OCT28

1920 - Birth of Charles B. Moore, Jr., American physicist, engineer and meteorologist, known for his work with gas balloons.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_B._Moore

1930 - 1st flight of the Tupolev I-8 (also known as ANT-13), Soviet experimental interceptor single seat biplane aircraft.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupolev_I-8

1931 - Squadron Leader O.R. Gayford and Flight Lieutenant D.L.G. Bett lands their Fairey Long Range Monoplane after a non-stop flight from Cranwell in Lincolnshire to Abu Sueir in Egypt, having flown a distance of 4,600 kilometres (2,857 miles).

http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/history-of-aviation-timeline/interactive-aviation-timeline/british-military-aviation/1931.aspx

1931 - 1st flight of The FMA AeC.1 , Argentinian low-wing cantilever monoplane of conventional configuration with fixed tailskid undercarriage light utility aircraft, 1st aircraft of domestic design to be produced by FMA

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ae._C.1

1936 - Andrei B. Yumashev sets a record flight with a 5,000 kilograms (11,000 lb) payload to 8,980 metres (29,460 ft) with a Tupolev TB-3 (ANT-6).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupolev_TB-3#Development

1936 - 1st batch of 25 Polikarpovs I-15 arrived in Cartagena, Spain to help Republicans in the Spanish Civil War. These are the 1st of 1,500 fighters sold to the Spanish Republican Forces by the Soviet Union.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polikarpov_I-15#Spain

1936 - 1st flight of The Dornier Do 19, German four-engine heavy bomber prototype.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dornier_Do_19

1936 - 1st flight of the Hordern-Richmond Autoplane, British twin engined two seat cabin touring low wing monoplane.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hordern-Richmond_Autoplane

1938 - Death of Ramón Franco y Bahamonde Salgado Pardo de Andrade, Galician pioneer of aviation, a political figure and brother of later dictator Francisco Franco.Hilled when his hydroplane crashed off Pollença, near the coast of Majorca, while attempting to bomb Republican-controlled Valencia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ram%C3%B3n_Franco

1939 - Supermarine Spitfires of No.602 (County of Glasgow) and No.603 (County of Edinburgh) Squadrons bring down a Heinkel He-111 of Stab/Kampfgeschwader 26 near Haddington in Lothian. This is the 1st enemy aircraft to be brought down on mainland Britain during WWII.

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

1940 - Birth of Gennadi Mikhailovich Strekalov, Russian cosmonaut.

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

1940 - The Focke-Achgelis Fa 223V1 "Drache", German helicopter, is flown to a record height of 7100m.

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

1941 - Death of Pavel Vassilievitch Rychagov, Soviet Fighter ace of the Spanish war who also took part in the Soviet–Japanese war, executed under false accusations of a conspiracy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavel_Rychagov - http://surfcity.kund.dalnet.se/soviet_rychagov.htm

1944 - Death of Shigetsune Nishioka, Japanese WWII flying ace, killed in action during the Gulf Leyte battle.

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

1944 - Death of Tadashi Shono, Japanese WWII fighter ace, Killed in action

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

1945 - 1st flight of The LWD Szpak, Polish strutted monoplane low-wing utility/touring plane of wooden construction, 1st Polish aircraft designed after WWII and built in a short series.

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

1949 - Air France Lockheed L-749-79-46 Constellation en route from Paris-Orly to New york struck the Redondo Mountain on aprroach for a stop over at Santa Maria, Azores, killing all on board including famous french Boxer Marcel Cerdan.

http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19491028-0 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_accidents_and_incidents_involving_the_Lockheed_Constellation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcel_Cerdan - http://www.marcelcerdan.com/3.aspx?sr=14 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginette_Neveu#Plane_Crash_and_Death

1949 - 1st flight of the Millet Lagarde ML-10, French 4 seat experimental single-engine biplane light aircraft.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millet_Lagarde_ML-10 - http://aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=3956

1949 - 1st flight of The Martin XB-51, American "tri-jet" ground attack aircraft prototype.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_XB-51

1952 - 1st French aircraft to break Mach 1 in controlled flight (in a dive) is the Dassault MD-452 'Mystère' II jet fighter-bomber.

