OCT10

1911 - Aéroplanes Morane-Saulnier, French aircraft manufacturing company is formed.

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_et_L%C3%A9on_Morane

1912 - Flying a Curtiss-pusher, Horace Kearney made a successful airmail flight from Springfield to Williamsville during the State Fair Grounds Aviation Meet.

http://www.aerodacious.com/PIO1912.HTM

1914 - Birth of Naoyuki Ito, 2nd Sino-Japanese War and WWII japanese flying ace and instructor.

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

1915 - The sole Grigorovich M-2, Russian twin seat side by side single-engine pusher flying boat prototype, is destroyed in a crash.

http://www.aviastar.org/air/russia/grigorovich_m-2.php

1915 - 1st flight of the Zeppelin LZ 56 (Tactical number Lz 86), German WWI dirigible.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Zeppelins#Zeppelins_constructed_during_World_War_I

1918 - Death of Wilbert Wallace "Wilbur" White, Jr., American WWI flying ace, His guns jammed, he rammed his SPAD XIII into a Fokker D.VII which was about to shoot a rookie pilot.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilbert_White - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/usa/white6.php

1919 – 3rd day of the transcontinental contest: an east-bound DH-4B, piloted by Maj. Albert Sneed, almost out of gas, makes fast landing at Buffalo, New York. Passenger Sgt. Worth C. McClure undoes his seatbelt and slides onto the rear fuselage to weight down the tail for a quicker stop. Plane bounces on landing, smashes nose-first into the ground, and McClure is thrown off and killed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_accidents_and_incidents_involving_military_aircraft_before_1925#1919

1920 - Birth of Gail Halvorsen, USAF pilot known as the original Candy Bomber or the "Rosinenbomber" in Germany ("Onkel Wackelflügel" or "Uncle Wiggly Wings"). Flying C-47s and C-54s during the Berlin airlift, he dropped candy attached to parachutes to children below to help raise the morale of the children during the time of uncertainty and privation.

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

1923 - USS Shenandoah (ZR-1) is christened, 1st of 4 US navy rigid airship, based on Zeppelin bomber L-49 (LZ-96).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Shenandoah_(ZR-1)

1923 - Birth of James "Jabby" Jabara, American WWII and Korean War fighter ace, 1st American jet ace in history

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Jabara - http://cieldegloire.com/014_jabara_j.php

1926 - French Jean Mermoz takes off from Toulouse, France to Saint Louis du Sénégal with a Laté 26 (Mail-carrying monoplane) for an attempt to cross later the South atlantic.

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Mermoz#Le_d.C3.A9sert

1927 - Death of Gustave Albin Whitehead, born Gustav Albin Weisskopf, aviation pioneer who immigrated from Germany to the U.S., where he designed and built early flying machines and engines to power them. He claimed to have made controlled, powered airplane flights more than two years before the Wright Brothers.

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

1927 - Dieudonne Costes and Joseph le Brix takes off from Paris in a Bréguet 19GR 'Nungesser-Coli' for a round-the-world 57,000 km trip.

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

1928 - St. Clair Streett and Albert William Stevens achieved an unofficial altitude record for aircraft carrying more than one person in a Engineering Division TP-1 (XCO-5): 37,854 feet (11,538 m); less than 1,000 feet (300 m) short of the official single-person altitude record

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engineering_Division_TP-1

1930 - 1st flight of the Short S.15 K.F.1, British large all-metal biplane flying boat prototype, with three Buzzard engines mounted between the wings in streamlined nacelles with promiminent radiators above the engines, development of the Short S.8/8 Rangoon. It will be licenced built in Japan as the Kawanishi H3K, also known as Navy Type 90-2 Flying Boat.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kawanishi_H3K

1930 - Erroll Boyd becomes the 1st canadian to cross the Atlantic when , with Harry P. Conner, landed his Wright-Bellanca WB-2 monoplane 'Columbia' rechristened 'Maple Leaf' at London's Croydon Airport after a 36 hours, 10 minutes flight from for a transatlantic flight from Harbour Grace, Newfoundland.

