Warbirds Online » Blog Archive » This Week In Military/Aviation History: 29 October

Hello Folks, well, here we are again. Hope your Holloween went well. Here in Rochester we have some local elections coming up soon. Have you noticed that when the ads first come out on TV they’re kinda nice and benign. Vote for So and So, the right person for the job. Almost nice to watch, however, the closer it gets to election day they become more and more intense, and by election day that person that was the right person is now someone evil who will take your votes and destroy the office he/she is running for. Ah well, at least we do have the choice of voting. This is something we take for granted. I have actually become so disgusted by the tricks and traps that have gone on that I almost didn’t vote. Almost. I do however cherish my freedom of choice and all the other freedoms our troops have fought to preserve for so long. Rather than launch into a long discourse of things we’ve all heard before, let’s get down to some serious history, shall we?

November 1909
The first flight of the Etrich Taube monoplane. This bird-like Austrian-designed aircraft was produced in a number of versions and many became early military aircraft in Austria and Germany.

1 November 1911
2nd Lieutenant Giulio Gavotti of the Italian Air Flotilla became the first aviator to drop bombs from an airplane in war when he dropped Cipelli grenades on Turkish forces at Taguira Oasis and Ain Zara.

November 1913
The world’s first aerial combat took place in Mexico when 2 American mercenary pilots, Dean Ivan Lamb, flying for Pancho Villa, and Philip Rader, flying for President Huerta, exchanged pistol shots in mid-air. Neither was hit.

Lincoln Beachey demonstrated loop and upside-down flying in a Curtiss biplane at Los Angeles.

4 November 1913
French engineer Constantin patented a vented wing. The blade placed before the leading edge of the wing improved airflow.

31 October 1914
Russia declared war on Turkey.

November 1916-February 1918
The German cruiser “Wolf” carried a Fredrichshafen 33e floatplane named “Wolfschen” (Wolf Cub) on operations in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

November 1916
German Leutnants Falk and Schultheis, flying a Rumpler biplane, dropped bombs on the Cairo railway station in support of Turkish forces.

3 November 1916
Victor Carlstrom completed the first flight from Chicago to New York in a Curtiss R. biplane. Carrying airmail, the flight lasted 8 hours 28 minutes and en route Carlstrom set United States records for non-stop distance (452 miles) and speed (134 mph) flying.

29 October 1918
The Czechoslovak Army Air Force was formed.

30 October 1918
The Allies and Turkey agreed to an Armistice.

November 1918
The Canadian Air Force was formed.

1 November 1919
The United States airline West Indies Airways began services between Key West, Florida and Havana. It later merged with Aeromarine Airways to form Aeromarine West Indies Airways.

1 November 1920
Aeromarine West Indies Airways became the first foreign organization to be granted a contract by the United States Post Office for the carriage of airmail.

4 November 1923
A USN Curtiss R2C1 established a new world speed record of 267 mph.

4 November 1936
The first operational flight of the Polikarpov I-15 occurred in Spain, and was flown by Soviet pilots.

4 November 1939
The United States lifted an arms export embargo, allowing the Cash and Carry delivery of weapons. As the Royal Navy has blockaded German ports, only the Allies can benefit from this policy.

30 October 1941
A Consolidated B-24 Liberator, with Major Alva L. Harvey at the controls, completed a round-the-world flight, carrying personnel of the Harriman Mission.

30 October 1943
In order to evaluate the capability of the helicopter, the United States Navy acquired a single example of the Sikorsky YR4B from the USAAF.

31 October 1943
The United States Navy achieved the first aerial victory with the use of airborne interception (AI) radar, when an AI equipped Vought F4U2 Corsair destroyed a Japanese aircraft over New Guinea.

2 November 1943
The newly formed 15th Air Force took on its first mission when twelve heavy bombers attacked aircraft factories at Weiner Neustadt in Austria.

1 November 1944
A USAAF F-13 reconnaissance variant of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress became the first American aircraft to fly over Tokyo since the Doolittle raid of 1942.

3 November 1944
The Japanese “Fu-Go” (balloon bomb) offensive against the USA began.

1 November 1946
The United States Navy non-rigid airship XM1 completed a flight of 170 hours 3 minutes establishing a world record for flight un-sustained by any form of refuelling.

3 November 1948
Royal New Zealand Air Force crews joined the Berlin Airlift operation.

2 November 1952
An F3D Skyknight destroyed a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 – the first time a jet fighter intercepted at night successfully.

29 October 1953
A world record of 754 mph over a 15 kilometer course was set by Lieutenant Colonel F.K. Everest flying a North American F-100 Super Sabre fighter.

1 November 1954
The last Boeing B-29 Superfortress was withdrawn from service.

2 November 1954
The Convair XFY1 accomplished its first transitions from vertical to horizontal flight and vice-versa.

1 November 1955
A United Airlines DC-6MB exploded over Colorado killing all 44 passengers. The explosion was caused by a bomb.

The first guided missile cruiser, the USS Boston, was commissioned.

Jordan announced its intention to re-equip its forces with heavy modern weapons and form an efficient air force.

31 October 1956
British and French forces began an offensive against Egyptian air bases and other military targets.

The first ten DC-7C airliners ordered by BOAC arrived at London Airport.

3 November 1957
Sputnik 2 was launched carrying the dog Laika.

31 October 1959
Flying a Mikoyan Ye-66 Colonel G. Mosolov established a new world speed record of 1,665 mph.

4 November 1960
The USAF disclosed that it had used the Boeing C-97 as an airborne tactical command post and communications center.

31 October 1968
In an effort to help peace talks, President Johnson ordered a cessation of all air and naval bombardment of North Vietnam.

3 November 1969
The USAF issued Requests for Proposals for a bomber aircraft, under the designation B-1.

29 October 1972
A Lufthansa Boeing 727 flying from Beirut to Ankara was hijacked by a terrorist demanding the release of three Palestinians held for murdering Israeli atheletes at the Munich Olympic Games.

4 November 1981
NASA aborted the second flight of the Space Shuttle Columbia, 31 seconds before the launch due to a computer mis-match.

29 October 1982
Air France terminated its Concorde service to Washington, but maintained flights to New York.

4 November 1982
Pan-Am inaugurated a service from Los Angelees to Sydney. Using Boeing 747SPs to cover the 7,487 miles, it was thought to have been the world’s longest non-stop commercial service.

November 1988
Antonov displayed the An-225 Mriya aircraft. Powered by six Lotarev D18T turbofans and weighing 600 tonnes, the aircraft was nearly half as heavy again as the previous world’s heaviest aircraft.

31 October 1990
Deregulation of Australian airlines allowed operators to choose their own routes and set passenger fares.

1 November 1991
United Airlines inaugurated “Connoisseur Class” on its long-distance flights. The luxury extras provided for passengers included gourmet food, vintage wines, piped CD music and more comfortable seats.

31 October 1992
The Italian Navy bought thirteen Hawker Siddeley/British Aerospace AV-8B Harrier II Plus aircraft for use on the helicopter carrier Garibaldi.

November 2000
Coinciding with its 80th anniversary, Quantas announced a order for twelve Airbus A3XX aircraft and six Airbus A330-200 airliners. This meant Airbus had 44 of the 50 aircraft orders needed before it could commit to production. Quantas was trditionally one of Boeing’s most loyal customers.
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That’s it for this week Folks. See ya in seven.

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