Below is a sample time line of some important dates in aviation history.
|
1500 |
Leonardo da Vinci develops many ideas and drawings on how a person might fly. |
|
1783 |
Montgolfier Hot Air Balloon carries 2 men 5 miles. |
|
1903 |
The Wright Brothers launch the first powered flight at Kill Devil Hills in North Carolina. Their aircraft is called the Flyer. The Wright Brothers are from Ohio. |
|
1909 |
J.D. McCurdy makes the first powered flight in Canada, flying the Silver Dart at Baddeck, Nova Scotia. |
|
1911 |
Eugene Ely becomes the first person to land an aircraft on a ship, landing on the U.S.S. Pennsylvania. Ely also made the first takeoff a year earlier from the U.S.S. Birmingham. |
|
1914-1918 |
WWI During the war many developments made throughout aviation and aircraft become an important part of the military. Canadians fight in “The Great War” with courage and honor. Two names stand out in a field of distinguished men, they are: |
|
1917 |
Billy Bishop wins the Victoria Cross for Bravery. He will finish the war with 72 victories in Aerial Combat , the top ranking Allied ace. |
|
1918 |
Roy Brown shoots Baron Von Richthofen (The Red Baron) down. |
|
1919 |
Alcock and Brown complete the first non-stop flight across the Atlantic. They depart St.John’s Newfoundland and land in Ireland. They use a modified Vickers Vimy bomber to make the flight. |
|
1922 |
The U.S. Navy commissions the first Aircraft Carrier, the U.S.S. Langley. |
|
1924 |
The Royal Canadian Air force is formed. (1999 is the 75th Anniversary of it’s formation). |
|
1927 |
Charles Lindbergh completes the first solo Trans-Atlantic flight. Lindbergh used Halifax, N.S. and St. John’s, Nfld. as navigation points. |
|
1928 |
Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to cross the Atlantic. She would later fly the Atlantic solo in 1932, becoming the first woman to do so. |
|
1930 |
J. Erroll Boyd becomes the first Canadian to fly across the Atlantic in a Bellanca, named “Mapleleaf”. |
|
1935 |
First Flight of the Canso flying boat. |
|
1937 |
The Hindenburg is lost in an accident at Lakehurst, New Jersey. The accident is looked upon, by many, as the end of the Airship era. |
|
1937 |
Amelia Earheart disappears over the Pacific. |
|
1937 |
First Flight of a Harvard. |
|
1939-1945 |
World War II. Again, Canadians serve with great distinction and honor. As before the war accelerates the development of aircraft. |
|
1939 |
Trans-Canada Airlines, forerunner of Air Canada starts first Trans-Continental service. |
|
1939 |
Germans test fly the world’s first Jet aircraft. |
|
1940 |
Canada becomes the Center of the Empire Air Training Plan. Many Commonwealth pilots are trained here in Canada. |
|
1945 |
Air power delivers the only nuclear bombs ever dropped, in anger. Hopefully there will never be another. |
|
1947 |
Chuck Yeager breaks the sound barrier. |
|
1947 |
First flight of the F-86 Sabre. |
|
1948 |
First flight of a T-33. |
|
1950 |
First Flight of the CF-100 Canuck. |
|
1950-53 |
Korean War. Some Canadian pilots score the last Air to Air victories. Flt. Lt. O. Levesque becomes the last Canadian Ace. |
|
1953 |
Jackie Cochran pilots a Canadian built Sabre Mk3 to a new woman’s world speed record. |
|
1954 |
First flight of an F-101 Voodoo. |
|
1954 |
First flight of an F-104 Starfighter. |
|
1957 |
First flight of the Argus. |
|
1958 |
First flight of the Avro Arrow. |
|
1961 |
First man, Yuri Gagarin, flies in space. |
|
1963 |
First flight of the F-5 Freedom Fighter. |
|
1969 |
First flight of the Concord. |
|
1969 |
Neil Armstrong becomes the first man to walk on the moon. |
|
1974 |
The SR-71 Blackbird sets the world speed record by flying across the Atlantic in 1 hour, 55 minutes, 42 seconds. |
|
1978 |
First Balloon flight across the Atlantic. |
|
1978 |
First flight of the F-18 Hornet. |
|
1981 |
First space shuttle flight. |
|
1984 |
Marc Garneau becomes the first Canadian in space. |
|
1987 |
First flight of the EH-101 helicopter. |
|
1990-91 |
Desert Shield/Desert Storm. The Gulfwar. Canada sends CF-18′s into combat for the first time in 40 years. |
|
1998 |
Swiss Air 111 crashes off Peggy’s Cove, killing all passengers and crew. |
|
1999 |
First flight of a hot air balloon around the world. |
|
1999 |
NATO forces, including CF-18′s, drop bombs in order to intervene in the killings in Koskvo |
|
1999 |
Koskvar refugees are airlifted to Canada and landed at CFB Greenwood in Atlantic Canada. |
