Aviation History Flashcards
The French Montgolfier brothers fly in a hot-air balloon for 5.5 miles in 25 minutes.
1783
Observation balloons are used by both sides in the Civil War.
1861-65
American scientist Samuel Langley flies the first (unmanned) powered aircraft.
1896
American brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright achieve the first recognized powered, manned flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
DEC. 17, 1903
First airplane takeoff from a ship (USS Birmingham) by Eugene B. Ely.
NOV. 14, 1910
First successful shipboard landing (USS Pennsylvania) by Eugene B. Ely.
JAN. 18, 1911
Igor Sikorsky builds first multi-engined aircraft in Russia.
1913
United States establishes National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), first government-sponsored support of aviation research and development.
1915
First transatlantic air crossing by Navy and first nonstop transatlantic air crossing.
1919
Launch of first aircraft carrier, the USS Langley, CV-1.
- (Three Curtiss flying boats, each with a crew of six, were involved: NC-1, NC-3, and NC-4.)
Robert H. Goddard, considered the father of American rocketry, launches the first liquid propellant rocket.
1926
Charles Lindbergh makes first solo flight across the Atlantic.
1927
First jet engine designed and patented by Great Britain’s Frank Whittle; however, it is not tested on an airplane until a decade later.
1930
First practical helicopter design, developed by Russian Igor Sikorsky, has a large main rotor and a smaller vertical rotor on the tail boom, setting a standard for helicopter design still in use today.
1930
Which War -ushers in mass production of U.S. aircraft, increasing from 500 a year to 50,000 a year by war’s end.
1939-1949. WWII
First jet aircraft, a German effort
1939
Coordination of airpower with ground troops in Europe and amphibious landings in the Pacific proves to be a significant advantage for the Allies. The Battles of the Coral Sea and Midway in the Pacific are the first where enemy ships never see each other, and all attacks are by naval aircraft.
WWII
What aircraft’s laminar-flow wing reduces drag and improves aerodynamics, helping give it the range to escort Allied bombers into Germany?
P-51 Mustang’s WWII
German Luftwaffe deploys the first operational jet, the Me-262 fighter-bomber
1944
The B-29 Superfortress is the first bomber with crew cabin pressurization and remote-controlled powered turrets; two B-29s drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Aug 1945
The FH-1 Phantom is the first jet combat aircraft to operate from the deck of a U.S. aircraft carrier and the Navy’s first airplane to fly 500 mph.
1946
Chuck Yeager, in the Bell X-1 rocket-powered research aircraft, is the first man to verifiably break the sound barrier. First swept-wing jet fighter (F-86 Sabrejet) and first swept-wing multi-engine bomber (B-47 Stratojet) are introduced. U.S. Air Force is established.
1947
Berlin Airlift supplies massive amounts of food, fuel, and other vital supplies to Allied West Berlin when East Germans and Soviets cut off ground access, keeping not only U.S. forces but West Berliners alive until tensions ease.
1948
Korean War, launched by North Korean invasion of South Korea, sees increasing use of jets and helicopters on a three-dimensional battlefield that, after seesaw defense and counterattack in 1950–51, settles down to a near-stalemate for the next two years.
1950-53
Soviet Union launches the first satellite into space, beginning space race between the United States and the U.S.S.R.
1957
United States launches Explorer I, first American satellite, into orbit.
1958
first man in with a single orbit of the Earth
The Soviet Union’s Yuri Gagarin becomes the first man in space on April 12, 1961
first American in space on a suborbital flight in a one-man Mercury space capsule
Alan Shepard 1961
U.S. Marine Officer John Glenn is the first American to orbit the Earth.
1962
Mercury program ends and Gemini program begins, using more sophisticated two-man capsules to develop space experience and skills leading to a lunar mission capability.
1963
Active phase of American involvement in Vietnam War, characterized by increasing use of close air support, marginally effective strategic bombing, and introduction of airmobile/air assault doctrine for Army, which uses helicopters in coordination with ground forces.
1965-74
Near-total U.S. air superiority does not make up for political blunders at home, and public support dwindles until withdrawal of troops is completed in 19XX. North Vietnam takes over South Vietnam in 19XX uniting both under one Communist government.
1964; 1975
Gemini program ends; Apollo program begins, with chief goal of putting a man on the moon.
1966
Three American astronauts are killed in a flash fire on the launch pad in Apollo 1.
1967, Veteran astronaut Virgil Grissom, first American spacewalker Ed White and rookie Roger Chaffee
Apollo 11 lands two men, civilian test pilot Neil Armstrong and Air Force officer Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, on the moon
July 20, 1969
A British-French consortium conducts the first flight of the supersonic Concorde passenger jet.
1969
The first spacecraft to explore the outer solar system, Pioneer 10, is launched. After completing its study of Jupiter, its trajectory carried it outside the solar system into interstellar space—the first man-made craft to do so. Pioneer 10 continued transmitting data until 2003, when its power source became too weak. By then, it was over 7.6 billion miles from Earth; in about two million years, it should reach the red giant Aldebaran, about 71 light-years away.
1972
Skylab, an American orbital space station, has three crews spend several months each in orbit, providing proof that man could tolerate weightlessness for extended periods.
1973-74
NASA collaborates with Soviet space agency on the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, where crews from each country rendezvoused and docked; last flight of the Apollo-Saturn hardware.
1975
First flight of the space shuttle Columbia
April 12, 1981
Space shuttle Challenger explodes during liftoff; all aboard are killed.
1986, Francis R. Scobee, Commander; Michael J. Smith, Pilot; Ronald McNair, Mission Specialist; Ellison Onizuka, Mission Specialist;Judith Resnik, Mission Specialist; Gregory Jarvis, Payload Specialist; Christa McAuliffe, Payload Specialist, Teacher
Russian space station Mir is launched.
1986
F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter enters operational service.
1988
Persian Gulf War begins with a month-long aerial bombardment of S. Hussein’s Iraqi forces that cuts their communication, resupply, and antiaircraft capabilities drastically
1991, war only lasts four days
B-2 Spirit stealth bomber enters operational service.
1993
C-17 Globemaster III, a large four-engine jet transport, enters operational service.
1995
First components of International Space Station placed in orbit.
1998
Supersonic transatlantic passenger jet Concorde retired from service; first crew occupies International Space Station.
2000
Space shuttle Columbia breaks up during reentry; all seven aboard are killed.
2003 ; Rick D. Husband; William C. McCool; Michael P. Anderson; Kalpana Chawla; David M. Brown; Laurel ClarkI; lan Ramon
Mars exploration rovers Spirit and Opportunity land on Mars; Spirit functions until 2010 and Opportunity is still functioning as of 2014. SpaceShipOne becomes the first privately built craft to enter outer space.
2004
F-22 Raptor, a stealth air superiority fighter, enters USAF service.
2005
First flight of F-35 Lightning II, a newer stealth fighter, which is planned to enter service 2014–16 in three versions
2006; F-35A, conventional takeoff/landing (USAF); F-35B, V/STOL variant for USMC; and F-35C, carrier-capable variant for USN.
International Space Station marks 10 years of continuous human occupation
November 2, 2010
Space shuttle fleet retired.
2011
U.S. Navy’s X-47B unmanned aircraft executes successful takeoffs and landings from a carrier deck.
2013
