OCT12

1929 - 1st flight of The Curtiss Model 54 Tanager, American light conventional biplane prototype.

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

1932 - Birth of Edwin Jacob "Jake" Garn, American politician, 1st sitting member of the United States Congress to fly in space when he flew aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery as a Payload Specialist during NASA mission STS-51-D

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

1934 - 1st flight of The Miles M.3 Falcon, British three/four-seat cabin monoplane.

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

1935 - 1st flight of the SPAD S-922, French twin seat biplane trainer prototype featuring a V tail.

http://aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=10135

1936 - The Republican submarine B5 is sunk by Nationalist aircraft off the coast near Malaga, Spain.

http://ww2db.com/battle_spec.php?battle_id=157

1939 - Death of William Durrand, Jr., Canadian WWI flying ace

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Durrand,_Jr. - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/canada/durrand.php

1940 - 1st flight of the Ilyushin Il-2 (Shturmovik), prototype TsKB-57, lighter single-seat design version of the ground-attack aircraft, which pre-figuerd the production version.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilyushin_Il-2#Origins

1941 - The British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) begins a service to Cairo. The 1st flight is operated by a Short C-Class flying boat Clare (G-AFCZ) and routed through Lisbon, Gibraltar and Malta.

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

1944 - 1st Boeing B-29 Superfortress lands on Saipan, beginning the 20th Air Force’s build-up of a strategic bombing capability in the Mariana Islands. For the 1st time, all of Japan proper is within range of USAAF strategic bombers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_B-29_Superfortress#Operational_history

1944 - Tuskegee Airman Lee Andrew Archer Jr. scores 3 Messerschmitt Bf 109 on a single mission with his North American P-51 Mustang.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Archer_(pilot)

1944 - Charles Elwood "Chuck" Yeager scores 5 Messerschmitt Bf 109 on a single mission with his North American P-51B Mustang.

http://www.cieldegloire.com/014_yeager_c_e.php

1946 - Death of Harald Auffarth, German WWI fighter ace and post war instructor who setted an aviation school to rebuild the Luftwaffe just before WWII.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harald_Auffarth - http://theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/auffarth.php

1947 - Death of Fernand Maximillian Leon Jacquet, Belgian WWI flying ace, 1st Belgian pilot to score an aerial victory, 1st Belgian ace and 1st Belgian pilot to fly his king to the front, only Belgian honored by the British with a Distinguished Flying Cross. He held a flying school before returning to service in WWII and He was an active member of the Belgian Resistance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernand_Jacquet - http://theaerodrome.com/aces/belgium/jacquet.php

1948 - 1st flight of the SNAC NC.1071, French prototype twin-jet version of the carrier-born bomber NC.1070.

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/SNCAC_NC.1071 - http://aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=1514

1948 - 1st flight of The Gloster Meteor F-8, improved version of the British jet fighter with Longer fuselage, greater fuel capacity, standard ejection seat and modified tail. This variant was a prolific frontline fighter in RAF squadron service.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloster_Meteor#Post-war

1953 - Death of Christopher McEvoy, British WWI flying ace.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_McEvoy - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/england/mcevoy.php

1954 - 1st flight of The Cessna T-37 Tweet (designated Model 318 by Cessna), American small, economical twin-engine jet trainer-attack aircraft.

http://www.aviastar.org/air/usa/cessna_dragonfly.php?p=1

1954 - Death of George Welch, American WWII flying ace and experimental aircraft pilot after the war, killed when his F-100A-1-NA Super Sabre, disintegrated during a 7g pullout at Mach 1.55. Welch was best known both for being one of over 17 USAAF fighter pilots able to get airborne to engage Japanese forces in the attack on Pearl Harbor.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Welch_(pilot)#Later_career - http://cieldegloire.com/014_welch_g_s.php

1956 - Death of John Henry Tudhope, South African WWI flying ace.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Henry_Tudhope - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/canada/tudhope1.php

1961 - Death of Eugene Jacques Bullard, American aviator, 1st black military pilot and the only black pilot in WWI along with Ahmet Ali

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Bullard - http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=705

1961 - The Kamov Ka-22 "Vintokryl", Soviet transport Gyrodine, set a new speed record of 336.76km/h round a 100km circuit.

http://www.aviastar.org/helicopters_eng/ka-22.php

1961 - 1st flight of the prototype Dassault Mirage IVA-02, French jet-propelled supersonic strategic bomber and deep-reconnaissance aircraft, version which will be accepted for serial production

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dassault_Mirage_IV#Development

1962 - 1st tethered hovering flight of the Dassault Balzac V, French vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) testbed.

http://www.dassault-aviation.com/fr/passion/avions/dassault-militaires/balzac/

1963 - Death of Karl Baur, German aviator, Chief test pilot for Messerschmitt and engineer.

