1923 in aviation

none in aviation 19th Century 20th century 21st century 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1890s 1900–19091900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s Aviation This is a list of aviation-related events from 1923: Events The Gallaudet Aircraft Corporation is absorbed by the Consolidated Aircraft Corporation.Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 202. During 1923, French Breguet 14T bis Sanitaire air ambulances evacuate 870 wounded French personnel from the Levant and French Morocco.Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, 0-7607-0592-5, p. 186. January Air Union is created by the merger of Compagnie des Messageries Aériennes (CMA) with Grands Express Aériens (CGEA). January 1 The French aviator Joseph Sadi-Lecointe sets a new air speed record, averaging 335 km/h mph on at Istres, France.Daniel, Clifton, Chronicle of the 20th Century, Mount Kisco, New York: Chronicle Publications, 1987, 0-942191-01-3, p. 298. Canada′s Air Board is officially absorbed into the Department of National Defence. The Canadian Air Force becomes responsible for the control and regulation of all civil aviation in Canada. January 9 or 17 – The Cierva C.4, designed by Juan de la Cierva y Cordoniu and piloted by Alejandro Gomez Spencer, makes its first flight, covering a distance of about 180 m ft off us at Cuatro Vientos airfield in Spain. It is the first flight by an autogyro, and the first stable flight by any form of rotary-wing aircraft. January 13 – The Aeromarine Airways Aeromarine 75 flying boat Columbus suffers engine failure during a flight from Key West, Florida, to Havana Cuba, and lands in the Florida Strait. Buffeted by 10-to-15-foot (3-to-4.5-meter) waves, it begins to fill with water. Four passengers die, but the ferry ship H. M. Flagler saves the other three passengers and both crew members.Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description January 20 – After suffering an engine failure in flight, the Cierva C.4 autogyro uses autorotation to land without damage. January 24 The Government of Italy establishes a Commission for the Air Force, with Prime Minister Benito Mussolini as commissioner and Aldo Finzi as his deputy.Gooch, John, Mussolini and His Generals: The Armed Forces and Fascist Foreign Policy, 1922-1940, Cambridge, U.K: Cambridge University Press, 2007, 978-0-521-85602-7, p. 54. The Italian press reports that in a test of the Italian armed forces′ ability to get all their airplanes into the air at the same time and keep them flying for one hour, only 76 were able to do so. The armed forces′ own statistics report that the Italian Royal Army had 237 aircraft in working order and the Regia Marina (Italian Royal Navy) had 48. The discrepancy arises from Prime Minister Benito Mussolini′s to depict his predecessors in the Italian government as militarily incompetent. January 31 – The Cierva C.4 flies a 4-kilometer (2.5-statute mile) circuit at Cuatro Vientos airfield in Spain. February The Royal Air Force conducts operations in southern Iraq against uprisings led by Sheik Mahmud Barzenci. A British pilot, William Jordan, lands a Mitsubishi 1MF fighter on the Imperial Japanese Navys new aircraft carrier Hōshō, then takes off from Hōshō. It is the first landing on and first take off from a Japanese aircraft carrier.Layman, R.D., Before the Aircraft Carrier: The Development of Aviation Vessels 1849-1922, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1989, 0-87021-210-9, p. 85. The title "Royal" is granted to the Canadian Air Force. The Government of Canada will approve the title on 1 April 1924, establishing the Royal Canadian Air Force. February 1 – The Danish Army Flying Corps is established. February 15 – The French aviator Joseph Sadi-Lecointe sets a new world air speed record, averaging 377 km/h mph on at Paris, France.Daniel, Clifton, Chronicle of the 20th Century, Mount Kisco, New York: Chronicle Publications, 1987, 0-942191-01-3, p. 300. March The British Sempill Mission to Japan, led by Sir William Francis Forbes-Sempill, returns to the United Kingdom. During its 18-month stay in Japan, the