1948 in aviation

none October 2022 in aviation 19th Century 20th century 21st century 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s Aviation This is a list of aviation-related events from 1948: Events Publication of Nevil Shute's novel No Highway set in the world of research into aviation safety. The United States Air Force has 20,800 aircraft, about half of them combat aircraft, down from 68,400 aircraft at the end of World War II in 1945. U.S. Air Force personnel strength stands at 387,000.Ross 1996 11–12 The United States inventory of atomic bombs reaches 50 weapons during the year. Each requires two days to assemble for use, and by mid-1948 the United States has only two bomb assembly teams.Ross 1996 12 Faced with deep disagreement within the United States Armed Forces over their appropriate roles in national defense, United States Secretary of Defense James V. Forrestal orders Chief of Staff of the United States Army General Omar N. Bradley, Chief of Naval Operations Louis E. Denfield, and Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force General Carl A. Spaatz to meet at Key West, Florida, in March and at Newport, Rhode Island, in August to determine "who will do what with what." A proposal that the U.S. Air Force take responsibility for strategic air warfare and that the United States Navy "conduct...air operations necessary for the accomplishments of objectives in a naval campaign" and participate in an overall air campaign "as directed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff" fails when the Air Force insists on clear and exclusive control of the strategic role and the Navy refuses to agree.Isenberg 1993 113 Under a contract with the Chinese Nationalist Air Force, Transocean Air Lines ferries 157 Curtiss C-46 Commando transport aircraft from California to Shanghai. Transocean refits each C-46 with additional fuel tanks to extend its range to 2,600 mi nmi km and flies it to China via Honolulu, Wake Island, Guam, and Okinawa.Transocean Airways – A look Back (Part Two) Robert Novell https://www.robertnovell.com/blogtransocean-airways-look-back-part-two-may-30-2014/ 2023-01-10 en-US The Pitcairn Autogiro Company is dissolved. Summer – American intelligence analysts forecast that in 1957 the Soviet Union will have 15,000 combat aircraft.Ross 1996 104 January January 6 – An Air France Douglas DC-3D (registration F-BAXC) strikes trees during an approach in bad weather to Paris-Le Bourget Airport in Paris, France, and crashes in Gonesse, killing all 16 people on board. http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19480106-0 Aviation Safety Network aviation-safety.net Accident Description (19480106-0) January 7 – Both engines of a Coastal Air Lines Douglas C-47A Skytrain (registration NC60331) shut down during a flight from Raleigh-Durham Airport in North Carolina to Miami, Florida. While the crew attempts to glide the aircraft to an emergency landing in a marsh, the aircraft stalls, crashes north-northeast of Savannah, Georgia, and breaks in two, killing 18 of the 27 people on board. http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19480107-0 Aviation Safety Network aviation-safety.net Accident Description (19480107-0) January 11 – After a Dominicana de Aviación Douglas C-47 Skytrain (registration HI-6) carrying the B.B.C. Santiago baseball team home on a domestic flight in the Dominican Republic from Barahona to Santiago de los Caballeros encounters bad weather, its crew makes a navigational error while attempting to divert to Ciudad Trujillo. The aircraft crashes into a mountain near Yamasá, killing all 32 people on board. January 17 – BOAC begins to replace its Boeing 314 flying boats with the Lockheed Constellation on the Baltimore, Maryland-to-Bermuda route. January 20 – A China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC) Curtiss C-46 Commando evacuating people from Mukden, China, crashes while taking off from Mukden Airport in a snowstorm, killing 11 of the 54 people on board. http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19480120-0 Aviation Safety Network aviation-safety.net Accident Description (19480120-0) January 28 – An Airline Transport Carriers Douglas C-47B Skytrain under contract to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service crashes in the Diablo Mountains west of Coalinga, California, killing all 32 people on board. Among the dead are 28 Mexican migrant farm workers being deported to Mexico, leading singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie to write the protest song "Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)". January 30 British South American Airways Avro Tudor IV Star Tiger (G-AHNP) en route from Santa Maria in the Azores to Bermuda disappears without trace with the loss of all 31 people on board. At last contact, the plane was estimated to be just under two hours away from Bermuda. Among those lost aboard the plane is retired Royal Air Force Air Marshal Arthur Coningham. Orville Wright, co-inventor of the world's first practical fixed-wing aircraft, dies in Dayton, Ohio at the age of 76. February Aerocar International begins design and development of a flying automobile designed by