Spitfire versus Zero

McDonnell Douglas/Northrop YF-23 Black Widow II (1990)

McDonnell Douglas/Northrop YF-23 Black Widow II (1990)

Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow (1958)

Australian Commonwealth CA-15 ‘Kangaroo’ (1946)

Dassault Mirage 4000 (1979)

Israeli IAI Lavi (1986)

Focke-Wulf Fw 187 (1937)

24 April 1997. First flight of the second prototype An-70 medium-size widebody Short Take Off and Landing (STOL) transport aircraft. The first was lost in a mid-air collision with its AN-72 chase-plane on 10 February 1995.

24 April 1990. 12.33.51 UTC/GMT. Launch of Space Shuttle Discovery from Kennedy LC-39B on STS-31. On 25 April Discovery deployed the Hubble Space Telescope. The five day flight was recorded by IMAX cameras.

24 April 1988. Marine Corps pilot Colonel Jerry Cadick was severely injured after his F/A-18 Hornet crashed during a display at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) El Toro. He was attempting a “Square Immelman'.

24 April 1987. First flight of the second prototype Dornier Seastar CD.2 (D-IDSW). German turboprop-powered amphibious aircraft built largely of composite materials, representing the definitive design.

24 April 1981. First flight of the Shenyang J-8I. A high-speed, high-altitude Chinese-built single-seat interceptor fighter aircraft, improved all-weather version.

24 April 1972. First flight of the Partenavia P.70 Alpha. Italian two-seat light aerobatic trainer prototype.

24 April 1972. 01.25.47 UTC/GMT. Lift-off of Apollo 16 Lunar Module ‘Orion’ from the lunar surface.