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

1930 - The D'AT3, Italian early helicopter, wins an international prize for flying a straight distance of 1078,60m.

http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corradino_D%27Ascanio#Il_D.27AT3

1933 - United Airlines Boeing 247D is destroyed by sabotage near Chesterton, Indiana, 1st such proven case in the history of commercial aviation.

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

1936 - 1st flight of The Handley Page H.P.54 Harrow , British twin-engine, high-wing monoplane with a fixed undercarriage heavy bomber

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handley_Page_H.P.54_Harrow

1939 - 1st flight of the SNCAC NC-130, French pressurised twin-engined high-altitude research aircraft prototype.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SNCAC_NC.130 - http://aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=9647

1940 - St Paul's Cathedral in London is struck by bombs during a night Blitz.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Paul%27s_Cathedral#Post-Wren_history

1940 - Death of John Fraser Drummond, British WWII fighter ace. Drummond and Pilot Officer Bill Williams both attempted beam attacks from either flank of a Dornier Do-17. They missed and continued turning towards each other, and their Spitfires collided.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Fraser_Drummond - http://cieldegloire.com/002_raf_drummond_j_f.php

1944 - Death of Harry R. Bolster, American WWII fighter pilot with the AVG (American Voluteer Group in China) and USAF test pilot, Killed in the crash of the 1st fighter prototype General Motors/Fisher P-75 Eagle when propellers apparently ran out of oil. Bolster attempted a dead-stick landing but crashed short on approach.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_aircraft_accidents_at_Eglin_Air_Force_Base#1940s - http://www.cnac.org/bolster01.htm

1946 - Birth of Franco Egidio Malerba, Italian spationaut, 1st citizen of Italy to travel to space.

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

1947 - 1st flight of the Arsenal O-101, French research aircraft low-wing monoplane of conventional configuration with fixed tailwheel undercarriage, but incorporated several novel features for its role as an airborne testbed for evaluating airfoil sections and control surface designs. It was designed to accommodate a pilot and an observer in tandem cockpits.

http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=720 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arsenal_O.101

1949 - Death of Chikuhei Nakajima, Japanese naval officer, enginee, politician and aircraft designer, who is most notable for having founded Nakajima Aircraft Company

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

1949 - Woody Jongeward and Bob Woodhouse land their Aeronca 15AC Sedan 'City of Yuma', setting a new endurance record around Yuma of 1,124 hours in the air.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeronca_Sedan#Record_flights

1950 - The Royal Ceylon Air Force is formed.

http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/history-of-aviation-timeline/interactive-aviation-timeline/world-aviation/1950.aspx

1950 - 1st flight of The Boulton Paul P.111 (also called Boulton Paul BP.111), British experimental aircraft designed to explore the characteristics of tailless deltas.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boulton_Paul_P.111

1953 - Flight Lieutenant Roland (Monty) Burton with a RAF English Electric Canberra wins the Christchurch Centenary air race, flying 11,792 miles (18,976 km) from England to New Zealand in 23 hours 50 minutes, becoming the 1st man to fly from London to New Zealand in under 24 hours,

http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/history-of-aviation-timeline/interactive-aviation-timeline/british-military-aviation/1953.aspx

1955 - The 2nd McDonnell XV-1, American experimental compound helicopter, became the 1st rotorcraft to exceed 200 mph (322 km/h)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_XV-1#Operational_history

1956 - 1st flight of the Sud-Ouest SO 4050 Vautour IIN, 2-seat bomber with glazed nose position for bombardier/observer replacing cannon pack, Evolution of the French twin jet bomber, interceptor, and attack aircraft.

http://www.aviastar.org/air/france/so_vautour.php

1958 - Birth of John Mace Grunsfeld, American physicist and NASA astronaut.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_M._Grunsfeld

1958 - Thunderbirds display team support Fairchild C-123B-12-FA Provider flew through a flock of birds and crashed into a hillside six miles east of Payette, Idaho, killing all 19 on board.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairchild_C-123_Provider#Accidents_and_incidents - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Air_Force_Thunderbirds#Other_fatalities

