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Herbert Sumsion

Herbert Whitton Sumsion (14 January 1899 – 11 August 1995) was an English musician who was organist of Gloucester Cathedral from 1928 to 1967. Through his leadership role with the Three Choirs Festival, Sumsion maintained close associations with major figures in England's 20th-century musical renaissance, including Edward Elgar, Herbert Howells, Gerald Finzi, and Ralph Vaughan Williams. Although Sumsion is known primarily as a cathedral musician, his professional career spanned more than 60 years and encompassed composing, conducting, performing, accompanying, and teaching. His compositions include works for choir and organ, as well as lesser-known chamber and orchestral works.

Training and early career
Sumsion was born in Gloucester, a cathedral city on the River Severn. In 1908, at the age of nine, Sumsion became a probationer in the cathedral choir in Gloucester, which was then under the direction of Herbert Brewer. After two years Sumsion became a full chorister and sang with the choir until 1914. From 1911 to 1915 he was organist at Ashleworth, a small village six miles from Gloucester, responsible for the church choir and the "organ blower" for a fee of £5 a quarter, quite a responsibility for a 12-year-old. Gloucester was (and is) one of the three host cities, along with Worcester and Hereford, of the Three Choirs Festival, an annual festival of choral emphasis first held in the early 18th century. Sumsion would later write of his musically formative experiences at the cathedral: 'Quite soon after my entry into the choir I was singing with the [Three Choirs] Festival Chorus and gradually absorbing the choral music of the great classical composers and the contemporary writers, of whom the giant was certainly Elgar.' When Sumsion's treble voice broke at age 15, he became an 'articled pupil' to Brewer, a designation connoting a three-year apprenticeship in organ, choral direction, and music theory. As one of Brewer's articled pupils Sumsion was following in the footsteps of his slightly older contemporaries, Herbert Howells and Ivor Gurney. Sumsion passed the Associateship exam of the Royal College of Organists in 1915, and in July 1916 joined Howells in passing the Fellowship exam; though he was only 17, Sumsion was awarded the Turpin prize for the second-highest marks in the practical component.

From 1917 to 1919 Sumsion served in 16th (County of London) Battalion, London Regiment (Queen's Westminster Rifles) and spent time in the trenches of the Western Front. In 1919 he returned to Gloucester Cathedral to take up an appointment as assistant organist to Brewer. Sumsion's duties during this period included serving as accompanist for the Three Choirs Festival Chorus, which occasioned a brief but memorable encounter with Elgar after a rehearsal of The Dream of Gerontius. Sumsion earned an undergraduate degree in music from Durham University in 1920 and continued in his post at Gloucester until 1922, when he embarked for London to become organist of Christ Church, Lancaster Gate. In 1924 he took on two additional posts—director of music at Bishop's Stortford College, north of London, and a teaching position at Morley College. He also studied conducting with Adrian Boult at the Royal College of Music, though Boult observed that Sumsion's conducting technique was already well-developed.

At the Royal College of Music Sumsion also met R. O. Morris, professor of counterpoint and composition. When Morris accepted a position at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, he asked Sumsion to serve as his assistant; the two, along with Morris's wife Emmie, departed for America at the end of September 1926. The Curtis Institute was then a conservatory in its infancy, but figures such as Leopold Stokowski, famed conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra, were associated with it in its early days. Sumsion's decision to accompany the Morrises was of consequence to his personal life as well as his career. Emmie Morris wrote frequently to her sister Adeline (who was married to Ralph Vaughan Williams) and reported 'with interest' on Sumsion's courtship of an American girl, Alice Garlichs. Sumsion had been introduced to Alice through her uncle, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania whom Sumsion had met on board the ship to America. On 7 June 1927, Herbert and Alice were married in Philadelphia.

Gloucester and the Three Choirs Festival
On 1 March 1928, Herbert Brewer died suddenly of a heart attack, leaving the post of organist at Gloucester vacant only a few months before the cathedral was to host the Three Choirs Festival. Brewer had expressed a desire that Sumsion succeed him, so although Sumsion had just accepted the position of organist at Coventry cathedral, the Dean and Chapter at Gloucester negotiated his release from this commitment. Sumsion and his wife left America for England in June 1928.

Despite his relatively late arrival on the scene, Sumsion's leadership of the 1928 Three Choirs Festival at Gloucester impressed both music colleagues and the press. In those days the resident organist bore the burden of conducting, and though in 1928 several composers were on hand to conduct their own works—notably Elgar and the Hungarian composer Zoltán Kodály—Sumsion was responsible for works such as Verdi's Requiem and Honegger's King David, the latter being a Three Choirs debut. It was following the 1928 festival that Elgar made his oft-quoted pun: 'What at the beginning of the week was assumption has now become a certainty.'

A former Sumsion pupil writes that Sumsion's 'vision in matters of programme planning together with his skill of direction in a very wide spectrum of works made him one of the most successful conductors' in the Three Choirs Festival's history. From 1928 until his retirement in 1967, Sumsion was responsible for planning and serving as the principal conductor for eleven festivals held at Gloucester. Although Sumsion personally acknowledged the challenge that cathedral organists—who were primarily choral conductors—faced in conducting major orchestral works, his own conducting was greatly respected, and his interpretations of Elgar's works were viewed as being representative of the composer's own readings. At the first festival following Elgar's death (1934), Sumsion proposed that the three cathedral organists each conduct one of the Elgar works on the program, a welcome division of labour for the host conductor that would later become standard practice. After the retirement in 1949 of Percy Hull of Hereford and Ivor Atkins of Worcester, Sumsion remained the only direct link with Elgar amongst the musicians of the three cathedrals.

In his programme planning for the festival, Sumsion championed the performance of new English works. Notable premieres at Sumsion's Gloucester festivals included Gustav Holst's Choral Fantasia (1931), Howells's Hymnus Paradisi (1950), and Finzi's Intimations of Immortality (1950); as well as works by Vaughan Williams, Howard Ferguson, Robin Milford, Tony Hewitt-Jones, John Sanders, and Sumsion himself. Outside the realm of English music, Sumsion helped sustain a festival connection with Kodály by inviting him back to Gloucester in 1937 and programming his works at six Gloucester festivals.

Sumsion maintained personal friendships with many of the well-known composers who frequented the festival, particularly Vaughan Williams, Finzi, and Howells. Social gatherings at the festival, in which Sumsion's wife Alice played a significant role, helped to cultivate these relationships. In 2007 Ursula Vaughan Williams still recalled that her husband had been 'great friends' with Herbert and Alice. Sumsion was considered part of Finzi's intimate circle and was a frequent guest at Finzi's home at Ashmansworth in Hampshire; the Sumsion and Finzi families (the Sumsions had three sons, the Finzis two) also went on holiday together. The Sumsion and Howells families were likewise close, evidenced by the fact that in 1935 the Sumsions hosted Howells and his wife for Christmas following the death of the Howells's son Michael; and according to one Howells biographer, it was Sumsion who first encouraged Howells to allow Hymnus Paradisi, written in Michael's memory, to be performed.

Sumsion also led an active professional life outside the cathedral. He had begun composing as a young man and continued to accept commissions when he was well into his eighties. Possibly his last work was a set of hymns entitled 'Four Hymns', to words by Paul Wigmore, and published by Oecumuse in the autumn of 1995, only weeks after Sumsion's death. He composed many works for organ and choir, as well as chamber and orchestral pieces and a book of piano exercises. Sumsion also taught piano, organ, and composition privately, adjudicated at competitions, accompanied vocalists and played with chamber groups, and performed as an organ recitalist. His 1965 recording of Elgar's Organ Sonata, which he recorded in one 'take', is now regarded as the standard interpretation of that work. Concurrent with his post at the cathedral Sumsion served as director of music at Cheltenham Ladies' College (1935–1968) and directed the Gloucester Choral and Orchestral Societies. As a teacher and choir trainer he was said to be demanding yet kind and encouraging, displaying 'that rare gift that made people want to do well for him'. Sumsion was honoured with a Lambeth Doctorate in 1947 and was appointed CBE in 1961.

After retiring from Gloucester cathedral in 1967, Sumsion remained in Gloucestershire and continued to teach and compose. He helped design the fabulous Hill, Norman & Beard Chapel Organ for Ellesmere College after a fire there had totally destroyed the Chapel in 1966. He died at Frampton-on-Severn in 1995 at age 96.

Works
Sumsion's compositional style reflects the influence of his more famous contemporaries Howells, Finzi, and Vaughan Williams, while at the same time retaining something of the 'diatonic strength' of Edwardian composers like Parry and Brewer. Despite these influences, however, Sumsion's music speaks in a fresh and distinctive voice that is appealing to both performers and listeners. His harmonic language is sturdy and conventional, yet often tinged with modality, and his melodic style is fluid and elegant. In the organ and choral works Sumsion displays a fondness for parallel thirds in the accompaniment, detached bass lines, and the descending minor third in the melody.

Choral and organ music appear most often in Sumsion's output during his Gloucester tenure and retirement, with many choral pieces dating from his last decade of life. Works such as the Magnificat and Nunc dimittis in G major, the Preces and Responses, and the anthem They that go down to the sea in ships have entered the standard repertoire of Anglican church music. A new disc of Sumsion's choral music featuring the Ecclesium Choir, directed by Philip Stopford, was released in 2007 as No. 9 in Priory's British Church Composers Series. Sumsion's most significant work for organ is the challenging Introduction and Theme, which has been recorded by Donald Hunt (among others) for the Helios label.

Most of Sumsion's chamber and orchestral works were written earlier in his career and are unpublished or out of print; however a Piano Trio, the orchestral pieces Overture, In the Cotswolds and Idyll, At Valley Green, and the Cello Sonata have all had public performances, the first three at various Three Choirs Festivals. David Lloyd-Jones and the Royal Ballet Sinfonia have recorded an attractive work for strings called A Mountain Tune ('English String Miniatures'/White Line/2003), which Sumsion originally wrote for cello and piano.

