AVIATION
*** A
Abebe – Captain Alemayehu ….. FIRST African pilot ever to command a commercial jetliner when he flew for Ethiopian Airlines
Ader - Clement ..... born 1841 died 1925 ..... French aviation pioneer whose steam-driven aeroplane, the Eole, made the FIRST powered take-off in history in 1890 but did not fly
Aircraft Transport and Travel ..... Britain's FIRST airline which had 41 planes
Airline Industry ….. U.K ..... in 2000 it sponsored the world’s FIRST University chair of in-flight catering when the post of Professor in Airline Food was established at the University of Surrey with funds from the International Flight Catering Association
Alcock - Sir John ….. born 6th November 1892 ….. U.K ..... pilot of the FIRST aircraft to make a non-stop transatlantic flight
Alston - Peter ..... U.K ..... flight test observer who died on February 16th 1939 when the RAF's FIRST North American Harvard trainer spun into the ground
*** B
Bader - Douglas Robert Stuart - Dr ..... born 1910 died 1982 ..... British aviator who commanded the FIRST RAF Canadian Fighter Squadron, evolving tactics that contributed to victory in the Battle of Britain
Balbo - Count Italo ..... born 1896 died 1940 ..... Italian aviator and politician who was the FIRST Minister of Aviation in Italy and led mass flights to Brazil (1929) and the USA ( 1933)
Beamont - Roland Prosper ..... born August 10th 1920 died 2001 ..... Battle of Britain fighter ace who became a test pilot and led the English Electric Canberra - the FIRST RAF jet bomber - and English Electric Lighting flight test programmes. In May 1952 he made the FIRST two-way Atlantic crossing in one day and was the FIRST to fly the Canberra. He became the FIRST pilot to fly a British aircraft at the speed of sound in level flight and later twice the speed of sound, Mach 2. His awards were many and he was much honoured by the aviation community. In addition to his wartime decorations he received the US DFC in 1946, was appointed OBE in 1954 and CBE in 1965
Beardmore - Lissaint ..... Canadian opera singer who made the FIRST cross-channel flight in a glider on June 19th 1931
Bell - Lawrence Dale ..... born 1895 died 1956 ..... American aircraft designer and constructor who produced the P-59 Airacomet, the FIRST American jet-propelled aircraft and the Bell X-1, the FIRST rocket- propelled airplane and the FIRST manned aircraft to exceed the speed of sound
Bennett - Bill ….. born 1931 died 2004 ..... U.K ..... helped develop the modern hang-glider and promoted the sport through publicity stunts. He was known as the Birdman and was the FIRST hang-glider pilot to fly higher than a mile, the FIRST to pilot a motorised hang-glider and the FIRST to build and fly a hang-glider tricycle. In the film Live And Let Die he was the double for Roger Moore in the hang-gliding sequence
Bird - Richard Evelyn ..... born 25th October 1888 died 1957 ..... American polar explorer and aviator and the FIRST man to fly over the North Pole ( 1926) and the South Pole ( 1929)
Blanchard - Jean Pierre .... born 1753 died 1809 ..... French balloonist who made the FIRST balloon flight across the English Channel with John Jeffries in 1785. In 1793 he made the FIRST balloon flight in the U.S.A
Bleriot - Louis ..... born 1st July 1872 died 1936 ..... French aviator who became the FIRST person to fly an aeroplane across the English Channel on 25th July 1909
Bodell - Colin ..... U.K ..... FIRST man to fly solo around the world in a micro light aircraft. He completed the entire journey in September 2000 after 94 days – in tandem with a helicopter flown by Jennifer Murray – in an open cockpit with just a heated flying suit for protection
Boeing X-45 ..... U.S.A ..... prototype of the FIRST robotic plane designed specifically for combat missions which made its successful maiden flight in California in May 2002
