On This Day in Aviation History

On This Day in Aviation History

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 Douglas YC-15 (shown), a four-engine short take-off and landing (STOL) tactical transport. It is McDonnell Douglas’ entrant into the U.S. Air Force’s Advanced Medium STOL Transport (AMST) competition to replace the Lockheed C-130 Hercules.

1979 – Death of Philip Gerald Cochran, American World War II pilot who developed many tactical air combat, air transport, and air assault techniques.

2008 – A Sun Air 737-200 carrying 109 passengers and crew is hijacked after takeoff of a flight from Nyala, Sudan, to Cairo, and demand to be flown to France. The plane ends up landing in Libya, where the passengers would be released the next day later and the hijackers would surrender two days later.

Updated: August 26, 2015 — 12:07 AM
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