This is a list ofaviation-related events from 1918:

• TheImperial Japanese Navy establishes its firstlighter-than-air aviation unit.^[1]
• The naval aviation branch of theChilean Army's air corps receives its first aircraft.^[2]
• TheEberhart Steel Products Company is founded inBuffalo, New York. It specializes in manufacturing airplane parts and aeronautical equipment and will begin to produce airplanes in 1920.^[3]
• Kawasaki Heavy Industries Company Ltd. organizes an aircraft division.^[4]
• Spring 1918 – Three Imperial Japanese NavyFarman-typeseaplanes fly nonstop fromYokosuka toSakai, Japan, stretching the navy's aviation distance capabilities.^[5] The cities are 391 km (243 mi) apart.
• TheFrench Army'sService Aeronautique employs fourBreguet 14Sair ambulances for casualty evacuation along theAisne Front. Each aircraft can accommodate twostretcher cases.^[6]

• Gunner-observer CaptainJohn H. Hedley is thrown from the cockpit of hisBristol F2B Fighter without aparachute during adogfight when his pilot, CaptainReginald "Jimmy" Makepeace, puts the plane into a steep dive. After he falls several hundred feet, Hedley and the aircraft come back together and he manages to grab the fighter's afterfuselage and crawl back into his cockpit unharmed.^[7]
• TheBritish Army convenes an inquiry to look into the failure of the British offensive in theBattle of Cambrai in November–December 1917. The inquiry finds that the German use of massed aircraft forclose air support of German ground troops subjected British ground troops to so muchmachine-gun fire that they felt helpless and became demoralized, allowing a successful German counterattack.^[8]
• January 3 – With its owner,Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe, concerned about declining support for the war effort by the British public and believing that news about the successes of living British pilots by name would create popular heroes and improve public morale, the British newspaper theDaily Mail publishes an editorial strongly criticizing the British Army's policy of not disclosing the names of successfulRoyal Flying Corps pilots unless they are killed, a policy instituted because of a belief by the British Army's leadership that such publicity would harm theesprit de corps of their fellow aviators. Other British newspapers quickly take up the cause, prompting the British Army to begin identifying pilots by name. France and Germany had identified their pilots to the press since early in World War I.^[9]
• January 5 – A rapid series of explosions and quickly spreading fires at theImperial German Navy airship base atTondern destroys fourhangars and fiveairships in five minutes, killing four civilian workers and 10 naval personnel and injuring 134 naval personnel.^[10]
• January 7 – After the British Army drops its policy of not disclosing the names of successful Royal Flying Corps pilots unless they are killed, theDaily Mail publishes "Our Wonderful Airmen – Their Names At Last," the first article in the British press identifying living RFC pilots by name. The article discusses the exploits ofCaptainsPhilip Fuller andJames McCudden.^[11]
• January 9 – In adogfight overMoorslede, Belgium, with three Royal Flying Corps aircraft including aNo. 21 SquadronR.E.8 and twoNo. 60 SquadronS.E.5as,Max Ritter von Müller'sAlbatros D.Va is set on fire and he jumps to his death. Von Müller's 36 victories make him the highest-scoringBavarian ace ofWorld War I.^[12]
• January 12 – A decree issued by the Council of Peoples' Commissars of the Republic puts all Russian aircraft manufacturing companies under state control.^[13]
• January 28–29 (overnight) – The first German bombing raid against theUnited Kingdom of the new year is carried out by 13GothaGrossflugzeug and twoRiesenflugzeug bombers. Six Gothas turn back due to poor visibility, but the other bombers attack targets in England, resulting in the deaths of 67 people and injuries to 166, including 14 killed and 14 injured in stampedes when "maroons" warning rockets are fired to warn of an imminent attack. Another 11 are injured by shrapnel from British antiaircraft shells. Most of the casualties are from a single 300 kg (661 lb) bomb that hitsOdhams Press inLong Acre, London, where people are sheltering. British aircraft fly over a hundred defensive sorties, and twoSopwith Camels of the Royal Flying Corps'sNo. 40 Squadron shoot down a Gotha, the first victory over aheavier-than-air bomber over the United Kingdom for Britishnight fighters. Both pilots,Second LieutenantsCharles C. Banks andGeorge Hackwill will receive theDistinguished Flying Cross.^[14]
• January 29–30 (overnight) – For the first time, GermanRiesenflugzeug bombers attack the United Kingdom without Gotha bombers accompanying them; the four bombers are fromRiesenflugzeug Abteilung ("Giant Airplane Detachment") 501 (Rfa 501). One bomber turns back. The other three bomb England, inflicting only light damage and casualties. British aircraft fly 80 defensive sorties; five of them bring one of the German bombers under attack but succeed only in disabling one of its engines, and it returns safely to base.^[15][16] Unfamiliar with the great size of the bombers, many of the British pilots underestimate their size and fire at them from too great a range.
• January 30 –Second Lieutenant Carl Mather is killed in an aircraft collision atEllington Field, Texas. The futureMather Air Force Base, laterSacramento Mather Airport, atRancho Cordova, California, will be named for him.

