Today In History:  06 October  [1976]   --  Cuban DC-8 is destroyed by two bombs, placed on board by an anti-Castro group.

Cubana de Aviación Flight 455 was a Cuban flight from Barbados to Jamaica that was brought down by a terrorist bomb attack. All 73 people on board the Douglas DC-8 aircraft were killed after two time bombs went off and the plane crashed into the sea. The crash killed every member of the Cuban national fencing team.

Several CIA-linked anti-Castro Cuban exiles, among them Rafael De Jesus Gutierrez, a Cuban intelligence officer of the Batista regime turned CIA spy after the Cuban revolution, were implicated by the evidence.

PHOTO: CU-T1201, the aircraft involved in the incident (seen in Madrid).

See the Historical Aviation Film Unit website at http://www.aviationfilm.com to get a new history tidbit every day.


Photo Attribution:  GFDL 1.2  via Wikimedia. Clint Groves - https://www.airlinefan.com/airline-photos/Cubana/Douglas/DC-8-40/CU-T1201/1511399/

Today In History:  05 October  [1948]   --  First flight of the Westland WS-51 Dragonfly

The Dragonfly helicopter was built by Westland Aircraft and was an Anglicised licence-built version of the American Sikorsky S-51.

A total of seventy-two Dragonflys entered service with the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy in the training, air-sea rescue and communications roles. The first unit to be equipped with them was 705 Naval Air Squadron, which is believed to be the first all-helicopter squadron to be formed outside of the United States. The Dragonfly was the first British-built helicopter to be used by the navy and the first to operate from a British ship in trials on RFA Fort Duquesne in 1951. A Dragonfly led the helicopter section of the flypast at the Coronation Review of the Fleet in 1953.

PHOTO: Westland WS-51 Dragonfly HR.3 WG723 of 706 Squadron Royal Navy in 1955

See the Historical Aviation Film Unit website at http://www.aviationfilm.com to get a new history tidbit every day.


Photo Attribution:  CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia. RuthAS

Today In History:  04 October  [1918]   --  An accidental explosion kills more than 100 people in New Jersey.

An explosion kills more than 100 people and destroys a Shell Loading Plant in New Jersey.

The T. A. Gillespie Company Shell Loading Plant explosion, began at 7:36 pm EDT on Friday, October 4, 1918, at an ammunition plant. The initial explosion, generally believed to be accidental, triggered a fire and subsequent series of explosions that continued for three days, totaling approximately six kilotons, killing about 100 people and injuring hundreds more. The facility, one of the largest in the world at the time, was destroyed along with more than 300 surrounding buildings. Over a century later, explosive debris continues to surface regularly across a 1.2-mile (1.9 km) radius.

PHOTO: Man standing in a large crater from the explosion of 1 million pounds (0.5 kiloton) of stored ammonium nitrate.

See the Historical Aviation Film Unit website at http://www.aviationfilm.com to get a new history tidbit every day.


Photo Attribution:  Public Domain via Wikimedia.

Today In History:  03 October  [1985]   --  The Space Shuttle Atlantis makes its maiden flight.

Atlantis was manufactured by the Rockwell International company in Southern California and was delivered to the Kennedy Space Center in Eastern Florida in April 1985. Atlantis was the fourth operational and the second-to-last Space Shuttle built.
Atlantis is named after RV Atlantis, a two-masted sailing ship that operated as the primary research vessel for the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution from 1930 to 1966. The space shuttle is now on display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.

PHOTO: Atlantis heads toward Earth orbit at the beginning of STS-132

See the Historical Aviation Film Unit website at http://www.aviationfilm.com to get a new history tidbit every day.


Photo Attribution:  Public Domain via Wikimedia.

Today In History:  02 October  [1940]   --  The first ground-radar-controlled aerial victory at night

The first aerial victory using ground controlled radar at night takes place as the Luftwaffe's dunkele Nachtjagd ("dark nightfighting," abbreviated as Dunaja) technique – in which ground-based radar is used to control night fighters until they come within visual range of a target – has its first success. A Freya radar is used to coach the Dornier Do 17Z-10 night fighter pilot to within visual range of a British Vickers Wellington bomber over the Netherlands, allowing him to shoot it down.

PHOTO: The Do 17Z was the most produced variant of the Do 17 series

See the Historical Aviation Film Unit website at http://www.aviationfilm.com to get a new history tidbit every day.


Photo Attribution:  CC BY-SA 3.0 de  via Wikimedia.