Bose - Staff Sergeant Randall ..... the FIRST parachutist to make a freefall descent from a plane when he jumped from a height of 4,500 ft over Mitchell Field, Long Island, in 1924 and delayed pulling his rip-cord until he had fallen for 1,500 ft
Brabazon - Lord ..... born February 8th 1884 ..... the FIRST Englishman to fly in England
Bremen ..... German airplane which made the FIRST flight from Europe to North America in 1928. Nobody had flown the Atlantic in that direction before although seven people had died attempting it
British Overseas Airways Corporation ..... U.K ..... began the world’s FIRST scheduled jetliner service to Johannesburg in 1952
Brown - Sir Arthur Whitten ….. born 23rd July 1886 died 1948 ….. British aviator who made the FIRST non-stop crossing of the Atlantic in a Vickers-Vinny biplane with Sir John Alcock on 14th June 1919 and shared a £10,000 prize given by the London Daily Mail. Both men later received a knighthood
*** C
Cayley - Sir George ..... born 27th December 1773 died 15th December 1857 ..... English Baronet who was the FIRST to set down the mathematical principles of heavier-than-air flight (i.e. lift, thrust and drag), the FIRST to make use of models for flying research, among them a simple glider - the FIRST monoplane with fixed wings amidships and fuselage terminating in vertical and horizontal tail surfaces. This was constructed in 1804. He was the FIRST to draw attention to streamlining ( in his definition of drag), FIRST to suggest the benefits of biplanes and triplanes to provide increased lift with minimum weight, the FIRST to construct and fly a man-carrying glider, the FIRST to demonstrate the means by which a curved "aerofoil" provided "lift" by creating reduced pressure over the upper surface when moved through the air and the FIRST to suggest the use of an internal combustion engine for aeroplanes and constructed a model gunpowder engine in the absence of low-flash-point fuel oil ( Air Facts and Feats - Guinness)
Charles – Jacques Alexandre Cesar..... born 12th November 1746 ..... French scientist who invented and flew in the FIRST hydrogen balloon
Cody – Samuel Franklin ..... born 6th March 1861 died 1913 ..... FIRST person to make a powered flight in Britain. He was born in Texas and went to England in 1896 where he acquired British nationality. In 1908 he built an early aeroplane. He died in a flying accident five years later
Copeto - Cesar ..... in 1909 he was the FIRST Chilean to fly a plane
*** D
Douglas-Hamilton - Douglas ….. Duke of Hamilton who was the FIRST man to fly over Everest
*** F
Fairey Rotodyne ..... in 1957 the world's FIRST vertical take-off airliner made its FIRST successful flight powered by two Napier Eland propeller-jet engines
Ferguson - Harry George ….. born 1884 died 1960 ….. Irish engineer and inventor who made the FIRST flight in Ireland in December 1909 and became the FIRST Briton to build and fly his own aeroplane
Flying Flea ….. U.K ..... midget one-man aeroplane invented by Monsieur Mignet who flew the Channel in it in October 1935. The FIRST All-British Flying Flea was built by ex-RAF pilot Cyril Brooke at a cost of £73.12s.9d which included £50 for the engine
Fokker Anthony ….. (Anton Herman Gerard) ..... born April 6th 1890 died 1939 ….. Dutch born American aircraft engineer who invented the FIRST effective device for firing a machine gun through a rotating propeller
Forlanini - Enrico ..... Italian who built the FIRST Hydrofoil in 1905
Fossett - Steve ..... U.K ..... FIRST balloonist to fly solo around the world when he landed in Australia on 4th July 2002. In March 2005 he became the FIRST pilot to fly solo non-stop around the world. His flight in GlobalFlyer took 67 hours. He made the FIRST balloon crossings of the continents of Asia, Africa, Europe and South America and the FIRST ever balloon crossings of the South Atlantic, South Pacific and Indian oceans. On September 3rd 2007 he went missing over the Nevada desert whilst scouting for locations for an attempt on the world land-speed record