• February 2 – TheImperial German Army's air service, theLuftstreitkräfte, forms its second and thirdJagdgeschwader (fighterwings), bringing together fourJagdstaffeln (fightersquadrons) –Jagstaffeln ("Jastas") 12, 13, 15, and 19 – to formJagdgeschwader II, withAdolf Ritter von Tutschek as its firstcommanding officer, and four otherJagdstaffeln –Jasta 2 "Boelcke" andJastas 26, 27, and 36 – to formJagdgeschwader III, withBruno Loerzer as its first commanding officer.
• February 5 – Second LieutenantStephen W. Thompson achieves the first aerial victory by the U.S. military.
• February 8 – The United States replaces the ()national insignia for its military aircraft adopted in 1917 with a roundel with an outer red ring, then a blue ring, and a white center. The roundel will remain in use until the United States reverts to its former markings in August 1919.^[17]
• February 16–17 (overnight) – FourRiesenflugzeug bombers of the GermanLuftstreitkräfte'sRiesenflugzeug Abteilung ("Giant Airplane Detachment") 501 (Rfa 501) raidEngland. One of them carries a single 1,000 kg (2,205 lb) bomb which aims atLondon Victoria station, but it lands .5 mi (0.8 km) away on theRoyal Hospital, Chelsea.^[18]
• February 17–18 (overnight) – A single GermanRiesenflugzeug bomber attacks England, hittingSt Pancras station in London, killing 21 people and injuring 32.^[19]
• February 18 – TheLafayette Escadrille, the American volunteer squadron serving in theFrench Army, is transferred to theUnited States Army and redesignated the103rd Aero Squadron.
• February 20 – The German high command issues a memorandum governing the employment of German ground-attack squadrons in the upcoming spring offensive on theWestern Front,Operation Michael. It lays out the role of the squadrons as "flying ahead of and carrying the infantry along with them, keeping down the fire of the enemy's infantry and barrage batteries," adding that the appearance of ground-attack aircraft over the battlefield "affords visible proof to heavily engaged troops that the Higher Command is in close touch with the front, and is employing every means to support the fighting troops." It also directs the squadrons to "dislocate traffic and inflict appreciable loss on reinforcements hastening up to the battlefield."^[20]

• March 6
  • TheFinnish Air Force is founded.
  • The first successful flight of a powered unmannedheavier-than-air craft, theCurtiss-Sperry Flying Bomb, takes place. It is the precursor to modernunmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
• March 10 – German aceHans-Joachim Buddecke is shot down and killed overLens,France, in combat withSopwith Camels of theRoyal Naval Air Service'sNo. 3 Naval Squadron. He has 13 victories at the time of his death.
• March 11 – The first regular internationalairmail service begins, withHansa-Brandenburg C.I aircraft linkingVienna,Lviv,Proskurov, andKiev.
• March 7–8 (overnight) – Five GermanRiesenflugzeug giant bombers raidEngland. One of them drops a 1,000 kg (2,205 lb) bomb onWarrington Crescent nearLondon'sPaddington station;Lena Ford, who in 1914 had composed the popular wartime songKeep the Home Fires Burning and her 30-year-old son Walter are killed in their house by this bomb, becoming the first United States citizens to be killed in a German bombing raid.^[21]
• March 15
  • South African 10-kill aceLieutenant H. B. Redler of theRoyal Flying Corps'sNo. 24 Squadron shoots down and kills thecommanding officer ofJagdgeschwader II,Adolf Ritter von Tutschek, who is flying a greenFokker Dr.I.^[22] Tutschek's 27 victories would amount to a quarter of his parentJagdstaffel 12's 104 victories.^{[23][better source needed]}
  • After an extensive conversion,HMS Furious re-enters service with theRoyal Navy as the world's first aircraft carrier with aircraft lifts (elevators).^[24]
• March 18 – The first Norwegian airline,Det Norske Luftfartrederi, is founded.
• March 21 – Germany launchesOperation Michael, marking the beginning of theSpring Offensive. In the initial attack against the British front west ofSt Quentin, theGerman Army Air Service has 1,680 aircraft to theRoyal Flying Corps' 579. Thirty-eight Germanclose air support squadrons take part in the offensive; massed at key points of the attack, the German ground-attack aircraft operate in great numbers, both attacking the enemy front line and disrupting the flow of enemy supplies, replacements, and reinforcements behind the line.^[20]
• March 24 –CaptainJohn Lightfoot Trollope of theRoyal Flying Corps'No. 43 Squadron shoots down six German aircraft in a day.
• March 25 –Ensign John McNamara makes the firstUnited States Navy attack on a submarine.
• March 27
  • Under attack by several GermanFokker Dr.Itriplanes overAlbert, France, 18-year-old Canadian Second LieutenantAlan Arnett McLeod, the pilot of anArmstrong Whitworth F.K.8 of the Royal Flying Corps'sNo. 2 Squadron, and his observer, LieutenantArthur Hammond, shoot down four of the German fighters before themselves being shot down in flames and crash-landing inno man's land. The seriously injured McLeod carries the badly wounded Hammond to the British lines, and, although McLeod is wounded again in the process, both men survive. McLeod will receive theVictoria Cross for his actions in a ceremony on September 4 at the age of 19, the youngest airman to be awarded the Victoria Cross in World War I.^[25]
  • The Germans redesignate theirShutzstafffeln (escort squadrons) asSchlachtstaffeln (attack squadrons) in recognition of their close air support achievements during Operation Michael.^[20]
  • The first aircraft manufactured by theUnited States Navy′sNaval Aircraft Factory, aCurtiss H-16, makes its first flight, only 228 days after ground was broken for the construction of the factory atLeague Island Navy Yard inPhiladelphia,Pennsylvania.
• March 30 –Alan JerrardVC, a Britishace with seven victories, is shot down byBenno Fiala von Fernbrugg and taken captive.
• Late March – TheBalkenkreuz replaces theCross Pattée insignia as thenational marking on German military aircraft.

