1883 – Birth of Otto Splitgerber, German World War I flying ace. 1939 – The Messerschmitt Me 209 sets a new world speed record of 469 mph. 1952 – The prototype English Electric Canberra B5 makes the first double transatlantic crossing by a jet, with a total time of just over 10 hours. 1975 – First flight of the McDonnell […]

1912 – Royal Navy aviator Wilfred Parke becomes the first pilot ever to recover from a spin when he regains control of his Avro Type G biplane 50 feet from the ground at Larkhill, England. 1916 – Birth of Saburo Sakai, Japanese naval aviator and World War II fighter ace. 1929 – First flight of […]

1924 – Birth of Walter P. Jones, American U.S. Air Force pilot and test pilot for National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics’ High-Speed Flight Research Station (predecessor of NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif.) 1948 – Two separate accidents kill 13 U.S. airmen; nine are killed aboard an Army Douglas C-117A Skytrooper near Newton, N.J., after a […]

1908 – The first circle and turn performed by a monoplane is carried out by the Antoinette II (originally the Gastambide-Mengin II). 1928 – First flight of the SPAD S-92, French single-seat biplane trainer. 1932 – Birth of George William Samuel Abbey, U.S. Air Force pilot and  director of the Johnson Space Center; he becomes […]

1938 – Birth of Jean-Loup Jacques Marie Chrétien, French engineer, French air force pilot, test pilot and CNES astronaut; he became the first Frenchman and the first western European in space. 1939 – The last rigid airship, the Graf Zeppelin (LZ 130), makes its final flight. 1944 – Aircraft of a U. S. Navy antisubmarine hunter-killer group score their final […]