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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 – […]

1784 – One of the largest hot-air balloon ever made, called ‘Le Flesselle’ by the Montgolfier brothers, makes an ascent at Lyon, France. The balloon’s capacity is 700,000 cubic feet and it goes up to 3,000 feet. 1899 – Birth of George Ebben Randall, British World War I flying ace. 1947 – First flight of the Fiat G.212, a Italian three-engine airliner. 1995 – Bristow […]

1893 – Birth of Douglas Evan Cameron, British World War I flying ace. 1935 – First flight of the Blohm & Voss Ha 137 (shown), a  German ground-attack aircraft. 1957 – End of Operation Power Flite; a trio of BoeingB-52B Stratofortresses of the U.S. Air Force lands at March Air Force Base near Riverside, Calif., after flying for a total […]