1912 in aviation

This is a list of aviation-related events from 1912:

Events First successful all-metal aircraft flies, the Tubavion monoplane built by Charles Ponche and Maurice Primard in France. The French Navy officially establishes an air arm, the Service Aéronautique.Layman 1989, p. 15. The first Bulgarian Air Force is formed, using Blériot, Albatros, Farman, Nieuport, Voisin, Somer, Skiorski, and Bristol aircraft (23 in total) to fight in the First Balkan War. Captain Alessandro Guidoni of Italy experiments with the air-launching of torpedoes by dropping weights from a Farman biplane.Chant, Chris, The Worlds Great Bombers, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 2000, , p. 13.

January–March 10 January Lieutenant Commander Charles Samson flies Short Improved S.27 No. 38 from a platform constructed over the deck of battleship HMS Africa moored in the River Medway, England. It is the United Kingdoms first takeoff by an airplane from a ship. An aircraft drops propaganda leaflets for the first time, when Italian Army Captain Carlo Piazza drops leaflets over Ottoman Army positions in Libya from an airplane during the Italo-Turkish War.Franks, Norman, Aircraft vs. Aircraft: The Illustrated Story of Fighter Pilot Combat From 1914 to the Present Day, London: Grub Street, 1998, , p. 9. Glenn Curtiss pilots the first flight of a flying boat, at Hammondsport, New York.Daniel, Clifton, ed., Chronicle of the 20th Century, Mount Kisco, New York: Chronicle Publications, 1987, , p. 158. 20 January – John Verrept broke the world altitude record with two passengers. He flew up to 1075 metres from Vidamée near Senlis, beating the former record of 896 metres by René Moineau. 4 February – In Paris, Austrian-born French inventor Franz Reichelt, the "Flying Tailor," dies in a jump from the Eiffel Tower in an attempt to demonstrate his "parachute-suit," a wearable parachute. The jump is captured on film. 5 February – The British Arbitration League, a peace society, issues an appeal against air warfare. Among those signing it are the British physician and author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the British novelist and poet Thomas Hardy, and the American painter John Singer Sargent.Daniel, Clifton, ed., Chronicle of the 20th Century, Mount Kisco, New York: Chronicle Publications, 1987, , p. 159. 12 February – Anthony Fokker establishes Fokker Aeroplanbau in Germany, predecessor to Fokker Aircraft Company. 17 February Robert G. Fowler completes the first west-to-east flight across the continental United States, arriving in Pablo Beach, Florida, also becoming the second person to complete a U.S. transcontinental flight. After a false start from San Francisco, California, on 11 September 1911, he had begun his journey from Los Angeles, on 19 October 1911. During his journey, he flew the first plane to be launched from a rolling railroad handcar, took up as a passenger Edward Shaw at Beaumont, Texas, allowing Shaw to film the first aerial motion pictures, and made the first air delivery of medicine, during a flight from Jennings to Evangeline, Louisiana. He made 65 forced landings during his journey.Roy, "Jacksonville's Role in First Cross-Country Flight in 1912," The Florida Times Union, February 28, 2012. English aviator Graham Gilmour is killed when his Martin-Handasyde monoplane, flying from Brooklands, suffers a structural failure and crashes in the Old Deer Park in Richmond, London. 22 February – Jules Védrines becomes the first pilot to exceed . He makes his flight in a Deperdussin monoplane near Pau, France, flying a distance of in 1 h 15 min 20.8 s, an average speed of .Védrines Regains the Speed Record Flight 2 March 1912. 24–25 February – Italian Army Captain Carlo Piazza takes the first wartime reconnaissance photographs from an airplane, photographing Ottoman Army positions in Libya during the Italo-Turkish War. March – The conversion of the ex-torpedo boat tender Foudre into the French Navys first ship capable of carrying and handling airplanes is completed. In her new role, Foudre is the first ship with an airplane hangar. She also is the first warship to be permanently altered for service as an aviation ship.Layman 1989, p. 17–18. 1 March – Albert Berry makes the first parachute jump out of an aeroplane, leaping from a Benoist pusher biplane piloted by Tony Jannus at over Kinlock Field at Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis, Missouri. 5 March – Airships are used for military purposes for the first time, when the Italian dirigibles P2 and P3 begin reconnaissance missions behind Ottoman Army lines west of Tripoli, Libya, during the Italo-Turkish War.World War I Centennial: Bombs Over Libya

