On This Day in Aviation History

On This Day in Aviation History

1904 – Birth of Florence Gunderson Klingensmith, American aviator of the golden age of air racing, founding member of the Ninety-Nines (a women’s pilot group) and one of the first women to participate in air races with men.

1922 – Elizabeth “Bessie” Coleman (shown) makes her first appearance in an American airshow at Curtiss Field on Long Island near New York City honoring veterans of the all-black 369th Infantry Regiment of World War I.

1925 – First flight of the SPCA ‘Météore’ 63, a French flying boat biplane; the airliner is the first product of the SPCA.

1989 – Varig Flight 254, a Boeing 737, crashes in Brazil killing 53 passengers; 41 survive.

1996 – Americans Ron Bower and John Williams break the round-the-world helicopter record with a Bell 430, flying westwards from the UK with a time of 17 days, six hours and 14 minutes.

2001 – Death of Frank “Pongo” Billinge, British World War I flying ace.

Updated: September 3, 2015 — 2:39 AM
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