Moulton Taylor.Mondey 1978 66 Closed from 1941 to 1945 because of the German invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II and reopened in 1945 only to cargo and mail flights, Leningrad′s Shosseynaya Airport (the future Pulkovo Airport) finally reopens to scheduled passenger service. February 16 – A U.S. Joint Intelligence Committee study forecasts that by 1957 the Soviet Union will have the atomic bomb and a long-range strategic air force and will be able to inflict substantial damage on the United States with the use of atomic, chemical, and biological weapons.Ross 1996 103 February 18 – The Spanish airline Aviaco is formed as an air freight company operating six Bristol 170s. February 29 – The Milton Reynolds-Boston Museum China Expedition, sponsored by Milton Reynolds, Life, and the Boston Museum of Science, leaves Chicago, Illinois, in the modified ex-United States Navy RY-1 Liberator Express executive transport aircraft The Explorer with planned stops at Palm Springs, San Francisco, Honolulu, Wake Island, Okinawa, and Tokyo before arriving in Shanghai, China. Personally leading the expedition, Reynolds plans to use the plane — equipped with radar, a height-measuring radio instrument, cameras, thermometers, and barometers and flown by record-setting pilot William P. "Bill" Odom — to carry a team of American and Chinese geologists, meteorologists, physicists, and photographers to explore China's Amne Machin mountain range and determine if reports are true that Amne Machin itself is taller than Mount Everest, as well as to search for the source of the Yellow River. March 1, 1948 REYNOLDS PLANE STARTS; Expedition Will Explore Peaks and Yellow River in China https://www.nytimes.com/1948/03/01/archives/reynolds-plane-starts-expedition-will-explore-peaks-and-yellow.html The New York Times New York, New York 25 3 June 2026 March The Israeli Air Force is formed along with the new state of Israel. The U.S. Joint Intelligence Committee forecasts that the Soviet Union will test its first atomic bomb sometime between 1950 and 1953 and by 1953 will have from 20 to 50 atomic bombs, depending on when it tests its first one.Ross 1996 106 March 2 – A Sabena Douglas DC-3 (registration OO-AWH), crashes on approach to London Heathrow Airport in low visibility conditions, killing all 19 people on board.http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19480302-0 March 1948 crash near Heathrow at the Aviation Safety Network Aviation-safety.net 2014-07-23 March 10 – Fighter Squadron 5 (VF-5) becomes the first United States Navy aircraft carrier squadron to be equipped with jet aircraft. March 12 – Northwest Airlines Flight 4422, a chartered Douglas C-54G-1-DO, crashes into Mount Sanford in the Territory of Alaska, killing all 30 people on board. March 19 – The British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) extends its Hong Kong service to Japan. March 23 – Group Captain John Cunningham sets a new world altitude record of 59,446 ft m on in a de Havilland Vampire. March 24 – A Boulton Paul P.108 Balliol becomes the first aircraft to fly with a single turboprop engine (an Armstrong Siddeley Mamba).Donald 1997 87 March 28 – United States Air Force B-29 Superfortresses undergo aerial refueling tests, demonstrating the viability of this technique to extend the range of strategic bombers. March 31 – The modified ex-United States Navy RY-1 Liberator Express executive transport aircraft The Explorer, piloted by William P. "Bill" Odom and carrying the Milton Reynolds-Boston Museum China Expedition — which planned to explore China's Amne Machin mountain range and determine if reports are true that Amne Machin itself is taller than Mount Everest, as well as to search for the source of the Yellow River — suffers damage when it becomes mired in mud during a takeoff attempt at Peiping (now Beijing), China. The most recent of a series of delays, the accident prompts the expedition's leader, Milton Reynolds, to cancel the expedition. April 3, 1948 REYNOLDS ADMITS ERRORS TO CHINESE; Pen Maker Makes Apology to Nanking Scientists for Mysterious Plane Trip https://www.nytimes.com/1948/04/04/archives/reynolds-admits-errors-to-chinese-pen-maker-makes-apology-to.html The New York Times New York, New York 16 3 June 2026 April Two specially modified Gloster Meteors begin carrier trials aboard Implacable R86 6. Pacific Ocean Airlines discontinues operations. http://hawaii.gov/hawaiiaviation/chronology-of-aviation-in-hawaii/1940-1949 Aviation Hawaii: 1940–1949 Chronology of Aviation in Hawaii hawaii.gov The International Federation of Air Line Pilots' Associations is formed during a conference in London. April 2 – The modified ex-United States Navy RY-1 Liberator Express executive transport aircraft The Explorer, piloted by William P. "Bill" Odom — which originally had arrived in China to carry a scientific team on the Milton Reynolds-Boston Museum China Expedition — which planned to explore China's Amne Machin mountain range and determine if reports are true that Amne Machin itself is taller than Mount Everest, as well as to search for the source of the Yellow River but had been cancelled by its leader Milton Reynolds on March 31 — departs Shanghai, China, then returns to Shanghai 12 or 13 hours later. Reynolds explains that he had intended to begin a return flight to the United States via India but had turned around when he realized he and his crew lacked Indian visas. Angry Chinese scientists of the Academia Sinica immediately accuse him of violating an agreement with them by making a flight to explore Amne Machin on his own and without their permission, leaving some of the expedition's original team stranded in Peiping (now Beijing) and Lanchow (now Lanzhou). The government of the Republic of China impounds the plane. April 5, 1948 REYNOLDS ESCAPES TO TOKYO BY RUSE; Chinese Guards Fail to Shoot When Pilot Suddenly Guns Impounded Craft https://www.nytimes.com/1948/04/05/archives/reynolds-escapes-to-tokyo-by-ruse-chinese-guards-fail-to-shoot-when.html The New York Times New York, New York 11 3 June 2026 April 3 – Alitalia launches its first postwar service from Italy (Rome-Ciampino) to the United Kingdom (Londons Northolt Aerodrome). April 4 – The troubled Milton Reynolds-Boston Museum China Expedition comes to an unsuccessful but dramatic end as its RY-1 Liberator Express The Explorer arrives at Haneda Airport in Tokyo after an unauthorized 12-hour flight from Shanghai. Expedition leader Milton Reynolds claims that he and the plane's three-man crew had tricked Chinese guards into letting them board the impounded plane by promising them ballpoint pens (an expensive commodity at the time), and that Reynolds had tossed about 50 pens out the door to the Chinese, then slammed the door as pilot Bill Odom taxied for takeoff. Fearing interception by Republic of China Air Force fighters, the men had flown the plane at an altitude of about 20 feet m 1 us for the first 350 mi 2 of the flight. The men had ignored orders from Haneda Airport to return to Shanghai, and Reynolds accuses Chinese officials of demanding bribes to allow The Explorer to take off after the failure of the expedition. April 5 – A Soviet Air Force Yakovlev Yak-3 fighter harassing aircraft flying into West Berlin during the Berlin Blockade collides with a British European Airways Vickers VC.1B Viking airliner as it is levelling off to land at RAF Gatow in West Berlin. Both aircraft crash, killing the fighter pilot and all 14 people aboard the airliner and leading to a diplomatic standoff between the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom and United States. April 6 – Seventeen hijackers commandeer a CSA Czech Airlines airliner carrying a total of 26 people during a domestic flight in Czechoslovakia from Prague to Bratislava. They force it to take them to Neubiberg Air Base in the American Occupation Zone in Allied-occupied Germany. No one is injured in the incident.Aviation Safety Network Hijacking Description April 15 – The Pan American World Airways Lockheed L-1049C-55-81 Super Constellation Clipper Empress of the Skies, operating as Flight 1–10, crashes short of the runway at Shannon Airport in Shannon, Ireland, killing 30 of the 31 people on board and leaving the lone survivor injured. April 17 – The U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff inform the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission that the United States must establish a stockpile of atomic weapons if the United States Armed Forces are to sustain an immediate air offensive against the Soviet Union in the event of war.Ross 1996 106 April 18 – The flag carrier of Cyprus, Cyprus Airways, begins flight operations, using three Douglas DC-3 airliners flown by British pilots from British European Airways (BEA) to offer service from Nicosia to Athens, Beirut, Cairo, Haifa, Istanbul, London, and Rome. April 21 The Vickers 610 Viking 1B G-AIVE, operating as British European Airways Flight S200P, crashes into Irish Law Mountain in North Ayrshire, Scotland. Although the left engine and wing break off and the rest of the aircraft breaks into three pieces and bursts into flames, there are no fatalities; 13 of the 20 people aboard suffer injuries. Pennsylvania Central Airlines is renamed Capital Airlines. April 26 During a dive, a North American YP-86 flown by George Welch becomes the first American fighter aircraft to exceed Mach 1.Angelucci 1987 342 During a long-range test flight that covers 3,528 mi km in 9½ hours over a round-robin course over California and Arizona at a true airspeed of 388 mph km/h on, the U.S. Air Force's first Northrop YB-49 jet-powered flying wing bomber prototype sets an endurance record for sustained flight above 40,000 ft m off us, remaining above that altitude for 6½ hours.Wooldridge, E. T., "History of the Flying Wing: The Northrop Bombers," century-of-flight.net, undated. April 28 – The U.S. Navy launches two P2V-3C Neptune aircraft – a version of the P2V configured for carrier launch carrying a nuclear weapon – from the aircraft carrier Coral Sea CVB-43 off the coast of Virginia. The first carrier launches of any type of P2V, they establish the U.S. Navys first, interim carrier-based nuclear strike capability pending the acquisition of aircraft designed from the outset to be capable of carrying a nuclear weapon from a carrier. Polmar Norman Historic Aircraft: