On This Day in Aviation History

On This Day in Aviation History

1740 – Birth of Joseph-Michel Montgolfier, who, with brother Jacques-Étienne, invents the Montgolfière-style hot air balloon; the brothers succeeded in launching the first manned ascent.

1925 – In a record that would stand until Feb. 24, 1983, Farman Parker of Anderson, Ind., becomes the world’s youngest pilot to fly solo. Born on Jan. 9, 1912, he flies at the age of 13 years, seven months, 17 days.

1954 – U.S. Air Force test pilot Arthur “Kit” Murray flies the Bell X-1A to 90,443 feet; it is the last Air Force X-1A flight before the aircraft is turned over to a civilian agency.

1974 – Death of Charles A. Lindbergh, American aviator, author, inventor, explorer and social activist.

1975 – First flight of the McDonnell Douglas YC-15 (shown above), an American tactical transport prototype; although it nor a competing product were never ordered into production by the U.S. military, its basic design would be the basis of Boeing’s C-17 Globemaster III.

2004 – Boeing delivers the 500th AH-64D Apache Longbow multirole combat helicopter, originally developed and built by Hughes Helicopters.

Updated: August 26, 2013 — 3:53 PM
Air Age Media ©
WordPress Image Lightbox Plugin