Test Prep History

Kai Tak Airport - Hong Kong Airport. Known for being the most dangerous airport.

Glenn Curtiss - American aircraft designer. Created first seaplane. Feuded with the Wright Brothers.

Louis Bleriot - French aircraft designer and pilot. First person to fly the English Channel.

Reims Meeting - First intl. air competition in 1909 in France. Popularized aviation.

Harriet Quimby - First American female pilot in 1911. First woman to fly the English Channel.

Battle of the Marne - WWI battle that halted the German invasion of France. Led to trench warfare.

La Grande Illusion - 1937 French anti-war film. Directed by Jean Renoir.

Roland Garros - French aviator. Synchronized machine guns with propellors.

Oswald Boelcke - German WW1 ace. Invented dogfighting strategies.

The Red Baron - German WW1 ace. Had 80 victories.

Eugene Bullard – First African American military pilot. Flew for France in WW1.

Bessie Coleman – First African American female pilot. Trained in France. Became a barnstormer.

Air Commerce Act – 1926 act to establish aviation regulations.

Jean Mermoz – French pilot who revolutionized long distance aviation for airmail.

Charles Lindbergh – First nonstop transatlantic flight in 1927 on the Spirit of St Louis.

Jimmy Doolittle – Developed instrument flying. Led the Doolittle raid on Japan.

Elmer Sperry – American engineer who developed gyroscopic instruments and autopilot.

NACA - National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. 1915 precursor to NASA.

Ellen Church - First female flight attendant.

The 1919 Paris Convention - First international aviation agreement meeting.

Hugo Junkers - German aircraft designer. Developed the first all-metal airplane, the Junkers J 1.

Lufthansa - Germany’s national airline. Founded in 1926.

Wong Tsoo - Boeing’s first engineer. Designed the Boeing Model C, Boeing’s first successful plane.

Italo Balbo - An Italian aviator and politician, Balbo organized mass transatlantic flights in the 1930s to demonstrate Italy’s aviation capabilities. He later became a key figure in Mussolini’s regime before being shot down in 1940.

John Robinson - "Brown Condor." African American pilot who helped develop training for Black pilots.

Boeing Model 314 Clipper - Luxurious flying boat in the 1930s and 1940s. Used for transoceanic travel. Operated by Pan Am.

Willy Messerschmitt - German aircraft designer. Created the first jet fighter. Shaped WW2 combat.

Billy Mitchell - U.S. general and advocate for air power. Demonstrated the effectiveness of bombers against battleships. Influenced the Air Force.

Bomber Mafia - Group of U.S. officers in the 1930s. Advocated for strategic bombing. Shaped WW2 air strategy.

Kelly Foreign Air Mail Act of 1928 - Allowed private airlines to carry airmail under government contracts. Led to growth of commercial aviation.