March 12

2011 --  Air  travellers'  fear of being flown by a fake commander is getting even bigger by the day. The Indian Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) detected yet another pilot, Captain J K Verma working with national carrier AirIndia, who had became commander by allegedly faking mark sheets.

2011 -- Riad Kahwaji,¹  the founder and Chief Executive Office of the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis (INEGMA),  explains why he believes a joint Arab force could better enforce a Libya No-Fly-Zone.

2011 -- One man died and another was hospitalised  after a light aircraft crashed in a field near Swansea, south Wales.

2011 -- The Greater Rochester International Airport was shut down for about three hours on Saturday morning after a customer told a ticket agent that he had a bomb in one of his bags.

2011 -- NASA Map: Earthquake and Tsunami near Sendai, Japan

2011 -- U.S. aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan arrived off the coast of Japan early today to provide logistic support for disaster relief efforts led by the Japan Self-Defence Force after an earthquake and tsunami hit the country.  apan had so far asked the carrier to provide refuelling operations for its helicopters and to assist in the transportation of its troops to affected areas

2010 -- The U.S. Air Force announced that next year it will begin replacing 10 C-5 Galaxy aircraft with eight C-17s at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

The USAF anticipates that the first four C-17s will arrive at the Air Force Reserve Command unit in fiscal 2011 after five of the C-5s are retired from service. Four more C-17s will be delivered in FY 2012 after the remaining C-5s are retired.

2010 -- The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration issued an airworthiness directive (AD) requiring operators of the Airbus A320 family to update software in their traffic collision avoidance systems (TCAS) following two near-mid-air collisions.

According to the directive, FAA estimates this work will cost U.S. operators about $8.3 million, or $14,800 per aircraft.

2010 -- The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has issued an emergency airworthiness directive demanding that airlines check a mechanism that controls tail flaps on about 600 Boeing 737s.

The directive concerns flaps on the horizontal tails of the jets. On March 2, a Ryanair 737-800 en route from the Netherlands to Madrid, Spain, experienced severe vibrations in flight and had to make an unscheduled landing in Belgium.

Inspection afterward found "extensive damage" to the left elevator, which is a movable flap on the horizontal tail that controls the pitch of the airplane, up or down.

The agency says some of the jets must be inspected within 12 days, and the rest within 30 days. FAA spokesman Allen Kenitzer said about half the affected airplanes are operating in the U.S.

2010 -- LAN one of the leading airlines in Latin America, today reported its preliminary monthly traffic statistics and punctuality indicators for February 2010.

2008 –- Southwest Airlines grounds 44 aircraft for inspections, days after the FAA alleged that Southwest allowed 117 of its aircraft to fly carrying passengers despite the fact that the planes were "not airworthy" according to air safety investigators.

In some cases the planes were allowed to fly for up to 30 months after the inspection deadlines had passed, rendering them unfit to fly. Records indicate that thousands of passengers were flown on aircraft deemed unsafe by federal standards. The FAA claimed that Southwest Airlines flew almost 60,000 flights without fuselage inspection. There were rumors that the FAA knew about Southwest Airlines violations but decided not to fine the airline because it would disrupt the service of Southwest

2007 –- Continental Airlines increases their Boeing 787 order from 20 to 25, adding five of the 787-9 series.

1993 -- General Dynamics' Military Aircraft Division is acquired by Lockheed in a $1.525 billion deal, which includes the highly successful F16 fighter.

1980 –- A pair of B-52 Stratofortress aircraft make an around-the-world nonstop trip in 42.5 hours.

1979 –- Atlantic Southeast Airlines is founded.

1975 –- An Air Vietnam Douglas DC-4 (XV-NUJ) is shot down by a surface-to-air missile in Pleiku, Vietnam, killing all 26 aboard.

1970 -- U.S. Vice President Spiro T. Agnew gave Harmon International Trophies to Maj. Jerault R. Gentry, an Air Force Flight Test Center pilot and to Col. Frank Borman, James A. Lovell Jr and Lt. Col. William A. Anders, the Apollo VIII crewmen.

1969 -- First flight  supersonic aircraft, the Concorde.

1962 -- The British Air Minister announces that arrangements have been made for No.38 Group, Transport Command, to operate with English Electric Canberras and reconnaissance aircraft.

Two squadrons of Hawker Hunter fighter/ground-attack aircraft had already been transferred from Fighter Command to No.38 Group in January 1962.

1959 -- First flight of conventional braced high-wing monoplane Aero Boero AB.95/115/180.

1956 -- The first B-52B bombers entered operational duty with the 93rd Heavy Bombardment Wing at Castle Air Force Base in California.

Nicknamed the Stratofortress, the B-52 was built by Boeing as a replacement for the Convair B-36 Peacemaker, the largest American bomber ever produced.

Unfortunately, the B-52's early operations were plagued by problems. The aircraft's fuel system was prone to leaking and icing, the bombing and fire controls were unreliable, and the Pratt & Whitney J57 engines required frequent service. To minimize maintenance problems, the USAF staffed Castle AFB with a Sky Speed team of 50 maintenance contractors. Still, routine checks took as long as one week per aircraft.

Built at the then-sizable cost of $8 million, the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress soon captured the attention of critics. Even before first B-52s became operational in March of 1956, a Stratofortress had exploded in mid-air, killing five crew members. Called before Congress, SAC commander General Curtis LeMay testified that a "serious component failure" with an alternator flywheel had caused the crash - and led the Air Force to reject 31 of the first 78 B-52s that Boeing built. Several months later, a second B-52 exploded in-flight, this time because of a problem with the aircraft's electrical system. When the USAF grounded its entire fleet of the B-52s, an Air Force spokesman admitted that he had "no idea" how long the grounding would stay in effect. Problems were addressed, however, and the B-52 Stratofortress became airborne again.

1955 -- First flight general-purpose helicopter Aerospatiale (Eurocopter) SA 313/315 Alouette II/Lama.

First flown as the Sud-Aviation SE 3130, the Alouette II became the SA 313 under Aerospatiale. License-built in Brazil by Helibras as the Gaviao, in India by HAL as the Cheetah, and in Romania by IAR-Brazov.

