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This is a list of aviation-related events from 1908:
[edit] Events
[edit] January
- 17 March – AEA Red Wing is destroyed in a crash on its second flight.
- 14 May – Charles Furnas becomes the first passenger in an aeroplane in the United States, piloted by Wilbur Wright. They fly for a distance of approximately 600m in 28-3/5ths seconds in the Wright 1905 Flyer, modified with seats for pilot and passenger. Shortly after, Orville Wright flies Furnas for 4.12 km in 4 minutes 2-2/5ths seconds.[1]
- Henry Farman is reported[2] to have flown with a Mlle P. Van Pottelsberghe in Ghent, Belgium in late May. If correct she would be the first woman passenger in an aeroplane.
[edit] August
- 8 August – Wilbur Wright makes his first flights at the Hunaudières racetrack at Le Mans, France. The Wright Flyer used for this and later flights had been shipped to Le Havre by Orville the previous year. It had been seriously damaged by custom officials when it arrived in France and uncrated. Wilbur spent the whole summer of 1908 rebuilding the machine and getting it into flying condition. Wilbur's flights in this machine will have a profound effect on European aviation during the following months.
- 20 August – Robert Gastambide becomes the first passenger carried by a monoplane when he is taken up on the Antoinette II.[5]
- 21 August – Wilbur Wright moves to Camp d'Auvours, 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) east of Le Mans, where all his flights for the remainder of the year will be based.[6]
- 21 August – The Antoinette II flies the first circle by a monoplane.[5]
[edit] September
- 3 September – Seeking a contract to build the United States Army's first airplane, Orville Wright begins flight trials before Army observers at Fort Myer, Virginia, in a new Wright Model A flyer. The flight lasts 1 minute 11 seconds.[7]
- 9 September – At Fort Myer, Orville Wright sets three world records: a flight endurance record of 57 minutes 13 seconds on his first flight, a new flight endurance record of 1 hour 2 minutes and 15 seconds on his second flight, and an endurance record for a flight with a passenger (Army Lieutenant Frank P. Lahm) of 6 minutes 24 seconds on his third flight.[7]
- 10 September – At Fort Myer, Orville Wright sets a world flight endurance record of 1 hour 5 minutes and 52 seconds.[7]
- 11 September – At Fort Myer, Orville Wright sets a world flight endurance record of 1 hour 10 minutes and 24 seconds.[8]
- 12 September – At Fort Myer, Orville Wright sets a world record for flight endurance with a passenger (Army Major George O. Squier) of 9 minutes 6⅓ seconds.[9]
- 17 September – Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge becomes the first person killed in a powered airplane and the first military aviation casualty when the aircraft, a Wright Model A, Orville Wright is piloting during U.S. Army tests, crashes at Fort Myer. Wright is severely injured.[1]
- Thérèse Peltier makes a flight of 200 metres (656 feet) at a height of approximately 2.5 meters (8 feet) at the Military Square in Turin, Italy. Photos of Peltier with the aeroplane are published on 27 September.[2] Unofficially, it is the first flight by a female aviator.
[edit] October
- 3 October - George P. Dicken of the New York Herald becomes the first newspaper reporter to fly in an airplane when he rides as a passenger with Wilbur Wright at Camp d'Auvours.[10]
- 5 October – Zeppelin-airship LZ IV destroyed by fire at Echterdingen.
- 7 October – Wilbur Wright flies with Mrs. Hart O. Berg [11] as passenger at Camp d'Auvours.[6] This is the first fully controlled flight with a woman passenger.[4][11]
- 14 October – Henry Farman makes the first cross-country flight in a power-driven aeroplane, from Bouy to Reims 27 kilometres (17 mi) in 20 minutes.
- 16 October – Samuel Cody makes his first aeroplane flight in the UK in British Army Aeroplane No. 1.
- 18 October – Wilbur Wright climbs to 115 metres (377 ft) above Camp d'Auvours.[6]
[edit] November
- Horace, Eustace and Oswald Short found Short Brothers, the first aircraft manufacturing company in England, in Battersea, London.
[edit] December
- 18 December – Wilbur Wright at Camp d'Auvours, 11 kilometres east of Le Mans. flies 99.8 kilometres (62.0 mi) in 1 hour 54 minutes 2/5 sec. rising to 110 m (360 ft) - a new world record.[6]
- 31 December – Wilbur Wright wins a prize of FF 20,000 from Michelin for the longest flight of the year (a world record) - 123.2 kilometres (76.6 mi) in 2 hours 18 minutes and 33 1/5 seconds from Camp d'Auvours.[6]
- Undated
[edit] First flights
- 12 March - AEA Red Wing, flying from the surface of Keuka Lake near Hammondsport, New York. Flight distance is 97.2 metres (319 ft) but ends with the aircraft collapsing to the ground, leaving the pilot slightly bruised. This is the first public demonstration of a powered aircraft flight in the United States.[13]
[edit] September
- 5 September - Goupy No.1, the world's first triplane
[edit] October
[edit] December
[edit] References
- ^ a b U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission: 1908 Kitty Hawk, N.C.
- ^ a b Early Aviators - Thérèse Peltier
- ^ Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 107.
- ^ a b Early Aviators - Leon Delagrange
- ^ a b Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, ISBN 0-7607-0592-5, p. 52.
- ^ a b c d e U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission: 1908 Camp d'Auvours, Le Mans, France
- ^ a b c Crouch, Tom, The Bishop's Boys: A Life of Wilbur and Orville Wright, New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1989, p. 374.
- ^ Crouch, Tom, The Bishop's Boys: A Life of Wilbur and Orville Wright, New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1989, p. 374-375.
- ^ Crouch, Tom, The Bishop's Boys: A Life of Wilbur and Orville Wright, New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1989, p. 375.
- ^ Crouch, Tom, The Bishop's Boys: A Life of Wilbur and Orville Wright, New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1989, p. 381.
- ^ a b Monash University - Aviation Biographys
- ^ Chant, Chris, The World's Great Bombers, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 2000, ISBN 0-7607-2012-6, p. 48.
- ^ "Selfridge Aerodrome Sails Steadily for 319 Feet. At 25 to 30 miles an Hour." Washington Post, 13 May 1908.
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