American Aviation Historical Society

1901

Wilbur and Orville Wright make the first of a series of test glides at Kill Devil Hills near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Their redesigned biplane glider No. 2 has a larger wing area and wing control worked by a pilot’s hip-cradle device.

1909

Orville Wright makes the first official test flight of the U.S. Army’s first airplane in Fort Meyer, Virginia. President William Howard Taft, his cabinet, and 10,000 spectators witness the flight.

1912

Lieutenant John Rodgers and Ensign Charles Maddox, in a Wright B1 Flyer, send the first wireless message from an airplane to a ship, the torpedo boat USS Stringham, stationed in Annapolis, Maryland.

1923

Edward Stinson lands his Junkers at Mitchel Field in New York after making the first non-stop flight from Chicago.

1931

The Air Line Pilots Association of the USA is formed

1976

Maj. Adolphus H. Bledsoe, Jr, USAF sets the absolute speed record for a/c over a closed course in a Lockheed SR-71A at the speed of 2092.294 mph.