Warbirds Online » Blog Archive » This Week In Military/Aviation History 11

Well another week gone and would you believe I forgot to do this post Sunday since I decided to move it. Yep, mind like a sieve. Terminal CRS (Can’t Remember Sh–Stuff) Oh well. Another thing I never learn is “Don’t buy any more flight simulators.” I have enough…I have more than enough…OK, I have too many. I went out and got X-Plane 9. I should have known when I tried to download the demo and it blew up and didn’t install there would be issues. No, I had to get it anyway. After all the stuff I went through to get Microsoft Flight Simulator 10 (FSX) to work on my system, I had to go and try to add something even more involved on that same system. It works, kinda. You see, first of all the documentation sucks. You have two sources. The pamphlet that comes with the DVDs, yes that’s right, DVDs. Six of them. One disc containing the program and the scenery for the US and five discs for the scenery of the rest of the world and, I think Mars. The other source is the manual furnished on the disc which is more extensive than the pamphlet. This is one honkin’ involved program. You can design and build your own aircraft, livery, and scenery. You can customize the keyboard commands and your joystick buttons and it accepts any style of controls you choose to use. I, of course, am totally lost. I like the plug and play stuff. I always, whenever I can, buy the strategy guide and read that first before the instructions so I have an idea what I’m getting into. I have my favorite parts of each sim which I do over and over again. I have never really tried going from the beginning to the end of a campaign. I barely get out of the training part. Too many things. One sim (Falcon 4.0 and its successor Falcon 4.0 Allied Force) has 32 training missions before you get your wings. And it’s not like you can only do it once, you have to do it many times before you get it right. Oh, and should you not fly it for a while, refresher training is in order, just like the real world. Carrier Qualifications are the same as real life. I’m 60 years old. I don’t have time for all this training, let alone all the missions. On top of everything I’m heavy-handed on the stick. I’ll still keep pluggin’ though. Hope your week went well. Now, let’s get down to some serious history, shall we?
Take Care and Be Safe,
Tom K.;)

11 August 1906
Mrs C.J. Miller becomes the first American woman passenger in a dirigible (steerable airship).

17 August 1910
Franco American John B. Mosiant’s mechanic becomes the first passenger to fly across the English Channel, in a Blériot monoplane.

15 August 1912
In an effort to encourage the development of fighter aircraft, the Michelin brothers give a prize of 50,000 francs to Frenchmen Gaubet and Scott for dropping bombs on a target.

12 August 1914
Oberleutnant Reinhold Jahnow of the German Air Service becomes the first German airman to lose his life on active service when he is killed at Malmédy in Belgium.

Sergeant Bridou becomes the first French aviator to be killed on active service when he dies in an accident while returning to base from a reconnaissance mission.

14 August 1914
Frenchmen Lieutenant Cesari and Corporal Prudhommeau attack the Zeppelin sheds at Metz-Frescaty.

15 August 1914
The first recorded air battle has been censored so its location is unknown. A Reuters dispatch recorded “In another place a French aeroplane yesterday encountered a German aeroplane. The French pilot chased the German, firing with a Browning. The German aviator did not reply, but fled”.

17 August 1916
The Wright Martin Aircraft Corporation is formed in the USA after a merger of the Wright and Glenn Martin companies.

12 August 1917
The last large-scale, daylight bombing raid on England by German Gothas leaves 78 casualties.

13 August 1917
The United States 1st Aero Squadron, commanded by Major Ralph Royce, sails for France.

17 August 1917
In France, an airmail service is instituted between Paris, Le Mans and St Nazaire.

11 August 1918
Eighteen Brandenburg W29 floatplane fighters attack six British patrol craft near Borkum, sinking three and damaging three more. The remaining three boats escape to Holland, where they are interned.

12 August 1918
The United States Post Office takes over airmail services from the Army.

13 August 1921
The ‘Royal’ prefix granted to Australian Air Force.

17 August 1933
The Soviet Union tests its first semi-liquid fuelled rocket, the GIRD-IX.

15 August 1935
Will Rogers and Wiley Post are killed in a take-off crash near Point Barrow in Alaska.

14 August 1936
Frenchman G. Detre, flying a Potez 50, establishes a new world altitude record of 14,843 meters (48,698 feet).

17 August 1942
The United States Army Air Force (USAAF) makes its first European heavy bomber raid of the Second World War. Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses of the 97th Bombardment Group attack Rouen-Scotteville marshalling yards in occupied France.

