October 26

What happened on October 26 in aviation and space history.

• October 26, 1940

  First flight of the NA-73X (P-51 Mustang)

  First flight — The NA-73X prototype, precursor of the P-51 Mustang, made its first flight on 26 October 1940 at Mines Field, North American Aviation's factory airfield in Inglewood, California, 149 days after the RAF contract was signed.

• October 26, 1958

  Pan Am begins regular Boeing 707 service

  Milestone — On 26 October 1958 launch customer Pan Am began regular service with the Boeing 707, the first jetliner from Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Developed from the 367-80 prototype, the 707-120 had made its first flight on 20 December 1957. Its wider fuselage cross-section allowed six-abreast economy seating, a layout carried over into the later 720, 727 and 737.

• October 26, 1968

  First flight of the Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante

  First flight — The Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante flew for the first time on 1968-10-26.

• October 26, 2001

  Lockheed Martin wins the Joint Strike Fighter competition

  Institutional — The Pentagon announced that the team led by Lockheed Martin, with Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems, had beaten Boeing's and would proceed into the Joint Strike Fighter system development and demonstration phase. The initial contract, worth some 18.9 billion dollars, covered the first twenty-two development aircraft. The full programme was estimated at the time at more than 3,000 aircraft for three U.S. services and several foreign partners.