1911

Master Index

1913

1912 Chronology of Aviation History
Major Aviation Events

1912 Aviation Records

• Speed: 108.18-mph, Jules Védrines, Monocoupe Déperdussin, 9 September 1912

• Distance: 628.14-miles, Géo Fourny, Maurice Farman, 11 September 1912

• Altitude: 18,405-feet, Roland Garros, Morane-Saulnier, 11 December 1912

• Weight: 2,976-lbs, Léon Levavasseur, Antoinette Monobloc

• Engine Power: 197-hp, Clerget, Clerget

1912

• 1912 — France … First all-metal aircraft flies, the Tubavion monoplane built by Ponche and Maurice Primard in France.

• 1912 — Bulgaria … The first Bulgarian Air Force is formed, using Blériot, Albatros, Farman, Nieuport, Voisin, Somer, Skiorski and Bristol aircraft (23 in total) to fight in the Balkan War.

January 1912

• January 10 — Kent, England … Lieutenant commander Charles Samson flies a Short S.38 from the deck of battleship HMS Africa moored in the River Medway, England, becoming the first British naval aviator. He succeeds in taking off from a wooden runway built out over the fore gun-turret of the HMS Africa that was anchored in the River Medway. After takeoff, Samson flew his Short S.38 biplane to Eastchurch.

• January 10 — England … First flight of the Short S.36

February 1912

• February — England … First flight of the Royal Aircraft Factory BE.2 flown by designer Geoffrey de Havilland.

• February 16 — New York City, New York, United States … Frank Coffyn succeeds in taking aerial views of New York City with a cinema camera. He controlled his aircraft with his feet and knees.

• February 22 — France … Jules Vedrines becomes the first pilot to exceed 100 miles per hour (161 km/h). He makes his flight in a Deperdussin monoplane near Pau, France.

• February 22 — Germany … Anthony Fokker establishes Fokker Aeroplanbau in Germany, predecessor to Fokker Aircraft Company.

March 1912

• March 1 — St. Louis, Missouri, United States … Captain Albert Berry succeeds in making a parachute jump over Jefferson Barracks from a Benoist biplane flying at 1,509 feet. The parachute opened at 500 feet!

• March 1 — England … First flight of the AEA Cygnet.

• March 3 — England … First flight of the Avro Type E.

• March 31 — Monaco … The world's first hydroplane competition organized by the International Sporting Club of Monaco concluded. The week-long event saw the Farman biplanes in a runaway success of the competition.

April 1912

• April 3 — Long Beach, California, United States … Calbraith P. Rodgers famous for making the first coast-to-coast flight across the United States, perishes when he crashed into the Pacific Ocean during an air show at Long Beach, California.

• April 6 — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States … Belgian M. V. de Jonckheere flew his monoplane during night experiments at the League Island Naval Base showing that aircraft could follow and attack ships at night.

• April 13 — London, England … King George V signs a Royal Warrant that establishes the British Royal Flying Corps.

• April 16 — English Channel … Harriet Quimby becomes the first woman to fly the English Channel.

• April 22 — St. George's Channel … Englishman Denys Corett Wilson flew across St. George's Channel between England and Ireland.

May 1912

• May 1 — London, England … On this date, the new A V Roe Type F biplane took to the air for the first time. This new aircraft, unveiled at the Brooklands motor racing track south of London, is the first aircraft to enclose the aviator inside a cabin.

• May 2 — Weymouth Bay, England … On this date, Commander Charles Samson became the first airman to take off from a moving warship. The flight originated from the battleship HMS Hibernia while she steamed at 10.5 knots in Weymouth Bay.

• May 9 — England … Lieutenant Commander Charles Samson becomes the first person to fly an aircraft off the deck of a moving ship. He takes off in a Short S.38 from the deck of HMS Hibernia in Weymouth Bay.

• May 13 — England … King George V of the United Kingdom approves the formation of the Royal Flying Corps.

• May 24 — Berlin, Germany … On this date, Anthony Fokker crashed his Goedecker-built B-1912 monoplane. The crash killed his passenger Lt. von Schlichting. Just 10 days before the crash, Fokker had successfully demonstrated the aircraft to a German Army delegation.

• May 30 — Dayton, Ohio, United States … On this date, Wilbur Wright died at 3:15 am of typhoid fever at the early age of 45.

