30 November 1913

On 30 November 1913, many sources aver that American pilots Dean Ivan Lamb and Phil Rader (flying as mercenaries in the Mexican civil war) engaged in the first aerial combat by firing pistols at each other. But in his book, The Incredible Filibuster (1934), Lamb claims it was a "put up job" to impress their employers and that he and Rader never aimed at each other. And there is some evidence that the whole story is a fabrication.

29 November 1913

On 29 November 1913 the remarkable Sopwith Tabloid was first demonstrated in public at Hendon before an estimated 50,000 onlookers. Designed by Frederick Sigrist and piloted by Harry Hawker, the little Tabloid outperformed any monoplane then flying in the U.K.

28 November 1913

The 1st Aero Squadron (Provisional) was moved to Rockwell Field on North Island, San Diego, CA on 28 November 1913 under the command of Captain Benjamin D. Foulois (called by some the “father of U. S. military aviation)”. It comprised 16 officers and 90 enlisted men, and eight aircraft. The 1st Company consisted of Burgess Model H tractors S.C. No. 9, 24, 25, and 26; while the 2d Company consisted of Curtiss aircraft S.C. No. 2 (a Curtiss Model D), 6 (Curtiss Model E), 22 (Curtiss Model G) and 23 (an aircraft assembled from spare parts for the Curtiss E).

27 November 1913

Tests were carried out on 27 November 1913 with the firing of a Lewis machine-gun mounted on a two-seat pusher Grahame-White Boxkite (known by virtue of its pair of rudders as the "Bi-rudder Bus"). The Boxkite was flown by Marcus D. Manton, the gun being fired from the air at ground targets at Bisley, Hants. The engine was the 50 h.p. Gnome, and the machine was developed later into the Type 15 trainer used by the R.F.C. and the R.N.A.S, during the 1914-18 War.

26 November 1913

The Vickers E.F.B.2, designed by Archibald Low, made its first flight at Brooklands on 26 November 1913. This two-bay biplane, a progenitor of the F.B.5 "Gun Bus", was powered by an 80 hp Gnome Monosoupape rotary engine. It had a steel tube structure, fabric covered wings and tail, and a duralumin covered nacelle. Armament was a single Vickers gun mounted in the nose of the nacelle, with limited movement possible, and a very poor view for the gunner.

25 November 1913

On 25 November 1913 Femina Cup for a non-stop long-distance flight of over 4 hours duration. The flight was made in a Farman biplane over a closed course at Rheims and covered 200 miles.

24 November 1913

On November 24, 1913 Lieutenants Hugh M. Kelly and Eric L. Ellington, of the U.S. Army First Aero Corps, were killed at North Island, San Diego in the crash of a Wright Model C biplane. Ellington occupied the instructor's seat with Lieutenant Kelly receiving instruction. Spectators say the biplane suddenly pitched forward, nose downward, and shot to the earth. The impact probably killed both men, but the motor made death sure by crushing them.

23 November 1913

The Lee-Richards annular monoplane No.l (conceived by Cedric Lee and George Tilghman Richards) was detail designed and built by James Radley and E.C. Gordon England at Shoreham. The machine was completed and ready to be flown by Gordon England on 23 November 1913. He flew successfully for the first time, although noting tail heaviness, until the engine cut out through lack of fuel on the approach to land. In the resulting crash England was injured and out of action for some months. The engine and other mechanical parts were salvaged for use in a new machine.

22 November 1913

The Britannia Trophy is a British award presented by the Royal Aero Club for aviators accomplishing the most meritorious performance in aviation during the previous year. The first award was presented on November 22, 1913 to Captain C.A.H Longcroft of the Royal Flying Corps for a non-stop flight of 445 miles from Montrose to Farnborough in a Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2a.

21 November 1913

On November 21, 1913 , the Caudron brothers organized an airshow at Issy-les-Moulineaux and invited the press to observe the acrobatics of pilot Pierre Chanteloup. Thus, this date is the "official" occasion of the first loop of a biplane in France. In fact, Chanteloup had looped the Caudron biplane earlier (on the 9th) but without witnesses.

20 November 1913

The first airplane to visit the Holy Land was a Bleriot XI, flown by the French aviator Jules Vedrines, who participated in a competition to fly from Paris to Cairo. He took off from Nancy in eastern France on November 20, 1913, and landed near Jaffa, on the Mediterranean coast, in December - at a time when Palestine was under the rule of the Ottoman Empire.

19 November 1913

The Short S.80 (also know as the Short Nile Pusher Biplane Seaplane) was built by Short Brothers for an aerial expedition up the Nile to investigate the cataracts between Aswan and Khartoum. When built it was the largest successful aircraft that had been constructed in Britain. It first flew in October, and on 19 November 1913 a weight carrying trial was made in which it was flown with five passengers. It was then dismantled and shipped to Egypt.

18 November 1913

On November 18, 1913 American aviator Lincoln Beachey was able to replicate Nesterov’s feat (of September 9) of "looping-the-loop". The New York Times reported he completed the loop with only 300 feet to spare, and that he said he didn’t know how he did it, “it was all an experiment.”

17 November 1913

The Sopwith Order Book shows, on 17 November 1913, two separate orders for Bat Boats of an enlarged version with the more powerful 200 HP Salmson (Canton-Unne) engine. The first order was placed by Capt. von Pustau, acting as agent for the German Navy, and the second by the British Admiralty

16 November 1913

A new hydro-biplane designed by Enea Bossi was listed in the "circuit of the Italian lakes", 5-9 October 1913. The "Bossi" hydro-airplane, piloted by Ballila Battagli, crashed on 16 November 1913 at Comacina Island, Lake Como.