April–June 2 April – Eleanor Trehawke Davies becomes the first woman to cross the English Channel in an airplane, flying as the passenger of Gustav Hamel.Daniel, Clifton, ed., Chronicle of the 20th Century, Mount Kisco, New York: Chronicle Publications, 1987, , p. 160. 3 April – Flying a Wright Model B on a demonstration flight at Long Beach, California, Calbraith Perry Rodgers collides with a seagull, which becomes entangled in his plane's control cables. The plane crashes into the Pacific Ocean, killing Rodgers, who becomes the first fatality in history as the result of a bird strike.Brotak, Ed, "When Birds Strike," Aviation History, May 2016, p. 46. 16 April – American aviator Harriet Quimby becomes the first woman to fly the English Channel, making the crossing from Dover, England, to France in 59 minutes."Today in History," Washington Post Express, April 16, 2012, p. 34. 17 April – Austrian physicist Victor Hess ascends in a balloon during a nearly total solar eclipse – one of ten balloon flights he makes between 1911 and 1913 to study ionization in the atmosphere – and notes that ionization does not decrease with the sun blocked by the moon. He concluders that the source of ionization is not the sun, but rather something farther out in space. His flight marks the discovery of what American physicist Robert Millikan in 1925 will name cosmic rays.APS News: "This Month in Physics History: April 17, 1912: Victor Hess’s balloon flight during total eclipse to measure cosmic rays" 19 April – An Italian blimp takes the first known motion pictures of enemy positions, filming Ottoman Army positions in Libya during the Italo-Turkish War. 22 April – Englishman Denys Corbett Wilson completes the first completely successful aeroplane crossing of the Irish Sea, from Goodwick in Wales to Crane near Enniscorthy in Ireland (Robert Loraine's flight in 1910, often credited as the first crossing, landed 200 feet short). May – A recommendation is made that the French Navy investigate the design and procurement of an aircraft carrier with a flight deck. For the first time, an armored hangar is suggested for such a ship. Plans for the ship are cancelled about 1917 prior to any construction.Layman 1989, p. 15.Layman 1989, p. 17. 9 May – Commander Charles Rumney Samson becomes the first person to fly an aircraft off the deck of a moving ship. He takes off in Short Improved S.27 No.38 from a ramp built over the deck of the battleship HMS Hibernia in Weymouth Bay. 13 May George V approves the formation of the Royal Flying Corps. Under overall control of the British Army, it includes all British military and naval aircraft, organized into a Military Wing and a Naval Wing.Thetford, Owen, British Naval Aircraft Since 1912, Sixth Edition, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, , p. 10. A Flanders F.3 Monoplane crashes at Brooklands, Surrey, in the United Kingdom, killing both people on board. The Public Safety and Accidents Investigation Committee of the Royal Aero Club looks into the causes of the incident in history's first aviation accident investigation resulting in a published report. The report, which blames the accident on pilot error, will appear in the publication Flight on 8 June 1912. 19 May – As a curious crowd looks on, the Italian engineer Giuseppe Bellanca teaches himself to fly in series of short, tentative hops at Mineola Field on Long Island outside Mineola, New York. His success prompts him to establish the Bellanca School of Flying, which he operates from 1912 to 1916.O'Connor, Derek, "'An Outstanding American Citizen,'" Aviation History, March 2017, p. 52. 22 May – United States Marine Corps First Lieutenant Alfred A. Cunningham reports to the Naval Aviation Camp at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, to begin training as the U.S. Marine Corpss first aviator. The date is considered the birth date of U.S. Marine Corps aviation.Knapp, Walter, "The Marines Take Wing," Aviation History, May 2012, p. 50. 27 May – The worlds first seaplane carrier, the French Navy's Foudre, embarks her first floatplane,Layman 1989, p. 17. a Canard Voisin. 30 May – Wilbur Wright, co-inventor of the airplane, dies in Dayton, Ohio, of typhoid fever. June Sopwith Aviation Company founded. The Imperial Japanese Navy takes its first step toward establishing an aviation arm, establishing the Naval Aeronautical Research Committee.Francillon, René J., Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1979, , p. 37. 1 June – The first aeroplane flight in Norway is made by Secondløytnant Hans Dons in the Royal Norwegian Navy's first aircraft, the Rumpler Taube floatplane Start. He flies from Gannestad to Øra in 35 minutes. 2 June – The Lewis machine gun is first tested in an aircraft by the United States Army. This weapon would go on to become the standard armament of many fighter aircraft during 8 June The Italian dirigibles P2 and P3 discover and make a highly effective bombing attack against Ottoman Army cavalry during a battle at Zanzur in the Italo-Turkish War, making an important contribution to the Italian Armys offense in the battle. The first annual Aerial Derby takes place, sponsored by the Daily Mail. Seven participants flying a single circuit of an 81-mile (130-kilometer) course, starting and finishing at Hendon Aerodrome in London, with control points at Kempton Park, Esher, Purley, and Purfleet. A crowd of 45,000 spectators pays to see the start and finish, and large numbers of people watch the race along its route. Thomas Sopwith wins in a Bleriot XI-2 with a time of 1 hour 23 minutes 8.4 seconds, winning £250 and a gold cup. 10 June – The Austro-Hungarian submarine U-5 tows a kite balloon, apparently to determine the best coloration for submarines to avoid detection while underwater. Other than the experimental use of incendiary balloons from to bombard Venice in 1849 by its predecessor the Austrian Navy, it is the only operation of an observation balloon by the Austro-Hungarian Navy.Layman 1989, p. 13. 11 June – Silas Christofferson flies a biplane from a ramp on the roof of the Multnomah Hotel in Portland, Oregon, to the Vancouver Barracks in Vancouver, Washington. A crowd of over 45,000 observes the flight, which takes him 12 minutes. The Oregonian claims that he is the first person to trust "his heavier-than-air machine in a start from the midst of a business section of a great city." 19 June – The Royal Flying Corpss Central Flying School opens at Upavon, Wiltshire. 27 June – Following successes using aircraft against the Turks in North Africa, Italy forms a specialised Air Battalion (Battagliore Aviatori).

July–September 1 July – During an air show, Harriet Quimby and a meet organizer flying with her as a passenger die in an airplane crash in Dorchester Bay off Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States. 2 July Denmark establishes an army air corps. It is the predecessor of the Danish Air Force .