NOV18

On This Day in Aviation History NOVEMBER 18th

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1878 - Birth of Oliver Swann (born Oliver Schwann), leading figure in the Royal Naval Air Service and senior commander in the Royal Air Force during the 1st half of the 20th century.

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

1897 - Birth of Gerhard Bassenge, German WWI flying ace and WWII high ranking officer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerhard_Bassenge - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/bassenge.php

1907 - The Tatin monoplan, Early french monoplane aircraft flew 50 meters.

http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=10199

1911 - Birth of Rudolph, Charles Godfrey of Hemricourt Gunn, Belgian Spanish War fighter Ace and WWII pilot.

http://cieldegloire.com/006_de_hemricourt.php

1911 - 1st British seaplane to leave the water, and 1st seaplane to take off from British waters, is an Avro Type D, 1st of six of the type, piloted by Royal Navy Commander Oliver Schwann. He lifts off from Cavendish Dock, Barrow-in-Furness, England, briefly, falls back into the water and is damaged.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avro_Type_D#Floatplane_development

1913 - Lincoln Beachey performs the 1st loop in the USA over North Isalnd, San Diego, California.

http://industrialphotos.industrialartifactsreview.com/aviation/1910s/1914_Beachey_looping_loop.htm

1917 - 1st mission using a Tellier T.3 by the US Navy, used as an anti-submarine patrol aircraft, was flown at NAS Le Croisic, France.

http://www.worldwar1.com/dbc/tellier.htm

1920 - Birth of Alfred William "Bill" Bedford, British WWII fighter pilot, Instructor and Hawker Siddeley test pilot, he pioneered the development of V/STOL aircraft.

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

1922 - 1st flight of The Dewoitine D.1, French single-seat high wing monoplane fighter aircraft.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dewoitine_D.1 - http://www.aviastar.org/air/france/dewoitine_d-1.php - http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=304

1923 - Birth of Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr., American naval aviator, test pilot, flag officer, and NASA astronaut, 2nd person, and 1st American, in space.

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

1923 - 1st aerial refueling-related fatality occurs during an air show at Kelly Field, Texas, when the fuel hose becomes entangled in the right wings of the refueler and the receiver aircraft. The Army Air Service pilot of the refueler, Lt. P. T. Wagner, is killed in the ensuing crash of DH-4B.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_accidents_and_incidents_involving_military_aircraft_before_1925#1923

1929 - Birth of William J. "Pete" Knight, U.S. politician, combat pilot, test pilot, and astronaut. Knight holds the world's speed record for flight in a winged, powered aircraf.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_J._Knight

1930 - 1st flight of The Boeing XP-9 (Model 96), 1st monoplane fighter aircraft prototype produced by Boeing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_XP-9

1932 - Amy Johnson lands her de Havilland Puss Moth 'Desert Cloud' in Cape town, coming from England, a new solo flifgt record.

http://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/amy-johnson-female-aviator-lands-cape-town-record-time

1937 - 1st flight of the Potez 661, French 4-engined metal low-wing monoplane airliner prototype.

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potez_661 - http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=876

1937 - Flight Officer A.E. Clouston and Mrs Betty Kirby-Green takes off from Cape town back to London in the de havilland DH.88 comet 'The Burberry'.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_DH.88#Grosvenor_House

1939 - 1st flight of The Loire-Nieuport LN.402, French-built dive bomber aircraft prototype, evolution of the LN.401.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loire-Nieuport_LN.401#Design_and_development - http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=1863

1939 - 1st German magnetic anti-ship mines are dropped in British coastal waters.

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

1941 - Launch of Operation Crusader, military operation by the British 8th Army which successfully relieved Siege of Tobruk. Air Marshal Tedder, Air Officer Commanding in Chief Middle East, succeeds in assembling a formidable force of aircraft under the control of A.V.M. Coningham's Desert Air Force.

http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/history-of-aviation-timeline/interactive-aviation-timeline/british-military-aviation/1941.aspx

1942 - 1st flight of The Tachikawa Ki-77, Japanese very long-range experimental tranport and communications low-wing cabin monoplane with twin piston engines.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tachikawa_Ki-77

1943 - Beginning of the Battle of Berlin, British bombing campaign on Berlin. 1st raid occurs with 440 Avro Lancasters and 4 de Havilland Mosquitos

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Berlin_(air)

1944 - 1st flight of The Mitsubishi Ki-83, Japanese experimental twin engine long-range heavy fighter.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_Ki-83