In December 2014, the violinist Rupert Marshall-Luck and the pianist Duncan Honeybourne recorded for EM Records Sumsion's Violin Sonata of 1920; the recording was released in May 2015 (King of Instruments; Instrument of Kings/EM Records/EMR CD029). The work, which was suspected to have been lost, was rediscovered in the archive of Sumsion's works following correspondence between Marshall-Luck, Dr Donald Hunt and the composer's grandson, Paul Sumsion.

Choral

 * As With Gladness, for SATB choir and organ
 * Benedicite, Omnia Opera in B-flat major, for SATB choir and organ
 * By the Cross of Jesus, for SATB choir
 * A Child This Day is Born, for SATB choir and organ
 * Communion Service in A and D for SSATB and organ
 * Communion Service in F major, for SATB choir and organ
 * Fear Not O Land, for SATB choir and organ
 * Festival Benedicite in D major, for SATB choir and organ or orchestra
 * The Holy Birth, for SATB choir and organ
 * Hosanna to the Son of David, for SATB choir
 * I Was Glad, for TTBB and piano
 * I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes, for SATB choir and organ
 * In Exile, motet for double chorus unaccompanied
 * The Lord Ascendeth Up on High, for SATB choir and organ
 * Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in A major, for SATB choir and organ
 * Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in D major, for trebles or SATB choir and organ
 * Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in G major, for SATB choir and organ
 * Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in G Major, for ATB choir and organ
 * Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in G Major, for treble choir and organ
 * Nine Introits for Seasons of the Church's Year
 * And the Angel said, Behold (Christmas)
 * Arise, Shine for your light has come (Epiphany)
 * Timor et Tremor
 * With a Voice of Singing
 * You shall receive power
 * Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God
 * Lift up your heads
 * O praise the Lord, ye Angels of his
 * Dilexit Justitiam
 * O Be Joyful in the Lord, for SATB choir and organ
 * O Lord, Thou Hast Searched Me Out, for SATB choir and organ
 * One Thing Have I Desired of the Lord, for SATB double choir
 * Praise the Lord, O My Soul, for SATB choir
 * Praise to the Lord (St. Patrick’s Breastplate), for SATB choir
 * The Spacious Firmament, for SATB choir and organ
 * Te Deum Laudamus in G major, for SATB choir and organ
 * There is a Green Hill Far Away, for SATB choir and organ
 * They That Go Down to the Sea in Ships, for SATB choir and organ
 * Thou Wilt Keep Him in Perfect Peace, for SATB choir and organ
 * Two Carols (I Sing of a Maiden and Herrick’s Carol), for unaccompanied mixed voices
 * Versicles, Responses, and the Lord's Prayer, for SATB choir
 * Watt’s Cradle Song, for unison choir
 * We Love the Place, O God, for SATB choir

Organ

 * Air, Berceuse and Procession
 * Allegretto
 * Canzona
 * Carol and Musette (Vaughan Williams) arranged for organ
 * Ceremonial March
 * Chorale Prelude on 'Down Ampney'
 * Cradle Song
 * Elegy
 * Four Preludes on Well-Known Carols
 * Intermezzo
 * Introduction and Theme
 * Pastorale
 * Procession
 * Quiet Postlude
 * Sarabande and Interlude
 * Toccata on 'University'
 * Variations on a Folk Tune

Chamber and orchestral

 * Idyll, At Valley Green for orchestra
 * Lerryn, for orchestra
 * A Mountain Tune, for cello and piano
 * A Mountain Tune, arr. for string orchestra
 * Overture, In the Cotswolds, for full orchestra
 * Piano Trio (1931)
 * Piano Trio (1982)
 * Romance, for string orchestra
 * Sonata in C minor, for cello and piano
 * Sonata in E minor, for violin and piano
 * String Quartet in G major
 * Variations on a Folk Song, 'I Will Give My Love an Apple', for piano solo
 * Variations on a Folk Tune, for flute and piano

Miscellaneous

 * Piano Technique: a Book of Exercises

title: Herbert Sumsion


text:
Nahi

Nahi or NAHI may refer to:

 * Nath Í (disambiguation), an Irish personal name given to two early Irish saints and a legendary king of Connacht
 * Non accidental head injury, a constellation of medical findings

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title: Nahi


text:
Portal:Aviation/Anniversaries/June 5

June 5

 * 2012 – The first Solar Impulse aircraft, HB-SIA, the first solar-powered aircraft capable of both day and night flight thanks to its batteries charged by solar power, completes its first intercontinental flight, arriving at Rabat, Morocco, after a 19-hour flight across the Strait of Gibraltar from Madrid, Spain. The flight is the second and final leg of its intercontinental trip, which had begun on 25 May with a flight from its home base at Payerne Airport outside Payerne, Switzerland, to Madrid.

 * 2011 – NATO airstrikes level the offices of Libya's state television service, Libyan Jamahiriya Broadcasting Corporation, and the Libyan government military intelligence offices in Tripoli.

 * 2002 – Launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour STS-111 at 21:22:49 UTC. Mission highlights: ISS supply, crew rotation, Mobile Base System.

 * 1991 – Launch of Space Shuttle Columbia STS-40 at 9:24:51 am EDT. Mission highlights: Spacelab mission.

 * 1991 – A Royal Australian Air Force McDonnell Douglas F/A-18A Hornet, A21-041, of 75 Squadron, crashes 100 kilometres NE of Weipa, Queensland. The pilot was killed. The wreckage was found in July 1994.

 * 1989 – The massive Antonov An-225 Mriya flies in to Paris-Le Bourget for the 1989 Paris Air Show, carrying the Soviet Shuttle Buran on its back. When it takes of from Kiev to fly to Paris, the combination has a takeoff weight of 1,234,600 lb, the greatest weight ever lifted into the air.

 * 1969 – The Tupolev Tu-144 supersonic airliner becomes the first aircraft of its class to fly through the sound barrier when it exceeds Mach 1 at an altitude of 36,000 ft.

 * 1969 – Rivet Amber, an RC-135E, 62-4137, operating out of Shemya AFB, went down in the Bering Sea. Despite a thorough search of the area, no wreckage and no survivors were ever found. The best theory is that the plane suffered some sort of catastrophic mechanical failure, as the last radio contact from the aircraft mentioned “vibration in flight”. Rivet Amber was returning to Eielson AFB for maintenance with a crew of 19 on board.

 * 1969 – The American bombing of North Vietnam resumes after a seven-month pause.

 * 1968 – North Vietnam demands an unconditional end to American bombing of its territory.

 * 1967 – Boeing delivers its 1,000th jet airliner, a Boeing 707-120B for American Airlines.

 * 1967 – June 5-10 – The Six Day War is fought between Israel and her Arab neighbors. In a pre-emptive strike, the Israeli Air Force destroys half of the Egyptian Air Force on the first night. By the end of the six days, 452 Arab aircraft had been destroyed for a loss of 46 Israeli aircraft.

 * 1965 – The 1965 Fort Benning Mid-Air Helicopter Collision was a helicopter collision over Fort Benning, Georgia that left eighteen people dead. It occurred around 9:50 am.

 * 1965 – The U.S. Navy begins full-time staffing of Dixie Station off South Vietnam by one aircraft carrier.

 * 1965 – The U.S. Navy’s aircraft carrier presence in the Gulf of Tonkin off Vietnam reaches five ships.

 * 1963 – President Kennedy announces that his administration would seek funds for the sponsored development of a supersonic transport aircraft.

 * 1962 – A number three following RAF Hawker Hunter T.7 trainer (XL610) from No. 111 Squadron based at RAF Wattisham on a routine training flight flying in formation with two other aircraft crashes near Silk Willoughby, Lincolnshire, UK killing two crew members.

 * 1958 – Second prototype Saunders-Roe SR.53, XD151, crashed during an abandoned take-off whilst testing at RAE Boscombe Down, killing its pilot, Squadron Leader John S. Booth, DFC. Project cancelled.

 * 1956 – A USAF Northrop F-89 Scorpion fighter jet of the 18th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron armed with 104 live rockets, strikes an automobile during an aborted take-off at Wold-Chamberlain Field, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, killing three of the five occupants of the vehicle; both F-89 crew members survive.

 * 1952 – Exercise Bluebird: a Royal Netherlands Air Force Republic F-84 Thunderjet collided with the mast of the British Royal Navy motor launch HMML 2582 and crashed onto the deck in flames. The launch sank with the loss of fifteen crew and the pilot of the Thunderjet. The accident occurred in the Marsdiep, Netherlands.

 * 1951 – The U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps begin Operation Strangle, a day-and-night air interdiction campaign against enemy roads, bridges, and tunnels across the width of the Korean Peninsula between 38 degrees 15 min North and 39 degrees 15 min North. It will continue until February 1952, but without the success hoped for it.

 * 1950 – RCAF Colours were presented to the Force by the Governor-General, Field Marshal Earl Alexander of Tunis, at Ottawa, Ontario.

 * 1948 – Northrop YB-49-NO, 42-102368, c/n 1488, crashes in desert near Muroc Air Force Base, California after both outer wings become detached from center section during spin recovery, killing pilot Maj. Daniel Forbes, co-pilot Capt. Glen Edwards, and three crew. Forbes Air Force Base, Kansas, is named for the pilot, and Muroc is renamed Edwards Air Force Base for the co-pilot on 5 December 1949. Flying wing bomber design will be revived in the 1980s as the B-2 Spirit.

 * 1945 – A typhoon strikes U.S. Navy Task Force 38 southeast of Okinawa. The aircraft carriers USS Hornet (CV-12), USS Bennington (CV-20), USS Belleau Wood (CVL-24), USS San Jacinto (CVL-30), USS Windham Bay (CVE-92), and USS Salamaua (CVE-96) are damaged and the task force loses 76 aircraft.