1960 - Launch of Mars 1M No.1 (Marsnik 1, Mars 1960A, Korabl 4), Soviet unmanned spacecraft to explore Mars. But launch failure destroyed it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_1M

1962 - Trans-Canada Air Lines Vickers 757 Viscount ground collided with a RCAF CF-101B Voodoo at Sept-Îles Airport. The Voodoo had been given clearance to take-off before the Viscount had cleared the runway. It collided with the tail of the Viscount, killing a flight attendant and a passenger. The crew of the Voodoo ejected as the aircraft had been set on fire as a result of the collision. The Viscount was substantially damaged but it was repaired and returned to service

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_accidents_and_incidents_involving_the_Vickers_Viscount#1960s - http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19621010-0

1962 - Birth of Rex Joseph Walheim, USAF test pilot and NASA astronaut.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rex_J._Walheim

1966 - Birth of Zhai Zhigang, officer in the People's Liberation Army Air Force and a CNSA astronaut, 1st Chinese citizen to carry out a spacewalk

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

1971 - Death of Ernest Andrew 'Pard' Mustard, Australian WWI flying ace

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Mustard - http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/australi/mustard.php

1976 - 1st flight of The Embraer EMB 121 Xingu, Brazilian twin-turboprop fixed-wing aircraft based on the EMB 110 Bandeirante.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embraer_EMB_121_Xingu

1978 - Death of Ernst Zindel, German Engineer and designer of the Junkers Ju-52.

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

1980 - 1st flight of the Aérospatiale AS-332L 'Super Puma', French transport helicopter evolution of the AS-332 'Super Puma'.

http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=2223

1984 - Death of Darrell Cornell, USAF test pilot, Chef test pilot for Northrop, killed in the crash of his Northrop F-20 Tigershark while performing a demonstration flight for the or the South Korean Air Force (ROKAF). The aircraft stalled after a series of climbing rolls performed with flaps and gear extended. Cornell was not able to recover the aircraft from the uncontrolled stall.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Cornell - http://thetartanterror.blogspot.co.uk/2008/11/darrell-ecornell-19xx-1984.html

1985 – United States Navy F-14 fighter jets intercept an Egyptian plane carrying the Achille Lauro cruise ship hijackers and force it to land at a NATO base in Sigonella, Sicily where they are arrested.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achille_Lauro_hijacking#Aftermath

1990 - STS-41, Space Shuttle Discovery mission, is back on earth

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-41

1990 - 1st flight of The Learjet 60, American mid-size cabin, medium-range business jet aircraft.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learjet_60

1991 - Soyuz TM-12 is back on earth

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_TM-12

1997 - Austral Líneas Aéreas Flight 2553 McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 crashes and explodes near Nuevo Berlin, Uruguay, killing 74.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austral_L%C3%ADneas_A%C3%A9reas_Flight_2553

1998 - Lignes Aériennes Congolaises Boeing 727 is shot down by rebels with a shoulder-fired Strela 2 surface-to-air missile in Kindu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing 41 people.

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

2006 - Atlantic Airways Flight 670 British Aerospace 146-200A slid off the runway and burst into flames while landing at Stord, killing 4 over 16.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_Airways_Flight_670

2007 - Launch of Soyuz TMA-11, Russian spaceflight mission to transport personnel to and from the ISS.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_TMA-11

2007 - EasyFly, Colombian regional low-cost carrier, is formed.

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/EasyFly

2010 - 1st (glide) flight of The Scaled Composites Model 339 SpaceShipTwo (SS2), American private suborbital, air-launched spaceplane for carrying space tourists

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

2011 - Flying a modified Yakovlev Yak-3U (Soviet WWII fighter aircraft) powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-2000 engine, William Whiteside sets an official international speed record for piston-engined aircraft in the under-3,000 kg (6,615-pound) category, reaching 655 km/hr (407 mph) over a 3-km (1.863-mile) course at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah in the United States, greatly exceeding the previous record of 491 km/hr (305 mph) set in 2002 by Jim Wright.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakovlev_Yak-3#Variants

2013 - Death of Malcolm Scott Carpenter, American engineer, test pilot, astronaut, and aquanaut.

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