1953 -- Seven airmen are killed when the Avro Lincoln B2 they are flying in, RF531, is shot down by a Soviet fighter in the Berlin air corridor. The aircraft, from the RAF Central Gunnery School, was on a training flight.

The only RAF aircraft ever acknowledged to have been shot down by Soviet aircraft. Avro Lincoln, RF531, from the Central Gunnery School (CGS) at Leconfield in Yorkshire. Two routine NATO liaison sorties were scheduled for the Lincoln’s of the CGS. These regular fortnightly training flights over Europe provided radar tracking and fighter affiliation training for both RAF and Allied forces and were a realistic simulation of a 6/7 hour high-level operational sortie, particularly for the trainee gunners.

During its transit the aircraft was attacked numerous times by Thunderjets of the Dutch Air Force, Belgian Meteors and RAF Vampires. However, as the aircraft neared Kassel, still well inside the British Zone, two MIG 15’s suddenly appeared from underneath the aircraft on the port beam. After visually inspecting the aircraft, the 2 MIG’s peeled away and then conducted a series of high quarter approaches, as if they were about to attack the aircraft, without opening fire – all this was recorded on the cine-cameras attached to the Lincoln’s guns. To ensure the proximity of the Lincoln to the border of the Russian Zone did not provoke further attacks, the Lincoln was turned from a northerly onto a westerly heading and eventually returned safely to Leconfield.

Some 2 hours later a second Lincoln (RF531) captained by FS TJ Dunnell with Sqn Ldr H J Fitz, the new CO of 3 Sqn along for a familiarisation sortie as co-pilot. At 13.20hrs, as the aircraft was entering the 20-mile wide air corridor from Hamburg to Berlin, it was attacked by 2 MIG 15’s that opened fire without warning. The Lincoln went down in a steep dive, followed by the MIG’s who continued to pour fire into the crippled aircraft. The aircraft’s starboard wing caught fire and it began to break up in mid-air. The main body of the aircraft crashed into a wood near Bolzenburg, 3 miles inside the Russian Zone, with 4 of the crew still in the wreckage. The remainder of the aircraft fell to ground near Bleckede, on the edge of Luneburg Heath 15 miles SE of Hamburg, inside the British Zone. Three of the crew managed to bail out of the doomed plane, but one of the parachutes failed to open. The 2 other crewmembers landed (one in the British Zone) but both died of their wounds and other injuries. A number of German eyewitnesses confirmed that MIG’s had been responsible for the attack on the aircraft and suggested that one of the fighters had also attacked the descending parachutists – this would explain certain features of the medical reports on the deceased.

The Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, described the incident in the House of Commons as "wanton attack" and a strong note of protest was delivered to the Russians. The Russians replied by claiming that the Lincoln crew had fired first. However, it was soon pointed out that on these training sorties the belt mechanisms were removed from the cannons in the mid-upper turret and the rear turret carried no ammunition. The Russians eventually expressed regret over the death of the 7-crew members and returned their bodies and the wreckage to RAF Celle shortly after the incident.

The Russians were particularly aggressive during this period. A week earlier a USAF F-84 Thunderjet had been shot down by MIG’s luckily the pilot managed to eject safely. A week later a BEA Viking was attacked by MIG’s while on a scheduled flight in the Berlin Air Corridor. Two weeks later an American B-50, allegedly on a routine Met flight, was also attacked by MIG’s, but drove them off with cannon fire. For several weeks all NATO aircraft flying near the East German border operated on a fully-armed fire back basis, until the crisis had gradually died down.

1950 -- An Avro Tudor V (G-AKBY) crashes.

The crash, which at the time was the worst in the history of civil aviation, happened just 60 yards from the outskirts of the Llandow (Glamorgan) aerodrome, killing 80 people. The plane was carrying 78 Welsh rugby fans fresh from celebrating a 6-3 victory over Ireland in Dublin, which had given Wales their first Triple Crown for 39 years. There were 5 crew.

1948 –- Northwest Airlines Flight 4422, a Douglas DC-4 (NC95422) returning to the United States from Shanghai, China, crashes into Mount Sanford in Alaska, killing all 30 on-board.

Though the crash was witnessed by several locals, it became buried in snow and lost for near half a century. Removal of wreckage was only allowed by Parks Departments officials in 1999, and remains found of one passenger was also found and positively identified through DNA testing.

1932 -- New landing aids are installed in Newark, New Jersey, U.S.A., to supplement the night landing facilities already in existence there.

This was busiest airport in the world. In 1930 alone there were some 28,000 landings and the airport handled 20,000 passengers.

1921 -- 12-20 A conference is called in Cairo to review existing policy and future proposals for the maintenance of British control in the Middle East Mandates. Air Staff proposals to adopt a policy of air control, the assumption of responsibility for the defence of a particular region by the Air Ministry, in Mesopotamia to establish the desirability of maintaining the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a separate air arm are approved.

The Secretary of State for the Colonies and Air was Winston Churchill.

1918 -- 12-20 This period is marked by greatly intensified air operations on the part of the Luftstreitkräfte (the German Army Air Corps), enabling it to gain air superiority on the Somme sector. Over the Somme, 730 German aircraft, including 326 fighters, are opposed by 579 Royal Flying Corps aircraft, which include 261 fighters.

1918 -- Royal Flying Corps Capt. John Stanley Chick achieved numbers 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 of his 16 aerial victories.

1918 -- 2nd Lt. Percy Douglas became an Ace in a day.

1918 -- Canadian Ace (33 victories) Royal Flying Corps Capt. Frank Granger Quigley, flying the Sopwith Camel, shot down enemies number 28, 29, and 30.

1918 -- Oberleutnant Lothar Freiherr von Richthofen scored his 28th and 29th kills.

1917 -- RFC pilot James McCudden wins the Military Cross.

McCudden becomes the most highly decorated British Empire Pilot of WWI, and at 57 confirmed victories, he was one of the highest scoring British aces.

