Civilian

1891 – Birth of Bruno Loerzer, German World War I flying ace and high-ranking officer in World War II. 1918 – Canadian World War I fighter ace George Robert Howsam scores four victories with his Sopwith Camel. 1919 – Death of Carrick Stewart Paul, New Zealand World War I flying ace; he drowns at sea while returning home. […]

1903 – Birth of Maximilien “Max” Conrad, known as the “Flying Grandfather”, American record-setting aviator. 1911 – U.S. Army Lt. Col. Paul Ward Beck sends the first wireless-telephonic message from an airplane, a Wright biplane flying over Selfridge Field northeast of Detroit, Mich. 1938 – First flight of the Potez-CAMS 141 (shown), a French long range reconnaissance flying boat prototype. 1944 – German […]

1888 – Birth of Jens Tryggve Herman Gran, Norwegian aviator, explorer and author; he was the first pilot to cross the North Sea. 1934 – First flight of the Boeing YP-29A (shown), a U.S. fighter prototype. 1940 – The Brazilian Air Force, originally founded in 1908 as the Brazilian Army Balloon Corp, adopts its current title, Fôrça Aeréa Brasileira. 1971 – […]

1935 – First flight of the RWD-13, a Polish touring three-seater high-wing monoplane. 1950 – Death of Henry Harley “Hap” Arnold, aviation pioneer, second rated pilot in the history of the U.S. Air Force, chief of the Air Corps (1938–1941) and commanding general of the USAF’s predecessor during World War II. 1969 – Birth of […]