Aviation History Facts: September

• The 1^st U.S. tactical air unit, the First Aero Squadron, is organized because of the August outbreak of war in Europe. Based in San Diego, California, the unit has 16 officers, 77 enlisted men, and 8 airplanes. (OTM) (1914)
• President Warren Harding authorizes the creation of the Navy Bureau of Aeronautics, with Rear Admiral Moffet as its chief. (OTM) (1921)
• The Royal Australian Air Force is formed. (OTM) (1923)
• The 1^st scheduled international helicopter service begins between Belgium and France. The service is operated by Belgian airline Sabena. (OTM) (1953)
• The 1^st aerial refueling of a jet aircraft by a jet tanker is made with a B-47 Stratojet by a KB-47B tanker. (OTM) (1953)

• Samuel King introduces the 1^st dragline in America. It is a long rope attached to the basket, which helps to stabilize altitude by dragging on the ground when the balloon is flying very low. (OTM) (1858)
• The 1^st parachute descent by a Canadian woman is made when Nellie Lamount jumps from a hot-air balloon during a fair in Quebec. (OTM (1891)
• Blanche Scott, the 1^st woman pilot in the United States, makes a solo flight at Lake Keuka, Hammondsport. (AYY) (1910)

• Orville Wright makes his 1^st flight at Fort Meyer, Virginia, circling the field one-and-one-half times. During the next two weeks, he conducts a series of 14 long, high, and impressive flights, many of which set new records and are witnessed by government officials. (OTM) (1908)
• Regular airmail service in Canada begins with flights between Ontario and Quebec. (OTM) (1924)
• British Squadron Leader J.S. Fifield in England makes the 1st successful demonstration of the use of an ejection seat from a moving aircraft while still on the ground. He ejects from a modified Gloster Meteor 7 that is traveling 120-mph. (OTM) (1955)

• Edward Hogan in Quebec makes the 1st parachute descents in Canada from a hot-air balloon. (OTM) (1888)
• Louise Thaden becomes the 1^st woman to win the prestigious coast-to-coast Bendix trophy race. (AYY) (1936)

• The 1^st flight of a full-size triplane, the French Goupy, is made. Built by Ambroise Goupy, it has three sets of wings; each stacked above the others and is powered by 50-hp Renault engine. (OTM) (1908)

• Wilbur leaves Dayton for Kitty Hawk, arriving in Elizabeth City on September 11 by boat and arrives at Kitty Hawk on September 13.

• The Wright brothers 1^st use their weight-and-derrick-assisted take-off device in order to make themselves independent of the wind and weather. When the heavy weight is released, the rope pulls the aircraft, which sits on a flatbed truck, over the launching track, thus assisting its take-off. (OTM) (1904)
• The U.S. Army's 1^st "aerodrome", an airfield or airport, is established in College Park, Maryland. (OTM) (1909)

• The 1^st Canadians to fly are A.E. Kierzkowski and A.X. Rambau, who fly in Eugene Godard's balloon. (OTM) (1856)

• Charles Durant, America's 1^st great balloonist, makes his 1^st U.S. ascent at Castle Garden, New York. He stays in the air for two hours, landing at South Amboy, New Jersey. His skill and enthusiasm inspire a passion for ballooning in America. (OTM) (1830)
• The 1^st mail carried by air in the United Kingdom is delivered. The mail contains messages for King George V and other members of the British royal family. (AYY) (1911)

September 10^th

• Boeing finishes production of their 1,000^th 747 airplane, 26 years after the 747 program was launched. (AYY) (1993)

• Edison Mouton flies into Marina Field, San Francisco, to complete the 1^st US transcontinental airmail flight. Having left from New York, it took Mouton and his crew over 75 hours to complete the feat. (AYY) (1920)
• The Fokker F-32 four-engined luxury airliner makes its 1^st US flight at Teterboro Airport. (AYY) (1929)

• The 1^st pilotless radio-controlled aerial bomb is tested in the United States. It is actually a small biplane that can fly radio-guided for 50 miles with 308 pounds of bombs aboard. (OTM) (1916)

• In an effort to speed up the time it takes for mail to reach the United States via Europe, a single-engined Liore et Oliver LeO 198 airplane is catapulted off the Ile de France ocean liner, reducing the time it takes mail to reach the United States by one whole day. (AYY) (1928)
• Millionaire film producer and amateur air racer Howard Hughes shatters the world land plane speed record in his home built Hughes Racer airplane. (AYY) (1935)

• The 1^st successful flight into the eye of a hurricane is made by a three-man American crew flying a Douglas A-20 Havoc. They demonstrate that valuable scientific information can be obtained in this manner, which is still done today. (OTM) (1944)

• Italian diplomat, Vincenzo Lunardi, makes the 1^st ascent in a hydrogen balloon in Britain. (AYY) (1784)
• Wilbur Wright in the airplane Flyer II makes his 1^st controlled half-circle while in flight. (AYY) (1904)

• The Canadian Aviation Corps is authorized by the Minister of Militia and Defense to be formed. This is the beginning of Canada's military air force. (OTM) (1914)

