FEB09

1861 - Birth of Rudolf Max Wilhelm Hans Bartsch von Sigsfeld, German airship designer and pilot.

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Bartsch_von_Sigsfeld

1875 - Birth of Modesto Panetti, Italian Aeronautical Engineer and politician.

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

1881 - Birth of Charles Alfred Lutz, USMC early aviator and record setter.

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/calutz.htm

1894 - Birth of Helmut Dilthey, German WWI flying ace

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmut_Dilthey - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/dilthey.php

1894 - Birth of Alexandre Paul Leon Madeleine Marty, French WWI flying ace

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandre_Marty - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/france/marty.php

1895 - Birth of Max Valier, Austrian rocketry pioneer.

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

1895 - Birth of Stanley Cockerell, British WWI flying ace and test pilot for Vickers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Cockerell - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/england/cockerell.php

1897 - Birth of Sir Charles Edward Kingsford 'Smithy' Smith, early Australian aviator, WWI pilot and long distance record breaker.

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

1899 - Birth of John Arthur Aldridge, British WWI flying ace who also served with the Air Training Corps in WWII.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Aldridge_(RAF_officer) - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/england/aldridge.php

1904 - Birth of Karel Jan Bossart, Belgian-American pioneering rocket designer and creator of the Atlas ICBM..

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

1907 - Birth of Charles Alfred 'Chief' Anderson, known as 'the father of Black Aviation', 1st African American to earn a transport, or commercial, pilot's license, raid pilot and instructor for the Tuskegee airmen in WWII.

http://www.lwfaah.net/people/anderson.htm - http://www.blackwingsonline.com/tribute.html

1910 - Birth of Dan Vizanti, Romanian WWII fighter ace.

http://www.worldwar2.ro/arr/p061.htm - http://cieldegloire.com/012_vizanti_d.php

1914 - Death of Henry Burnet Post, American pioneer aviator, when the right wing of his hydro-aeroplane Wright Model C "Speed Scout" crumpled in San Diego Bay just after he established an American altitude record of 12,120 feet.

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

1916 - 1st flight of The Sopwith Pup, British single seater biplane fighter aircraft

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

1933 - Jim Mollison lands his de Havilland Puss Moth in Natal, Brazil. He flew from Lympne via Senegal, across South Atlantic, becoming the 1st person to fly solo across the North and South Atlantics.

http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/history-of-aviation-timeline/interactive-aviation-timeline/british-civil-aviation/1933.aspx

1936 - Tommy Rose lands at Wingfield Aerodrome in Cape Town, South Africa, after a record flight from England of 3 days 17 hours 38 minutes

http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/history-of-aviation-timeline/interactive-aviation-timeline/british-civil-aviation/1936.aspx

1937 - 1st flight of The Blackburn B-24 Skua, british carrier-based low-wing, two-seater, single-radial engine aircraft operated by the British Fleet Air Arm which combined the functions of a dive bomber and fighter.

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

1939 - British flyer Alex Henshaw lands his Percival Mew Gull at Gravesend in Kent, England, after a record flight to Cape Town and back in 4 days 10 hours and 20 minutes.

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

1940 - 1st flight of the Dewoitine D.521, Re-engined version prototype of the french low-wing monoplane fighter D.520.

http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=1504

1942 - Death of Masayuki Nakase, Japanese WWII fighter ace, comitting suicide for not being captured after his Mitsubishi A6m-5 Zero was downed near Makassar by ground fire during a straffing mission.

http://www.cieldegloire.com/010_nakase_m.php

1943 - Death of Sahei Yamashita, Japanese WWII fighter ace, killed in action.

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

1945 - Black Friday: Allied Bristol Beaufighter aircraft suffered heavy casualties during an unsuccessful attack on German destroyer Z33 and escorting vessels n Førde Fjord, Norway

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_(1945)

1954 - Birth of Prof. Dr. Ulrich Hans Walter, German physicist/engineer and a former DFVLR astronaut.

