On This Day in Aviation History

On This Day in Aviation History

1913 – Birth of Anthony W. “Tony” LeVier (shown), American air racer and test pilot for the Lockheed Corp.

1928 – First flight of the Short S.8 Calcutta, a British three-engine flying boat; it is the first airliner with a full kitchen.

1943 – The Vought F4U Corsair fighter makes its operational debut from the Solomon Islands escorting PB4Y-1 Liberators (the U.S. Navy’s version of the B-24) raiding Bougainville.

1973 – Death of Charles Ronald Steele, British World War I flying ace, high-ranking officer in World War II and post-war air officer commanding-in-chief at RAF Coastal Command.

1991 – U. S. Navy A-6E Intruders sink an Iraqi Navy Osa-class missile boat in Kuwait Bay, the last Iraqi naval loss of the Gulf War.

2011 – Two Royal Thai Air Force General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcons collide over north east Thailand; both aircraft are destroyed but the pilots eject safely.

Updated: February 14, 2014 — 10:38 AM
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