Mission has greatly improved Imperial Japanese Navy aviation training and understanding of aircraft carrier flight deck operations and the latest naval aviation tactics and technology, and the aircraft it brought to Japan will inspire the design of a number of Japanese naval aircraft of the 1920s. Chilean President Arturo Alessandri separates the Chilean naval aviation arm from the Chilean Army air corps, placing it under Chilean Navy control.Scheina, Robert L., Latin America: A Naval History 1810-1987, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1987, 0-87021-295-8, p. 199. The Chilean Navy installs its first aircraft catapult aboard the battleship Almirante Latorre. March 16 – Imperial Japanese Navy Lieutenant Shunichi Kira lands a Mitsubishi 1MF fighter on the aircraft carrier Hōshō, becoming the first Japanese pilot to land on an aircraft carrier.Layman, R.D., Before the Aircraft Carrier: The Development of Aviation Vessels 1849-1922, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1989, 0-87021-210-9, p. 90. March 17 Dobrolyot is formed as the first Soviet civil aviation service; it will become part of the flag carrier Aeroflot. The United States government authorizes United States Army Air Service aircraft to drop calcium arsenate on Louisiana's cotton fields in order to kill weevils. March 20 – El Salvador forms the Salvadoran Army Air Force. It later will become the Salvadoran Air Force. March 28 – The Italian Army′s air arm, the Corpo Aeronautico Militare, becomes an independent air force, the Regia Aeronautica (Royal Air Force). March 29 – Flying a Curtiss R-6 at Wilbur Wright Field outside Dayton, Ohio, United States Army Air Service First Lieutenant Russell Maughan averages 239.1 mph over a 1 km off on us 2 course, setting an unofficial world speed record, and reaches a top speed measured at 260.5 mph. Less than an hour later, First Lieutenant Lester J. Maitland reaches 243 mph in another Curtiss R-6, setting another unofficial world absolute speed record, and reaches a top speed measured at 281.4 mph, but Orville Wright, as official observer for the National Aeronautics Association, disqualifies the pilots from recognition for the official record because they fail to sustain level flight, using a dive to gain speed. Official observers estimate that the pilots reach an unmeasured speed exceeding 300 mph 0 during their dives. March 30, 1923 AIR SPEED RECORD WON BY AMERICANS; Lieut Maitland Flies 243 Miles an Hour, Surpassing Lecointe. https://www.nytimes.com/1923/03/30/archives/air-speed-record-won-by-americans-lieut-maitland-flies-243-miles-an.html The New York Times New York, New York 7 June 2026 Lester J. Maitland https://www.wahf.org/hall-of-fame/lester-j-maitland/ Wisconsin Aviation Hall of Fame 7 June 2026 Maurer Maurer Aviation in the U.S. Army 1919-1939 1987 Maxwell AFB Air Force Historical Studies Office http://www.afhso.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-100923-007.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20111127153412/http://www.afhso.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-100923-007.pdf dead November 27, 2011 172 2011-08-10 April April 1 – The Royal Air Force abandons the squadron as the basic organizational unit for those of its aircraft operating from Royal Navy ships, reorganizing them into six-plane flights.Sturtivant, Ray, British Naval Aviation: The Fleet Air Arm, 1917-1990, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1990, 0-87021-026-2, p. 10. April 10 – Daimler Airways begins the first scheduled airline service between London and Berlin (via Bremen and Hamburg). April 16–17 – United States Army Air Service Lieutenants John Arthur Macready and Oakley G. Kelly establish a new endurance record, staying aloft for 36 hours 5 minutes in a Fokker T-2, covering a distance of 2,518 mi km. May May 1 – Hermes 95 6 enters service with the Royal Navy. She is the first ship designed from the waterline up as an aircraft carrier and the first aircraft carrier with an island superstructure to enter service.Sturtivant Ray Ray Sturtivant British Naval Aviation: The Fleet Air Arm, 1917-1990 Annapolis, Maryland Naval Institute Press 1990 0-87021-026-2 215 May 2–3 – United States Army Air Service Lieutenants John Arthur Macready and Oakley G. Kelly complete the first non-stop flight across the continental United States, flying from Hempstead, New York, to San Diego, California, covering 2,520 mi km 0 in 26 hours 50 minutes in a Fokker T-2 at an average speed of over 100 mph km/h on 0.Daniel Clifton Chronicle of the 20th Century Mount Kisco, New York Chronicle Publications 1987 0-942191-01-3 302Horvat William J., Lieutenant Colonel 1966 Above the Pacific Aero Publishers, Inc. 37 https://aviation.hawaii.