• April 1
  • TheRoyal Flying Corps andRoyal Naval Air Service combine to form theRoyal Air Force, the world's first independent air force, with SirHugh Trenchard as the firstChief of the Air Staff.^[26] TheWomen's Royal Air Force is formed at the same time.
  • AVizefeldwebel Weimar becomes the first person to use aparachute in combat when he successfully bails out of a GermanAlbatros D.Va fighter.^[27]
• April 4 – A two-seater aircraft takes off from a flying-off platform on a ship for the first time, when a Royal Air ForceSopwith 1½ Strutter launches from a platform mounted on a 12-inch (305-mm) gun turret of the AustralianbattlecruiserHMAS Australia. By November 1918, ships of the BritishGrand Fleet will carry over 100 aircraft on flying-off platforms, by which time 22light cruisers will have a flying-off platform and everybattleship and battlecruiser will carry a two-seat aircraft on a platform mounted on a forward turret and a single-seat fighter on a platform mounted on an after turret.^[28]
• April 7 – The German submarineUB-53 sees an airship accidentally catch fire and crash into the sea near theStrait of Otranto with the loss of all hands. It is the German Navy ZeppelinL 59 which had been modified for long-range flights, while on the outbound leg of a flight fromYambol,Bulgaria, in an attempt to bomb the Royal Navy base atMalta.^[29]
• April 8 – A flight ofAirco DH.4s makes the first independent raid of World War I by aircraft of theUnited States Army'sAviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps, the forerunner of theUnited States Army Air Service.^[30]
• April 12
  • While attacking the German Navy ZeppelinL 62 while piloting anF.E.2b over England, Royal Air ForceLieutenant C. H. Noble-Campbell ofNo. 38 Squadron is wounded in the head by machine-gun fire fromL 62 but returns safely to base. This is the only occasion on which an attacking airman is wounded in combat with an airship.^[31][32]
  • The final Zeppelin raid over England takes place.
  • CaptainH. W. Woollett of the Royal Air Force'sNo. 43 Squadron scores six victories in twosorties, including fiveAlbatros D.Vs.
• April 21 – German aceManfred von Richthofen, the "Red Baron", is shot down and killed. By the time of his death, he had claimed 80 victories.
• April 23 – LieutenantPaul Baer shoots down his fifth aircraft, becoming the firstace of theAmerican Expeditionary Force.
• April 25 – Belgium's top-scoring ace,Willy Coppens, claims his first victory.
• April 27 – TheUnited States Department of War creates aDivision of Military Aeronautics responsible for the training ofUnited States Army aviation personnel and units.^[33]
• April 29 – Flying aNieuport 28 fighter, the top-scoring American ace of World War I,Eddie Rickenbacker, scores his first victory, shooting down a GermanPfalz D.III fighter nearBaussant, France.^{[34][better source needed]}

• May 9 – French aceRené Fonck shoots down six German aircraft in a day.^[35]
• May 9–10 (overnight) – The GermanRiesenflugzeug Abteilung ("Giant Airplane Detachment) 501 (Rfa 501) attempts the firstheavier-than-air raid on England sinceMarch, sending fourRiesenfluzeuge bombers to bombDover. They encounter high winds over theNorth Sea and are recalled; when they return home, they find their bases shrouded infog. One lands safely, but the other three are destroyed in crashes, with only one entire crew surviving and only crew member surviving from each of the other two bombers.^[36]
• May 10 – The German Navy ZeppelinL 62 explodes, breaks in half, and crashes in flames over theNorth Sea with the loss of all hands under mysterious circumstances. The German Naval Airship Service blames her loss on an accident, while the Royal Air Force claims that one of itsFelixstowe F.2aflying boats shot her down.^[37]
• May 13 – The United States issues its firstair mail stamps to the public. They bear a picture depicting aCurtiss JN-4H "Jenny".^[38] One sheet comprises the "Inverted Jenny" error.
• May 15
  • Postmaster General of the United StatesAlbert S. Burleson assigns Second Assistant Postmaster GeneralOtto Praeger additional duty as the first chief of theU.S. Airmail Service,^[39] telling Praeger, "The airmail once started must not stop, but must be constantly improved and expanded until it would become, like thesteamship and therailroad, a permanent transportation feature of the postal service."^[40]
  • The first regular United States air mail service commences, betweenWashington, D.C.,Philadelphia andNew York City. The first flight is made byLieutenantGeoffrey Boyle in a modifiedCurtiss JN-4H "Jenny".
• May 16 - TheImperial German Navy recommissions thelight cruiserStuttgart after her conversion into aseaplane carrier. She is the only German seagoing aviation ship capable of working with the fleet commissioned during either World War I or World War II.^[41]
• May 19
  • Raoul Lufbery, commander of the94th (Hat in the Ring) Aero Squadron takes off in aNieuport 28 to attack a GermanAlbatros C.III near his airfield. After the German gunner hits his aircraft overMaron, France, he falls to his death from an altitude of between 200 and 600 feet (61 and 183 m). A story that he jumped from the plane to avoid burning to death in the air will be contradicted by 1962 research which concludes that he was thrown from his plane, which was not burning, when it flipped over after he unfastened his seat belt to clear a jammedmachine gun.^[42][43] World War I will end with him as the second-highest-scoring American ace with 17 victories.
  • U.S. ArmyMajor Harold M. Clark Jr. andSergeant Robert P. Gay make the first interisland flight in Hawaii, flying fromFort Kamehameha onOahu toMaui. They continue on to theisland of Hawaii the same day, where they crash on the slopes ofMauna Kea. Uninjured, they wander on foot for a week before finding help.^[44]
• May 19–20 (overnight) - Germany launches the largest heavier-than-air raid against theUnited Kingdom ofWorld War I, with 38Gotha and threeRiesenfkugzeug bombers participating. Bombs fall on London for the last time in World War I during the raid. The bombers drop 1,236 kg (2,725 lb) of bombs according to British estimates or 1,500 kg (3,307 lb) according to the Germans, killing 49 people, injuring 177, and inflicting£117,317 in damage. British fighters andantiaircraft guns shoot down six Gothas, and after a protracted engagement aBristol F.2B Fighter of theRoyal Air Force'sNo. 141 Squadron forces a seventh Gotha to land substantially intact in England; the Bristol Fighter's two-man crew,Lieutenants Edward Eric Turner and Henry Balfour Barwise, each will receive theDistinguished Flying Cross for their achievement. The Germans launch no further heavier-than-air bomber attacks against theUnited Kingdom during World War I; in the 27 heavier-than-air raids, German bombers have dropped 111,935 kg (246,774 lb) of bombs, killing 835 people, injuring 1,972, and inflicting£1,418,272 of damage in exchange for the loss of 62 bombers either shot down over England or destroyed in crashes while attempting to return to base.^[45]
• May 21 -PresidentWoodrow Wilson creates aBureau of Aircraft Production responsible for aeronautical equipment.^[46]
• May 23 – TheUnited States Government approves the temporary assignment ofUnited States Army Air Service cadets undergoing training by theRoyal Italian Army'sMilitary Aviation Corps to complete their tactical training with assignments to Italian bomber squadrons during combat operations, but reserves the right to transfer them to U.S. Army Air Service units at any time.^[47]
• May 24
  • József Kiss,Austria-Hungary's fifth-highest-scoring ace, is shot down in combat. He had scored 19 victories.
  • In Russia, Order No. 385 of theBolshevik People's Commissariat on Military and Naval Affairs creates the Main Directorate of the Workers' and Peasants'Red Air Fleet, the predecessor of theSoviet Air Forces.^[48]
  • TheUnited States Department of War recognizes theBureau of Aircraft Production and theDivision of Military Aeronautics as constituting theUnited States Army Air Service.^[33]
• May 31 -Douglas Campbell scores his fifth victory, becoming the first American pilot to become an ace while flying for an American-trained unit.

