On This Day in Aviation History

2011-10-11

On This Day in Aviation History: October 11th

2000 – The 100th Space Shuttle mission (STS-92) is launched, during which Space Shuttle Discovery delivers a Z1 Doohickey to the International Space Station. It is essentially a Pressurized Mating Adapter-3 Thingamabob, containing four Control Moment Gyroscope Jiggers, which allows the ISS to perform its Watchamacallits without trouble from the Doodads.

Scare Force One: On October 11, 1910, Arch Hoxsey, a member of the Wright exhibition team, took President Theodore Roosevelt for his first airplane ride

Scare Force One: On October 11, 1910, Arch Hoxsey, a member of the Wright exhibition team, took President Theodore Roosevelt for his first airplane ride. (Photo courtesy National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution)

1998 – A Congo Airlines 727 (registered 9Q-CSG) is shot down by rebels in Kindu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing all 40 people on-board. The rebels claimed the aircraft was carrying government troops.

1984 – Kathryn D. Sullivan becomes the first American woman to peform a spacewalk aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger.

1972 – While sailing off the coast of Vietnam, between 100 and 200 black sailors aboard the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk start a riot, damaging the ship and attacking many of their white colleagues in retaliation for a number of race-related grievances. As many as 60 sailors are injured, three seriously. Amazingly, the captain manages to calm everyone down enough so that they can participate in Operation Linebacker.

1910 – President Theodore Roosevelt hops on a Wright Flyer piloted by Arch Hoxsey, becoming the first president to take to the skies.

1907 – Robert Esnault-Pelterie makes the first airplane flight with a control stick, using a single, broom handle-like lever.



About the Author

Phil Derner Jr.
Phil Derner founded NYCAviation in 2003. A lifetime aviation enthusiast that grew up across the water from La Guardia Airport, Phil has aviation experience as a Loadmaster, Operations Controller and Flight Dispatcher. He owns and operates NYCAviation and performs duties as an aviation expert through writing, consulting, public speaking and media appearances. You can reach him by email or follow him on Twitter.




 
 

 

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