MARCH21

1825 - Birth of Alexander Fedorovich Mozhayskiy, Russian naval officer, aviation pioneer, researcher and designer of heavier-than-air crafts.

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

1871 - Birth of Carlo Maria Piazza, Italian early aviator.

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

1877 - Birth of Maurice Alain Farman (Brother of Henri), French Grand Prix motor racing champion, aviator, aircraft manufacturer and designer.

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

1894 - Birth of Rudolf Nebel, German spaceflight advocate active in Germany's amateur rocket group, the Verein für Raumschiffahrt (VfR - "Spaceflight Society") in the 1930s and in rebuilding German rocketry following WWII.

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

1908 - Henri Farman covers 6,275 feet in 3 minutes 47 seconds in his Voisin-Farman No.1 bis at Issy-les-Moulineaux.

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

1910 - Death of Gaspard-Felix Tournachon (aka Nadar), French photographer, caricaturist, journalist, novelist and balloonist who took the 1st aerial (balloon) photograph.

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadar

1912 - Wright B Flyer designated S.C. No. 7 is used by Lt. Lahm to make the 1st flight of an American military airplane outside the continental United States (Philippines)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeronautical_Division,_U.S._Signal_Corps

1913 - Birth of George Edgar Abecassis, English racing driver, co-founder of the HWM Formula One team and also a WWII pilot, member of the secret "Moon Squadrons", ferrying secret agents in and out of occupied countries in Europe with specially-modified Halifax and Stirling aircraft.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Abecassis - http://www.georgeabecassis.com/lifeachievements.html

1916 – The French government authorizes the formation of the Escadrille Americaine. This WWI unit, made up of American volunteer pilots is later renamed the Lafayette Escadrille.

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

1917 - 1st British guided missile anti-tank weapon is designed by Professor Archibald Montgomery Low and begins flight trials at Upavon

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archibald_Low#The_Great_War

1918 - Germany launches Operation Michael, marking the beginning of the Kaiserschlacht. In the initial attack against the British front west of St Quentin, the German Army Air Service has 1,680 aircraft to the Royal Flying Corps' 579.

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

1918 - Death of Ernst Strohschneider, Austro-Hungarian WWI fighter ace, killed in a flying accident in his in Phonix D.I while returning from a night mission against an Italian position at Zenson di Piave.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Strohschneider - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/austrhun/strohschneider.php

1918 - Death of Jules Charles Covin, French WWI flying ace, from wounds received in action.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_Covin - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/france/covin.php

1918 - Death of Ludwig Hanstein, German WWI fighter ace, killed in his Albatros by a Bristol F.2b near Morchies, France.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_Hanstein - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/hanstein.php

1918 - 1st flight of The Curtiss HA (sometimes Dunkirk Fighter), American biplane seaplane.

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

1930 - The Chilean army and navy combine their air arms into a separate, independent command.

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

1931 - Australian National Airways Avro 618 Ten (licensed built Fokker F-VII) 'Southern Cloud' disappeared in poor weather. The crash site was in heavily timbered mountainous terrain within the Snowy Mountains about 25 kilometres (16 mi) east of the direct Sydney–Melbourne route, and was discovered 27 years later. All 8 on board perished.

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

1931 - Death of Zygmunt Pulawski, Polish aircraft designer and pilot, in a crash of his newest amphibious flying boat PZL.12 in Warsaw, at the age of 29 (the plane fell due to strong wind, after take-off). He invented a gull-wing aircraft design, also known as "Pulawski wing" and constructed a series of Polish PZL fighters

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zygmunt_Pu%C5%82awski

1933 - James L. Kinney makes the 1st cross-country test of blind flying and landing from College Park, Maryland to Newark, New Jersey.

http://earlyaviators.com/ekinney.htm

1933 - 1st flight of the Fairey TSR.1, two-seat, single-engined biplane, fleet reconnaissance aircraft, Originally intended for the Greek Air Force.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairey_S.9/30

1935 - Death of Wilhelm Niemann, German Navigator of the famous Dornier DO-X.

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Niemann_(Offizier)

1935 - 1st flight of The Loire 210, French single-seat catapult-launched fighter seaplane.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loire_210 - http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=3934

1939 - 1st flight of the Mauboussin M.200, French low-wing cantilever racing monoplane prototype which setted some records.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauboussin_M.200 - http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=9591

1940 - 1st flight of the SNCAO CAO.600 , French prototype twin-engined torpedo-bomber which was intended to operate from aircraft carriers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SNCAO_CAO.600 - http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=1865

1941 - Birth of Dirk Dries David Damiaan, Viscount Frimout, astrophysicist for the European Space Agency. He flew aboard NASA Space Shuttle mision STS-45 as a payload specialist, making him the 1st Belgian in space.

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

1943 - Death of Cornelia Clark Fort, aviator in the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS), killed in her Vultee BT-13 Valiant she was ferrying after a mid-air collision, 1st female pilot in American history to die on active duty.

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

1944 - Death of Baron Pierre de Caters, Belgian adventurer, aviator, Aircraft designer, car and motorboat racer, 1st Belgian to fly an aircraft and 1st Belgian to receive a pilot license from the Belgian air club

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

1945 - The Ohka, rocket powered human-guided anti-shipping kamikaze attack plane, is used operationally for the 1st time but with no success.