1915 -- A Burgess H biplane (No. 28) sets a world endurance record for a pilot and two passengers by remaining in the air for 7 hours 5 minutes.

This particular airplane has been modified by Grover C. Loening at the army training school in San Diego, California, U.S.A.

1912 -- The French Service de l’Aéronautique de la Marine is formed.

1908 -- The first flight of the first airplane built by the U.S. Aerial Experiment Association takes place when Thomas Baldwin flies the Red Wing (Aerodrome No.1). The flight of the biplane ends in a crash landing.

Glenn Curtiss watched. Curtiss's first aeroplane ride won't take place for another two months.

1907 -- A camera-carrying space rocket patent was issued to Alfred Maul, a German engineer. It could also carry scientific instruments and return safely.

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¹  Riad Kahwaji is the founder and Chief Executive Office of the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis (INEGMA). He is also the Middle East Bureau Chief for Defense News, a leading international defense publication based in Virginia, USA. He worked for Jane's Defense Weekly as Middle East Correspondent from 1999 to 2001. He also contributed on regular basis to various Jane's publications like Jane's Intelligence Review and Jane's Sentinel and Jane's Islamic Affairs Analyst. In his career as a professional journalist that started in 1988, Riad has worked at various regional and international news organizations like the Associated Press, the BBC World Service, and the Middle East Broadcasting Center (MBC). 

Over the past five years, Riad has become more involved in security and defense analysis and research as well as conferencing. He was the lead Organizer and Master of Ceremony at three major international Defense conferences: The Middle East Special Operations Commanders, in Amman, in April 2004; The Middle East Air Chiefs' Conference in Dubai in 2003; and Special Operations Conference in Amman, 2002. He was speaker and moderator at various regional and international conferences on Middle East affairs. He is also Editor of INEGMA's quarterly Political and Security Brief. Riad Kahwaji has an MA degree in War Studies from King's College, the University of London, UK, and a BA in Mass Communication from Phillips University, Oklahoma, USA. He has a dual nationality, Lebanese and British. He is married and has two daughters.

He published many defense analysis articles in Al-Hayat newspaper and professional periodicals. His published work:

March 11

2011 -- Virgin forced to pay £300,000 for massage injuries.  Two former beauty therapists have won £300,430 in compensation from Virgin Atlantic after developing repetitive strain injuries while giving frequent massages to first class air passengers.

2011 -- Fifty-six pilots working for Indian airlines have failed alcohol tests in the last two years, according to a list issued by the civil aviation ministry.  The list of pilots was issued a day after two pilots were found flying passenger planes with forged qualifications, deepening concerns about safety on India's booming airlines.

2011 -- India tested two short-range nuclear-capable missiles along its eastern coast today as part of the nation's efforts to build up its nuclear deterrent.  This followed a test on Tuesday by Pakistan, which successfully fired a medium-range nuclear-capable ballistic missile. The South Asian neighbours have fought three wars since their independence from British rule in 1947 and often carry out tit-for-tat missile tests.

2011 -- The largest union of pilots of Air France, SNPL, lamented  an "inertia" in terms of changes in certification standards for aircraft speed sensors, i.e.,  pitot  tubes, regarded as one of the factors of the Rio accident in Paris in 2009.   In April 2003 the SNPL pilots' union demanded the Thales monitors be replaced by those made by U.S.-based Goodrich, which provides pitot tubes to 70 per cent of the world's aircraft. 


2011 -- First production P-8A in final assembly.  The P-8A emerged after the P-7 Long Range Air ASW (Anti-Submarine Warfare) Capable Aircraft program that was begun in 1988was cancelled for default in 1990.

2011 -- Traffic has resumed in part of the international airport of Tokyo-Narita, which was closed following the massive earthquake of magnitude 8.9, the highest in the history of the archipelago.  People who had boarded were glad they had as  within minutes the terminal was  evacuated and closed.  After 6 hours the airport had finished the inspection of the runway and approval was given for takeoff.  Only two planes could take advantage.  One to Portland, Oregon and one to Detroit, Michigan.   All the others either weren't fully boarded or had deplaned, with no way to redo the security inspection.  

2011 -- The United States,  Canada and France now prohibit the oxygen generators in the toilet of the aircraft for reasons "of safety and security."

2011 -- British airline Virgin Atlantic announced  the creation of 450 jobs, including 50 new pilots, as the aviation industry steps up its recovery.

2010 -- Potential boon for aviation biofuel industry. Research published in the latest issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA show that a tiny marine isopods' digestive tracts are dominated by enzymes that attack the polymers that make up wood.

One of the most abundant enzymes is a cellulose-degrading enzyme, never before seen in any other animal. The researchers at York are now trying to determine just how the enzymes work, and whether they can be adapted to industrial applications. "The world needs to quickly reduce its dependence on fossil fuels” said Duncan Eggar, BBSRC Bioenergy Champion. “Sustainably produced bioenergy offers the potential to rapidly introduce liquid transport fuels into our current energy mix."

2001 -- The Lockheed Martin X35A Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) completes its flight test schedule, logging 73 flights and 58 hours flying time. The X35B Short Take-Off Vertical Landing (STOVL) variant of the JSF begins testing of its Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) capabilities.

1998 -- The first two of four Boeing E-767 airborne warning and control system (AWACS) aircraft are officially handed over to the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force.

1993 -- First flight twin-turbofan short-haul airliner Airbus A321 with V2530 lead engine. Stretched version of A320 launched on November 24, 1989. Low/swept wing with winglets; twin underwing CFM56-5 or IAE V2500 turbofans; swept tailfin and low-set tailplane.

1986 -- A U.S. Air Force Program Management Directive sought a night and under-the-weather surface attack capability for the F-15.

1985 -- ARV Aviation's Super 2 light aeroplane makes its first flight at Sandown on the Isle of Wight. The aircraft will be marketed in kit form for home assembly.

1982 -- Bristow Helicopters takes delivery of the first of twelve Aérospatiale AS332L Super Puma helicopters.

1981 -- British Caledonian Helicopters opens new facilities at Aberdeen airport to expand its offshore gas and oil platform operations.

