A listing of important aviation facts, events and happenings from September.

Apollo 13 was the third manned lunar-landing mission, part of Project Apollo under NASA in the United States.

Aviation facts from the month of August.

At 1410 on 5 December 1945, five TBM Avengers comprising Flight 19 rose into the sunny sky above NAS Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Turning east the formation headed out over the Atlantic on the first leg of a routine exercise from which neither the 14 men of Flight 19 nor the 13-man crew of a PBM Mariner sent out to search for them were ever to return.

Aviation history facts that happened in July.

A list of women who've made significant contributions to aviation.

When war broke out in Europe in 1914, the airplane was hardly more than a dangerous plaything employed at fairs and circuses. Its potential was regarded lightly, when not contemptuously dismissed.

The Battle of Kansas (aka "Battle of Wichita") was the nickname given to a project to build, modify and deliver large quantities of the world's most advanced bomber to the front-lines in the Pacific. The battle began as the first B-29 Superfortresses rolled off the production lines of the massive new Boeing factory on the prairies near Wichita, Kansas

The Women Airforce Service Pilots, also known as WASP, and the predecessor groups the Women’s Flying Training Detachment (WFTD) and the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS) (official from September 10, 1942) were pioneering organizations of civilian female pilots.

While the name Rawdon isn't exactly a household word in most of the aviation world, Herb Rawdon exerted a great deal of design influence at Travel Air, Douglas, Beech and Boeing.

At about 2:10 p.m. on the afternoon of 5 December 1945, Flight 19, consisting of five TBM Avenger Torpedo Bombers departed from the U. S. Naval Air Station, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on an authorized advanced overwater navigational training flight.

Al Mooney always numbered his designs with an M- prefix, and when he moved to St. Louis in 1935 to work for the Monocoupe Corp. he was ready to lay the lines down for the M-10.

They'd set out one or two or three at a time, flying World War I surplus biplanes low over the Kansas countryside.

On August 31, 1949, Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson announced the creation of an Armed Forces Day to replace separate Army, Navy and Air Force Days.

The fundamental key to success in aerospace flight test and evaluation is the individual member of the flight test team: the flight test pilot, of course, but nowadays the trained flight test engineer and navigator as well.

Construction of a major airfield was not on the mind of Cadet J. Earl Schaefer in the summer of 1917.

When World War II grew in scope and intensity, the military wanted some cheap light planes which could be fitted with remote controls for use as target drones, to train aerial and anti-aircraft gunners – but which could hold a pilot for ferrying and other flights.

MONOCOUPES: A TWIN AND A DART

In 1929, restless young Al arrived to attempt starting a company of his own in Wichita, Kansas, the "Air Capital City" – already home to several plane manufacturers – and 1929's largest civilian plane maker, Walter Beech's Travel Air.

Alexander turned to engineer Noonan, and directed him to create a new plane design, from scratch, using some of the extra parts acquired with the Longren fleet. It was a daunting task, made all the more difficult by the fact that Noonan was only a "shirtsleeves" engineer, lacking the formal training of a "real" engineer.

Kansas has many famous general aviation plane-makers today. But there is another legendary general aviation airplane manufacturer -- still very much alive today -- that started in Wichita, as well: Mooney Aircraft.

The history of the 22d pre-dates America’s entry into World War II. The group was constituted as the 22d Bombardment Group (Medium) on 22 December 1939 and activated on 1 February 1940, at Mitchel Field, New York.

The first swept-wing airplane in the U.S. fighter inventory, the F-86 scored consistent victories over Russian-built MiG fighters during the Korean War, accounting for a final ratio of 10-to-1.

In the second half of the 20th century, the aircraft carrier became a symbol of the United States’ position as a superpower.

James "Jimmie" Doolittle is today most famous for his audacious B-25 bombing raid on Tokyo in the opening months of America's entry into World War II, an attack featured in the 2001 movie Pearl Harbor.

In 1940, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto of Japan’s Imperial Navy informed his government that if Japan went to war, he would "guarantee to put up a tough fight for the first six months, but I have absolutely no confidence as to what might happen if it went on for two or three years."

The Attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise aerial attack largely on Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii, and the USA launched by the 1st Air Fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy of the task force Carrier Striking Task Force on the morning of Sunday, December 7, 1941

The 184th ARW has a proud history and a wealth of tradition.