Frank - Alan - Air Vice-Marshall ..... born July 27th 1917 died 2001 ..... U.K ..... bomber captain and squadron commander in the Second World War and in the late 1950s was commander of the RAF's FIRST Avro Vulcan nuclear deterrent V-bomber squadron. His awards include the DSO, DFC, was appointed CBE in 1962 and CB in 1967
*** G
Gossamer Albatross ..... U.K ..... FIRST human-powered aircraft to fly across the English Channel in June 1979. It was designed by Paul MacCready and piloted and pedalled by Bryan Allen and the crossing took 2 hours 49 minutes. Two years earlier the same team were behind the Gossamer Condor, FIRST successful human-powered aircraft
Grahame-White Claude ….. born 21st August 1879 ….. U.K ..... FIRST Englishman to receive a certificate in proficiency in aviation, he made the very FIRST night flight when he took off in the moonlight in the world's FIRST international cross-country air race in 1910 ( see Louis Paulhan)
*** H
Havilland - Geoffrey de ..... born 1882 died 1965 ..... British aircraft designer who designed the Moth, the Mosquito fighter bomber of WW2 and the post-war Comet, the world's FIRST jet-driven airliner to enter commercial service
Hinkler - Herbert John Louis ..... born 1892 died 1933 ..... Australian pilot who made the FIRST solo flight from England to Australia in 1928. He was killed while making another attempt to fly to Australia five years later
Houlton - Johnnie ….. died April 17th 1996 ….. U.K ..... Spitfire pilot who shot down the FIRST German plane on D-Day. He was 73 years old when he died in New Zealand
*** I
Ibrar - Ul Haq ….. FIRST Asian Captain with British Airways
*** J
Junkers - Hugo ….. born February 3rd 1859 died 1935 ….. German aircraft engineer who was the designer of the FIRST all-metal aeroplane
Jones - Brian (England) and Bertrand Piccard (Switzerland) ..... in 1999 they completed the FIRST non-stop circumnavigation of the globe by balloon. The trip, in Breitling Orbiter 3, took 15 days 10 hours and 24 minutes
*** K
Kingsford-Smith - Sir Charles Edward ..... born 1897 died 1935 ..... Australian pioneer aviator who teamed up with Charles Ulm in 1926 and together they set up an impressive list of aviation firsts and records including the FIRST air crossing of the Pacific when they flew from America to Australia in ten days in a Fokker Tri-motor called the Southern Cross in 1928. In the same year they made the FIRST trans-Tasman flight ( from Richmond, New South Wales to Christchurch, New Zealand). Together they formed the FIRST Australian National Airways in 1929 and in 1934 Charles Ulm carried the FIRST airmail deliveries between Australia and New Zealand and, later, New Guinea. In 1929-30 they made the FIRST aerial circumnavigation of the globe
*** L
Lindbergh - Charles Augustus ….. born 4th February 1902 died 1974 ..… U.S.A ..... made the FIRST solo non-stop transatlantic flight from New York to Paris in a Ryan monoplane named Spirit of St Louis and for which he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honour. He was born in Detroit, Michigan and entered the University of Wisconsin in 1920 to study civil engineering. He left two years later to join the Nebraska Aircraft Corporation Flying School. He made his record flight in 1927 and became a goodwill ambassador in trips to Central America and Asia. In 1932 his first child was kidnapped and murdered and the publicity surrounding the case pressed Congress into passing the Lindbergh Act aimed at centralising and enforcing state laws on kidnapping.
