On This Day In Aviation History

Threads about the world of aviation outside of airshows. General aviation, airlines, spotting, etc.
TommyJ
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Post by TommyJ » Tue Dec 29, 2020 2:30 pm

December, 29th in Aviation History.

1939 - First flight of the Consolidated XB-24 “Liberator” bomber. Over the course of five and a half years, over 18,000 were built.
1949 - American pilot Jackie Cochran sets a world speed record of 703.38 km / h on a P-51C Mustang.
1879 - William (Billy) Mitchell is born. He was known as the leading American aviation specialist in the 1920s.
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n33d4sp33d_85
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Post by n33d4sp33d_85 » Wed Dec 30, 2020 5:34 am

87 years ago today (1933) the Polikarpov I-16 flew for the first time. It was the world's first operational low-wing monoplane with retractable landing gear and a fully enclosed cockpit, and it would form the backbone of the Soviet Air Force in the early years of World War II.

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Post by n33d4sp33d_85 » Wed Dec 30, 2020 6:59 am

73 years ago today (1947) the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 (NATO reporting name: Fagot) flew for the first time. It was one of the first successful jet fighters to incorporate swept wings. The MiG-15's design would later be refined into the MiG-17.

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Post by n33d4sp33d_85 » Thu Dec 31, 2020 5:32 am

82 years ago today the Boeing 307 Stratoliner flew for the first time. It was the first passenger plane to be equipped with a pressurized cabin.

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Post by n33d4sp33d_85 » Thu Dec 31, 2020 5:38 am

34 years ago today the IAI (Israel Aircraft Industries) Lavi flew for the first time.

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n33d4sp33d_85
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Post by n33d4sp33d_85 » Thu Dec 31, 2020 10:33 pm

76 years ago today the Grumman F8F Bearcat entered service with the US Navy.
You've seen us post about our F8F Bearcat a couple times during our #12Planes of Christmas campaign, but today is the day it entered service with the US Navy in 1944! Though the Bearcat was no doubt cutting-edge technology of the time, she was a victim of bad timing. Arriving too late to see Combat in WWII, he would be replaced by jet fighters by Korea, and so the F8F never did see combat for the U. She did have some combat experience though... do you know for whom?

#OTD
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Post by n33d4sp33d_85 » Mon Jan 04, 2021 6:56 pm

32 years ago today:
On Jan. 4, 1989, in the morning, four pairs of F-14s, two belonging to the VF-14 Tophatters and two with the VF-32 Swordsmen, were flying Combat Air Patrols (CAP), close to the Gulf of Sidra, while a single E-2C from the VAW-126 Sea Hawks supported them....

Read more: https://theaviationist.com/2014/01/04/f ... g-23-1989/
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n33d4sp33d_85
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Post by n33d4sp33d_85 » Tue Jan 05, 2021 12:38 am

125 years ago today:
#OTD in 1895, Leroy Randle "Roy" Grumman, American aeronautical engineer, test pilot, and industrialist was born. He was the co-founder of Grumman Aeronautical Engineering Co. later to become Grumman Aerospace Corporation, now part of Northrop Grumman. You can't cover WWII aircraft without mentioning his name several times. What's your favorite Grumman aircraft from WWII?
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Post by n33d4sp33d_85 » Tue Jan 05, 2021 11:41 pm

105 years ago today the Nieuport 11 flew for the first time.

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TommyJ
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Post by TommyJ » Wed Jan 06, 2021 9:42 am

Here are the landmark aviation events on January 6 and 7. If the first invention had not happened, perhaps aviation now would be at the level of the 1950s.
In addition, a balloon is a simple device that can rise to a height of 25 km (!!!)
From them came stratospheric balloons capable of rising to a height of 39 km.

January 6, 1745 - Jacques-Etienne Montgolfier, aviation pioneer, inventor of the balloon (d. 1799), was born.


January 7, 1785 - flight of J.P. Blanchard and J. Jeffries in a balloon across the La Manche.
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