Warbirds Online » Blog Archive » This Week In Military/Aviation History 1

Hello Folks, Gee, it’s September already. Unofficial end of the Summer season. Folks startin’ back to school. 3 more months of the candidates takin’ pot shots at each other. Halloween stuff bein’ put out. I’m told that the Hallmark stores already have their Christmas stuff out. I’m not surprised. Last month, some “genius” decided to have a Christmas in July weekend on one of our local radio stations. Christmas carols started Friday and ended Monday. BAH! C’mon, give me a break. Every year as of late, I’m so tired of listnin’ to or watchin’ Christmas commercials and music, I’m GLAD it’s finally over. Oops, forgot about the after-Christmas sales. Boy, next year looks like it’s gonna be interesting, doesn’t it. We’ll either have the first African American President or the first Female Vice-President being sworn in. Very interesting. We’ve come a long way, baby. I wish them both the best of luck this election. You know, come to think of it, after three more months of daily back and forth with these Folks, I’ll probably feel the same way about the election as I do about Christmas, GLAD it’s finally over. Kinda sad, isn’t it? Now, let’s get down to some serious history, shall we?
Have an AB FAB week,
Take Care and Be Safe,
Tom K.

3 September 1908
The United States Army begins flight trials of the Wright brothers’ Wright Model A begin at Fort Myer.

7 September 1909
Eugène Lefebvre crashes his Wright Model A at Port Aviation Juvisy and is killed, becoming the first pilot of a powered aeroplane to die while flying.

2 September 1910
Blanche Scott becomes the first American female pilot to fly solo, at Lake Keuka in Hammondsport, New York State.

6 September 1910
John Moisant wins the Daily Mail £50 prize for a flight from Paris to London.

September 1912
The Australian Army Aviation Corps is formed.

The Royal Hellenic Army establishes an Air Squadron.

3 September 1915
German Zeppelin LZ40 (L10) is destroyed when struck by lightning off Neuwerk Island.

September 1916
The French Spad VII fighter is introduced on the Western Front. Eventually operated by the air forces of eleven nations, the Spad is a major factor in the winning of air superiority for the allies.

2 September 1916
Two aircraft transmit and receive radio signals over a distance of over 2 miles at San Diego in California.

German Schutte-Lanz airship SL11 is destroyed to the north of London by a BE2c flown by Lieutenant W. Leefe-Robinson. Leefe-Robinson wins a Victoria Cross for the feat, while attacking airship crews suffer serious demoralisation.

3 September 1917
The United States’ 1st Aero Squadron arrives in France.

Brigadier-General William L. Kenly is appointed the first Chief of Air Service of the American Expeditionary Force.

5 September 1918
The Royal Canadian Naval Air Service is founded.

1 September 1919
French aircraft manufacturers Forges et Ateliers de Construction Latécoère begin a regular airline service to Casablanca. The airline becomes known as Lignes Aériennes Latécoère.

4 September 1922
Lieutenant James H. Doolittle flies his de Havilland DH4A from Pablo Beach in Florida to Rockwell Field in California in 21 hours 19 minutes. This is the first American coast-to-coast flight to be completed in under one day.

4 September 1923
United States Navy (USN) rigid helium filled airship ZR1 ‘Shenandoah’ makes its first flight at Lakehurst in New Jersey.

3 September 1925
United States Navy (USN) airship Shenandoah breaks in two while flying over Caldwell in Ohio. The weather was squally at the time and fourteen men were killed in the wreck.

1-28 September 1927
South African, Lieutenant R.R. Bentley flies a de Havilland DH60X Moth from London to Cape Town.

7 September 1927
The Cessna Aircraft Company is established by Clyde V. Cessna.

3 September 1932
Major J.H. Doolittle wins the American National Air Race in Cleveland, flying a Granville Gee Bee racer at a new world record speed of 476kph (296mph).

7 September 1932
United States Navy Lieutenant T. Settle and W. Bushnell establish a new world distance record for balloons while taking part in the International Balloon Race at Basle in Switzerland. They land at Vilna in Poland, 1,550 kilometers away (963 miles).

1 September 1934
American Colonel Roscoe Turner sets a new United States coast-to-coast record of 10 hours 2 minutes.

1 September 1939
Germany invades Poland. Although Hitler states, “I will not war against women and children. I have ordered my air force to restrict itself to attacks on military objectives.” Early bombing attacks are made on Polish cities, including Warsaw.

2 September 1939
Eire declares its neutrality.

3 September 1939
European air services are temporarily suspended.

2 September 1940
The United States transfers fifty First World War destroyers to the United Kingdom in exchange for air and naval bases at eight strategic points.

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