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1916 in aviation
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This is a list of aviation-related events from 1916:
Events
January
- January 12 - German aces Max Immelmann and Oswald Boelcke, with 8 kills, are the first pilots awarded with Pour le Mérite ("the Blue Max")
- January 29 - the second and last Zeppelin raid on Paris inflicts 54 casualties.
March
- March 16 - US military aircraft fly their first mission over foreign soil when Curtiss JN3 s of the 1st Aero Squadron carry out reconnaissance over Mexico.
- March 18 - German ace Ernst Udet scores his first kill
April
- April 20 - the Escadrille Américanne, later to be known as Lafayette Escadrille, is established as an American volunteer unit in France, equipped with Nieuport 11 s.
May
- May 2 - eight German Zeppelins raid the east coast of England, causing 39 casualties. The Zeppelin L 20 is wrecked in a storm off Stavanger, Norway on the return journey.
- May 17 - Parasite fighter experiments begin in the UK to launch a Bristol Scout from a Porte Baby airship.
June
- June 17 - the first French ace, Jean Navarre , is shot down and wounded, ending his combat career with 12 confirmed kills.
- June 18 - the first German ace Max Immelmann is shot down and killed by a FE.2b from No. 25 Squadron RFC -- a symbolic end of the "Fokker Scourge". He had scored 15 kills.
- June 23 - Victor Chapman of Lafayette Escadrille becomes the first US airman to be killed in action, shot down near Verdun.
July
- No.3 Wing RNAS becomes Britain's first strategic bombing unit, equipped with Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutters
- July 1 - beginning of the Battle of the Somme. In the five months of the battle, the British lose 782 aircraft and 576 pilots but maintain air superiority over the battlefield.
August
- August 2 - 16 German Zeppelins raid southeast England. Lt William Leefe-Robinson , RFC shoots down Zeppelin SL 11 in a BE.2c.
- August 6 - French ace Capitaine René Fonck gains his first confirmed victory.
- August 27 - Oswald Boelcke creates the first German special fighter squadron Jagdstaffel 2 (Jasta 2).
September
- September 15 - French submarine Foucault is sunk by two Austrian flying boats, becoming the first submarine to be sunk by an aircraft.
- September 17 - Rittmeister Manfred von Richthofen scores his first kill, from a Albatros D.II
- September 23-24 - eleven Zeppelins attack England in a mass air-raid. Two are shot down, LZ 76 by ground fire, and LZ 74 by Lt Frederick Sowrey
October
- October 12 - Royal Naval Air Service ace Raymond Collishaw claims his first victory.
- October 28 - German ace Oswald Boelcke is killed in a mid-air collision.
November
- November 23 - British ace Lanoe Hawker VC is shot down by Manfred von Richthofen
- November 28 - Central London is bombed by an LVG C.II flown by R. Brandt
First flights
February
- February 9 - Sopwith Pup flown by Harry Hawker
April
May
- May 28 - Sopwith Triplane flown by Harry Hawker
June
- June 17 - Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.8
- June 29 - the B&W , William Boeing's first aircraft.
September
- September 9 - Bristol F.2A
- September 12 - the Hewitt-Sperry flying bomb
October
November
Entered service
February
- Airco DH.2 with No. 24 Squadron RFC
April
August
- SPAD S.VII with Escadrille No. 26
November
December
- December 24 - Sopwith Pup with No. 54 Squadron RFC
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Last updated: 11-05-2004 17:30:51