Category: TDiFH

Full FAA Chronology at this link.

19520305: CAA commissioned the Norfolk air route traffic control center.
19620305: In Griggs v. Allegheny County, the U. S. Supreme Court held that noise from low-flying aircraft had interfered with the use and enjoyment of Grigg’s residential property near a runway to such an extent as to constitute a “taking” of an air easement for which compensation must be made. In Causby v. United States (see May 27, 1946), the Court had ruled that such an easement had been taken by the Federal government, which was the owner/operator of the aircraft in that case. In Griggs, however, the Court asserted that Allegheny County, Pa., as the “the promoter, owner, and lessor of the airport” took the air easement. The Court absolved the airlines and the Federal government of any taking, stating that it was Allegheny County that decided, subject to Civil Aeronautics Administration approval, “where the airport would be built, what runways it would need, their direction and length, and what land and navigation easements would be needed.”

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19290304: Herbert C. Hoover became President, succeeding Calvin Coolidge.
19330304: Franklin D. Roosevelt became President, succeeding Herbert C. Hoover.
19460304: The first of a continuing series of international regional air navigation planning meetings sponsored by the Provisional International Civil Aviation Organization began at Dublin, Ireland, to determine standard operating procedures for North Atlantic air services.

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19610303: Najeeb E. Halaby became the second FAA Administrator, succeeding Elwood R. Quesada (see November 1, 1958). The appointment, which President Kennedy had announced on January 19, was submitted to the Senate on February 13 and confirmed on February 24.
Born in Dallas, Tex., Halaby received a B.A. from Stanford in 1937 and a law degree from Yale in 1940; however, his aviation career had already begun in 1933 when, at the age of 17, he received his student pilot certificate. Early in World War II (1942-1943), he served as a test pilot for the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation. After becoming a naval aviator in 1943, he served at the Naval Air Test Center, Patuxent, Md. He participated in the first flights of U.S. jet-powered aircraft.

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19290302: Domestic Air News reported that Pan American-Grace Airways (Panagra) successfully bid to carry air mail three times weekly from Cristobal, C.Z., to Santiago, Chile, the longest designated air mail route in the world. Created on January 25, 1929, Panagra was jointly controlled by Pan American Airway’s holding company and the W.R. Grace shipping company of New York. Its bid of $1.80 per mile, plus $0.90 per pound per thousand miles, was not the lowest submitted.

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19330301: At the Newark Municipal Airport, N.J., the Aeronautics Branch demonstrated a radio system that it had developed for the blind landing of aircraft. The Branch made the system available for service testing by aircraft equipped with the necessary radio receivers. Later that month, Aeronautics Branch pilot James L. Kinney completed the first cross-country test of an all instrument flight and landing when he arrived at Newark from College Park, Md. Kinney was accompanied by Harry Diamond, a Bureau of Standards scientist who helped develop the instrument landing system, and William LaViolette, a radio technician. (See September 13, 1934.)
19370301: The Bureau of Air Commerce commissioned the Los Angeles air route traffic control center on this date, followed by the Washington (D.C.) center on April 1 and the Oakland center on May 15.

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19680229: AN FAA study noted the growing volume of mail receiving air transportation in recent years with special emphasis on first-class mail moved on a space available basis. About 95 percent of first-class mail traveling over 200 miles currently moved by air. The study predicted that mail by air would continue to increase steadily and that the use of air taxis would be expanded to expedite overnight delivery to additional communities. (See December 18, 1967, and Calendar year 1968.)
19720229: Following a nationwide election, the National Association of Air Traffic Specialists (NAATS) received Department of Labor certification as the national exclusive representative for all Flight Service Station specialists, some 3,000 employees.

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19270228: Domestic Air News published a list of 57 physicians qualified to give medical examinations for pilot licenses. Scattered over the United States, these physicians (soon to be known as aviation medical examiners) had been selected and qualified by Aeronautics Branch Medical Director Louis H. Bauer. By October 1, 1927, the number of qualified physicians had grown to 188, and additional appointees were added from time to time. Besides these civilian medical examiners, all Army and Navy flight surgeons were qualified ex officio to give airman medical examinations. (See June 1, 1945.)
19290228: The Air Commerce Act was amended to provide for Federal licensing of flying schools.

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19620227: FAA announced Project Little Guy, a three-year program aiming at development of a simpler, more efficient cockpit layout for light aircraft. The results of this research and development effort would be available to future aircraft designers.
19690227: FAA launched the Experimental Aviation Technology Education Project in cooperation with a number of institutions of higher learning to establish college-level programs responsive to the manpower needs of the aviation community and FAA. Curriculums at the institutions combined broad liberal arts educational subjects and aviation-oriented academic study with on-the-job experience at FAA facilities.

Full FAA Chronology at this link.

19610226: FAA and the U.S. Weather Bureau announced the expansion of aviation weather services. Under the joint program, direct weather briefing service would be made available to pilots at hundreds of additional airports. The expanded program involved training FAA’s 4,000 flight service specialists to handle preflight briefing and to answer air-ground requests for weather information.
19680226: FAA issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking inviting comments on the advisability of requiring general aviation pilots to carry crash locator beacons when flying over large bodies of water, mountainous terrain, or remote areas. The agency cited a growing body of opinion that the device would be useful in the rapid location of crash sites and survivors.

Full FAA Chronology at this link.

19470225: CAA demonstrated a new stall warning instrument which it had developed. (See Spring 1942.)
19490225: The U.S. and Greek Governments concluded an agreement that provided for a civil aviation mission to Greece under the sponsorship of the Economic Cooperation Administration. The thirteen CAA specialists named to the mission left for Greece in April to aid in the establishment, maintenance, and operation of civil aviation facilities.