On This Day in Aviation History

On This Day in Aviation History

1895 – Birth of Georg Wulf, German aviation pioneer, test pilot and aircraft designer. He was a co-founder of the Focke-Wulf aircraft company.

1924 – During its first aerial circumnavigation of the world, the westbound U.S. Army Air Service flight of Douglas World Cruisers arrive in northern Japan, completing the first crossing of the Pacific Ocean by airplane.

1943 – Boeing B-17F Flying Fortress “Memphis Belle” (shown above) of the U.S. Army Air Force makes her 25th bombing mission. The aircraft and entire crew then returned to the U.S. to sell war bonds. The aircraft is undergoing extensive restoration at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio.

1986 – An Iraqi Air Force Dassault Mirage F1 jet hits the U.S. Navy guided-missile frigate USS Stark (FFG-31) with two Exocet antiship cruise missiles, badly damaging her and killing 37 and wounding 21 of her crew.

1997 – First flight of the McDonnell Douglas X-36, a remote-controlled, tailless fighter technology demonstrator.

2003 – Death of Gerhard Schöpfel, German World War II flying ace.

Updated: May 17, 2013 — 1:18 PM
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