One Hundred Years of Flight USAF Chronology ... - The Air University
One Hundred Years of Flight USAF Chronology ... - The Air University
One Hundred Years of Flight USAF Chronology ... - The Air University
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1929–31<br />
August 15: Flying a Buhl sesquiplane called Spokane Sun God, Lt. Nicholas B.<br />
Mamer and Arthur Walker traveled nonstop from Spokane, Washington,<br />
to the east coast and back, refueling in the air 11 times on the<br />
7,200-mile flight.<br />
August 29: Graf Zeppelin, under the command <strong>of</strong> Dr. Hugo Eckener, completed<br />
the first airship flight around the world. Originating and ending<br />
in Lakehurst, New Jersey, the trip took 21 days.<br />
September 24: Lt. James H. “Jimmy” Doolittle made the first instrumentsonly<br />
flight, from take<strong>of</strong>f to landing. He flew over Mitchel Field, New<br />
York, in a Consolidated NY–2 airplane with a completely covered cockpit,<br />
accompanied by a check pilot who monitored the flight.<br />
November 29: Cmdr. Richard E. Byrd <strong>of</strong> the Navy made the first flight over<br />
the South Pole in the Floyd Bennett, a Ford C–4 Trimotor airplane<br />
piloted by Bernt Balchen and named for the pilot who had taken Byrd<br />
over the North Pole in 1926.<br />
1930<br />
June 20: <strong>The</strong> <strong>Air</strong> Corps established Randolph Field at San Antonio, Texas,<br />
for primary and basic pilot training. Known as the “West Point <strong>of</strong> the<br />
<strong>Air</strong>,” the field eventually became headquarters <strong>of</strong> <strong>Air</strong> Education and<br />
Training Command.<br />
October 8: Near Rome, Maj. Marinello Nelli <strong>of</strong> Italy’s Regia Aeronautica<br />
completed the first <strong>of</strong>ficial helicopter flight in a twin-rotor aircraft<br />
designed by Corrandino D’Ascanio. <strong>The</strong> craft flew to a height <strong>of</strong> 59<br />
feet on a flight that lasted more than eight minutes.<br />
October 25: Transcontinental and Western <strong>Air</strong>, Incorporated, inaugurated<br />
the first transcontinental passenger air service between New York and<br />
Los Angeles.<br />
November 10: Flying a Lockheed Sirius Blue Flash powered by a Pratt and<br />
Whitney Wasp radial engine, Capt. Roy W. Ammel <strong>of</strong> the Army completed<br />
the first solo nonstop flight from New York to the Panama<br />
Canal Zone, having flown 2,700 miles in 24 hours and 35 minutes.<br />
1931<br />
January 9: Gen. Douglas MacArthur, Army chief <strong>of</strong> staff, and Adm. William<br />
V. Pratt, chief <strong>of</strong> naval operations, came to a verbal agreement that the<br />
Army <strong>Air</strong> Corps would have primary responsibility for coastal defense.<br />
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