As pilot of one of the most famous flights of WW II, which brought about a quicker surrender from the enemy and a reduction in the loss of Allied lives, and for his leadership and skill with both airplanes and people in times of stress, Paul W. Tibbets, Jr. is enshrined with honor into the National Aviation Hall of Fame

Humanity has been using rockets in warfare since the Chinese discovered gunpowder late in the first millennium.

NASA made aviation history with the first and second successful flights of a scramjet-powered airplane at hypersonic speeds - speeds greater than Mach 5 or five times the speed of sound.

The B-17 Flying Fortress is one of the most famous airplanes ever built.

It takes thousands of people and thousands of man-hours to build a new type airplane, but the flight test and certification is where the rubber meets the road.

Perhaps the best way to define general aviation is to begin by listing what it is not. General aviation is not military aviation and it is not scheduled commercial aviation. To a great extent, all other uses of aviation in the United States fall into the category of general aviation.

Located in America's heartland, airmanship in the Wichita area began in the first decade of the century.

Developed for the USAF as reconnaissance aircraft more than 30 years ago, SR-71s are still the world's fastest and highest-flying production aircraft.

When World War II ended in August 1945, the U.S. government cancelled most orders for bomber aircraft, which had been a mainstay of the aircraft industry. Total industry production dropped from 96,000 airplanes in 1944 to 1,330 military aircraft in 1946.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) succeeded the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) as the U.S. government agency most responsible for advancing flight-related technology.

When NASA received three SR-71s from the Air Force in 1990, Bohn-Meyer's expertise and F-104 experience made her an easy choice for one of two flight engineer slots for the aircraft.

The Beechcraft Starship is a futuristic-looking aircraft designed by Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites and produced by the Beech Aircraft Corporation.

Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager embody the very spirit and character of the word "pioneers." In December 1986, they became the first people to circumnavigate the world, nonstop, without refueling their plane, the Voyager.

Jimmy Doolittle excelled at every aspect of aviation. A daredevil pilot, aeronautical engineer, combat leader, and record-holder, Doolittle was a multi-talented pioneer.

The Boeing B-9 bomber was the earliest plane based on the Monomail design.

Throughout his career, Yeager displayed distinguished courage and performed several extraordinarily brave deeds.

Wally Schirra, the only astronaut to fly in the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs, has died. He was 84 years old.

The all-metal, single-wing P-26, popularly known as the "Peashooter," was an entirely new design for Boeing.

The Lockheed Company, one of the giants in the modern aerospace industry, began in 1912 when the Loughead brothers, Allan and Malcolm, formed the Alco Hydro-Aeroplane Company in San Francisco.

The Tuskegee Airman were an elite group of African-American pilots in the 1940s. They were pioneers in equality and integration of the Armed Forces.

For more than a half-century, some of aviation’s most amazing innovations and top developments have come from two places: the U.S. Air Force and the annual EAA AirVenture fly-in convention.

Sporting a distinctive V-shaped or “butterfly” tail, the Beechcraft Bonanza set the standard for the stylish yet well-equipped aircraft for the private pilot, albeit one who could afford to fly in relative luxury.

The United States Air Force became a separate military service on September 18, 1947, with the implementation of the National Security Act of 1947. The Act created the United States Department of Defense, which was composed of three branches, the Army, Navy and a newly created Air Force.

By the end of the 1920s, biplanes were becoming obsolete and manufacturers turned to building all-metal monoplanes.

The Cessna Citation is a marketing name used by Cessna for its lines of business jets. Rather than one particular model of aircraft, the name applies to several "families" of turbofan-powered aircraft which have been produced over the years.

The Boeing Company, established by William Boeing, was the most successful company to get its start during the World War I era.

Cessna Aircraft Company, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas, is a manufacturer of general aviation aircraft, from small two-seat, single-engine aircraft to business jets.

The Boeing B-29 Superfortress was a four-engine heavy bomber propeller aircraft flown by the United States Army Air Forces in World War II and other military organizations afterwards.

The Tuskegee Airmen was the popular name of a group of African American pilots who flew with distinction for the United States Army Air Corps during World War II.

