13 April – TheRoyal Flying Corps (RFC) is established by Royal Warrant. An Air Committee to liaise between the Admiralty and the War Office is also created.
13 May – RFC assume control of Air Battalion of the Royal Engineers and the Naval Air Service.
19 July – The Imperial German Navy's airship base at Tønder is bombed in theTondern raid
19 September to 1 October –Battle of Megiddo. The RAF'sPalestine Brigade plays a key role in the British victory over the Ottoman Empire, including the destruction of the OttomanSeventh Army.
11 November – At the end of theFirst World War, the RAF is the largest air force in the world with 27,333 officers, 263,837 other ranks, 22,647 aircraft, 103 airships, 133 front-line squadrons, 15 flights and 270 aerodromes overseas, 55 front-line squadrons, 75 training squadrons/depots, 401 aerodromes at home and 25,000 WRAF members.
1919
July – theR34 airship becomes the first aircraft to make an east to west transatlantic flight
March to May –Pink's War. The RAF carries out its first independent air action, bombing and strafing the mountain strongholds of Mahsud tribesmen inWaziristan.
1 and 11 October - The firstUniversity Air Squadrons were formed at Cambridge and Oxford universities respectively.
29 September - Flight LieutenantGeorge Stainforth sets a new worldair speed record of 407.5 mph and becomes the first man to exceed 400 mph.
1932
April to June – FollowingSheikhAhmad Barzani's small-scale revolt in north-eastIraq, the RAF conducts psychological and conventional air operations which result in Sheikh Ahmad's surrender.-
August - The RAF's first rotating-wing aircraft, theAvro Rota autogiro, enters service.
1935
20 August - As part of theMohmand campaign, No. 27 and No. 60 squadrons provide air support to British ground forces attempting to regain control of the area around the Gandab military road in the North-West Frontier.
13 August –Adlertag (Eagle Day). TheLuftwaffe's attempts to gainair superiority over Britain fail, with the balance of aircraft losses being strongly in the RAF's favour.
1941
15 May – The maiden flight of first Britishjet aircraft, theGloster E.28/39.
28 June 1948 to 30 September 1949 – The RAF conducts Operation Plainfare, the British contribution to theBerlin Airlift.
June – The RAF conducts Operation Firedog against Malayan terrorists during theMalayan Emergency. Two Spitfires ofNo. 60 Squadron fly the first offensive mission on 6 July, destroying an enemy base atPerak. Involvement continues until 1960.
Tail of Tornado GR4 ZG750, marking 25 years of Tornado GR operations, at the 2016Farnborough Airshow.
1990
RAF fighters based in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait prior to the Gulf War
1991
16 January to 11 April – During theGulf War, RAF aircraft fight in theair battle overKuwait and Iraq.
The RAF begins Operations Resonate North and Resonate South, the British contribution to the Allied efforts to enforce theIraqi no-fly zones. These operations continue for over a decade.
1993
RAF Tornado F3s and AWACS aircraft contribute to NATO's operation to restrict airspace movements overBosnia and Herzegovina,Operation Deny Flight. The operation continues until late 1995.
9 October – During the third day ofOperation Veritas, RAF aircraft commenced the provision of air-to-air refuelling, reconnaissance and surveillance support to US aircraft operating overAfghanistan.
Media related toRoyal Air Force by year at Wikimedia Commons
