Portal:Aviation/Anniversaries/May 13

2011 – The first Solar Impulse aircraft, HB-SIA, the first solar-powered aircraft capable of both day and night flight thanks to its batteries charged by solar power, makes its first international flight, flying 630 km (391 miles) from Payerne Airport outside Payerne, Switzerland, to Brussels Airport in Belgium, in 12 hours 59 minutes at an average speed of 50 km/hr (31 mph).^[1]^[2]

2011 – A North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) airstrike targeting a Libyan government command and control bunker in Brega hits a building, killing 11 civilians and wounding 45.^[3]^[4]

1992 – A U.S. Navy instructor pilot is killed after two Navy Beechcraft T-34C Turbo Mentors collide over a densely wooded field 6 miles SW of NAS Whiting Field, Florida.

1989 – The Antonov An-225 Mriya, Soviet strategic airlift cargo aircraft, makes its first carrying flight of the Buran space shuttle.

1985 – Death of Alexander Alexandrovich Mikulin, Soviet aircraft engine designer.

1982 – Launch of Soyuz T-5, Russian manned spaceflight into Earth orbit to the then new Salyut 7 space station.

1982 – Braniff International Airways' president Howard D. Putnam announces the airline has filed for protection under bankruptcy laws, and the airline's fleet of 71 aircraft is grounded.

1975 – (13 – 14) U. S. Navy P-3 Orion patrol aircraft discover Mayaguez off Cambodia’s Puolo Wai island. For two days, U. S. Navy and U. S. Air Force aircraft exchange fire with Khmer Rouge ground and sea forces in the vicinity of Mayaguez.

1975 – Sikorsky CH-53C, 68-10933, c/n 65-231, Knife 13, of the 21st Special Operations Squadron, departs from Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base with a crew of five and 18 USAF Security Police onboard to assist in the recovery operation of the SS Mayaguez. The helicopter disappears from the airfield's departure radar 40 miles W of the airfield. All on board are KWF. The Air Force issues a "temporary flight restriction" order, service parlance for a grounding order, on 22 May 1975, for 40 HH-53 and 12 CH-53, following an inspection crew reaching the jungle crash site. A main rotor blade separated from the head in flight.

1965 – The United States suspends Operation Rolling Thunder strikes against North Vietnam.

1957 – Three USAF North American F-100 Super Sabres set a new world distance record for single-engine aircraft by covering the 6,710 mi (5,835 nmi, 10,805 km) distance from London to Los Angeles in 14 hours and 4 min. The flight was accomplished using in-flight refueling.

1956 – Birth of Aleksandr Yuriyevich "Sasha" Kaleri, Russian cosmonaut and veteran of extended stays on the Mir Space Station and the International Space Station(ISS).

1955 – On seventh and final flight of Northrop N-69A test vehicle for the Northrop XSM-62 Snark, only two of which were successful, mission was cut short when the missile collided with its T-33A photo plane.

1954 – First flight of the Kellett KH-15 "Stable Mable". This helicopter was designed to test the new gyro-stabilizing system, a kind of small rotor mounted concentrically and intended to stabilize the main rotor.

1953 – 59 U. S. Air Force F-84G Thunderjet fighter-bombers attack the Toksan dike in Korea.

1949 – First flight of the English Electric Canberra, British first-generation jet-powered light bomber.

1944 – (13 – 17) U. S. Army Air Forces Fifth Air Force bombers carry out heavy strikes against Japanese forces at Wakde Airfield and Sawar Airfield, Western New Guinea.

1943 – 20 Japanese Mitsubishi G4 M (Allied reporting name “Betty”) torpedo bombers fly from Paramushiro to attack American ships, but bad weather forces them to turn back without launching an attack.

1942 – Birth of Vladimir Aleksandrovich Dzhanibekov, soviet cosmonaut who made 5 flights.

1942 – Construction of the German aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin resumes after a two-year hiatus.

1940 – First flight of the General Aircraft Fleet Shadower G. A. L.38, British long-range four-engine patrol prototype aircraft.

1940 – First flight of the Bell XFL Airabonita, United States experimental shipboard interceptor aircraft developed for the United States Navy by Bell Aircraft. It was similar to and a parallel development of the land-based P-39 Airacobra, differing mainly in the use of a tailwheel undercarriage in place of the P-39's tricycle gear.

1940 – The Sikorsky VS-300, which made its first flight the previous year, makes its first untethered flight.

1938 – (13-15) A Japanese Gasuden Koken aircraft breaks the closed-circuit world distance record of 11,651 km (7,240 mi).

1934 – US airmail pilot William John "Jack" Frye sets a new United States coast-to-coast record, carrying mail from Los Angeles to Newark. The journey is completed in 11 hours 31 min with a Douglas DC-1.

1933 – Lowe Wylde, designer and managing director of British Aircraft Company dies in the crash of a British Aircraft Company Drone during a demonstration at west Malling.

1930 – With the Latécoère 28 "Comte-de-la-Vaulx", Jean Mermoz complete the first south Transatlatic Postal flight from Saint-Louis, Senegal, to Natal, Brazil.

1927 – Colonial Air Transport offers a sightseeing trip from Teterboro, New Jersey, around New York City for just $8, less than the price of a similar trip in a taxi.

1923 – Birth of Donald Milton Sorlie, American test pilot who conducted test flights of the Northdrop M2-F2 lifting body.

1917 – Death of Julius Busa, Austro Hungarian WWI flying ace, shot down by Italian ace Francesco Baracca in a SPAD VII.

1913 – Sikorsky Russky Vityaz, the world’s first four-engined aircraft and the first aeroplane with a lavatory.

1912 – King George V of the United Kingdom approves the formation of the Royal Flying Corps.
1912 – A Flanders Monoplane crashed at Brooklands, Surrey, United Kingdom, killing the pilot and his passenger. The accident was investigated by the Royal Aero Club, which issued the first-ever report into an aviation accident and established the science of aviation accident investigation.

1911 – Jan Kašpar, Czech aviator, aircraft constructor, designer and engineer, flies from Pardubice to Velká Chuchle (121 km) in 92 min. At the time, it was the longest flight in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

1896 – Birth of Louis Marcel Germain Doret, (Marcel Doret), French raid Aviator, Test Pilot and Aerobatic pilot.

1894 – Birth of Elwyn Roy "Bo" King, Australian WWI fighter ace and instructor during WWII.

1883 – Birth of Charles Alexander Holcombe Longcroft, Britsh WWI pilot and squadron commander in the Royal Flying Corps who went on to become a senior commander in the Royal Air Force.

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