Today in Military Aviation History (Now includes first flights)

Moderator Location : UK Spotter Watch Member : No

August 10

1947 - a new world airspeed record of 640 mph (1,031 km/h) is set in the Douglas Skystreak.

Moderator Location : UK Spotter Watch Member : No

August 11

1993 - 11-14 - two B-1 Lancers complete a round-the-world trip in 47 hours.

1986 - a modified Westland Lynx sets a new helicopter world speed record of 249 mph (401 km/h)

1972 - NATO signs a development contract for the MRCA (Multi-Role Combat Aircraft) programme, which will eventually result in the Panavia Tornado

1967 - F-105 Thunderchiefs of the 355th Tactical Fighter Wing USAF cut the Paul Doumer bridge, using 100 tons of bombs.

First Flight Boulton Paul Defiant - 1937

Moderator Location : UK Spotter Watch Member : No

August 12

1915 - Flt Cdr Charles Edmonds becomes the first pilot to attack a ship with an air-launched torpedo. He is flying a Short Type 184 from HMS Ben-my-Chree. His target is a Turkish supply ship.

Moderator Location : UK Spotter Watch Member : No

August 13

1968 - Swedish Count Gustav von Rosen defies Nigerian air defences to fly in supplies to the Biafran rebels

1943 - the USAAF makes its first bombing raid on Austria

1914 - A Royal Aircraft Factory BE.2 becomes the first British aircraft to arrive in France for the war.

Moderator Location : UK Spotter Watch Member : No

August 14

1979 - Steve Hinton sets a new piston-engined airspeed record in a specially-modified P-51 Mustang named the Red Baron. He reaches 499 mph (803 km/h) over Nevada.

1974 - Multi Role Combat Aircraft first flight. Later to become the Panavia Tornado.

Moderator Location : UK Spotter Watch Member : No

August 15

1972 - the final USAF mission over Cambodia is flown

1951 - William Bridgeman sets a new altitude record in the Douglas Skyrocket of 74,494 ft (22,706 m)

1945 - seven Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft make the last kamikaze attack of the war.

1944 - the first air-to-air victory by a jet is scored by Feldwebel Helmut Lennartz, shooting down a B-17 Flying Fortress in a Messerschmitt Me 262

1940 - the heaviest fighting of the Battle of Britain occurs, with the loss of 46 British and 76 German aircraft.

1939 – 13 Stukas dive into the ground during a disastrous air-practice at Neuhammer. No survivors.

1940 – An Italian submarine torpedoes and sinks the Greek cruiser Elli at Tinos harbour during peacetime, marking the most serious Italian provocation prior to the outbreak of the Greco-Italian War in October.

1942 – World War II: Operation Pedestal – The SS Ohio reaches the island of Malta barely afloat carrying vital fuel supplies for the island's defenses.

1944 – World War II: Operation Dragoon – Allied forces land in southern France.

1945 – World War II: Victory over Japan Day – Japan surrenders.

1945 – World War II: Korean Liberation Day.

Moderator Location : UK Spotter Watch Member : No

August 16

1969 - Darryl Greenamayer sets a new piston-engine airspeed record in a heavily modified F8F Bearcat named Conquest I. His record speed of 478 mph (769 km/h) topples a record that had stood for 30 years.

1960 - Captain (later Colonel) Joseph Kittinger (USAF) sets a world record for highest parachute jump (102,200 ft or 31,150m) and longest parachute freefall (84,700 ft or 25,815 m) while testing high altitude parachute escape systems in Project Excelsior.

1944 - the Messerschmitt Me 163 rocket-powered interceptor is used against enemy bombers for the first time.

First Flight 1952 - Bristol Brittania.

First Flight 1948 - Northrop F-89 Scorpion.

Moderator Location : UK Spotter Watch Member : No

August 17

1943 - 59 USAAF bombers are lost in raids on Regensburg and Schweinfurt.

1943 - first operational use of the radio-controlled Henschel Hs 293 anti-ship missile

1943 - 17-18 - RAF bombers attack the German missile research station at Peenemünde.

Moderator Location : UK Spotter Watch Member : No

August 18

1960 - a C-119 Flying Boxcar recovers a data capsule from the Discoverer 14 satellite in mid-air.

1967 - First Flight - Scottish Aviation (HP) Jetstream.

Moderator Location : UK Spotter Watch Member : No

August 19

1993 - USAF aircraft are attacked by Surface-to-air missiles over northern Iraq. The launch site is destroyed in retaliation

1981 - two United States Navy F-14 Tomcats shoot down two Sukhoi Su-22s of the Libyan Air Force over the Gulf of Sidra.

1945 - two Mitsubishi G4Ms carry Japan's surrender delegation to Ie Shima

1915 - Lt Oswald Boelcke shoots down his first aircraft flying a Fokker E.I fitted with interrupter gear.

1940 - First Flight - B-25 Mitchell

Moderator Location : UK Spotter Watch Member : No

August 20

1915 - The first sustained aerial bombing offensive is made by Italian Caproni Ca.2s against Austria-Hungary.

First Flights

1963 - BAC 111
1969 - FMA Pucara
1970 - Mig27 "Flogger"

Moderator Location : UK Spotter Watch Member : No

August 21

1957 - The USAF formally cancels the XF-103 Mach 3 interceptor program

First Flights

1944 - Grumman F8F Bearcat
1967 - Antonov An-30 "Clank"
1974 - HS (BAe) Hawk

Moderator Location : UK Spotter Watch Member : No

August 22

1989 - Alexander Yakovlev dies, aged 84

1970 - Two Sikorsky HH-53C helicopters complete a non-stop transpacific flight of 9,000 miles (14,484 km) using in-flight refuelling.

