Today in Military Aviation History (Now includes first flights)

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September 4

1950 - Cpt Robert Wayne becomes the first pilot to be rescued from behind enemy lines by a helicopter

1939 - first British bombs of the war dropped on German targets, with a Bristol Blenheim attacking the German fleet.

First Flight

1949 - Avro 707

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September 5

1948 - a US Navy Martin JRM Mars sets a new cargo record of 62,262 lb (28,242 kg)

1923 - US Army bombers carry out anti-shipping exercises, sinking the obsolete battleships USS Virginia and USS New Jersey.

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September 6

1976 - Viktor Belenko of the Soviet Union defects to the West, landing his MiG-25 FoxBat in Japan.

1952 - the de Havilland Sea Vixen prototype disintegrates at the Farnborough Air Show, killing 28 spectators as well as its pilot

1948 - a de Havilland DH.108 breaks the sound barrier, the first British aircraft to do so.

1929 - Schneider Trophy race flown at Calshot Spit, UK. Won by Flt. Off. Henry Waghorn in a Supermarine S.6 at 528.9 km/h (328.7 mph).

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September 7

1956 - the Bell X-2 research aircraft is flown by Captain Iven C. Kincheloe to a new altitude record of 126,200 ft (38,466 m).

1940 - Hermann Göring orders the Luftwaffe to stop targeting British airfields and attack London itself instead.

1940 - 7-8 - the largest mass air combat in history takes place over Britain, with 1,200 British and German aircraft operating in an area of only 24 x 48 km (15 x 30 miles)

1933 - 7-8 - six US Navy Consolidated P2Y flying boats make a non-stop formation flight from Norfolk, Virginia to the Panama Canal, covering 2,059 miles (3,314 km) in 25 hours 20 minutes.

First Flights

1942 - Consolidated B-32 Dominator
1955 - Sukhoi Su-7 "Fitter"
1959 - Tupolev Tu-22 "Blinder"
1965 - Bell AH-1 Hueycobra

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September 8

1912 - The Argentine Air Force is formed as a flying school at El Palomar, the military airport near Buenos Aires.

First Flights

1939 - Vultee P.66 Vanguard
1968 - Sepecat Jaguar

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September 9

1943 - Italian battleship Roma is sunk by two Fritz X radio controlled glide bombs

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September 10

1960 - NORAD carries out Operation Sky Shield, testing US and Canadian radar systems.

First Flight

1956 - North American F-107

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September 11

1965 - the US 1st Cavalry Division arrives in Vietnam with 400 helicopters

1943 - French fighter ace Pierre Le Gloan (18 victories) died in a crash

1917 - French ace Capitaine Georges Guynemer goes missing in action. Kurt Wisserman of Jasta 3 is credited with shooting him down, but his body is never found.

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September 12

1961 - the Hawker P.1127 makes its first transitions from vertical to horizontal flight and back

1943 - Benito Mussolini is freed in a daring rescue by Walter Gerlach in a Fieseler Storch

1918 - 627 French and 611 US fighters are brought together for the Battle of Saint-Mihiel. At the time, it is the largest force of aircraft assembled for a single operation.

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September 13

1931 - the United Kingdom wins the Schneider Trophy outright. Lt. John Boothman completes the course at Calshot Spit in a Supermarine S.6B at 547.297 km/h (340.1 mph).

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September 14

1976 - A F-14 Tomcat rolls off the deck of USS John F. Kennedy and sinks in international waters. A major salvage operation is launched to retrieve the fighter lest it fall into Soviet hands.

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September 15

1987 - a Eurocopter Panther sets new time-to-altitude records for helicopters in its class

1950 - Task Force 7, centred on five US Navy carriers and one of the Royal Navy, supports the USMC assault on Green Beach, paving the way for the Inchon Landing

1943 - 15-16 - first use of the "Tall Boy" 12,000 lb (5,455 kg) bomb by RAF Lancasters.

1940 - Germany makes its heaviest daylight raid on London

1916 - French submarine Foucault is sunk by two Austrian flying boats, becoming the first submarine to be sunk by an aircraft.

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September 16

Nothing of military note known.

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September 17

1993 - the F/A-18 Hornet logs its 2 millionth flying hour - achieved in only ten years of operations.

1916 - Rittmeister Manfred von Richthofen scores his first kill, from a Albatros D.II

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September 18

1947 - the United States Air Force becomes its own fully independent military command.

And with thanks to JG-71

2007

First USAF F-16C (#84-1260) arrives at AMARC for storage under designation AAFG0556.

1995
First flight of a 522nd Fighter Squadron F-16 while converting from the F-111F which were retired to AMARC.

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September 19

1902 - The Wright Brothers begin testing their third glider at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

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September 20

1945, an experimental Gloster Meteor with Rolls-Royce Trent engines makes the first turboprop-powered flight.

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September 21

1953 - North Korean pilot No Kum-Sok defects, bringing his MiG-15 with him to Seoul and collecting a $US 100,000 reward.

1951 - the US Marine Corps makes the world's first mass combat deployment by helicopter. 228 Marines are landed in 12 Sikorsky HRSs.

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Further updates will happen once Goose's PC trouble and holiday are over.