Aviation History

At 10.35am Orville Wright makes the first successful flight of the Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk, N.C. The aircraft travels 120 feet in 12 seconds. It is the first powered, manned, heavier-than-air, controlled flight. Later that day the Wright Flyer is destroyed after its fourth flight.

Alberto Santos-Dumont makes the first officially observed flight in Europe, nearly 200 feet in 6 seconds.

Glenn H. Curtiss makes the first official public flight in the Curtiss June Bug. The aircraft travels for over one mile.

Louis Bleriot of France in Bleriot XI, which he designed, makes first flight across the English Channel, 25 miles in 37 minutes.

Glenn H. Curtiss flies Hudson Flyer in record flight, 135.4 miles, from Albany to New York City, in 2 hours, 32 minutes.

Blanche Stuart Scott becomes the first American woman to fly solo (unofficial).

Bessica Faith Raiche becomes the first American woman to fly solo (official).

Eugene Ely takes off from the Decemberk of U.S. cruiser Birmingham at Hampton Roads, Va., in the first flight from the Decemberk of a ship.

Calbraith P. Rodgers in Wright Ex Vin Fiz makes first transcontinental flight, 4,231 miles, from Sheepshead Bay, Long Island, N.Y., to Long Beach, Calif., in 84 days and 70 hops; flying time, 82 hours, 14 minutes.

Earle L. Ovington in a Bleriot monoplane flies first officially sanctioned airmail in the U.S., from Hempstead to Mineola, Long Island, N.Y.

Anthony Januarynus in a Benoist flying boat begins world’s first scheduled airline service with heavier-than-air craft, from Tampa to St. Petersburg, Fla.

Robert Goddard is granted two U.S. patents for rockets using multi-stage designs, solid fuel, liquid fuel and multiple propellant charges.

U.S. Navy flying boat NC-4 makes first transatlantic flight, 4,526 miles, from Rockaway, N.Y., to Plymouth, England, via Newfoundland, Azores, Lisbon, Portugal, and other intermediate stops, in 53 hours, 58 minutes.

Capt. John Alcock and Lieut. A.W. Brown of Britain in a Vickers-Vimy bomber make first non-stop transatlantic flight, 1,920 miles, from Newfoundland to Ireland, in 16 hours, 12 minutes.

Captain Ross and Keith Smith and two crewmen in a Vickers-Vimy fly from Hounslow, England, to Darwin, Australia, 11,130 miles, in 27 days, 20 hours; flying time 124 hours.

First transcontinental mail service arrives in New York from San Francisco. The trip takes 33 hours and 20 minutes – nearly 3 days faster than rail service.

U.S. Army Air Service pilots in four De Havilland DH-4-B biplanes make New York Alaska flight and back, 9,329 miles, in 112 flying hours.

Lieutenants John A. Macready and Oakley G. Kelly fly a Fokker T-2 monoplane in the first non-stop transatlantic flight, 2,516 miles, from New York to San Diego, Calif. In 26 hours, 50 minutes, 3 seconds.

British Aviation Insurance Group is formed through the merger of White Cross and the Union Insurance Society of Canton, led by Captain Lamplugh and Lt Col. Rabagliati.

Two U.S. Army Douglas World Cruisers make first round the world flight, 26,345 miles, from Seattle, Wash., in 175 days, flying time 363 hours and 7 minutes.

Test pilot Paul King prepares to take to the air in a Vought VE-7, an advanced military training, observer, and fighter of WW1.

The Wasp, Pratt & Whitney’s first engine, is completed.

Robert Goddard launches the world’s first liquid propelled rocket. The rocket reaches an altitude of 41 feet and lands 184 feet away.

Lieut. Comdr. Richard E. Byrd and Floyd Bennett fly Fokker trimotor non-stop from Spitsbergen to North Pole and back, 1,545 miles, in 15 hours and 30 minutes.

