MAY25
1757 - Birth of Louis-Sébastien Lenormand, French physicist, inventor and pioneer in parachuting
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sebastian_Lenormand
1864 - Birth of Anne Löwenstein-Wertheim Princess of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg (born Lady Anne Savile), British aviation pionneer.
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_L%C3%B6wenstein-Wertheim
1866 - The Aereon N°2, American dirigible airship, flew over New York City.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solomon_Andrews_(inventor)
1883 - Birth of William Durrand, Jr., Canadian WWI flying ace
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Durrand,_Jr. - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/canada/durrand.php
1889 - Birth of Igor Sikorsky, born Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky, Russian American pioneer of aviation in both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. He designed and flew the world's 1st multi-engine fixed-wing aircraft, the Russky Vityaz in 1913, and the 1st airliner, Ilya Muromets, in 1914.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igor_Sikorsky
1889 - Birth of Léon Jean Pierre Bourjade, French WWI fighter ace and leading balloon busting ace. Post-war, he completed his theological studies and devoted the remainder of his life to service as a medical missionary to lepers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A9on_Bourjade - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/france/bourjade.php
1892 - Birth of James Victor Gascoyne, British WWI flying ace
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Victor_Gascoyne - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/england/gascoyne.php
1893 - Birth of Christopher Joseph Quintin Brand, South African officer of the Royal Air Force, WWI pilot and raid pilot.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quintin_Brand - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/safrica/brand.php
1895 - Birth of Robert Arthur Grosvenor, british WWI fighter ace
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Grosvenor_(aviator) - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/england/grosvenor.php
1896 - Birth of William John Charles Kennedy-Cochran-Patrick, Scottish WWI fighter ace, founder of Aircraft Operating Company of South Africa Pty Ltd.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Kennedy-Cochran-Patrick - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/scotland/kennedy.php
1898 - Birth of Harry Christopher Travers Gompertz, British WWI flying ace (Observer).
http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/england/gompertz.php
1902 - Birth of Henri Guillaumet, pioneer of French aviation in the Andes, the South Atlantic and the North Atlantic.
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Guillaumet
1909 - French Paul Tissandier, sets a world speed record for an aeroplane in a Wright biplane, achieving 54kph (34mph)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_airspeed_record
1910 - At Huffman Prairie, Orville piloted two unique flights. 1st, he took off on a six-minute flight with Wilbur as his passenger, the only time the Wright brothers ever flew together. They received permission from their father to make the flight. They had always promised Milton they would never fly together to avoid the chance of a double tragedy and to ensure one brother would remain to continue their experiments. Next, Orville took his 82-year old father on a nearly seven-minute flight, the first and only one of Milton Wright's life. The airplane rose to about 350 feet (107 m) while the elderly Wright called to his son, "Higher, Orville, higher!"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_brothers
1912 - 1st plane of the Royal Norwegian Navy to arrive in Norway is the HNoMS Start, an Etrich Taube (fighter, bomber, surveillance plane and trainer)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HNoMS_Start
1913 - Birth of Oskar-Heinz (Heinrich) "Pritzl" Bär , German Luftwaffe flying ace who served throughout WWII in Europe. He flew over a thousand combat missions, and fought in all major German theatres of the war, including the Western, Eastern and Mediterranean fronts. On 18 occasions he survived being shot down, and he was credited with 220 aerial victories, around 16 of which were in a Me 262 jet fighter.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_B%C3%A4r - http://cieldegloire.com/001_bar_h.php
1917 - A mass air-raid by 21 Gotha G.V bombers attacks Folkestone in Kent, England, killing 95 people and injuring 174. 74 British aircraft take off to intercept, but shoot down only one Gotha. It is the 1st of 22 German heavier-than-air raids on England during WWI.
1917 - Death of René Pierre Marie Dorme, French WWI fighter ace, killed in action in his SPAD VII.
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Dorme - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/france/dorme.php
1917 - French WWI fighter ace Georges Marie Ludovic Jules Guynemer, scored 4 victories this day.
http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/france/guynemer.php
1919 - A Handley Page V/1500, flying from Risalpur piloted by Captain Halley and with Lt E. Villiers as observer reached Kabul in three hours and Bombebd the Royal Palace during the Third Anglo-Afghan War, being the 1st decisive use of strategic bombing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handley_Page_V/1500#Service - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Anglo-Afghan_War#Importance_of_British_airpower
1928 - Umberto Nobile 's Airship Italia crashes on the ice on the attempt to reach the North Pole. Radio operator Biagi salvages radio, constructs a radio mast and begins transmitting SOS.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airship_Italia#Polar_flights
1928 - 1st flight of the Potez 34 Hispano, French 2 seat high wing monoplane single engine record aircraft
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potez_34 - http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=9748
1928 - Mexican Emilio Carranza Rodríguez lands in Mexico after a 1,875 miles in 18.5 hrs flight from San Diego, 3rd longest flight at that time in history.
