Today in Aviation History - August

August 28

In 1908... The US Army accepts its first dirigible. It is 96 feet long, with a 20-hp Curtiss engine.

In 1919... The International Air Traffic Association (IATA) is formed at The Hague, Holland.

In 1957... A record altitude for manned aircraft is achieved by the RAF Canberra serial no. WK 163 piloted by chief test pilot M. Randrup. He flies the aircraft to 70,310 ft. with the aid of a Double Scorpion rocket motor.

In 1988... 70 people were killed when three Italian stunt planes from Frecce Tricolori collided during an air show at the U.S. Air Base in Ramstein, West Germany.

In 1993... 76 die in an airplane crash in Tajikistan. The plane, a Yak-40 crashed while taking off in Khorog for a flight to the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, 160 miles to northwest.
 
August 29

In 1879... In Ontario, Nellie Thurston becomes the first Canadian woman to fly in a balloon.

In 1909... At the end of a two-day flight from Lake Constance during which Count von Zeppelin travels a total distance of more than 400 miles, he makes a spectacular flight in his dirigible LZ5 over the city of Berlin, Germany.

In 1911... Mrs. A. Hewlett is the first British woman to gain a pilot’s license.

In 1947... The world's first ramjet helicopter, the McDonnell XH-20 Little Henry, makes its first flight. The ramjet-driven rotor eliminates the need for a torque-compensating tail rotor.

In 1955... W.F. Gibb flies on Olympus-engined Canberra B.2 to a world record altitude of 65,889 ft.

In 1958... United States Air Force Academy opens in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

In 1959... Chris Hadfield, first Canadian to walk in space, was born.

In 1970... The Douglas DC-10, the first "jumbo jet" from Douglas, makes its first flight.

In 1983... First production version of the McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II V/STOL attack aircraft makes its first flight.

In 1996... Vnukovo Airlines Flight 2801, a Vnukovo Airlines Tupolev Tu-154 crashes into a mountain on the Arctic island of Spitsbergen, killing all 141 aboard.
 
August 30

In 1913... American inventor Lawrence B. Sperry successfully demonstrates the first gyroscopic automatic stabilizing device for powered airplanes when Lt. Patrick N. L. Bellinger pilots a U.S. Navy flying boat designated C-2 and relinquishes full control to the autopilot.

In 1933... Air France, France’s national airline, is formed.

In 1962... Japan conducts a test of the NAMC YS-11, its first aircraft since the war and its only successful commercial aircraft from before or after the war.

In 1984... STS-41-D: The Space Shuttle Discovery takes off on its maiden voyage.
 
August 31

In 1921... The first production Vickers Vernon, the first troop carrier designed for the British RAF (Royal Air Force), is delivered by the British manufacturer.

In 1956... The first Boeing KC-135A (serial no. 55-3118) makes its first flight and is taken over by the USAF on January 31, 1957.

In 1965... The Aero Spacelines Super Guppy Aircraft makes its first flight.

In 1974... William Pershing Benedict, American pilot, dies. Benedict is best known for having flown together with Lt. Col. Joseph O. Fletcher as his co-pilot1 a U.S. Air Force C-47 modified to have skis and wheels to the North Pole, where they became the first humans to land a plane on May 3, 1952 and (together with scientist Albert P. Crary) the first persons to set foot on the exact geographical North Pole.

In 1977... Soviet test pilot Alexander Fedotov claims a new world height record for manned aircraft when he climbs to a height of 37,650 m (123,523 ft.) flying the Mikoyan E-266M.

In 1978... Boeing begins production of the 757.

In 1986... Aeroméxico Flight 498 collides with a Piper PA-28 over Cerritos, California, killing 67 in the air and 15 on the ground.

In 1999... A LAPA Boeing 737-200 crashes during takeoff from Jorge Newbury Airport in Buenos Aires, killing 65, including 2 on the ground.
 
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