1974 -- The YF-16 attained Mach 2 for the first time in test flights at Edwards AFB, California, U.S.A.

1969 -- Cost of the Apollo 204 fire $410 million.  The additional direct cost to the Apollo research and development program from the January 27, 1967, Apollo 204 fire was estimated at $410 million, principally for spacecraft modifications, NASA Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight George E. Mueller testified in congressional hearings. The accident delayed the first manned flight of the spacecraft by about 18 months.
1964 --The 500th Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile rolled off the assembly line at Air Force Plant No. 77 at Ogden, Utah.

1960 -- Pioneer V was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, in one of the first in-depth attempts to study the solar system.  It provided a wealth of new data on interplanetary space including measurements of magnetic fields, cosmic radiation, electrical fields and micrometeorites. It was stabilized by slowly spinning about its axis. The spacecraft transmitted information until June 26, 1960, when at a distance of 22.5 million miles from Earth, it established a new communications record.

1959 -- First flight of prototype twin-turbine medium helicopter Sikorsky S-61. Developed to meet U.S. Navy requirement for ASW helicopter with boat-type hull and retractable landing gear. Also built undere license by Agusta, Westland, and Mitsubishi version of the S-61A as Search-and-Rescue and Utility helicopters for the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force.

1957 -- The prototype Boeing 707 jet lands after a press demonstration flight from Seattle, Washington to Baltimore, Maryland during which it covers 2,350 miles in a record time of 3 hours 48 minutes.

1955 -- Pakistan International Airlines Corporation, commonly known as PIA (پی آئی اے or پاکستان انٹرنیشنل ایرلاینز) absorbs the fleet and routes of Orient Airways.

1948 -- British WW I Ace (8 victories) Royal Flying Corps Major John Bowley Quested died at Cheriton, Kent.

1945 --  Walter Hohmann died  in hospital following the allied bombing of Essen.  He was interested in the problem of interplanetary spaceflight, and published the results of his studies in 1916. In this book he described the minimum energy orbit that was named after him. Hohmann was involved with other German space enthusiasts in the 1920's, becoming a member of the VfR rocket society. But with the ascendancy of the Nazis and the group's increasing involvement in military rocketry, he broke off all contacts. 

1941 -- House Resolution HR1776 is passed by the United States' Congress. This Resolution authorizes the Lend-Lease (or Lease-Lend) program - the device by which the U.S.A. provided war material to over 38 nations in lieu of credits or loans. A sum of $50 billion was appropriated by Congress for Lend-Lease. The money went to 38 different countries with Britain receiving over $31 billion. Over the next few years the British government repaid $650 million of this sum. The United Kingdom is the first recipient of Lend-Lease. Prior to the inception of the program, Britain had been obliged to pay for all of the weapons and equipment purchased from United States manufacturers, a financially crippling requirement. United States-manufactured aircraft ordered by the British Purchasing Commission for the Royal Air Force after March 1941 are provided via Lend-Lease.

1940 -- A Bristol Blenheim of No.82 Squadron, RAF Bomber Command, on patrol off Borkum surprises and sinks U-31 on the surface in the Schillig Roads.The attack is pressed home at such a low altitude that the Blenheim is damaged by the explosions and the pilot of the Blenheim, Squadron Leader Miles Villiers Paddy Delap, is subsequently awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions. This is the first U-Boat of the war to be sunk by a Royal Air Force aircraft without the assistance of surface vessels. The Type VIIIA U-boat U-31 is subsequently raised by the German Navy, only to be sunk again by the destroyer HMS Antelope in November 1940 (the only ever U-boat to be sunk twice). Raised for a second time, the U-31 is finally scuttled in May 1945.

1918 -- South African Ace Royal Flying Corps Captain Andrew Frederick Weatherby "Proccy" Beauchamp-Proctor crashed his S.E.5a. Despite this, he claimed 54 victories that year and became the British Empire's highest scoring balloon-buster.

1918 -- Rittmeister Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen achieves his 26th victory.

1918 -- Lt. Paul Baer becomes the first AEF Air Service member awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.

1918 -- Oberleutnant Lothar Freiherr von Richthofen has 27th of his 40 victories.

1918 -- The first regular international air mail is organized in Austria by A.R. von Marwil.  Mail is carried in a Hansa-Brandenburg CI from Vienna to Lvov (then Lemberg) and Proskurov via Cracow. A branch service is also run from Proskurov to Odessa. The service expands on 11 July 1918 by adding Budapest to its destinations, but later collapses with the defeat of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918.

1917 -- Leutnant Werner Voss scored his 14th and 15th of his 48 victories.

1913 -- Russian engineer Nikolayevich Petrov  is born.   Department Chief 1951-1980 of the Institute of Control Problems, chair of the Inter-Cosmos Council, which promoted cooperation in space among eastern European nations during the height of the Cold War, 1966-1980.

1910 -- Lieutenant John William Dunne’s D5 tailless biplane is tested at Eastchurch, Kent, England. It has a 60-hp Green engine and was built by Short Brothers.²

1890 -- American engineer Vannevar Bush is born. He was the primary scientific adviser to presidents Roosevelt and Truman, immensely influential in plans for nuclear weapons, missiles, aviation, and advanced propulsion 1939-1949. Discouraged early development of the ICBM.

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¹ The bill also includes several provisions dealing with pilot fatigue and other safety issues that are part of the FAA's "Call to Action", created in part to address concerns raised by the Colgan Air crash. Senator Charles Schumer (NY-D) has proposed language that would increase the minimum time required to serve as a co-pilot for an airline to 1,500 hour from the current 250.

² Short Brothers was one of the oldest aircraft companies in the world, starting with the world's first aircraft construction contract in 1909 to build Wright Flyers.

March 10

2011 --  International Security Assistance Forces conducted a precision airstrike  targeting two Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan terrorist organization leaders in the Dara Soof Payan district of Afghanistan’s Samangan province .   A follow-on force confirmed that two of the organization's leaders,  Bilal Konduzi, and Shad Mohammad, along with four other insurgents were killed in the airstrike.

