November 3

What happened on November 3 in aviation and space history.

• November 3, 2014

  First arrested landing of an F-35C aboard a carrier, USS Nimitz

  Milestone — Commander Tony Wilson set test aircraft CF-03 down on the deck of the carrier USS Nimitz at 12:18, off the coast of San Diego, in the carrier variant's first arrested landing. CF-05 repeated the feat the same day. The two aircraft of the Patuxent River integrated test force then strung together a series of catapult launches, touch-and-goes and arrested landings within a campaign planned to last two weeks.

• November 3, 2017

  Norway's first three F-35A land at Ørland

  Milestone — Three Royal Norwegian Air Force F-35As landed at Ørland air station on the same day they had left Fort Worth, after a transatlantic ferry flight with air-to-air refuelling. The official reception ceremony was held a week later. Norway, a programme partner since the development phase, had chosen the Lightning II in 2008 over Sweden's Gripen.