1904 – Birth of Florence Gunderson Klingensmith, pioneering American aviator; founding member of the Ninety-Nines (a women’s pilot group) and one of the first women to participate in air races with men.
1940 – Sixteen Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm Blackburn Skua dive bombers sink the German light cruiser Königsberg at Bergen, Norway; it is the first time dive bombers sink a major warship.
1948 – The only Silverplate Boeing B-29 Superfortress to be part of the strike package on both atomic missions over Japan, a B-29 named “The Great Artiste,” aborts routine training flight due to an engine problem and crash-lands at Goose Bay, Labrador; structural damage at wing joint is so severe bomber never flies again. It is scrapped a year later.
1981 – McDonnell Douglas delivers the 1,000th DC-9 produced; it was ordered by Swissair.
1982 – First flight of the Beechcraft 1900 (shown above), an American turboprop regional airliner.
1997 – Death of Shui-Tin “Arthur” Chin, Chinese-American pilot and Second Sino-Japanese War fighter ace; he was recognized as the first American ace in World War II.