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Above-the-Pacific-by-Lieutenant-Colonel-William-J.-Horvat-1966.pdf 3 June 2026 May 3 The Sikorsky Aero Engineering Corporation is formed by Igor Sikorsky at a Long Island chicken farm. The Fifth International Conference of American States — held at Santiago, Chile, from March 25 to May 3 — concludes. During the conference, delegates had adopted a resolution providing for the creation of an InterAmerican Commercial Aviation Commission to meet to consider problems relating to aviation, draw up conclusions in the form of one or more conventions, and submit the convention or conventions to the member countries of the Pan-American Union for ratification.Latchford Stephen 1931 Habana Convention on Commercial Aviation https://scholar.smu.edu/jalc/vol2/iss2/6 Journal of Air Law and Commerce 2 2 SMU Scholar 18 May 2026 May 10 – Brazil establishes a School of Naval Aviation in Rio de Janeiro near Galeão beach on Governador Island. Rio de Janeiro–Galeão International Airport eventually will be constructed on the site. May 14 – A Farman F.60 Goliath operated by Air Union on a flight from Paris-Le Bourget Airport outside Paris, France, to Croydon Airport in London, England, loses a wing in flight, crashes near Monsures, France, and is destroyed by fire. All six people on board die.Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description May 21 – A Curtiss bomber and two Curtiss scout aircraft of the Argentine Navy make a flight of just under 500 mi km along the coast of Argentina from Puerto Militar to Buenos Aires. It is a significant step forward in the development of Argentine aviation.Scheina Robert L. Latin America: A Naval History 1810-1987 Annapolis, Maryland Naval Institute Press 1987 0-87021-295-8 193–194 May 23 – The Belgian airline SABENA is formed, adding new European routes to SNETA's routes in Belgian Congo that it takes over. May 29 Albert Louis Deullin, a French World War I flying ace credited with 20 aerial victories, dies in a flying accident while testing the prototype of a new airplane at Villacoublay airfield in Villacoublay, France.Nieuport Aces of World War 1 46 SPAD XII/XIII Aces of World War I 15 Reuben Fleet founds Consolidated Aircraft Corporation.Angelucci Enzo The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present New York Orion Books 1987 94U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission: Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation https://web.archive.org/web/20110606012521/https://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Aerospace/Consolidated_Vultee/Aero33.htm 2011-06-06. June The United States Army Air Service demonstrates an aerial refueling system using two Airco DH.4 aircraft. The system employs a hose with an on/off nozzle and large funnels.Crosby, Francis, The Complete Guide to Fighters & Bombers of the World: An Illustrated History of the Worlds Greatest Military Aircraft, From the Pioneering Days of Air Fighting in World War I Through the Jet Fighters and Stealth Bombers of the Present Day, London: Hermes House, 2006, 9781846810008, p. 46. The admirals′ committee of the Regia Marina (Italian Royal Navy) pronounces itself in favor of the construction of at least one aircraft carrier to operate with the Italian fleet, providing the fleet with air defense as well as an offensive aerial strike capability.Gooch, John, Mussolini and His Generals: The Armed Forces and Fascist Foreign Policy, 1922-1940, Cambridge, U.K: Cambridge University Press, 2007, 978-0-521-85602-7, p. 