• From the basis ofVIII Brigade, the Royal Air Force forms theIndependent Force, tasked to mount astrategic bombing campaign against Germany "independently" of the ground and sea campaigns theAllies have been waging since 1914.^[49]
• TheUnited States Marine Corps consolidates its aviation forces at the Marine Flying Field atMiami, to form the First Marine Aviation Force. Composed of foursquadrons, the force will deploy to France for combat.^[50]
• Early June – The Royal NavydestroyerHMS Vectis conducts towing trials with theNS-classblimpN.S.3 to see if anairship which runs out of fuel or suffers a mechanical breakdown can be towed at speed by a ship at sea.Vectis reaches nearly 20knots withN.S.3 in tow during successful initial trials, butN.S.3 touches down on the sea on the final run.^[51]
• June 1
  • The Australianace Lieutenant ColonelRoderic Dallas, flying anSE.5a, is shot down and killed overLiévin, France, by the German aceLeutnantJohannes Werner in aFokker Dr.I as Werner's sixth victory. Dallas's victory total of 51 will make him the highest-scoring Australian ace of World War I.^[52]
  • During the evening, the first of only two giant GermanZeppelin-Staaken R.VI bombers lost to enemy action in World War I is shot down byanti-aircraft guns over the French lines. It becomes the first R.VI to be examined by theAllies.^[53]
• June 4 – The first flight of the firstall-metal stressed-skin fighter, theDornier-Zeppelin D.I, takes place.^[54]
• June 5 –Douglas Campbell, the first American to become an ace while flying for an American-trained unit, scores his sixth and final victory. Badly wounded during the flight, he sees no further combat.
• June 12 – Flying aRoyal Aircraft Factory SE.5, CaptainRoy Phillipps ofAustralian Flying CorpsNo. 2 Squadron raises his victory total to 11 by shooting down four German fighters – twoFokker Dr.Itriplanes, anLVG, and aFokker D.VII – in a single patrol overRibécourt-la-Tour, France. The Fokker D.VII is the aircraft ofJagdstaffel 26 commanding officer Fritz Loerzer, an 11-victory ace, who is captured. Phillipps will receive theDistinguished Flying Cross for the patrol.
• June 19 – Italy's highest-scoring ace,Maggiore (Major)Francesco Baracca, is killed by Austro-Hungarian ground fire. He had claimed 34 victories.
• June 20 – Led byCaptainFiorello LaGuardia, 18United States Army Air Service cadets undergoing training by theRoyal Italian Army'sMilitary Aviation Corps become the first American aviators to arrive on theItalian Front for bombing operations againstAustria-Hungary. Assigned to various squadrons of the Italian Royal Army Military Aviation Corps' 4th and 14th Bombardment Groups, the take part in an Italian bombing raid against the Austro-Hungarian railway center atFalze de Piave the same day. Shot down and taken prisoner by Austria-Hungary,Lieutenant Clarence Young becomes the first of three American aircrew casualties suffered while flying with the Italians during World War I.^[47]
• June 24
  • The first scheduled Canadian airmail flight is made, betweenMontreal and Toronto.
  • The Royal Air Force employs its new 1,650 lb (748 kg) bomb in combat for the first time when aHandley Page O/400 ofNo. 216 Squadron drops one onMiddelkerke, Belgium.
• June 26 – Attached to the Royal Air Force'sNo. 65 Squadron,United States Army Air Service aceFirst LieutenantField Eugene Kindley scores the first of his 12 victories, shooting down thePfalz D.III ofJagdstaffel 5 commanding officerLeutnant Wilhelm Lehmann overAlbert,France.

• During the month, the American writerWilliam Faulkner arrives in Canada for flight training with the Royal Air Force. He still is in training there when the World War I ends, after which he returns to the United States.^[55]
• July 9 – BritishaceJames McCudden is killed when his aircraft crashes on take-off atAuxi-le-Château, France. He has 57 victories at the time of his death, enough to make him the seventh-highest-scoringace of World War I.
• July 14 – Flying aNieuport 28, the youngest son of formerU.S. PresidentTheodore Roosevelt, Second LieutenantQuentin Roosevelt – serving as a fighter pilot in theUnited States Army Air Service's95th Aero Squadron – is shot down and killed by a German fighter overChamery, France.
• July 19 – Seven Royal Air ForceSopwith 2F.1 Camel fighters from theRoyal Navyaircraft carrierHMS Furious attack theImperial German Navyairship base atTondern, destroying theZeppelinsL 54 andL 60. It is history's first air attack by conventional land planes launching from an aircraft carrier'sflight deck and the most successful attack by shipboard aircraft of World War I.^[56][57] All seven Camels are lost: one crashes into the sea in bad weather, killing its pilot; twoditch in the sea, and their pilots are rescued by the British naval force escortingFurious; and four land in neutral Denmark, where they and their pilots are interned.^[58] One of the pilots recovered from the sea –CaptainWilliam F. Dickson, rescued by the destroyerHMS Violent^[59] – is a futureMarshal of the Royal Air Force,Chief of the Air Staff, andChief of the Defence Staff.
• July 21 – TwoUnited States Navyseaplanes fromNaval Air Station Chatham,Chatham, Massachusetts, attack a surfaced Germansubmarine that is firing at atug and threebarges offCape Cod, Massachusetts. Onebomb strikes the submarine, but is a dud.^[60]
• July 26 – MajorEdward "Mick" Mannock, the United Kingdom's highest-scoring ace of the war, is shot down by German ground fire and killed. He traditionally is credited with 73 victories as the highest-scoring British ace of World War I, but he never claimed that many and hisactual score may have been 61.
• July 30
  • LieutenantFrank Linke-Crawford, the fourth-highest-scoringAustro-Hungarian ace, is shot down and killed in aerial combat. He had scored 27 victories.
  • TheUnited States Marine Corps's1st Marine Aviation Force, minus one of its foursquadrons, arrives atBrest, France, to become the first U.S. Marine Corps aviation force to serve in combat. Delays in transportation and the arrival of equipment will prevent it from operating until mid-October.^[61]
• July 31
  • An aircraft takes off from a platform installed on a towedlighter for the first time, when Royal Air Force LieutenantStewart Culley takes off in aSopwith Camel from a lighter towed behind a British warship.^[62][63]
  • A Royal Air Force bombing raid over Germany by 12Airco DH.9s suffers the loss of 10 aircraft shot down.^[64]