The 332d Fighter Group was a unit of the U.S. Twelfth and Fifteenth Air Forces based in Italy during World War II. It was composed of black pilots and ground support personnel trained at Tuskegee, Alabama, and the members of the group became collectively known as the Tuskegee Airmen.

The first missile warning satellites were born in the early days of the space race.

A unique aspect of the Korean War was the Pacific Airlift, the longest aerial supply line in history.

For almost 50 years, beginning soon after the end of World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union have prepared for war. Fortunately, none was declared and no shot was ever fired.

Located in America's heartland, airmanship in the Wichita area began in the first decade of the century.

Founded in 1932 by Walter H. and Olive Ann Beech, the Beech Aircraft Corporation has left an indelible mark on general aviation.

The 184th Air Refueling Wing has a proud history and a wealth of tradition. The 184th ARW has been honored with four USAF Outstanding Unit Awards for exceptionally meritorious service.

Dreams of flight are as old as humankind itself.

As always, Beryl Erickson, the first pilot of the B-36 Peacemaker and the B-58 Hustler (among other aircraft), is well prepared. He has carefully assembled a half dozen or so stacks of photographs on two couches in his living room.

As military aviation struggled to find its place in the period between the world wars, budget restraints, disorganization, and politics almost destroyed the fledgling Air Service.

Test pilots are aviators who fly new and modified aircraft in specific maneuvers, allowing the results to be measured and the design to be evaluated.

In 1934, the U.S. Congress passed legislation that forced aircraft manufacturers to separate from airline companies.

The National Museum of the United States Air Force (formerly the United States Air Force Museum) is the official national museum of the United States Air Force and is located at Wright-Patterson AFB, east of Dayton, Ohio

Throughout the 1930s, new bomber aircraft emerged in all countries. However, these older models were inadequate to carry out the theories of strategic bombing.

The Library of Congress and its American Folklife Center invite you to join us in the Veterans History Project.

When World War II ended in August 1945, the U.S. government canceled its orders for bomber aircraft. Boeing plants that had been producing the B-17 and B-29 bombers in large numbers shut down and soon, 30,000 Boeing employees were out of work.

General aviation airplanes have historically served the public's needs for personal and business travel, as well as for sport and recreational aviation.

The Gulf War was an anomaly compared to other wars of the second half of the 20th century.

In 1930, Boeing created the revolutionary Monomail, which made traditional biplane construction a design of the past.

The second decade of the twentieth century marked the beginning of the U.S. aircraft industry. Growth was slow though and companies remained small until the United States started supporting the needs generated by World War I.

Today, members of this generation are again answering a call, this time to restore a piece of the history they lived, as volunteers restoring the last B-29 bomber.

The concept of an international space station can be traced back to the mid-1800s when U.S. clergyman Edward Everett Hale wrote of a polar-orbiting satellite, built from 12 million bricks.

Dreams of spaceflight and its conquest are as old as humankind itself. These dreams were transformed into reality on April 12, 1961, when 27-year-old Flight Major Yuri Alexeyevich Gagarin of the Soviet Union became the first human to venture into space.

The F-16 introduced many successful technologies. Fly-by-wire and relaxed static stability gave the F-16 a quantum leap in air combat capability over other fighters when it was introduced and this technology still makes the aircraft an unmatched competitor today.

All eyes on the ground are fixated on the vintage World War II Stearman as it plummets from the sky, spiraling downward toward certain disaster.

Imagine stunt pilots and air racers whizzing through the sky at breakneck speeds for your entertainment.

Making jet aircraft acceptably quiet can be a dirty job. Owners don't want to spend the money, engine makers don't want to compromise their products' efficiencies, and airport neighbors are rarely happy with the results.

Not every bright new idea from Wichita or Lock Haven has made it to the market.

The Cessna 172 Skyhawk is a four-seat, single-engine, high-wing airplane. It is likely the most popular flight training aircraft in the world.

Clyde Cessna, with only a fifth-grade education and lacking a private pilot's license, helped create the general aviation industry.

The O-2, produced for the U.S. Army Air Service, was the first of a series that remained in production for nine years.

The Douglas World Cruiser was one of the most famous of the early Douglas airplanes.

The Boeing B-29 Superfortress was a four-engine heavy bomber propeller aircraft flown by the United States Army Air Forces and other military organizations.

