Warbirds Online » Blog Archive » This Week In Military/Aviation History 2

Holy…… Another seven whooshed by. I hope your Halloween was quiet, with nothing going bump in the night. Now we have to prepare for Thanksgiving and put up with Christmas stuff and snow shovels being put out in the stores, if they hasn’t been already. To take our minds off of that for a while let’s get down to some serious history, shall we? Yes, I think we shall.

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7 November 1910
The world’s first freight-carrying flight occurs when Philip O. Palmalee pilots a Wright Model B biplane, transporting silk from Dayton to Columbus in Ohio, for the Morehouse-Martens Company.

4 November1913
French engineer Constantin patents a vented wing. The blade placed before the leading edge of the wing improves airflow.

6 November 1915
The first aeroplane to be catapult-launched from an moving ship is a Curtiss AB2 flying-boat piloted by Lieutenant Commander Henry Mustin, launched from the battleship USS North Carolina at Pensacola Bay in Florida.

3 November 1916
Victor Carlstrom completes the first flight from Chicago to New York in a Curtiss R. biplane. Carrying airmail, the flight lasts 8 hours 28 minutes and en route, Carlstrom sets United States records for non-stop distance (452 miles) and speed (134 mph) flying.

7 November 1917 The storming of the Winter Palace in Moscow heralds seizure of power by the Bolsheviks in Russia.

4 November 1923
A United States Navy (USN) Curtiss R2C1 establishes a new world speed record 429kph (267mph).

6 November 1927
The first practice jump by paratroops is made by the Italian army over Cinisello.

4 November 1936
The first operational flight of the Polikarpov I15 fighter occurs in Spain, and is flown by Soviet pilots.

4 November 1939
The United States lifts an arms export embargo, allowing the Cash and Carry delivery of weapons. As the Royal Navy has blockaded German ports only the Allies can benefit from this policy.

8-11 November 1942
United States and British aircraft provide air cover for the invasion of North Africa and during the early days, Vichy French units put up a spirited resistance. Large numbers of Luftwaffe aircraft are flown into Tunis and troops are flown in by both sea and air.

2 November 1943
The newly formed 15th United States Army Air Force (USAAF) takes on its first mission, when twelve heavy bombers attack aircraft factories at Wiener Neustadt in Austria.

5 November 1943
Japanese cruisers and destroyers steaming between Truk and Rabaul are attacked and damaged by United States carrier aircraft operating off USS Princeton and USS Saratoga.

3 November 1944
The Japanese ‘Fu-Go Weapon’ (balloon bomb) offensive against the USA begins.

6 November 1945
Flying the mixed power plant Ryan FR1 Fireball, which has a conventional piston engine and a turbojet engine in the rear fuselage, Ensign J.C. West uses the jet engine only to make the world’s first turbojet-powered landing on an aircraft carrier, the USS Wake Island.

3 November 1948
Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) crews join the Berlin Airlift operation.

7 November 1950
Air fighting between United States Air Force (USAF) piston-engined Mustangs and Russian jet fighters takes place over North Korea.

8 November 1950
A Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG15 of the Chinese People’s Republic Air Force is shot down by a United States Air Force (USAF) Lockheed F80C Shooting Star flown by Lieutenant Russell J. Brown. This is the first air fighting between jet aircraft in the Korean War.

2 November 1952
A F3D Skynight destroys a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG15 – the first time a jet fighter intercepts at night successfully.

2 November 1954
The Convair XFY1 accomplishes its first transitions from vertical to horizontal flight and vice-versa.

7 November 1954
The United States Air Force (USAF) announces it will build a research laboratory for atomic aircraft engines.

A photographic reconnaissance version of the Boeing B29 is shot down by Russian MiG fighters.

A solo non-stop flight from new York to Toussus-le-Noble airport near Paris is completed by Maximilien A. Conrad in a twin-engined Piper Apache.

6 November 1955
It is announced that the United Kingdom will supply the Jordan Air Force with ten de Havilland Vampire jet planes.

6 November 1956
A cease-fire between Britain, France, Egypt and Israel is announced.

8 November 1956
Ascending from Rapid City in South Dakota, Lieutenant Commander M.L. Lewis and Malcolm D. Ross establish a world altitude record for manned balloons of 23,165 metrers (76,000 feet).

3 November 1957
Sputnik 2 is launched, carrying the dog Laika.

4 November 1960
The United States Air Force discloses that it has used the Boeing C97 as an airborne tactical command post and communications center.

3 November 1969
The United States Air Force (USAF) issues Requests for Proposals for a bomber aircraft, under the designation B-1.

6 November 1971
Two high-flying Egyptian Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG25 reconnaissance planes fly over the Sinai peninsula, controlled by Israel. The aircraft fly at 70,000 feet, above the Israeli air defenses.

4 November 1981
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) aborts the second flight of Space Shuttle Columbia 31 seconds before launch due to a computer mismatch.

4 November 1982
Pan American World Airways (Pan-Am) inaugurate a service from Los Angeles to Sydney. Using Boeing 747SPs to cover the 12,049 kilometers (7,487 miles), it is thought to be the world’s longest non-stop commercial service.

6 November 1986
A Boeing 234 Chinook helicopter belonging to British International Helicopters crashes off the Shetlands killing 45 of the 47 people on board. It is the worst civilian helicopter accident to date.

8 November 1988
The United States Air Force (USAF) grounds all Rockwell International B1B bombers after a second aircraft is lost in a crash. The first crash occurred on 28 September 1987.

7 November 1996
The Mars Global Surveyor is launched from Cape Canaveral to look for evidence of water on Mars.

7 November 2001
After 78 years of operations, Belgium’s national airline, Sabena, declares itself bankrupt with debts of €2.2 billion ($2 billion) and puts over 12,000 employees out of work.

6 November 2002
National Airlines, already operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy, permanently ceases operations.

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

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