Warbirds Online » Blog Archive » This Week In Military/Aviation History 14- 20 April

Hello Folks,The Museum has acquired a full scale, fiberglass replica of an F6F Hellcat created by Joe Krezeminski for Dave Tallichet. It was to be located by his restaurant which highlights the 56th Fighter Group. It is now located at the 1941 Historical Aircraft Group Museum. It is in unassembled condition. There are some pictures of it on the Website Message Board. It will be awhile before it can be assembled, and right now it is unsure exactly where it will be located. It will most likely be mounted on a pole, as it has no landing gear, and serve as a “Gate Guard.” I will update you as soon as this information becomes available. It was a quick week and i regret I was unable to post last week due to technical difficulties. The 1941 HAG Website Message Board has been busy lately. Lotsa neat stuff. The website itself has been updated concerning the Biplane Rally and Airshow. If you haven’t been there in a while, you should stop by and check it out. There is a sponsor’s subheading on the Airshow’s page. It costs a bunch to become a sponsor, but 1941 HAG really needs some to produce the best airshow possible. If you know of anyone who would be interested in a sponsorship, or you yourself are interested, please contact the Museum or Frank Schaufler using the info on the website. Volunteers are also needed to work the Airshow and that info is there also along with a downloadable volunteer form. It’s promising to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and your help in either of these two areas is what makes it happen. I guess we should get down to some serious history right about now, so, shall we?
Take Care and Be Safe,
Tom K.;)

16 April 1912
American Harriet Quimby, the first American woman to gain a pilot’s certificate, becomes the first woman to cross the English Channel in an aeroplane. She flies from Deal in England to Cap Gris-Nez in France in a Blériot monoplane.

16 April 1913
The Belgian Compagnie des Aviateurs (Aviator’s Company), an independent air force, is formed from the former Balloon Company.

The first Schneider Trophy (Jacques Schneider Air Racing Trophy for Hydro-Aeroplanes) race is held at the Monaco seaplane meeting. Maurice Prevost wins the contest over twenty-eight 10 kilometer circuits in a Deperdussin, flying at 73kph (45mph).

16 April 1915
A United States Navy (USN) AB2 flying-boat piloted by Lieutenant P.N.L. Bellinger is catapult-launched from a barge.

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

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

18 April 1917
In Seattle, USA, William E. Boeing’s Pacific Aero Products Company becomes the Boeing Airplane Company.

14 April 1918
The 94th Aero (Pursuit) squadron becomes the first American unit to engage in combat when Lieutenants Douglas Campbell and Alan Winslow, flying Nieuport 28’s shoot down two German aeroplanes and capture the pilots.

18 April 1919
Compagnie des Messageries Aériennes (CMA) inaugurates a mail and cargo service between Paris and Lille. The service is daily using ex-military Breguet 14’s. Brussels and London are added to the growing network in August.

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

17 April 1920
The Venezuelan Military Air Service formed.

15-21 April 1928
Captain G.H. Wilkins and Lieutenant Carl B. Eielson make the first west-east crossing of the Arctic, flying a Lockheed Vega.

15 April 1931
The world’s first airmail by rocket is flown near Osnabrück in Germany.

15 April 1936
German engineers H.J. Pabst von Ohain and Max Hahn, working for Heinkel, begin development work on a turbojet engine.

19 April 1937
The first letter to encircle the world by commercial air mail is despatched from New York via San Francisco to Hong Kong, Penang, Amsterdam and Brazil and arrives back in New York on 25 May.

15 April 1941
Igor Sikorsky makes an officially recorded flight of 65 minutes 14 seconds during a demonstration of his VS300 at Sratford in Connecticut.

18 April 1942
In a one-way attack on Tokyo, sixteen North American B25 Mitchells led by Lieutenant Colonel J.H. Doolittle are flown off the carrier USS Hornet, some 400 miles off the Japanese mainland. Following the attack, the aircraft are forced land in China.

18 April 1943
Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto is killed when his Mitsubishi G4M ‘Betty’ is shot down over Bougainville. The attack is made by Lockheed P-38 Lightnings of 339th Fighter Squadron flying 885 kilometers (550 miles) from their bases.

15 April 1944
Prior to the Allied Invasion of Northern France, a programme of air attacks on all forms of enemy transport is given priority.

18 April 1945
At the request of the United States, Spain prohibits the landing of all German aircraft on Spanish territory.

19 April 1945
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is formed at Havana in Cuba.

16 April 1949
The peak day of the Berlin Airlift - 1,398 sorties carry 12,940 tons of supplies in a 24 hour period.

15 April 1951
It is announced that production of RB45 Tornado four-engined jet bombers by North American Aviation Inc is to cease.

18 April 1951
An Aerobee research rocket carrying a monkey in a special capsule for a space biology experiment is launched from Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico.

15 April 1955
A Convair CV340, flown by Lufthansa on its Hamburg to London flight, becomes the first German operated civil airliner to land in the United Kingdom after the war.

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

15 April 1956
Cargo-carrying airline, Sadia SA Transportes Aeros, begins scheduled feeder-line services from Sao Paulo.

17 April 1964
Jerrie Mock finishes her 29 day flight in her Cessna 180 Spirit of Columbus. Landing at Columbus, Ohio she becomes the first woman pilot to fly solo round the world.

17 April 1971
A new air freight service is founded - Federal Express guarantees overnight delivery anywhere in the USA.

19 April 1971
The Soviet Salyut Space-Station is launched.

16-27 April 1972
Apollo 16 successfully lands on the Moon and returns to Earth.

20 April 1978
A Korean Airlines Boeing 707 crash lands after being strafed by a Soviet fighter jet. A Japanese and a South Korean are killed in the attack when the airliner strays off course, ending up over Soviet territory.

20 April 1979
The 16th and last Concorde makes it’s first flight.

14-15 April 1986
United States Navy (USN) aircraft, supported by General Dynamics F111F bombers and EF111A electronic warfare aircraft flying from bases in Great Britain, attack targets in Libya. The raid comes as retaliation for terrorist attacks carried out with suspected Libyan support.

15 April 1988
A converted Tupolev Tu154 airliner, renamed the 155, becomes the first aeroplane to fly with liquid hydrogen fuelled engines.

14 April 1994
Two Sikorsky UH60 Blackhawk helicopters are shot down by friendly fire from United States Air Force (USAF) McDonnell Douglas F15 Eagles in the Iraqi ‘no-fly’ zone when they were mistaken for Iraqi ‘Hinds’.

14 April 1999
In Australia a Boeing 737 is badly damaged by hailstones while taxi-ing.

19 April 2000
An Air Philippines Boeing 737-200 crashes on approach to Davao International Airport, killing all 131 passengers and crew.
——————————————————————————————-
That’s it for this week Folks. See ya in seven.

Share this post…

Close Bookmark and Share This Page

Save to Browser Favorites / Bookmarks