*1794 –

French Aerostatic Corps The French Aerostatic Corps or Company of Aeronauts (french: compagnie d'aérostiers) was the world's first balloon unit, Jeremy Beadle and Ian Harrison, ''First, Lasts & Onlys: Military'', p. 42 founded in 1794 to use balloons, primarily for rec ...

use a tethered balloon at the Battle of Fleurus as a vantage point. *1849 – In 1849, Austrian forces besieging Venice launched some 200 incendiary balloons, each carrying a 24- to 30-pound bomb that was to be dropped from the balloon with a time fuse over the besieged city. The balloons were launched from land and from the Austrian navy ship SMS ''Vulcano'' that acted as a

balloon carrier A balloon carrier or balloon tender was a ship equipped with a balloon, usually tied to the ship by a rope or cable, and usually used for observation. During the second half of the 19th century and the early 20th century, these ships were built t ...

.Military Aircraft, Origins to 1918: An Illustrated History of Their Impact
Justin D. Murphy, page 9-10Mikesh, Robert C. "Japan's World War II balloon bomb attacks on North America." (1973).
/ref> *1861 – The

Union Army Balloon Corps The Union Army Balloon Corps was a branch of the Union Army during the American Civil War, established by presidential appointee Thaddeus S. C. Lowe. It was organized as a civilian operation, which employed a group of prominent American aeronaut ...

is established during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

. *1878 – The British Army Balloon Equipment Store is established at the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich by the Royal Engineers. *1885 – Balloons are deployed by the British Army to Bechuanaland and

Suakin Suakin or Sawakin ( ar, سواكن, Sawákin, Beja: ''Oosook'') is a port city in northeastern Sudan, on the west coast of the Red Sea. It was formerly the region's chief port, but is now secondary to Port Sudan, about north. Suakin used to b ...

. *1888 – The British Army School of Ballooning is established. *1907 – The first military air organization, the Aeronautical Division of the U.S. Army Signal Corps, is formed 1 August *1907 – British Colonel John Capper flies the military airship '' Nulli Secundus'' from Farnborough to Crystal Palace in London. *1909 – Heavier-than-air military aviation is born with the US Army's purchase of Signal Corps Aeroplane No. 1. *1910 – The first experimental take-off of a heavier-than-air craft from the deck of a

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

vessel, the cruiser *1910 – First bombing attack against a surface ship: Didier Masson and Captain Joaquín Bauche Alcalde, flying for Mexican Revolutionist Venustiano Carranza, dropped dynamite bombs on Federalist gunboats at Guaymas, Mexico, on 10 May 1913. *1910 – The '' Aviation Militaire'' of the French Army is formed 22 October. *1911 – The Air Battalion of the Royal Engineers is formed, the first British heavier-than-air unit. *1911 – Heavier-than-air aircraft are used in war for the first time during the

Italo-Turkish War The Italo-Turkish or Turco-Italian War ( tr, Trablusgarp Savaşı, "Tripolitanian War", it, Guerra di Libia, "War of Libya") was fought between the Kingdom of Italy and the Ottoman Empire from 29 September 1911, to 18 October 1912. As a result o ...

. *1912 - The Royal Flying Corps is formed. A few months later the Dominion of Australia also formed the

Australian Flying Corps The Australian Flying Corps (AFC) was the branch of the Australian Army responsible for operating aircraft during World War I, and the forerunner of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). The AFC was established in 1912, though it was not until ...

. *1914 - The Royal Naval Air Service is formed by splitting airship squadrons away from the Royal Flying Corps. *1914 – In August, Russian Staff-Captain Pyotr Nesterov becomes the first pilot to ram his plane into an enemy spotter aircraft. *1914 – 6 September, the first aircraft raid was launched by the

Japanese seaplane carrier Wakamiya ''Wakamiya'' ( ja, 若宮丸, later 若宮艦) was a seaplane carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy and the first Japanese aircraft carrier. She was converted from a transport ship into a seaplane carrier and commissioned in August 1914. She w ...

on Qingdao. *1914 – In October, a plane is shot down by another aircraft with a handgun over Rheims, France. *1914 – The first conventional air-to-air kill occurs on 5 October when a gunner on a French Voisin machine-guns a German

Aviatik Automobil und Aviatik AG was a German aircraft manufacturer during World War I. The company was established at Mülhausen (today in France) in 1909 and soon became one of the country's leading producers of aircraft. It relocated to Freiburg in ...

reconnaissance aircraft in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. *1918 - The

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

, the world's first independent air force is formed. *1918 - HMS Argus (I49) became "the world's first carrier capable of launching and landing naval aircraft".Geoffrey Till, "Adopting the Aircraft Carrier: The British, Japanese, and American Case Studies" in *1940 - The

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...

, the first major campaign to be fought entirely by

air force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...

s, was fought. *1958 - The first ever air-to-air kill with a missile, when a Chinese Nationalist

North American F-86 Sabre The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing ...

kills a Chinese

PLAAF The People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF; ), also known as the Chinese Air Force (中国空军) or the People's Air Force (人民空军), is an aerial service branch of the People's Liberation Army, the regular armed forces of the P ...

Mikoyan-Guryevich MiG-15 during the

Second Taiwan Strait Crisis The Second Taiwan Strait Crisis, also called the 1958 Taiwan Strait Crisis, was a conflict that took place between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC). In this conflict, the PRC shelled the islands of Kinm ...

*1980 - The only confirmed air-to-air helicopter battles occur during the

Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Ba'athist Iraq, Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. It began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for almost eight years, until the acceptance of United Nations S ...

References

{{reflist History of military aviation Military aviation

See also

References