Charles A. Lindbergh flies a Ryan monoplane, Spirit of St. Louis, in first non-stop solo flight, 3,600 miles, from New York City to Paris, 33hours and 30 minutes.

Clarence D. Chamberlain and Charles Levine in a Bellanca monoplane make first non-stop New York-Germany flight, 3,991 miles in 43 hours, 49 minutes and 33 seconds.

U.S. Army Air Corps pilots fly a Fokker C-2 trimotor across the Pacific, 2,407 miles, from Oakland, California to Honolulu, Hawaii, in 25 hours and 50 minutes.

Amelia Earhart in a Fokker trimotor Friendship is the first woman to fly the Atlantic as a passenger.

Chubb & Son and The Continental Corporation form Associated Aviation Underwriters.

The Graf Zeppelin accomplishes the first around-the-world flight by a dirigible.

Lieut. James H. Doolittle makes first demonstration of ‘blind’ flight, at Mitchel Field, N.Y.

Fritz Opel of Germany flies the first rocket-powered plane for 1 minute and 15 seconds.

Orville Wright is presented with the first Daniel Guggenheim Medal for Aeronautics.

Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow set a transcontinental speed record from Los Angeles to New York, 14 hours and 45 minutes.

Britain’s Frank Whittle designs and patents the first jet Engine.

British Aviation Insurance Group is formed into a new company, the British Aviation Insurance Company. Captain Lamplugh is the chief underwriter and principle surveyor.

Amelia Earhart in a Lockheed Vega monoplane makes the first transatlantic solo flight by a woman, 2,026 miles, from Harbour Grace, Newfoundland to Londonderry, Ireland in 15 hour and 18 minutes.

Wiley Post flies a Lockheed Vega monoplane Winnie Mae in first around-the-world solo flight, 15,596 miles in 11 stops, in 7 days, 8 hours, 49 minutes; flying time, 115 hours and 36 minutes.

Amelia Earhart makes first solo flight by a woman, from Hawaii to California.

The Hindenburg, the famous German, dirigible, is destroyed by fire while landing at Lakehurst, NJ. Thirty six people lost their lives.

Amelia Earhart is lost on route to Howland Island from Lae, New Guinea.

Germans fly Heinkel He-178, world’s first turbojet airplane, at Rockstock, Germany.

Igor Sikorsky lift the VS-300, the first helicopter, to a height of 3 feet for 10 seconds.

Robert M. Stanley flies first U.S. jet plane, Bell XP-59 Airacomet, at Muroc, California.

First successful flight of the V-2 rocket.

Charles (Chuck) E. Yeager breaks the ‘sound barrier’ in the bell X-1 rocket plane.

British Overseas Airways Corporation with De Havilland Comets begins the first turbojet airline service, between London and Johannesburg, South Africa.

The Russians launch Sputnik I, the first artificial earth satellite.

Sputnik II is launched carrying the dog Laika.

Pioneer 1: NASA’s first launch.

The USSR’s Luna 1 is launched and becomes the first first man-made object to escape earth and orbit the sun.

Pioneer 4:  first successful US flyby of the moon.

The USSR’s Luna 2 is launched and becomes the first human object to reach the moon.

Neil Armstrong flies the North American X-15, a rocket- powered research aircraft that bridges the gap between manned flight in the atmosphere and space flight.

Tiros 1: first weather satellite launched.

The USSR’s Venera 1 becomes the first spacecraft to fly by a planet.

Freedom 7: First US human (Alan Shepherd) space flight.

Friendship 7. Astronaut John Glenn, Jr. becomes the first American to orbit the earth.

First telephone conversation is relayed by satellite between the US and Europe.

North American rocket research plane X-15 penetrates outer space.

First flight of Boeing 727.

Marina 2: first successful planetary flyby (Venus).

First TV programme is transmitted by satellite.

Cosmonaut, Valentine Tereshkova, becomes the first woman to solo in space.

Jerrie Mock is the first woman to pilot a plane around-the-world successfully.

