APRIL02

1788 - Birth of Johanne Wilhelmine Siegmundine Reichard (nee Schmidt) , 1st German female balloonist.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelmine_Reichard

1794 - The world's 1st air force, the Aerostatic Corps of the Artillery Service is formed in France following a demonstration ascent from the gardens of the Chalais-Meudon on the outskirts of Paris in the hydrogen balloon L'Entreprenant, the 1st used for military tests.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Aerostatic_Corps

1841 - Birth of Clément Ader, French inventor and engineer, remembered primarily for his pioneering work in aviation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cl%C3%A9ment_Ader

1864 - Death of Jules-François Dupuis-Delcourt, French Aeronaut, author and Physician.

http://patrimoine51.blog50.com/archive/2006/12/17/jules-francois-dupuis-delcourt-aeronaute-physicien.html

1870 - Birth of Henry de la Vaulx, French balloonist, author, and cofounder of major French and international aeronautical associations.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_de_La_Vaulx

1887 - Birth of John Milton Bryant, early american Aviation Pioneer, one of the 1st American barnstormers, 1st air fatality ever in Canada. He was married to Alys McKey Bryant, who was the 1st woman pilot to fly in Canada,

http://earlyaviators.com/ebryjohn.htm - http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6268353

1890 - Birth of Erich König, German WWI flying ace.

http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/konig.php

1891 - Birth of Armand Jean Galliot Joseph de Turenne, French WWI fighter ace

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armand_de_Turenne - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/france/de_turenne.php

1894 - Birth of Walter Mittelholzer, Swiss aviation pioneer. He was active as a pilot, photographer, travel writer, and also as one of the 1st aviation entrepreneurs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Mittelholzer

1895 - Birth of James William Pearson, American WWI fighter ace, Believed to be the last American surviving ace of WWI.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_William_Pearson - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/usa/pearson1.php

1897 - Birth of Thomas Vicars "Sticky" Hunter, British WWI flying ace

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Hunter_(aviator) - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/england/hunter3.php

1909 - Birth of Andrés García La Calle, Spanish Republican flying ace of the civil war.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9s_Garc%C3%ADa_La_Calle - http://surfcity.kund.dalnet.se/spain_lacalle.htm

1917 - Death of Erich König, German WWI flying ace, killed in action by a F.E.2d.

http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/konig.php

1918 - 1st flight of the Petroczy-Karman-Zurovec PKZ 2 Austro-Hungarian early helicopter using counter-rotating rotors to cancel torque effects..

http://www.aviastar.org/helicopters_eng/petroczy.php

1918 - Birth of Erbo Graf von Kageneck, German fighter pilot and WWII flying ace.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erbo_Graf_von_Kageneck - http://www.luftwaffe.cz/kageneck.html

1918 - Death of Roland Critchley, British WWI flying ace, killed in action in his Bristol F.2b

http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/england/critchley.php

1922 - 1st de Havilland DH.34, single engined British biplane airliner, entered service with Daimler on the Croydon-Paris service.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_DH.34

1930 - Romanian inventor Anastase Dragomir patented his "catapult-able cockpit" at the French Patent Office (patent no. 678566), 1st modern layout for an ejection seat developped in the late 20s'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ejection_seat

1930 - The sole Latécoère 340, French three-engined, parasol winged flying boat prototype for middle-distance, overseas routes, broke up in the air during a demonstration flight, killing test pilot Henry Prévot and his mechanic Alfred Hoff.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lat%C3%A9co%C3%A8re_340

1931 - Jean Mermoz and Antoine Pillard finally land the Bernard 80 GR 'Oiseau Tango', setting a closed circuit record of 8,960 km (5,569 mi) in a time of 52 h 44 min. They landed with fuel still available, brought down by loss of coolant; during the last part of the flight, they pumped Champagne, eau de Vittel and coffee into the radiator.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_80_GR#Operational_history - http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=1608

1936 - 1st flight of The Grumman J2F Duck, American single-engine amphibious biplane, evolution of the JF Duck.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grumman_J2F_Duck

1937 - Swedish airplane manufacturer Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget (SAAB) is established in Trollhättan, Sweden.

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saab

1940 - Death of Hector Eugene Joseph Garaud, French WWI fighter ace, killed while test flying an airplane

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hector_Garaud - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/france/garaud.php

1941 - Death of Livio Bassi, Italian WWII flying ace, from wounds sustained in action.

http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livio_Bass

1946 - 1st flight of the 2nd and last Sud-Est SE.200 'Amphitrite', French flying boat airliner prototype, large six-engine design with a high-set cantilever monoplane wing, and twin tails.

http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=1150 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SNCASE_SE.200

1947 - 1st Flight of the Convair XB-46, American single example of an experimental medium jet bomber.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convair_XB-46

