Portal:Aviation/Anniversaries/April 23

April 23


 * 2006 – Johnnie Checketts, New Zealand fighter pilot, dies (b. 1912). Wing Commander John "Johnny" Milne Checketts DSO DFC (20 February 1912 – 23 April 2006) was a World War II Flying ace who was credited with 14.5 kills. He was awarded the US Silver Star in 1944 and the Polish Cross of Valour in 1945.


 * 2005 – First flight of the Cessna Citation Mustang


 * 1996 – First flight of the Extra EA-400


 * 1994 – Airbus delivers the first of 25 A300-600F dedicated freighters to the specialized package carrier, FedEx. This all-cargo version can carry up to a maximum payload of 120,855 lb over a range of 1,900 nautical miles.


 * 1988 – The U.S. government's ban on smoking on flights of two hours or less goes into effect. "No Smoking" signs remain lit on 80% of domestic airline flights. Flight attendants are to be armed with gum and candy for those in anguish.


 * 1988 – Kanellos Kanellopoulos recreates the mythical flight of Daedalus by flying a pedal-powered aircraft, the MIT Daedalus from Crete to Santorini, covering the 119 km (74 miles) in 3 hours 54 min.


 * 1971 – A USAF General Dynamics F-111E, 67-0117, c/n A1-162/E-3, out of Edwards AFB, California, crashes in a rocky area of the Mojave Desert 12 miles S of Death Valley National Monument during test flight, both crew, pilot Maj. James W. Hurt, 34, of Indianapolis, Indiana, and WSO Maj. Robert J. Furman, 31, of New York City, killed when parachute on escape module fails to open until just before ground impact. Both bodies were inside the escape module when it is found on Saturday, 24 April. Aircraft experienced trouble at 6,000 feet. This was the 18th crash of the type since entering service and the second fatal accident this year when the module chute failed to properly deploy. All F-111s are grounded on Thursday 30 April after it is determined that the recovery chute compartment door failed to separate making crew escape impossible. This was the sixth grounding order for the type since it entered operation. The grounding order was lifted on 8 June 1971 during which time the panel that failed in this accident had been replaced.


 * 1966 – American aircraft encounter MiG fighters in large numbers over North Vietnam.


 * 1965 – The first production C-141A Starlifter cargo aircraft is delivered to the U.S. Air Force' Military Airlift Command.


 * 1959 – In the 1959 Air Charter Turkey crash, an Avro Super Trader IV crashes on Mount Süphan, Turkey; all 12 crew on board die.


 * 1956 – First flight of the Douglas C-133 Cargomaster.


 * 1950 – A prototype SNCASO 4000, France's first jet bomber design, F-WBBL, rolled out 5 March 1950, suffers undercarriage collapse during taxiing trials causing extensive damage. Complex gear design proves too fragile for aircraft weight. With repairs and strengthened gear, the bomber makes its first and only flight on 15 March 1951 but design is found to be underpowered and unstable and never again takes to the air.


 * 1945 – A U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress 43-38856, coded 'GD-M', of the 381st Bombardment Group (Heavy), crashes on the east facing slope of North Barrule in the Isle of Man killing 31 US service personnel (including ground crew) en route to Belfast for memorial service for President Roosevelt.


 * 1945 – The United States Navy puts its first radar-guided bomb, the SWOD-9 "Bat" into use, dropping it from Consolidated PB4Y Liberators on Japanese shipping in Balikpapan Harbour.


 * 1943 – Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberators bomb Tarawa Atoll.


 * 1942 – U.S. Navy Vought SB2U-2 Vindicator, BuNo 1363,[120] of VS-71, assigned to the USS Wasp, but flown ashore to clear deckspace for Spitfires bound for Malta, crashes in peat bog near Invergordon, Scotland, killing Ens. Jackson and Aviation Machinist's Mate Atchison. Atchison's body recovered, but squadron diary records that Jackson's body and bulk of airframe were buried too deeply, so remains and wreckage were covered over.


 * 1941 – No. 405 (Bomber) Squadron was formed in England.


 * 1941 – German Junkers Ju 87 dive bombers sink the Greek battleships Kilkis and Lemnos off Salamis Island, Greece, during the German invasion of Greece.


 * 1939 – The U.S. Civil Aeronautics Authority raises the eligibility age for obtaining a private pilot license to 18 years from the previous 16 years.


 * 1919 – The North Sea Aerial Navigation Company begins a passenger run between Leeds and Houndslow in ex-military Blackburn RT.1s.


 * 1918 – Lt. Paul Baer shoots down his fifth aircraft, becoming the first ace of the American Expeditionary Force.


 * 1915 – Patrick Nieson Lynch Bellinger, American pioneering US Naval aviator, climbed a Burgess-Dunne AH-10 to 10,000 feet in 1:19


 * 1911 - Yoshitoshi Tokugawa set a Japanese record with a Blériot, flying 48 miles in 1:09:30