Warbirds Online » Blog Archive » Today In Military/Aviation History 2- 8 March

Hello Folks, well not only did a week shoot by, but also a month. Yep, March is here. That’s okay, that much closer to Spring, warm weather and AIRSHOW SEASON! Can’t wait! I’ll probably only be attending two this year: Geneseo’s “GO NAVY” and the Rochester International Airport shows, but I live through other’s experiences, so when the photos from those other events start showing up an the 1941 HAG Message Board, I’ll pretend I took in those too. That’s all I really need. I’m easy. I sincerely hope that all the Air Shows this year make enough to at least break even what with the economy the way it is. We’ll see. Let’s get down to some serious history, shall we?

Have an AB FAN week,

Tom K.

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5 March 1906
The Vuia I, built by Rumanian born aviator Trajan Vuia, is the first aircraft with pneumatic tires and is first tested at Montesson in France. However, the aircraft was virtually flightless. Five ‘flights’ were made of which the longest was 24 meters.

8 March 1910
Mademoiselle Elise Deroche, better known under her self awarded title ‘la Baronne de Laroche’, becomes the world’s first qualified female pilot and the 36th French pilot, when she is awarded her brevet.

3 March 1911
Philip O. Parmelee, with Lieutenant B. Foulois as passenger, receives radio messages and drops written messages to army units during a flight near the Mexico/Texas border.

5 March 1911
The Belgian Army Balloon Company is formed as the Compagnie des Ouviers et Aerostiers.

5 March 1912
Bob Fowler completes a west to east coast-to-coast crossing of the USA, from Los Angeles to Jacksonville, after 4 months.

5 March 1913
The 1st Aero Squadron of the United States Army is formed.

3 March 1915
The United States National Advisory Committee is established by Congress to investigate the problems of flight and solutions to them. The organization is a forerunner to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

4 March 1915
$300,000 funding is passed by the United States Congress for the development of army aviation in 1916.

5 March 1915
Zeppelin LZ33 (L8) crashes near Ostend after being hit by gunfire over Nieuport during a mission to attack Britain.

7 March 1915
Paris comes under attack from German Zeppelins.

8 March 1917
Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, the father of the rigid airship, dies of pneumonia aged 78.

3 March 1918
The American Expeditionary Force (AEF) begin airship operations with the French Astra-Torres AT1 non-rigid dirigible (steerable airship).

5 March 1918
The 2nd Balloon company is established, becoming the first United States balloon unit to serve operationally in France with American Expeditionary Force (AEF) ground forces.

3 March 1919
William Boeing and Edward Hubbard use the Boeing Model CL4S to carry out the first United States international air mail service, between Seattle in America and Victoria in Canada.

5 March 1923
Igor Sikorsky, having previously escaped from Russia, forms the Sikorsky Aero Engineering Corporation in the USA.

8 March 1926
Dr Robert H. Goddard statically tests one of his first rockets.

4 March 1936
The world’s largest rigid airship, the German Zeppelin Company’s LZ129 ‘Hindenburg’, makes its first flight.

7 March 1936
Hitler renounces the 1925 Locano Treaty and German troops march unopposed into the Rhineland.

3 March 1939
The first Pan American World Airways Boeing 314 flying boat is named ‘Yankee Clipper’ by Mrs Franklin D. Roosevelt at a ceremony in Washington DC.

2-4 March 1943
The Battle of the Bismarck Sea: a major attempt by the Japanese to re-enforce Lae is foiled by United States Southwest Pacific Air Forces. 40,000 tons of Japanese shipping is sunk and almost 60 aircraft are destroyed.

5 March 1944
Brigadier General Orde Wingate’s special force lands at ‘Broadway’ in North Burma, in a night glider (sailplane) operation.

6 March 1944
During the first United States Army Air Force (USAAF) attack on Berlin, 69 of the 660 heavy bombers deployed are lost and 11 escort fighters are shot down.

8 March 1946
The Bell Model 47 is granted the first commercial helicopter certificate to be awarded by the United States Civil Aviation Authority.

6 March 1951
The United States Air Force (USAF) approves license production of the English Electric Canberra by the Glenn L. Martin Company, under the designation ‘B-57′. It is the first operational aircraft of non-United States design to be accepted into service with the USAF since the 2nd World War.

5 March 1953
A Polish Air Force pilot lands a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 jet and seeks political asylum on the Danish island of Bornholm.

8 March 1954
The United States and Japan sign a mutual defense agreement.

2 March 1955
The Boeing Airplane Company receives its first major production contract for the KC-135 Stratotanker.

8 March 1956
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines orders twelve Lockheed Electras the first European order for American propeller-turbine engine airliners.

3 March 1959
United States Pioneer 4 space probe is launched in an attempt to obtain pictures of the Moon’s surface, while making a fly-past of about 32,200 kilometers (20,000 miles).

6 March 1965
A Sikorsky SH-3A Sea King makes the first non-stop helicopter flight across North America. Taking off from the carrier USS Hornet at San Diego in California, it lands on the carrier USS Franklin D. Roosevelt at Jacksonville in Florida. The distance travelled is 3,405 kilometers (2,116 miles) and a new international straight-line distance record for helicopters is established.

8 March 1967
The West German Air Force announce that all the ejection seats in their Lockheed F-104G Starfighter fleet will be replaced with Martin-Baker GQ7 seats.

2 March 1969
The Sud Aviation/British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) Concorde 001 Super Sonic Transport (SST) prototype makes its first flight at Toulouse, piloted by André Turcat, Sud’s chief test pilot.

2 March 1971
A change in policy means that female United States Air Force (USAF) officers can take 12 months leave from the service if they become pregnant.

3 March 1974
A McDonnell Douglas DC10 of THY Turkish Airlines crashes into forests North of Paris, killing all 346 people on board. in the world’s worst air disaster to date. The crash spread wreckage over a 7 mile radius.

8 March 1974
Charles De Gaulle Airport, 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) from the center of Paris and Europe’s newest international airport, is officially opened by the French Prime Minister.

3 March 2001
A Thai airways International Boeing 737-400 is destroyed while parked at Bangkok international airport. The explosion and subsequent fire occur 35 minutes before Thailand’s Prime Minister is due to board the aircraft for a flight to Chaing Mai.

6 March 2001
Northrop Grumman RQ-4A Global Hawk Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is cleared for production and testing with the United States Air Force.

4 March 2002
Ansett (Mark II) permanently ceases operations.

5 March 2005
Steve Fossett completes the first non-stop, solo circumnavigation of the world in the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer, completing the trip in 67 hours and 2 minutes.

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That’s it for this week Folks. See ya in seven.

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