2011 -- NATO aircraft have launched round-the-clock surveillance patrols of Libya's air space to track Muammar Gaddafi's air force as he battles opposition forces.  At least three airborne warning and control system (AWACS) planes started 24-hour surveillance at 6:30 am,   The move comes as NATO defense ministers meet today to weigh a possible no-fly zone against Gaddafi's regime.  

A Libyan plane landed in Paris last  night, amid reports Gaddafi was Sending Emissaries to Europe. This came as France announced it would recognise Libya's opposition national council and said it would send an ambassador to the rebel-held city of Benghazi.  

2011 -- A new Turkish satellite Israelis may mean the end of a U.S.-backed blackout on high-resolution commercial photography of Israel from space.

Since the launch of Google Earth in 2005, Google has become a worldwide leader in providing high-resolution satellite imagery. In 2010, Google Earth allowed the world to see the extent of the destruction in post-earthquake Haiti. This year, Google released similar images after Japan's deadly tsunami and earthquake. With just one click, Google can bring the world—and a better understanding of far-away events—to your computer. However, Israel is the one entire country that Google Earth won't show.  That's because, in 1997, Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act, one section of which is titled, "Prohibition on collection and release of detailed satellite imagery relating to Israel." The amendment, known as the Kyl-Bingaman Amendment, calls for a federal agency, the NOAA's Commercial Remote Sensing Regulatory Affairs, to regulate the dissemination of zoomed-in images of Israel. Google sources satellite imagery from U.S.-based companies who are subject to U.S. law, including the Kyl-Bingaman Amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act of 1997, which limits the resolution of imagery of Israel that may be commercially distributed. The regulation also applies to the occupied territories. It's why Human Rights Watch can't provide detailed imagery of the Gaza Strip in its reports. Nor can one see the destruction in Sderot resulting from rockets sent out of Gaza. Things will soon change, Turkey's GokTurk satellite will provide high-resolution imagery of Israel when it becomes operational in 2013. 

2011 -- A Czech airline Travel Service plane crashed at the Lajes airport on the Portuguese Azores archipelago.  No injuries were reported from among the  132 people who were board

2010 -- U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, M.D. reassured lawmakers today that radiation from the new full-body security scanners being installed at U.S. airports is not a cause for concern.

Testifying before the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, Hamburg responded to concerns raised by Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., (D-I2)., about radiation from medical imaging devices and the airport scanners. Hamburg said the FDA cares deeply about the level of exposure from CAT scans and similar devices and is working with companies that manufacture them to make them less prone to error.

On the airport scans, she said the level of radiation "is minimal," less than that from medical devices. Hamburg said she would like to move to a system where consumers can track accumulated exposure from X-rays and other equipment over the years.

The Transportation Security Administration plans to have 200 of the full-body scanners at U.S. airports by year's end and 900 by 2014.

2010 -- The Electronic Privacy Information Center yesterday released a list of more than 40 complaints filed by air travelers about the use of whole-body imaging machines.

The complaints were obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. Most are short and direct, where passengers generally said they believe the machines are invasive and violate their privacy.

EPIC said it obtained documents for the scanners that reveal the machines can store and transfer high quality naked images of travelers, contrary to the claims of the Transportation Security Administration.

2010 -- The Qatar Emiri Air Force (QEAF) celebrated Qatar's deployment of C-17 Globemaster III airlifters during an Air Force Day ceremony held at Doha International Airport.

The Qatar Emiri Air Force was among the first of many nations to respond to Haiti and Chile, delivering several thousand tons of food, water and medical supplies. Just days after Haiti was struck by an earthquake on Jan. 12, a Qatar C-17 delivered aid to the country's capital, Port-au-Prince. On March 4, Qatar sent a C-17 filled with humanitarian aid to Chile in response to that country's Feb. 27 earthquake.

The Boeing C-17 aircraft and engines were sold via direct commercial sale to Qatar, rather than a Foreign Military Sale that must be announced by the DSCA.

2010 -- First flight South Korea’s Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) Surion Korean Utility Helicopters (KUH).

The 30-minute flight at Sacheon, including taxi, hover turns, and a stationary hover at 30 feet. KAI says the flight test program will see the helicopter flying at 140 knots and 2,000 feet by April 2010, and an official ceremony of the first flight will take place in May 2010.

The aircraft bears a striking resemblance to the Puma, indeed many of the new systems developed for the KUH have been tested on a Puma at the Eurocopter plant in Marignane.

2010 -- The ceremony took place at 11 a.m. at Emancipation Hall in the U.S. Capitol. Surrounded by statues of some of the nation's most treasured icons, nearly 300 women who served as military pilots during WW II as part of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) program were on hand to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor.

The first minted medal was printed in gold and awarded ceremoniously. It will find its home at the Smithsonian. Surviving members received individual replicas of the medal, made of bronze. More than 60 years since they served their country as the first women trained to fly United States military aircraft, some 800 medals had to be awarded posthumously to surviving family members. The total number of medals awarded was 1,114, representing 1,102 WASP, plus 11 who died in training. One more medal was awarded to Jacqueline Cochran, founder of the WASP, and now deceased. The medal is awarded by Congress and is the highest honor a civilian may receive, along with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

2010 -- JetBlue And Delta Petition For Relief From New Delay Fines. The U.S. Department of Transportation's new rule limiting the time passengers can be held on closed aircraft away from the gate goes into effect April 29,the beginning of the peak travel season.

Delta and JetBlue think construction at JFK may give them good reason to be excused from potential fines, that could hit airlines to the tune of $27,500 per passenger. The airlines, which operate a majority of flights at the airport, have petitioned for temporary exemptions from the rule because a four-month-long project at JFK will close the airport's longest of four runways (14,572-foot 13R/31L) as it is widened and repaved in concrete through July.

2010 -- Qatar Airways announced its plans to fly to Brazil and Argentina, spreading its service to the South American continent for the first time. South America’s two largest cities--Sao Paulo in Brazil and the Argentinian capital Buenos Aires--will join the airline’s rapidly growing international network from Doha over the next few months.

