Test Prep History

History of Aviation Midterm

Kai Tak Airport

Hong Kong Airport known for being the most dangerous airport.

Glenn Curtiss

American aircraft designer who created the first seaplane and feuded with the Wright Brothers.

Louis Bleriot

French aircraft designer and pilot; first person to fly the English Channel.

Reims Meeting

First international air competition in 1909 in France that popularized aviation.

Harriet Quimby

First American female pilot in 1911 and the first woman to fly the English Channel.

Battle of the Marne

WWI battle that halted the German invasion of France and led to trench warfare.

La Grande Illusion

A 1937 French anti-war film directed by Jean Renoir.

Roland Garros

French aviator who synchronized machine guns with propellers.

Oswald Boelcke

German WWI ace who invented dogfighting strategies.

The Red Baron

German WWI ace known for having 80 victories.

Eugene Bullard

First African American military pilot who flew for France in WWI.

Bessie Coleman

First African American female pilot, trained in France, and became a barnstormer.

Air Commerce Act

1926 act that established aviation regulations.

Jean Mermoz

French pilot who revolutionized long-distance aviation for airmail.

Charles Lindbergh

First to make a nonstop transatlantic flight in 1927 on the Spirit of St Louis.

Jimmy Doolittle

Developed instrument flying and led the Doolittle raid on Japan.

Elmer Sperry

American engineer who developed gyroscopic instruments and autopilot.

NACA

National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, a 1915 precursor to NASA.

Ellen Church

First female flight attendant.

The 1919 Paris Convention

First international aviation agreement meeting.

Hugo Junkers

German aircraft designer who developed the first all-metal airplane, the Junkers J 1.

Lufthansa

Germany’s national airline, founded in 1926.

Wong Tsoo

Boeing’s first engineer who designed the Boeing Model C, their first successful plane.

Italo Balbo

Italian aviator who organized mass transatlantic flights in the 1930s to demonstrate Italy’s aviation capabilities.

John Robinson

Known as "Brown Condor," he was an African American pilot who helped develop training for Black pilots.

Boeing Model 314 Clipper

A luxurious flying boat used for transoceanic travel in the 1930s and 1940s, operated by Pan Am.

Willy Messerschmitt

German aircraft designer who created the first jet fighter and shaped WW2 combat.

Billy Mitchell

U.S. general and advocate for air power who demonstrated bombers' effectiveness against battleships.

Bomber Mafia

Group of U.S. officers in the 1930s advocating for strategic bombing and shaping WW2 air strategy.

Kelly Foreign Air Mail Act of 1928

Allowed private airlines to carry airmail under government contracts, leading to commercial aviation growth.