On This Day in Aviation History

On This Day in Aviation History

1887 – Birth of Agustin Paral, Cuban aviation pioneer and the first Cuban pilot.

1933 – A Boeing 247 belonging to United Airlines is destroyed by a bomb over Chesterton, Ind., in the first proven case of air sabotage on a commercial aircraft; all seven on board are killed.

1949 – Death of Chikuhei Nakajima, Japanese naval officer, enginee, politician and aircraft designer; he was most notable for having founded Nakajima Aircraft Co.

1955 – The second McDonnell XV-1 (shown above), a American experimental compound helicopter, became the first rotorcraft to exceed 200 mph.

1985 – U.S. Navy fighter jets intercept an Egyptian plane carrying the Achille Lauro cruise ship hijackers; the Grumman F-14 Tomcats force it to land at a NATO base in Italy where the hijackers are arrested.

2011 – Flying a modified Yakovlev Yak-3U, powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-2000 engine, William Whiteside sets an official international speed record for piston-engined aircraft in the under 3,000-kg. (6,615-pound) category, reaching 407 mph over a 1.863-mile course at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah; he beats the previous record by more than 100 mph set nine years earlier.

Updated: October 10, 2013 — 10:30 AM
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