MARCH05

1883 - Birth of Radul Milkov Mikhailov, bulgarian WWI pilot and high ranking officer, credited of the 1st drop af an aerial bomb.

http://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A0%D0%B0%D0%B4%D1%83%D0%BB_%D0%9C%D0%B8%D0%BB%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2

1894 - Birth of Adriano Bacula, WWI Italian pilot and Test pilot for Savoia-Marchetti after WWI

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

1896 - Birth of Albert Hets, German WWI flying ace

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

1906 - 1st flight of The Vuia I, built by Rumanian born aviator Trajan Vuia at Montesson in France, 1st aircraft with pneumatic tyres. However, the aircraft was virtually flightless. 5 'flights' were made of which the longest was 24 metres.

http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/history-of-aviation-timeline/interactive-aviation-timeline/world-aviation/1906.aspx

1911 - The Belgian Army Balloon Company is formed as the Compagnie des Ouviers et Aerostiers

http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/history-of-aviation-timeline/interactive-aviation-timeline/world-aviation/1911.aspx

1912 - Italian forces are the 1st to use airships for military purposes, employing them for reconnaissance west of Tripoli behind Turkish lines.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airship#World_War_I

1913 - The 1st Aero Squadron of the United States Army Signal Corps is formed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_Reconnaissance_Squadron#1st_Aero_Squadron_1913.E2.80.931921

1918 - The 2nd Balloon Company took over the line and began operations supporting the U.S. 1st Division, becoming the "1st complete American Air Service unit in history to operate against an enemy on foreign soil".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Army_Air_Service#Operations

1918 - Birth of Glen Edwards, US Air Force test pilot and WWII Pilot.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glen_Edwards_(pilot)

1923 - The great aeronautical pioneer Igor Sikorsky sets up the Sikorsky Aero Engineering Corp. in the United States with the financial help of several important leading figures, including Sergey Rachmaninoff.

http://www.aviastar.org/manufacturers/1921.html

1928 - 1st flight of The Beardmore Inflexible, (also known as the Rohrbach Ro VI), Scottish three-engined all-metal prototype bomber aircraft prototype.

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

1928 - Wilmer Stultz, O.Le Boutilier, and Mabel Boll on a improvised seat made the 1st non-stop flight in the Wright-Bellanca WB-2 'Columbia' between New York, New York and Havana, Cuba.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright-Bellanca_WB-2_Columbia#Operational_history

1929 - LAN Airlines S.A., flag carrier of Chile, is founded by Chilean Air Services Commander Arturo Merino Benitez.

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

1930 - 1st flight of the SPAD S-92-2, French twin seat biplane trainer.

http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=130

1931 - Birth of Geraldyn "Jerrie" M. Cobb, American aviatrix, commercial pilot, pilot and manager for Aero Design and Engineering Company, record setter, part of the "Mercury 13," a group of women who underwent some of the same physiological screening tests as the original Mercury Seven astronauts as part of a private, non-NASA program.

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

1935 - Birth of Philip Kenyon Chapman, 1st Australian-born American astronaut.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_K._Chapman

1936 - 1st flight of the Breguet 470 'Fulgur', French twin-engined monoplane airliner prototype.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breguet_470

1936 - 1st flight of The Supermarine Spitfire, British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries throughout the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used into the 1950s both as a front line fighter and in secondary roles. It was produced in greater numbers than any other British aircraft, and was the only Allied fighter in production throughout the war. At the controls was Captain Joseph "Mutt" Summers, chief test pilot for Vickers (Aviation) Ltd., who was reported in the press as saying "Don't touch anything" on landing.

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

1937 - Imperial Airways opens a new flying boat base at Hythe, Hampshire.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Aviation/Historical_anniversaries/March_in_aviation/March_5

1943 - Death of Mitsugu Sawada, Japanese Sino-Japanese war and WWII flying ace, known as the ‘King of the Force-Landing’, Killed in action in his Nakajima Ki-43. After his landing gear refused to retract, he was Attacked By p-38s and p-40s of which he managed to resist 30 minutes, shooting down 3 of his opponents, before being shot down in flames.

http://surfcity.kund.dalnet.se/japan_sawada.htm - http://www.cieldegloire.com/010_sawada_m.php

1943 - 1st flight of The Gloster Meteor, 1st British jet fighter and the Allies 1st operational jet.

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

1943 - Beginning of the 'Battle of the Ruhr': 5 month long campaign of strategic bombing during WWII against the Nazi Germany Ruhr Area.

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

1944 - Beginning of 'Operation Thursday': RAF and USAF transport aircraft fly in the leading elements of two Long Range Penetration 'Chindit' brigades, under the command of Major General Orde Wingate, to landing zones deep behind the Japanese lines in Burma.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chindits#Operation_Thursday

1945 - Only known deaths in the continental U.S. as the result of enemy action during WWII : A pregnant woman and 5 children were killed when they discovered a Fu-Go balloon bomb that had landed in the forest of Gearhart Mountain in Southern Oregon.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_balloon#Single_lethal_attack

1953 - Birth of Valery Grigoryevich Korzun, Russian cosmonaut.