• A largepetroleumbarge on theVolga River in Russia is equipped with a flight deck andelevators (lifts) to carry up to nineGrigorovich M.9flying boats and threeNieuportfighters. NamedKommuna and towed by a sidewheelpaddletug, she and her aircraft actively support operations of theBolshevikVolga River Flotilla during theRussian Civil War.^[65]
• August 1
  • In theNorth Russia Campaign during the Russian Civil War, probably the first fully combined air, sea, and land military operation in history takes place, asFairey Campaniaseaplanes from the Royal Navyseaplane carrierHMS Nairana joinAllied ground forces and ships in drivingBolsheviks out of their fortifications onModyugski Island at the mouth of theNorthern Dvina in Russia, then scout ahead of the Allied force as it proceeds up the channel toArkhangelsk. The appearance of one of the Campanias over Arkhangelsk induces the Bolshevik leaders there to panic and flee.^[66]
  • French ace LieutenantGabriel Guérin is killed in action. His 23 victories will tie him with LieutenantRené Dorme for ninth-highest-scoring French ace of World War I.^[67]
• August 5–6 (overnight) – FiveImperial German NavyZeppelins attempt to bomb the United Kingdom in the fourth and final such raid of 1918. All of their bombs fall through clouds into theNorth Sea, and the commander of the Naval Airship Division,FregattenkapitänPeter Strasser, iskilled in action when a Royal Air ForceAirco DH.4 piloted by MajorEgbert Cadbury and crewed by CaptainRobert Leckie shoots down in flames the Zeppelin in which he is flying as an observer,L70, over the coast of England.^[68][69] After Strasser's death, Germany attempts no more airship raids against the United Kingdom. During their 1915-1918 bombing campaign, German airships have made 208 raids against England, dropped 5,907 bombs, killed 528 people, and injured 1,156.^[70]
• August 9 – Eight ItalianAnsaldo SVAbiplanes of the 87Squadriglia "Serenimissa", led byGabriele d'Annunzio,fly over Vienna for 30 minutes without interference fromAustro-Hungarian forces, taking photographs and dropping leaflets before returning to base without loss.^[71]
• August 10
  • During adogfight, theFokker D.VII fighter of the German fighter aceOberleutnantErich Löwenhardt collides with another D.VII flown byLeutnant Alfred Wenz nearChaulnes, France. Both men bail out; Wenz survives, but Löwenhardt's parachute fails and he falls to his death from 12,000 feet (3,700 meters). Löwenhardt's score of 53 kills will make him the third-highest-scoring German ace of World War I.^[12]
  • After shooting down two enemy aircraft earlier in the day, the German aceRudolf Berthold collides with an enemy plane during a dogfight withSopwith Camels. HisFokker D.VII crashes into a house, injuring him; although he survives, he never flies another combat mission.^[72] His total of 44 kills will make him the sixth-highest-scoring German ace of World War I.^[73]
• August 11
  • After taking off in aSopwith Camel from abarge towed behind thedestroyerHMSRedoubt, Royal Air ForceFlight Sub-LieutenantStuart Culley shoots down the Imperial German NavyZeppelinL 53, which had been flying a scouting mission over the North Sea. It is the first successful interception of an enemy aircraft by a shipborne fighter. German airships never conduct another scouting mission.L 53's sole survivor is a crewman who parachutes from the Zeppelin at an altitude of 19,000 feet (5,800 m), almost certainly a record at the time.^[74]L 53 is the last German airship destroyed during World War I.
  • The first use of aparachute from an airplane in combat occurs when a German pilot escapes his burningPfalz D.III after being attacked by a pilot from the Royal Air Force'sNo. 19 Squadron.
• August 13 – North ofRoye,France,United States Army Air ServiceFirst LieutenantField Eugene Kindley shoots down theFokker D.VII ofLothar von Richthofen, the brother the lateManfred von Richthofen. Lothar von Richthofen, an ace with 40 confirmed air-to-air victories, suffers serious wounds and never flies in combat again. It is the fourth of Kindley's 12 kills.
• August 14
  • The FrenchaceRené Fonck shoots down three German aircraft in ten seconds in a head-on attack. All three crash within 100 meters (330 feet) of one another nearRoye, France.^[75]
  • The only casualty from the use of akite balloon by theUnited States occurs during an unsuccessful attempt to lower a balloon onto the deck of adestroyer escorting an eastboundconvoy through theIrish Sea on a stormy evening. The kite balloon alternately plunges toport and starboard as the tether is shortened, dipping the balloon's basket into the water on each dive, and the man in the basket is lost before the balloon can be fully lowered.^[76]
• August 19 – A U.S. NavyCurtiss 18-T-1triplane sets a new world speed record of 163 mph (262 km/h).^[77]
• August 21 – A flight of fiveUnited States NavyMacchi M.5flying-boat fighters based atPorto Corsini,Italy, escorting a lone bomber across theAdriatic Sea to attack theAustro-Hungarian Navy base atPola,Austria-Hungary, encounters four Austro-HungarianPhönix D.I fighters. In the ensuing dogfight, the M.5s become separated, andEnsign George Ludlow is forced to land his damaged fighter on the sea 9 km (5.6 mi) from Pola.Charles Hammann lands his own M.5 and rescues Ludlow, who straddles thefuselage of Hammann's plane for the 111 km (69 mi) flight back to Porto Corsini. Hammann will die in a crash inJune 1919, but will receive theMedal of Honor posthumously in1920, retroactively becoming the first U.S. aviator ever to receive the award.^[78][79]
• August 22 –LieutenantFrigyes Hefty of theAustro-Hungarian Air Corps successfully parachutes from his burningfighter after a dogfight with Italian aircraft. He is the first person to survive a combat parachute jump.^[80]
• August 24 – American aceLouis Bennett Jr., flying anSE.5a with the Royal Air Force'sNo. 40 Squadron, is shot down by Germanantiaircraft fire while attacking a Germanobservation balloon. He dies in a Germanfield hospital inWavrin,France, shortly after he is pulled from the wreckage. Including two balloons downed on his final flight, he has scored 11½ kills in a career spanning only 25 sorties. Nine of his victories have been balloons, and at the end of the war he will stand as the second-most-successful U.S.balloon buster, behind onlyFrank Luke′s score of 14 balloons.^[81]
• August 25 – Flying aSopwith Dolphin,Jerry Pentland of the Royal Air Force'sNo. 87 Squadron downs two German aircraft – aDFW two-seater and aFokker D.VII fighter – before being shot down himself and wounded in the foot. They are his last victories, but he emerges from World War I asAustralia′s fifth-highest-scoring ace with 23 kills.
• August 27 – The first Director of the U.S. Army Air Service is appointed.^[33]

