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Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19621012: At the Administrator’s direction, the Office of the General Counsel assumed sole responsibility for drafting of FAA safety rules. This action ended a situation in which the Office of the General Counsel had shared rule drafting responsibility with other major FAA components.
19701012: FAA announced adoption of a three-bar version of the visual approach slope indicator (VASI) system. VASI had been adopted as the U.S. national standard in 1961 and became the international standard shortly thereafter. The bicolor (red-white) light box system was located alongside the runway at its touchdown or aiming point.

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19471011: Trans-Texas Airways began operations as a local service carrier. The airline at first served routes within Texas, reached outside the state in 1953, and acquired routes to Mexico in 1966. It adopted the name Texas International Airlines following a change of ownership in 1968.
19471011: Representatives of 42 nations signed a convention in Washington, D.C., establishing the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), which superseded the International Meteorological Organization. A focal point for international efforts toward such goals as common technical standards and a worldwide meteorological network, WMO became a specialized agency of the United Nations in December 1951.

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19291010: The Aeronautics Branch inaugurated position-reporting service for planes flying the Federal airways.
19511010: The President approved the Mutual Security Act of 1951 to maintain security and promote foreign policy by furnishing military, economic, and technical assistance to friendly nations in the interest of international peace and security. The plan included a number of aviation assistance programs.

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19401009: In the first appropriation made directly to CAA for airport development, Congress appropriated $40 million for the construction, improvement, and repair of up to 250 public airports determined to be necessary for national defense. Under this Development of Landing Areas for National Defense (DLAND) program, the Administrator of Civil Aeronautics had responsibility for qualifying airports with the approval of a board composed of the Secretaries of War, Navy, and Commerce.
19601009: FAA commissioned the Oakland air traffic control center’s new building, followed by the Atlanta center’s new building on October 15.

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19461008: CAA announced the opening of 44 new district offices for the administration of the Federal-aid airport program (FAAP). Of these, 43 were located within the United States and one in Puerto Rico. CAA also established Airport branches in its regional offices at Honolulu and Anchorage. (See May 13, 1946 and January 9, 1947.)
19471008: New air traffic rules resulting from a revision of Part 60 of the Civil Air Regulations went into effect. Besides substantially altering visual flight rules, the new regulations made some changes in instrument flight rules operations. One section of the regulation set up rules for water operation of aircraft and others applied specifically to helicopter flight rules.

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19591007: Speaking on the theme “Project Friendship,” FAA Administrator Quesada announced that FAA was preparing to assume the operation of about 2,095 military air traffic control facilities at 337 global locations. Under the “Friendship” plan, four types of military functions would be scheduled for transfer: air navigation and air traffic control services; military flight service; air traffic controller training; and facilities flight inspection. FAA and DOD would coordinate time phasing for absorbing military facilities, and implementation of certain parts of the project depended on further understandings with DOD and agreements with foreign countries. (See May 1959, and December 15, 1960.)
19631007: The Learjet 23 made its initial flight. FAA certificated the twin-engine executive aircraft in July of the following year, and the company made its first delivery in October.

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19561006: Upgrading its fleet of flight inspection aircraft, CAA announced that it would obtain five Convair 440s, with delivery in December 1957 and January 1958. To calibrate and evaluate the performance of airway navigation aids, the agency had previously used DC-3s and Beech 18s, which had an operating ceiling of only 12,000 feet. The pressurized Convairs (later re-engined to the Convair 580 configuration) permitted testing in altitudes up to 20,000 feet. For higher altitudes up to 50,000 feet, the agency had already borrowed two Martin B-57s from the Air Force, and began operations with these in 1957. During 1956-57, CAA also obtained 40 more surplus DC-3s, most of which were eventually modified for flight inspection duty Other changes to the flight inspection fleet in this era included the acquisition in 1958 of the first two of five Lockheed L-749 Constellations, which were used primarily in the Pacific area. (See Calendar Year 1940 and January 1962.)
19641006: FAA established the National Airspace System Special Projects Office (NASSPO) to provide the management leadership and coordination necessary for the effective and timely implementation of the semiautomated air traffic control subsystem of the National Airspace System. (See September 26, 1964, and April 25, 1966.)

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19311005: Clyde E. Pangborn and Hugh Herndon, Jr., made the first nonstop transpacific flight, as well as the first nonstop flight between Japan and the United States, in a Bellanca Pacemaker. The two men took off from Samushiro Beach, 300 miles north of Tokyo, and landed at Wenatchee, Wash., covering 4,448 miles in 41 hours 13 minutes.
19761005: The Labor Department certified the Federal Aviation Science and Technological Association (FASTA), a National Association of Government Employees union, as the exclusive bargaining representative of some 7,700 airway facilities employees.

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19401004: The Commerce Department’s new Aeronautical Advisory Council concluded its first meeting on this date. A permanent body to consult with Commerce officials on aviation policy, the Council included members from all sections of the country and all phases of civil aviation.
In fiscal year 1941, Congress allocated funds for developments at 193 sites in the United States and its possessions. To expedite results, CAA made cooperative arrangements with the Work Projects Administration (WPA) and the War and Navy Departments, since these agencies performed the actual construction in many cases. The total expenditure for the DLAND program was ultimately $383 million for 535 airports.

Full FAA Chronology at this link.
19431003: The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics’ Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory completed the first U.S.-built afterburner for jet engines.
19671003: Maj. William J. Knight, USAF, piloting the X-15 rocket plane, set an unofficial world record of 4,534 miles an hour, almost seven times the speed of sound. (See July 28, 1976.)
19881003: Citing increasing congestion and a rash of air traffic control operation errors, FAA indefinitely reduced the maximum number of arrivals permitted at Chicago O’Hare from 96 an hour to 80.