Alexei LeoNovember takes first walk in space.

Mariner 4: first flyby of Mars

The Lunar Orbiter is the first US spacecraft to orbit the Moon.

The first flight of the Harrier jet, built by British Aerospace.

X-15 sets speed record at 4,250 mph

Apollo 6: first human flight to orbit the moon (Frank Berman, James Lovell, and William Anders).

Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet revolutionises mass air transport.

The introduction of the B747 brought insured values to a new threshold. The B747 required a peak value of US$25 million. The founding members of BAIG are the first to rate and lead the insurance of the Jumbo Jet.

The first flight of Concorde.

Apollo 11: Neil Armstrong becomes the first human to set foot on the moon.

Venera 7 becomes the first craft to land on Venus.

Salyut 1 becomes the first manned space laboratory.

The Concorde makes its first transatlantic crossing.

First soft landing on Mars.

Skylab: Unmanned space station is launched.

Transatlantic speed record of 1 hour, 54 minutes and 56 seconds is set by USAF Lockheed SR-71.

Regular supersonic transport service begins with Concorde flights from Britain to Bahrain and from France to Brazil.

The man-powered aircraft Gossamer Condor successfully demonstrates sustained, manoeuvrable man-powered flight.

Double Eagle II: first balloon flight over the Atlantic Ocean.

Bryan Allen, who helped develop the first successful human-powered aircraft with Paul MacCready in 1977, pedals chain-driven Gossamer Albatross across the English Channel.

Januaryice Brown pilots Paul MacCready’s Gossamer Penguin, the first solar powered aircraft without battery stored energy, in a 15 minute test flight in California.

Solar Challenger: first solar powered plane flew.

Launch of STS-1, the first test flight of the Space Shuttle Columbia (John Young, Bob Crippen). The Mission is the first to employ both liquid and solid propellant rocket engines for the launch of a spacecraft carrying humans.

Solar Challenger flies 163 miles (262 km) across the English Channel from Paris to England.

Double Eagle V: First balloon flight over the Pacific Ocean.

Perot and Coburn of the US

STS-5, Space Shuttle Columbia, is launched on first operational mission. Astronauts deploy two commercial communication satellites.

Associated Aviation Underwriters introduces the VISTA programme. VISTA is the first insurance policy to reward good operators with reduced premiums.

Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, is the first craft to fly around the world without refuelling.

BAIC, Aviation and General, the London Aviation Insurance Group, the aviation offices of General Accident, the Commercial Union and the Eagle Star combine to form the British Aviation Insurance Group.

STS-31: the Hubble Space Telescope is deployed.

The test flight of Boeing 777; the first aircraft to be designed entirely on a computer.

The Global Positioning System, becomes fully operational.

Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones lift off from the Swiss alpine village of Chateau d’Oex in the Breitling Orbiter 3 balloon. After a 46,759 mile balloon flight which lasted 19 days, 21 hours and 55 minutes, the balloon achieves a non-stop round-the-world balloon flight.

British Aviation Insurance Group and Associated Aviation Underwriters merge to form Global Aerospace.

Steve Fossett, in the 180 foot tall ‘Spirit of Freedom’ balloon, circumnavigates the globe on his sixth try.

The first successful flight test of a hypersonic scramjet engine in Australia. This air-breathing scramjet engine, which burns hydrogen fuel, could theoretically power aircraft at Mach 8, for two hour transatlantic flights.

The Bell Augustusta 609, the world’s first civilian tiltrotor aircraft, rose vertically for the first time from Bell Textron’s Flight Research Centre in Arlington, Texas.

Pratt & Whitney announces the completion of Mach 4.5 ground testing on the world’s first flight weight, hydrocarbon-fuelled, scramjet engine.

100^th Anniversary of Flight.

Steve Fossett completed first solo non-stop flight around-the-world without refuelling. The 19,880 mile voyage took 67 hours and 22 minutes