• The 1^st fatality in a powered airplane occurs when Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge is killed while flying with Orville Wright at Fort Meyer, Virginia. (OTM) (1908)
• The North American X-15 rocket plane makes its 1^st powered flight at Edwards Air Force Base in California. (AYY) (1959)

• The 1^st rotating-wing aircraft to fly the English Channel is the Cierva C-8L Autogyro flown by its designer, Spaniard, Juan de la Cierva. (OTM) (1928)
• The 1^st flight of the Zeppelin LZ-127 Graf Zeppelin is made. It is the most successful rigid airship ever built, flown commercially on a regular basis from Europe to South America. It flies over a million miles and carries some 13,100 passengers before its demise in 1940. (OTM) (1928)
• The U.S. Air Force becomes an independent service within the unified U.S. armed forces. This change recognizes the fact that air power is to be the nation's 1^st line of defense. (OTM) (1947)
• The 1^st flight of a delta-wing jet airplane is made with the Convair XF-92A. (OTM) (1948)

• The 1^st piloted helicopter rises at Douai in France. Piloted by Volumard, it rises only about 2 feet and is steadied by men on the ground. It does not constitute free, vertical flight. (OTM) (1907)
• The 1^st diesel engine to power a heavier-than-air aircraft is flight tested in Utica, Michigan. (OTM) (1928)

• The Wright brothers make the 1^st of nearly 1,000 glides on their modified No. 3 glider in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. It is this glider, made of spruce wood and cloth, which incorporates for the 1^st time the flight controls of the modern airplane. (OTM) (1902)
• Wilbur Wright on the Flyer III in Huffman Prairie, Ohio makes the 1st circular flight. (OTM) (1904)
• A British Gloster Meteor F.1 makes the 1st flight of an aircraft powered completely by turboprop engines. A turboprop or propjet is an aircraft with a propeller that is driven by a gas turbine engine. (OTM) (1945)
• Wilbur Wright in the airplane Flyer II makes the 1^st complete circle in a powered aircraft. (AYY) (1904)

• Frenchman Andre-Jacques Garnerin makes the 1^st parachute descent in England, jumping from a balloon over London. (OTM) (1802)

• Stanley Spencer becomes the 1^st Englishman to fly in a powered airship over England. The 75-foot-long dirigible is powered by a 3-hp water-cooled engine and makes a flight of 30 miles. (OTM) (1902)

• Peruvian Georges Chavez, who flies over the Simplon Pass between Italy and Switzerland, makes the 1st airplane flight over the Alps. (OTM) (1910)
• Earl Ovington carries the 1st airmail in the United States in a Blériot monoplane from Nassau Boulevard Aerodome, Long Island to Mineola, Long Island. (OTM) (1911)
• French pilot, Roland Garros, becomes the 1^st person to fly across the Mediterranean, a distance of 470 miles. He lands in Tunisia 7 hours and 53 minutes after taking off from France, which is of particular note because he only had enough fuel for 8 hours of flight. (AYY) (1913)

• French engineer, Henri Giffard, flies the 1st powered, manned airship. Powered by a steam engine and propeller, the airship flies at about 5-mph and covers 17 miles from Paris to Trappes, France. The craft marks the beginning of the practical airship. (OTM) (1852)

• The Wright brothers arrive at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina to begin tests of their 1^st powered aircraft. (AYY) (1903)

• The governments of France, West Germany, and Britain sign a memorandum that calls for the development of the Airbus A300 wide-bodied jet airliner. (AYY) (1967)

• The 1^st piloted airplane to exceed Mach 3 (three times the speed of sound) is the rocket-powered Bell X-2. (OTM) (1956)
• Katherine Stinson becomes the 1^st woman in the United States to make an official airmail flight. (AYY) (1913)
• Dr. Albert Taylor and Leo Young, scientists at the US Naval Aircraft Radio Laboratory, make the 1^st successful detections of objects by "radio observation". They use wireless waves to detect objects not visible due to weather or darkness. This insight leads to the advent of radar. (AYY) (1922)

• American pilot Howard Rinehart, flying a Dayton-Wright R.B Racer, becomes the 1^st person to fly an airplane fitted with retractable landing gear. (AYY) (1920)
• Lufthansa, Germany's national airline flies its millionth customer. (AYY) (1934)

• The 1^st take-off and landing of the XC-142A vertical take-off transport is made in Dallas, Texas. The aircraft has four 2,850-hp General Electric turboprops mounted on the wings that can pivot 90 degrees to allow for a vertical take-off. (AYY) (1964)

• The 1^st round-the-world flight in a helicopter is completed as the Bell Long Ranger II, flown by Americans H. Ross Perot Jr. and Jay Coburn, lands safely. (OTM) (1982)

Works Cited

Editor-in-Chief: Bill Gunston, Aviation: Year by Year, Amber Books Limited, London, UK, 2001. (AYY)

Leonard C. Bruno, On the Move: A Chronology of Advances in Transportation, Gale Research Inc., Detroit, MI, 1993. (OTM)

Arthur George Renstrom, Wilbur & Orville Wright: A Chronology, United States, Library of Congress, 1971 (COFC)

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