NOV08

1935 - Death of Charles Edward 'Smithy' Kingsford Smith, early Australian aviator, WWI pilot and long distance record breaker. He disappeared over the Andaman Sea while flying the Lockheed Altair 'Lady Southern Cross' overnight from Allahabad, India, to Singapore, with co-pilot Tommy Pethybridge as part of their attempt to break the England-Australia speed record.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Kingsford_Smith - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Southern_Cross

1936 - Death of Fortunato Cesari, Italian aviator, killed by african rebels.

http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortunato_Cesari

1936 - Birth of Edward George Gibson, American engineer, pilot and NASA astronaut.

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

1942 - Operation Torch starts, Allied amphibious landings in French North Africa. French aircraft resist the landings, strafing the landing beaches at least five times, and aerial combat occurs between U.S. Navy F4F Wildcats and French Dewoitine D.520 and Curtiss Hawk 75A fighters.

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

1944 - Death of Furogori Goro, russo-japanese war and WWII fighter ace, Killed in action in his Nakajima Ki-84 by P-38s while straffing Tacoblan field.

http://www.cieldegloire.fr/010_furugori_g.php

1944 - Death of Walter "Nowi" Nowotny, Austrian-born German WWII fighter ace. It remains unclear whether Nowotny was killed due to engine failure or whether he was shot down, His Me 262 A-1a "White 8" dove vertically out of the clouds and crashed at Epe.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Nowotny#Kommando_Nowotny_and_death

1947 - Birth of Margaret Rhea Seddon, American physician and NASA astronaut.

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

1948 - Birth of Dale Allan Gardner, US Navy pilot and NASA astronaut.

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

1950 - 1st jet-versus-jet aerial victory is performed by Lt Russell J. Brown from his F-80 Shooting Star over a Mig-15.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-80_Shooting_Star#Korean_War

1950 - 1st swept-wing aircraft to take off and land from an aircraft carrier, during trials for the Royal Navy's (RN) Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is the Supermarine Swift type 510 from the carrier HMS Illustrious.

http://www.aviastar.org/air/england/supermarine_510.php - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermarine_Swift

1955 - 1st flight of the Convair TF-102A Delta Dagger, American 2 seat side by side combat proficiency trainer version of the interceptor.

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

1956 - Ascending from Rapid City in South Dakota, Lieutenant Commander M.L. Lewis and Malcolm D. Ross establish a world altitude record for manned balloons of 23,165 metres (76,000 feet) in ONR Strato-Lab I, using a pressurized gondola and plastic balloon.

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

1957 - Pan Am Flight 7 Boeing 377 Stratocruiser 10-29 'Clipper Romance Of The Skies' disappeared on its first leg from San Francisco to Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii with 44 on board.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_Am_Flight_7

1958 - Launch of Pioneer 2, last of the 3 project Able space probes designed to probe lunar and cislunar space.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_2

1960 - Launch of Little Joe 5, American unmanned atmospheric test flight of the Mercury spacecraft to test a production Mercury capsule (#3) and the Launch Escape System during an ascent abort at maximum dynamic pressure.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Joe_5

1961 - Imperial Airlines Flight 201/8 Lockheed L-049E Constellation chartered by the United States Army to transport new recruits to Columbia, South Carolina, for training, crashed as it attempted to land at Byrd Field, near Richmond, Virginia, killing 77 over 79 after a missed approach with engine problems.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Airlines_Flight_201/8

1963 - 1st flight (transition from hovering to forward flight) of the Lockheed XV-4 Hummingbird (originally designated VZ-10), American V/STOL vertical take off/landing jet prototype.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_XV-4_Hummingbird

1965 - American Airlines Flight 383 Boeing 727-123 crashed on approach in bad weather to the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport killing 58 over 62, including American record producer Israel Horowitz.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Airlines_Flight_383

1969 - Launch of Azur, Germany's 1st scientific satellite to study the Van Allen belts, solar particles, and aurorae

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

1978 - 1st flight of The Bombardier Challenger CL-600, Canadian business jet, independent design by Bill Lear (LearStar 600) who sold exclusive rights to produce and develop the design to Canadair.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombardier_Challenger_600

1982 - Using in-flight refuelling a Royal Air Force Panavia Tornado GR1 of No.9 Squadron makes a non-stop flight from England to Cyprus.

http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/history-of-aviation-timeline/interactive-aviation-timeline/british-military-aviation/1982.aspx

1983 - TAAG Angola Airlines Boeing 737-2M2 crashed immediately after takeoff from Lubango Airport bound for Quatro de Fevereiro Airport; all 130 occupants of the aircraft —of whom 126 were passengers— died. UNITA guerrillas claimed to have shot down the airliner.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TAAG_Angola_Airlines#Accidents_and_incidents

1984 - Launch of STS-51-A, Space Shuttle Discovery mission, 1st time a shuttle deployed 2 communications satellites, and retrieved from orbit 2 other communications satellites.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-51-A

1991 - Death of Domenico Ludovico, Italian aviator and high ranking officer of the Regia Aeronautoca

http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domenico_Ludovico

1997 - Death of Louis-Antoine Chartoire, French WWI flying ace

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Chartoire - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/france/chartoire.php

1999 - Death of Yury Vasilyevich Malyshev, Soviet pilot and Cosmonaut.

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