2010 -- From the March 2010 Scientific American Magazine: To study hard-to-reach places, scientists in Antarctica are relying on remote-controlled planes, including those from the hobby shop

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1995 -- The 11th Space Warning Squadron, Schriever AFB, Colorado, became the first unit with the ability to warn battlefield commanders of incoming theater ballistic missiles, such as the Scud missiles fired by Iraq in Desert Storm.

1980 -- Royal Naval Air Service Captain Euan Dickson, WW I Ace credited with 14 victories flying D.H.4 on more than 150 missions, died in Auckland, New Zealand, aged 87.

When the war ended, Dickson returned to New Zealand, took a job with the Canterbury Aviation Company and was the first person to fly across Cook Strait in 1920. He later became chairman of the Eden Motor Company in Auckland and retired in 1964.

1979 -- First flight of prototype air defense/multirole fighter fly-by-wire Dassault Mirage 2000.

Successor to Mirage III/F1. Mirage 2000 has Automated terrain following at very high speed and very low altitude; all-weather night and day bombing capability; and high precision all weather day/night bombing.

1977 -- The first U.S. Air Force woman navigator candidates report to Mather AFB, California, to begin undergraduate navigator training.

1975 -- In the final hours of the Vietnam War, RAF Hercules are used to evacuate civilians from Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

1967 -- USAF Captain Merlyn H. Dethlefsen  and Capt Kevin Mike Gilroy  flying  an F-105F Wild Weasel mission,  elected to stay in the skies above the steel works at Thai Nguyen after their aircraft was damaged by ground fire,  until the SAM site was found and destroyed.   Dethlefsen was awarded the Medal of Honor and Gilroy the Air Force Cross.


1967 -- Capt. Mac C. Brestel, an F-105 pilot with the 355th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Takhli Royal Thai AFB, Thailand, became the first U.S. Air Force pilot to down two MiGs in one mission in the Vietnam War.

1966 -- U.S. Air Force Tactical Air Command accepted its first F-4D at Nellis AFB, Nevada.

1966 -- Maj. Bernard Fisher from the 1st Commando Squadron landed an A-1E on A Shau runway, Vietnam, under fire from North Vietnamese troops to rescue a downed pilot, Maj. Dafford W. Myers from the 602nd Fighter Squadron.

President Lyndon B. Johnson presented Major Fisher the Medal of Honor for heroism on Jan. 19, 1967 and he became the first Air Force man to be so honored for action in the Southeast Asian conflict.

1964 -- A U.S. Air Force Douglas B-66 Destroyer from the 10 TRW, based at Toul-Rosieres France, was shot down over East Germany by a Soviet MiG.

The aircraft was shot down near Gardelegen, after straying out of one of the Berlin air corridors. The three crew members, David Holland, Melvin Kessler and Harold Welch parachuted to safety and were released several days later.

This was the first victory for the MiG-21.

1961 -- The 565th Strategic Missile Squadron became the second U.S. war-ready intercontinental ballistic missile unit to achieve operational status.

1959 -- First flight amphibious ASW/SAR helicopter Sikorsky S-61/SH-3 Sea King.

 Features a boat-hull fuselage. Entered U.S.N. service in September 1961. License-built in Italy by Agusta, in Japan by Mitsubishi, and the UK by Westland.

1959 -- The X-15A-1 rocket research plane completed its first captive flight on the wing of a B-52.

1959 -- A Snark missile flew a several-thousand-mile round trip after launching from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

1957 -- All British Royal Auxiliary Air Force and Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve flying squadrons are disbanded.

The UK government believed that the training required to operate modern equipment was beyond that expected of reservists and the Air branch squadrons were disbanded.

1956 -- The second Fairey Delta 2, WG777, today captured the World's Absolute Speed Record at 1,132 mph between Ford and Chichester in Sussex. Piloted by Lt Cdr P Twiss, this was the first aircraft to exceed 1,000 mph in level flight.

1954 -- Zdenek Voleman of the Czech Air Force with S-103¹ shot down a U.S. Lockheed P-2 Neptune.

The plane fell in German territory again (but historians still don´t know for sure if it was a Neptune or another two engines powered aircraft, Voleman couldn´t tell). The Americans have never confirmed this loss.

1953 --- Czechoslovakian pilot Jaroslav Sramek, flying a MiG 15, shot down an USAF Republic F-84G-25-RE Thunderjet from the 36TFW². The American pilot ejected and survived.

1953 -- The DHC-2 Mk.2 prototype, an Alvis Leonides-powered Beaver, was flown for the first time at Toronto, Canada. Test-pilot G.A. Neal at the controls.

The Mk.2 prototype's vertical stabiliser was 30 percent larger than the Mk.1.

1948 -- NACA test pilot Herbert Henry Hoover becomes the first civilian to exceed the speed of sound when he flies the No. 2 Bell XS-1 to a speed of 703 mph (Mach 1.065).   Hoover was a test pilot working for NACA (the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics, the predecessor of today's NASA).   He reached Mach 1.065. On landing, the aircraft nosewheel failed to extend, resulting in minor damage.

1946 -- British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) withdraws is Boeing 314s from transatlantic operations.

1945 -- 300 American bombers continue to drop almost 2,000 tons of incendiaries on Tokyo, Japan, in a mission that had begun the previous day.  Tokyo residents survey the devastation after wave upon wave of U.S. B-29 Superfortress dropped thousands of tons of incendiary bombs last night, turning the largely wooden-built city into an inferno, killing between 80,000 and 130,000 people. Only 14 B-29s are lost; five crews were rescued from the Pacific.

1944 -- An unusually large number of Bomber Command aircraft--93--flew on special duty missions during the night to support the Resistance movements in Occupied Europe, as agents and supplies were dropped to strengthen them before the Normandy landings planned for that summer.

1943 -- Fourteenth Air Force is formed under the command of Maj. Gen. Chennault.