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Baur_(Pilot)

1964 – Soviet Union launches the Voskhod 1 into Earth orbit as the 1st spacecraft with a multi-person crew and the 1st flight without space suits

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voskhod_1

1964 - The XB-70A Valkyrie achieved supersonic flight for the 1st time (Mach 1.1) above Edwards AFB, California.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_XB-70_Valkyrie#Flight_test_program

1966 - 2 North American F-100 Super Sabres of the USAF Thunderbirds demonstration team collide during practice for a show at Sheppard AFB, Texas, at Indian Springs Air Force Auxiliary Field, Nevada, killing 2 of the 3 pilots. While performing opposing half Cuban Eights, the two jets scraped each other at the top of a loop.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_accidents_and_incidents_involving_military_aircraft_(1960%E2%80%931974)#1966

1967 - Cyprus Airways Flight 284 de Havilland DH.106 Comet 4B broke up during a flight to Nicosia International Airport after an explosive device detonated in the cabin. The airliner crashed in the Mediterranean Sea 100 miles (161 km) southeast of the island of Rhodes in Greece and about 22 miles (35 km) south of the Turkish coastal town of Demre and all 66 passengers and crew on board died.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyprus_Airways_Flight_284

1969 - Launch of Soyuz 7, Soviet joint mission with Soyuz 6 and Soyuz 8 that saw three Soyuz spacecraft in orbit together at the same time, carrying seven cosmonauts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_7

1969 - 1st flight of the SEPECAT 'Jaguar' GR Mk 1 (Jaguar S), Single seat version of the Anglo-French jet ground attack aircraft for the RAF.

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/SEPECAT_Jaguar#Conception - http://aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=2404

1976 - Indian Airlines Flight 171 Sud Aviation Caravelle suffered a #2 engine failure on take off. Immediately turning back to attempt an emergency landing on Bombay Airport's, the aircraft suffered a loss of control and plummeted into the ground, killing all 95.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Airlines_Flight_171

1976 - 1st flight of The Sikorsky S-72, American experimental hybrid helicopter/fixed-wing aircraft.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikorsky_S-72

1980 - Mesa Airlines, American regional airline, begins operations.

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

1984 - 1st flight of The PZL 130 Orlik, Polish turboprop, single engine, two seat trainer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PZL-130_Orlik

1988 - Bar Harbor Airlines ATR-42 misses Air Force One carrying United States President Ronald Reagan by less than 1,000 feet (300m)

http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Bar-Harbor-Airlines

1991 - Death of Turner Foster Caldwell, US Navy WWII fighter pilot and postwar test pilot.

http://thetartanterror.blogspot.fr/2007/05/cdr-turner-fcaldwell.html - http://militarytimes.com/citations-medals-awards/recipient.php?recipientid=20268

1994 – NASA loses radio contact with the Magellan spacecraft as the probe descends into the thick atmosphere of Venus (the spacecraft presumably burned up in the atmosphere).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magellan_spacecraft#Mapping_cycle_6

1997 - Singer-songwriter John Denver, took off from a Pacific Grove airfield and under ideal flying conditions, apparently lost control of his Experimental Rutan Long-EZ plane several hundred feet over Monterey Bay, leading to the fatal crash.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Denver#Death - http://johndenverspecials.com/jdsindex.html - http://johndenver.com/

2001 - 1st flight of the Aerokopter AK-1, russian Two-seat helicopter.

http://www.aviastar.org/helicopters_eng/aerokopter_sanka.php

2005 - Launch of Shenzhou 6, 2nd human spaceflight of the People's Republic of China

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shenzhou_6

2008 - Launch of Soyuz TMA-13, Soyuz mission to the International Space Station (ISS)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_TMA-13

2010 - Transafrik International Flight 662 Lockheed L-100 Hercules carrying logistical supplies for NATO forces within Afghanistan, crashed into a mountain just 30 kilometres (19 mi) east of Kabul International Airport resulting in all 8 crew members being killed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transafrik_International_Flight_662