Civilian

1900 – Birth of Pavel Fedorovich Zhigarev, commander of the Soviet Air Forces (VVS) and later chief marshal of aviation. 1917 – Italian World War I flying ace Giorgio Pessi scores four victories with his SPAD VII (one unconfirmed). 1936 – The German Luftwaffe’s Condor Legion, a force of about 100 aircraft, begins to depart Germany […]

1894 – Birth of Henrich Claudius Kroll, German World War I fighter ace. 1926 – U.S Army Capt. Charles Lindbergh jumps from his disabled De Havilland DH4 during a night airmail flight, making this his fourth time he uses a parachute to save his life. 1945 – The Pan American World Airways Boeing 314 flying […]

1908 – Henri Farman makes the 1st cross-country flight in Europe with a power-driven aeroplane Voisin, flying from Châlons to Reims; the flight takes 20 minutes. 1919 – Death of Hans von Freden, German World War I fighter ace. 1939 – The first German aircraft shot down over France and first German aircraft brought down […]

1894 – Birth of Harry George Ernest Luchford, British World War I fighter ace. 1910 – French Maurice Tabuteau performs a closed-circuit record of 289 miles in a Maurice Farman biplane, ending the supremacy of the Wright biplanes. 1949 – First flight of the Martin XB-51 (both prototypes shown), an American “tri-jet” ground attack aircraft. […]

1883 – Birth of Heinrich Kostrba, Austro-Hungarian World War I flying ace; he later becomes the first Austro-Hungarian pilot to score three victories in a single day. He also later founds and leads the Czechoslovakian Flying Corps after the war. 1909 – The first time an airplane is seen to fly in reverse takes place […]