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May 15, 1941 |
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Britain's first jet-powered aircraft, the Gloster E.28/39 makes its maiden flight. Frank Whittle's revolutionary jet engine would transform the future of aviation. |
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December 7, 1941 |
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Japan bombs Pearl Harbor and the United States officially enters World War II. Pan Am's fleet of flying Clippers were the world's only aircraft that could carry huge payloads across an ocean. The U.S. military takes over all of Pan Am's over-ocean aircraft and operations. |
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July 18, 1942 |
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The only jet fighter produced in significant numbers during World War II , the Messerschmitt Me 262, first takes to the skies. The Me 262's top speed was an impressive 540 miles per hour, but problems with production delayed the planes from combat service until September 1944. |
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April 17, 1944 |
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Howard Hughes and TWA President Jack Frye set a new cross-country speed record as they pilot the Lockheed Constellation from Burbank, California to Washington D.C. in a mere 6 hours and 57 minutes. |
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July 13, 1944 |
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Famous French aviator, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, is shot down over North Africa during a reconnaissance mission during World War II. He leaves behind an impressive legacy of writing, most memorably the child's fable, "The Little Prince." |
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October, 1947 |
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Air Force Major Chuck Yeager becomes the first pilot to fly faster than the speed of sound. Flying the Bell X-1, Yeager reached Mach 1.06 at an altitude of 70,140 feet. |
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July 27, 1949 |
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Britain's de Havilland Comet makes its first test flight and launches a new era in aviation as the world's first commercial jetliner. |
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