Date On This Date In Aviation History Information Source 11/12/1944 Tirpitz sunk. The Bomber War by Robin Neillands 11/12/1912 USN Lt. T.G. Ellyson makes first USN successful catapult launch from a anchored coal barge. Invention & Technology, Spring 2006 11/12/1912 The Navy's first successful launching of an airplane by catapult was made at the Washington Navy Yard by Lt T.G. Ellyson in the A-3. United States Naval Aviation 1910-1960 by Deputy Chief Of Naval Operations 11/12/1906 Alberto Santos-Dumont was presented with another Ernest Archdeacon award of 1,500 francs and a further 1,500 francs from the French Aero Club when he flew the 14-bis for 220 metres (722 ft.) at an average speed of just over 25 mph - the first record to be officially ratified by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI). Wright To Fly, by Peter R. March 11/12/1912 First successful launch by a US Navy seaplane by catapult, a Curtiss A3 pusher biplane. Wright To Fly, by Peter R. March 11/12/1919 Australian brothers Captain Ross Smith and Lieutenant Keith Smith left Hounslow in a Vickers Vimy to become the first men to fly from England to Austrailia. Wright To Fly, by Peter R. March 11/12/1944 The Tirpitz was sunk by RAF Lancasters, using 12,000lb bombs, in the Norwegian port of Tromso. Wright To Fly, by Peter R. March 11/12/2001 New York suffered another terrible air disaster, when an American Airlines Airbus A300B4-605R crashed into the Queens district shortly after take-off from John F. Kennedy Airport. Wright To Fly, by Peter R. March 11/12/1921 Aerial Stunt man Wesley May straps a five-gallon can of gasoline onto his back and steps from the wing of an airborne Lincoln Standard piloted by Frank Hawks, to the wing of a JN-4 Jenny flown by Earl S, Daugherty over Long Beach, California. He empties the contents of the can into the Jenny's fuel tank, completing the first-ever air-to-air refueling of an airborne aircraft. U.S. Airforce - A Complete History by The Air Force Historical Foundation 11/12/1932 On a farm near Stockton, New Jersey, the American Interplanetary Society (AIS) fires its first rocket in a static environment. AIS No. 1 burns for approximately 30 seconds while producing 60 pounds of thrust. The AIS changes its name to American Rocket Society (ARS) in 1934. U.S. Airforce - A Complete History by The Air Force Historical Foundation 11/12/1941 The Army Air Force launches its first radio-controlled glide bomb - the GB-8. The GB series of weapons are part of Project Aphrodite, a program centered on developing standoff weapon capability and more precise guidance for weapons. U.S. Airforce - A Complete History by The Air Force Historical Foundation 11/12/1948 First flight of the Sud-Ouest SO.6020-01Espadon. X Planes and Prototypes By Jim Winchester