• Known to theAllies as "Black September:" During the month the Allies lose 560 aircraft on theWestern Front, of which 87 are American.
• TheRoyal Air Force begins to issueparachutes to itssquadrons for the first time.^[27]
• September 2 – TheImperial German Navy's air service brings together five of itsMarine Feld Jagstaffeln ("Navy Field FighterSquadrons") – Jagdstaffeln I, II, III, IV, and V – to form its firstJagdgeschwader (fighterwing), the Royal PrussianMarine Jagdgeschwader ("Navy Fighter Wing"), withGotthard Sachsenberg as its firstcommanding officer. It is Germany's fourthJagdgeschwader.
• September 7 – The U.S. Marine Corps's 1st Marine Aviation Force, building up in theCalais-Dunkirk area of France to operate as an element of the U.S. Navy'sNorthern Bombing Group, takes delivery of its first bomber.^[61]
• September 12 – 627 French and 611 American fighters are brought together for theBattle of Saint-Mihiel. At the time, it is the largest force of aircraft assembled for a single operation.
• September 14 – The Britishaircraft carrierArgus is completed. She is the world's first aircraft carrier with an unobstructedflight deck from stem to stern.^[24][82]
• September 15–16 (overnight) – Flying aSopwith Camel,Frank Broome of theRoyal Air Force'sNo. 151 Squadron shoots down a giant GermanZeppelin-Staaken R.VI bomber overBeugny, France, one of the only two R.VI bombers lost to enemy action in World War I and the only one shot down by anAllied aircraft.^[16] He will be awarded theDistinguished Flying Cross for the achievement.
• September 18
  • The German aceGeorg von Hantelmann shoots down and kills the French ace LieutenantMaurice Boyau while Boyau is attacking Germanobservation balloons. Boyau's 35 kills will make him the fifth-highest-scoring French ace of World War I.^[67]
  • WhenUnited States Army Air Service pilotFrank Luke attacks Germanobservation balloons nearSerrouville, France, while hiswingmanJoseph "Fritz" Wehner flies top cover for him, a dogfight with GermanFokker D.VIIs develops in which Hantelmann shoots down and kills Wehner. Luke shoots down two of the D.VIIs as well as two balloons and aHalberstadt C.V, giving him five kills on one mission and 13 overall. Wehner dies after scoring six victories — five balloons and one Fokker D.VII — in only three days of aerial combat.^[83][84][85]
  • A U.S. NavyCurtiss 18-T-1triplane piloted byRoland Rholfs sets a world altitude record of 34,910 feet (10,640 m).^[77]
• September 24
  • Royal Air ForceLieutenant ColonelRichard Bell Davies makes the first trueaircraft carrier landing in history, landing aSopwith 1½ Strutter on the bare steelflight deck ofHMS Argus in theFirth of Forth.^[86]
  • LieutenantDavid Ingalls claims his fifth victory, to become the first U.S. Navy ace in history and the only one ofWorld War I.
• September 26 – For the second time French ace René Fonck shoots down six German aircraft in one day.^{[87][better source needed]}
• September 27 – During adogfight withSE.5as ofNo. 32 Squadron, Royal Air Force, theFokker D.VII fighter of the German aceLeutnantFritz Rumey either collides with the SE.5a of CaptainGeorge Lawson or is shot down by LieutenantFrank Hale. Rumey parachutes from his D.VII at 1,000 feet (300 meters) but falls to his death when his parachute fails. His 45 kills will make him the fifth-highest-scoring German ace of World War I.^[12]
• September 28 – Flying anAirco DH.9 with the Royal Air Force'sNo. 218 Squadron, U.S. Marine CorpsFirst Lieutenant Everett R. Brewer (pilot) andGunnery Sergeant Harry B. Wershiner (observer) become the first U.S. Marine Corps personnel to shoot down an enemy plane in aerial combat. They both are badly wounded during the engagement.^[88]
• September 29
  • United States Army Air Service Second LieutenantFrank Luke flies his final mission, shooting down three Germanobservation balloons nearDun-sur-Meuse, France. Severely wounded by amachine-gun bullet, he lands his plane and tries to reach cover in underbrush near a stream, fires a few rounds from hisColt Model 1911 pistol, then collapses and dies about 200 metres (220 yd) from his plane. Subsequently, a legend arises — based on mistranslations of statements by French eyewitnesses — that hestrafed German troops before landing and was found dead with his pistol emptied and seven dead German soldiers around him. When World War I ends, he will be the second-highest-scoringAmerican Expeditionary Forceace of World War I, with 18 victories. He had achieved the victories — 14 observation baloons and four airplanes — during just 10sorties in eight flying days between September 12 and 29, 1918.^[89]
  • Second Lieutenant Chapin Barr becomes the first U.S. Marine Corps pilot to die in aerial combat.^[88]
  • German ground-attack aircraft ofSchlachtstaffel 3 intervene to support German troops in danger of being overrun byUnited States Army forces in theArgonne Forest in France. A German officer on the ground reports that the German air attack causes the American troops to break off their attack and scatter "in wild flight."^[90]

