World Aviation in 1916 - Part 1

Part 2

January
The German Air Service's Kampfgeschwader I is equipped with Gotha IV bombers.

January
Details of the Scarff-Dibovski machine-gun synchronisation mechanism are sent from Russia to the United Kingdom. This design forms the basis for the synchronisation system later fitted successfully to the Sopwith 1½ Strutter and other allied fighter aircraft.

12 January
German fighter aces Max Immelman and Oswald Boelcke become the first two pilots to receive Germany's highest award for bravery, the Pour le Mérite. By the summer of the same year, Immelmann had been killed and Boelcke is Germany's leading ace.

2 February
Zeppelin LZ54 (L19) is shot down by British aircraft over the North Sea.

6 February
German fighter ace Max Immelman takes to the air in a Fokker EIV fitted with three synchronised machine guns.

6 February
German airline Deutsche Luft Reederei flies the first service (for freight only) between Berlin and Weimar.

19 February
Austrian physicist Ernst Mach, remembered for his research into aerodynamics and the speed of sound, dies aged 77.

21 February
Zeppelin LZ47 is attacked and destroyed during a raid.

April
The Japanese Naval Air Corps is established.

1 April
Zeppelin LZ48 is brought down by anti-aircraft gunfire over England.

20 April
Escadrille Americaine, a squadron in the French Air Force composed of American volunteers, is formed and the unit is later renamed Lafayette Escadrille on 6 December.

1 May
The German Schutte-Lanz airship crashes near Gotland.

4 May
Zeppelin LZ32 is shot down and destroyed by British naval gunfire.

10 May
The French Air Force places an order for 268 Spad VII fighters.

18 May
Lieutenant Kiffin Rockwell of the Escadrille Americaine, becomes the first American pilot to shoot down an enemy aircraft.

18 June
Oberleutnant Max Immelman ,'The Eagle of Lille', is killed in combat with 2nd Lieutenant G.R. McCubbin of No.25 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps (RFC).

18 June
H.Clyde Balsley of the Lafayette Escadrille, becomes the first American pilot to be shot down, but although wounded, he survives the engagement.

23 June
Victor Emmanuel Chapman of the Lafayette Escadrille, becomes the first American pilot to be killed in action.

1 July
The Russian Aviation Experimental Bureau (RIB) is established at the Moscow Higher Technical School.

15 July
Pacific Aero Products is founded by William E. Boeing.

2-3 August
The German airship Schutte-Lanz SL11 is shot down over London, losing the entire crew.

6 August
French fighter pilot Rene Paul Fonck claims his first victory by forcing down a German Rumpler biplane.

17 August
The Wright Martin Aircraft Corporation is formed in the USA after a merger of the Wright and Glenn Martin companies.

26 August
The Brazilian Naval Aviation School is established.

29 August
The United States Naval Flying Corps is established.

September
The French Spad VII fighter is introduced on the Western Front. Eventually operated by the air forces of eleven nations, the Spad is a major factor in the winning of air superiority for the allies.

2 September
Two aircraft transmit and receive radio signals over a distance of over 2 miles at San Diego in California.

Part 2