30 April 1914

A single-seat monoplane designed by Roumanian George Gramaticescu flew for 26 min 30 sec on the April 30, 1914. It featured an unusual airfoil for which Gramaticescu had obtained a Swiss patent. Gramaticescu didn't live to see his creation fly, as he died in France in 1913, but a group of French engineers and pilots finished the plane according to his sketches. There were plans for improving the airplane and mass-production but after the outbreak of World War I the project was abandoned.

29 April 1914

On April 29, 1914 a Curtiss AH-3 flying boat flown from USS Mississippi by Lt(jg) P.N.L. Bellinger with Lt(jg) Richard C. Saufley as observer returned from a mission with bullet holes in the aircraft. This was the first combat damage sustained by an American military aircraft. (Some sources say this event occurred May 6th.)

28 April 1914

On April 28, 1914 Mr. C. F. Lan-Davis was called before the Committee of the Royal Aero Club to answer to reports of his flying over the Public Enclosures at Brooklands at a low altitude. The Committee found that the flying endangered the public and showed great lack of judgment. Considering his limited experience, the Committee confined the punishment to a severe censure and cautioned him as to his future flying.

27 April 1914

The St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line, the United States’s first scheduled passenger airline, which began carrying passengers on January 1, 1914, ceased operation on April 27, 1914 when the tourist season ended. It had carried 1,205 passengers.

26 April 1914

French aviator Etienne Poulet captured the world record for flight endurance without stops, previously held by the German aviator Ingold. On 26 April 1914 he flew his Caudron biplane for 16 hrs, 28 mins and 56-4/5 seconds,covering a total distance of 936.8 km

25 April 1914

The second Lee-Richards Annular Monoplane exhibited a tendency to spin that could not be resolved. Test pilot Gordon Bell lost elevator control and crashed the machine at Shoreham on 25 April 1914. Bell was not seriously injured.

24 April 1914

On April 24, 1914 (or, in some sources, April 25) a Curtiss AB-3 flying boat flown by Lt. Patrick N.L. Bellinger completed the first combat flight by a U.S. military aircraft, flying a reconnaissance mission in support of operations in Veracruz, Mexico.

23 April 1914

On 23 April 1914, in the annals of aviation history, it would appear that nothing of any lasting significance happened.

22 April 1914

On April 22, 1914 at the aerodrome of Chartres, French pilot Victorin Garaix flew his Paul Schmitt biplane a distance of 110 km in a time of 63 minutes on a 10 km closed course while carrying six passengers. This established 107.1 km/hr (66.6 mph) as the new speed record with six passengers.

21 April 1914

On 21 April 1914, the first news movie shot from the air was filmed by an unknown cameraman, from a Bleriot two-seater flown by B. C. Hucks. He flew within 400 ft. of the royal yacht with King George aboard, crossing the English Channel from Dover, England to Calais, France.

20 April 1914

On April 20, 1914, Howard Pixton, who had take over Harry Hawker's piloting duties, flew a seaplane version of the Sopwith Tabloid to victory in the Schneider Trophy race at Monaco. This model had the 100 h.p. Gnome Monosoupape engine, twin floats, and plain rudder and fin.

19 April 1914

During a race at Bleriot's Buc Aerodrome on 19 April 1914, the aircraft of Francois Deroye and Andre Bidot collided at one of the turns. Bidot's machine touched the tail of Deroye's monoplane, and both crashed to the ground. Deroye and his passenger, M. Albin, were killed, while Bidot and his passenger, M. Pelado, were terribly injured. Both machines burst into flames. In the case of Bidot's machine the fire was quickly put out, but that of Deroye was reduced cinders, with the bodies of the pilot and passenger considerably burned.

18 April 1914

During an aerobatic flight at Bone, Algeria, on 18 April 1914 the French aviator Leonce Ehrmann was killed when the wings of his aircraft failed at a height of 300 to 400 meters. Ehrmann was the second pilot to die in Algeria.

17 April 1914

On April 17, 1914 the Secretary of the Franklin Institute wrote to Orville Wright, supplying details of the forthcoming award ceremony for the Cresson Medal, given for the brothers' "establishing on a practical basis the science and art of aviation." His letter requests preparation of an address of 30 minutes' length on current activities.

16 April 1914

The Sopwith Schneider Cup Seaplane, having been dispatched from Kingston by rail and sea, arrived at Monaco on 16 April 1914. There it would undergo additional testing and modification for the forthcoming Cup race. The Schneider seaplane was a more powerful version of the military 'Tabloid' scout, mounted on floats and powered by a 100 HP Gnome Monosoupape nine-cylinder air-cooled rotary engine.