Moderator Location : UK Spotter Watch Member : No

August 23

1993 - the Russian Air Force flies open skies missions over Luftwaffe bases

1964 - Greek Air Force F-4 Phantoms are recalled while en route to attack Turkish military positions

1954 - Lockheed engineering test pilots Stanley Beltz and Roy Wimmer pilot the C-130 Hercules on its first flight from the production plant in Burbank, California to Edwards Air Force Base.

First Flight

1954 - C-130 Hercules

1990 - Boeing VC-25 introduced to service.

Moderator Location : UK Spotter Watch Member : No

August 24

1949 – The treaty creating NATO goes into effect.

1968 – France explodes its first hydrogen bomb, thus becoming the world's fifth nuclear power.

Moderator Location : UK Spotter Watch Member : No

August 25

1947 - the Douglas Skystreak is flown to an airspeed record of 650 mph (1,047 km/h).

1940 - 25-26 - Britain makes its first air raid on Berlin of the war

1914 - The first German aircraft of the war is forced down.

1942 – World War II: second day of the Battle of the Eastern Solomons. A Japanese naval transport convoy headed towards Guadalcanal is turned-back by an Allied air attack, losing one destroyer and one transport sunk, and one light cruiser heavily damaged.

Moderator Location : UK Spotter Watch Member : No

August 26

1986 - the CFM56 turbofan is flight tested for the first time.

1939 - the Messerschmitt Me 209 sets a new world speed record of 755 km/h (469 mph).

First Flights

1969 - Fairchild Swearingen C-26 Metroliner
1975 - McDonnell Douglas YC-15

Moderator Location : UK Spotter Watch Member : No

August 27

1950 - P-51 Mustangs of No. 2 Squadron SAAF are sent to Korea as part of South Africa's contribution to the war.

1939 - first flight made entirely on turbojet power made by Erich Warsitz in the Heinkel He 178

First Flight - 1990 - Northrop YF-23

Moderator Location : UK Spotter Watch Member : No

August 28

1988 – Ramstein airshow disaster: three aircraft of the Frecce Tricolori demonstration team collide and the wreckage falls into the crowd. 75 are killed and 346 seriously injured.

1972 - Cpt Richard Richie becomes the first US Air Force ace of the Vietnam War.

1957 - a rocket-boosted English Electric Canberra sets a new world altitude record of 70,308 ft (21,430 m)

1952 - a F6F Hellcat is loaded with explosives and flown as a remote-controlled drone against a railway bridge at Hungnam

Moderator Location : UK Spotter Watch Member : No

August 29

1955 - an English Electric Canberra sets a new altitude record of 65,876 ft (20,079 m)

1995 – NATO launches Operation Deliberate Force against Bosnian Serb forces.

2007 – A United States Air Force nuclear weapons incident takes place at Minot Air Force Base and Barksdale Air Force Base.

First Flight

1964 - Piaggio PD.808

Moderator Location : UK Spotter Watch Member : No

August 30

1995 - Operation Deliberate Force is launched by NATO against Bosnian Serb forces. Two hundred sorties are flown during the first 24 hours, including the first combat missions flown by the Luftwaffe since World War II. Raids continued until September 14.

1994 - Lockheed and Martin Marietta announce their intention to merge. They will form Lockheed-Martin the following year.

1987 - Israel's government cancels the IAI Lavi programme

1914 - Paris is bombed by a German aircraft for the first time - an Etrich Taube flown by Lt Ferdinand von Hiddessen.

First Flights

1952 - Avro Vulcan
1969 - Tupolev TU-22 "M" "Backfire"
1982 - Northrop F-20 Tigershark (originally F-5G)

Moderator Location : UK Spotter Watch Member : No

August 31

1977 - A Soviet Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 sets the current world altitude record for airbreathing aircraft of 123,524 ft. (37,650 m).

1940 - Polish 303 Squadron, the most efficient allied unit of the Battle of Britain, enters action.

1915 - the first French ace Adolphe Pegoud is killed in combat. He scored 6 victories.

First Flights

1947 - Antonov An-2 "Colt"
1956 - KC-135 Stratotanker
1958 - North American A-5 Vigilante

Moderator Location : UK Spotter Watch Member : No

September 1

1983 - a Korean Air Boeing 747 (Korean Air flight 007) is downed by Soviet Air Force Sukhoi Su-15s. According to investigations, the Korean Air plane had strayed off course and into Russian airspace near Sakhalin Island, and Soviet pilots claimed the plane had ignored warnings before being shot down. All 269 on board died.

1953 - a B-47 Stratojet is refueled by a KB-47 in the first jet-to-jet aerial refueling

1939 - Germany invades Poland. The Luftwaffe plays a key tactical bombing role in neutralising Polish defences.

First Flight

1941 - Messerschmitt Me-163

Moderator Location : UK Spotter Watch Member : No

September 2

1925 - The U.S. zeppelin the USS Shenandoah crashes, killing 14.

1958 – United States Air Force C-130A-II is shot down by fighters over Yerevan, Armenia when it strays into Soviet airspace while conducting a sigint mission. All crew members are killed.

First Flights

1937 - Grumman F4F Wildcat
1942 - Hawker Tempest
1947 - Hawker P1040 (Seahawk prototype)
1949 - DH Venom

Moderator Location : UK Spotter Watch Member : No

September 3

1955 - J. S. Fairfield makes the first ejection from an aircraft on the ground, escaping from a Gloster Meteor traveling at 120 mph (193 km/h) along a runway

1939 - Paratroops are used for the first time, with German units dropped into Silesia, behind Polish lines.

1939 - Armstrong Whitworth Whitleys are used to drop propaganda leaflets into German cities.

1925 - USS Shenandoah breaks up in a storm and crashes, killing thirteen.

1917 - The US 1st Aero Squadron arrives in France

First Flight

1981 - BAe 146.