Warbirds Online » Blog Archive » This Week In Military Aviation History: 16-22 April

Hello Folks, time again for our little get-together. Hope your week went well. The Historical Aircraft Group Museum\’s fleet has grown by one. We now have a a 1945 Beech Staggerwing D17S s/n 6704 NC 582. The aircraft fleet page on our website has been updated to show this beauty. Stop by to take a look, either on-line or in person. She arrived last Thursday about 1700 hours. By airshow time our C-47 will be sporting the correct squadron designation she wore in WWII. Things are happening in Geneseo and HAG. Stay Tuned. Now, let\’s see what happened this week in history.
Be Safe,
Tom K.

16 April 1913
The Belgian Compagnie de Aviateurs (Aviation Company), an independent air force, was formed from the former Balloon Company.

16 April 1915
A United States Navy AB2 flying boat piloted by Lieutenant P.N.L. Bellinger was catapault-launched from a barge.

19 April 1915
After making a forced landing behind enemy lines Lieutenant Roland Garros was captured by the Germans and the details of the machine-gun deflector arrangement were studied by his captors.

20 April 1916
Escadrille Americaine, a squadron in the French Air Force composed of American volunteers, was formed and the unit was later renamed Lafayette Escadrille on 6 December.

21 April 1918
Baron Manfred von Richthofen, the \”Red Baron\”, was shot down and killed. Manfred von Richthofen was the most successful fighter pilot of the First World War and at the time of his death, he had shot down 80 Allied aircraft in air combat.
Although Captain Roy Brown of No. 209 Squadron was credited with the destruction of von Richthofen\’s Fokker Triplane, it has also been suggested that the Red Baron actually fell victim to ground fire while being pursued by Captain Brown.

19 April 1919
The first recorded free fall parachute jump took place at McCook field in Dayton, Ohio. Leslie Leroy Irvin jumped from an airplane before deploying his parachute.

17 April 1920
The Venezuelan Military Air Service was formed.

21 April 1933
The first flight of the new United States Navy dirigible (steerable airship) USS Macon was made.

20 April 1941
London received another heavy pounding by the Luftwaffe.

17 April 1942
The RAF made a daylight raid against Augsburg in Southern Germany with 14 Lancaster bombers. The raid was pressed home with great gallentry, with squadron leader J.D. Nettleton being awarded the VC. However, 7 aircraft were lost, which convinced Air Marshal Harris that daylight raids by heavy bombers were too costly.

18 April 1942
In a one-way attack on Tokyo, sixteen North American B-25B Mitchells led by Lieutenant Colonel J.H. Doolittle were flown off the carrier USS HORNET, some 400 miles off the Japanese mainland. Following the attack, the aircraft were force landed in China.

22 April 1942
Assam, Burma, China Ferry Command was established to air ferry supplies into China over the Himalayas (The Hump).

22 April 1944
Bomber Command used a \”J\” bomb (30 lb. liquid incendiary) for the first time in a raid on Brunswick.

18 April 1945
At the request of the United States, Spain prohibited the landing of all German aircraft on Spanish territory.
20 April 1945
The British Home Secretary said that 60, 585 British civilians had died and 86,175 had been seriously injured in air attacks since the outbreak of the war.

16 April 1949
The Berlin Airlift delivered a record 12,940 tons in a 24 hour period.
18 April 1951
An Aerobee research rocket carrying a monkey in a special capsule for a space biology experiment was launched from Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico.

20 April 1955
McDonnell XV1 experimental convertiplane made its first transition from vertical to horizontal flight.

21 April 1961
Major Robert White of the United States Air Force, piloted a North American X-15A during a full throttle flight to a speed of 3,074 m.p.h.

20 April 1978
A Korean Airlines Boeing 707 crash landed after being strafed by a Soviet fighter jet. A Japanese and South Korean were killed in the attack when the airliner strayed off course, ending up over Soviet territory.
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That\’s it for this one Folks, see ya in seven.

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