15 November 1913

The execution of a loop by French aviator Adolphe Pégoud inspired many efforts at emulation. French aviator Paul Hanouille and Englishman Bentfield C. Hucks trained diligently with aircraft manufacturer Louis Bleriot and on 15 November 1913 at the Buc airfield near Versailles, both flew upside down and executed the loop.

14 November 1913

U.S. Army 2nd Lt. C. Perry Rich of the Philippine Scouts, a native of Indiana, died in the crash of his Wright Model C into Manila Bay on November 14, 1913. Unmarried and 30 years of age, he was the tenth U.S. Army pilot to die in a flying accident.

13 November 1913

On 13 November 1913, the United States Navy approved a change to its uniform regulations to include brown shoes (with brown high top leggings) as part of the permanent uniform for Naval Aviators.

12 November 1913

On November 12, 1913 Ruth Bancroft Law (age 25) of Lynn, MA, received her Aero Club of America license #188. She was the third woman to be licensed in the United States. She had soloed at Saugus Field in a Burgess Wright Model F in 1912.

11 November 1913

On 11 November 1913 the Royal Aero Club of Great Britain reversed an earlier decision to withhold from Marcel Brindejonc de Moulinais the award of the Geisler Challenge Trophy despite his having placed first in the race. The controversy arose over the aviator's inadvertent violation of the 1913 Aerial Navigation Act, of whose provisions he was unaware.

10 November 1913

At Luftschiffbau Zeppelin in Friedrichshafen on November 10, 1913, the airship LZ-21 had its first flight. It carried the military designation Z. VI, was 463 feet long and could achieve 48 mph. LZ-21 would be used as a bomber in Belgium at the start of World War I until it succumbed to battle damage on 6 August 1914.

9 November 1913

A "military landing station" at Reventin, adjacent to the parade ground of the Vienne cavalry garrison, was inaugurated on 9 November 1913. The station included a 3 hectare landing field and a 400 square meter hangar to house four airplanes. At the airshow Sergeant Aimé A. L. Vallet, a resident of Vienne, landed the first airplane, a Vickers-REP monoplane designed by Robert Esnault-Pelterie. Today, the old hangar is used for storage of goods.

8 November 1913

On November 8, 1913 a handicap race from London to Brighton and return was flown in blustery winds. Nine competitors left Hendon aerodrome for Brighton where they had to pass over the racecourse, along the sea-front to the Palace Pier head, thence to Shoreham aerodrome for refueling. The return journey passed over the same course. The race was won by Pierre Verrier in a 70 hp Farman biplane. There were in all, four finishers, the other competitors retiring due to mechanical faults or weather.

7 November 1913

Retired Army Captain Matthew Batson, a Medal of Honor recipient and visionary aviationist, selected Dutch Island (near Savannah, GA) for building a hydro-aeroplane which would fly across the Atlantic. On November 7, 1913, the ungainly Aero Yacht was rolled into the Herb River. Due to mechanical error, one of the propellers was accidentally engaged, seriously damaging the plane. All activities were suspended. A smaller "air boat" called the Dragonfly later reportedly flew for 30 minutes at an altitude of about 15 feet. The story was never substantiated. Batson died in 1917 and was interred with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.

6 November 1913

The 1913 Michelin Cup was awarded to Mr. Reginald Hugh Carr. Mr. Carr, on November 6th, 1913, made a flight of 300 miles between Hendon and Brooklands, alighting every 60 miles. The aeroplane, constructed by the Grahame-White Aviation Co., Ltd., was fitted with 100 h.p. Green Motor, Zenith Carburettor, British Bosch Magneto, Sphinx and Aster Sparking Plugs and Lang Propeller.

5 November 1913

In 1913 the Spanish Air Military Service was born. An expeditionary unit, with 14 aircraft, 10 pilots and 6 navigators, was assigned to cooperate with the Army in colonial warfare in North Africa, giving Spain pre-eminence in first employing the airplane in military operations. The first combat flights occurred on November 5, 1913. Although Italian airplanes had dropped bombs in Libya in 1912, Spain was the first country to employ air forces in an organized fashion.

4 November 1913

On November 4, 1913 a patent was issued to the French engineer Louis Constantin for a "blown wing". In his scheme, the propeller was positioned before the leading edge of the wing to improve the flow of air around it. This is an early example of Boundary Layer Control.

3 November 1913

The Ghent World Fair (the last to take place before the First World War) attracted millions of people and lasted for about seven months. The major closing event, on 3 November 1913, was an exhibition by Adolphe Pégoud..."A little before 11 Pégoud took off. First he flew around the field, making turns at the same time that made the spectators shiver. After the third round one got the impression as if those stunts were actually very natural. At the height of a 1000 yards he did a "saut périlleux" (a dangerous jump) that shamed even the birds by climbing, the wheels of his plane in front of him, then turning to the side, and continuing after a drop into normal position."

2 November 1913

The Belgian pilot Charles Van Den Born displayed the first aircraft in Siam. Siamese authorities were impressed enough that they dispatched three officers to learn to fly in France. After learning to fly, the three returned to Siam on 2 November 1913 with eight aircraft (four Breguets and four Nieuport IVs), to found what has become the Royal Thai Air Force.

1 November 1913

On November 1, 1913, in the world of aviation, it would seem that nothing of any significance occurred.