Hello Folks, how nice to see you again. You know, I really appreciate your stopping by to read my little post. I hope you find it interesting. I know I’m learning as I go along, both the events and researching timelines on the net. I started out with five calendars, with only one that had something for each day. Then the editors of Warbirds Online asked me if I would do this post. They started me off with a good database and I managed to build from there. As I go along, I’m hoping to come across other sites will will help me expand the information even further.
Be Safe,
Tom K.

March 1911
Captain Chambers of the United States Bureau of Navigation was ordered to assist in the formation of a United States Navy (USN) aviation branch.

3 March 1911
Philip O. Parmelee, with Lieutenant B. Foulois as passenger, received radio messages and dropped written messages to army units during a flight near the Mexico/Texas border.
The first aviation appropriation of $125,000 was authorized for the Army.

1 March 1912
The first parachute jump made from an aeroplane, a Benoist biplane, was made over Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis USA, by Captain Albert Berry.

March 1913
China ordered its first military aircraft, 12 Caudrons, from France.

3 March 1915
The United States National Advisory Committee was established by Congress to investigate the problems of flight and the solutions to them. This organization was a forerunner to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

4 March 1915
$300,000 funding was passed by Congress for the development of army aviation in 1916.

March 1918
The Aviation Arm of the 1st Polish Corps was formed from the 1st Polish Aviation Unit.
Ilmailuvoimat, the Finnish Air Arm, was formed.

3 March 1918
The American Expeditionary Force (AEF) began airship operations with the French Astra-Torres AT1 non-rigid dirigible (steerable airship).

27 February 1920
An official world altitude record of 33,113 feet was set at McCook Field.

3 March 1931
The Star Spangled Banner was made the U.S. national anthem.

1 March 1935
The War Department activated an air combat command called General Headquarters Air Force at Langley Field, Va. This action centralized nationwide control over all Army Air Corps combat units under a single air officer, Frank M. Andrews.

26 February 1940
The United States War Department formed the United States Air Defense Command to integrate defenses against possible air attack.

2 March 1941
The RAF launched a heavy raid against Cologne.

3 March 1942
RAF Bomber Command, under its new C-in-C, Air Vice Marshal Harris, attacked the Renault plant in the Paris suburb of Billancourt. Of the 235 RAF planes that took off, only 1 failed to return. The new navigation device GEE wasn’t used, although the target was marked with flares for the first time and serious damage done to production facilities, and many French workers were killed. However, this successful raid was a much needed morale boost for the bomber crews. On this same night, the Lancaster bomber made its operational debut, laying mines in the French port of Brest.

29 February 1944
5th Air Force aircraft supported the landings in the Admiralty Islands.

28 February 1945
The first manned flight of the Bachem Ba 349 Natter killed the pilot Oberlutnant Lothar Siebert. Three subsequent manned launches were successful and the aircraft was approved for operational use, although it did not see service.

1 March 1946
General Carl Spaatz was designated Commander, Army Air Forces.

28 February 1947
An F-82B set a record flying non-stop from Hawaii to New York in 14 hours and 33 minutes.

26 February - 2 March 1949
The first non-stop round the world flight was made by the USAF B-50 “Lucky Lady II”, piloted by Captain James Gallagher. The aircraft was refuelled in flight four times during its 94 hour and 1 minute flight and covered a distance of 23,452 miles.

1 March 1951
The Air Force established it northernmost operational base, Thule Air Base, Greenland, 690 miles north of the Arctic Circle.

1 March 1954
A ban on production of military aircraft in Japan was lifted. An agreement between Lockheed Aircraft Corporation and Kawasaki Aircraft company gave Kawasaki the right to manufacture Lockheed F-94C Starfire jets and T-33A jets.
United States first hydrogen bombs were exploded in the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean.

26 February 1955
George F. Smith  became the first man in the world to survive an ejection from a North American F-100 Super Sabre travelling at supersonic speed (Mach 1.05) after his controls jammed.

1 March 1955
A second Air Force Early Warning and Control Wing became operational, flying Lockheed RC-121s.

2 March 1955
The Boeing Aircraft Company received its first major production cantract for the KC-135 Stratotanker.

29 February 1964
President Johnson revealed the existence of the Lockheed A-11 high altitude high speed reconnaissance aircraft.

2 March 1965
Operation Rolling Thunder began over North Vietnam.

28 February 1968
The last of 284 C-141 Starlifter cargo aircraft purchased by the U.S. Air Force was delivered to Tinker AFB, Oklahoma.

27 February 1971
The U.S. Air Force launched Operation Haylift in response to urgent pleas from farmer in blizzard-swept Kansas and dropped 35,000 bales (nearly a million pounds) of hay for 275,000 cattle stranded in the deep snow.

2 March 1971
A change in policy meant that female United States Air Force officers could take 12 months leave from the service if they became pregnant.

27 February 1979
Production of the A-4 Skyhawk ended after 26 years, with the delivery of the 2,960th and final aircraft to the United States Marine Corps.

28 February 1991
Operation Desert Storm ended at 0800 hours with a coalition-declared cease-fire. Overall, during the entire Gulf air war, the F-117A Stealth fighter-bombers had flown only 2 percent of the combat sorties, but attacked 40 percent of the Iraqi strategic targets.

29 February 1992
Operation Provide Hope II began. Like Provide Hope I, it transported American food and medical supplies to the former USSR. The Air Force flew in supplies, while the U.S. navy and the U.S. Army transported more cargo by sea and land.

28 February 1993
The 435th Airlift Wing began the first Provide Promise airdrop missions over parts of eastern Bosnia, a haven for refugees who had fled their villages in the face of advancing  Serb sources.

28 February 1994
United States Air Force General Dynamics F-16 fighters shot down four Serbian Soko G4 Super Galeb strike aircraft engaged in bombing operations against Croation townships within the United Nations “No-Fly” zone.

1 March 1996
The last F-4 Phantom aircraft in the active duty Air Force went into storage at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona. The F-4 had served the Air Force for more than 30 years.

28 February 1998
The unmanned Ryan RQ-4A Global Hawk flew for the first time. This aircraft was intended to replace the USAF Lockheed U2 in the high-altitude, long-range reconnaissance role.
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That’s it for this week, Folks. See ya in seven.

Posted by Tom Kwiatkowski - 1941 Historic Aircraft Group

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