 * 1944 – Two Japanese bombers make a destructive strike against about 100 Allied aircraft paired wingtip-to-wingtip at Wakde, putting the base out of action for several days.

 * 1944 – The B-29 Superfortress flies its first combat mission; 98 B-29s take off from bases in India and attack railroad shops in Bangkok, Thailand. Five are lost, none to enemy action.

 * 1944 – June 5-6 – "D-Day" – The Allied invasion of France is spearheaded by paratrooper drops and assault glider landings.

 * 1943 – In a battle over the Russell Islands between 81 Japanese Mitsubishi A6 M Zero fighters and 110 Allied aircraft, the Japanese lose 24 aircraft in exchange for seven U.S. fighters.

 * 1931 – C.W.A. Scott breaks the record for the fastest solo flight from Australia to England, flying the 10,660 miles (17,160 km) from Wyndham, Australia to Lympne, England from May 26 to in 10 days 23 hours piloting a DH.60 Moth (Gipsy II).

 * 1927 – The Verein für Raumschiffahrt ("Society for spaceship travel") is formed in Germany.

 * 1918 – Douglas Campbell, the first American to become an ace while flying for an American unit, scores his sixth and final victory. Badly wounded during the flight, he sees no further combat.

 * 1917 – The United States Navy’s First Aeronautical Detachment disembarks from the collier USS Jupiter in France under the command of Kenneth Whiting. It is the first U.S. military unit to arrive in Europe.

 * 1909 – The first monoplane flight of over one hour is made by Englishman Hubert Latham on the Antoinette IV for one hour, seven minutes, 37 seconds.

 * 1909 – John Berry and Paul McCullough win the U.S.’s first National Balloon Race, covering 377.9 miles – from Indianapolis, Indiana to Fort Payne, Alabama – in 25 hours 35 minutes.

 * 1909 – First flight of the Roe I Triplane

 * 1783 – Unmanned flight of the Montgolfier brothers hot-air-balloon (Montgolfière) in Vivarais, France. The Montgolfiers demonstrate a hot air balloon in public, at Annonay.

title: Portal:Aviation/Anniversaries/June 5


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G protein-gated ion channel

G protein-gated ion channels are a family of transmembrane ion channels in neurons and atrial myocytes that are directly gated by G proteins.

Overview of mechanisms and function
Generally, G protein-gated ion channels are specific ion channels located in the plasma membrane of cells that are directly activated by a family of associated proteins. Ion channels allow for the selective movement of certain ions across the plasma membrane in cells. More specifically, in nerve cells, along with ion transporters, they are responsible for maintaining the electrochemical gradient across the cell.

G proteins are a family of intracellular proteins capable of mediating signal transduction pathways. Each G protein is a heterotrimer of three subunits: α-, β-, and γ- subunits. The α-subunit (Gα) typically binds the G protein to a transmembrane receptor protein known as a G protein-coupled receptor, or GPCR. This receptor protein has a large, extracellular binding domain which will bind its respective ligands (e.g. neurotransmitters and hormones). Once the ligand is bound to its receptor, a conformational change occurs. This conformational change in the G protein allows Gα to bind GTP. This leads to yet another conformational change in the G protein, resulting in the separation of the βγ-complex (Gβγ) from Gα. At this point, both Gα and Gβγ are active and able to continue the signal transduction pathway. Different classes of G protein-coupled receptors have many known functions including the cAMP and Phosphatidylinositol signal transduction pathways. A class known as metabotropic glutamate receptors play a large role in indirect ion channel activation by G proteins. These pathways are activated by second messengers which initiate signal cascades involving various proteins which are important to the cell's response.

G protein-gated ion channels are associated with a specific type of G protein-coupled receptor. These ion channels are transmembrane ion channels with selectivity filters and a G protein binding site. The GPCRs associated with G protein-gated ion channels are not involved in signal transduction pathways. They only directly activate these ion channels using effector proteins or the G protein subunits themselves (see picture). Unlike most effectors, not all G protein-gated ion channels have their activity mediated by Gα of their corresponding G proteins. For instance, the opening of inwardly rectifying K+ (GIRK) channels is mediated by the binding of Gβγ.

G protein-gated ion channels are primarily found in CNS neurons and atrial myocytes, and affect the flow of potassium (K+), calcium (Ca2+), sodium (Na+), and chloride (Cl−) across the plasma membrane.

Structure
Four G protein gated inwardly-rectifying potassium (GIRK) channel subunits have been identified in mammals: GIRK1, GIRK2, GIRK3, and GIRK4. The GIRK subunits come together to form GIRK ion channels. These ion channels, once activated, allow for the flow of potassium ions (K+) from the extracellular space surrounding the cell across the plasma membrane and into the cytoplasm. Each channel consists of domains which span the plasma membrane, forming the K+-selective pore region through which the K+ ions will flow. Both the N-and C-terminal ends of the GIRK channels are located within the cytoplasm. These domains interact directly with the βγ-complex of the G protein, leading to activation of the K+ channel. . These domains on the N-and C-terminal ends which interact with the G proteins contain certain residues which are critical for the proper activation of the GIRK channel. In GIRK4, the N-terminal residue is His-64 and the C-terminal residue is Leu-268; in GIRK1 they are His-57 and Leu-262, respectively. Mutations in these domains lead to the channel's desensitivity to the βγ-complex and therefore reduce the activation of the GIRK channel.

The four GIRK subunits are 80-90% similar in their pore-forming and transmembrane domains, a feature accountable by the similarities in their structures and sequences. GIRK2, GIRK3, and GIRK4 share an overall identity of 62% with each other, while GIRK1 only shares 44% identity with the others. Because of their similarity, the GIRK channel subunits can come together easily to form heteromultimers (a protein with two or more different polypeptide chains). GIRK1, GIRK2, and GIRK3 show abundant and overlapping distribution in the central nervous system (CNS) while GIRK1 and GIRK4 are found primarily in the heart. GIRK1 combines with GIRK2 in the CNS and GIRK4 in the atrium to form heterotetramers; each final heterotetramer contains two GIRK1 subunits and two GIRK2 or GIRK4 subunits. GIRK2 subunits can also form homotetramers in the brain, while GIRK4 subunits can form homotetramers in the heart. GIRK1 subunits have not been shown to be able to form functional homotetramers. Though GIRK3 subunits are found in the CNS, their role in forming functional ion channels is still unknown.

Subtypes and respective functions

 * GIRKs found in the heart

One G protein-gated potassium channel is the inward-rectifing potassium channel (IKACh) found in cardiac muscle (specifically, the sinoatrial node and atria), which contributes to the regulation of heart rate. These channels are almost entirely dependent on G protein activation, making them unique when compared to other G protein-gated channels. Activation of the IKACh channels begins with release of acetylcholine (ACh) from the vagus nerve onto pacemaker cells in the heart. ACh binds to the M2 muscarinic acetylcholine receptors, which interact with G proteins and promote the dissociation of the Gα subunit and Gβγ-complex. IKACh is composed of two homologous GIRK channel subunits: GIRK1 and GIRK4. The Gβγ-complex binds directly and specifically to the IKACh channel through interactions with both the GIRK1 and GIRK4 subunits. Once the ion channel is activated, K+ ions flow out of the cell and cause it to hyperpolarize. In its hyperpolarized state, the neuron cannot fire action potentials as quickly, which slows the heartbeat.

 * GIRKs found in the brain

The G protein inward rectifying K+ channel found in the CNS is a heterotetramer composed of GIRK1 and GIRK2 subunits and is responsible for maintaining the resting membrane potential and excitability of the neuron. Studies have shown the largest concentrations of the GIRK1 and GIRK2 subunits to be in the dendritic areas of neurons in the CNS. These areas, which are both extrasynaptic (exterior to a synapse) and perisynaptic (near a synapse), correlate with the large concentration of GABAB receptors in the same areas. Once the GABAB receptors are activated by their ligands, they allow for the dissociation of the G protein into its individual α-subunit and βγ-complex so it can in turn activate the K+ channels. The G proteins couple the inward rectifying K+ channels to the GABAB receptors, mediating a significant part of the GABA postsynaptic inhibition.

Furthermore, GIRKs have been found to play a role in a group of serotonergic neurons in the dorsal raphe nucleus, specifically those associated with the neuropeptide hormone orexin. The 5-HT1A receptor, a serotonin receptor and type of GPCR, has been shown to be coupled directly with the α-subunit of a G protein, while the βγ-complex activates GIRK without use of a second messenger. The subsequent activation of the GIRK channel mediates hyperpolarization of orexin neurons, which regulate the release of many other neurotransmitters including noradrenaline and acetylcholine.

Structure
In addition to the subset of potassium channels that are directly gated by G proteins, G proteins can also directly gate certain calcium ion channels in neuronal cell membranes. Although membrane ion channels and protein phosphorylation are typically indirectly affected by G protein-coupled receptors via effector proteins (such as phospholipase C and adenylyl cyclase) and second messengers (such as inositol triphosphate, diacylglycerol and cyclic AMP), G proteins can short circuit the second-messenger pathway and gate the ion channels directly. Such bypassing of the second-messenger pathways is observed in mammalian cardiac myocytes and associated sarcolemmal vesicles in which Ca2+ channels are able to survive and function in the absence of cAMP, ATP or protein kinase C when in the presence of the activated α-subunit of the G protein. For example, Gα, which is stimulatory to adenylyl cyclase, acts on the Ca2+ channel directly as an effector. This short circuit is membrane-delimiting, allowing direct gating of calcium channels by G proteins to produce effects more quickly than the cAMP cascade could. This direct gating has also been found in specific Ca2+ channels in the heart and skeletal muscle T tubules.