1949 - 1st flight of the Druine 'Aigle' 777, French single seat low wing monoplane tourer prototype for amateur constrction

http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=10184

1949 - 1st flight of The SNCASE S.E.2010 Armagnac, large French 4 engine airliner

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SNCASE_Armagnac

1951 - 1st flight of the SNCASE 'Vampire' Mk 53, French single seat fighter-bomber twin boom prototype, french development of the british De Havilland 'Vampire'.

http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=9812

1954 - Death of Hoyt Sanford Vandenberg, American pilot, High ranking officer in WWII, U.S. Air Force general, second Chief of Staff and second Director of Central Intelligence.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoyt_Vandenberg

1955 - Trans-Canada Airlines introduced the Vickers Viscount airliner into regular service, making it the 1st North American airline to use turbine power aircraft.

http://canadianaviationhistory.pbworks.com/w/page/13801114/On-this-day-in-Canadian-Aviation-History-April

1957 - 1st flight, conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL), of The Short SC.1, 1st British fixed-wing vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_SC.1

1961 - Death of Robert Johnstone Owen, Welsh WWI flying ace who also served in WWII.

http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/wales/owen3.php

1964 - Launch of Zond 1, 2nd Soviet research spacecraft (a Venera 3MV-1) to successfully reach Venus, a spherical landing capsule, containing experiments for chemical analysis of the atmosphere, gamma-ray measurements of surface rocks, a photometer, temperature and pressure gauges, and a motion/rocking sensor in case it landed in water.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zond_1

1965 - 1st flight of The Partenavia P.64 Fachiro III (P.64B/P.66B Oscar), Italian two/four-seat, single-engined, high-wing monoplane.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partenavia_Oscar

1965 - 1st flight of the CEA DR-250 'Capitaine', French 4 seat low wing single engine with a conventional landing gear tourer of wooden construction.

http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=1639

1965 - 1st flight of the CEA DR-315 'Petit Prince', French 4 seat low wing single engine tourer of wooden construction.

http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=1642

1965 - Death of Roy Edward Dodds, American WWI flying ace who served as a pilot instructor with the RCAF during WWII.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Dodds - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/usa/dodds2.php

1980 - Air Zimbabwe begins operations.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Zimbabwe

1985 - 1st flight of the Kaman SH-2G Super Seasprite, US ship-based helicopter with anti-submarine, anti-surface threat capability, including over-the-horizon targeting.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaman_SH-2G_Super_Seasprite

1986 - A bomb planted by a Palestinian Resistants group explodes aboard Trans World Airlines Flight 840, registration N54340, Boeing 727-231, on a flight between Rome and Athens. Four passengers are killed and nine more injured, but the aircraft lands safely.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TWA_Flight_840_(1986)

1987 - A Royal Air Force Vickers VC-10, long-range British airliner, sets a new record time between the UK and Australia, landing in Perth after a flight of 16 hours 1 minute.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Aviation/Historical_anniversaries/April_in_aviation

1989 - Launch of TELE-X, 1st communications satellite serving the Nordic countries.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tele-X

1992 - STS-45, NASA Space Shuttle Atlantis scientific mission is back on earth.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-45

1996 - 1st flight of The Sukhoi Su-37 (NATO reporting name: Flanker-F), Russian experimental multirole jet fighter aircraft. It is a single seat fighter modified from the 1st generation Su-35 prototypes for thrust vector control testing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukhoi_Su-37

1997 - A Boeing 777, powered by twin Rolls-Royce Trent 892 turbofans, returns to Seattle to set a new Eastbound speed around the world record of 553 mph. En route, the twinjet sets a Great Circle distance without landing record of 12,455.34 miles when flying from Seattle to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_777

1998 - Death of Eberhard Friedrich Michael Rees, German-American (by becoming a naturalized citizen of the United States) rocketry pioneer and the second Director of the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eberhard_Rees

2004 - Death of John Hadji Argyris. He was among the creators of the Finite Element Method (FEM) and lately Professor at the University of Stuttgart and Director of the Institute for Statics and Dynamics of Aerospace Structures

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Argyris

2009 - Chemtrad Aviation Britten-Norman BN-2A Islander crashed into the slope of a heavily vegetated area in poor wearth at Baggao, Philippines, killing all 7

http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20090402-0&lang=en

2010 - Launch of Soyuz TMA-18, Russian space mission to the ISS.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_TMA-18

2012 - UTair Flight 120 ATR 72-200 crashed approximately 1.4 nautical miles (2.6 km; 1.6 mi) from Roschino International Airport serving Tyumen, Western Siberia, on a flight to Surgut International Airport, killing 31 of the 43 people on board.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UTair_Flight_120

2012 - Helen Collins, 80, landed a twin-engine Cessna 414 dangerously low on fuel after her husband passed out at the controls. She had some flight training years ago but was not familiar with the controls of the Cessna 414 twin-engine plane

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2012/04/03/us-plane-landing-elderly-woman-wisconsin.html