The Douglas DT Bomber was the company's first military contract, forging a link between Douglas and the U.S. Navy.

Aircraft designer Albert W. Mooney founded the company that bears his name, not once but twice, with vastly different levels of success.

In the 1930s, the U.S. military was a racially segregated institution, reflecting the legal and defacto segregation in much of the United States.

Barred initially from flight training because of color, the leader of the Tuskegee Airmen became a major force for full integration in the Air Force.

A Tribute to my Father, Joseph P. Gomer

The Cloudster was the first Douglas product. It was also the first airplane in history to airlift a useful load exceeding its own weight.

The model 40a was the first Boeing airplane to carry passengers, with room for two people in a tiny cabin, as well as cargo space for mail.

In 1928, Boeing introduced America's first airliner designed specifically for passenger comfort and convenience.

Early in 1928, Boeing built two new fighter biplanes using bolted aluminum tubing for the fuselage's inside structure.

The Model 15 (PW-9) was the first successful Boeing-designed fighter.

In January 2000, The Boeing Company purchased Hughes Electronics Corporation’s space and communications business and its related operations, originators of the Surveyor spacecraft and satellites 376, 601 and 702.

The Model C training seaplane was the first "all-Boeing" design and the company's first financial success.

The B-1 was a "pusher-style" flying boat, with its engine at the rear.

To attract new business, Boeing expanded its territory beyond aviation.

By the late 1940s, technology had advanced to the point of making the jet engine practical.

As markets evolved, so did Boeing jets.

In 1961, U.S. President John F. Kennedy committed America to landing a person on the moon before the end of the decade.

While the Orbiter mapped the moon, Boeing engineers mapped the speed of sound.

By 1983, the recession began to ease off, and the 1,000th 737 rolled out from the Renton plant.

As the '70s began, a number of factors came together to push Boeing into a crisis.

By the late 1950s, the technologies forged in the fires of World War II had impacted every aspect of business and manufacturing.

Ten years after the end of World War I, the American public had become enchanted with the romance and excitement of the noisy, speeding machines that locked in aerial battle around racing pylons.

The Mooney M-18 "Mite" could be described as the most efficient airplane ever built. With 65 hp, it could reach speeds of 140 mph, and designer Al Mooney once flew it on a 1,300-mile trip from Brownsville, Tex. To Watertown, S.D. and averaged 35 miles per gallon.

The years immediately following the end of World War II rocked with change. The military canceled its bomber orders; Boeing factories shut down and 70,000 people lost their jobs.

The concept of powered, manned flight was only eight years old when 34-year-old Kansas farmer-turned auto salesman Clyde Cessna paid $7,500 for an American-built copy of the Blériot XI and taught himself to fly on the broad expanse of a salt plain in northern Oklahoma.

The first in a series of articles chronicling the Boeing company during World War II.

Following the Depression, 1934 antitrust legislation prevented airframe manufacturers from owning mail-carrying airlines.

After Charles "Lucky" Lindbergh made the first solo nonstop trans-Atlantic flight from New York to Paris in a Ryan monoplane in 1927, there was a tremendous surge of interest in aviation.

The Boeing Airplane Company began 1923 in a race with the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company to design the best pursuit fighter.

After the war ended Nov. 11, 1918, the military did not order more aircraft. Civilian biplanes were not selling either.

On July 15, 1916, Boeing incorporated his airplane manufacturing business as Pacific Aero Products Company; a year later, he changed the name to the Boeing Airplane Company.

The first B & W, completed in June 1916, was made of wood, linen, and wire.

In 1903, two events launched the history of modern aviation. The Wright brothers made their first flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, and William Boeing, born Oct. 1, 1881, in Detroit, Michigan, left Yale engineering college for the West Coast.

The B-47 was the country’s first swept-wing multi-engine bomber. It represented a milestone in aviation history, and a revolution in aircraft design.

In response for the Army's request for a large, multiengine bomber, the B-17 (Model 299) prototype, went from design board to flight test in less than 12 months.

By the 21st century, the B-52 was in its fifth decade of operational service. The eight-engine, 390,000-pound jet was the country’s first long-range, swept-wing heavy bomber.

Boeing submitted the prototype for the B-29 long-range heavy bomber to the Army in 1939, before the United States entered World War II.

