On This Day in Aviation History

On This Day in Aviation History

1910 – Henri Fabre makes the first flights in the world’s first seaplane, which he invented, at Matigues, France.

1931 – Boeing Air Transport, National Air Transport, Varney Airlines and Pacific Air Transport combine as United Air Lines, providing coast-to-coast passenger and mail service in the U.S. It takes 27 hours to fly the route in one direction.

1961 – The Royal Canadian Air Force takes delivery of the first Canadair CF-104 Starfighter (shown above). Capable of flying at over 1,400 miles per hour, it carries nuclear bombs and fulfills Canada’s NATO commitment in Europe as a nuclear strike aircraft.

1970 – A McDonnell Douglas F-4 J Phantom II of U.S. Navy Fighter Squadron 142 (VF-142) shoots down a North Vietnamese Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 fighter. It is the only American air-to-air kill in the Vietnam War between September 1968 and 1971.

1990 – The Boeing 737 becomes the world’s best-selling jetliner when United Airlines accepts delivery of the 1,832nd 737.

2005 – Chicago Express Airlines, also known as ATA Connection, ceases operations.

Updated: March 28, 2013 — 10:34 AM
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