50. June 14 – New Zealand forms its first military aviation services, fore-runners of the Royal New Zealand Air Force. June 23 – While Ernest Foot — a British World War I flying ace credited with five aerial victories — is competing in the first Grosvenor Challenge Cup, his Bristol M.1D monoplane crashes between Chertsey and Chobham, England, bursting into flames and killing him instantly.http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1923/1923%20-%200328.html The Grosvenor Challenge Cup 756 XV 328 Flight 21 June 1923 12 December 2014 http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1923/1923%20-%200346.html The Grosvenor Challenge Cup 757 XV 346 Flight 28 June 1923 12 December 2014 July Twenty-one aircraft compete in the Grand Prix de Motoaviette – a competition at Buc, Yvelines, France, open to any aircraft with a maximum takeoff weight of less than 250 kg lb off, offering a 125,000 FF prize for the fastest flight of 30 laps around a 10 km mi off us on course. Lucien Coupet wins in a Salmson 3 Ad-powered Farman Aviette, covering 310 km mi off us in 4 hours 37 minutes 19 seconds. July 4 – The American aviator B. H. DeLay — who had pioneered many popular stunts used in early barnstorming airshows, adapted them to movies, then appeared in movies with top Hollywood stars — and his passenger die while DeLay is performing stunts before thousands of spectators over Ocean Park in Santa Monica, California, when the wings of his plane — the Wasp — fold back at the top of a loop-the-loop and the plane plunges nose-first into the ground. An investigation reveals that pins of a substandard size had been used in the wings, indicating sabotage. No culprit ever was identified.Police Investigating First Aerial Murder: B. H. De Lay, The Coshocton Tribune, July 15, 1923.Sheriff Suspects Aerial Murder (of B. H. DeLay, Well Known Stunt Aviator), The Indianapolis Star, July 7, 1923.Last Rites for De Lay Tomorrow: Services for Famous Flyer Have Been Arranged for at Los Angeles Crematory, Los Angeles Times, July 6, 1923. ("DeLay was nationally known for his daring stunts in the air.") August The Regia Aeronautica (Italian Royal Air Force) participates in Italian Royal Army maneuvers south of Lake Garda intended to test the capabilities of the army's celeri divisions. The air force component of the maneuvers tests aerial reconnaissance capabilities and the effectiveness of attacks on enemy troops by 32 fighter aircraft and of night attacks against bridges by two bombers. Although the reconnaissance is deemed "indispensable," it is not effective due to command and control problems. The fighter and night bombing attacks are more successful, although the ground troops′ failure to attempt to take cover from or evade air attack is of significant help to the fighters.Gooch, John, Mussolini and His Generals: The Armed Forces and Fascist Foreign Policy, 1922-1940, Cambridge, U.K: Cambridge University Press, 2007, 978-0-521-85602-7, p. 56. Personnel from the aircraft carrier Langley CV-1 help to install a TS-1 floatplane fighter on the foredeck of the destroyer Charles Ausburn DD-294 at Norfolk, Virginia, as the United States Navy begins to experiment with the operation of seaplanes from destroyers. The TS-1 flies successfully, but its presence interferes with Charles Ausburns routine too much, and the idea is dropped.Layman, R.D., Before the Aircraft Carrier: The Development of Aviation Vessels 1849-1922, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1989, 0-87021-210-9, p. 122. August 6 The eighth annual Aerial Derby is held, sponsored by the Royal Aero Club. Thirteen participants fly over a 99.5-mile (160-kilometer) circuit beginning and ending at Croydon Airport in London with control points at Brooklands, Hertford, and West Thurrock; the aircraft fly the circuit twice. L. L. Carter is the overall winner, completing the course in a Gloster Mars at an average speed of 192.4 mph km/h on in 1 hour 2 minutes 23 seconds; H. A. Hammersley wins the handicap competition in an Avro Viper with a time of 1 hour 49 minutes 56 seconds at an average speed of 109.5 mph km/h on with a handicap of 51 minutes 