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

1945 – Operation Carthage – British planes bomb Gestapo headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark. The very low-level attack consisted of 20 Royal Air Force de Havilland Mosquito fast bombers in three waves, escorted by 30 RAF North American Mustang fighters. Unfortunately, a Mosquito in the first wave hit a lamp post and crashed into the Jeanne d'Arc School, about 1.5 km from the target. Several bombers in the second and third wave attacked the burning school thinking it was their target.

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

1946 - Nos. 441, 412, 416, 443 RCAF Squadrons (Spitfires) disbanded at Utersen, Germany.

http://canadianaviationhistory.pbworks.com/w/page/13801121/On-this-day-in-Canadian-Aviation-History-March

1946 - As part of a major reorganization of the USAAF. Within the United States, the USAAF was divided into three separate commands: Tactical Air Command (TAC), Air Defense Command (ADC), and Strategic Air Command (SAC).

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

1950 - Group Captain John Cunningham flies a de Havilland Comet jet airliner from Hatfield in Hertfordshire to Copenhagen, covering 608 miles in 1 hour 18 minutes, with the return journey taking 1 hour 24 minutes.

http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/history-of-aviation-timeline/interactive-aviation-timeline/british-civil-aviation/1950.aspx

1960 - 1st flight of the Damoure-Fabre DFL-6 'Saphyr', French high wing monoplane twin seat tourer homebuilt aircraft.

http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=9599

1962 - Following manned tests at 909kph (565mph) on the 28 February high speed tests of an escape capsule fitted to the Convair B58A Hustler are undertaken. An bear named 'Yogi' is ejected from a Convair B58A 'Hustler' at 1,400kph (870mph) and lands safely.

http://www.ejection-history.org.uk/Aircraft_by_Type/B-58_hustler.htm

http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/history-of-aviation-timeline/interactive-aviation-timeline/world-aviation/1962.aspx

1965 – NASA launches Ranger 9 which is the last in a series of unmanned lunar space probes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranger_9

1969 - Launch of Mariner 7, US robotic interplanetary probe

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

1971 - 1st flight of The Westland Lynx, British multi-purpose military helicopter.

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

1971 - Death of Peter Carpenter, Welsh WWI fighter ace.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Carpenter - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/wales/carpenter.php

1981 - 1st flight of The Dornier Do-228, German twin-turboprop STOL utility aircraft.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dornier_Do_228

1983 - 1st all-woman flight crew flying a C-1A Trader from VRC-40 "Truckin' Traders" landed aboard USS Ranger (CV/CVA-61) . The aircraft was commanded by Lt. Elizabeth M. Toedt and the crew included Lt.(j.g.) Cheryl A. Martin, Aviation Machinist's Mate 3rd Class Gina Greterman and Aviation Machinist's Mate Airman Robin Banks.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Ranger_(CV-61)

1988 - 1st flight of a two seat version of the PZL-Mielec M-18 Dromader, single engine agricultural aircraft, with a smaller hopper to allow an instructor to sit behind the pilot.

http://www.aviastar.org/air/poland/pzl_dromader.php?p=1

1995 - 1st flight of the Kamov Ka-32A2, Police version of the Kamov Ka-27, russian military helicopter.

http://www.aviastar.org/helicopters_eng/ka-32a2.php

1995 - 1st flight of The Cirrus Design SR20, American piston engine composite 4 seat monoplane, noted for being the 1st production general aviation aircraft equipped with a parachute designed to lower the aircraft safely to the ground after loss of control or structural failure.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cirrus_SR20

1996 - Tupolev and NASA begin joint research into civil supersonic transports using a refurbished Tupolev Tu-144

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Aviation/Historical_anniversaries/March_in_aviation/March_21

1999 – Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones become the 1st to circumnavigate the Earth in a hot air balloon after traveling 19 days, 21 hours, and 55 minutes.

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

2000 - 1st flight of the ADAM M309 'CarbonAero' (A500 prototype / SCALED COMPOSITES Model 309), American proof-of-concept technology demonstrator for a civil utility transport aircraft of unusual "push-pull" configuration, with a mounted in both the nose and tail ends of the fuselage.

http://stargazer2006.online.fr/aircraft/adam.htm

2001 - STS-102, Space shuttle Discovery mission to the ISS, is back on earth

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-102

2011 - 1st flight of the PC-Aero Elektra One, German single seat all electric powered composite aircraft.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC-Aero_Elektra_One

2011 - A transport Antonov An-12 on a flight from Brazzaville Maya-Maya Airport to Pointe-Noire Antonio Agostinho Neto International Airport, registered TN-AGK, carrying a crew of 4 and 5 passengers, crashed into the Mvou-Mvou residential area in Pointe-Noire, Republic of the Congo.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Pointe-Noire_Trans_Air_Congo_An-12_crash

2012 - World’s Largest Paper plane 'Desert Eagle' is launched from a helicopter over the Arizona desert (a 45-foot paper airplane with a 24-foot wingspan). The 800-pound paper airplane sailed at an altitude of 2,703 feet and speed of 98 miles per hour.

http://greatpaperairplane.org/ - http://photoblog.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/03/22/10817147-800-pound-paper-airplane-soars-over-arizona-desert?lite