On This Day in Aviation History

On This Day in Aviation History

1908 – Henri Farman makes the 1st cross-country flight in Europe with a power-driven aeroplane Voisin, flying from Châlons to Reims; the flight takes 20 minutes.

1919 – Death of Hans von Freden, German World War I fighter ace.

1939 – The first German aircraft shot down over France and first German aircraft brought down by a single-seat fighter in World War II is a Dornier DO-17; it is brought down by Pilot Officer Mould’s Hawker Hurricane of No. 1 Squadron RAF near  Vassincourt.

1944 – First flight of the Short S.45 Seaford, a British flying boat (shown); derived from the Short Sunderland, it is designed to be a long-ranged maritime patrol bomber for the Royal Air Force Coastal Command.

1946 – Birth of Robert Lee “Hoot” Gibson, U.S. Navy pilot and NASA astronaut.

2012 – The Syrian Air Force carries out scores of airstrikes around Syria, the most widespread bombing in a single day since that country’s civil war began 19 months earlier.

Updated: October 30, 2014 — 12:14 PM
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