The God of the Sea's Namesake Naval History October 2011 16 April 28–29 – Leonardo Bonzi and Maner Lualdi set a light plane distance record of 4170 km mi on flying from Campoformido (Italy) to Massawa (Eritrea) in an Ambrosini S.1001. May May 4 – Two hijackers commandeer a CSA Czech Airlines airliner during a domestic flight in Czechoslovakia from Brno to České Budějovice and force the pilot to fly them to Erding Air Base in the American occupation zone in Allied-occupied Germany.Aviation Safety Network Hijacking Description May 13 – Peter Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, 8th Earl Fitzwilliam, and Kathleen Cavendish, Marchioness of Hartington, the sister of future U.S. President John F Kennedy, are among the dead when a de Havilland Dove 1 (registration G-AJOU) crashes in violent weather in Saint-Bauzile, Ardèche, France, killing all four people on board. May 15 – The Royal Egyptian Air Force attacks Tel Aviv. The Israeli Air Force retaliates by striking Arab troops near Samakh. May 22 – Royal Egyptian Air Force (REAF) Supermarine Spitfire Mark IXs conduct three attacks against the Royal Air Force's (RAF's) Ramat David Airbase near Haifa in the newly declared State of Israel. Their first attack destroys two British Spitfires on the ground and damages eight others, and in their second attack they shoot down a Douglas Dakota while it is landing, killing four men on board. Their third attack is ineffective and loses one Spitfire to ground fire and four others to Spitfires of the RAF's No. 208 Squadron flying combat air patrol over the base. The REAF later claims that its pilots mistook the airbase for the Israeli Air Force base at Megiddo Airport, although the Israelis did not yet operate Spitfires. O'Connor Derek Spitfire vs. Spitfire Aviation History November 2014 56 May 28 The Israeli Air Force is established. The Royal Netherlands Navy commissions its first fleet aircraft carrier, HNLMS Karel Doorman (R81), which formerly had served in the British Royal Navy as Venerable R63 6. She replaces the first Dutch carrier, the escort carrier HNLMS Karel Doorman (QH1). May 29 – Former United States Marine Corps pilot Lou Lenart, flying one of the four Avia S-199s that make up the Israeli Air Force's only fighter squadron, leads an air attack against an Egyptian Army ground column threatening Tel Aviv, forcing it to turn back short of the city. He is hailed as "The Man Who Saved Tel Aviv".Anonymous, "Lou Lenart. 94, Pilot Who 'Saved Tel Aviv'," Military History, January 2016, p. 11. June The United States Air Force changes its designation for its fighter aircraft from P (for "pursuit") to F (for "fighter") and its designation for its ground-attack aircraft from A (for "attack") to B (for "bomber").Angelucci 1987 12 June 1 British European Airways (BEA) commences the first helicopter air mail service in the United Kingdom. The U.S. Navys Naval Air Transport Service and the U.S. Air Force Air Transport Commands Air Transport Service merge to form the Military Air Transport Service (MATS) under the direction of the U.S. Air Force. The merger places some U.S. Navy and all U.S. Air Force strategic airlift resources under MATS.Isenberg 1993 114 http://www.vrc-50.org/historyNATS.htm Felhofer Mark W. Chronology of Significant Events in Naval Aviation: "Naval Air Transport" 1941 – 1999 vrc-50.org https://web.archive.org/web/20160331224444/http://vrc-50.org/historyNATS.htm March 31, 2016 June 4 Philippine Airlines begins the first transpacific sleeper service, using Douglas DC-6 airliners between San Francisco, California, and Manila in the Philippine Islands. A passenger and a crew member aboard a Jugoslovenske Sovjet Transport Aviacija (JUSTA) Douglas C-47 Skytrain draw guns during a domestic flight in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from Beograd to Sarajevo and force the pilot to fly to Bari, Italy.Aviation Safety Network Hijacking Description June 5 – The U.S. Air Force's second Northrop YB-49 jet-powered flying wing bomber prototype crashes during a performance test flight on the test range in California's Antelope Valley, killing all five men on board. The airframe has 57 hours of flight time on it at the time of the crash. June 8 – Air India commences a regular Bombay-London service using Lockheed Constellations. June 17 A Transporturi Aeriene Româno-Sovietice (TARS) Douglas C-47 Skytrain is hijacked during a domestic flight over Romania and forced to fly to Salzburg Airport in Salzburg, Austria.Aviation Safety Network Hijacking Description The Douglas DC-6 Mainliner Utah (NC37506), operating as United Air Lines Flight 624, crashes near Aristes, Pennsylvania, killing all 43 people on board. American theatrical producer, director, songwriter, and composer Earl Carroll and American singer, dancer, and actress Beryl Wallace are among the dead.planecrashinfo.com Famous People Who Died in Aviation Accidents: 1940s June 26 – The Berlin Airlift begins, with U.S. Air Force, Royal Air Force, and British civil transport aircraft carrying supplies into West Berlin. June 28 – Royal Air Force Squadron Leader Basil Arkel sets a new helicopter speed record of 124 mph km/h on in a Fairey Gyrodyne. June 30 – Anti-Communists hijack a TABSO Junkers Ju 52 over Bulgaria during a domestic flight from Varna to Sofia. The pilot is killed during a struggle with them, and they force the airliner to fly to Istanbul, Turkey.Aviation Safety Network Hijacking Description July The U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff request that the United States establish an inventory of 150 atomic bombs for use against 100 urban targets in the event of war with the Soviet Union.Ross 1996 106 July 1 – With the transfer of its assets to the new Military Air Transportation Service completed, the U.S. Navys Naval Air Transport Service is disestablished. July 4 – A Scandinavian Airlines Douglas DC-6 and an Avro York C.1 of No. 99 Squadron, Royal Air Force, collide over Northwood in London in the United Kingdom. Both aircraft crash, killing all seven people aboard the York and all 32 people on board the DC-6. Among the dead is High Commissioner for the Federation of Malaya Sir Edward Gent, who had been a passenger aboard the York. July 6 – The U.S. Navy forms its first two carrier-based airborne early warning squadrons, Airborne Early Warning Squadron 1 (VAW-1) and Airborne Early Warning Squadron 2 (VAW-2). July 13 – A Bristol Type 170 Freighter makes the first flight of Silver City Airways air car-ferry service between Lympne, England, and Le Touquet, France.Donald 1997 74 July 14 – De Havilland Vampire F3s of the Royal Air Force's No. 54 Squadron become the first jet aircraft to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. The six aircraft, commanded by Wing Commander D. S. Wilson-MacDonald, DSO, DFC, go via Stornoway, Iceland, and Labrador to Montreal on the first leg of a goodwill tour of Canada and the United States, where they give several formation aerobatic displays. July 16 – The PBY Catalina flying boat Miss Macao (VR-HDT), operated by a Cathay Pacific subsidiary, flying from Macau to Hong Kong with 23 passengers and three crew on board, is hijacked midway over China's Pearl River Delta by a group of four hijackers attempting to rob the passengers. The hijackers attack the pilot, who loses control of the aircraft during the ensuing struggle in the cockpit. The subsequent crash kills all on board except one passenger, later identified as the lead hijacker. It is the first known airliner hijacking outside the Eastern Bloc.Aviation Safety Network Hijacking Description July 21 – A U.S. Air Force Boeing F-13 Superfortress photographic reconnaissance aircraft on a low-level atmospheric research flight accidentally ditches in Nevadas Lake Mead and sinks. The entire crew of five escapes safely in life rafts. August August 28 – The U.S. Navy Martin JRM-2 Mars flying boat Caroline Mars arrives in Chicago, Illinois, after a record-breaking nonstop flight of 4,748 mi km from Honolulu, Hawaii, in 24 hours 12 minutes with 42 people and a payload of 42,000 lb kg on board. August 29 – Northwest Airlines Flight 421, a Martin 2-0-2, loses part of its left wing in a thunderstorm and crashes between Fountain City, Wisconsin, and Winona, Minnesota, killing all 37 people on board. September thumb|upright|Cover of the 1948 Farnborough Airshow programme September 2 – The Australian National Airways Douglas DC-3 Lutana crashes into the North West Slopes of Australias Great Dividing Range near Nundle, New South Wales, killing all 13 people on board. September 5 – On a 390-mile (628-km) flight from Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, to Cleveland, Ohio, the U.S. Navy Martin JRM-2 Mars flying boat Caroline Mars sets a new cargo record of 62,262 lb kg, the heaviest payload any aircraft had ever carried. September 6 – A de Havilland DH.108 breaks the sound barrier, the first British aircraft to do so. September 11 & 12 – The first Farnborough International Airshow is held September 12 – Eight hijackers commandeer a Technical and Aeronautical Holdings (TAE) Douglas C-47B-15-DK Skytrain (registration SX-BAH) with 21 people aboard during a domestic flight over Greece from Athens to Thessaloniki and force it to fly them to Tetovo in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The hijackers deplane at Tetovo, and the airliner resumes its journey to Thessaloniki. The 1987 Greek movie Kloios will be based in this incident.Aviation Safety Network Hijacking Description September 15 The Government of Burma establishes Union of Burma Airways. It eventually will become Myanmar National Airlines. Flying an F-86A Sabre fighter, U.S. Air Force Major Richard L. Johnson sets a world speed record of 670.981 mph km/h on.Angelucci 1987 343 September 16 – President Harry S. Truman endorses National Council Report 30 (NSC-30), reserving to the President of the United States the power to order the use of atomic bombs by the United States Armed Forces.Ross 1996 13–4 September 18 A Royal Air Force de Havilland Mosquito crashes during an air show at RAF Manston on the Isle of Thanet in northeastern Kent, England, killing both of its crewmen and 10 spectators on the ground.12 Killed at Air Display September 20, 1948 4 51181 F Roy Ingleton Kent Disasters 2010 Pen & Sword Barnsley 117–9 The Convair XF-92A, the world's first delta-wing airplane, makes its