1923 – Aeronautical pioneer Igor Sikorsky sets up the Sikorsky Aero Engineering Corp. in the U.S. Sikorsky left Russia in 1917 when revolution threatened his work and his life.
1936 – First flight of the Supermarine Spitfire (shown above). The single-seat fighter would play a major role in World War II, with more than 20,300 being built over the following 10 years.
1943 – In the North Atlantic Ocean, the first U. S. Navy antisubmarine hunter-killer group begins combat operations, centered on the escort aircraft carrier USS Bogue (CVE-9) and the aircraft of Composite Squadron 9 (VC-9) embarked aboard her.
1963 – Country music star Patsy Cline and three others are killed in the crash of a Piper Comanche near Camden, Tenn.
1976 – The last flight of the second Concorde prototype aircraft to the U.K. Fleet Air Arm Museum at the Royal Naval Air Station, Yeovilton, England.
2005 – American pilot Steve Fossett completes the first non-stop, solo circumnavigation of the world in the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer, completing the trip in 67 hrs., 2 min.
