First flight of the F-16.
It was an accident. During high speed ground test a horizontal stabilizer was damaged and the test pilot took the aircraft off due to the severe oscillations it was experiencing.
One of the greatest fighter aircraft of all time, it remains in production, although not for the U.S.
A British Mosquito is shot down with its Oboe navigational aid intact, allowing the Germans to develop countermeasures.
The United States Army Air Force announced the production of the Bell P-59 Airacomet. The first US jet fighter aircraft, it would prove to be a disappointment and provided no real advantage over existing piston engined aircraft.
It was the first flight of the jet engined German bomber, the Arado Ar 234.
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The twin engined jet bomber was the first of its kind in the world, and would enter service in the fall of 1944, too late to be of consequence.
Sarah Sundin's blog reports:
Today in World War II History—May 22, 1943: USS Bogue’s TBF aircraft damage German U-boat U-569, which is scuttled by her crew, the first victory for an Allied escort carrier unassisted by surface ships.
She also noted that Luftwaffe General Adolf Galland flew the ME262 on this day and was impressed by it, as anyone would have had to have been.