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dassault_Myst%C3%A8re_II - http://aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=1012

1952 - 1st flight of The Douglas A-3 Skywarrior, American strategic bomber for the US Navy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_A-3_Skywarrior

1954 - 1st flight of The North American FJ-4 Fury, American swept-wing carrier-capable fighter-bomber for the US Navy and USMC, evolution of the FJ-2/-3 Fury.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_FJ-4_Fury

1956 - Death of Ivan Vasilyevich Smirnov, Russian WWI fighter ace and Dutch airliner pilot.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Vasilyevich_Smirnov - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/russia/smirnov.php

1962 - 1st flight of The Westland Wasp, British small 1st-generation, gas-turbine powered, shipboard anti-submarine helicopter.

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

1963 - Birth of James Jarrett Miller (also known as Fan Man), American parachutist and paraglider.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Miller_(parachutist)

1964 - Death of George William Gladstone Gauld, Canadian WWI flying ace.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Gauld - http://theaerodrome.com/aces/canada/gauld.php

1968 - Soyuz 2, Soviet uncrewed spacecraft which intended to be the target of an docking maneuver by the manned Soyuz 3 spacecraft which finally did not take place, is back on earth.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_2

1971 - Death of Jesús Antonio Villamor, Filipino WWII fighter pilot and intelligence officer.

http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php?title=Jesus_Villamor

1971 - Death of Carleton Cole Champion, US Naval aviator and record setter.

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=64501160

1971 - Launch of The Prospero satellite, also known as X-3, 1st satellite launched by the United Kingdom, designed to undertake a series of experiments studying the effects of the space environment.

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

1972 - 1st flight of The Airbus A300B, French short- to medium-range widebody jet airliner.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_A300 - http://aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=6769

1974 - Launch of Luna 23, Soviet Moon lander mission which was intended to return a lunar sample to Earth.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luna_23

1974 - 1st flight of The Dassault-Breguet Super Étendard , French carrier-borne strike fighter aircraft.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dassault-Breguet_Super_%C3%89tendard - http://aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=1652

1975 - To demonstrate the manoeuvrability and short field ability of the Franco-German Alpha Jet, test pilot Jean-Marie Saget lands on and takes off from a stretch of motorway linking Paris and Le Mans.

http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/history-of-aviation-timeline/interactive-aviation-timeline/world-aviation/1975.aspx

1980 - Demonstration flight of the XFC-130H (a secretly Lockheed C-130 Hercules modified by the installation of 30 rockets in multiple sets: eight forward-pointed ASROC rocket motors mounted around the forward fuselage to stop the aircraft, eight downward-pointed Shrike rockets fuselage-mounted above the wheel wells to brake its descent, eight rearward-pointed MK-56 rockets (from the RIM-66 Standard Missile) mounted on the lower rear fuselage for takeoff assist, two Shrikes mounted in pairs on wing pylons to correct yaw during takeoff transition, and two ASROCs mounted at the rear of the tail to prevent it from striking the ground from over-rotation) for an Iran hostage crisis rescue attempt ends in crash landing at Eglin Air Force Base‘s Duke Field, Florida leading to cancellation of Operation Credible Sport.

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

1981 - Death of Walter T. Hinton, American aviator (pilot of the Curtiss NC flying boat "NC-4", 1st aircraft to make a transatlantic flight) and raid pilot.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Hinton - http://earlyaviators.com/ehinton.htm

1988 - Launch of TDF-1, 1st French TV satellite.

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/TDF_1_%26_2

1998 - Launch of Afristar, French TV communication satellite to broadcast digital radio over Africa and the Middle East and GE-5, French Civilian communications satellite.

http://www.astronautix.com/thisday/octber28.htm

2003 - Soyuz TMA-2 , Russian mission to the International Space Station (ISS), is back on earth.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_TMA-2

2009 - NASA launches Ares I-X , 1st stage prototype and design concept demonstrator in the Ares I program, a launch system for human spaceflight.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ares_I-X

2010 - The Paper Aircraft Released Into Space (PARIS) project is released at an altitude of 27,307 meters (89,591 ft), from a helium balloon that was launched approximately 80 km (50 miles) west of Madrid, Spain, setting the highest altitude record for a paper airplane.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_altitude_record#Paper_airplanes

2011 - Launch of The Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership or Suomi NPP, previously known as the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project (NPP) and NPP-Bridge, NASA weather satellite.

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

2012 - Dragon, partially reusable spacecraft developed by SpaceX, American private space transportation company, to resupply the ISS, splashes down on earth after its 1st successful commercial mission.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_(spacecraft)#List_of_COTS.2FCRS_missions - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20118963

http://www.spacex.com/updates.php