Warbirds Online » Blog Archive » This Week In Military/Aviation History 15-21 February

Well Folks, that’s another seven for the history books. The Super Bowl turned out to be rather enjoyable. Now I have to pick a team to follow for next year. I do still follow the Bills, but just to see how badly they played. Who knows, next year might be different. Yeah, right. Well, enough of this, let’s move on down History Lane, shall we? Yes, I think we shall.

Tom K.

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19 February 1934
All existing air mail contracts are cancelled and the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) begins flying internal mail services.

19 February 1936
Brigadier General William ‘Billy’ Mitchell, the United States Army Air Corps’ advocate of air power, dies in the Doctor’s Hospital in New York.

19 February 1942
The first air attack on Australia takes place when Japanese bombers attack shipping in the harbor at Port Darwin.

15 February 1943
Major General Iran C. Eaker is appointed as Commanding General of the 8th United States Army Air Force (USAAF) in the United Kingdom, in succession to Major General Carl Spaatz.

15 February 1944
222 allied bombers attack the monastery of Monte Cassino in Italy. The Germans had not occupied the monastery buildings but immediately after the raid they turn the ruins into a bastion. Successive attempts to take the monastery fail and it is not until 18 May that Polish forces succeed in occupying the heights.

17 February 1944
Twelve radar equipped United States Navy (USN) Grumman TBF1C Avengers, from the USS Enterprise, attack Truk by night. This is the first night bombing attack launched by an American aircraft carrier.

16 February 1945
United States Army Air Force (USAAF) C-47s drop more than 2,000 paratroopers on Corregidor. The island has already been ‘softened up’ by a major bombardment of Japanese positions.

17 February 1945
Softening up operations begin against Iwo Jima. United States Navy (USN) carrier aircraft and naval guns combine with the 7th United States Army Air Force (USAAF) Consolidated B24 Liberators to pound Japanese positions.

19 February 1945
United States Marines, with massive air and sea bombardment support, begin landing on Iwo Jima.

21 February 1945
The American carrier USS Saratoga is hit and badly damaged by a Kamikaze attack.

16 February 1953
Two Republic F-84 Thunderjets flown by Japanese Defense Force pilots intercept two Russian piston-engined fighters over north Japan.

18-19 February 1953
United States aircraft make heavy attacks on Communist forces in North Korea.

18 February 1956
Finnair inaugurates airline services to Moscow.

19 February 1957
The Bell X14 makes its first hovering flight.

17 February 1959
The United States Navy (USN) launches the weather-reporting Vanguard II satellite into Earth orbit.

20 February 1962
The United States’ first earth orbit astronaut is launched into space. Lieutenant Colonel John H. Glenn of the United States Marine Corps (USMC) completes 3 orbits in a flight time of 4 hours 55 minutes 23 seconds.

21 February 1973
Israeli fighters shoot down a Libyan Airlines Boeing 727, killing all 104 passengers and crew. Israel claims the aircraft had flown into restricted airspace over the Sinai peninsula and that all attempts to communicate with the pilot had failed.

18 February 1981
John K. Northrop, founder of Northrop Aircraft, dies.

16 February 1982
The first Airbus A310 is completed at Toulouse. The aircraft is destined for service with Swissair.

20 February 1986
A permanently manned space station, the Soviet Union’s ‘Mir’ (Peace), is launched.

16 February 2001
Allied aircraft attack Iraqi military control and communications sites south of Baghdad. The attacks come in response to continued threats to Allied aircraft policing the Southern No-Fly zone from Iraqi anti aircraft systems

21 February 2001
A General Atomics RQ1 Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) test fires a laser guided AGM114 Hellfire missile.

17 February 2005
several airlines will have to pay heavy compensation to passengers for flight delays and cancellations under a European regulation.

Opening of a new international airport in Nagoya, Japan. It is the third Japanese international airport.

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

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