June 1912

• June — England … Sopwith Aviation Company founded.

• June 1 — Norway … The first aeroplane flight in Norway is made by Lt Hans Dons in a Etrich Taube.

• June 2 — United States … The Lewis machine gun is first tested in an aircraft by the US Army. The results are extremely encouraging, and this weapon would go on to become the standard armament of many fighter aircraft during World War I.

• June 7 — Maryland, United States … US Army Signal Corps Captain Charles Chandler test fires a Lewis gun fitted to a Wright Model B biplane flow by Lt. Thomas Milling. This marks the first time a machine gun has been fired from an aircraft in the United States.

  

• June 19 — England … The RFC's Central Flying School opened at Upavon, Wiltshire.

• June 21 — Los Angeles, California, United States … On this date, Tiny Broadwick, age 18, became the first woman to make a parachute jump from an airplane. The aircraft piloted by Glenn Curtiss was flying at 1,000 feet.

• June 26 — Japan … The Naval Committee for Aeronautical Research was formed by the Japanese government.

• June 27 — Italy … Following successes using aircraft against the Turks in North Africa, Italy forms a specialized Air Battalion (Battagliore Aviatori).

July 1912

• July 1 — Boston, Massachusetts, United States … Harriet Quimby, the first licensed female pilot in the United States, as part of an Air Show spectacular flew around the Boston Light. During the flight, her Blériot plane was caught in turbulent air and nose-dived, plummeting both Quimby and a meet organizer passenger to their deaths in Dorchester Bay.

• July 2 — Denmark … The Danish Air Force is established as an army air corps.

• July 5, 1912 — Maryland, United States … On this date, Captain Charles Chandler, Lt. Thomas Milling and Lt. Henry Arnold are presented with certificates qualifying them as the US's first “Military Aviators.”

• July 27 — Annapolis, Marilyn, United States … High over the torpedo boat USS Stringham, the first wireless message from an airplane to a ship is transmitted to her from a Wright B1 Flyer flown by Lt. John Rodgers and Ensign Charles Maddox.

  

August 1912

• August 19 — Berlin, Germany … On this date, Edmond Audemars, a Swiss from Geneva, became the first aviator to fly an airplane from Paris to Berlin. Flying his Blériot monoplane, the 590 mile long trip took over two days before he landed at Berlin's Johannisthal airfield.

  

September 1912

• September 8 — Argentina … The Argentine Air Force is formed as a flying school at El Palomar, the military airport near Buenos Aires.

• September 9 — Chicago, Illinois, United States … The 1912 Gordon Bennett Cup trophy is won by Jules Vérdrines flying his Deperdussin monoplane at 108.16-mph.

  

October 1912

• October 16 — Turkey … First Air-dropped bomb was designed during the Balkan War and used by the Bulgarian air force pilots Radul Milkov and Prodan Toprakchiev at the Turkish railway station of Karaagac (near Edirne). This was the first use of airplane (Albatros F.II) as bomber.

• October 22 — Australia … Australian Flying Corps formed.

• November 12 — Washington, DC, United States … From a barge, anchored in the Anacostia River, a compressed-air catapult launched a Curtiss A-1 Hydroplane, flown by Lt. T. Gordon Ellyson. This was the first aircraft to be launched by catapult, at the U.S. Navy's Washington Navy Yard.

  

November 1912

• November 19 — Italy … Italy's colonial air force is established as the Servizio d'Aviazione Coloniale.

• November 28 — Italy … The Italian Air Battalion is made a fully operational command, the (Flotta Aerea d'Italia).

• November 27 — United States … On this date, the Aeronautical Division of the US Army Signal Corps received its first “flying boat,” a Curtiss Model F.

  

December 1912

• No data.

Works Cited

1. Gunston, Bill, et al. Chronicle of Aviation. Liberty, Missouri: JL Publishing Inc., 1992. 14-17
2. Parrish, Wayne W. (Publisher). "United States Chronology". 1962 Aerospace Yearbook, Forty-Third Annual Edition. Washington, DC: American Aviation Publications, Inc., 1962, 446-469.
3. Wikipedia, 1912 in aviation
4. Shupek, John (photos and card images), The Skytamer Archive. Skytamer.com, Whittier, CA