Function
Several high-threshold, slowly inactivating calcium channels in neurons are regulated by G proteins. The activation of α-subunits of G proteins has been shown to cause rapid closing of voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels, which causes difficulties in the firing of action potentials. This inhibition of voltage-gated Calcium channels by G protein-coupled receptors has been demonstrated in the dorsal root ganglion of a chick among other cell lines. Further studies have indicated roles for both Gα and Gβγ subunits in the inhibition of Ca2+ channels. The research geared to defining the involvement of each subunit, however, has not uncovered the specificity or mechanisms by which Ca2+ channels are regulated.

The acid-sensing ion channel ASIC1a is a specific G protein-gated Ca2+ channel. The upstream M1 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor binds to Gq-class G proteins. Blocking this channel with the agonist oxotremorine methiodide was shown to inhibit ASIC1a currents. ASIC1a currents have also been shown to be inhibited in the presence of oxidizing agents and potentiated in the presence of reducing agents. A decrease and increase in acid-induced intracellular Ca2+ accumulation were found, respectively.

Sodium channels
Patch clamp measurements suggest a direct role for Gα in the inhibition of fast Na+ current within cardiac cells. Other studies have found evidence for a second-messenger pathway which may indirectly control these channels. Whether G proteins indirectly or directly activate Na+ ion channels not been defined with complete certainty.

Chloride channels
Chloride channel activity in epithelial and cardiac cells has been found to be G protein-dependent. However, the cardiac channel that has been shown to be directly gated by the Gα subunit has not yet been identified. As with Na+ channel inhibition, second-messenger pathways cannot be discounted in Cl− channel activation.

Studies done on specific Cl− channels show differing roles of G protein activation. It has been shown that G proteins directly activate one type of Cl− channel in skeletal muscle. Other studies, in CHO cells, have demonstrated a large conductance Cl− channel to be activated differentially by CTX- and PTX-sensitive G proteins. The role of G proteins in the activation of Cl− channels is a complex area of research that is ongoing.

Clinical significance and ongoing research
Mutations in G proteins associated with G protein-gated ion channels have been shown to be involved in diseases such as epilepsy, muscular diseases, neurological diseases, and chronic pain, among others.

Epilepsy, chronic pain, and addictive drugs such as cocaine, opioids, cannabinoids, and ethanol all affect neuronal excitability and heart rate. GIRK channels have been shown to be involved in seizure susceptibility, cocaine addiction, and increased tolerance for pain by opioids, cannabinoids, and ethanol. This connection suggests that GIRK channel modulators may be useful therapeutic agents in the treatment of these conditions. GIRK channel inhibitors may serve to treat addictions to cocaine, opioids, cannabinoids, and ethanol while GIRK channel activators may serve to treat withdrawal symptoms.

Alcohol intoxication
Alcohol intoxication has been shown to be directly connected to the actions of GIRK channels. GIRK channels have a hydrophobic pocket that is capable of binding ethanol, the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages. When ethanol acts as an agonist, GIRK channels in the brain experience prolonged opening. This causes decreased neuronal activity, the result of which manifests as the symptoms of alcohol intoxication. The discovery of the hydrophobic pocket capable of binding ethanol is significant in the field of clinical pharmacology. Agents that can act as agonists to this binding site can be potentially useful in the creation of drugs for the treatment of neurological disorders such as epilepsy in which neuronal firing exceeds normal levels.

Breast cancer
Studies have shown that a link exists between channels with GIRK1 subunits and the beta-adrenergic receptor pathway in breast cancer cells responsible for growth regulation of the cells. Approximately 40% of primary human breast cancer tissues have been found to carry the mRNA which codes for GIRK1 subunits. Treatment of breast cancer tissue with alcohol has been shown to trigger increased growth of the cancer cells. The mechanism of this activity is still a subject of research.

Down syndrome
Altered cardiac regulation is common in adults diagnosed with Down syndrome and may be related to G protein-gated ion channels. The KCNJ6 gene is located on chromosome 21 and encodes for the GIRK2 protein subunit of G protein-gated K+ channels. People with Down Syndrome have three copies of chromosome 21, resulting in an overexpression of the GIRK2 subunit. Studies have found that recombinant mice overexpressing GIRK2 subunits show altered responses to drugs that activate G protein-gated K+ channels. These altered responses were limited to the sino-atrial node and atria, both areas which contain many G protein-gated K+ channels. Such findings could potentially lead to the development of drugs that can help regulate the cardiac sympathetic-parasympathetic imbalance in Down Syndrome adults.

Chronic atrial fibrillation
Atrial fibrillation (abnormal heart rhythm) is associated with shorter action potential duration and believed to be affected by the G protein-gated K+ channel, IK,ACh. The IK,ACh channel, when activated by G proteins, allows for the flow of K+ across the plasma membrane and out of the cell. This current hyperpolarizes the cell, thus terminating the action potential. It has been shown that in chronic atrial fibrillation there an increase in this inwardly rectifying current because of constantly activated IK,ACh channels. Increase in the current results in shorter action potential duration experienced in chronic atrial fibrillation and leads to the subsequent fibrillating of the cardiac muscle. Blocking IK,ACh channel activity could be a therapeutic target in atrial fibrillation and is an area under study.

Pain management
GIRK channels have been demonstrated in vivo to be involved in opioid- and ethanol-induced analgesia. These specific channels have been the target of recent studies dealing with genetic variance and sensitivity to opioid analgesics due to their role in opioid-induced analgesia. Several studies have shown that when opioids are prescribed to treat chronic pain, GIRK channels are activated by certain GPCRs, namely opioid receptors, which leads to the inhibition of nociceptive transmission, thus functioning in pain relief. Furthermore, studies have shown that G proteins, specifically the Gi alpha subunit, directly activate GIRKs which were found to participate in propagation of morphine-induced analgesia in inflamed spines of mice. Research pertaining to chronic pain management continues to be performed in this field.

title: G protein-gated ion channel


text:
Salman (myth)

A god worshiped in pre-Islamic South Arabia. Salman may have been the same as a West Semitic god called Shalman/Shalaman, which some scholars believe survives as a theophoric element in the names Solomon and Shalmaneser. The deity is also attested in texts from Ugarit, Palmyra, Hatra, and North and South Arabia.

title: Salman (myth)


text:
Portal:Aviation/Anniversaries/June 12

June 12

 * 2013 – In response to a call for industrial action by the European Transport Workers' Federation, air traffic controllers in 11 other countries engage in lower-key industrial actions in sympathy with the French strike, although flights are not disrupted in other countries.

 * 2012 – A Pakistan Air Force Dassault Mirage 5D of 8 Squadron crashed near Uthal in south-west Pakistan, pilot ejected safely.

 * 2012 – A Belarus Air Force Sukhoi Su-25 from the 116 Attack Air Base crashed in the Grodno region, pilot killed.

 * 2009 – An Indonesian Air Force locally-built Aérospatiale SA 330J Puma crashed at Bogor, West Java during a test flight following maintenance of the helicopter, all four occupants killed.

 * 2004 – OH-58D(R) Kiowa 94-0171 from A Company, 1–25th Aviation Regiment crashes north of Baghdad; both pilots safe.

 * 2003 – AH-64D Apache of 101st Aviation Brigade helicopter shot down near Baghdad, both crewmembers survive.

 * 2003 – F-16CG A United States Air Force F-16C Block 40B Fighting Falcon 88-0424 of 388th FW/421st FS crashes near Baghdad due to fuel starvation. The pilot ejected safely.

 * 2001 – Jetsgo, a Canadian airline, commenced operations.

 * 1999 – Russian Air Force Sukhoi Su-30MK-1 demonstrator '01' with vectored thrust crashes on opening day of the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget Airport. At the completion of a downward spiralling maneuver, the tail contacted the grass surface. With almost no forward speed the fighter was able to pull away from the ground, wings level, with an up pitch of 10-15 degrees and climb to ~150 feet (46 m), with the right jet nozzle deflected fully up and flames engulfing the left engine. Sukhoi test pilot Vyacheslav Averynov initiated ejection with navigator Vladimir Shendrikh departing the aircraft first. The Zvezda K-36D-3.5 ejection seats work perfectly and both crew descend on a taxiway unhurt. The Su-30 impacted some distance from the crew. Video of this accident is widely available on the internet.

 * 1996 – Two Australian Army Sikorsky S-70A Black Hawk helicopters collide during a night training exercise near Townsville, Queensland, killing 18 soldiers.

 * 1994 – First computer-designed commercial aircraft. Computer engineered Boeing 777-200 first flown.

 * 1982 – First flight of the IAR 825

 * 1982 – Operation Black Buck concludes with the last of five very-long range strikes on the Falkland Islands by Royal Air Force Avro Vulcan bombers.

 * 1979 – Bryan Allen flies the Gossamer Albatross across the English Channel using pedal power. The Collier Trophy was awarded to Paul MacCready for his Gossamer Albatross, which crossed the English Channel with pilot Bryan Allen, who flew from Folkestone, England, to Cap Gris-Nez, France, in 2 hr., 49 min.

 * 1979 – First flight of the Rutan Long-EZ

 * 1972 – American Airlines Flight 96, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10, suffers explosive decompression when one of its cargo doors fails in flight; the crew manages an emergency landing at Detroit, Michigan and all 67 on board evacuate safely.

 * 1966 – First flight of the Dassault Mirage F2

 * 1966 – Escorting A-4 Skyhawks from the attack aircraft carrier USS Hancock (CVA-19) during a bombing raid northwest of Haiphong, North Vietnam, U.S. Navy Commander Harold L. Marr of Fighter Squadron 211 (VF-211) scores the first kill by an F-8 Crusader, shooting down a North Vietnamese MiG-17 (NATO reporting name "Fresco") with an AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missile in an F-8E.

 * 1965 – First flight of the Britten-Norman Islander

 * 1961 – KLM Flight 823, a Lockheed L-188 Electra, crashes while on approach to Cairo International Airport due to pilot error; 20 of 36 on board die.

