Today In History:  27 August  [1939]   --  First flight made entirely with turbojet power

First flight made entirely on turbojet power is made by Erich Warsitz in the Heinkel He 178. This flight only lasted for six minutes, and due to its performance limitations (e.g. max speed of 598 km/h (372 mph) and its relatively small endurance) the aircraft failed to impress Nazi officials Ernst Udet and Erhard Milch, who attended a demonstration flight.
PHOTO: The He 178 drawing board design

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Photo Attribution:  CC BY-SA 3.0 de via Wikimedia. Bundesarchiv, Bild 141-2505 / CC-BY-SA 3.0

Today In History:  26 August  [1939]   --  The Messerschmitt Me 209 sets a new world speed record

The Messerschmitt Me 209 V1 sets a new world speed record of 755 km/h (469 mph), not officially broken by another piston-engined aircraft until 1969.

The first Messerschmitt Me 209 was a single-engine racing aircraft which was designed for and succeeded at breaking speed records. This Me 209 was a completely new aircraft whose designation was used by Messerschmitt as a propaganda tool. Although the aircraft was designed only to break speed records, it was hoped that its name would associate it with the Bf 109 already in combat service. The '209' designation was later reused for the actual proposed successor to the Bf 109.

PHOTO: ME 209

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Photo Attribution:  Public Domain  via Wikimedia.

Today In History:  25 August  [1932]   --  First transcontinental non-stop flight by a woman

Earhart became the first woman to fly across the U.S. nonstop when she piloted her Lockheed Vega 5B from Los Angeles to Newark in a record 19 hours and 5 minutes. The 3,986-kilometer (2,477-mile) flight set an official U.S record for women’s distance and time.

PHOTO: The Lockheed Vega 5B NC7952 used by aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart for her solo transatlantic crossing on 20-21 May 1932. This aircraft is on display at the U.S. National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. (USA).

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Photo Attribution:  Public Domain  via Wikimedia.

Today In History:  24 August  [1939]   --  The RAF prepares for an air war with Germany

The Royal Air Force forms the Advanced Air Striking Force. Initially consisting of 10 squadrons of Fairey Battle bombers, its mission is to deploy to France in the event of war with Germany and strike targets in Germany from French bases.

PHOTO: Fairey Battle, K7650/63-M, of No. 63 Squadron, RAF Benson, November 1939. No. 63 was the first operational squadron to be equipped with the type.

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Photo Attribution:  Public Domain  via Wikimedia.

Today In History:  23 August  [1943]   --  Luftwaffe bombers attack the harbor at Palermo, Sicily

About 20 German Junkers Ju 88 bombersof Kampfgeschwader 76 attack the harbor at Palermo, Sicily, damaging several ships.  The Ju 88 was originally designed in the mid-1930s as a Schnellbomber ("fast bomber") that would be too fast for fighters to intercept. It suffered from technical problems during its development and early operational periods but became one of the most versatile combat aircraft of the war. Like a number of other Luftwaffe bombers, it served as a bomber, dive bomber, night fighter, torpedo bomber, reconnaissance aircraft, heavy fighter and at the end of the war, as a flying bomb.

PHOTO: Ju 88 preparing for take off, Tunisia, c. 1942–43.   Bundesarchiv, Bild 101I-421-2069-14 / Ketelhohn (t) / CC-BY-SA 3.0

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

Today In History:  22 August  [1922]   --  The Vickers Type 56 Victoria protoype flies for the first time

The Victoria was a twin-engined biplane troop and freight transport with a conventional landing gear with a tailskid. The design mated a similar fuselage of the earlier Vernon transport with the wing of the Virginia bomber, which was developed in parallel. It was also powered by two Napier Lion engines. The enclosed cabin had room for 24 troops on collapsible canvas seats arranged along the sides of the fuselage.

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Photo Attribution:  Public Domain  via Wikimedia.

Today In History:  21 August  [1944]   --  First flight of the prototype of the Grumman F8F Bearcat

The first of two Grumman XF8F-1 Bearcat prototypes made its first flight at Bethpage, New York, with Grumman test pilot Robert Leicester Hall at the controls. The Bearcat was a light-weight high performance interceptor, designed to operate from the U.S. Navy's smaller aircraft carriers. It used an air-cooled, supercharged, 2,804.4-cubic-inch-displacement (45.956 liter) Pratt & Whitney Double Wasp 2SC13-G (R-2800-22) two-row, 18-cylinder radial engine, an uprated version of the engine used in its predecessor, the Grumman F6F Hellcat.

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Photo Attribution:  Public Domain  via Wikimedia.

Today In History:  20 August  [1947]   --  Skystreak sets new aircraft speed

Conceived as a joint NACA/US Navy research program for transonic and supersonic flight, Turner Caldwell uses the Douglas Skystreak D-558-I to set a new aircraft speed record of 1131 km/h (640.744 mph).   This was recognised as an official world air speed record, as the WW2 German Me 163B V18 Komet rocket fighter prototype that was claimed to have reached 1,130 km/h (702 mph; 610 kn) in July 1944 did so in secrecy and not under the strict conditions that regulate official records.

PHOTO: A 1952 NACA High-Speed Flight Research Station inflight photograph of the Douglas D-558-1 #3 Skystreak. Even with partial cloud cover the white aircraft is easy to see.

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Photo Attribution:  Public Domain  via Wikimedia.

Today In History:  19 August  [1960]   --  The first mid-air recovery of a re-entry capsule

The recovery by a C-119 of film from a mission code-named 'Discoverer 14' was the first successful recovery of film from an orbiting satellite and the first aerial recovery of an object returning from Earth orbit.

PHOTO: A U.S. Air Force Fairchild C-119B-10-FA Flying Boxcar (s/n 49-102) of the 314th Troop Carrier Group in 1952

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Photo Attribution:  Public Domain  via Wikimedia. U.S. Air Force - Official U.S. Air Force photo 021001-O-9999G-016

Today In History:  18 August  [1940]   --  'The Hardest Day' in the Battle of Britain

The German Luftwaffe made an all-out effort to destroy RAF Fighter Command, and the air battles that took place todaywere amongst the largest aerial engagements in history to that time. Both side lose more aircraft combined on this day than at any other point during the campaign,  without the Luftwaffe achieving dominance over RAF Fighter Command. The Hardest Day

PHOTO: The Messerschmitt Bf 110 - one of the types of aircraft used by the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain.

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Photo Attribution:  Public Domain CC BY-SA 3.0