A Brief History
On July 25, 1909, French pilot Louis Bleriot made the first ever heavier than air powered flight across the English Channel in his Type XI monoplane, beating out several rival aviators that were competing for their place in history and also a nice prize of £1000 offered by The Daily Mail, a British newspaper. Today we take a look at 10 notable airplane flights that have earned the airplane and its pilot and designer a place in aviation history. Our list is one of interesting flights, not necessarily the most important or a “first.” You are always welcome to add your own thoughts on such flights. (Since we have numerous articles about aircraft and flight, we are trying to avoid covering the same material here, hoping to provide some more unique items or aspects of those flights for you.)
Digging Deeper
Bleriot crosses English Channel, 1909
While we have covered this momentous flight previously, we mention it again because the prominence accorded to Bleriot for his historic flight also made him an aviation celebrity, furthering his advanced design of airplane controls such as the foot pedal operated rudder and the “joystick” type of turning and elevation control. Additionally, his name was lent to the prestigious Bleriot Trophy, awarded to a Convair B-58 Hustler supersonic bomber of the U.S. Air Force and its 3-man crew for flying 1,073 kilometers (666 miles) in 30 minutes and 43 seconds. (Only 2 weeks later the same airplane and crew were lost in a crash in France.)
Wright Brothers first flight, 1903
These 2 great inventors from Dayton, Ohio are well known for making the first heavier than air, powered, controlled flights back in 1903 in North Carolina, and of course we have previously mentioned their feat, but we mention it again in order to highlight a couple of the flights that came before the Wright Brothers’ historic effort. Specifically, Henri Giffard in 1852, when he flew the first powered and controlled aircraft, a dirigible (balloon) powered by a 3 horsepower steam engine. Another momentous event was the flight by Clement Ader, a Frenchman, in 1890 when he flew his heavier than air steam powered airplane (20 horsepower!), though the flight was not “controlled.” Ader is recognized by aviation historians as the first to actually take off from the ground in a powered, heavier than air airplane, though of course the Wright Brothers’ feat of actually controlling their flight has superseded Ader’s own deed.
Erich Rudorffer Shoots Down 13 Soviet planes in a single flight, 1943
Erich Rudorffer is credited with shooting down the most aircraft ever in a single mission, shooting down thirteen Soviet aircraft on 11 October 1943. A remarkable pilot for the German Luftwaffe during World War II, Rudorffer managed to survive the war despite flying over 1000 missions and being shot down an incredible 16 times, forced to parachute from his stricken fighter planes 9 of those times. In his historic mission while flying an Fw-190, Rudorffer downed eight Yak-7s and five Yak-9s of the Soviet Air Force. He eventually shot down 222 enemy aircraft and ended up his combat career flying the Messerschmitt Me-262, the first operational jet fighter. Not just a Soviet killer, Rudorffer also shot down 86 aircraft operated by Western Allied air forces. He became a commercial pilot after World War II.
Edward “Butch” O’Hare, Ace in a Day Flight, 1942
Naval pilot Lieutenant O’Hare flew his Grumman Wildcat F4F fighter into history in 1942 when he shot down 5 Japanese warplanes in a single mission, becoming an aerial Ace in a single day, the first US Navy aerial ace and winning the first Medal of Honor awarded to a US Navy pilot. O’Hare’s fighter was armed with 4 x .50 caliber machine guns, each loaded with 450 rounds. With a cyclic rate of around 900 rounds per minute, O’Hare had enough ammo for about 10 3 second bursts. His enemy Japanese bombers had a rear facing 20 mm cannon each, making a rear attack risky, so O’Hare had to improvise his attack from above and at a slanting approach, requiring particularly skillful aiming in a method called deflection shooting. O’Hare’s wingman had jammed guns and O’Hare had to take on the 9 plane Japanese formation alone. The heroics of Lt. O’Hare saved his aircraft carrier, the USS Lexington, from possible destruction and secured O’Hare’s place in history. The main airport in Chicago, O’Hare’s hometown, was later named in his honor. Sadly, Butch O’Hare died in action in 1943, a hero to the end.
Joseph Walker and William Knight X-15 Record Breaking Flights, 1963 and 1967
The North American X-15 was an experimental US single seat rocket powered airplane that was taken aloft by a B-52 bomber “mother ship” and released to test extremely high speed and extremely high-altitude flight. In 1963, Joe Walker flew his X-15 into the history books by flying it to a record altitude of 67 miles and achieving a speed of almost Mach 5 (3794 miles per hour). This incredible speed was not even close to the maximum potential of the X-15, as proven by pilot William Knight in 1967 when he flew an all-time record speed of Mach 6.7 (4520 miles per hour), the fastest speed flown by a powered and manned piloted aircraft. The program continued until the rocket planes were retired in 1968. It is notable that Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the Moon, was an X-15 pilot that made 7 flights in the speedy rocket plane.
