MAY13

1883 - Birth of Charles Alexander Holcombe Longcroft, Britsh WWI pilot and squadron commander in the Royal Flying Corps who went on to become a senior commander in the Royal Air Force.

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

1890 - Birth of Charles John Biddle, American WWI flying ace and lawyer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_J._Biddle_(aviator) - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/usa/biddle.php

1894 - Birth of Elwyn Roy "Bo" King, Australian WWI fighter ace and instructor during WWII

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elwyn_King - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/australi/king2.php

1911 - Jan Kašpar, Czech aviator, aircraft constructor, designer and engineer, flies from Pardubice to Velká Chuchle (121 km) in 92 minutes. At the time, it was the longest flight in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Ka%C5%A1par

1912 - Birth of Felix Kracht, German aviation engineer.

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

1912 - King George V of the United Kingdom approves the formation of the Royal Flying Corps.

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

1912 - 1st-ever report into an aviation accident : A Flanders F.3 Monoplane crashed at Brooklands, Surrey, United Kingdom, killing the pilot and his passenger. The accident was investigated by the Royal Aero Club, which issued the 1st-ever report into an aviation accident and established the science of aviation accident investigation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flanders_F.2 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1912_Brooklands_Flanders_Monoplane_crash

1917 - Birth of Tudor Greceanu, Romanian WWII fighter ace.

http://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tudor_Greceanu

1917 - Death of Julius Busa, Austro Hungarian WWI flying ace, shot down by Italian ace Francesco Baracca in a SPAD VII.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Busa - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/austrhun/busa.php

1918 - Australian WWI fighter ace Cedric Ernest "Spike" Howell shot down 4 Albatros D.III with his Sopwith Camel in a single mission.

http://theaerodrome.com/aces/australi/howell1.php

1919 - 1st flight of the Bristol Badger X, British single-seat flat-sided Fighter-reconnaissance prototype, evolution from the Badger and Bristol's 1st civil registered aircraft

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

1923 - Birth of Donald Milton Sorlie, American test pilot who conducted test flights of the M2/F2 lifing body.

http://www.astronautix.com/astros/sorlie.htm

1925 - 1st flight of the Spad S-61/5, French Biplane fighter prototype, re-engined evolution of the Bleriot SPAD 61 serie.

http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=9417

1930 - With the Laté 28 "Comte-de-la-Vaulx", Jean Mermoz complete the 1st south Transatlatic Postal flight from Saint-Louis, in Senegal, to Natal, Brazil.

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

1933 - Lowe Wylde, designer and managing director of British Aircraft Co dies in the crash of a BAC Drone during a demonstration at west Malling.

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

1934 - US airmail pilot William John "Jack" Frye sets a new United States coast-to-coast record, carrying mail from Los Angeles to Newark. The journey is completed in 11 hours 31 minutes with a Douglas DC-1.

http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/history-of-aviation-timeline/interactive-aviation-timeline/world-aviation/1934.aspx

1938 - The Gasuden Koken, Japanese long-range research aircraft, took off from Kisarazu, Chiba, for a 3rd attempt to set a new World Closed-Circuit distance record.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasuden_Koken#Operational_history

1940 - 1st successful free flight of a true helicopter is made by Igor I. Sikorsky's in his single-rotor VS-300.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vought-Sikorsky_VS-300

1940 - 1st flight of The Bell XFL Airabonita, United States experimental shipboard interceptor aircraft developed for the USN by Bell Aircraft. It was similar to and a parallel development of the land-based P-39 Airacobra, differing mainly in the use of a tailwheel undercarriage in place of the P-39's tricycle gear.

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

1940 - 1st flight of The General Aircraft G.A.L.38 Fleet Shadower, British long-range 4 engine patrol prototype aircraft.

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

1942 - Death of Toshiaki Honda, Japanese WWII fighter ace, killed in action in his Zero by P-39s over Port Moresby.