 * 1959 – Entered Service: C-130 Hercules with the 463rd Troop Carrier Wing USAF.

 * 1950 – An Air France Douglas DC-4 (F-BBDE) on a flight from Saigon to Paris crashes in the Arabian Sea while on approach to Bahrain Airport, killing 46 of 52 on board.

 * 1948 – First flight of the Avro Athena

 * 1944 – Japanese aircraft cripple a U. S. destroyer off Biak.

 * 1944 – The Japanese submarine I-10 uses a Yokosuka E14Y (Allied reporting name “Glen”) floatplane stored disassembled in cylinders on her deck to recconoitre Majuro. It finds nothing and is abandoned after it crashes upon return to I-10.

 * 1944 – U. S. carrier aircraft from Task Group 58.4 attack a Japanese convoy north-northwest of Saipan, sinking 10 out of 12 merchant ships, a torpedo boat, three submarine chasers, and a number of fishing vessels.

 * 1944 – (12–13) Task Force 58 aircraft attack Guam, Saipan, and Tinian, destroying almost all Japanese aircraft there, sinking a naval auxiliary and an entire flotilla of sampans, and damaging a cargo ship.

 * 1944 – While attacking Cambrai, France, on 13 June 1944, an Avro Lancaster of No. 419 Squadron was shot down in flames. P/O Andrew C. Mynarski, the mid-upper gunner, made repeated attempts to free the tail gunner trapped in his turret. With clothing and parachute on fire, Mynarski finally gave up and jumped; he succumbed to his burns. Miraculously, the tail gunner survived the crash. Mynarski was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.

 * 1943 – Another large dogfight between Japanese and Allied aircraft over the Russell Islands yields almost identical results to those of June 5.

 * 1941 – First RCAF bomber attack was carried out by No. 405 (Bomber) Squadron against Schwerte, Southeast of Dortmund Germany.

 * 1937 – About 70 German and Italian aircraft attack Basque defenses around Bilbao over the course of several hours.

 * 1934 – In the United States, the Air Mail Act of 1934 closely regulates the contracting of air mail services and prohibits aircraft manufacturers from owning airlines.

 * 1934 – Black-McKeller Bill passes causes Bill Boeing Empire to break up into Boeing United Aircraft (Technologies) & United Air Lines.

 * 1930 – First flight of the Handley Page Heyford

 * 1928 – Emilio Carranza crashes in the New Jersey Pine Barrens while returning from New York City to Mexico City on a historic goodwill flight.

 * 1918 – First airplane bombing raid by an American unit, France.

 * 1909 – Louis Blériot flies his Blériot XII monoplane at Issy-les-Moulineaux with two passengers, Alberto Santos-Dumont and André Fournier. This is the first time a pilot has flown with two passengers.

 * 1897 – Friedrich Hermann Wölfert and his mechanic are killed in an accident when their airship powered by petrol caught fire at a demonstration at the Tempelhof field.

title: Portal:Aviation/Anniversaries/June 12


text:
Category:0-6-4 locomotives

Locomotives classified 0-6-4 under the Whyte notation of locomotive axle arrangements.
 * The equivalent UIC classification of locomotive axle arrangements is C2 or C2'.

title: Category:0-6-4 locomotives


text:
Portal:Aviation/Anniversaries/June 13

June 13

 * 2013 – The Canadian AeroVelo Atlas human-powered helicopter makes a 64-second flight that reaches an altitude of 3.3 meters (11 feet), winning the American Helicopter Society International's Igor I. Sikorsky Human-Powered Helicopter Competition by becoming the first such helicopter to fly for at least 60 seconds and achieve an altitude of at least 3 meters (10 meters).

 * 2013 – The French air traffic controller strike ends, having forced the cancellation of over 2,000 flights, without resolution of the issues which prompted it. Industrial actions in other countries related to the French strike also end.

 * 2012 – A Colombian Army Mil Mi-17-1V crashed following a post-maintenance flight test in north eastern Colombia, pilot killed and two passengers injured.

 * 2012 – A United States Air Force Bell-Boeing CV-22 Osprey of the 8th Special Operations Squadron, 1st Special Operations Wing, crashed on the Eglin AFB reservation north of Navarre, Florida, during a routine training mission, injuring all five crew. Three of the airmen were flown to local hospitals and two were taken by ambulance.

 * 2011 – The second test launch of the Boeing X-51 Waverider ends in failure off the Southern California coast when the vehicle fails to separate from its booster rocket after an air launch from an Edwards AFB, California-based B-52 Stratofortress. Following the drop, the X-51 fell for about four seconds before its booster successfully ignited. The vehicle fell into the Pacific Ocean after the booster did not separate as intended.

 * 2008 – Two United States Navy jets collided over the NAS Fallon, Nevada high desert training range, killing a pilot of the McDonnell-Douglas F/A-18C Hornet, based at NAS Oceana, Virginia. Two crew aboard the F-5 Tiger ejected safely and were rescued.

 * 2007 – A Mongolian military Mil Mi-8 helicopter crashes in Selenge Province, Mongolia while en route to a forest fire killing 15 of the 22 people on board.

 * 1996 – Garuda Indonesia Flight 865, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10, aborts takeoff due to an engine failure and crashes into a threshold at Fukuoka Airport, killing three of 275 on board.

 * 1990 – Boeing 767 sets nonstop commercial flight record, Seattle to Narobi Kenya.

 * 1983 – Pioneer 10 is first man-made object to leave the Solar System.

 * 1980 – The last produced Concorde (number 16) is delivered to British Airways.

 * 1971 – A USAF Boeing EC-135N, 61-0331, c/n 18238, of the 4950th Test Wing, Space and Missile Systems Organization (SAMSO), Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, en route from Pago Pago, American Samoa to Hickam AFB, Hawaii, after monitoring the French Encelade atmospheric nuclear test, conducted 12 June 1971, disappears over the Pacific Ocean ~70 miles S of Hawaii near Palmyra Island. Twelve military personnel and twelve civilians are lost. Only small bits of wreckage found.

 * 1965 – Maiden flight of the UK's Britten-Norman BN2 "Islander", registration G-ATCT.

 * 1962 – Capt. Richard H. Coan, USAF, sets a new closed-circuit distance record for helicopters when he flies a Kaman H-43 B Huskie a distance of 656.258 mi. This beats the previous record of 625.464 mi. set by a Soviet Mil Mi-1.

 * 1961 – A USN Grumman S-2 Tracker lost complete power in one engine and partial power in the other. Flying instructor Lt. J.G Loren Vern Page, 24, died 6 hours later at Iberia Parish Hospital, in New Iberia, Louisiana. He intentionally attempted ditching the aircraft in Spanish Lake, near the Naval Auxiliary Air Station New Iberia, after losing power. Students Lt. J.G. Donald L. Miller and a second unnamed student were both hospitalized with treatable injuries. Lt. J.G. Page was posthumously promoted to full Lieutenant status by the Secretary of the Navy, John B. Connally, for courage and valor. Also named for courage during the rescue of the pilot and the 2 students were LCDR Alvin E. Henke, who commanded the rescue mission, Dr. Lt. Donald E. Hines (MC), and hospital corpsman 3rd class Arthur J. Hoeny. Lt. J.G. Miller was also credited with assisting in the rescue. Lt. Page was survived by his wife Elsa and a daughter, Deborah Anne.

 * 1958 – A USAF Lockheed T-33A-1-LO Shooting Star, 56-1604, from RAF Alconbury and a RAF English Electric Canberra T.4, WT477, letting down into RAF Wyton, Huntingdonshire, collide in mid-air and come down ~5 miles from Alconbury, killing all crew of both aircraft. The T-33 had just overshot at Alconbury when the collision occurred at ~1,400 feet. The Canberra impacted in a cornfield near the village of Bishop Norton, near Brigg, Lincolnshire. In a separate accident ~10 minutes later, an airmen 2nd class mechanic, Vernon L. Morgan, with no flight training, makes an unauthorized take-off from RAF Alconbury in a B-45A-5-NA Tornado bomber, 47-046, of the 86th Bomb Squadron, 47th Bomb Wing, crashes three minutes later, the wreckage blocking the British Railways Eastern Division Edinburgh - King's Cross mainline at Abbots Ripton.

 * 1953 – An McDonnell F2H-2 Banshee, BuNo 123333, suffers an engine fire while parked on the deck of the USS Lake Champlain CVA-39 off the coast of Korea, but is doused quickly.

 * 1952 – (13-16) Soviet Air Force MiG-15 s shoot down a Swedish Air Force C-47 Dakota on an intelligence gathering mission over the Baltic Sea, and the PBY Catalina that is sent to search for survivors.

 * 1951 – RAF English Electric Canberra B.1, VN850, bailed to Rolls-Royce for Avon engine tests. Crashed on approach to Hucknall with engine fire, coming down just outside field perimeter, killing Rolls-Royce test pilot R.B. Leach. This was the first loss of a Canberra.

 * 1950 – AFirst of two RAF Cierva W.11 Air Horse helicopters, VZ724, G-ALCV, (at the time, the largest helicopter type flown), breaks up in flight and crashes due to fatigue failure of a swashplate carrier driving link in the front rotor hub, killing all three crew: Ministry of Supply chief helicopter test pilot Squadron Leader F. J. "Jeep" Cable, Cierva's Chief Test Pilot Alan Marsh and flight test engineer Joseph K. Unsworth.

 * 1943 – The Pointblank Directive modifies the priorities established by the February Casablanca directive, elevating attacks on German fighter strength to the highest priority for the Royal Air Force and United States Army Air Force

 * 1946 – First transcontinental round-trip flight 1-day, California-Maryland.