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emilio_Carranza - http://www.earlyaviators.com/ecarran1.htm
1928 - 1st flight of The Sikorsky S-38, American twin-engined 8-seat amphibious aircraft sometimes called "The Explorer's Air Yacht" and Sikorsky's 1st widely produced amphibious flying boat
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikorsky_S-38
1929 - French Lucien Girier and Pierre Téodore Weiss land their Breguet Bre 19 TR 'Bidon', setting a world speed attempt on a 5000km course of 188,097 km/h.
http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=9873 - http://calm.sopixi.fr/files/les-raids-du-gal-girier.pdf
1929 - Lieutenant William Gosnell Tomlinson, USN, took 1st place in the Curtiss Marine Trophy race held at Naval Air Station Anacostia. He flew the XF7C-1 with an average speed of 162.52 MPH. He completed the 100-mile race course before his nearest competitor had entered the final 20 miles.
http://www.patriotspoint.org/news_events/curtiss-marine-trophy-winner-1929/ - http://www.dmairfield.org/people/tomlinson_wg/index.html
1929 - 1st “air meet” in western Canada was held in Winnipeg.
1931 - Birth of Georgy Mikhaylovich Grechko , Soviet cosmonaut who flew on several space flights among which Soyuz 17, Soyuz 26, and Soyuz T-14.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgy_Grechko
1933 - 1st flight of the Avia B-534, Czechoslovak biplane fighter Aircraft.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avia_B-534
1936 - 1st flight of the Volland 10, French twin seat tourer biplane prototype.
http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=10131
1936 - Death of Hezekiah McClellan who prepared early charts and records while pioneering Alaskan air routes, killed in the crash of his Consolidated P-30 which he was flight testing near Centerville, Ohio.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McClellan_Air_Force_Base#History
1937 - 1st flight of The Gasuden Koken, Japanese long-range research aircraft, single-engined low wing cantilever monoplane with a retractable undercarriage designed to break the world record for longest flight.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasuden_Koken
1937 - The 1st letter to encircle the world by commercial air mail despatched from New York via San Francisco to Hong Kong, Penang, Amsterdam and Brazil is back to New York.
1938 - 1st flight of the Hanriot H-231, French Twin seat, twin engine advanced trainer monoplane prototype, evolution of the H-230.
http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=5679
1938 - Spanish Civil War: bombing of Alicante by the Italian Aviazione Legionaria.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alicante
1939 - The sole Grumman XSBF, American biplane scout bomber prototype, is destroyed in a crash which killed it's pilot.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grumman_XSBF#Operational_history
1940 - HMS Illustrious, british aircraft carrier, 1st carrier to strike against an enemy fleet, is commissioned.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Illustrious_(R87)
1945 - Japanese flying aces Shiro Kuratori and Juzo Kuramoto claimed 5 B-29 each on a single night mission flying their Nakajima J1N Gekkou.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakajima_J1N#Operations - http://www.cieldegloire.com/010_kurotori_s.php
1945 - 1st flight of the SNCASE SE-700, French 3 seat autogyro prototype.
http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=9552
1950 - Death of Pierre Decroo, French WWII Fighter pilot and test pilot, killed in the crash of the Arsenal VG 90-01 prototype after an undercarriage door tore off in flight and struck the aircraft's tail.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arsenal_VG_90 - http://histoiresdunord2.blogspot.fr/2010/05/il-y-soixante-ans-disparaissait-le.html
1951 - 1st delivery of The English Electric Canberra B2, first-generation jet-powered light bomber, to replace the Lincolns of No. 101 Squadron at Binbrook, Lincolnshire.
http://www.aviastar.org/gallery/054.html
1953 - 1st flight of The North American F-100 Super Sabre, supersonic jet fighter aircraft
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_F-100_Super_Sabre
1954 - Death of Anthony Rex Arnold, British WWI flying ace.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Arnold - http://theaerodrome.com/aces/england/arnold1.php
1954 - United States Navy (USN) ZPG2 airship, flown by Commander M.H. Eppes and crew, lands at Key West Florida after being airborne for just over 200 hour
1955 - Death of Francis John Williamson Mellersh, British WWI flying ace and senior RAF commander during WWII. After having debarked from a helicopter onto a quay, Being invited to cruise on a yacht, the helicopter departed. One of its rotors hit the mast of a yacht, the main rotor killed Mellersh.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Mellersh_(RAF_officer)
1958 - Dan Air Services Ltd Avro York 685 York C.1 cargo aircraft crashed during a forced landing at Gurgaon, Haryana, India, after an engine had caught fire en route from Karachi to Delhi killing 4 of 5 on board.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1958_Dan-Air_Avro_York_crash
1960 - A Vickers Valiant of No.214 Squadron, captained by Squadron Leader J.H. Garstin, takes off for the 1st non-stop flight between the UK and Singapore.