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

1942 - Birth of Vladimir Aleksandrovich Dzhanibekov, soviet cosmonaut who made 5 flights.

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

1942 - With Hitler's authorization, the German Naval Supreme Command ordered work resumed on the German aircraft carrier 'Graf Zeppelin'.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_aircraft_carrier_Graf_Zeppelin#Ship_history

1948 - Kathleen Agnes "Kick" Kennedy, Sister of John F. Kennedy, is killed with 3 other people in the crash of a chartered Skyways de Havilland DH.104 Dove 1 near Privas, France, into a mountain ravine during a violent storm.

http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=15

1948 - 1st flight of the Percival Prince, British twin-engine, high-wing, cantilever monoplane light transport aircraft.

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

1948 - 1st launch of the RTV-G-4 Bumper, combination of the V-2 rocket and WAC Corporal sounding rocket, 1st U.S. built two-staged rocket.

http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/B/Bumper_WAC.html - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RTV-G-4_Bumper

1949 - 1st flight of The English Electric Canberra, British 1st-generation jet-powered light bomber

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

1954 - 1st Flight of the Kellett KH-15 "Stable Mable", This helicopter was designed to test the new gyro-stabilizing system, a kind of small rotor mounted concentrically and intended to stabilize the main rotor.

http://www.aviastar.org/helicopters_eng/kellett_xr-15.php

1956 - Birth of Aleksandr Yuriyevich "Sasha" Kaleri , Russian cosmonaut and veteran of extended stays on the Mir Space Station and the International Space Station (ISS)

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

1957 - Birth of Claudie Haigneré ,French doctor, politician, and astronaut

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudie_Haigner%C3%A9

1957 - 3 USAF North American F-100 Super Sabres set a new world distance record for single-engine aircraft by covering the 6,710 mi (5,835 nmi, 10,805 km) distance from London to Los Angeles in 14 hours and 4 minutes. The flight was accomplished using inflight refueling.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_F-100_Super_Sabre#Notable_achievements

1960 - 1st passive communications satellite experiment, Echo 1, is unsuccessfull as the Delta rocket Second stage attitude control failed.

http://www.astronautix.com/thisday/may13.htm - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Echo

1967 - A Cessna Model 210 Turbo-Centurion set a world class altitude record of 12,905m (42,300 ft).

http://www.aviastar.org/air/usa/cessna_210.php

1969 - 1st flight of The Conroy Turbo Three, A Douglas DC-3 modified with turboprop engines by Conroy Aircraft.

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

1975 - US Navy P-3 Orion patrol aircraft discover the SS Mayaguez (American container ship seized by the Khmer rouges) off Cambodia’s Puolo Wai island, drawing Khmer Rouge gunfire. US Navy and US Air Force aircraft exchange fire with Khmer Rouge ground and sea forces to stop the Mayaguez.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayaguez_incident#Locating_and_stopping_the_Mayaguez

1980 - 1st flight of The Antonov An-3, Soviet civil multipurpose and agricultural aircraft, turboprop-powered development of the An-2 biplane.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonov_An-3

1982 - Launch of Soyuz T-5, Russian manned spaceflight into Earth orbit to the then new Salyut 7 space station .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_T-5

1985 - Death of Alexander Alexandrovich Mikulin, Soviet aircraft engine designer.

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

1989 - The Antonov An-225 Mriya, Soviet strategic airlift cargo aircraft, makes its 1st carrying flight of the Buran space shuttle.

http://www.aviastar.org/air/russia/an-225.php

2007 - Launch of NigComSat-1, Nigerian communication satellite, aboard a Chinese Long March 3B carrier rocket, from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in China. 1st African geosynchronous communication satellite.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NigComSat-1

2011 - Solar Impulse, long-range solar powered plane, flew from Switzerland (Payerne) to Belgium (Brussels) for it's 1st international flight.

http://www.solarimpulse.com/ - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_Impulse