Miracle on the Hudson River, 2009
Many times heroic pilots have made incredibly skillful flights and landings of damaged aircraft, saving themselves and their passengers from what seemed like certain death, and US Airways Flight 1549 is a fine example of such aerial skill and heroism. The Airbus A320 jetliner had taken off from New York’s LaGuardia Airport with a crew of 5 and 150 passengers when it flew into a flock of birds, blowing out its engines and turning the ultra-modern flying machine into the equivalent of a metal brick. Veteran pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger and his co-pilot Jeffrey Skiles immediately assessed the situation and managed to guide the unpowered jet to a safe water landing on the Hudson River, managing to make that water landing without destroying any watercraft or losing any passengers in the process. All aboard the ill-fated jetliner survived the harrowing experience thanks to pilots Sullenberger and Skiles. Investigators concluded that there had been no possibility of the powerless jet returning to the airport for an emergency landing, and that Sullenberger made the timely and correct call to land in the river, a landing the NTSB called “the most successful ditching in aviation history.”
US B-17 Bombers collide and land together piggyback! 1945
In the European theater of World War II (1939-1945), one of the most dangerous occupations for Allied soldiers, sailors or airmen was the flying of strategic bombers. The backbone of the American bomber force in Europe was the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, a rugged plane renowned for its great flying characteristics, resistance to combat damage, and fierce defensive firepower. On January 1, 1945, the qualities of the B-17 and the brave heroes that flew them would be tested to the max, when 2 of the big bombers managed to collide during a chaotic mission over Germany, beset by ferocious anti-aircraft gunfire (flak) and enemy fighters. One of the bombers accidentally flew into the bottom of another B-17, the planes colliding and becoming stuck together in a piggyback fashion, one atop the other. The sight of the piggyback B-17’s baffled the German fighter pilots who thought the US must have created some sort of new secret weapon! While some of the airmen bailed out, the pilot of the top bomber, Glenn Rojohn, was unable to separate the aircraft, though he managed somehow to control the flight of the hybrid dual-bomber despite turning his own engines off. The lower plane was still turning its propellers, though the flight crew was apparently incapacitated. Rojohn coaxed the joined bombers to a relatively safe landing in Germany at Wilhemshaven. The lower bomber slid out from under the top bomber and exploded on landing, but the crew of Rojohn’s B-17 survived and was taken prisoner. German interrogators were skeptical of the account given by Rojohn and initially were of the opinion the flight represented a new American aerial design. Rojohn and his co-pilot, William Leek, earned the Distinguished Flying Cross for their feat of aerial skill.
Japanese Flight from Tokyo to London, 1937
On April 9, 1937, a Japanese aircraft made the first ever flight by a Japanese built airplane to London, England, when the Mitsubishi Ki-15 Karigane nick named “Kamikaze” made the nearly 4 day flight. Not to be confused with the World War II Japanese suicide airplane missions dubbed Kamikaze (Divine Wind), this flight was purely peaceful in purpose, though it should have given a wake up call to British and American war planners that the Japanese aircraft industry had indeed entered the world stage as cutting edge in technology. Record setting flights have always been used to show off the technological prowess of a particular nation or a particular aircraft company, and this momentous flight certainly told the world that Japan was indeed a major player in the aviation world. Unfortunately, American and British military planners were not properly put on notice, and were later stunned to find out Japanese warplanes were of excellent caliber in the initial stages of World War II in the Pacific.
First solo flight around world without refueling, 2005
On March 3, 2005, Steve Fossett of the USA made a non-stop, unrefueled solo flight around the globe, the first person in aviation history to achieve that particular milestone. Already 60 years old at the time of his historic flight, Fossett died tragically only 2 ½ years later, predictably in a plane crash. For his record setting 2005 circumnavigation of the Earth, Fossett flew a Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer, a single jet powered specialty airplane with a wingspan of 114 feet and an odd twin boom and pilot nacelle in the middle configuration, with the jet engine above the pilot’s nacelle. The flight of over 25,000 miles took 2 days and 19 hours at an average speed of 367 mph. The plane was financed by Richard Branson and built by another great aviation pioneer, Burt Rutan. Fossett, who held flying world records in 4 different aircraft, crashed a single engine propeller plane into the Nevada mountains in 2007, with his plane and body not found until a year later. Incredibly, the Nevada Governor tried to bill the Fossett family for the cost of the search!
Boeing 707, first truly successful jetliner, takes flight, 1957
On December 20, 1957, one of the most important flights in the history of passenger airlines took place when the Boeing 707 jetliner made its first flight. Although not the first jetliner to carry passengers, the 707 was the first successful commercial passenger jet, and remains in limited service today. The DeHaviland Comet I flew first, but carried a quarter of the passengers of a 707 at 100 mph slower, and was removed from service when they began to break up in flight, until a redesign could be made. The advent of the 707 truly ushered in the jet age to commercial airline passengers. About 1000 of these iconic and reliable jetliners were built (along with it slightly smaller derivative the 720) as well as hundreds more of the military adaptations of the airframe. By contrast, only 114 of the DH Comets were built and that includes the prototypes.
Question for students (and subscribers): What great flight would you add to this list? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.
If you liked this article and would like to receive notification of new articles, please feel welcome to subscribe to History and Headlines by liking us on Facebook and becoming one of our patrons!
Your readership is much appreciated!
Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Grant, RG. Flight: The Complete History of Aviation. DK, 2022.
Phelps, Mark. Flight: 100 Greatest Aircraft. Weldon Owen, 2013.
The featured image in this article, a hand-coloured pochoir print by Ernest Montaut (1879–1909) of Louis Bleriot flying over the English Channel, is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author’s life plus 70 years or fewer.