13 August 1943
Northwest African Air Force aircraft attack Wiener Neustadt. This is the first attack on Austria by United States Army Air Force (USAAF) forces based in the Mediterranean.

17 August 1943
During daylight attacks on Regensburg and Schweinfurt the 8th United States Army Air Force (USAAF) loses 59 heavy bombers.

14-15 August 1944
Mediterranean Air Forces, with 2,000 aircraft based in Corsica, begin the invasion of southern France This is the start of over 4,000 operational sorties and the transport of more than 9,000 airborne troops. 400 gliders (sailplanes) are used in the landings.

16 August 1944
Messerschmitt Me163 rocket interceptor fighters are used operationally for the first time, to make attacks on Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses of the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) .

14 August 1945
754 Boeing B-29s and 169 fighters are sent on the last wartime mission of the 20th United States Army Air Force (USAAF).

14-15 August 1945
The unconditional surrender of Japan is announced.

15 August 1945
Seven Japanese suicide aircraft make the last Kamikaze attack of the war.

Andrei G. Kochetkov, Head of NII-VVS Fighter Testsection, becomes the first Soviet pilot to fly a jet powered aircraft, a captured Messerschmitt Me262A, at Shcholkovo near Moscow.

17 August 1946
Sergeant L. Lambert of the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) becomes the first person in the United States to make a manned test of an ejection seat. A Northrop P-61 Black Widow flying at 483kph (300mph) at 2,375 meters (7,800 feet) is used as the test aircraft.

14 August 1947
Following the partition of India, the Royal Pakistan Air Force is established. It drops Royal from its title on 23 March 1956.

17 August 1951
A world record of 635mph, over a 100 kilometer closed course, is achieved by Colonel Fred J. Ascani in a North American F-86E Sabre jet fighter during the National Air Races at Wayne Major Airport in Detroit.

12 August 1960
Major Robert White of the United States Air Force (USAF), pilots the North American X-15 research aircraft to an altitude of 41,600 meters (136,500 feet)

The United States launches a communications satellite named Echo I.

16 August 1960
Captain Joseph W. Kittinger Jr. the United States Air Force (USAF), jumps from a balloon at 31,150 meters (102,200 feet) making a free fall of 25,815 meters (84,700 feet).

16 August 1969
United States test pilot Darryl Greenamyer, flying a modified Grumman F8F2 Bearcat sets a new world speed record for piston engined aircraft of 769kph (477mph).

12- 17 August 1978
A balloon duration record of 137 hours 5 minutes 50 seconds, a record distance of 5,001 kilometers (3,107 miles) and the first transatlantic crossing by a gas balloon is recorded by Double Eagle II, crewed by Ben L. Abruzzo, Maxie L. Anderson and Larry M. Newman.

14 August 1979
Steve Hinton sets a new speed record for piston engined airplanes when he flies his North American P-51D Mustang ‘Red Baron’, modified with a new engine, at 499mph, which is nearly 22mph faster than the previous record.

14 August 1985
The Sultanate of Oman Air Force signs a contract for eight Panavia Tornado aircraft and weapons worth £250 million.

17 August 1986
Boeing completes the construction of its 5,000th jet airliner, a Model 737-300 for KLM.

17 August 1988
President Zia of Pakistan is killed when the Pakistan Air Force Lockheed C-130 Hercules in which he is traveling crashes soon after take-off from Bakawalpur.

16 August 1995
An Air France/British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) Concorde sets a new speed record for a round-the-world flight. The Concorde returns to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York after a journey lasting 31 hours 27 minutes, staging through Toulouse, Dubai, Bangkok, Guam, Honolulu and Acapulco.

15 August 1996
Rockwell International Space & Defense operations are acquired by Boeing.

16 August 1998
Steve Fossett’s attempt at the first non-stop, round-the world balloon flight fails but he sets a new absolute distance record of 22,923 kilometers (14,239 miles) on his flight from Argentina to the Coral Sea.

13 August 2002
Midway Airlines files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

11 August 2003
The Spirit of Butts Farm becomes the first flight across the Atlantic by a computer-controlled model aircraft.

Skip Holm, flying the modified P-51D ‘Dago Red’, sets a new closed-course piston-engine speed record of 507 mph at the Reno Air Races.

14 August 2005
Helios Airways Flight 522 crashes into a mountain north of Marathon and Varnavas, Greece, killing all 121 passengers and crew.

16 August 2005
West Caribbean Airways Flight 708, a charter flight, crashes into the mountains of Venezuela with no survivors.
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That’s it for this week Folks. See ya in seven.

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