38 seconds. It is the last Aerial Derby; plans for another one in 1924 will be cancelled due to a lack of high-speed entrants, and later talk of reviving the event comes to nothing. The third annual Air League Challenge Cup race is held as part of the Aerial Derby programme at Croydon Airport in London. The team relay race format of previous races is dropped; instead, the 16 competitors – all Royal Air Force pilots – compete individually, each flying a Bristol F.2B Fighter fitted with a 275-horsepower (205-kilowatt) Rolls-Royce Falcon engine over a 100-mile (161-kilometer) triangular course. Captain Horace Scott Shield, representing RAF Eastchurch, wins the race.afleetingpeace.org The Air League Challenge Cuphttp://www.afleetingpeace.org/index.php/air-races/9-races/123-air-league-challenge-cup-1921 afleetingpeace.org Air League Challenge Cup - 1921 2016-01-23 2016-01-30 https://web.archive.org/web/20160130030246/http://www.afleetingpeace.org/index.php/air-races/9-races/123-air-league-challenge-cup-1921 dead August 21 – The first electric airway beacons start appearing at airfields in the United States to assist in night flying operations. August 27 – A Farman F.60 Goliath operated by Air Union on a scheduled passenger flight from Berck-sur-Mer Airport in Berck-sur-Mer, France, to Croydon Airport in London, England, makes an unscheduled landing at Lympne, England, for repairs to its overheating left engine. After it continues its flight to Croydon, its right engine fails. Its pilot attempts a forced landing on East Malling Heath, but goes into a spin and crashes on final approach when passengers misunderstand an instruction for some of them to move towards the rear of the aircraft, affecting the Goliath's center of gravity. One passenger dies, but the other 10 passengers and both crew members survive.Aviation Safety Network: Accident Description August 28 – United States Army Air Service Lieutenant John Richter and Lowell Smith establish a new endurance record of 37 hours 15 minutes in an Airco DH.4, covering 3,293 mi km. They are refueled fifteen times during the flight. September September 1 – The Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft carrier Amagi is heavily damaged by the Great Kantō earthquake while still under conversion from a battlecruiser. She is scrapped, and the battleship Kaga is selected for conversion into an aircraft carrier instead. September 4 – The United States Navy's first U.S.-built rigid airship, the as-yet-unnamed ZR-1, makes her first flight at Naval Air Station Lakehurst, New Jersey. She contains most of the world's extracted reserves of helium at this time.Hayward John T. Comment and Discussion United States Naval Institute Proceedings August 1978 September 5 The French Nieuport-Delage NiD 40R sets a new world altitude record of 10,741 m ft off us.Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, 0-7607-0592-5, p. 688. United States Army Air Service bombers carry out anti-shipping exercises, sinking the obsolete battleships Virginia BB-13 and New Jersey BB-16. September 10 – United States Marine Corps Lieutenant Lawson H. Sanderson sets a new world airspeed record of 238 mph km/h on in a Navy-Wright NW.Daniel, Clifton, Chronicle of the 20th Century, Mount Kisco, New York: Chronicle Publications, 1987, 0-942191-01-3, p. 304. September 28 The 1923 Schneider Trophy race flown at Cowes in the United Kingdom. David Rittenhouse of the United States wins in a Curtiss CR-3 at an average speed of 285.5 km/h mph on. The United States Army blimp OB-1 is destroyed in a crash at Highland, Illinois.http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/1940sB4/1923.htm 1923 US Army Air Service Accident Reports October October 4 – A Caudron G.3 with Italian aviator Enrico Massi — an aviation pioneer in El Salvador — and Juan Ramón Munés — one of El Salvador's first pilots — aboard suffers an engine failure during an instructional flight and crashes in Soyapango, El Salvador. Munés survives, but Massi is killed.https://guanacos.com/los-hermanos-massi/ Los Hermanos Massi: Pioneros en Cine y Aviación en El Salvador The Massi Brothers: Pioneers of Film