On This Day in Aviation History

On This Day in Aviation History

1900 – Birth of Wilmer Lower Stultz, American military aviator and test pilot; he made the first non-stop flight between New York City and Havana, Cuba.

1937 – First flight of the Junkers Ju 89, a German heavy bomber prototype.

1940 – A trio of Vickers Wellingtons of No.115 Squadron and two Bristol Blenheims of No.254 Squadron attack Stavanger-Sola airfield in the first Royal Air Force attack on Norway. It also is the first of 16 attacks on the airfield over the following days.

1957 – North American Aviation is issued a preliminary contract to build prototypes of the XF-108 Rapier (artist concept shown) long-range interceptor aircraft for the U.S. Air Force.

1974 – Death of Georgiy Nikanorovich Zhidov, Soviet World War II fighter ace.

2011 – NATO announces Operation Unified Protector airstrikes have destroyed 49 Libyan government tanks since April 9, including 25 on April 10, and 11 on April 11.

Updated: April 21, 2016 — 4:38 AM
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