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_F-35_Lightning_II#F-35B
2010 - Death of William H. 'Bill' Holloman III, WWII Fighter pilot within the 'Tuskegee Airmen', Commercial pilot who returned to service for the Korean and Vietnam war, becoming the 1st black helicopter pilot in the Air Force.
http://www.veteransadvantage.com/cms/content/william-bill-holloman - http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123209819 - http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012136614_hollomanobit17m.html
2013 - Launch of Shenzhou 10, Chinese space flight to the Tiangong-1 space station.