28 February 1914

On February 28, 1914, the weekly 'meeting' at Hendon Aerodrome in London was favored with fine weather and a large attendance. First Lord of Admiralty Winston Churchill, accompanied by Mrs. Churchill, witnessed the 2-1/2 hour flight of Lt. Spenser Grey who took his 90 HP Sopwith to 10,500 feet. Shortly after landing from this long flight he took up the First Lord for a flight.

27 February 1914

To inspire patriotism and national sentiment by a spectacular air display over the cities of the Empire, an Ottoman Air Force flight departed from Istanbul for Cairo. The pilots were Captain Fethi Bey and the war minister's adjutant, Second Lieutenant Sadik Bey. Their plane crashed on the slopes of the Golan Heights on 27 February 1914. A train carried their bodies to Damascus, where they were buried in a national ceremony near the tomb of Saladin.

26 February 1914

An Italian, Alessandro Guidoni, carried out the first air launch of a torpedo on 26 February 1914. He launched a 827 lb (375 kg) mock-up torpedo into waters near Venice from his Pescara-Guidoni PP twin engined seaplane. The aircraft was designed by him and Raul Pateras Pescara, who had suggested a torpedo carrying seaplane to the navy two years earlier.

25 February 1914

On February 25, 1914 French aviator Victorin Garaix improved the world record height with four passengers (MM. Galibourg, Poulain, Labeille and Turon) to 3,150 meters (10,330 feet). He flew a biplane designed by Paul Schmitt, powered by a 160 hp Gnome engine.

24 February 1914

On February 24, 1914 the Aeronautical Division of the U.S. Army Signal Corps, on the recommendation of Grover Loening, permanently decommissioned all seven of its remaining "pusher" airplanes - including Wright, Burgess and Curtiss machines - as a matter of policy. This occurred in the wake of a series of fatal accidents.

23 February 1914

February 23, 1914 saw the first flight of the Bristol Scout. A fast single seater designed by Frank Barnwell and Harry Busteed (who was its first pilot), it was powered by an 80hp LeRhone rotary engine. Though intended for the civil market, it was one of the first single seat fighters and gave good service in that role until superseded by more advanced types.

22 February 1914

On 22 February 1914, Harry Hawker continued his flights introducing the elites of Australia to aviation. On this day his passengers in the Sopwith Tabloid included Lord Denman, the Governor General of Australia and Miss Strickland, daughter of the Governor General of N.S.W.

21 February 1914

On 21 February 1914 flight operations began at the Großenhain aerodrome in Saxony when Flight Lt. Emil Clemens his observer, Lt. Rudolf Hasenohr, landed their DFW Stahltaube monoplane. Großenhain would be an important pilot training site in the Great War.

20 February 1914

The Sopwith Sociable (so called because the crew were seated side-by-side, reportedly at the suggestion of student pilot W.S. Churchill). The Sociable was delivered to Hendon and on 20 February 1914 First Lord of the Admiralty Churchill flew in it as a passenger.

19 February 1914

Having removed from Melbourne to Sydney, with the Sopwith Tabloid transported by train, Harry Hawker made a trial flight at Randwick Racecourse on 19 February 1914, prior to flying with passengers.

18 February 1914

On February 18, 1914 at Johannisthal airfield near Berlin, aviator Otto Linnekogel flew his Rumpler Taube monoplane with its passenger Lieutenant Pluschow to a German record altitude (for pilot plus passenger) of 4,300 meters (14,100 feet). While easily besting the previous German record of 3,270 meters, it was well short of the world record (held by the French) of 5,100 meters.

17 February 1914

The Tampa Port Inspector required licensing of the St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line's pilots and planes so Tony Jannus applied for one, which was issued on February 17, 1914 by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Some historians claim it was the first Federal pilot's license. Edward Hoffman of the Florida Aviation Historical Society says the license they have on hand has the word "steamboat" crossed out and "aeroplane" typed in.

16 February 1914

The U.S. Army Signal Corps experienced a spate of fatal accidents in 1912 and 1913, most involving the Wright Model C airplane. An investigative board of aviators including Captain Townsend F. Dodd and Lieutenants Benjamin D. Foulois, Walter R. Taliaferro, Carleton G. Chapman, and Joseph E. Carberry, condemned not just the Wright C but all "pusher" aircraft as unsafe on February 16, 1914, and those remaining in the Army inventory were ordered to be immediately grounded.

