Timeline of military aviation
Encyclopedia
- 2nd or 3rd century AD - A hot air balloon, the Kongming lantern, is invented in China and used for military communication.
- 1794 - French Aerostatic CorpsFrench Aerostatic CorpsThe French Aerostatic Corps or Company of Aeronauts was the world's first air force, founded in 1794 to use balloons, primarily for reconnaissance.-Experimentation:...
use a tethered balloon at the Battle of FleurusBattle of Fleurus (1794)In the Battle of Fleurus on 26 June 1794, the army of the First French Republic under General Jean-Baptiste Jourdan faced the Coalition Army commanded by Prince Josias of Coburg in the most decisive battle of the Flanders Campaign in the Low Countries during the French Revolutionary Wars...
as a vantage point. - 1849 - The Austrian ship Vulcano launches a manned hot air balloon to bomb Venice; this is the first aerial attack in history.
- 1861 - The Union Army Balloon CorpsUnion Army Balloon CorpsThe Union Army Balloon Corps was a branch of the Union Army during the American Civil War, established by presidential appointee Thaddeus S. C. Lowe...
is established during the American Civil War. - 1878 - The British Army Balloon Equipment Store is established at Woolwich by the Royal EngineersRoyal EngineersThe Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army....
. - 1885 - Balloons are deployed by the British Army to Bechuanaland and SuakinSuakinSuakin or Sawakin is a port in north-eastern Sudan, on the west coast of the Red Sea. In 1983 it had a population of 18,030 and the 2009 estimate is 43, 337.It was formerly the region's chief port, but is now secondary to Port Sudan, about 30 miles north. The old city built of coral is in ruins...
. - 1888 - The British Army School of BallooningSchool of BallooningThe School of Ballooning was a training and test centre for British Army experiments with balloons and airships. It was established at Chatham in Kent in 1888. The School moved to Stanhope Lines, Aldershot in 1890 when a balloon section and depot were formed as permanent units of the Royal...
is established. - 1907 - The first military air organization, the Aeronautical Division of the U.S. Army Signal Corps, is formed 1 August
- 1907 - British Colonel John CapperJohn CapperMajor-General Sir John Edward Capper KCB KCVO was a senior officer of the British Army during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century who served on the North-West Frontier of British India, in South Africa and during the First World War, where he was instrumental in the development of the...
flies the military airship Nulli Secundus from Farnborough to Crystal Palace in London. - 1909 - Heavier-than-air military aviation is born with the US Army's purchase of Signal Corps Aeroplane No. 1Wright Military Flyer-See also:-References:* * United States Air Force Museum - External links :* , NASA Collections Database* * Smithsonian online version of magazine November 1, 2006* reproduction 1908 Wright Model A Military Flyer.-See also:...
. - 1910 - The first experimental take-off of a heavier-than-air craft from the deck of a US Navy vessel, the cruiser
- 1910 - The Aviation Militaire of the French Army is formed 22 October.
- 1911 - The Air BattalionAir Battalion Royal EngineersThe Air Battalion Royal Engineers was the first flying unit of the British Armed Forces to make use of heavier-than-air craft. It evolved into the Royal Flying Corps which in turn evolved into the Royal Air Force.-Establishment:...
of the Royal Engineers is formed, the first British heavier-than-air unit. - 1911 - Heavier-than-air aircraft are used in war for the first time during the Italo-Turkish WarItalo-Turkish WarThe Italo-Turkish or Turco-Italian War was fought between the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Italy from September 29, 1911 to October 18, 1912.As a result of this conflict, Italy was awarded the Ottoman provinces of Tripolitania, Fezzan, and...
, when Italian pilot Lieutenant Giulio GavottiGiulio GavottiGiulio Gavotti was an Italian Lieutenant and pilot, who fought in the Italo-Turkish War. He set two firsts in the history of aerial warfare of heavier-than-air flyers: he was the first man to make an aerial bombardment, as well the first to perform a night mission.-Aerial bombardment:On the 1...
dropped four grenades from his Taube monoplane onto a Turkish camp at Ain Zara. - 1912 - The Royal Flying CorpsRoyal Flying CorpsThe Royal Flying Corps was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of the First World War. During the early part of the war, the RFC's responsibilities were centred on support of the British Army, via artillery co-operation and photographic reconnaissance...
is formed. - 1914 - The Royal Naval Air ServiceRoyal Naval Air ServiceThe Royal Naval Air Service or RNAS was the air arm of the Royal Navy until near the end of the First World War, when it merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps to form a new service , the Royal Air Force...
is formed by splitting airship squadrons away from the Royal Flying Corps. - 1914 - In August, Russian Staff-Captain Pyotr NesterovPyotr NesterovPyotr Nikolayevich Nesterov was a Russian pilot, an aircraft technical designer and an aerobatics pioneer.-Life and career:The son of a military academy teacher, Pyotr Nesterov decided to choose a military career. In August 1904 he left the military school in Nizhny Novgorod and went to the...
becomes the first pilot to ram his plane into an enemy spotter aircraft. - 1914 - In October, a plane is shot down by another aircraft with a handgun over Rheims, France.
- 1914 - The first conventional air-to-air kill occurs on October 5th when a French VoisinVoisin- Companies :*Avions Voisin, the French automobile company*Voisin , the French aircraft manufacturer- People :*Catherine Monvoisin, known as "La Voisin" , French sorceress during the reign of Louis XIV...
machine-guns a German AviatikAviatikAutomobil und Aviatik AG was a German aircraft manufacturer during World War I. The company was established at Mülhausen in 1910 and soon became one of the country's leading producers of aircraft, relocating to Freiburg in 1914 and establishing a subsidiary in Vienna as Österreichisch-Ungarische...
in World War I. - 1918 - The Royal Air ForceRoyal Air ForceThe Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
, the world's first independent air force is formed. - 1918 - The HMS ArgusHMS ArgusNine ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Argus, after Argus, the hundred-eyed giant of mythology: was a 10-gun sloop, originally a French privateer, captured in 1799 and broken up in 1811....
became "the world's first carrier capable of launching and landing naval aircraft". - 1940 - The Battle of BritainBattle of BritainThe Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940...
, the first major campaign to be fought entirely by air forceAir forceAn air force, also known in some countries as an air army, is in the broadest sense, the national military organization that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army, navy or...
s, was fought. - 1958 - The first ever air-to-air kill with a missile, when a Chinese Nationalist F86 kills a Chinese Communist MiG 15 during the Quemoy-Matsu Crisis
- 1980 - The only confirmed air-to-air helicopter battles occur during the Iran-Iraq War.