This is a list of aviation-related events from 1928:
A transatlantic flight is the flight of an aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean from Europe, Africa, South Asia, or the Middle East to North America, Latin America, or vice versa. Such flights have been made by fixed-wing aircraft, airships, balloons and other aircraft.
Bernt Balchen was a Norwegian pioneer polar aviator, navigator, aircraft mechanical engineer and military leader. A Norwegian native, he later became an American citizen and was a recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross.
The first aerial circumnavigation of the world was completed in 1924 by four aviators from an eight-man team of the United States Army Air Service, the precursor of the United States Air Force. The 175-day journey covered over 26,345 miles (42,398 km). The team generally traveled east to west, around the northern-Pacific Rim, through to South Asia and Europe and back to the United States. Airmen Lowell H. Smith and Leslie P. Arnold, and Erik H. Nelson and John Harding Jr. made the trip in two single-engined open-cockpit Douglas World Cruisers (DWC) configured as floatplanes for most of the journey. Four more flyers in two additional DWC began the journey but their aircraft crashed or were forced down. All airmen survived.
Geraldine "Jerrie" Fredritz Mock was an American pilot and the first woman to fly solo around the world. She flew a single engine Cessna 180 christened the Spirit of Columbus and nicknamed "Charlie." The trip began March 19, 1964, in Columbus, Ohio, and ended April 17, 1964, in Columbus, Ohio. It took 29 days, 11 hours and 59 minutes, with 21 stopovers and almost 22,860 miles (36,790 km). The flight was part of a "race" that developed between Jerrie Mock and Joan Merriam Smith who had flown from a field near San Francisco, CA on March 17, 1964; Smith's departure date and flight path was the same as the aviator Amelia Earhart's last flight. Although they were not in direct competition with each other, media coverage soon began tracking the progress of each pilot, fascinated with who would complete the journey first. Mock was the first to finish. The story of this race is told in a book written by Taylor Phillips entitled, Queen of the Clouds; Joan Merriam Smith and Jerrie Mock's Epic Quest to Become the First Woman to Fly Solo Around the World (2023). Jerrie Mock was subsequently awarded the Louis Blériot medal from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale in 1965. In 1970 she published the story of her round-the-world flight in the book Three-Eight Charlie. While that book is now out of print, a 50th anniversary edition was later published including maps, weather charts and photos. Three-Eight Charlie is a reference to the call sign, N1538C, of the Cessna 180 Skywagon Mock used to fly around the world. Before her death, Mock, mother of three children, resided in Quincy, Florida; northwest of the state capital, Tallahassee.
The Bombay Flying Club is the oldest flying club in India, established in 1928, located at Juhu aerodrome, Mumbai. At present, the Bombay Flying Club's College of Aviation offers programs such as pilot training, Aircraft Maintenance Engineer, and cabin crew, approved by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), and also BSc Aviation and BSc Aeronautics programs with affiliation from the University of Mumbai.
Feliksas Vaitkus (1907–1956), also known as Felix Waitkus, was an American-born Lithuanian pilot and the sixth pilot to fly solo across the Atlantic.
Pipistrel d.o.o Ajdovščina is a Slovenian light aircraft manufacturer established in 1989 by Ivo Boscarol and based in Ajdovščina. Its facilities are located in Ajdovščina, Slovenia, and near the town of Gorizia, Italy. By March 2019, Pipistrel had produced more than 2000 aircraft.
The Pipistrel Virus is a two-seat, single engine light aircraft, manufactured by Pipistrel in Slovenia and Italy, and sold as an ultralight, homebuilt kit, or light-sport aircraft.
The Pipistrel Sinus is a two-seat, single-engine ultralight motor glider, developed and manufactured by Pipistrel in Slovenia and Italy. Its design has served as the base for future Pipistrel developments such as the Virus and Alpha Trainer.
The Pipistrel Taurus is a Slovenian self-launched two-seat microlight glider designed and built by Pipistrel.
Max Arthur Conrad, Jr. known as the "Flying Grandfather", was a record-setting aviator. In the 1950s and 1960s, he set nine official light plane world records, three of which still stand as of 2013. For his efforts, he was awarded the Louis Blériot medal in 1952 and the prestigious Harmon Trophy in 1964. Winona Municipal Airport, also known as Max Conrad Field, in Winona County, Minnesota, is named in his honor. Conrad was nominated for the Carnegie Medal for heroism for flying his Piper aircraft in 50-60 mph winds during and after the 1940 Armistice Day Blizzard to locate and help rescue stranded duck hunters throughout the Mississippi River backwaters near Winona. Over several flights, Conrad dropped tins with whiskey, sandwiches, cigarettes, and matches to marooned survivors struggling to survive in temperatures below 10 degrees. Conrad helped direct rescue boats to survivors via his flight paths. Dozens of hunters died as a result of the unexpected storm that saw temps drop from the 60's to single digits and dumped up to 24" of snow.
Betty Jean Verret Miller was the first female pilot to fly solo across the Pacific Ocean, which she did in May 1963.
Joan Merriam Smith was an American aviator, famous for her 1964 solo flight around the world, in which she became the second woman to complete the trip, by following the equatorial route attempted in 1937 by Amelia Earhart. In doing so she also became the first woman to fly a twin-engine aircraft around the world, and the first woman to fly the Pacific Ocean from west to east in a twin-engine plane. She died the following year when the plane she was piloting suffered structural failure and crashed in California.
Tracey Curtis-Taylor is a British aviator who has organised and piloted multiple flight expeditions with historic aircraft across Asia, Europe, Africa, Australia and America.
This is a timeline of women in aviation which describes many of the firsts and achievements of women as pilots and other roles in aviation. Women who are part of this list have piloted vehicles, including hot-air balloons, gliders, airplanes, dirigibles and helicopters. Some women have been instrumental in support roles. Others have made a name for themselves as parachutists and other forms of flight-related activities. This list encompasses women's achievements from around the globe.
Michael Smith is an aviator who became the first person to solo navigate the world in a single-engine flying boat. Smith was named Australian Geographic Adventurer of the Year in 2016.
The Pipistrel Velis Electro is a Slovenian light aircraft, designed and produced by Pipistrel of Ajdovščina. The aircraft was EASA CS-LSA fully electric type certified in June 2020 and it is intended primarily for the training aircraft role, particularly multiple successive take-off and landings at the airfield. The design is the first type certified electric aircraft and is supplied complete and ready-to-fly.
Zara Rutherford is a Belgian-British aviator. At age 19, she became the youngest female pilot to fly solo around the world and the first person to complete a circumnavigation in a microlight aircraft after a five-month journey which began in Kortrijk, Belgium, on 18 August 2021, and ended on 20 January 2022.