15 February 1914

On the morning of February 15, 1914, in one of the first instances of aerial advertising, Jean Montmain skimmed over Geneva at 100m in his Bleriot XI and dropped leaflets (intended for the previous Sunday) to promote his afternoon demonstration: "Inhabitants of Geneva, greetings! Sunday, February 8, 1914 at 14:30, I will do at Charmilles "The Looping the loop" and other impressive flight maneuvers. Jean Montmain, aviator."

14 February 1914

On February 14, 1914 Lt. Townsend F. Dodd and Sgt. Herbert Marcus flew the U.S. Signal Corps' Burgess H tractor biplane 244.8 miles in 4 hours 43 minutes, establishing an official American nonstop duration and distance record. The flight not only set a record for two people in one airplane, but also exceeded the previous single-seat record.

13 February 1914

On February 13, 1914 Harry Hawker made four flights from Caulfield Racecourse at Melbourne in the Sopwith Tabloid biplane. He carried four passengers: Mr. G. R. Jackson, Miss Linda Cole, Miss Stutt, and Mr. A. Hay.

12 February 1914

On February 12, 1914, French inventor Jean Ors tested a parachute at Juvisy. He ascended on a Deperdussin monoplane piloted by Alfred Lemoine to a height of 1,000 feet seated on the wheel axle. From that altitude he let himself drop, landing safely after a descent lasting 39 seconds.

11 February 1914

On 11 February 1914, the second prototype of Igor I. Sikorsky's giant Илья Муромец (Ilya Muromets) (factory airframe 128) took off for its first demonstration flight with 16 passengers aboard, marking a record for number of passengers carried.

10 February 1914

Carrying R.J. MacGeagh Hurst in the front seat, Frederick P. Raynham made an officially observed climb to a record height of 14,420 ft (4,395 m) over Brooklands in an Avro 504 biplane on February 10, 1914. He had reached 15,000 feet a week earlier but that flight was unobserved.

9 February 1914

On February 9, 1914, Lt. Henry Post died in the crash at North Island of a Wright Model 'C'. Six men had now been killed in crashes of the Model C, constituting half of all Army pilots killed in air crashes. This instigated a call for a board of investigation. The board concluded after their investigation, that the machine’s elevator was too weak and condemned the Model C as “dynamically unsuited for flying.”

8 February 1914

To exhibit the skill of Turkish pilots, a "Cairo Expedition" was announced at the beginning of 1914. Two airplanes - a Bleriot XI and a Deperdussin - took off on February 8th 1914 to attempt the 1,470 mile trip from Istanbul to Alexandria, Egypt. The Bleriot XI crashed near the Lake of Galilee and its two pilots were killed. The Deperdussin crashed into the Mediterranean; one pilot drowned in the accident, while the other survived. Another Bleriot finally completed the "Cairo Expedition" successfully in May 1914.

7 February 1914

On February 7, 1914 German aviator Karl Ingold flew from Muhlhausen to Munich, staying airborne continuously from 7:35 am until 11:55 pm and covering 1,056 miles. This bested the previous nonstop distance record set a few days before.

6 February 1914

At Chartres, just two days after setting an altitude record for pilot and five passengers, on 6 February 1914 Victor Garaix broke the record for pilot and four passengers by reaching 9,020 feet (2,750 meters) with his Schmitt biplane, in 1 hour 15 minutes.

5 February 1914

While making some experimental flights at Villacoublay on February 5, 1914, a biplane piloted by Raoul de Reals-Mornac fell from a height of 200 metres. The pilot was killed on the spot.

4 February 1914

Flying from Chartres on Wednesday, February 4, 1914, French aviator Victor Garaix set an altitude record for pilot and five passengers of 7,382 feet. His biplane, designed and built by Paul Schmitt, was equipped with a 160 hp Gnome engine.

3 February 1914

The Robert J. Collier Trophy for the most significant contribution to aeronautics during 1913, was awarded February 3, 1914 to Orville Wright for the Wrights' automatic stabilization system, the forerunner of the automatic pilot.

2 February 1914

On February 2, 1914 Lt. John Towers and Ens. Godfrey DeC. Chevalier took off from the shore of Pensacola Bay in two recently assembled aircraft, which the Pensacola Journal likened to “giant buzzards.” They marked the first of hundreds of thousands of flights launched from what would become known as the “Cradle of Naval Aviation.”

1 February 1914

On 1 February 1914, in the annals of aviation history, it would appear that nothing of any lasting significance happened.