OCT17

1914 - American William 'Billy' C. Robinson sets an american record distance flying 4 hours, 44 minutes over approximately 390 miles at a rate of 80 miles an hour.

http://earlyaviators.com/erobbil1.htm

1917 - Death of Arthur Gilbert Vivian Taylor (Pilot) and William Joseph Benger (observer), British WWI flying aces, from wounds just after their Bristol F.2b has been shot down in aerial combat.

http://theaerodrome.com/aces/england/taylor1.php - http://theaerodrome.com/aces/england/benger.php

1918 - Birth of John de Havilland, british test pilot, son of Geoffrey de Havilland, the famous aircraft designer and manufacturer.

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

1919 - COAN (Comando de Aviación Naval Argentina), Argentine Naval Aviation is formed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentine_Naval_Aviation#Formation_and_World_Wars

1922 - 1st plane to take off from an American aircraft carrier. Virgil C. Griffin took off from the deck of the newly-commissioned carrier USS Langley in a Vought VE-7 'Bluebird'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vought_VE-7#Operational_history - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Langley_(CV-1)#Carrier

1922 - U.S. Army's largest blimp, C-2, catches fire shortly after being removed from its hangar at Brooks Field, San Antonio, Texas for a flight. Seven of eight crew aboard are injured, mostly in jumping from the craft. It made the occasion for official announcement by the Army and the Navy that the use of hydrogen would be abandoned "as speedily as possible."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_accidents_and_incidents_involving_military_aircraft_before_1925#1922

1926 - Birth of Karl Gordon Henize, Ph.D., American astronomer, space scientist and NASA astronaut.

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

1927 - 4 Supermarine Southampton flying boats of the Royal Air Force Far East Flight under the command of Group Captain H.M. Cave-Brown-Cave leave Plymouth for a 27,000 mile cruise to Egypt, India, Australia, Japan & Singapore.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Cave-Browne-Cave#Inter-war_years

1932 - 1st flight of the Loiré 43, French high wing monoplane fighter prototype.

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loire_46#Loire_43 - http://aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=9801

1933 - Birth of William 'Bill' Alison Anders, USAF Pilot, NASA astronaut, businessman, and engineer.

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

1936 - The Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC), Australian aircraft manufacturer, is formed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_Aircraft_Corporation - http://www.aviastar.org/gallery/boomerang.html

1936 - John M. Sterling flying a Consolidated P-30 (PB-2A) wins the Mitchell Trophy race with a speed of 217.5 mph (350.2 km/h).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consolidated_P-30#Operational_history

1936 - 1st flight of the FMA AeC.4, Argentinian light utility prototype aircraft, evolution of the FMA AeC.3 with improved aerodynamics

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ae._C.4

1937 - Death 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

1939 - 2 Luftwaffe air raids take place on warships at Scapa Flow and the 1st enemy bombs to explode on British soil land on the Island of Hoy in the Orkneys

http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/history-of-aviation-timeline/interactive-aviation-timeline/british-military-aviation/1939.aspx

1940 - 1st flight of The Airspeed A.S.39 Fleet Shadower, British long-range 4 engine patrol prototype aircraft.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airspeed_AS.39

1943 - VMF-214 'Black Sheep Squadron' Vought F4U Corsairs leaded by Greg 'Pappy' Boyington flew from Vella Lavella to Kahili where 60 hostile aircraft were based, goading the enemy into sending up a large force. In the fierce battle that followed, 20 enemy aircraft were shot down while the Black Sheep returned to their base without loss.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pappy_Boyington#Military_career

1954 - A Sikorsky XH39 helicopter sets a new world altitude record for rotary wing aircraft of 7,468 metres (24,500 feet)

http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/history-of-aviation-timeline/interactive-aviation-timeline/world-aviation/1954.aspx

1956 - Birth of Mae Carol Jemison, American physician and NASA astronaut, 1st black woman to travel in space.

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

1958 - Aeroflot Tupolev 104A entered an area of a powerful upstream and ascended to 12.000m, crew lost control and the airplane entered a spin. It crashed Near Kanash, Russia killing all 80.

http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19581017-0

1963 - Launch of Vela 1 and Vela 2, USAF Nuclear detection surveillance satellites (along with TRS 5, Navigation technology satellite).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vela_(satellite)

1967 - 1st flight of The Zlín Z 42, Czech single-engine two-seat trainer aircraft.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zl%C3%ADn_Z_42

1969 - Soyuz 7 is back on earth.

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

1973 - Death of Jean-Paul Jacques Favre de Thierrens, French WWI flying ace

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Paul_Favre_De_Thierrens - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/france/favre.php

1973 - Death of Bernt Balchen, American (norvegian born) pioneer polar aviator, navigator, aircraft mechanical engineer and military leader.

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

1974 - 1st flight of the pre-Sikorsky S-70, (UH-60A), American medium transport/utility prototype helicopter.

http://www.aviastar.org/helicopters_eng/sik_s-70.php - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikorsky_UH-60_Black_Hawk

1977 - 4 days after it was hijacked, Lufthansa Flight 181 Boeing 737-230 Adv lands in Mogadishu, Somalia, where a team of German GSG 9 commandos later rescues all remaining hostages on board.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lufthansa_Flight_181

1977 - The US ban of the Concorde was lifted when the Supreme Court of the United States declined to overturn a lower court's ruling rejecting the Port Authority's efforts to continue the ban.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concorde#Scheduled_flights

1988 - Uganda Airlines Flight 775 Boeing 707-338C crashed while attempting to land at Roma-Fiumicino Airport in Rome, Italy, killing 33 over 52.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uganda_Airlines_Flight_775

2009 - Victoria Air Douglas DC-3C (C-47D) crashed in a warehouse shortly after takeoff from Manila-Ninoy Aquino International Airport (MNL), Philippines after it experienced engine problems, killing all 4.

http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20091017-0&lang=en