1962 IN AVIATION

This is a list of aviation-related events from 1962:

Contents

Events

January

February

April

June

July

September

October

December

First flights

Entered service

Events

January

★ US Army CH-21 Shawnees are dispatched to Vietnam, the first US military aircraft to be deployed there

★ January 10-11 - a B-52 Stratofortress is flown from Okinawa to Madrid, establishing a new distance record of 12,532 miles (20,168 km)

★ January 24 - two US Navy F-4 Phantoms are seconded to the US Air Force as the air force plans to adopt the type.

February

★ February 20 - John Glenn becomes the first US astronaut to orbit the earth in Mercury Atlas 6

April

★ the United States Marine Corps arrives in Vietnam

★ April 26 - Lou Schalk pilots the 1st unofficial flight of the A-12 Article 121

★ April 30 - Lou Schalk pilots the 1st official flight of the A-12 Article 121

June

★ June 3 - An Air France Boeing 707 jet crashed shortly after takeoff from Paris, killing 130.

★ June 19 - Four Luftwaffe F-104 Starfighters collided and crashed, killing 4 pilots.

July

★ July 7 - a Soviet Air Force Mikoyan-Gurevich Ye-152 sets a new airspeed record of 2,681 km/h (1,666 mph)

★ July 17 - Maj Robert M. White (USAF), pilots the North American X-15 to a record altitude of 314 750 feet (59 miles, 96 km).

★ July 25 - the US Army forms its first armed helicopter company, using UH-1 Hueys

September

★ September 18 - United States Armed Forces are directed by the United States Department of Defense to use a unified designation system for aircraft. See 1962 United States Tri-Service aircraft designation system for more information.

October

★ October 14 - a US Air Force Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance flight over Cuba reveals the presence of launchpads for Medium Range Ballistic Missiles, triggering the Cuban Missile Crisis

★ October 24 - aircraft carriers USS ''Enterprise'', USS ''Independence'', USS ''Essex'', and USS ''Randolph'' take part in blockading Cuba.

★ October 26 - the last B-52 off the production line is delivered to the US Air Force

★ October 27 - a USAF U-2 is shot down over Cuba

December

★ December 8 - British troops are airlifted to Borneo to quell uprisings in the region

First flights

'January'

★ January 9 - Hawker Siddeley Trident
'April'

★ April 14 - Bristol Type 188
'June'

★ Jovair J-2

★ June 29 - Vickers VC10 ''G-ARTA
'August'

★ August 10 - Bell 533

★ August 13 - Hawker Siddeley HS.125 ''G-ARYA''
'September'

★ September 19 - Aero Spacelines Pregnant Guppy
'October'

★ October 12 - Dassault Balzac (tethered flight)

★ October 28 - Westland Wasp
'December'

★ December 7 - Aérospatiale Super Frelon

★ December 22 - Lockheed A-12

★ December 24 - Aérospatiale N 262

Entered service

'March'

★ March 18 - Convair CV-990 with American Airlines
'June'

★ McDonnell F4H-1 with US Marine Corps VMF(AW)-314
'July'

★ July 1 - Boeing Vertol 107 with New York Airways