 * 1945 – A USAAF Consolidated B-24H Liberator bomber, 42-95095, of the 66th Bomb Squadron, 44th Bomb Group, returning home to the USA from Prestwick Airfield crashed at Shieldaig, in the remote Fairy Lochs in Wester Ross, Scotland, killing its entire crew of nine from 66th Bombardment Squadron; also on board were six crewmen from Air Transport Command. Pilot was Jack B. Ketcham.

 * 1945 – Although small and remote, the Fairy Lochs are notable as the crash site of an American World War II bomber. On 13 June 1945, a USAAF B-24 Liberator bomber (serial 42-95095, based at the Warton Aerodrome) was returning home to the USA from Prestwick Airfield at the end of World War II. The crew of nine was from 66th Bomber Squadron; also on board were six crewmen from Air Transport Command. Its route via Keflavík (Meeks Field) in Iceland should have taken it over Stornoway in the Western Isles, but for an unknown reason the aircraft instead flew over the Scottish mainland. Over Wester Ross the aircraft began to lose height, and struck the summit of Slioch, a 980 m mountain overlooking Loch Maree, losing parts of its bomb bay doors, before flying on towards Gairloch. An attempted crash-landing resulted in the B-24 colliding with rocks and crashing into the Fairy Lochs, scattering wreckage over a wide area. All 15 crew and passengers on board perished in the accident.

 * 1944 – W/C CGW Chapman and crew in a Consolidated Canso of No. 162 Squadron sank the German submarine U-715 north of the Shetland Isles.

 * 1944 – Germany began launching flying-bomb attacks against Britain during World War II.

 * 1943 – Blohm & Voss BV 138C-1, WNr.0310158, K6+AK, of 2.Staffel KüstenFlieger Gruppe 406, capsizes upon landing at Drontheim See Ilsvika in Trondheim harbour, Norway. Crew has to swim underwater to escape. Oblt. Ludwig Schönherr, wounded; Ltn. Günther Behr, wounded; Uffz. Heinz Kitzmann, unhurt; Uffz. Reinhold Zwanzig, unhurt; Ofw. Ernst Neumann, drowned. His body is recovered from inside the flying boat when it is recovered the following day.

 * 1942 – The U. S. Navy makes its first operational test with Loran (long-range navigation) equipment with a receiver mounted in a K-2 airship on a flight from the Lakehurst, N. J. Naval Air Station.

 * 1940 – Fifteen Fleet Air Arm Blackburn Skuas of No. 800 and No. 803 squadrons from HMS Ark Royal join Royal Air Force Bristol Beaufort torpedo bombers escorted by Bristol Blenheim fighters in attacking Scharnhorst and other German warships anchored in Trondheimsfjord, Norway. After the Beauforts attack earlier than planned, the Skuas encounter heavy antiaircraft fire during their attack, and eight are shot down.

 * 1929 – The United States Coast Guard establishes an “air traffic flight-following” capability along the coast of the continental United States employing a network of Coast Guard radio stations.

 * 1927 – Charles Lindbergh honored in New York City for his trans-Atlantic flight. 750,000 lbs of ticker-tape shower down.

 * 1921 – The US Army and Navy begin trials in Chesapeake Bay to test the effectiveness of aircraft in attacking ships. The captured German destroyer German destroyer G-102, light cruiser Frankfurt and battleship Ostfriesland will all be successfully sunk by aerial bombing.

 * 1917 – 14 Gotha bombers make the most destructive air-raid on London of the First World War. Attacking in daylight, 162 people are killed and 432 wounded.

 * 1916 – The Zeppelin-Lindau Dornier Rs II hydroplane, piloted by Schröter and Schulte, succeeds in taking off from Lake Constance, Germany, and makes a four-minute flight.

 * 1914 – W. M. Stark flew his float-equipped Curtiss pusher biplane from Burrard Inlet to English Bay, Vancouver, BC.

 * 1912 – Capt Albert Berry made the first parachute jump from an airplane.

title: Portal:Aviation/Anniversaries/June 13


text:
Ta'lab

Ta'lab (تألب ريام) was a god worshipped in ancient Yemen, particularly by Sumʿay tribes. Ta'lab was the moon god and also a protector of pastures. The name Ta'lab means “goat”, an animal that was considered sacred by southern Arabs. Ta'lab’s oracle was consulted for advice. A shrine dedicated to him existed in Jabal Riyam in north Sana'a.

title: Ta'lab


text:
Portal:Aviation/Anniversaries/June 14

June 15

 * 2013 – First Flight of the Airbus A350 XWB (registration F-WXWB) at Toulouse–Blagnac Airport, Toulouse, France.
 * 2013 – Solar Impulse aircraft HB-SIA begins the fourth leg of its flight across the continental United States, flying a 678-kilometer (421-mile) segment from Lambert–St. Louis International Airport outside St. Louis, Missouri, to Cincinnati Municipal Lunken Airport in Cincinnati, in 15 hours 14 minutes at an average speed of 44.5 km/h (27.6 mph) and reaching a maximum altitude of 3,048 meters (10,000 feet). The 11-hour stop at Cincinnati during the trip to Washington Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C., is inserted into the itinerary because of strong cross- and headwinds forecast for the flight and a legal requirement that the aircraft's pilot not exceed 24 hours continuously in the air; it also affords the Solar Impulse ground crew an opportunity to practice supporting the aircraft during stops planned on short notice.
 * 2011 – NATO aircraft strike Waddan, Libya.
 * 2011 – In response to Libya firing rockets into its territory, Tunisia flies a helicopter and a Tunisian Air Force F-5 Freedom Fighter along its border with Libya.
 * 2011 – (Overnight) NATO jets resume airstrikes on Tripoli after a lull in such raids, bombarding mainly its eastern neighborhoods.
 * 2009 – Express Air Flight 9000, a Dornier 328, registration PK-TXN, veers off the runway on landing at Tanah Merah Airport, Indonesia. The aircraft is substantially damaged.
 * 2009 – A Royal Air Force Grob Tutor collided with a glider near Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England, killing a reservist pilot and a cadet. The glider pilot parachuted to safety.
 * 1988 – First flight of the Sikorsky S-333
 * 1985 – TWA Flight 847, a Boeing 727, is hijacked by Lebanese militants. One passenger is murdered during the three-day ordeal.
 * 1982 – Argentinan forces surrender to English forces on the Falkland Islands. During their war, the English had destroyed 109 Argentinian planes, compared to only 10 lost by the British.
 * 1982 – First flight of the Beechcraft Lightning
 * 1972 – Japan Airlines Flight 471, a Japan Airlines flight from Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok, Thailand to Palam International Airport (now Indira Gandhi International Airport) in New Delhi, India. The Douglas DC-8-53 used crashed outside of the New Delhi airport, killing 82 of 87 occupants; 10 of 11 crew members and 72 of 76 passengers died, and 3 people on the ground died. 16 of the dead were Americans. Brazilian actress Leila Diniz was also among the killed.
 * 1967 – Mariner V launched from Cape Kennedy on a flight past Venus.
 * 1957 – HMCS Magnificent was paid off and returned to the Royal Navy.
 * 1950 – An Air France Douglas DC-4, F-BBDM, crashes in the Arabian Sea while on approach to Bahrain Airport, killing 40 of 53 on board. This aircraft was operating on the same flight route as F-BBDE.
 * 1947 – A Boeing B-29A-70-BN Superfortress, 44-62228, of the 64th Bombardment Squadron, 43rd Bombardment Group, off-course in stormy weather, slammed into the granite face of Hawks Mountain a few hundred feet below its 2,300 foot crest, near Springfield, Vermont just before midnight, killing all eleven crew. The bomber, based at Davis-Monthan AFB, Tucson, Arizona, had refueled at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and was bound for Bedford, Massachusetts when it apparently became lost. Local residents reported hearing it circle over Springfield and nearby Perkinsville shortly before impact and seeing it blinking its lights at an altitude of 1,000 feet or less.
 * 1945 – First flight of the Avro Tudor, the first British pressurized civilian aircraft
 * 1944 – First B-29 raid against mainland Japan took place on the night of 15-16 Jun 1944 with 75 XX Bomber Command B-29s flying from China to attack the Imperial Iron and Steel Works at Yawata in northern Kyūshū.
 * 1944 – June 14-15 (overnight), flying a Mosquito of 605 Sqn, Flt Lt J G Musgrave became first pilot to shoot down a V1 flying bomb.
 * 1944 – To disrupt attacks on the Normandy invasion force by small German naval craft, Royal Air Force Bomber Command strikes the harbor at Le Havre, France, just before midnight, sinking the German torpedo boats Falke, Jaguar, and Möwe, 10 S-boats, 15 R-boats, several patrol and harbor vessels, and 11 other small craft and badly damaging other vessels.
 * 1944 – (14–15) Task Force 58 carrier aircraft strike the Volcano Islands, Guam, Saipan, and Tinian.
 * 1943 – Boeing B-17C Flying Fortress, 40-2072, "Miss E.M.F." (Every Morning Fixing), of the 19th Bomb Group, heavily damaged on Davao mission 25 December 1941 and converted into transport. With 46th Troop Carrier Squadron, 317th Troop Carrier Group, crashed Bakers Creek, Queensland, Australia, this date while ferrying troops to New Guinea. Six crew and 34 GIs killed. One survived. (see Bakers Creek air crash) A memorial to the victims of this crash was installed at the Selfridge Gate of Arlington National Cemetery on 11 June 2009, donated by the Bakers Creek Memorial Association. The gate is named for Lt. Thomas Selfridge, killed in a 1908 crash at Fort Myer, Virginia, the first victim of a powered air accident.
 * 1943 – Accompanying a raid by 197 British Lancaster bombers against Oberhausen, Germany, five British Beaufighter night fighters make the first operational use of Serrate, a radar detector and homing device that allows them to home in on German night fighters employing the Lichtenstein airborne radar from up to 80 km (50 mi) away and intercept them. The Beaufighters do not intercept any German aircraft during the raid, however, and 17 British bombers are lost.
 * 1942 – (14-16) German and Italian aircraft join Italian surface warships and submarines in opposing Operation Harpoon, an Allied Malta resupply convoy from Gibraltar escorted by the British aircraft carriers HMS Argus and HMS Furious, and Operation Vigorous, a simultaneous resupply convoy from Alexandria, Egypt; Royal Air Force and U. S. Army Air Forces aircraft from Malta and North Africa provide support to the convoys. Before the remnants of the Harpoon convoy arrive at Malta and the Vigorous convoy turns back to Alexandria, Axis aircraft sink three merchant cargo ships, fatally damage three destroyers, a cargo ship, and a tanker, and damage the British light cruisers HMS Birmingham and HMS Liverpool. Royal Air Force Beaufort torpedo bombers knock the Italian battleship Littorio out of action for two months, and disable the Italian heavy cruiser Trento, allowing a British subarine to sink her.
 * 1941 – Ground broken for Boeing Plant II (ex-AFLC Plant 13) Wichita, KS.
 * 1940 – In the Kaleva shootdown, an Aero Junkers Ju 52/3mge flying from Tallinn, Estonia to Helsinki, Finland is shot down by two Soviet bombers over the Gulf of Finland during peacetime; all nine aboard die.
 * 1938 – First flight of the Hawker Hotspur
 * 1937 – German aircraft of the Condor Legion strafe refugees from Bilbao as they flee along the road to Santander.
 * 1934 – United States Navy Curtiss XSBC-1 Helldiver, BuNo 9225, crashed at Lancaster, New York. Rebuilt, it will crash again in September.
 * 1929 – In efforts to encourage passenger traffic for their expanding international air routes, British Imperial Airways makes the first 30-minute “tea” flight over London, costing £2 2 s, reduced 1931 to £1 10 s.
 * 1923 – New Zealand forms its first military aviation services, fore-runners of the Royal New Zealand Air Force.
 * 1919 – Cpt John Alcock and Lt Arthur Whitten Brown set out on the first successful non-stop Atlantic crossing, flying a Vickers Vimy from Newfoundland to Ireland in 16 hours. They win £10,000 from the Daily Mail and are both knighted.
 * 1917 – Royal Naval Air Service Curtiss H.12 Large America flying boat 8677 shoots down the German Zeppelin L.43.
 * 1903 – Arthur William Raynes McDonald, radar pioneer/pilot, was born.