1944 - Death of Hans Klein, German WWI fighter ace, and WWII luftwaffe high ranking officer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Klein - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/klein1.php

1944 - Death of Roger Amedee Del'Haye, Canadian WWI flying ace, flying a Harvard Trainer which crashed on take-off.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._A._Del'Haye - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/canada/delhaye.php

1948 - Birth of Ural Nazibovich Sultanov, Russian test pilot of the Buran spacecraft.

http://www.astronautix.com/astros/sultanov.htm

1949 - A C74 Globemaster I of the USAF Military Air Transport Service (MATS) lands at Marham in Norfolk after a non-stop flight from the United States. It carries a total of 103 passengers and crew, which is a record at the time for people crossing the North Atlantic in a single flight.

http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/history-of-aviation-timeline/interactive-aviation-timeline/world-aviation/1949.aspx

1951 - Birth of Mark Neil Brown, American engineer, USAF pilot and NASA Astronaut.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_N._Brown

1952 - James Slade Nash, flying a North American F-86D Sabre, set an FAI speed of 698.505 mph at Salton Sea, California.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_airspeed_record#Timeline

1955 - 1st powered flight of the Bell X-2, American research aircraft built to investigate flight characteristics in the Mach 2-3 range.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_X-2#Operational_history

1960 - Death of Erik Thomas, German WWI flying ace

http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/thomas1.php

1961 - Launch of Ranger 2, flight test of the Ranger spacecraft system of the NASA Ranger program designed for future lunar and interplanetary missions

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranger_2

1964 - 1st flight of The Grumman C-2 Greyhound, American twin-engine, high-wing cargo aircraft, designed to carry supplies and mail to and from aircraft carriers of the United States Navy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grumman_C-2_Greyhound

1965 - U.S. airline Flying Tigerline Captain and chief pilot J.L. Martin lands back in Honolulu his Boeing 707, setting the 1st around the world over flying both Poles in 62hr and 27 min (51 hr and 27 min Flying time) for 26230 statute miles and 4 stops for refuelling

http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract;jsessionid=3144A5D9BFC2BE6F3EDACB287C71832C.journals?fromPage=online&aid=5647056

1966 - William J. Knight flies the North American X-15 to a record speed of Mach 6.33 (4,250 mph, 6,840 km/h)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_X-15#Fastest_flights

1967 - 1st flight of The Dassault Mirage G, French two-seat twin-engined variable-geometry prototype fighter, 1st modern aircraft of European design which has variable-geometry wings.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dassault_Mirage_G - http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=1252

1970 - Death of Arthur Laumann, German WWI flying ace who scored 28 victories in just over three months.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Laumann - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/laumann.php

1971 - Capt. John Cunney flying a Lockheed U-2A on training lands heavily at Davis-Monthan, wing low, attempts a go-around but stalls and fatally crashes onto the runway

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_accidents_and_incidents_involving_military_aircraft_(1960%E2%80%9374)#1971

1978 - Death of Alexandre Albert Roger Bretillon, French WWI flying ace

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandre_Bretillon - http://theaerodrome.com/aces/france/bretillon.php

1978 - 1st flight of The McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet (official military designation CF-188), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Jet fighter aircraft, based on the American McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet fighter.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_Douglas_CF-18_Hornet

1980 - Judith Chisholm takes off from England with her Cessna Turbo Centurion for a round the world solo flight.

http://www.wingnet.org/rtw/RTW007R.HTM

1983 - Aeroflot Flight 6833 Tu-134A is the scene of an attempted aircraft hijacking by 7 young Georgians.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeroflot_Flight_6833

1985 - Cessna is purchased by General Dynamics

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Aviation/Historical_anniversaries/November_in_aviation/November_18

1985 - 1st Space Shuttle, Enterprise, is flown to Washington Dulles International Airport atop a Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft and transferred from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to the Smithsonian Institution for eventual museum display.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Enterprise#Retirement

1985 - Hermanos Serdán International Airport (IATA: PBC, ICAO: MMPB), international airport located near Puebla, alternate airport for Mexico City opens.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermanos_Serd%C3%A1n_International_Airport

1989 - Launch of The COsmic Background Explorer (COBE), also referred to as Explorer 66, NASA satellite dedicated to cosmology.

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

1994 - Death of Anselm Franz, pioneering Austrian jet engine engineer known for the development of the Jumo 004, the world's 1st mass-produced turbojet engine.

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

2005 - 1st flight of the Airbus A340-600 HGW, European long-range widebody four engine jet airliner.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_A340#A340-600 - http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=10126