• TheRoyal Air Force establishes the Marine Aircraft Experimental Station atIsle of Grain,Kent, to design, test, and evaluateseaplanes,flying boats, and other aircraft connected with naval operations. InMarch 1924 it will become theMarine Aircraft Experimental Establishment.
• October 3
  • In an attempt to lure Belgian "balloon-busting" ace BaronWilly Coppens to his own destruction, German troops load the basket of anobservation balloon in his operating area with explosives and have theirartillery open fire onAllied positions in order to attract him to the balloon. When he arrives and attacks the balloon, the Germans detonate the explosives. Although Coppens' blueHanriot HD.1 flies through the explosion, he emerges uninjured.^[91]
  • TheKingdom of Bavaria brings together fourJagdstaffeln ("fightersquadrons") – Jagdstaffeln 23, 32, 34, and 35 – to form its firstJagdgeschwader (fighterwing), the Royal BavarianJagdgeschwader IV, withEduard Ritter von Schleich as its firstcommanding officer. It is the fifthJagdeschwader in the German armed forces, and the last to be formed duringWorld War I.
• October 5 – The famed French pilot LieutenantRoland Garros, who in 1915 had become the first man to shoot down another aircraft by firing amachine gun through atractor propeller, is shot down and killed in combat nearVouziers, France. He has four victories at the time of his death.
• October 11 – TheImperial German Navy's air command proposes that merchant ships be converted into Germany's firstaircraft carriers withflight decks.^[92]
• October 12 – The Imperial German Navy's Naval Airship Division flies its last combat mission.^[93]
• October 14
  • Baron Willy Coppens, the highest-scoring Belgian ace, shoots down a Germanobservation balloon nearPraatbos,Belgium. It is the last of his 37 victories, 34 of them observation balloons. Attacking another German balloon later in the same flight, he is badly wounded nearTorhout, Belgium, forcing him to crash-land. World War I ends four weeks later with him as its top-scoring "balloon buster."
  • The first all-U.S. Marine Corps air combat action in history takes place, when fiveAirco DH.4s and threeAirco DH.9s bombPitthem, Belgium.^[88] On the return flight, GermanFokker D.VII andPfalz D.III fighters attack the bombers.^[94] Second LieutenantRalph Talbot (pilot) and Gunnery SergeantRobert Guy Robinson (gunner) become separated from the formation after their DH.4 loses power, then encounter 12 German fighters. Although Robinson is terribly wounded during the resultingdogfight, they hold off the Germans and Talbot lands at a Belgian hospital, where Robinson is treated. For this action, they will become the first U.S. Marine Corps aviators to receive theMedal of Honor during a ceremony on November 11,1920.^[88][95]
• October 24 – TheBattle of Vittorio Veneto begins. During the 11-day battle, the ItalianCorpo Aeronautico Militare ("Military Aviation Corps") fields 400 aircraft with which to oppose at least 470 enemy aircraft.^[96]
• October 25 – U.S. Marine Corps Second Lieutenant Ralph Talbot dies in a crash during a test flight 11 days after the action for which he will receive a posthumous Medal of Honor in 1920.^[88]
• October 27 – ItalianacePier Ruggero Piccio is shot down by enemy ground fire and captured byAustro-Hungarian troops. He finishes the war with 24 victories, the third-highest-scoring Italian ace of World War I.
• October 28
  • French ace LieutenantMichel Coiffard is gravely wounded during adogfight with GermanFokker D.VII fighters. He flies back to base, where he dies of his wounds. His 34 kills will make him the sixth-highest scoring French ace of World War I.^[67]
  • United States Army Air ServiceFirst LieutenantField Eugene Kindley and First LieutenantJesse Creech share the kill of a GermanFokker D.VII nearVillers-Pol, France. It is the last of Kindley's 12 aerial victories.
• October 29 – The Danish airline Det Danske Luftfartselskab, trading in theEnglish-speaking world asDanish Air Lines – the oldest airline that still exists – is founded. It will begin flight operations inAugust 1920.
• October 30 – Flying aSPAD XIII fighter,Eddie Rickenbacker shoots down a Germanobservation balloon nearRemonville, France, for his 26th and final aerial victory. His 26 victories (22 airplanes and four balloons) will make him the top-scoring American ace of World War I.

