despite worsening weather, even though he was not qualified to fly on instruments( IFR). Cline’ s plane crashed 90 miles from Nashville, and the NTSB report cited the cause as the pilot’ s loss of control in conditions for which he was not trained to fly. Along with Cline, musicians Hawkshaw Hawkins, Cowboy Copas, and pilot Randy Hughes were also killed.
The first flight of the AgustaWestland AW609, a twin-engine tiltrotor VTOL aircraft being developed for the civilian market. Similar to the Boeing V-22 Osprey, the AW609 is capable of vertical takeoff and landing, with transition to forward flight provided by turboprop engines mounted in swiveling nacelles on the end of the wings. AgustaWestland plans to market the AW609 to VIP customers and the offshore oil and gas industry. Development was slowed after a crash of the second prototype in October 2015 which killed two test pilots. For still unknown reasons, the aircraft broke up in midair during high speed testing. The AW609 is still awaiting certification,
and AgustaWestland is considering a site in the US for production.
The birth of US astronaut Gordon Cooper. Born in Shawnee, Oklahoma, Leroy Gordon“ Gordo” Cooper was an engineer, test pilot, US Air Force pilot, and one of the Mercury Seven, the original seven astronauts to take part in Project Mercury, NASA’ s first manned space program and precursor to the Gemini and Apollo programs. On the final Mercury mission in 1963, Cooper piloted his Mercury capsule on the longest flight of the Mercury program, and was the first American to sleep in space. He was also the last American astronaut launched into space on a solo orbital mission. Cooper also flew as Command Pilot of Gemini 5 in 1965, a flight that set the first record for American duration in space. Cooper died on October 4, 2004 in Ventura, California at age 77.
The first flight of the Hawker Siddeley Kestrel. The Kestrel was the second experimental aircraft, following the Hawker P. 1127, that explored vertical / short take-off and landing( V / STOL) and led to the development of the Hawker Siddeley Harrier. Development of both the P. 1227 and Kestrel began in 1957 following the introduction of the Rolls- Royce Pegasus vectoredthrust engine. The Kestrel( FGA. 1) was an improved version of the P. 1227, with fully swept wings, larger tail, and enlarged fuselage to accommodate the larger Pegasus 5 engine. Nine Kestrels were built, and flown by the Tripartite Evaluation Squadron comprised of pilots from England, Germany and the US( where it was known as the XV-6A). Ultimately, the Kestrel would become the prototype for pre-production Harriers.
Raymonde de Laroche becomes the world’ s first woman to earn a pilot license. Born in 1882, de Laroche decided to become a pilot after seeing Wilbur Wright’ s flying demonstration in 1908. The next year, Laroche