Warbirds Online » Blog Archive » This Week In Military/Aviation History 21-27 June

Hello Folks, well, seven more in the books which means there are now 20 days until aircraft arrival day for the Geneseo Airshow 2010. Boy, is it flying by. (No pun intended…..really). I hope your week went well and all you Dads out there had one AB FAN Father’s Day. My son is grown so no more handmade presents. Pity. He does owe me dinner and a movie when a half way decent movie I’d like to see comes up. Right now nothing out there floats my boat. Oh well. What say we get started on our weekly stroll down History Lane shall we? Yes, I think we should and we shall.

Tom K.

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21 June 1911
Edouard Nieport flies at 87mph in his Nie-2N monoplane.

26 June 1912
The Japanese government forms a Kaigun Kokujutsu Kenkyu Kai (Naval Committee for Aeronautical Research).

27 June 1912
The Italian Aviation Service is formed from the Battaglione Aviatori (Aviation Battalion).

21 June 1913
American Miss Georgia ‘Tiny’ Broadwick is the first woman to descend from an aeroplane by parachute when Glenn L Martin flies her up to 2,000 feet above Griffith Park in Los Angeles.

23 June 1916
Victor Emmanuel Chapman of the Lafayette Escadrille, becomes the first American pilot to be killed in action.

26 June 1917
Prompted by the entry of the United States into the war, the German Army Air Service unveils its Amerika-programm (America Program), which provides for the creation of 40 new fighter squadrons and the expansion of aircraft manufacturing output from 1,000 to 2,000 aircraft per month.

23 June 1919
Seven German Navy Zeppelins are scuttled by their crews at Nordholz to prevent them being handed over to the Allies as part of the Versailles Peace Treaty.

25 June 1919
The world’s first purpose-built all metal commercial aircraft flies as the German Junkers F13. 322 are eventually built.

27 June 1923
The first air-to-air flight refuelling is demonstrated by Captain L.H. Smith and Lieutenant J.P. Richter of the United States Army Air Service (USAAS) flying two de Havilland DH4Bs over San Diego in California.

23 June – 1 July 1931
Wiley Post and Harold Gatty fly round the world in a Lockheed aircraft, the ‘Winnie Mae’. 15,474 miles are completed in 8 days 15 hours 51 minutes.

26 June 1935
The first flight of the Breguet-Dorand Gyroplane Laboratoire helicopter in France.

26 June 1936
German Ewarld Rohlfs makes the first flight of the Focke Wulf Fw61 twin rotor helicopter. Although it lasts for only about 30 seconds, the flight establishes the aircraft as the world’s first completely successful helicopter.

25 June 1938
Deutche Luft Hansa introduces the Focke Wulf Fw200 on its Berlin to London route.

27-28 June 1938
Russian airmen, Kokkinski and Briandinsky, fly from Moscow to Vladivostock in 24 hours, covering a total distance of 4,375 miles.

22 June 1941
Operation Barbarossa: the German invasion of the Soviet Union, opens with a massive air assault. By nightfall Soviet losses amount to 1,811 aircraft of which 1,489 were destroyed on the ground. The Luftwaffe losses are light, with only 35 aircraft destroyed.

At 0430hrs Lieutenant Kokorev of the 124th Fighter Regiment, Red Air Force deliberately rams a German Messerschmitt Bf110. This is the first recorded instance of a battering ram attack during the Second Word War.

24-25 June 1944
The Luftwaffe uses the Mistel composite aircraft for the first time. This initial night operation sees five composite aircraft, combining the Messerschmitt Bf109F and Junkers Ju-88A deployed against Allied shipping in the Seine Bay.

25 June 1944
2,400 Allied bombers make a saturation raid on German positions at St Lo in France. The operation occurs in front of the American positions, in an attempt to ‘soften up’ the enemy prior to an allied breakout.

25 June 1945
The National Skyway Freight Corporation is established as the first all freight airline in the USA. In 1946 it will adopt the title Flying Tiger Line Inc.

22 June 1946
Two United States Army Air Force (USAAF) Lockheed P80 Shooting Star fighters carry the first United States airmail to travel by turbojet powered aircraft, from Shenectady to Washington DC and Chicago in Illinois.

26 June 1946
The United States Army Air Force (USAAF) and United States Navy (USN) officially adopt the knot and nautical mile as standard aeronautical units for speed and distance.

24 June 1948
For ‘technical reasons’, the Soviet military authorities stop all rail services between Berlin and West Germany.

26 June 1948
The first airlift of supplies into Berlin is organized by the United States Air Force (USAF), using C47s based at Frankfurt. This marks the beginning of the Berlin Airlift.

26 June 1949
The first anniversary of the Berlin Airlift – 1.8 million tons of supplies has been airlifted in.

25 June 1950
The Korean War begins, with North Korean forces invading South Korea – Yak fighters attack Kimpo airfield.

27 June 1950
President Truman announces that the United States Air Force (USAF) will assist South Korea. The first enemy aircraft, a Yak 9 is shot down by Lieutenant William G. Hudson, USAF, flying an F82 Mustang.

23 June 1952
A civil aviation agreement between Britain and Denmark is signed in London.

23 June 1955
United States Navy (USN) aircraft are attacked by Russian planes near the Bering Strait.

27 June 1962
The North American X15A is piloted by Joe Walker to a new top speed of 6,693kph (4,159mph).

Colonel G. Mosolov establishes a new world speed record for the Soviet Union, flying the Mikoyan Ye166 to record a speed of 2,681kph (1,666mph).

22 June 1975
A new world speed record for women is established in the Soviet Union by Svetlana Savitskaya, flying a Mikoyan Ye133 at a speed of 2,683kph. (1,667mph).

22 June 1976
The Soviet Union launches the Salyut space station into orbit.

27 June 1979
The McDonnell Douglas F15 Eagle makes its combat debut, serving with the Israeli Air force, they destroy five Syrian MiG21s.

26 June 1988
An Airbus Industrie A320 airliner crashes into trees at low speed after making a low-level display pass at the Mulhourse air show, killing 3 people out of 130 on board.

21 June 1994
The role of women pilots in the French Air Force is extended to include combat flying.

22 June 1995
The result of the United States’ Joint Primary Aircraft Training System (JPATS) joint service trainer competition is announced and the Beech/British Aerospace (BAe) version of the Pilatus PC9 turboprop is the winner.

25 June 1997
The Russian space station Mir and its re-supply craft collide in orbit forcing the Mir astronauts to shut down most of the spacecraft’s systems.

23-24 June 2001
The Lockheed Martin X35B Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Short Take-Off Vertical Landing (STOVL) demonstrator begins flight testing vertical take-off, hovering and the transition to forward. The rival Boeing X32B completes its first hover and transition to forward flight on 24 June.

21 June 2004
SpaceShipOne is the first non-government built spacecraft to transport a person into space and return safely to earth.

24 June 2004
Volga-AviaExpress Flight 1303 and Siberia Airlines Flight 1047 explode south of Domodedovo International Airport in Moscow. The Russian government declares the explosions to have been caused by Chechen terrorists.

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

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