1964 - Birth of Ivan Bella, Slovak Air Force officer who became the 1st Slovak citizen to fly in space
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Bella
1964 - 1st fligth of The Ryan XV-5 Vertifan, American jet-powered V/STOL experimental aircraft
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_XV-5_Vertifan
1965 - Birth of John Daniel "Danny" Olivas, American engineer of Mexican descent and a NASA astronaut
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_D._Olivas
1965 - Launch of Pegasus 2, American satellite to study micrometeoroid impacts in Low Earth orbit.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pegasus_2
1966 - Launch of Explorer 32 (also known as Atmosphere Explorer-B (AE-B)), satellite launched by the United States for studying the Earth's upper atmosphere.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Explorer_32
1968 - 1st flight of The Northrop Grumman EA-6B Prowler, twin-engine, mid-wing electronic warfare aircraft, Developed from Grumman A-6 Intruder.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_Grumman_EA-6B_Prowler
1969 - Birth of Dmitri Yur'yevich Kondrat'yev, Russian cosmonaut.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dmitri_Kondratyev
1970 - 1st commercial aircraft to exceed Mach 2 in level flight is a Tupolev Tu-144.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupolev_Tu-144#After_project_cancellation
1970 - 1st flight of The Partenavia P.68, Italian six-seat, twin-engined, high-wing monoplane.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partenavia_P.68
1973 - Launch of Skylab 2, 1st manned mission to Skylab, the 1st U.S. orbital space station.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skylab_2
1976 - 1st flight of The Boeing E-3 Sentry, U.S. military airborne warning and control system (AWACS) aircraft based on the Boeing 707 that provides all-weather surveillance, command, control and communications.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-3_Sentry
1979 - American Airlines Flight 191, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10, crashed at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. During the takeoff roll, the left engine and pylon separated from the wing. The crew continued the takeoff, but wing damage due to the engine separation also damaged the aircraft hydraulic system and caused retraction of some flight control surfaces. The aircraft rolled and crashed shortly after takeoff.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Airlines_Flight_191
1982 - VASP Boeing 737-2A1 on landing procedures at Brasília during rain, made a hard landing with nose gear first. The gear collapsed and the aircraft skidded off the runway breaking in two. Two passengers out of 118 occupants died.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_737#Accidents_and_incidents
1982 - HMS Coventry (D118), Type 42 (Sheffield Class) destroyer of the Royal Navy, is sunk by Argentine Air Force A-4 Skyhawks during the Falklands War.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Coventry_(D118)
1986 - A prisoner in a Parisian jail escapes when his wife rescues him in a helicopter.
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Vaujour
1996 - Death of David Wayne Howe, American WWII Flying ace, Test pilot for Bell.
http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/dwhowe.htm - http://www.cieldegloire.com/014_howe_d_w.php
1998 - Lao Aviation Yakovlev Yak-40 carrying a Vietnamese military delegation from Vientiane to Xiang Khoang in Laos, crashed into jungle during a heavy rainstorm, killing all 26.
http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19980525-0
2002 – China Airlines Flight 611: A Boeing 747-200 breaks apart in mid-air and plunges into the Taiwan Strait killing 225 people.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Airlines_Flight_611
2003 - A Boeing 727-223 registered as N844AA was stolen from Quatro de Fevereiro Airport in Luanda, Angola. Its disappearance prompted a world-wide search by the FBI and the CIA. Early reports in July 2003, noted a possible sighting of the missing plane in Conakry, Guinea, but have been since conclusively disproved by the US Department of State. Ben Charles Padilla from Pensacola, Florida, a licensed aircraft mechanic, flight engineer, and pilot of small airplanes was aboard N844AA when it was stolen, and is believed by U.S. authorities to have been at the controls. He has not been seen or heard from since.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N844AA
2005 - A chartered Maniema Union Antonov An-28 aircraft, owned by Victoria Air, crashed into a mountain near Walungu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, about 30 minutes after takeoff. All of the 22 passengers and 5 crew members were killed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonov_An-28#Notable_accidents_and_incidents
2008 - Kallita AIr 2008 Boeing 747-209F/SCD cargo overran runway 20 at Brussels Airport. The plane broke in three and came to a complete stop in a field bordering the runway. There were four crew members and one passenger on board, and no injuries were reported
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalitta_Air#Incidents
2008 - Phoenix (Robotic Spacecraft) lands on Mars to search for environments suitable for microbial life on Mars, and to research the history of water there.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_(spacecraft)
2010 - The Sikorsky X2 , American experimental high-speed compound helicopter with coaxial rotors, reached 181kt (335km/h).
2011 - 1st flight of the e-Genius, German manned electric airplane, two seated side by side high wing configuration aircraft completely manufactured of fibre composites and equipped with a retractable landing gear, propulsion realized by a permanent magnet synchronous motor with an electrical driven variable pitch propeller