*** M
Manning - Spud ..... American who was the FIRST freefall parachutist to use the spreadeagle skydiving position to control his descent when he pioneered the technique in 1931 with a jump of 15,000 ft
Meteor - The ….. the FIRST British jet aircraft and the only Allied jet to see action in WW2 - RAF - August 1944
Moedebeck - Hermann ….. Prussian artillery officer and balloonist who FIRST identified a need for aviation maps. He became known as the "spiritual godfather" of aeronautical charts
Montgolfier - Joseph Michel ….. born August 26th 1740 died 1810 ….. FRANCE ..... with his brother Jacques Etienne (born 7th January 1745 died 1799) built the FIRST practical hot-air balloon, although the idea was probably conceived in the 13th century by an Englishman, Roger Bacon
Moore-Brabazon - LT Col JTC ..... the FIRST man to transport live cargo in an aeroplane when he carried a piglet in a wastepaper basket tied to the wing strut of his French-built Voisin in 1909
*** N
Nungessor & Coli ….. the FIRST two aviators to attempt an Atlantic crossing - 8th May 1927. A museum is dedicated to them in Etretat in France
*** P
Paulhan - Louis ..... born 1883 died 1963 ..... pioneer French aviator who made the FIRST flight from London to Manchester when he touched down in a potato field in Burnage. His 5hr 8min trip in the world's FIRST international cross-country air race marked the take-off for the era of aviation. He also took American media tycoon William Randolph Hearst for his first flight and piloted the plane carrying Lt Paul Beck of the U.S Army who performed the FIRST bomb tests by dropping weights at markers on the ground
Pégoud - Adolphe ..... FRANCE ..... FIRST to Loop-the-Loop in 1913
Pixton - Howard ….. U.K ..... in 1911 he was the world's FIRST employed test pilot when he worked for A.V Roe for £2 per week. In 1914 he attained Britain's FIRST international aviation victory when he won the Schneider Trophy seaplane race
Popoff - M ..... Bulgarian who was the FIRST pilot to be killed in warfare when it was said that he had been shot down while making a reconnaissance flight over Adrianople. It was reported by Reuter's correspondent in Sofia in a dispatch dated 3rd November 1912
Post - Wiley ….. born 22nd November 1900 died 1935 ….. American airman who was the FIRST to fly solo around the world in 1933 in seven days, 18 hours and 49 minutes
*** R
Roe – Sir Edwin Alliot Verdon ..… born 26th April 1877 died 1958 ….. English aircraft manufacturer who was the FIRST Englishman to design, build and fly his own aircraft when he built his first biplane in 1907 at Brooklands. In 1910 he formed a company with his brother Humphrey Verdon Roe, A V Roe & Co (AVRO) which was well known for its Lancaster and Vulcan bombers . When he sold this company to Armstrong Siddeley he formed Saunders-Roe (SARO) which was known for the FIRST jet-propelled flying boat, the SR-A1 and the Princess
Rozier - Francois Pilatre de ..... Frenchman who was the FIRST man to be killed in an aerial disaster when his "combination" balloon caught fire on 15th June 1785 whilst he was attempting to cross the English Channel and fell in flames near Boulogne. His companion, Jules Romain, also died in the accident
*** S
Shepherd – Capt Ronald ….. U.K ..... test pilot with Rolls-Royce. In 1955 he was the FIRST man to fly the “Flying Bedstead”, which was designed for experiments in vertical takeoff
Sikorsky - Igor Ivan ….. born 25th May 1889 died 1972 ….. Russian-born aeronautical engineer who built and flew the FIRST four-engined aeroplane in 1913 and in 1939 built the FIRST successful helicopter, the VS-300
Smith - Ross Macpherson (1892-1922) and Keith Macpherson Smith (1890-1955) ..... Australian aviators and brothers who made the FIRST England to Australia flight in 1919
*** T
Trubshaw - Brian ….. died 2001 ….. U.K ..... in 1968 he was the FIRST test pilot of Concorde
Twinkletoes and Lucky Jim ..... U.K ..... the FIRST two stuffed cats to fly across the Atlantic in a plane when they accompanied Alcock and Brown
*** V
Voisin Fréres ..... la rue de la Ferme, Billancourt, France - the FIRST aeroplane manufacturing company for the production of powered aircraft
*** W
Walker - Charles Clement ….. U.K ..... chief engineer with De Havilland when it launched the world’s FIRST jet airliner, the Comet
Watkins - Charles ..... U.K ..... in 1910 he became the FIRST man to fly over Cardiff in airship for which he received a prize of £50 and in 1911 was the FIRST pilot to fly over his home city of Cardiff
Wright -Wilbur ….. born 16th April 1867 died 30th May 1912 ….. U.S.A ..... with his brother Orville (born 19th August 1871 died 30th January 1948) were the FIRST men to fly in a heavier-than-air machine on 17th December 1903 at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina