On This Day in Aviation History

On This Day in Aviation History

1918 – Flying a Nieuport 28 fighter, the top-scoring American ace of World War I, Eddie Rickenbacker, scores his first victory by shooting down a German Pfalz D.III fighter near Baussant, France.

1945 – The Royal Air Force begins Operation Manna; an “airdrop” of 11,000 tons of food into the still-unliberated western part of the Netherlands, with the acquiescence of the occupying German forces, to help feed civilians in danger of starvation in the Dutch famine.

1953 – Birth of Nikolai Mikhailovich Budarin, Russian cosmonaut.

1961 – First flight of the Potez 840 (shown), a French 4-engined, 18-passenger executive aircraft; it is the last model to use the Potez name.

1964 – The Vickers VC10,  a long-range British airliner, is introduced to regular passenger service between London and Lagos.

2006 – Death of Alvin Swauger White, American test pilot, engineer, and astronaut; he also was the chief test pilot for the North American XB-70 Valkyrie.

 

Updated: April 29, 2015 — 1:37 AM
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