Portal:Aviation/Anniversaries/February 29

February 29


 * 2008 – Death of Kenji Yanagiya, Japanese Navy WWII Flying ace, only escort fighter pilot of the Yamamoto mission to survive the war.


 * 2000 – First flight of the Mikoyan MiG-35


 * 1996 – Faucett Flight 251, a Boeing 737, crashes into a hill while attempting to land at Arequipa, Peru. All 123 people on board die.


 * 1996 – First flight of the Cessna Citation Excel


 * 1996 – WestJet, a Canadian airline, begins operations.


 * 1984 – First flight of the Eurocopter AS565 Panther, a military version of the Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin medium-weight multi-purpose twin-engine helicopter.


 * 1984 – American Airlines sets an industry record by ordering 67 McDonnell Douglas MD-80 airliners, with options to order 100 more in the future.


 * 1976 – Death of Grover Cleveland Loening, American aircraft manufacturer.


 * 1964 – US President Lyndon Johnson reveals the existence of the CIA's Lockheed A-12 reconnaissance aircraft


 * 1964 – British Eagle International Airlines Flight 802, a Bristol Britannia, crashed into a mountain near Innsbruck, Austria. All 75 passengers and 8 crew are killed in the crash.


 * 1960 – First flight of the Beechcraft Baron, an American light, twin-engined piston aircraft


 * 1956 – Introduction: Gloster Javelin


 * 1948 – Introduction: Convair CV-240 family


 * 1944 – During February, aircraft of the U. S. Army Air Forces‘ Seventh Air Force have flown about 1,000 sorties against Japanese forces on Jaluit, Maloelap, Wotje, and Nauru. No Japanese aircraft have intercepted them, but Japanese antiaircraft guns have shot down seven bombers and two fighters.


 * 1940 – An attack by 40 Polikarpov I-153 and Polikarpov I-16 fighters on the Finnish Air Force airfield at Ruokalahti is the most successful Soviet Air Force strike of the Winter War. Surprising the Finns on the ground, the Soviets shoot down three Gloster Gladiators as they try to get airborne and shoot down two more Gladiators and a Fokker D.XXI in an ensuring dogfight, losing only one I-16 in exchange.


 * 1940 – The Finnish government asks the United Kingdom and France to send 100 bombers with crews and bombs to Finland at once to assist in the war with the Soviet Union.


 * 1936 – Birth of Jack R. Lousma, NASA astronaut and politician.