title: Portal:Aviation/Anniversaries/June 14


text:
Hiro Mashima

Hiro Mashima (真島 ヒロ) is a Japanese manga artist. He gained success with his first serial Rave Master, published in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine from 1999 to 2005. His best-selling work, Fairy Tail, published in the same magazine from 2006 to 2017, became one of the best-selling manga series with over 72 million copies in print.

Fairy Tail won the Kodansha Manga Award for shōnen manga in 2009, and Mashima was given the Harvey Awards International Spotlight award in 2017 and the Fauve Special Award at the 2018 Angoulême International Comics Festival.

Early life
Mashima stated that he knew he wanted to be a manga artist for as long as he can recall. His father was an artist that aspired to turn professional, but died when Mashima was young. Living in the mountains as a child, his grandfather would bring him discarded manga that he found. After reading them, Mashima would draw from them. In middle school, he began to rebel and get into trouble, but still drew everyday. In high school, he became guitarist in a rock band named Night Meeting, which played a show every two or three months. Mashima was eventually indefinitely suspended from school due to his delinquency and, after reflecting during this time away, decided he would try to make it as a professional manga artist. Moving to Tokyo after graduating high school, he entered a school specializing in teaching manga artists, but left without completing the studies. He stated that while it taught him the basics, he felt it would not help as a professional.

Career
In 1998, Mashima created the one-shot manga Magician while working part-time at an arcade, and entered it into a competition held by Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine. While waiting for the results, his one-shot Bad Boys Song was published in August 1998. When Magician was published in 1998's 51st issue of Weekly Shōnen Magazine, it won the Rookie Prize and earned Mashima around $7,000. He made his official serialization debut the following year with Rave Master in Weekly Shōnen Magazine. It ran until 2005 and was adapted into an anime titled Groove Adventure Rave from 2001 to 2002. In 2003, he collected some of his one-shot titles into the two volume Hiro Mashima's Playground, which was licensed for a North American release in 2018. After completing Rave Master, Mashima serialized Monster Soul in the monthly magazine Comic BomBom from 2005 to 2007.

Mashima began Fairy Tail in Weekly Shōnen Magazine in 2006 and it went on to become one of the best-selling manga series in history with over 72 million copies in print. It spawned a large franchise, including numerous spin-offs and adaptations, before ending in 2017. In 2011, Mashima created a crossover manga between Rave Master and Fairy Tail published in the May issue of Weekly Shōnen Magazine. It was adapted into an original video animation released in August 2013. A special 2013 issue of Weekly Shōnen Magazine featured a small crossover between Fairy Tail and Nakaba Suzuki's The Seven Deadly Sins, where each artist drew a yonkoma (four-panel comic) of the other's series. An actual crossover chapter between these two ran in December 2013. From July 17, 2014, to July 17, 2015, Fairy Tail had its own monthly magazine titled Monthly Fairy Tail Magazine, which included a prequel manga by Mashima himself titled Fairy Tail Zero.

In 2014, three spin-offs were started: Fairy Tail: Ice Trail by Yūsuke Shirato; Fairy Tail Blue Mistral by Rui Watanabe; and Fairy Girls by Boku. Another spin-off manga titled Fairy Tail Side Stories and created by Kyōta Shibano launched on July 30, 2015, in Kodansha's free Magazine Pocket mobile app. On July 25, 2018, Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest began on Magazine Pocket as the official sequel to Fairy Tail. Mashima provides the original storyboards for the manga that is illustrated by Atsuo Ueda. At the end of 2021, Mashima approached Kodansha Game Creators Lab to hold a contest looking for video game proposals based on Fairy Tail with the winning work receiving $132,300, $88,200 of which came from Mashima himself. The games should be created for platforms such as Steam, iOS and Android, and Kodansha will distribute the winner to be decided in April 2022, with the profits shared between Kodansha and the developers.

While creating Fairy Tail, Mashima serialized Monster Hunter Orage, an adaptation of the Monster Hunter video games, in Monthly Shōnen Rival from 2008 to 2009. Also in 2008, he drew a remake of Atsushi Kase's gag manga Chameleon for the 50th anniversary of Weekly Shōnen Magazine. Mashima's Japanese-style epic fantasy one-shot Hoshigami no Satsuki was published in the September 17, 2014 issue of Weekly Shōnen Magazine.

Mashima began the series Edens Zero in Weekly Shōnen Magazine on June 27, 2018, which ended on June 26, 2024. From October to December 2019, he created the mini-series Mashima Hero's in Weekly Shōnen Magazine for its 60th anniversary. It is a crossover between his three series Rave Master, Fairy Tail and Edens Zero. Mashima drew a one-shot manga adaptation of the video game Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age for the October issue of Shueisha's V Jump magazine, which was released on August 21, 2019. On December 17, 2021, Mashima announced that he was developing an Edens Zero video game by himself using RPG Maker. Describing it as a "hobby project" that he worked on in his free time, he released Rebecca to Kikai no Yōkan for free on PC on March 16, 2022.

Style and influences
Mashima listed Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball as his favorite manga growing up, the video game series Dragon Quest, and Yudetamago's Kinnikuman as inspiring him to become an artist. He also read/watched several works by Hayao Miyazaki as a child. In 2008, when asked if there were any current things that inspired him, he gave Code Geass as a response. In 2011, Berserk was stated to be his favorite manga. Mashima speculated his desire to include strange and surreal mascot characters in his works, such as Happy, was influenced by Utsurun Desu. author Sensha Yoshida. He also said he finds the visual contrast that such characters bring "beautiful". Following Toriyama's passing in March 2024. Mashima was among the many people to give his condolences to the late author, as it was Toriyama's work which helped him become a manga author.

For Rave, Mashima's inspiration was wanting to travel the world, while for Fairy Tail it was simply sitting in bars and partying with his friends, the community aspect, but is also about young people finding their calling. He stated that while he tries to consider both his own interests and the fans' on what will happen next in Fairy Tail, the fans take precedence.

Mashima has named his main characters after the seasons. In Rave, the main character is named Haru, which is Japanese for spring. In Fairy Tail, the main character is Natsu, which is the Japanese word for summer. In Monster Soul, the main character is Aki (Autumn), while both Monster Hunter Orage and Edens Zero have a character named Shiki, which is the Japanese word for seasons. He also named a character in Fighting Force Mixture Fuyu, which is Japanese for winter. Mashima said in an About.com interview that he did this because Japanese readers may not be familiar with western fantasy names. The main characters of both Rave and Fairy Tail do not have fathers, partly taken from Mashima's own experience of his father dying when he was young.

Mashima had six assistants in 2008 that worked in an 8,000 sq. feet area with seven desks, as well as a sofa and TV for video games. He revealed his schedule for Fairy Tail was script and storyboards on Monday, rough sketches the following day, and drawing and inking Wednesday through Friday. The weekend was for Monster Hunter; working on a quarter of the story each weekend and finishing by the end of the month. In 2011, he stated that he worked six days a week, for 17 hours a day. Mashima's assistants included Miki Yoshikawa, who has gone on to work on the romantic comedies Yankee-kun and Megane-chan (Flunk Punk Rumble) and Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches. In 2008, together they developed a crossover one-shot story called Fairy Megane where characters from Yankee-kun decide to find part-time jobs at the Fairy Tail guild. Other assistants who have gone on to work on projects of their own were Shin Mikuni, who published Spray King, and Ueda Yui, who published Tsukushi Biyori.