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

1953 - Franciszek Jarecki, Polish Air Force pilot, lands a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 jet and seeks political asylum on the Danish island of Bornholm.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franciszek_Jarecki - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-15#Operational_history

1957 - 1st flight of the Mignet HM-350, French light twin seat homebuilt aircraft, part of the Flying Flea family.

http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=9985

1958 - 1st flight of The Yakovlev Yak-28, swept wing, turbojet-powered combat aircraft, Based on The Yak-129 prototype.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakovlev_Yak-28

1958 - Launch of Explorer 2, Nasa spacecraft equipped with a Geiger counter for the purposes of detecting cosmic rays which did not reach orbit due to a failure in the rocket during launch.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Explorer_2

1960 - Death of Kenneth Bowman Watson, Canadian WWI flying ace

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Bowman_Watson - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/canada/watson3.php

1962 - A Convair B-58 (serial no. 59-2458) of the 43rd Bombardment Wing breaks 3 records during a round trip between New York and Los Angeles in 4 hours 41 minutes 14.98 seconds. The fastest trans-continental crossing between Los Angeles and New York is accomplished in 2 hours 58.71 seconds at an average speed of 1,214.65 mph. The third record notches the fastest time between New York and Los Angeles.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convair_B-58_Hustler#Aircraft_on_display

1962 - Birth of Robert Lee Curbeam, Jr., American astronaut, and USN Pilot.

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

1966 – BOAC Flight 911 encountered severe clear-air turbulence associated with lee waves, causing a sudden structural failure that initiated an in-flight breakup sequence and crashed on Mount Fuji, Japan, killing 124.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BOAC_Flight_911

1967 - Varig Airlines Flight 837 Douglas DC-8-33 crashed during approach to Runway 04 of Roberts International Airport, Monrovia, Liberia, killing 51 over 90 and 5 on ground.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varig_Airlines_Flight_837

1967 - Lake Central Flight 527 Convair 580 crashed near Marseilles, Ohio, killing all 38 after an engine failed and the propeller hurled through the cabin, severing control cables as well as the structural integrity of the plane itself.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Central_Flight_527

1969 - 1st manned flight of a LM, 1st docking and extraction of a LM, two spacewalks, and the 1st docking of two manned spacecraft on Apollo 9

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_9

1970 - 1st flight of the Fournier RF-7, french single-seat motorglider

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fournier_RF7

1974 - Death of Hugh Fitzgerald Moore, Scottish WWI flying ace

http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/scotland/moore3.php

1978 - Launch of Landsat 3, enterprise for acquisition of imagery of Earth from space.

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

1979 – Soviet probes Venera 11, Venera 12 and the American solar satellite Helios II all are hit by "off the scale" gamma rays leading to the discovery of soft gamma repeaters.

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

1979 – America's Voyager 1 spacecraft has its closest approach to Jupiter, 172,000 miles.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_1

1980 - Death of Fred Parkinson Holliday, Australian WWI fighter ace who also served with Canada in WWII.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Parkinson_Holliday - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/australi/holliday.php

1982 - Venera 14, soviet probe, lands on Venus.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venera_14

1983 - Death of Carlo Francesco "Francis" Lombardi, Italian WWI flying ace, Aircraft and Automobile designer who made post war record breaking flights. He formed the Avia aviation company.

http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Lombardi - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/italy/lombardi.php

1991 - Aeropostal Alas de Venezuela Flight 108 McDonnell Douglas DC-9 crashed on the side of a foggy mountain near La Valesa in the La Aguada sector of the Páramo Los Torres, venezuala, killing all 45.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeropostal_Alas_de_Venezuela_Flight_108

1993 - Controlled from the ground by test pilot N.P.Bezdetnov, the Ka-37 (unmanned helicopter designed for aerial photography, television and radio broadcasting, delivery of medicines, food, mail, and emergency aid in disasters or hard and dangerous environments) made its 1st flight

http://www.aviastar.org/people/kamov/index_5.html

1993 – Palair Macedonian Flight 301 Fokker 100 rashed shortly after take-off from Skopje Airport on its way to Zurich Airport, killing 83 of 97 passengers and crew on board.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fokker_100#Accidents_and_incidents - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palair#Accident_History

1998 - NASA announce that data obtained from Clementine indicated that there is enough water in polar craters of the moon to support a human colony and a rocket fueling station. Doubt has since been cast on this interpretation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clementine_(spacecraft)

1999 - Death of John Leland Atwood, American prominent engineer and executive in the aerospace industry, Chief Engineer/Executive at North American Aviation, He developed the P-51 Mustang during WWII, the F-100 jet fighter, the X-15 rocket plane, and overheaded the Apollo program.

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

1999 - 1st (glide) flight of the NASA X-38 V-132, 2nd prototype for a wingless lifting body reentry vehicle that was to be used as a Crew Return Vehicle for the International Space Station (ISS).

http://www.astronautix.com/thisday/march05.htm

2008 - Aero Ica Cessna U206C Super Skywagon lost power on approach and crashed 150m from Maria Reiche Neuman runway, killing 5. Only the pilot survived.

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accidente_del_OB-1266_de_Aero_Ica

2009 - 1st flight of The Terrafugia Transition, American light sport, roadable aircraft which can be driven up to 65 miles per hour (105 km/h). It has folding wings, pusher propeller and twin tail. . When operated as a car, the engine powers the rear wheel drive. In flight, the engine drives the pusher propeller.

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

2010 - Launch of Yaogan 9A, 9B and 9C, Chinese reconnaissance satellites

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

2011 - 1st launch in space of the Boeing X-37B, (USA-226) American unmanned robotic vertical-takeoff, horizontal-landing spaceplane.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA-226