
WWII


1 April 1954 – last operational sortie of the RAF Spitfire
On the 1st April 1954, a Spitfire Mk. XIX of the No. 81 Squadron RAF performed the last operational sortie of that type of aircraft within the RAF. That final flight was a reconnaissance mission […]

15 October 1933 – the first run of Rolls-Royce Merlin engine
On 15th October 1933, a liquid-cooled, V-12 piston engine designated as PV-12, had run for the very first time. It went into series production approximately three years later and became internationally famed as the Rolls-Royce […]

9 July 1944 – Ingvar Fredrik Håkansson
Death of F/Sgt Ingvar Fredrik Håkansson, Swedish volunteer pilot in the Royal Air Force. Håkansson was born in the United Kingdom, in a mixed family of British mother and Swedish father (who was a navy […]

11 June 1937 – first flight of Kawanishi E11K
Kawanishi E11K, a Japanese experimental flying boat performed its first flight. The story of this aircraft began in 1936, when the Imperial Japanese Navy drew up a request for a new small flying boat, intended […]

4 June 1943 – Jaroslav Čermák
Flying Officer Jaroslav Čermák from No. 313 (Czech) Squadron RAF, crashes with his Spitfire Mk.V (AR512) near Taunton, after colliding with a train. Complicated wartime fortunes of Jaroslav Čermák may work as a perfect example […]

Grumman TBM-3E Avenger
Grumman TBM-3E Avenger ´Charlie´s Heavy´ (HB-RDG, c/n 3381), taking-off for a flying display at Memorial Air Show, Roudnice nad Labem, June 2015. Distinctive silhouette and characteristic sound of TBM-3 Avenger, nicknamed ´Charlie´s Heavy´, is well […]

14 May 1915 – first dirigible for the US Navy
US Secretary of the Navy Josepus Daniels approved a contract for the first dirigible baloon for the United States Navy. The First World War was a period marked by a rapid and intensive development of […]

7 May 1942 – Jean Assoland
Capt. Jean Assoland, French aviation pioneer, is shot down by British fighters over Madagascar. Jean Assoland (also known as Bernache-Assolant) began his military career with the French Navy. In 1924, at the age of 19, […]

Dassault MD 450 Ouragan
Dassault MD 450 Ouragan, formerly ´UQ´ of the French Air Force (c/n 320), exhibited in the Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and Military History in Brussels, Belgium; September 2016. After the World War II, […]