Serials

 * Rave Master (Weekly Shōnen Magazine, 1999–2005, 35 volumes)
 * Plue's Dog Diaries (プルーの犬日記)
 * Monster Soul (Comic BomBom, 2005–2007, 2 volumes)
 * Fairy Tail (Weekly Shōnen Magazine, 2006–2017, 63 volumes)
 * Fairy Tail Zero (Monthly Fairy Tail Magazine, 2014–2015, 1 volume)
 * Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest (Magazine Pocket, 2018–present, 17 volumes) – writer/storyboarder
 * Monster Hunter Orage (Monthly Shōnen Rival, 2008–2009, 4 volumes)
 * Edens Zero (Weekly Shōnen Magazine, 2018–2024, 32 volumes)
 * Mashima Hero's (Weekly Shōnen Magazine, 2019, 1 volume)
 * Gate of Nightmares (Weekly Shōnen Magazine, 2022, 2 volumes) – credited as original creator
 * Dead Rock (Monthly Shōnen Magazine, 2023–present, 2 volumes)

Other manga

 * Hiro Mashima's Playground (ましまえん) – collection of one-shots:
 * Bad Boys Song (バット ボーイズ ソング)
 * Magician (マジシャン)
 * MP (Magic Party) (MP（マジックパーティー）)
 * Plue's Adventure II (プルーの冒険日記II)
 * Fairy Tale (フェアリーテール)
 * Xmas Hearts (クリスマス ハーツ)
 * Cocona (ココナ)
 * Fighting Force Mixture (混合戦隊ミクスチャー)
 * Chameleon (Weekly Shonen Magazine, 2008) – one-shot remake of Atsushi Kase's title
 * ''Nishikaze to Taiyō (西風と太陽)
 * Hoshigami no Satsuki (星咬の皐月)
 * Dragon Quest XI S: Tōzoku-tachi no Banka (ドラゴンクエストXI S 盗賊たちの挽歌)

Other works

 * Sangokushi Taisen – Card illustration
 * Respect Gundam – Contribution
 * Bakemonogatari – End card – fifth story
 * Gate of Nightmares – Character designs
 * Rebecca to Kikai no Yōkan (レベッカと機械ノ洋館) – Game developer
 * Farmagia – Character designs

title: Hiro Mashima


text:
Portal:Aviation/Anniversaries/June 15

June 15

 * 2013 – Google reveals its previously secret Project Loon with the first public launch of a maneuverable unmanned balloon designed to operate in the stratosphere at an altitude of about 12 miles (19.3 km) and bring broadband wireless Internet access to remote regions and areas affected by natural disasters. Google has launched 30 such balloons during the week from a field near Lake Tekapo on New Zealand's South Island to test the system over the cities of Christchurch and Canterbury.

 * 2013 – Escorted by Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon fighters, Egyptair Flight 985, a Boeing 777 with 326 people on board bound from Cairo, Egypt, to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, makes an emergency landing at Glasgow Prestwick Airport in Prestwick, Scotland, after a passenger finds a note in one of its lavatories making a threat to set the aircraft on fire.

 * 2011 – A NATO commander confirms that NATO warplanes have bombed an ammunition store at Waddan, Libya.

 * 2007 – A US F-16, serial 89-2031, from the Ohio ANG crashed on takeoff at night. The pilot, Maj. Kevin Sonnenberg, was killed. The cause was not hostile fire and is believed to be pilot spatial disorientation.

 * 1992 – Ghana Airways inaugurates flights to JFK Airport (NYC).

 * 1992 – First Berlin Air Show in 60 years.

 * 1985 – Amal Party gunmen hijack a TWA Flight 847 en route from Rome to Athens. The plane, which includes some Jewish passengers, is then re-routed and taken to Algiers, Beirut, and Algiers again before setting in Beirut. The 39 passengers and crew are freed on July 1 after Israel agrees to free 700 Shiite prisoners.

 * 1984 – Entered Service: Saab 340 with Crossair.

 * 1978 – The third prototype Mikoyan MiG-29, '03 Blue/903', utilized for powerplant testing, crashes on its ninth flight when one of the engines suffers an uncontained compressor failure and fragments sever the control runs. The fighter flicks into an irrecoverable spin. Test pilot Valeriy Menitskiy ejects safely.

 * 1972 – A carry-on suitcase bomb explodes on Cathay Pacific Flight 700Z, a Convair 880, at 29000 ft over Vietnam; all 81 on board perish.

 * 1971 – Lockheed NF-104A Starfighter, 56-0756, c/n 183-1044, assigned to Aerospace Research Pilot School, Edwards AFB, California, suffers second rocket explosion this date, blowing the whole rocket motor and part of rudder off in flight at 35.000 ft and Mach 1.15. Pilot Capt. Howard C. Thompson lands safely but as the NF-104 project is due to end soon aircraft is written off and portions of it used to create the composite "760" sitting on a pole at the Air Force Flight Test Center, Edwards AFB.

 * 1970 – The Soviet MVD arrests a group of 12 Soviet “refuseniks” at Smolny Airport outside of Leningrad before they can board a 12-seater Aeroflot Antonov An-2 for a flight to Priozersk. Pretending to be a wedding party, they had purchased all 12 tickets available for the flight and intended to hijack the plane as a means of escaping to the West.

 * 1965 – Two U. S. Army UH-1D Iroquois helicopters collide in mid-air over Fort Benning, Georgia, in the United States, killing 18 people.

 * 1959 – A monument was unveiled at Alexander Graham Bell Museum in Baddeck, N. S. commemorating the flight of the Silver Dart in 1909.

 * 1953 – The Royal Navy aircraft carriers HMS Eagle, HMS Illustrious, HMS Implacable, HMS Indefatigable, HMS Indomitable, HMS Perseus, and HMS Theseus, the Royal Canadian Navy aircraft carrier HMCS Magnificent, and the Royal Australian Navy aircraft carrier HMAS Sydney and 37 squadrons of Fleet Air Arm and Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve aircraft – Including Fireflies, Sea Furies, Seafires, Attackers, Vampires, Skyraiders, Sea Hornets, Meteors, Avengers, Gannets, Wyverns, Sea Venoms, Sea Hawks, and Dragonflies – Take part in the Coronation Review of the Fleet for Queen Elizabeth II. The ceremonies include a fly-past by 300 naval aircraft.

 * 1949 – Sole prototype reconnaissance Gloster Meteor FR Mk. 5, VT347, breaks up in the air during its first flight, killing pilot Rodney Dryland on either 13 or 15 July 1949. This version is not proceeded with.

 * 1946 – No. 437 Squadron was disbanded.

 * 1946 – The Navy's new Flight Demonstration Squadron, the Blue Angels, gives its first public performance at Craig Field in Jacksonville, Florida.

 * 1945 – First flight of the North American F-82 Twin Mustang was on 26 June 1945.

 * 1944 – The United States Army Air Forces’ Twentieth Air Force begins the strategic bombing offensive against Japan, with China-based B-29 Superfortresses attacking Yawata (now Kitakyūshū) on Kyūshū. It is the second air raid against Japan proper in history, and the first since the Doolittle Raid of April 1942.

 * 1944 – U. S. forces land on Saipan.

 * 1944 – Carrier aircraft of U. S. Navy Task Groups 58.1 and 58.4 strike Chichi Jima, Haha Jima, and Iwo Jima, shooting down 10 Japanese aircraft, destroying seven on the ground and 21 seaplanes on the water, and setting fire to three small cargo ships and a hangar. Three U. S. aircraft are lost.

 * 1944 – Japanese torpedo bombers attack Task Force 58, inflicting no damage and suffering heavy losses.

 * 1944 – Royal Air Force Bomber Command strikes the harbor at Boulogne, France, at dusk, sinking 25 German R-boats and small craft and damaging 10 others, completing the destruction of the German naval surface forces threatening the Allied landings at Normandy.

 * 1943 – First flight of the Arado Ar 234 but sources disagree, with dates as late as 30 July 1943.

 * 1943 – No. 434 (Bomber) Squadron was formed in England.

 * 1942 – No. 135 (Fighter) Squadron was formed at Patricia Bay, BC.

 * 1942 – No. 147 (BR) Squadron was formed at Sea Island, Vancouver, BC

 * 1940 – (15-18) Royal Air Force fighter cover allows the evacuation by sea from France to the United Kingdom of 52,104 troops from Cherbourg and St. Malo, France, without loss.

 * 1938 – Nationalist aircraft sink the Republican gunboat Laya at Valencia, Spain.

 * 1936 – First flight of the Vickers Wellington

 * 1936 – First flight of the Westland Lysander

 * 1934 – First flight of the Short Singapore (III)

 * 1931 – Canadian Airways pilot E. W. Stull in a Fokker F.14 A, flew the first radio beam from Winnipeg to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.

 * 1928 – Mail is successfully transferred from an airplane in flight to a train as Lt. Karl S. Axtater flies directly over an Illinois Central train and transfers a mail bag to a railway clerk.

 * 1928 – An Imperial Airways AW Argosy piloted by Gordon Olley races the London and North Eastern Railway’s Flying Scotsman train the 390 miles from London to Edinburgh; the Argosy takes 84 min to refuel twice en route and beats the train by only 15 min.

 * 1927 – US businessman Van Lear Black charters a KLM Fokker F.VIIa for a flight from the Netherlands to Batavia, the first international charter flight.

 * 1921 – The First U. S. Black female pilot, Bessie Coleman, received her license.

 * 1919 – First flight across the Atlantic (Alcock and Brown).

 * 1916 – First flight of the Boeing Model 1, William Boeing’s first aircraft.

 * 1910 – The world’s youngest flyer, 15-year-old Frenchman Marcel Hanriot, gets his pilot’s brevet, no. 15.

 * 1785 – Pilâtre de Rozier and Jules Romain become the first known aeronautical fatalities when their balloon crashes during an attempt to cross the English Channel.

title: Portal:Aviation/Anniversaries/June 15