• November 1
  • The French fighter pilotRené Fonck scores his 75th and final aerial victory. He ends the war as the highest-scoringAlliedace and second-highest scoring ace overall of World War I.
  • TheFrench Navy, which when World War I began inAugust 1914 had an aviation force of only eightseaplanes, has expanded itsair arm to 37airships, 1,264 airplanes, and over 11,000 men.^[97]
• November 4
  • Austria andHungary conclude separate ceasefires with theAllies, endingAustria-Hungary′s participation in World War I. The ceasefires bring the more-or-less continuous bombing campaigns ofItaly and Austria-Hungary against one another to an end. Since Italy's entry into the war inMay 1915, Austria-Hungary has conducted 343 bombing raids against various Italian cities – particularlyMestre,Padua,Treviso,Venice,Verona, andVicenza – killing 984 people and injuring 1,193, while Italy's bombing targets have includedFiume,Pola, andTrieste.^[98]
  • Forty GermanFokker D.VIIs attack nineSopwith Camels of theRoyal Air Force'sNo. 65 Squadron southeast ofGhent, Belgium. Camels ofNo. 204 Squadron join the action, and in the whirlingdogfight which follows the British pilots claim 22 German aircraft either shot down or last seen headed earthward out of control.^[99]
• November 11
  • TheArmistice with Germany brings World War I to an end. After the signing of the Armistice, allAllied aircraft flying over withdrawing German forces fly streamers attached to their wings to indicate that they have no hostile intent.
  • TheRoyal Flying Corps,Royal Naval Air Service, andRoyal Air Force have suffered 16,623 casualties and the FrenchAéronautique Militaire approximately 8,500 casualties during World War I, while the German Air Service has suffered in excess of 15,000.
  • Italy′sCorpo Aeronautico Militare ("Military Aviation Corps") finishes the war with a strength of 2,725 aircraft. During the war, 105 Italian factories have manufactured airframes, aero engines, and aviation propellers, producing 11,986 airplanes, almost half under license and only 2,208 made entirely of Italian components.^[96]
  • Since the entry of the United States into World War I on April 6, 1917, theUnited States Marine Corps' aviation force has grown from sevenofficers and 43enlisted men to 282 officers and 2,180 enlisted men.^[50]
  • TheFelixstowe Fury (Porte Super-Baby), largest seaplane in the world and first to incorporate servo-assisted controls, makes its first flight from theSeaplane Experimental Station in England.
• November 15 – SurvivingUnited States Army Air Service pilots serving with bomber squadrons of theRoyal Italian Army'sMilitary Aviation Corps on theItalian Front assemble atSan Pelagio Airfield outsidePadua,Italy, to receive the ItalianWar Merit Cross. A month later, all will have departed Italy for the United States. During World War I, about 100 U.S. Army Air Service aviators have served with the Italians, accumulating more than 500 combat hours – mostly inCaproni Ca.3 bombers – while taking part in 65 bombing missions.^[47]
• November 21 – TheEstonian Army begins to organize an aviation service. It is considered the beginning of the history of theEstonian Air Force.

• December 12
  • Captain R. M. Smith, Brigadier GeneralA. E. Borton, and Major GeneralW. Salmond set out in aHandley Page O/400 fromHeliopolis toKarachi, to survey a route for airmail to India.
  • An airplane is launched from an airship for the first time, when the U.S. NavyblimpC.1 drops aCurtiss JN-4 into flight overFort Tilden, New York.^[100]
• December 13 – Major A. S. C. MacLaren and CaptainRobert Halley set out on the first England-India flight, in aHandley Page V/1500

• Letord Let.9
• SEA IV
• Siemens-Schuckert D.IV
• Siemens-Schuckert D.V
• Siemens-Schuckert L.I
• Early 1918
  • Orenco B^[101]
  • Nieuport-Delage NiD.29
• Summer 1918
  • Breguet 17^[102]
  • Farman F.31
• Late 1918 –Victor Scout^[103]

• BAT F.K.22^[104]

• Nieuport B.N.1
• Vought VE-7^[105]

• Airco DH.9A
• March 4 –Airco DH.10 Amiens
• March 6 –Curtiss-Sperry Flying Bomb
• March 10 –Junkers D.I
• March 13 –Marinens Flyvebaatfabrikk M.F.4
• March 21 –Curtiss HA Dunkirk Fighter^[106][107]

• Avro 531 Spider^[108]
• Westland WagtailC4291
• April 5 –Curtiss USAO-1^[77]

• BAT F.K.23 Bantam I^[104]
• Curtiss CB Battleplane^[109]
• Martin K-3^[110]
• May 15 –Packard-Le Peré LUSAC-11^[111]
• May 22 –Handley Page V/1500

• June 4, 1918 –Zeppelin-Lindau D.I
• June 6 –Fairey III

• July 4 –Engineering Division USB-1^[112]
• July 5 –Curtiss 18-T-1 Wasp^[77]
• July 27 –Naval Aircraft Factory N-1^[113]

• Loening M-8^[114]
• August 7 –Blériot-SPAD S.XX
• August 17 –Martin MB-1
• August 21 –Nieuport-Delage Ni-D 29

• September 5 –Orenco C^[101]
• September 19 –Sopwith Buffalo
• September 30 – U.S. NavyC-class blimp

• October 2 –Kettering Bug

• Thomas-Morse MB-2^[115]
• Westland Weasel
• November 11 –Felixstowe Fury, also known as the Porte Super-Baby
• November 19 –Marinens Flyvebaatfabrikk M.F.5

• Avro 533 Manchester

• Siemens-Schuckert D.III with the GermanLuftstreitkräfte

• Sopwith Dolphin withNo. 19 Squadron andNo. 79 Squadron of the BritishRoyal Flying Corps

• Nieuport 28

• Airco DH.9^[116]

• Airco DH.9A^[117] with theRoyal Air Force′sNo. 110 Squadron

• Fokker D.VIII with the GermanLuftstreitkräfte

• Siemens-Schuckert D.IV with GermanLuftstreitkräfte operational units

• Airco DH.10 Amiens with theRoyal Air Force′sNo. 104 Squadron

• Franks, Norman (1998),Aircraft vs. Aircraft: The Illustrated Story of Fighter Pilot Combat From 1914 to the Present Day, London: Grub Street,ISBN 1-902304-04-7
• Napier, Michael (2018).The Royal Air Force: A Centenary of Operations.Bloomsbury Publishing.ISBN 9781472825384.
• Angelucci, Enzo (1987),The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books
• Donald, David, ed. (1997),The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books,ISBN 978-0-7607-0592-6

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