and Aviation in El Salvador es 10 March 2025 Guanacos Rodrigo Portánhttp://archive.laprensa.com.sv/20030119/revista_dominical/rdo02.asp Revista Dominical Dominical Magazine es 10 March 2025 La Prensa Morena Azucena https://web.archive.org/web/20110528051531/http://archive.laprensa.com.sv/20030119/revista_dominical/rdo02.asp 28 May 2011 dead October 6 Curtiss R2Cs win first and second place in the Pulitzer Trophy Race, the winning aircraft setting a new airspeed record of 243.6 mph km/h on. Burt E. Skeel wins the second running of the Mitchell Trophy Race in St. Louis, Missouri, reaching a speed of 161 mph 0 in a Thomas-Morse MB-3A."Capt. Skeel Killed in Dayton Air Race; 50,000 See Plunge; Plane Crumples as Army Officer Dives for Start in Pulitzer Prize Contest", The New York Times, October 5, 1924, p.1 Czech Airlines is founded by the government of Czechoslovakia as CSA Československé státní aerolinie ("Czechoslovak State Airlines"), commencing operations on October 29 with a Prague Kbely–Bratislava flight.http://www.csa.cz/en/portal/quicklinks/about-us/history.htm History CSA Czech Airlines 2012 2016-08-04 October 8–13 – The Daily Mail sponsors the Motor Glider Competition at Lympne Aerodrome in Lympne, England, the first of the three light airplane trials held there. The contest rewards the most economical aircraft as well as the highest speed, highest altitude, and greatest endurance. Bert Hinkler is among the prize-winners. Record-setting French pilot Alexis Maneyrol dies in the crash of his Peyret Monoplane on the final day.http://www.shuttleworth.org/shuttleworth-collection/aircraft-details.asp?ID=14 The Shuttleworth Aircraft Collection 2012-03-27 2012-03-13 https://web.archive.org/web/20120313225728/http://www.shuttleworth.org/shuttleworth-collection/aircraft-details.asp?ID=14 dead Hastingleigh, Kent: Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines: 1923 October 10 – The United States Navy's first U.S.-built rigid airship, ZR-1. is christened and commissioned and receives her name: Shenandoah ZR-1. October 13 – Flying over Lympne Aerodrome during the light aircraft trials there, an Avro 558 sets an altitude record for a light aircraft of its class, reaching 13,850 ft m off us. October 14 – United States Army Air Service pilot First Lieutenant Lester J. Maitland sets an official world speed record of 244.94 mph in a Curtiss R-6. January 20, 2016 Brig. Gen. Lester J. Maitland: After breaking his first aviation record in 1923, Army flier never slowed down https://www.military.com/army/brig-gen-lester-j-maitland.html military.com 7 June 2026 October 18 – French pilot Adrienne Bolland sets a world record for consecutive loop-the-loops by a woman, completing 98 loops.Woman Does 212 Air Loops https://www.nytimes.com/1924/05/28/archives/woman-does-212-air-loops-mme-bolland-beats-her-former-record-of-98.html The New York Times May 28, 1924 July 14, 2012 October 23 – General Pier Ruggero Piccio becomes the first Commandant General of the Italian Regia Aeronautica (Royal Air Force). When he leaves the position in 1925, the position will be renamed Chief of Air Staff. October 30 – Flying the Nieuport-Delage NiD 40R, the French pilot Joseph Sadi-Lecointe sets a new world altitude record of 11,145 m ft off us. The record will stand until 1927. October 31 – The Italian armed forces are ordered to test their efficiency by getting all of their airplanes into the air and flying them for one hour; 420 aircraft pass the test. November During a speech at Centocelle Airport in Rome, Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini says, "As head of the government with the enormous responsibility of the existence, independence, freedom, and well-being of the Italian people, I am obliged not to believe in universal peace, and still less in perpetual peace. No one knows whether the war of tomorrow will be exclusively an aerial or a land or a naval war. For me, it is enough to ponder on what others are doing. If others are arming in the skies, then we must arm in the skies."Gooch, John, Mussolini and His Generals: The Armed Forces and Fascist Foreign Policy, 1922-1940, Cambridge, U.K: Cambridge