1912

Master Index

1914

1913 Chronology of Aviation History
Major Aviation Events

1913 Aviation Records

• Speed: 126.67-mph, Maurice Prévost, Monocoupe Déperdussin, 29 September 1913

• Distance: 634.54-miles, A. Seguin, Henry Farman, 13 October 1913

• Altitude: 20,079-feet, Georges Legagneux, Nieuport II N, 28 December 1913

• Weight: 8,995-lbs, Igor Sikorsky, Russian Knight

• Engine Power: 217-hp, Salmson, Canton-Unné (CU) 2M7

1913

• 1913 — Serbia … The Serbian Air Force is established as an Army Air Service. Six officers receive pilot training in France.

January 1913

• January 1 — Paris, France … The International Federation of Aeronautics states that by the end of 1912 … 2,490 pilots had been awarded FAI licenses.

• January 1 — Guantanamo Bay, Cuba … On this date, the United States Navy used aircraft on maneuvers for the first time. The USN set up an air camp on Fisherman's Point, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

• January 13 — Brazil … Brazilian naval aviation commences with the foundation of a flying school.

• January 13 — New York City, New York, United States … The first regular airplane cargo service in the United States was inaugurated by Harry M. Jones flying from Boston to New York in a Wright Model B. The cargo was baked beans.

  

• January 24 — Madrid, Spain … A Swiss pilot Oscar Bider lands at Madrid's Cuatro Vientos Airfield after crossing the Pyrenees from Pau in southern France. During the crossing in his Blériot monoplane he reached an altitude of 11,483 feet.

  

• January 24 — Etampes, France … Noted aircraft pilot and designer Charles Niéuport, and his mechanic Guyot, are killed when their wing-warping device malfunctions.

February 1913

• February 3 — Gotha, Germany … On this date Bothmann and GlÜck, founders of the Gothaer Waggonfabrik in 1898, open an airplane division.

• February 8 — Levkas, Greece … Russian pilot N. de Sackoff becomes the first pilot shot down in combat when his biplane is hit by ground fire following bomb run on the walls of Fort Bezhani during the First Balkan War. Flying for the Greeks, he comes down near small town of Preveza, on the coast N of the Aegean island of Levkas, secures local Greek assistance, repairs plane and resumes flight Back to base.

• February 11 — Chile … The Chilean Air Force is established at Lo Espejo (today El Bosque).

March 1913

• March — China … China obtains twelve military aircraft from France.

• March 15 — Texas, United States … The US Army forms the 1st Aero Squadron under Capt. Charles Chandler at Texas City to scout for Mexican incursions along the border.

April 1913

• April 16 — Belgium … On this date, the Compagnie des aviateurs (Aviators' Company) is formed as an independent Belgian air force.

• April 16 — Monaco … First contest for the Schneider Trophy. Maurice Prévost wins in a Deperdussin monoplane, completing the 28 circuits of the 10 km (6.2 mile) course with an average speed of 73.63 km/h (45.75 mph).

• April 17 — Cologne, Germany … After 4 hours and 18 minutes in the air, Briton Gustav Hamel lands his Blériot XI on a non-stop flight from Dover, England.

  

• April 24 — Villacoublay, France, to Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain … O. Gilbert flies 825 km from Villacoublay to Vitoria (8 hours and 23 minutes).

• April 19 — Monaco … Maurice Prévost won first Schneider Trophy Contest at Monaco in a Deperdussin monoplane. During the race, contestants must taxi for half of one lap, and then fly the remaining 173 miles over 28 laps at their fastest speeds. Prévost averaged a speed of almost 46-mph for the race.

  

• April 27 — Panama … On this date, the first flight with a passenger in Central America took place when Bob Fowler in a floatplane flew with film cameraman Raymond Duhem from the Atlantic to the Pacific. They traversed the 40 miles across the Panama isthmus in 57 minutes. During the flight, Duhem made the first aerial film of Central America.

May 1913

• May 10 — St. Petersburg, Russia … First flight of a four-engine aeroplane, the Bolshoi Baltiskii designed by Igor Sikorsky, at St. Petersburg, Russia.

• May 13 — Russia … First flight of the Sikorsky Ruskii Vitiaz, the world's first four-engine aircraft. It was also the first aeroplane with a lavatory.

June 1913

• No data.

July 1913

• July 1 — The Netherlands … Royal Netherlands Army forms its Aviation Division (Luchtvaart Afdeling)

August 1913

• August 6 — Victoria, Canada … Pilot Johnny Bryant becomes the first pilot killed in Canada when his floatplane disintegrates in flight.

• August 7 — Aldershot, England England … Aviation pioneer Samuel Cody is killed in crash.

• August 12 — First flight of the Bristol TB.8

• August 20 — Buc, France … 700 feet above Buc, France, parachutist Adolphe Pegond becomes the first person to jump from an airplane and land safely in Europe. Albert Berry made the first documented parachute jump from a moving airplane on March 1, 1912, at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri.

September 1913

• September 1 — France … Frenchman Adolphe Pégoud makes the first inverted flight.

• September 13 — Romania … Aurel Vlaicu, Romanian engineer and inventor, dies near Câmpina, Romania, while attempting to fly across the Carpathian Mountains in his Vlaicu II airplane.

• September 18 — Yorkshire, England … The prototype of the Avro 504 two-seat biplane began flight testing. The new aircraft was fitted with a Gnome 80-hp engine.

  

• September 23 — Bizerta, Tunisia … First flight across the Mediterranean Sea made by Roland Garros in a Morane-Saulnier monoplane. The 470 mile flight from a beach near the resorts of Fréjus and St-Raphaël, southwest of Cannes, France, to Bizerta, Tunisia lasted 7 hours and 53 minutes. This was the longest flight ever made over water.

• September 29 — Reims, France … On this date, Maurice Prévost flies his Deperdussin monoplane at 126.67-mph to win the Gordon Bennett Cup.

  

October 1913

• October 15 — Pauillac, France … After completing the first official airmail flight in France, flying a Morane-Saulnier from Villacoublagy, France, Lieutenant Ronin delivers a 22-lb sack of letters.

November 1913

• November — England … First flight of the Sopwith Tabloid.

December 1913

• December 11 — Russia … First flight of the Sikorsky Ilya Muromets.

• December 13 to 14 — Germany … German balloonist Hugo Kaulen stays aloft for 87 hours. This record lasted until 1935.

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, 1913 in aviation
4. Shupek, John (photos and card images), The Skytamer Archive. Skytamer.com, Whittier, CA