Today In History:  01 October  [1910]   --  The first mid-air collision takes place near Milan, Italy.

The first mid-air collision takes place near Milan (Italy) between an Antoinette monoplane and a Farman biplane. The Antoinette monoplane, piloted by René Thomas of France, rammed Dickson's Farman and both pilots were injured in the crash. Although Dickson survived, he never fully recovered from his injuries, which contributed to his early death on 28 September 1913.

PHOTO: Artist's impression of the collision from Popular Mechanics (magazine), January 1911

See the Historical Aviation Film Unit website at http://www.aviationfilm.com to get a new history tidbit every day.


Photo Attribution:  Popular Mechanics magazine illustrator Artist - Popular Mechanics, January 1911, page 91.   Public Domain  via Wikimedia.

Today In History:  30 September  [1942]   --  The RAF 'Eagle Squadron' is transferred to the US Army Air Force.

The Eagle Squadrons (American volunteers in the Royal Air Force) are officially transferred to the US Army Air Force.

The Eagle Squadrons were three fighter squadrons of the RAF formed with volunteer pilots from the USA during the early days of World War II, prior to America's entry into the war in December 1941. With the US still neutral, many Americans simply crossed the border and joined the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) to learn to fly and fight. Many early recruits had originally gone to Europe to fight for Finland against the Soviet Union in the Winter War.

PHOTO: American pilots of No 71 'Eagle' Squadron rush to their Hawker Hurricanes at Kirton-in-Lindsey, 17 March 1941.

See the Historical Aviation Film Unit website at http://www.aviationfilm.com to get a new history tidbit every day.


Photo Attribution:  Public Domain via Wikimedia.

Today In History:  29 September  [1954]   --  First flight of the McDonnell F-101 Voodoo

The F-101 Voodoo jet fighter prototype makes its first flight, flown by test pilot Robert C. Little. An advanced design of the XF-88, the Voodoo goes supersonic on its first flight. 807 Voodoo would eventually be built.

The Voodoo's career as a fighter-bomber was relatively brief, but the reconnaissance versions served for some time. Along with the US Air Force's Lockheed U-2 and US Navy's Vought RF-8 Crusaders, the RF-101 reconnaissance variant of the Voodoo was instrumental during the Cuban Missile Crisis and saw extensive service during the Vietnam War.

PHOTO: A U.S. Air National Guard McDonnell F-101B Voodoo aircraft banking in flight in 1978. The aircraft was assigned to the 107th Fighter Interceptor Group, New York Air National Guard, at Niagara Falls Air Base, New York (USA).

See the Historical Aviation Film Unit website at http://www.aviationfilm.com to get a new history tidbit every day.


Photo Attribution:  Public Domain via Wikimedia.

Today In History:  28 September  [1939]   --  Bell YFM-1 Airacuda makes it's first flight.

The Airacuda was an American heavy fighter aircraft, developed by the Bell Aircraft Corporation during the mid-1930s. It was the first military aircraft produced by Bell. Originally designated the Bell Model 1, the Airacuda first flew on 1 September 1937. The Airacuda was marked by bold design advances and considerable flaws that eventually grounded the aircraft.

The Airacuda was Bell Aircraft's answer for a "bomber destroyer" aircraft. Although it did see limited production, and one fully operational squadron was eventually formed, only one prototype and 12 production models were ultimately built, in three slightly different versions.

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This article uses some material and information from Wikipedia.

PHOTO: Bell XFM-1 Airacuda in flight

See the Historical Aviation Film Unit website at http://www.aviationfilm.com to get a new history tidbit every day.


Photo Attribution:  Public Domain via Wikimedia.

Today In History:  27 September  [1964]   --  The British TSR-2 aircraft XR219 makes its maiden flight.

The BAC TSR-2 was a Cold War strike and reconnaissance aircraft developed by BAC for the RAF in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It was designed around both conventional and nuclear weapons delivery and was expected to penetrate well-defended frontline areas at low altitudes and very high speeds, and then attack high-value targets in rear areas.
Only one airframe flew and test flights and weight-rise during design indicated that the aircraft would be unable to meet its original stringent design specifications. The TSR-2 was the victim of ever-rising costs and inter-service squabbling over Britain's future defence needs, which together led to the controversial decision in 1965 to scrap the programme.

PHOTO: The prototype BAC TSR-2 at Warton plant and airfield in 1966. This was the only example to fly.

See the Historical Aviation Film Unit website at http://www.aviationfilm.com to get a new history tidbit every day.


Photo Attribution:  CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia.  RuthAS