1946 IN AVIATION

This is a list of aviation-related events from 1946:

Contents

Events

January

February

March

May

June

July

September

October

November

First flights

Entered service

Events

January

★ January 1 - a British South American Airways Avro Lancastrian becomes the first commercial flight to depart Heathrow Airport

★ January 10 - a Sikorsky R5 sets an unofficial helicopter altitude record of 6,400 m (21,000 ft) at Stratford, Connecticut.

★ January 26 - Col William Councill sets a new US transcontinental speed record of 4 hours 13 minutes in a Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star

February

★ February 6 - TWA makes its first international flight, from New York to Paris

★ February 11 - U.S. and British negotiators reach the Bermuda Agreement, the first bilateral agreement regulating air transport. The two countries agree to fix transatlantic air fares through the International Air Transport Association.

March

★ March 8 - the Bell 47 receives the first type certificate awarded to a commercial helicopter.

★ March 21 - Strategic Air Command of the United States Army Air Force is formed.

May

★ May 31 - London Heathrow Airport is officially opened.

June

★ June 15 - the Navy's new Flight Demonstration Squadron, the Blue Angels, gives its first public performance at Craig Field in Jacksonville, Florida.

★ June 21 - a USAF P-80 Shooting Star carries the first airmail flown by jet.

July

★ July 1 - a B-29 Superfortress drops an atomic bomb on Bikini Atoll in a nuclear test.

★ July 21 - a McDonnell FH Phantom makes the first landing by a jet aboard a US aircraft carrier, USS ''Franklin D. Roosevelt''

September

★ September 7 - a Royal Air Force Gloster Meteor established a new world absolute air speed record of 615.65 mph (990.79 km/h) flown by Group Captain E.M. Donaldson off the coast of West Sussex, England.

★ September 16 - Italian airline Alitalia was formed.

★ September 19 - Portuguese airline Transportes Aéreos Portugueses (TAP) is formed.

★ September 27 - Geoffrey de Havilland Jr is killed when the de Havilland DH.108 breaks up in mid-air

★ September 29 - a United States Navy Lockheed P2V Neptune sets a new distance record of 11,235 miles (18,082 km)

October

★ October 3 – A Berlin-bound 4 engine Douglas C-54 named 'Flagship New England' crashed into a mountainside outside of Stephenville, Newfoundland and Labrador. The flight, operated by American Overseas Airlines was mostly carrying wives and children of US Army personnel serving in post-war Germany. All 39 people on board died. At the time, it was the worst accident of its kind among US civilian airlines.

November

★ November 23 - An Avro Lancastrian powered with Rolls-Royce Nene turbojets is credited with the first international passenger jet flight from London to Paris. The flight time was just 41 minutes.

First flights

'January'

★ January 19 - Bell X-1 (unpowered)
'February'

★ February 28 - Republic XP-84 Thunderjet ''45-54975''
'April'

★ April 24 - Mikoyan-Gurevich I-300, the Soviet Union's first jet

★ April 24 - Yakovlev Yak-15 (three hours after the I-300)
'May'

★ May 17 - Douglas XB-43, first US jet bomber ''44-61508''
'June'

★ June 6 - Aérocenter NC.3020 Belphégor

★ June 7 - Short Sturgeon prototype ''RK787''

★ June 25 - Northrop XB-35 flying wing bomber ''42-13603''
'July'

★ July 7 - Hughes XF-11

★ July 27 - Supermarine Attacker prototype ''TS409''
'August'

★ August 8 - Convair XB-36 ''42-13570''
'September'

★ September 11 - Lavochkin La-150

★ September 11 - North American XFJ-1, prototype of the FJ Fury, the first jet aircraft to enter service with the US Navy
'November'

★ November 11 - SNCASO SO-6000 Triton, France's first jet

★ November 11 - Avions Fairey Belfair ''OO-TIA''

★ November 13 - Sukhoi Su-9

★ November 16 - Saab 90 Scandia prototype ''SE-BCA''
'December'

★ December 2 - T-34 Mentor

★ December 12 - Westland Wyvern ''TS371''

Entered service

'September'

★ September 1 - Vickers Viking with British European Airways (''G-AHOP'')

★ September 30 - Short S.26 with BOAC ''Golden Hind (G-AFCI)''