first flight. The flight takes place at Muroc Dry Lake, California. Eugene Joseff, who as Joseff of Hollywood and Joseff: Jeweler of the Stars supplied 90 percent of the jewelry used in Hollywood films and who also was founder and president of Joseff Precision Metal Products, a maker of aircraft and missile parts, dies when the plane he is piloting crashes in fog 2 mi km in north of Newhall, California, five minutes after takeoff from Newhall Airport. The three men with him aboard the plane as passengers also die. http://scvhistory.com/scvhistory/lp_sanmateotimes091848.htm scvhistory.com 4 Including Movie Jeweler, Cartoonist Killed in Plane Crash at Newhall Airport SCVTV Santa Clarita, CA http://www.guyotbrothers.com/jewelry-history/jewelry-hall-of-fame/Joseff-of-Hollywood/joseff-of-hollywood.htm https://web.archive.org/web/20100915151130/http://www.guyotbrothers.com/jewelry-history/jewelry-hall-of-fame/Joseff-of-Hollywood/joseff-of-hollywood.htm usurped September 15, 2010 guyotbrothers.com Guyot Brothers Attleboro, MA Davis Carolyn N. Joseff of Hollywood September 25 – Flying in rain and fog, American professional wrestler Joe Lynam dies when his U.S. Navy surplus North American SNJ-4 Texan trainer crashes into Horse Ridge 500 ft m off us below its summit just after takeoff from Bend, Oregon. September 28–29 (overnight) – An Israeli Douglas C-54 Skymaster military transport aircraft converted for civilian use to carry President of Israel Chaim Weizmann from Geneva, Switzerland, to Israel makes the flight with extra fuel tanks installed to allow a nonstop trip and painted with the logo of the "El Al/Israel National Aviation Company". The flight begins the history of Israel's national airline, El Al, which will be incorporated in November. October October 1 – Transcontinental and Western Air inaugurates luxury all-sleeper service between New York City and Paris. The Paris-bound service is marketed as "Paris Sky Chief", the New York-bound service as "New York Sky Chief".TWA History Timeline https://web.archive.org/web/20150410102544/http://twaflightattendants.com/liftoffhtml/historytimeline.html April 10, 2015 October 2 – Bukken Bruse disaster: The pilots of the Det Norske Luftfartsselskap flying boat Bukken Bruse, a Short Sandringham with 43 people on board, lose control of the aircraft while attempting to land at Hommelvik in Malvik Municipality, Norway; the aircraft crashes and rapidly fills with water. Nineteen people die; the British philosopher Bertrand Russell is among the survivors and is hospitalized. October 6 – 1948 Waycross B-29 crash: A U.S. Air Force B-29-100-BW Superfortress bomber on a flight to test the secret Sunseeker infrared homing device later used on the AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missile crashes in Waycross, Georgia, shortly after takeoff from Robins Air Force Base, killing nine of the 13 men on board. The four survivors parachute to safety. October 10 – For the second time, a modified de Havilland Mosquito launches an expendable, unmanned, rocket-powered 30-percent-scale model of the cancelled British Miles M.52 supersonic research aircraft at high altitude. The first launch, in October 1947, had failed, but this time the model reaches Mach 1.38 in stable, level flight. Work on the project is discontinued after the flight. October 20 – 1948 KLM Constellation air disaster: KLM Lockheed L-049-46-25 Constellation PH-TEN Nijmegen crashes at about 23:32 UTC http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19481020-0 aviation-safety.net Accident description (19481020-0) Aviation Safety Network 2014-11-18 Reliable contemporary British reports, e.g. The Times newspaper (October 1948) and the Court of Investigation report (November 1949), cite the accident as occurring early on October 21. into power cables on high ground on approach to Glasgow Prestwick Airport, in Prestwick, Scotland, killing all 40 people on board, most on impact. Deteriorating visibility and inadequate charts are cited as causes. Among the KLM staff killed are the pilot, Koene Dirk Parmentier (a winner of the MacRobertson Air Race); the cofounder, Edgar Fuld; and the technical director, Hendrik Veenendaal. October 21 – United States Naval Reserve Naval Cadet Jesse L. Brown receives his Naval Aviator Badge, becoming the first African-American naval aviator. Dwight Margaret L. George A. Sewell Mississippi Black History Makers Oxford, Mississippi University Press of Mississippi 2009 978-1-60473-390-7 395 Fannin Caroline M. Betty Kaplan Gubert Miriam Sawyer Distinguished African Americans in Aviation and Space Science Westport, Connecticut Greenwood Press 2001 978-1-57356-246-1 41 https://archive.org/details/distinguishedafr00gube/page/41 Williams Albert E. Black Warriors: Unique Units and Individuals Haverford, Pennsylvania Infinity Publishing 2003 978-0-7414-1525-7 60 November November 15 – El Al is incorporated and becomes Israel's national airline. November 20 – An Israeli Air Force F-51 Mustang of 101 Squadron flown by a former United States Army Air Forces pilot shoots down a Royal Air Force Mosquito PR.34 photographic reconnaissance aircraft on a mission to photograph Israeli airfields, killing the