The U.S.A.F. Fourteenth Air Force traces its roots to in the late 1930s when Claire L. Chennault organized a group of American civilian volunteer pilots to fight the Japanese in Burma and China. Throughout WW II, the Flying Tigers (known for the distinctive tiger shark paintings of their P-40's) compiled one of the greatest war records against numerically superior forces. Following a post-war series of reorganizations and inactivations, the 14th Air Force became the 14th Aerospace Force (AEROF) in 1968, the first command dedicated to space surveillance and tracking. In 1993, the 14th Air Force was restructured in its space role, becoming a numbered Air Force for Air Force Space Command.

1934 -- After nine fatalities the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) internal mail services are stopped,  until March 19 to assess the high fatality rate.

1925 -- The first flight of a production model Supermarine Southampton, and delivery to the RAF started in the middle of 1925.

One of the most successful flying boats of the between-war period. It was a development of the Supermarine Swan, which was used for a 10 passenger service between England and France. It remains in service for 12 years, longer than any other flying boat before Sunderland.

1919 -- The Australian Government announces a prize of £10,000 for the first flight from Great Britain to Australia by Australians, which must be completed within 720 consecutive hours by the end of the year.

1919 -- Brigadier General William Billy Mitchell becomes the United States Director of Military Aeronautics.

1918 -- The Junkers D1, an all-metal single-seat cantilever monoplane fighter, is flown as a prototype.

Because of lack of experience with the aircraft's then-unconventional metal construction, only forty-one D. Is were completed and delivered to the Front before the Armistice in November 1918. The aircraft featured a number of unique innovations, one of which was a full cantilever wing.

1918 -- Hauptmann Adolf Ritter von Tutschek scored his 27th and last victory.

Five days later near Brancourt, Tutscheck was killed when his green Fokker DR.I (404/17) was shot down by an S.E.5a flown by South African ace Harold Redler.

1918 -- Hauptmann Hans-Joachim Buddecke, German Ace (13 victories) was killed in action near Lille, France.

He was the third, after Max Immelmann and Oswald Boelcke, to earn the Blue Max (Pour le Mérite).

1915 - Royal Flying Corps aircraft conducted early interdiction operations against railway facilities at Courtrai and Menin and divisional HQ, in an attempt to disrupt German efforts to reinforce their front-line as the British offensive at Neuve Chapelle began.

This is the first attack planned using maps prepared solely from intelligence gathered by aerial photographic reconnaissance.

1910 -- The first flight at night is made by Frenchman Emile Aubrun in Argentina on a Bleriot airplane. Aubrun makes two flights in the dark, each about 20 km from Buenos Aires and back again.

1910 -- The first airplane flight in Switzerland is made by German Capt. P. Englehardt who takes off in a Wright Flyer from a frozen lake in St. Moritz.

1905 -- The French lawyer and aspiring aeronaut Ernest Archdeacon sends a letter to the Wright brothers in Dayton, Ohio challenging them to prove the validity of their claims.

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¹Czechoslovakia imported the MiG-15 and the Letectvo CSLA (Czech Air Force) redesignated it the S-102 (S = Stihac = Fighter). In 1951, after the MiG-15 had given way to the MiG-15bis on Soviet production lines, licensed production of the S-102 began at the Rudeho Letova factory in Prague. Less than a year later local production of the RD-45F commenced at the Czech Motorlet factory under the designation M-05, with the first examples being delivered in 1952. The entire production facility was moved in 1953 to the Aero Vodochody plant outside Prague.

Imported MiG-15bis fighters were designated S-103 by the Czech Air Force and production of the S-103 began at Aero Vodochody in 1954. Local production of the VK-1A was performed under the designation M-06 a about 5000 were built.

²The 36th TFW is honored as the first USAFE wing to introduce the first allied jet fighters in Europe (the F-80 Shooting Star) and the first to convert to the F-84 (1950), F-86 (1953), F-100 (1956), F-102 (1959), F-105 (1961), F4 (1966), and F15 (1977) aircraft in the European theater.

³The RFC was formed by Royal Warrant on April 13, 1912 and assumed control of the Air Battalion of the Royal Engineers on May 13, 1912. It was comprised of a Military Wing, a Naval Wing, a Reserve, the Central Flying School at Upavon and the Royal Aircraft Factory at Farnborough.

March 9

2011 -- U.S. EPA announces settlements with  Six aerospace and defense companies, including Lockheed Martin, Honeywell, and ITT,  at San Fernando Valley Superfund Site // More than $3 million will be directed to investigate, clean up contaminated groundwater


2011 -- The space shuttle Discovery capped a successful construction mission with a smooth landing in Florida on Wednesday, ending a 27-year flying career for NASA's most-traveled spaceship as the agency faces an uncertain future. Discovery commander Steven Lindsey circled his ship through clear, sunny skies over the Kennedy Space Center to burn off speed, then bee-lined toward the marsh-surrounded runway a few miles from where the shuttle blasted off for its final space flight on February 24.


2011 -- Qantas raises fuel surcharge. . . again.  Australia's Qantas Airways said  it would raise the fuel surcharge on international flights for the second time in as many months to offset soaring fuel costs. Qantas, which in early February announced it will raise the surcharge, said this round of increase will not fully recover the fuel price hikes and did not rule out another increase in the charge.


2011 -- EADS returns to profitability


2011 -- No-Fly Zone, no problem. Right, whatever, how to do it without putting a single coalition plane directly over Libyan territory.  A concept to underscore the critical distinction between air control and air denial.  Would it work?


2011 --   Major General Abdul-Rahman al-Zawi, head of Libya's logistics and supply authority, arrived on a private jet in Egyptian capital Cairo today, according to a source at the airport.


2011 -- A plane from Portugal ws Held in isolation for hours after landing at Copenhagen's Kastrup airport   after a passenger revealed  she might be suffering from meningitis,


2011 -- Union workers at Lockheed Martin’s Marietta, Georgia plant ratify a 3-year labor contract, despite calls from union leaders to reject it. The plant manufactures the C-130J transport aircraft and F-22 Raptor fighter.


2011 -- Ryanair, Europe's biggest low-cost airline,  urged  banning The European Union air traffic controllers from going on strike by declaring them to be providers of an "essential service".


2011 -- Indian aviation regulators have found  two more pilots with forged  passenger plane flying skills, raising questions about safety on the country's booming airlines.


