OCT23

1921 - Birth of André Edouard Turcat, French test pilot, well known for his test of the Concorde.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9_Turcat

1922 - 1st reversible pitch propeller is demonstrated by The American Propeller Company.

http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/history-of-aviation-timeline/interactive-aviation-timeline/world-aviation/1922.aspx

1923 - 1st flight of The Handley Page H.P.24 Hyderabad, British twin-engine biplane heavy bomber and last wooden heavy bomber to serve with the RAF.

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

1929 – 1st North American transcontinental air service begins between New York City and Los Angeles, California, operated by Universal Aviation Corporation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_23

1934 - The de Havilland DH.88 Comet 'Grosvenor House', British twin-engined racing aircraft flown by C. W. A. Scott and Tom Campbell Black, cross the finish line at Flemington Racecourse, australia after a record time of 70 hrs 55 min. ((11000 miles) from RAF Mildenhall, UK

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacRobertson_Air_Race - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_DH.88_Comet

1934 - Francesco Agello sets a new airspeed record in the Macchi MC.72, of 709 km/h (440 mph).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macchi_MC.72#Operational_history

1934 - Jeannette Ridlon Piccard and her husband Jean Félix Piccard with their turtle 'Fleur de Lys' flew their Balloon 'Century of Progress' at 57,579 feet (17,550 m) or about 10.9 miles (17.5 km) up and landed about 300 miles away, Jeannette becoming the 1st woman to pilot a flight to the stratosphere.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeannette_Piccard#Flight

1939 - 1st flight of The Mitsubishi G4M 'Betty', Japanese twin-engine, land-based bomber.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_G4M

1940 - Death of Charles Hubert Boulby Blount, English soldier, 1st-class cricketer, WWI airman and RAF High ranking officer, killed in an air accident when a scheduled flight from Hendon Aerodrome to Belfast crashed near the airfield shortly after taking off.

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

1941 - 1st flight of the Only production Hawker Tornado (After Vulture engine program was cancelled by Rolls-Royce and thus the cancellation order for Tornadoes), British single-seat fighter aircraft, built from 2 incomplete production airframes, test-bed for a number of Centaurus engine/propeller combinations, progenitor of the Hawker Tempest II.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawker_Tornado#Vulture_engine

1942 - 1st flight of the Starck AS-20, French light single seat sports aircraft prototype with tandem-mounted wings for home building.

http://aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=647 - http://falkeeinsgreatplanes.blogspot.fr/2010_01_01_archive.html

1942 – All 12 passengers and crewmen of American Airlines Flight 28 DC-3 airliner are killed when it is struck in mid-air by a USAF Lockeed Ventura IIA B-34 bomber near Palm Springs, California. The B-34 suffered only minor damage, and landed safely. Amongst the victims is award-winning composer and songwriter Ralph Rainger.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Airlines_Flight_28 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Rainger

1943 - 1st flight of the Vickers Windsor, British four-engine heavy bomber prototype

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

1944 - 1st flight of The Nakajima G8N Renzan 'Rita', Japanese four-engine long-range bomber prototype.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakajima_G8N

1944 - Beginning of The Battle of Leyte Gulf, also called the "Battles for Leyte Gulf", and formerly known as the "Second Battle of the Philippine Sea", largest naval battle of WWII and, by some criteria, possibly the largest naval battle in history.

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

1948 - 1st flight of the SNCASE SE.3000, french helicopter prototype, based on the WWII german Focke-Achgelis FA 223 Drache.

http://www.aviastar.org/helicopters_eng/focke_drache.php - http://aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=9610

1952 - 1st flight of The Hughes XH-17 "Flying Crane", American two-bladed main rotor system with a diameter of 134 feet (41 m), was capable of flying at a gross weight of more than 50,000 pounds (23,000 kg), 1st helicopter project for the helicopter division of Hughes Aircraft.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hughes_XH-17

1953 - 1st flight of The Piasecki H-16 Transporter, American tandem-rotor transport or rescue helicopter

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piasecki_H-16

1957 - British European Airways Vickers Viscount 802 crashed on landing at Nutts Corner Airport in bad weather killing all 7.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1957_Nutts_Corner_BEA_Viscount_crash

1961 - 1st flight of the Beechcraft Model 23 Musketeer, American single-engine, low-wing, light aircraft, initially built as the PV-15.

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

1962 – In Operation Blue Moon, 6 U.S. Navy RF-8 Crusader photographic reconnaissance aircraft of Photo Reconnaissance Squadron 62 (VFP-62) led by William Ecker flying from Key West, Florida, conduct the 1st American low-level flights over Cuba, flying at 400 mph (644 km/hr) only a few hundred feet off the ground, taking the 1st close-up photos of the Soviet missile bases in Cuba.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Ecker - http://www.vfp62.com/cuban.html

1967 - 1st flight of The Canadair CL-215, Canadian twin-engine, high-wing firefighting aircraft designed to operate well at low speed and in gust-loading circumstances.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadair_CL-215

1970 - Death of Ronald McNeill Keirstead, Canadian WWI flying ace who worked at Canadian Ministry of Munitions during WWII.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_M._Keirstead - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/canada/keirstead.php

1972 - End of Operation Linebacker, 7th Air Force and US Navy Task Force 77 aerial interdiction campaign to halt or slow the transportation of supplies and materials for the Nguyen Hue Offensive.

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

1973 - Death of Robert Mordaunt Foster, British WWI fighter ace, WWII pilot and high ranking officer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Foster_(RAF_officer) - http://theaerodrome.com/aces/england/foster2.php

1980 - Death of Ralph Ambrose O'Neill, American WWI flying ace, who setted up the functional Mexican Air Force and trained Mexican pilots before making a career in civil aviation, founder of the New York, Rio, and Buenos Aires Line. He flew the 1st airmail from Argentina to Miami in a Sikorsky S-38.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Ambrose_O'Neill - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/usa/oneill.php

1981 - 1st flight of the Canadian built BO 105 LS, Licence of the MBB Bo 105 CBS, german light, twin-engine, multi-purpose utility helicopter.

http://www.aviastar.org/helicopters_eng/mbb-105.php

1989 - STS-34, Space Shuttle Atlantis mission, is back on earth.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-34

1997 - Death of Luther George Simjian, Armenian-American inventor of numerous devices and owner of over 200 patents. He gained commercial success during World War II with another invention, his Optical Range Estimation Trainer, a kind of simple flight simulator, made from mirrors, light sources and miniature airplanes, used to train US military pilots in estimating the speed and distance of airplanes.

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

2004 - 1st Launch of the VSB-30 - "Veículo de Sondagem Booster – 30" (Booster Sounding Vehicle) or "Foguete Suborbital VSB-30", Brazilian sounding rocket.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VSB-30

2007 - Launch of STS-120, space shuttle Discovery mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-120

2009 - Seagle Air, Slovakian charter airline, cease all its services due to finance problems.

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

2011 - ROSAT, German Aerospace Center-led satellite X-ray telescope, is deorbited and re-entered the Earth's atmosphere over the Bay of Bengal, east of India. There was no confirmation if pieces of debris had reached the Earth's surface.

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

2012 - Death of Roland Paulze d'Ivoy de la Poype, French WWII fighter ace, member of the Normandie-Niemen fighter group that fought on the Soviet front, one of only 4 members of the regiment to be awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, plastic industry pioneer and founder of the Antibes Marineland.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_de_la_Poype - http://www.cieldegloire.com/004_de_la_poype.php