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1910 – The world’s youngest flyer, 15-year-old Frenchman Marcel Hanriot, gets his pilot’s brevet, no. 15. 1945 – First flight of the North American F-82 Twin Mustang (prototype shown), the last American piston-engine fighter; it is based on the P-51 Mustang. 1946 – The U.S. Navy’s new Flight Demonstration Squadron, the Blue Angels, gives its first public performance […]

1920 – Birth of Ivan Mykytovych Kozhedub (shown), Ukrainian World War II fighter ace who also served during Korean War. 1934 – First flight of the Ryan ST, an American two-seat, low-wing monoplane. 1944 – Off Normandy, a German Heinkel He 177 badly damages the USS Meredith, a U. S. Navy destroyer; it breaks in half and sinks the […]

1891 – Birth of René Paul Louis Dousinelle, French World War I flying ace. 1933 – Frank Hawks flies his Northrop Gamma 2A “Sky Chief” from Los Angeles to New York in a record 13 hours, 26 minutes, and 15 seconds. 1950 – Death of Didier Masson, pioneering French aviator, barnstormer, second flier in history […]

1890 – Birth of William Stanley Jenkins, Canadian World War I flying ace. 1929 – A Junkers W 33 (modified and sometimes referred to as a W 34) establishes a world altitude record; piloted Willy Neuenhofen takes the German-built, singled-engine transport to 41,800 feet. 1942 – First flight of the Northrop P-61 Black Widow, the first operational […]