2011 -- The Lone Star Flight Museum’s newest aircraft arrived today.  The museum’s North American P-51 Mustang has undergone restoration work over the last year and has emerged as Galveston Gal, a P-51 flown by Galveston native Capt Ray Lancaster. Museum officials will add the legendary fighter to its warbird flight experience program later this spring.


1998 -- Air Mobility Command performed 104 airlift and 110 air refueling missions for a six-nation tour of Africa through April 9. On March 22, President William J. Clinton, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright left Andrews AFB, Mdaryland, on Air Force One for a 12-day journey through sub-Saharan Africa. It was the first time a sitting American president visited Ghana, Uganda, Rwanda, South Africa, Botswana, and Senegal


1977 -- The 354th Tactical Fighter Wing at Myrtle Beach AFB, South Carolina, received the first A-10 for hands-on-training.


 1959 -- The 16 Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Naha AB, Okinawa, became the first squadron in the Pacific Air Forces to convert to Convair's F-102 Delta Dagger. The unit, previously equipped with F-86D Sabres, became operationally ready later in September.


1955 -- Lt. Col. Robert R. Scott, in a F-84F Thunderstreak, set a three hour, 44-minute and 53-second record for the 2,446 mile flight from Los Angeles to New York.


1945 --  U.S. warplanes launch a new bombing offensive against Japan, dropping 2,000 tons of incendiary bombs on Tokyo over the course of the next 48 hours. Almost 16 square miles in and around the Japanese capital were incinerated, and between 80,000 and 130,000 Japanese civilians were killed in the worst single firestorm in recorded history.  Only 243 American airmen were lost-considered acceptable losses.


1938 -- A new parachute descent record of 35,450ft. is achieved by the French parachutist James Williams when he jumps from the cockpit of an ANF Les Mureaux 113 high-wing monoplane after taking off from the airfield at Chartres. Dropping to a height above the ground of 650 ft. in 2 minutes 50 seconds before opening his parachute, Williams easily achieves a world free-fall record.


1934 -- Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin is born.  On April 12, 1961, at 27-years-old he became the first person to travel into space.


1928 -- The English aviatrix Lady Mary Bailey takes off from Croydon on what becomes the first round-trip flight between London and Cape Town, South Africa flown by a woman. She arrives back in England on May 12.

1919 --  U.S. Navy Lt. Comdr. E. O. McDonnell makes the  first successful flight from a gun turret  on a U.S. navy battleship.

The U.S. Navy encountered these platforms while serving with the British Grand Fleet during WW I and was sufficiently interested to have the Texas (BB-35) equipped with a platform atop both the No. 2 and No. 4 turrets so that the Navy could conduct its own experiments. These experiments were began on March 9, 1919 when Lt. Cmdr. E. O. McDonnell successfully launched a Sopwith Camel from the No. 2 Turret platform of the Texas at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The U.S. Navy improved the survivability of the aircraft when making water landings by adding a horizontal vane, called a hydro-vane, attached to the undercarriage at the same level as the axle and extended forward to below the engine. When the undercarriage struck the water this vane would plane across the surface and bear the weight of the engine thus reducing the chance of the aircraft pitching nose down. In addition the U.S. Navy added 2 inflatable floats to the underside of the lower wing and extending forward about as far as the hydro-vane. These improved the safety of water landings and at the very least kept the aircraft afloat until it could be recovered. Damage to the lower wings and undercarriage were still common and the engine would always have to be completely over hauled (cold saltwater baths for hot engines are never a good mix) after any water landing. Usually these experiments involve the launched aircraft flying to a field and landing on shore. The plane would then be hauled down to the beach and loaded aboard a barge or launch and floated back to the parent ship.

The U.S. Navy used 4 different aircraft aboard ships equipped with fly-off platforms: the Sopwith Camel, the Hanriot HD-2, the Nieuport 28 and the Sopwith 1-1/2 Strutter. Three of these aircraft are fighters, which was the original purpose foe adding these aircraft aboard the battleships. The platforms were first mounted the spring and summer of 1919 on all of the U.S. Navy’s 14” gunned battleships. In 1919 this was limited to the six WW I veterans, New York (BB-34), Texas,Nevada (BB-36), Oklahoma (BB-37), Pennsylvania (BB-38) and Arizona (BB-39) plus the 3 newly commissioned battleships New Mexico (BB-40), Mississippi (BB-41) and Idaho (BB-42). The fly-off platforms were mounted on the “super firing turrets”, turrets Nos. 2 and 3 for 4 turreted ships. Because of their 5-turret arrangement, the New York and Texas had the after platform atop the No. 4 turret. Initially a single HD-2 was assigned to each ship (the Sopwith Camel does not seem to have been used beyond testing and training). By 1920 wear and tear on the aircraft and the commissioning of additional battleships required replacement of the HD-2’s. To meet the need the Navy obtained Nieuport 28’s and Sopwith 1-1/2 Strutters from the Army to replace the Hanriot’s. One Nieuport and one Sopwith were to be assigned to each battleship. The commissioning of the Langley (CV-1) in 1922, allowed for the recovery of land based aircraft (such as those used on the fly-off platform) back aboard a ship at sea, which made fly-off platform operation obsolete. However, experiments in 1921 with radio equipped 1-1/2 Strutters showed the advantages of aerial spotting and scouting. All that was need was a means of launching and recovering such an observation airplane from battleships and cruisers.

1918 -- The first American air casualty in WW I is Capt. James E. Miller who loses his life in a French Spad while flying a practice patrol across the German lines.


1915 -- Air Vice Marshal James Edgar Johnnie Johnson is born at Barrow upon Soar, Leicestershire, England.  Johnson  was a Royal Air Force (RAF) pilot who, during WW II, claimed 34 victories over enemy aircraft, as well as seven shared victories, three shared probables, ten damaged, three shared damaged and one destroyed on the ground. This score made him the highest scoring Western Allied fighter ace against the German Luftwaffe, thus becoming the British, and Western Allied flying ace, with the greatest number of victories in the European War.