University Press, 2007, 978-0-521-85602-7, p. 55. The French Air Force has a force of 296 bombers and 300 fighters. Other than Italy, France is the only European continental power building a substantial air force. November 1 – The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company buys the rights to manufacture Luftschiffbau Zeppelin dirigibles in the United States.Daniel, Clifton, Chronicle of the 20th Century, Mount Kisco, New York: Chronicle Publications, 1987, 0-942191-01-3, p. 306. November 2 – Flying a Curtiss R2C-1, U.S. Navy Lieutenant H. J. Rowe sets a new world airspeed record of 259.16 mph km/h on. November 3 – Harold Albert Kullberg, an American World War I flying ace who flew with the British Royal Air Force and was credited with 19 aerial victories, sees an airplane illegally performing stunts over an urban area, chases it down, lands with it, and arrests the pilot. It is the first arrest in the United States for the violation of civil aviation rules.http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/newspaper-articles/31538-first-arrest-violator-air-traffic-rules.html First Arrest of Violator of Air Traffic Rules www.theaerodrome.com 20 December 2009 November 4 – Flying a Curtiss R2C-1, U.S. Navy Lieutenant Alford J. Williams sets a new world airspeed record of 266.6 mph km/h on.Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, 0-517-56588-9, p. 123. November 18 – During an air show at Kelly Field, Texas, the first aerial refueling-related fatality in history occurs when the fuel hose becomes entangled in the right wings of both the refueler and the receiver aircraft. The United States Army Air Service pilot of the refueler, Lieutenant P. T. Wagner, dies in the ensuing crash of DH-4B 23-444.aviationarchaeology.com 1923 US Army Air Service Accident Reports December December 21 – The French dirigible Dixmude explodes over the Mediterranean Sea during a flight from Cuers-Pierrefeu, France, to French Algeria after being struck by lightning. Her entire crew of 52 perishes.http://www.avalanchepress.com/FrenchAirship.php Avalanche Press Jean du Plessis de Grenédan, her commanding officer, is among the dead. First flights Avia BH-9Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, 0-7607-0592-5, p. 49. Avro 558 Avro 560 FBA 13 FBA 16 Dayton-Wright PS-1Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 181. Dewoitine P-3 Engineering Division TP-1 Farman F.120 Jabiru Grigorovich M-24 Loening OL Naval Aircraft Factory NO Piaggio P.2 Piaggio P.3 January Curtiss XPW-8, prototype of the Curtiss PW-8Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 126. Mitsubishi 2MT, also known as Mitsubishi B1M January 9 or 17 (sources differ) – Cierva C.4, first successful autogyro flight January 19 – Armstrong Whitworth Wolf January 30 – Marinens Flyvebaatfabrikk M.F.7 March Aero A.18 Hawker Woodcock March 8 – Fairey Fawn April FBA 17 April 29 – Boeing XPW-9, first prototype of the Boeing PW-9 and Boeing FB-1Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 68. May Armstrong Whitworth Siskin IIIDonald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, 0-7607-0592-5, p. 63. Gloster Grebe May 9 – Blériot 115 June June 2 – Boeing XPW-9 June 3 – Vickers Venture J7277 June 12 – Junkers J 21 (also known as T 21 and H 21) June 28 – Armstrong Whitworth Awana July Gerhardt Cycleplane July 1 – Nieuport-Delage NiD 40R July 30 – de Havilland DH.50 August August 2 – Wright F2WAngelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, 0-517-56588-9, p. 461. August 16 – Dewoitine P-3 August 21 – ANEC I August 22 – Barling XNBL August 23 – Polikarpov IL-400, prototype of the Polikarpov I-1 September September 4 – USS Shenandoah (ZR-1) September 9 – Curtiss R2C-1Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 123. September 7 – Handley Page Type S September 14 – Junkers T 23 October October 2 – de Havilland Humming Bird October 23 – Handley Page Hyderabad November November 30 – Junkers J 22 (also known as T 22) Entered service Cox-Klemin XS Mitsubishi 1MF with Imperial Japanese Navy Retirements Airco DH.10 Amiens by the Royal Air Force Notes Category:Aviation by year