On This Day in Aviation History

On This Day in Aviation History

1906 – Robert Albert Charles Esnault-Pelterie makes a towed flight of more than 1,600 feet in a glider he equipped with ailerons.

1925 – Birth of Masajiro “Mike” Kawato, Japanese World War II fighter ace.

1945 – The No. 273 Squadron of the Royal Air Force, equipped with Supermarine Spitfire IXs, is deployed to Tan Son Nhut airfield in French Indo-China.

1962 – First flight of the Aero Spacelines Pregnant Guppy (shown), an American wide-bodied cargo aircraft, developed from the Boeing 377; it is the first of the company’s Guppy line.

1989 – A terrorist bomb explodes UTA Flight 772, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10, in mid-air above the Tùnùrù Desert, Niger, killing 171.

2012 – Death of Jean Dabos, French World War II fighter pilot, test pilot and aircraft designer.

Updated: May 1, 2018 — 2:17 PM
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