American Aviation Historical Society

1912

Bob Fowler flies from Los Angeles to Jacksonville, Florida. The west to east coast-to-coast journey has taken four months to complete.

1923

First droppable auxiliary fuel tank - A jettisonable auxiliary belly tank fitted to the bomb rack of a Thomas-Morse MB-3A at Selfridge Field increased its flying radius to about 400 miles.

1923

The great aeronautical pioneer Igor Sikorsky sets up the Sikorsky Aero Engineering Corp. in the United States with the financial help of several important leading figures, including Sergey Rachmaninoff. Sikorsky left Russia in 1917 when revolution threatened his work and his life.

1953

The prototype Bell XHSL-1 antisubmarine warfare helicopter makes its first hovering flight at Ft. Worth, TX. The aircraft is powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-2800 2400HP radial engine driving tandem rotors.

1962

A Convair B-58 serial no. (59-2458) of the Forty-third Bombardment Wing breaks three records during a round trip between New York and Los Angeles in 4 hours 41 minutes 14.98 seconds. The fastest trans-continental crossing between Los Angeles and New York is accomplished in 2 hours 58.71 seconds at an average speed of 1,214.65 mph. The third record notches the fastest time between New York and Los Angeles.

1966

First free flight of Lockheed D-21, a Mach 3+ reconnaissance drone