Mosquito's two-man crew. The Israeli acquisition of Mustangs surprises the British and prompts them to suspend Mosquito reconnaissance flights over Palestine.O'Connor, Derek, "Spitfire vs. Spitfire," Aviation History, November 2014, pp. 56–57. November 30 – The U.S. Joint Intelligence Committee reports that as of August 1, 1948, the Soviet Air Force has 500,000 men and 15,000 aircraft and could deploy an additional 5,000 combat aircraft by six months after the beginning of a war. It forecasts that the Soviet Union will have a growing number of atomic bombs after 1950 with 20 to 50 available by 1956 or 1957, and that by 1957 the Soviet Air Force will be capable of attacking the continental United States and Canada.Ross 1996 104 December Mordechai Hod smuggles a Supermarine Spitfire into Israel by flying it all the way from Czechoslovakia.Hammel, Eric, Six Days in June: How Israel Won the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1992, 0-684-19390-6, p. 130. December 1 – The United States Air Force creates the Continental Air Command and subordinates the Air Defense Command and the Tactical Air Command to it.Maurer, Maurer Air Force Combat Units of World War II 1961 http://media.defense.gov/2010/Sep/21/2001330256/-1/-1/0/AFD-100921-044.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20161220180735/http://media.defense.gov/2010/Sep/21/2001330256/-1/-1/0/AFD-100921-044.pdf December 20, 2016 reprint 1983 Office of Air Force History Washington, DC 0-912799-02-1 61060979 12 December 7–8 – A U.S. Air Force Convair B-36 Peacemaker bomber flies from Carswell Air Force Base outside Fort Worth, Texas, to Hawaii, drops a 10,000 lb 0 dummy bomb into the Pacific Ocean, and returns to Carswell. It makes the nonstop 9,400 mi 3 on, 35-hour round trip without refueling.Horvat William J. 1966 Above the Pacific Aero Publishers https://aviation.hawaii.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Above-the-Pacific-by-Lieutenant-Colonel-William-J.-Horvat-1966.pdf 192 3 June 2026Thompson Warren E. May 17, 2022 Warren E Thompson Profiles the B-36, the Bomber That Came to Symbolise Strategic Air Command https://www.key.aero/article/profile-convair-b-36-peacemaker key.aero 5 June 2026 December 16 – The Royal Australian Navy commissions its first aircraft carrier, Sydney R17. December 17 – The original Wright Flyer goes on display at the Smithsonian Institution. December 22 – Using Douglas DC-4s, Northwest Orient Airlines inaugurates service between the continental United States and Hawaii.Horvat William J. 1966 Above the Pacific Aero Publishers 178 https://aviation.hawaii.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Above-the-Pacific-by-Lieutenant-Colonel-William-J.-Horvat-1966.pdf 3 June 2026 December 24 Aeroput, Yugoslavia's first civilian airline and the flag carrier of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia from 1927 to April 1941, when the German invasion of Yugoslavia knocked it out of business and destroyed most of its property, is liquidated after the Communist government of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia bans private joint-stock companies like Aeroput. Aeroput had never resumed operations, and JAT Jugoslovenski Aerotransport had replaced it as the national flag carrier in April 1947. As a public relations move, the U.S. Air Force issues a communique claiming that an "early warning radar net to the north" had detected "one unidentified sleigh, powered by eight reindeer, at 14,000 ft m off us sqbr, heading 180 degrees." The "report" is passed along to the public by the Associated Press. It is the first time that the U.S. armed forces have issued a statement about tracking Santa Claus's sleigh on Christmas Eve; doing so will become an annual holiday tradition beginning in 1955.Appelbaum, Yoni, "Yes, Virginia, There Is a NORAD," theatlantic.com, December 24, 2015. December 28 – The Douglas DC-3 NC16002 disappears on a flight from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Miami, Florida, with the loss of all 32 people on board. First flights Hiller UH-12 January January 8 – Lavochkin La-174, prototype of the La-15 January 21 - Jodel D.9 Bébéde Narbonne January 2008 76 February February 4 – Douglas Skyrocket February 22 – LWD Junak February 27 – SNCASO SO.7010 PégaseArchive 1993 No. 4 78 March March 5 – Curtiss XP-87 Blackhawk, the last Curtiss-designed aircraftAngelucci 1987 179 March 9 – Gloster E.1/44 March 22 – Lockheed TF-80C, prototype of the Lockheed T-33 Shooting StarAngelucci 1987 274 March 23 – Douglas XF3D-1, prototype of the Douglas F3D SkyknightAngelucci 1987 1486 May May 7 – Tupolev Tu-78 May 13 – Percival PrinceBridgman 1951 72c May 30 – Martin XP5M-1, prototype of the Martin P5M Marlin June June 1 – Cessna 170 June 9 – SNCASE SE-1210de Narbonne June 2008 76 June 12 – Avro AthenaDonald 1997 87 June 12 – Lazarov Laz-7Némeček 1989 470 June 15 – SNCASE SE-3101de Narbonne June 2008 77 June 23 – Arsenal VG 70de Narbonne June 2008 78 June 30 – Nord 1221 Norélande Narbonne June 2008 79 July July 3 – Douglas XAJ-1Ginter 1992 5 July 8 – Ilyushin Il-28 July 16 – Vickers ViscountMondey 1978 55 July 20 – SNCAC NC.211 Cormorande Narbonne July 2008 78 July 22 – Castel-Mauboussin CM.7de Narbonne July 2008 78 August August 16 – Northrop XF-89, prototype of the F-89 Scorpion August 23 – XF-85 GoblinAngelucci 1987 302 August 25 – Hurel-Dubois HD.10Carbonel 2022 86 August 29 – Piaggio P.136 September September 1 – Saab J-29, Sweden's second jetAndersson 1989 105–106 September 3 - CSS-10Němeček 1971 233 September 18 – Convair XF-92, the worlds first delta-winged airplaneAngelucci 1987 99 September 29 – Vought XF7U-1, prototype of the F7U Cutlass,Angelucci 1987 448 the first American tailless production fighter Bernier Robert Ensign Eliminator Aviation History July 2012 15 September 30 – OKB-1 140 (or Junkers EF 140) October October 5 – Westland WS-51 Dragonfly October 10 – Cierva W.14 Skeeter, prototype of the Saunders-Roe Skeeter October 12 – SNCAC NC.1071de Narbonne October 2008 77 October 20 – McDonnell XF-88 VoodooAngelucci 1987 304 October 23 – Sud-Est SE.3000de Narbonne October 2008 79 October 26 – Gloster Meteor T7 November November 12 – Sud-Ouest SE.6020 Espadonde Narbonne November 2008 77 November 24 – SNCASE SE-1010de Narbonne November 2008 79 December December 2 – Beechcraft Model 45, prototype of the Beechcraft T-34 MentorDonald 1997 98 December 5 – Ilyushin Il-20 December 7 – Cierva W.11 Air Horse G-ALCV December 16 – X-4 Bantam December 29 – Supermarine Type 510 Entered service Hiller OH-23 Raven with the United States Army North American P-82 Twin Mustang, last United States Army Air Forces piston-engined fighter to enter service, with the 27th Fighter GroupAngelucci 1987 340 March Martin AM Mauler with Attack Squadron 17A (VA-17A), United States Navy March 10 – North American FJ-1 Fury – the United States Navy′s first operational jet aircraft – with Fighter Squadron 1 (VF-1) aboard Boxer CV-21 April April 22 – North American B-45 Tornado with the United States Air Force May May 5 – McDonnell FH Phantom with U.S. Navy Fighter Squadron 17 (VF-17) aboard Saipan CVL-48 June June 1 – Convair CV-240 Convairliner with American AirlinesDonald 1997 272 June 2 – Convair B-36 Peacemaker with the United States Air Forces 7th Bombardment Wing (Heavy) October Handley Page Hastings with the Royal Air Force November North American B-45 Tornado with the U.S. Air Forces 47th Bombardment Wing Retirements Curtiss Hawk 75A by the Finnish Air ForceAngelucci 1987 157 Dewoitine D.26 by the Swiss Air Force September September 14 – Brewster F2A Buffalo by the Finnish Air ForceAngelucci 1987 429–93 Births August 8 – Svetlana Savitskaya, cosmonaut Deaths January 30 – Air Marshal Arthur Coningham, Royal Air Force lost in the disappearance of Star Tiger. March 7 – Air Vice Marshal Oliver Swann, Royal Naval Air Service and Royal Air Force. June 1 – Air Marshal John Frederick Andrews Higgins, Royal Air Force. References Andersson Hans G. Saab Aircraft since 1937 1989 Washington, DC Smithsonian Institution Press 0-87474-314-1 Angelucci Enzo The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present New York Orion Book 1987 0-517-56588-9 Bridgman Leonard Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1951–52 London Sampson Low, Marston & Company 1951 Carbonel Jean-Christophe Database: Hurel-Dubois Aircraft Aeroplane October 2022 50 10 83–99 0143-7240 David Donald The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft New York Barnes & Noble Books 1997 0-7607-0592-5 Ginter Steve North American AJ-1 Savage Naval Fighters Number 22 1992 Simi Valley, California Steve Ginter 0-942612-22-1 Isenberg Michael T. 1993 Shield of the Republic: The United States Navy in an Era of Cold War and Violent Peace I: 1945-1962 New York St. Martin's Press 0-312-09911-8 https://archive.org/details/shieldofrepublic00isen Mondey David The Complete Illustrated History of the Worlds Aircraft Secaucus, New Jersey Chartwell Books 1978 0-89009-771-2 https://archive.org/details/completeillustra00mond de Narbonne Roland Janvier 1948, dans l'aéronautique française: Un très beau bébé, le Jodel D.9 Le Fana de l'Aviation January 2008 458 76–77 fr de Narbonne January 2008 de Narbonne Roland Juin 1948, dans l'aéronautique française: Enfin des matériels nouveaux Le Fana de l'Aviation June 2008 463 76–79 fr de Narbonne June 2008 de Narbonne Roland Juillet 1948, dans l'aéronautique française: Trop vite, trop tôt, le NC 211 "Cormoran" Le Fana de l'Aviation July 2008 464 76–79 fr de Narbonne July 2008 de Narbonne Roland Octobre 1948, dans l'aéronautique française: NC 1071, SE 3000, encore deux prototypes sans suite... Le Fana de l'Aviation October 2008 467 76–79 fr de Narbonne October 2008 de Narbonne Roland Novembre 1948, dans l'aéronautique française: SO 6020 "Espadon", SE 1010, deux avions prometteurs aux des tins brisés... Le Fana de l'Aviation November 2008 468 76–79 fr de Narbonne November 2008 Němeček Václav Monografie: CSS-10 Letectví a Kosmonautica 1971 6 XLVII 233–234 cs Némeček Václav Monografie: Lazerov Laz-7: Část I Letectví a Komonautika 1989 LXV 12 470–472 cs 0024-1156 Paris Salon 1946 – The Outcome Archive Air-Britain 1993 3 77–80 Archive 1993 No. 4 Steven T. Ross Ross Steven T. American War Plans 1945–1950: Strategies For Defeating the Soviet Union Portland, Oregon Frank Cass 1996 0-7146-4192-8 Category:Aviation by year