Warbirds Online » Blog Archive » This Week In Military/Aviation History 10

Hello Folks, it’s that time again. Have any of you Folks been following the Tanker replacement choice process? It seems the Air Force needs a new tanker to replace the ones in service today. The tankers are one of the many aging aircraft in the inventory. Well, the Air Force tried to keep the companies involved in the loop throughout the entire process. The companies tried to get the Air Force to speed up their decision. Didn’t work. Well, when the choice was finally made in late February, the losing company today (March 11) decided to protest the decision. Since there are billions of dollars and thousands of jobs involved, I suppose this was inevitable. It reminds me of one of our recent presidential elections. “We were close, so you have to give us another chance.” Now, I guess, this is going to tie up the process for a while until everything is sorted out. I guess it’s gonna take a couple of tanking disasters before the pedal is put to the metal again. This is just my take on this. I could be wrong and I hope I am. In the meantime, let’s get down to some serious history, shall we?
Take Care and Be Safe,
Tom K.

10 March 1910
Frenchman Emil Aubrun made the world’s first night flights in a Bleriot monoplane at Villalugano in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

William W. Gibson, of British Columbia, finished work on the engine for the Gibson Twin-plane.

13 March 1910
The first airplane flight in Switzerland was made by Captain Engelhardt in a Wright A biplane from an ice covered lake at St. Moritz.

12 March 1912
The French Service de l’Aeronautique de la Marine was formed.

15 March 1912
The newly established Turkish Army Aviation Section received its first two French-built aircraft.

14 March 1915
Lincoln Beachey died when the wings broke off of his monoplane while he attempted a power dive from 3,000 feet at the Panama-Pacific Exhibition in San Francisco.

12 March 1917
Revolution in Russia took place.

15 March 1917
Tsar Nicholas II of Russia abdicated in favor of Grand Duke Michael.

10 March 1918
The Junkers D1, an all-metal single-seat cantilever monoplane fighter, was flown as a prototype. 41 aircraft were eventually produced.

11 March 1918
The first regular international air mail was organized in Austria by A.R. von Marwil. Mail was carried in a Hansa-Brandenburg C1 from Vienna to Lvov (the Lemberg) and Proskurov via Cracow. A branch service was also run from Proskurov to Odessa. The service expanded on 11 July 1918 by adding Budapest to its destinations, but later collapsed with the defeat of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918.

14 March 1918
American aircraft of the 95th (Pursuit) squadron began patrol flights over the Western Front, defending the River Marne from German reconnaissance aircraft. Observation patrols began on the 19 March with aircraft from the 94th (Pursuit) squadron.

10 March 1919
The Australian Government announced a prize of 10,000 pounds for the first flight from Great Britain to Australia by Australians, which needed to be completed within 720 consecutive hours by the end of the year.

Brigadier General William “Billy” Mitchell became the United States Director of Military Aeronautics.

13 March 1922
Portuguese pilots Captain Gago Coutinho and Captain Sacadura Cabral set off on a transatlantic flight from Lisbon to Brazil flying a Fairey IIIC. They arrived on 16 June in Fairey IIID “Santa Cruz”, their third machine, as the earlier two had been wrecked.

12 March 1925
The first Fokker FVIIa made its maiden flight.

14 March 1927
Pan American World Airways (Pan-Am) was formed.

10 March 1934
After nine fatalities the United States Army Air Corps internal mail services were stopped.

16 March 1935
Germany repudiated the disarmament clauses of the Versailles Treaty and announced a huge re-armament program and re-introduced conscription.

13 March 1937
Italy announced a four-year expansion program for its air force.

14 March 1939
Hitler announced the Czechoslovakia had become a German Protectorate and its occupation began the following day.

12 March 1940
Finland capitulated to its Soviet invaders in the Winter War.

16 March 1942
Japanese aircraft bombed targets at Port Darwin in Australia.

10 March 1943
The 14th USAAF was activated with Major General Claire Chennault in command.

16 March 1943
On the Eastern Front, the first operational trials of an anti-tank version of the Junkers Ju 87G took place. The aircraft was fitted with two 37-mm Flak guns.

16 March 1945
Japanese resistance on Iwo Jima ended, but was a costly victory, with 6,891 Marines killed and another 18,070 injured. It proved a very useful emergency landing ground with 2,251 Boeing B-29s finding refuge there before the war ended.

13 March 1951
Qantas Consolidated Catalina “Frigate Bird II” (VH-45A) began a survey flight from Sydney to Chile via Easter Island and made the airline’s first flight across the South Pacific.

15 March 1951
A Boeing B-47 bomber was successfully refuelled in flight by a Boeing KC-97A piston-engined tanker.

10 March 1953
Two Czechoslovakian MiG-15 jets attacked two USAF Republic F-84 Thunderjets near Bavaria.

13 March 1953
Two MiG-15 jet fighters were shot down during air fighting over North Korea.

11 March 1955
Pakistan International Airlines absorbed the fleet and routes of Orient Airways.

15 March 1955
The USAF announced that aircraft stationed in the Arctic and approaches to the North American Continent would shortly be armed with Falcon air-to-air missiles.

14 March 1956
A new version of the Northrop Scorpion twin-jet all-weather fighter was in production.

The first successful launch of a Crysler Redstone, or Jupiter, was made from Cape Canaveral. This tactical bombardment missile was developed by a team headed by Dr. Werhner von Braun, the designer of Germany’s V-2 rocket.

15 March 1957
A United States Navy ZPG2 airship established a new unrefuelled endurance record of 264 hours 12 minutes.

16 March 1983
After being used to train pilots for 18 years, the Luftwaffe withdrew the Lockheed F-104G and TF-104G from service.

12 March 1993
General Dynamics’ Military Aircraft Division was acquired by Lockheed in a $1.525 billion deal, which included the highly successful F-16 fighter.

16 March 1996
The Dutch aircraft company Fokker was declared bankrupt and ceased aircraft manufacturing after 77 years.

13 March 1998
Hans von Ohain, who pioneered the design of the jet engine in Germany, died.

11 March 2001
The Lockheed Martin X-35A Joint Strike Fighter completed its first flight test schedule, logging 73 flights and 58 hours flying time. the X-35B Short Take-Off Vertical Landing variant of the JSF began testing its Vertical Take-Off and Landing capabilities.

15 March 2001
Two hijackers, identifying themselves as Chechen rebels, seized control of a Vnukovo Airlines Tu-154 with 162 passengers on board as it departed Istanbul Araturk airport. The aircraft landed safely at Medina airport in Saudi Arabia, where the hijack was brought to an end by Saudi Special Forces, who stormed the airplane, killing one of the hijackers, a passenger and a stewardess.

11 March 2005
Jetsgo ceased all operations and declared bankruptcy protection.

China’s first private airline, Okay Airlines had its maiden revenue flight.
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That’s all for this week Folks. See ya in seven.

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