OCT22

1912 - The Australian Flying Corps (AFC) was formed.

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

1912 - Melchor Z. Escola, Argentina's 1st naval aviator, is awarded a pilot's certificate by the Argentine Aero Club.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentine_Naval_Aviation#Formation_and_World_Wars

1918 - Death of Gilbert Marie de Guingand, French WWI flying ace, killed in a flying accident on take off for a mission.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_de_Guingand - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/france/de_guingand.php

1922 - Amelia Mary Earhart with her yellow Kinner Airster biplane nicknamed "The Canary." reached an altitude of 14,000 feet (4,300 m), setting a world record for female pilots.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amelia_Earhart#Early_flying_experiences

1924 - Death 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

1926 - Curtiss F6C Hawk fighters of the United States Navy’s Fighter Squadron 2 (VF-2) surprise U.S. Navy capital ships sortieing from San Pedro Harbor, California, with a simulated dive-bombing attack, diving almost vertically from 12,000 feet (3,658 m). It generally is considered the birth of modern dive bombing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Aviation/Historical_anniversaries/October_in_aviation/October_22 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VFA-2#The_First_VF-2

1930 - Charles Kingsford Smith lands in Sydney, winning solo an England to Australia air race.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Kingsford_Smith#Later_flights

1930 - Birth of Donald Herod Peterson USAF pilot and NASA astronaut.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_H._Peterson

1930 - Death of George Gh Fernic, Romanian aviator, race car driver and aircraft designer, in the crash of his Fernic F-T-10 Cruisaire at an air show on Curtiss Reynolds airfield in Chicago, Illinois.

http://earlyaviators.com/efernic.htm

1930 - 1st flight of The Fairchild 100, American single engined utility monoplane with high-mounted wings, Enlarged version of the Fairchild C-8.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairchild_C-24

1933 - Birth of Donald Herod 'Don' Peterson, USAF pilot and NASA astronaut.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_H._Peterson

1934 - 1st flight of the Gourdou Leseurre GL-813 HY, French 3-seat reconnaissance floatplane

http://aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=9312

1936 - 1st flight of the Dewoitine D-620, French 3 engined 30 passengers airliner prototype, issued from the Dewoitine D.338.

http://aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=323

1938 - Italian Lieutenant Colonel M. Pezzi, flying a Caproni 161-bis at Montecelio, establishes a new world altitude record of 17,083 metres (56,046 feet).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caproni_Ca.161 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Pezzi_(aviator)

1946 - Death of Hans Grade, German aviation pioneer.

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

1955 - 1st flight of The Republic F-105 Thunderchief, american supersonic fighter-bomber, during which It attained the speed of Mach 1.2.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_F-105_Thunderchief

1958 - British European Airways Flight 142 Vickers Viscount 701 collided with an Italian Air Force North American F-86E Sabre, leading aircraft of 4 that were on a tactical training exercise over Anzio in Italy killing all 26, Only survivor was the F-86 pilot who ejected.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_European_Airways_Flight_142

1960 - Death of Lucien Eugene Cayol, French WWI flying ace

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucien_Cayol - http://theaerodrome.com/aces/france/cayol.php

1963 - Death of Michael John "Mike" Lithgow, British aviator and chief test pilot for Vickers Supermarine, killed in the crash of a BAC One-Eleven prototype during a flying test to see how the aircraft assess stability and handling characteristics during the approach to, and recovery from the stall with a centre of gravity in varying positions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Lithgow - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1963_BAC_One-Eleven_test_crash

1965 - 2nd prototype of the EWR VJ 101 (X2), experimental German jet fighter VTOL tiltjet aircraft, made a successful transition flight.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EWR_VJ_101#Testing_and_evaluation

1966 - Launch of Luna 12, Soviet unmanned space mission to the moon.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luna_12

1968 - Apollo 7, 1st successful manned Apollo mission, is back on earth.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_7

1975 – The Soviet unmanned space mission Venera 9 lands on Venus.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venera_9#Lander

1977 - Launch of ISEE-1 and ISEE-2, part of the ISEE (International Sun-Earth Explorer) international cooperative program between NASA and ESRO/ESA to study the interaction between the Earth's magnetic field and the solar wind, using 3 spacecraft, a mother/daughter pair (ISEE 1 and ISEE 2) and adding later a heliocentric spacecraft (ISEE 3, later renamed ICE).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Cometary_Explorer#ISEE_1_and_ISEE_2

1982 - 1st flight of the MD Helicopters MD 530F, Hot and high version of the American light utility helicopter 500E, powered by an Allison 250-C30B rated at 650 shp (485 kW),

http://www.aviastar.org/helicopters_eng/mcdonnel-500.php

1985 - Death of Arthur Marie Marcel Coadou, French WWI flying ace, who also served in WWII

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Coadou - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/france/coadou.php

1986 - American rock musician, actress, and at that time traffic reporter, Jane Dornacker, is killed in the crash of the Enstrom F-28 helicopter she was reporting from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Dornacker#Death

1992 - Launch of STS-52, NASA Space Shuttle mission Columbia to deploy satellites (USMP-1 Fwd , USMP-1 Aft, Lageos 2 and CTA).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-52

1996 – Million Air Flight 406, a Boeing 707-323C with 4 people aboard, crashes into a Dolorosa neighborhood ripping off rooftops and crashing in flames into a restaurant, killing the 4 aboard, 30 in the neighborhood and injuring 50 Ecuador.

http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19961022-0

1998 - Launch of SCD-2 (Satélite de Coleta de Dados 2), 2nd brazilian satellite.

http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCD-2

2001 - Launch of BIRD (Bispectral Infra-Red Detection) experimental german satellite.

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/BIRD

2005 - Bellview Airlines Flight 210 Boeing 737-200 crashed shortly after taking off from Murtala Mohammed International Airport en route to Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, killing all 117 people onboard

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellview_Airlines_Flight_210

2007 – Raid on Anuradhapura Air Force Base is carried out by 21 Tamil Tiger commandos. All except one died in this attack. Eight Sri Lankan Air Force planes are destroyed and 10 damaged.

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

2008 – India launches its 1st unmanned lunar mission Chandrayaan-1, carrying MIP, Indian Lunar probe.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandrayaan-1

2011 - The Twin Balloons Airship made by JP Aerospace flew to 95,085 feet as the New Airship World Altitude Record. The unmanned tandem airship flew nearly 4 miles higher than any airship before and is provided with 2 electric motors, each spinning a propeller.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JP_Aerospace#Twin_Balloons_Airship