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

1955 - 1st flight of the Convair CV-540, American twin engine airliner, conversion and reengined version of the Convair CV-340 and CV-440 aircrafts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convair_CV-240_family#Civil_variants

1959 – The R-7 Semyorka, the 1st intercontinental ballistic missile, becomes operational at Plesetsk, USSR.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R-7_Semyorka

1960 - USAF opens its National Space Surveillance Control Center at Bedford, Massachusetts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Space_Track_(1957%E2%80%931961)

1960 - Birth of Peggy Annette Whitson, American biochemistry researcher, NASA astronaut and NASA's Chief Astronaut.

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

1963 - 1st flight of The Boeing 727, American mid-size, narrow-body, three-engine, T-tailed commercial jet airliner

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_727

1969 - 1st flight of the Boeing 747 'Jumbo' jet, American widebody commercial airliner and cargo transport.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_747

1971 – Apollo 14 returns to Earth after the third manned moon landing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_14

1972 - 1st flight of The Boeing EC-137D , American airborne warning and control system (AWACS) prototype derived from the Boeing 707 which will lead to the final version of the E-3 Sentry.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-3_Sentry

1975 - While en route to a NATO base on Crete, a Luftwaffe C-160D entered a heavy storm, causing it to crash into Mount Koukoules, Greece. All 42 people on board were killed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_accidents_and_incidents_involving_military_aircraft_(1975%E2%80%931979)

1975 - Death of Fritz Wendel, German test pilot for Messerschmitt during WWII.

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

1975 – The Soyuz 17 Soviet spacecraft returns to Earth after setting a Soviet mission-duration record of 29 days on a trip to the Salyut 4 space station.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_17

1977 - Death of Sergey Vladimirovich Ilyushin, Soviet aircraft designer who founded the Ilyushin aircraft design bureau.

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

1978 - Launch of FLTSATCOM 1, American satellite communication system of the U.S. Navy used for UHF radio communications between ships, submarines, airplanes and ground stations of the U.S. Navy.

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

1982 - Japan Airlines Flight 350 Douglas DC-8 crashes in Tokyo, killing 24 of the 174 passengers on board. The probable cause of the accident was cited as a possible breakdown by captain Seiji Katagiri, who had mental problems. Every airline pilot must now undergo mental testing as well as physical testing.

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

1993 - Death of Elwood Richard "Pete" Quesada, USAF General, FAA administrator and also a raid pilot.

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

1993 - Launch of Orbcomm CDS-1 (Concept or Capability Demonstration Satellites), American Civilian communications satellite, and SCD-1 (Satélite de Coleta de Dados), Brazilian civilian communications satellite designed for the collection of meteorological data relayed by data collection platforms spread throughout the Brazilian territory, 1st satellite developed entirely in Brazil

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbcomm_(satellite) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sat%C3%A9lite_de_Coleta_de_Dados

1995 – Space Shuttle astronauts Bernard A. Harris, Jr. and Michael Foale become the 1st African American and 1st Briton, respectively, to perform spacewalks during the Space Shuttle Columbia STS-55 mission.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_A._Harris,_Jr. - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Foale

1996 - Death of Adolf "Dolfo" Joseph Ferdinand Galland, German Luftwaffe General and flying ace who served throughout WWII in Europe

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Galland - http://cieldegloire.com/001_galland_a.php

1997 - 1st flight of the Boeing 737-700 NG (Next Generation), American 3rd generation short- to medium-range, narrow-body jet airliner.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_737_Next_Generation

2004 - Death of Janusz Zurakowski, renowned Polish WWII fighter and test pilot.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janusz_%C5%BBurakowski

2006 - Death of Sir Frederick Alfred Laker, British airline entrepreneur, best known for founding Laker Airways.

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

2006 - Andrew Keech sets 3 world records for autogyros: Speed over a closed circuit of 500 km (311 mi) without payload: 168.29 km/h (104.57 mph), speed over a closed circuit of 1,000 km (621 mi) without payload: 165.07 km/h (102.57 mph), and distance over a closed circuit without landing: 1,019.09 km (633.23 mi).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autogyro#World_records