The Kaydet, the two-seater biplane introduced by Stearman Aircraft Division of Boeing in Wichita, Kansas, in 1934, became an unexpected success during World War II.

A brief look at Raytheon/Beech Government work history

1996 to 2000. A brief history of Beechcraft and Raytheon, part 6 and the final installment in the series.

This article is the third of four articles to introduce the reader to the women's feats in aviation.

This article is the final article introducing the reader to the women's feats in aviation.

1989 to 1995. A brief history of Beechcraft and Raytheon, part five in the series.

This article will be the second of four articles to introduce the reader to the women's feats in aviation.

At the Lockheed Corp.'s headquarters in Burbank, Calif., they still remember the story about the middle-aged man who walked in one day in June 1955 to apply for work.

This article will be the first of four articles to introduce the reader to the women's aviation feats.

1958 to 1986. A brief history of Beechcraft and Raytheon, part four in the series.

Based In Part Upon the Book: Borne On The South Wind, A Century Of Kansas Aviation

A brief record of Learjet's progression skyward.

1949 to 1956, the Post War Years. A brief history of Beechcraft and Raytheon, part three in the series.

1938 to 1947, The War Years. A brief history of Beechcraft and Raytheon, part two in the series.

1924 to 1937, a short history of Beechcraft and Raytheon Aircraft. The first in a series of special reports, reprinted courtesy of Raytheon Aircraft.

War created demand for aircraft workers, housing

One magazine at the time likened it to a storm sweeping across the Kansas Plains and into Wichita - "a $62 million tornado in a town of 120,000."

In 1929, Wichita was the self-appointed air capital.

A tired, frustrated crew stalked into the conference room next to the Boeing flight test hangar, its mission a failure.

Wichita base borrows flying brothers' name

Wichita, known as the center of aviation by the late 1920s, missed its chance to be part of the most publicized flight in history.

The debriefing papers are aging, maps detailing missions getting brittle, snapshots of old buddies beginning to fade.

On Sunday, July 20, 1969, a 38-year-old man changed history by stepping onto the moon.

Wichita, aviation reach out to each other

For two straight days in late March 1926, Wichita postal carrier F.D. Long tried to drive to Rose Hill to deliver the mail.

The warning signs began appearing during the summer of 1929. The warning signs began appearing during the summer of 1929.

Former World War II fighter pilot keeps his memories on display

The beefy, bespectacled inventor was in shirt-sleeves, thrashing out a design problem with one of his Learjet engineers.

All around Wichita, in converted garages or machine shops or tool sheds or back yards, would-be millionaires stitched together new airplanes.

Russell Jump is wearing leather aviator togs and stands proudly next to his wartime "Jenny" biplane in the old sepia-colored photo.

The following timeline originally appeared in the Wichita Eagle Newspaper in the late 1990's.

Magnificent men in flying machines built air capital

From the moment the first plane soared over Chicago in 1910, people were inspired to build contraptions that other people swore would never fly.

Once Orville and Wilbur Wright proved, in 1903, that flying was possible, every hotshot who could scrape up lumber and sheets wanted to soar with the birds.

By Frank Joseph Rowe, co-author of "Borne on the Southwind, A Century of Kansas Aviation"

By Frank Joseph Rowe, co-author of "Borne on the Southwind, A Century of Kansas Aviation"

By Frank Joseph Rowe, co-author of "Borne on the Southwind, A Century of Kansas Aviation"

By Frank Joseph Rowe, co-author of "Borne on the Southwind, A Century of Kansas Aviation"

History Trivia and Fun Facts

Unique among the industry, nowhere else will you find the concentration of top-name general aviation aircraft manufacturers co-located within such a tight geographic boundary.

History Trivia and Fun Facts

The Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird #17961

AIAA launched the Evolution of Flight campaign to mark the 100th anniversary of flight and lay the groundwork for the next 100 years of innovation in aviation and space technology.

Mark your calendars for this vast historic event: 14-17 July 2003 at the Dayton Convention Center in Dayton, Ohio.

On April 8, 1920 a Laird Swallow, the first commercially produced airplane in the United States, made its first flight over Wichita, Kansas.

Within five years of the Wright Brothers 1903 flight at Kitty Hawk, Kansas sought to enter the air age with craft of their own design.