13 April – The Royal 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 the Tondern raid
19 September to 1 October – Battle of Megiddo. The RAF's Palestine Brigade plays a key role in the British victory over the Ottoman Empire, including the destruction of the Ottoman Seventh Army.
11 November – At the end of the First 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 – the R34 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 in Waziristan.
1 and 11 October - The first University Air Squadrons were formed at Cambridge and Oxford universities respectively.
29 September - Flight Lieutenant George Stainforth sets a new world air speed record of 407.5 mph and becomes the first man to exceed 400 mph.
1932
April to June – Following SheikhAhmad Barzani's small-scale revolt in north-east Iraq, the RAF conducts psychological and conventional air operations which result in Sheikh Ahmad's surrender.-
August - The RAF's first rotating-wing aircraft, the Avro Rota autogiro, enters service.
1935
20 August - As part of the Mohmand 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.
3 September – Following the UK's declaration of war on Germany, the RAF conducts photographic reconnaissance of the German naval base at Wilhelmshaven.
29 November – RAuxAF spitfires shoot down an He 111 bomber over Lothian, the first German aircraft to be shot down over the UK in World War II.
13 August – Adlertag (Eagle Day). The Luftwaffe's attempts to gain air 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 British jet aircraft, the Gloster E.28/39.
22 February – Allied Air Forces launch Operation Clarion, a concerted effort to destroy German transportation within 24 hours.
1945–1990: The Cold War years
1948
28 June 1948 to 30 September 1949 – The RAF conducts Operation Plainfare, the British contribution to the Berlin Airlift.
June – The RAF conducts Operation Firedog against Malayan terrorists during the Malayan Emergency. Two Spitfires of No. 60 Squadron fly the first offensive mission on 6 July, destroying an enemy base at Perak. Involvement continues until 1960.
Tail of Tornado GR4 ZG750, marking 25 years of Tornado GR operations, at the 2016 Farnborough Airshow.
1990
RAF fighters based in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait prior to the Gulf War
1991
16 January to 11 April – During the Gulf War, RAF aircraft fight in the air battle over Kuwait and Iraq.
The RAF begins Operations Resonate North and Resonate South, the British contribution to the Allied efforts to enforce the Iraqi 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 over Bosnia and Herzegovina, Operation Deny Flight. The operation continues until late 1995.
9 October – During the third day of Operation Veritas, RAF aircraft commenced the provision of air-to-air refuelling, reconnaissance and surveillance support to US aircraft operating over Afghanistan.