15 April 1914

April 15, 1914 was the last day of the two-week aviation rally for seaplanes at Monaco. Roland Garros marked the day by completing his second flight Marseille to Monaco. He left Marseille at 8:52 AM in his 80 HP Morane-Saulnier Type H monoplane, and arrived in Monaco at 12:36 PM.

14 April 1914

Intelligence officer Major Charles Villiers-Stuart, a Scot serving in the Indian Army and seconded to the RAAF, flew in a Maurice Farman seaplane for reconnaissance on 14 April 1914. It had a top speed of 95 km per hour and was described as 'one of the crudest and earliest seaplanes ever built', fragile and temperamental as it had a habit of cutting out mid-flight.

13 April 1914

On April 13, 1914 the German airship LZ-19 was damaged beyond repair in a thunderstorm and subsequently was scrapped.

12 April 1914

On April 12, 1914, Harold Barnwell borrowed a Sopwith Tabloid to attempt aerobatics. His first loop was unsuccessful; he landed to ask the spectators what had happened, took off again, and made three perfect ones at 3,000 feet. He thereby became the first British pilot of the Brooklands fraternity to perform aerobatics.

11 April 1914

On April 11, 1914 a Wight Pusher Seaplane built by Messrs J. S. White and Co. had a successful maiden flight over Cowes. It was piloted by Gordon England and designer Howard T. Wright joined him as a passenger. The plane was developed from one inspected by the king at the show at Olympia.

10 April 1914

Heinrich Hermann Reichelt, a partner in the AERO Flugzeugbau- und Fliegerschule Gesellschaft at the Dresden-Kaditz airport, set several records for distance flights. He was killed on 10 April 1914 when something went wrong with one of the wings of his Harlan monoplane and it fell from a height of 500 metres. His passenger, Fraulein Selma Steglitsch, was thrown from the machine and killed instantly, while Reichelt died in hospital a few hours later. He left his wife and three sons.

9 April 1914

On April 9, 1914 Capt. Gustavo Salinas Camiña took off in the Martin pusher biplane Sonora from a hastily prepared strip near Topolobampo in Sinaloa, MX and braved small arms fire to attack Federal gunboats with five bombs. No damage occurred to either side in this first aerial bombardment of Naval vessels.

8 April 1914

The Sopwith company modified one of its Tabloid single-seaters for the upcoming Schneider Trophy race. The landing gear was removed and floats were installed in its place. The 100-hp Gnome engine was also modified for the occasion. Flight and landing tests on the Thames were successful, and the Tabloid was sent off to Monaco on April 8, 1914.

7 April 1914

April 7, 1914 saw the first flight of the Bristol G.B.75, a two seat biplane trainer. It was derived from the earlier T.B.8., from which it differed significantly. It had been ordered by the Roumanian government but with the advent of the war it was requisitioned by the RFC before it could be delivered.

6 April 1914

On April 6, 1914, Tenente Ricardo João Kirk of the Brazilian Army, returned from a successful trip to France where he had initiated the process of affiliating the FAI (Fédération Aéronautique Internationale). He also acquired two aircraft plus spares.

5 April 1914

On April 5, 1914 Argentine Lt. Anibal Brihuega, in a 50 hp Bleriot XI, joined a formation paying tribute to the recently deceased Jorge A. Newbery. The ceremony was performed at the stadium of the Sociedad Sportiva.

4 April 1914

On 4 April 1914, Aviation Militaire became a separate department of the Ministry of War, making it an independent French military service. It had previously been a part of the army.

3 April 1914

On April 3, 1914 a poem titled "'Arry 'Awker" (by one "Yaller Dog" for the Ballarat Courier), read in part: "'E's a boster! 'Arry 'Awker,/'E's a doer, not a talker,/Wot we calls a real corker,/Tho' not rash;/...An' away 'e goes a-soarin'/While the ladies all adorin'/With us common blokes a-roarin'/In our joy;"

2 April 1914

The 1903 Langley Aerodrome was sent by the Smithsonian Institution to the Curtiss Aeroplane Company at Hammondsport, NY on April 2, 1914 for modification, testing and evaluation. Curtiss substituted hydroplaning floats for the original catapult launch system and flew the machine in late-May.

1 April 1914

Lt. Arthur M. Longmore of the Royal Naval Air Service flew the First Sea Lord, Winston Churchill, on his first flight in a Maurice Farman seaplane on April 1, 1914. In 1941, Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Murray Longmore was sacked as Air C-in-C Middle East Command by the same Churchill, who replaced him with Sir Arthur Tedder.