1916 in aviation
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1916:
Events
January
March
- March 16 - US military aircraft fly their first mission over foreign soil when Curtiss JN3s of the 1st Aero Squadron carry out reconnaissance over Mexico.
- March 18 - German ace Ernst Udet scores his first kill
April
- April 20 - the Escadrille Américanne, later to be known as Lafayette Escadrille, is established as an American volunteer unit in France, equipped with Nieuport 11s.
May
- May 2 - eight German Zeppelins raid the east coast of England, causing 39 casualties. The Zeppelin L 20 is wrecked in a storm off Stavanger, Norway on the return journey.
- May 17 - Parasite fighter experiments begin in the UK to launch a Bristol Scout from a Porte Baby airship.
June
- June 17 - the first French ace, Jean Navarre, is shot down and wounded, ending his combat career with 12 confirmed kills.
- June 18 - the first German ace Max Immelmann is shot down and killed by a FE.2b from No. 25 Squadron RFC -- a symbolic end of the "Fokker Scourge". He had scored 15 kills.
- June 23 - Victor Chapman of Lafayette Escadrille becomes the first US airman to be killed in action, shot down near Verdun.
July
- No.3 Wing RNAS becomes Britain's first strategic bombing unit, equipped with Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutters
- July 1 - beginning of the Battle of the Somme. In the five months of the battle, the British lose 782 aircraft and 576 pilots but maintain air superiority over the battlefield.
August
September
October
November
First flights
February
April
May
June
September
October
November
Entered service
February
August
November
