1954 in aviation
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1954:
Events
- The United States Navy adopts the probe-and-drogue aerial refueling system.[1]
January
- January 6 – A Royal Air Force Vickers Valetta T3 carrying a rugby team crashes at Albury, Hertfordshire, England, in bad weather, killing 16 of the 17 people on board.
- January 10 – A de Havilland Comet 1, operating BOAC Flight 781, crashes into the Mediterranean Sea near Elba following fatigue failure, killing all 35 people aboard.
February
- February 9 – A steam catapult is tested aboard a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier for the first time, when a 15-short-ton (13.6-metric ton) metal mass is catapulted down the deck of the attack aircraft carrier USS Hancock (CVA-19) while she is anchored in Puget Sound.[2]
- February 23 – Flying a Douglas XF4D-1, Robert Rahm climbs to 10,000 feet (3,048 meters) in 56 seconds.[3]
March
- No. 845 Squadron, Fleet Air Arm, begins service as the Royal Navy's first operational antisubmarine helicopter squadron.[4]
April
- As French fortunes wane in the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in northwestern Vietnam, the Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Arthur W. Radford, places U.S. Navy aircraft carriers on a 12-hour alert to intervene.[5]
- April 1 – The last operational flight by a Royal Air Force Spitfire takes place. It is a photographic reconnaissance sortie against bandits in Malaya.
- April 8
- A de Havilland Comet 1, operating South African Airways Flight 201 from Rome to Cairo and Johannesburg, disintegrates in mid-air over the Mediterranean Sea near Naples following fatigue failure, killing all 14 passengers and seven crew.
- A Royal Canadian Air Force Canadair Harvard collides with a Trans-Canada Airlines Canadair North Star over Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada, killing 36 people aboard the two aircraft and one person on the ground.
- April 29 – Convair becomes a division of General Dynamics.[6]
May
- May 1 – The Myasishchev M-4, the first Soviet bomber purportedly designed to reach the United States and return to the Soviet Union, is displayed to the public for the first time.[7] In reality, however, it lacks the range to reach the United States and return.[8]
- May 26 – A hydraulic catapult explodes aboard the U.S. Navy attack aircraft carrier USS Bennington (CVA-20) while she is steaming in Narragansett Bay off Naval Air Station Quonset Point, Rhode Island, killing 104 men[9] and injuring 201.
- May 28 – United States Air Force Major Arthur W. Murray flies the Bell X-1A to a world-record altitude of 90,440 feet (27,570 meters).
June
- June 2 – Yugoslavian Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15s attack a Belgian Douglas DC-3, which lands in Austria.
- June 19 – The Swissair Convair CV-240 Ticino runs out of fuel and ditches in the English Channel off Folkestone, Kent, England. Three of the nine people on board die in the accident, and all six survivors are injured.
- June 21 – Three United States Air Force B-47 Stratojets cross the Pacific Ocean in under 15 hours.
July
- July 1
- The Japan Air Self-Defense Force is founded.
- Vought becomes an independent company for the first time since 1929, taking the name Chance Vought Incorporated.[10]
- July 22 – Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force Lavochkin La-7 fighters shoot down the Cathay Pacific Airways Douglas C-54A-10-DC Skymaster VR-HEU off the coast of Hainan Island, forcing it to ditch. Ten of the 19 people aboard are killed in the attack and crash landing. South Vietnamese, French, Royal Air Force, and United States Air Force aircraft participate in rescuing the survivors.
- July 26 – Two People's Republic of China Lavochkin La-7s attack three U.S. Navy aircraft – two AD Skyraiders and an F4U Corsair – searching for survivors from the Cathay Pacific Airways flight. The American aircraft shoot them both down.[11]
August
- August 25 – The top-scoring American jet ace in history, U.S. Air Force Captain Joseph C. McConnell, dies in the crash of an F-86H Sabre fighter-bomber when its controls malfunction during a test flight at Edwards Air Force Base, California.
September
- September 4 – Two Soviet MiG fighters fire on a U.S. Navy P2V Neptune patrolling off the east coast of the Soviet Union. It remains unclear whether the Neptune had remained over international waters during its flight or had violated Soviet airspace.[12]
- September 5 – KLM Flight 633, a Lockheed L1049 Super Constellation, ditches on a mudbank in the River Shannon after takeoff from Shannon Airport in Ireland, killing 28 of the 56 people on board.
October
- The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), U.S. Air Force, and U.S. Navy form the NACA-Air Force-Navy Research Aircraft Committee to develop a Mach 6 rocket-boosted hypersonic research aircraft. It is the beginning of the North American X-15 program; the committee later will be known as the X-15 Committee.[13]
- October 12 – North American Aviation chief test pilot and World War II ace George Welch is killed in the crash of a North American F-100A Super Sabre during a test flight, resulting in the grounding of all F-100A aircraft.[14]
November
- November 2 – The vertical -takeoff-or-landing (VTOL) Convair XFY transitions from vertical to horizontal flight and back.
- November 7 – Soviet Air Force MiG-15 fighters shoot down a U.S. Air Force B-29 Superfortress off Hokkaidō, Japan. The Soviet Union claims the B-29 was spying at the time.
- November 17 – A U.S. Air Force B-47 Stratojet is forced by bad weather to remain aloft for 47 hours 35 minutes, needing nine aerial refuellings.
December
- December 17 – President Dwight D. Eisenhower presents James H. "Dutch" Kindleberger and the North American Aviation F-100 Super Sabre design team with the Collier Trophy in recognition of their contributions to aviation.[15]
- December 25 – BOAC Boeing 377 Stratocruiser G-ALSA crashes on landing at Glasgow Prestwick Airport, killing 28 of the 36 passengers and crew on board.
First flights
February
- February 22[16] or 25[17] – Convair R3Y Tradewind, transport version of the Convair XP5Y-1 patrol aircraft prototype[17]
March
- March 4 – Lockheed XF-104, prototype of the F-104 Starfighter[18]
- March 19 – Auster A.O.P.9[19]
June
- June 14 – PAC Fletcher
- June 16 – Lockheed XFV-1 (first official flight)[18]
July
- July 15 – Boeing 367-80,[20] prototype of the Boeing 707 and Boeing C-135 families.
- July 30 – Grumman YF9F-9, prototype of the F11F Tiger, the world's first carrier-based supersonic fighter[21]
August
- August 1 – Convair XFY-1 Pogo[22]
- August 1 – LIPNUR Sikumbang[23]
- August 3 – Rolls-Royce Thrust Measuring Rig (free flight).
- August 4 – English Electric P.1A, early prototype of the English Electric Lightning.[24]
- August 11 – Folland Midge[23]
- August 23 – Lockheed YC-130 Hercules, prototype of the C-130 Hercules, from Palmdale, California, to Edwards Air Force Base, California.
September
- Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck Mark 5[25]
- September 29 – McDonnell F-101A Voodoo, flown by test pilot Robert C. Little.[26][27]
October
- October 3 – Douglas XF4D-1
- October 6 – Fairey FD.2[23]
- October 12 – Cessna T-37[23]
- October 28 – North American FJ-4 Fury[28]
- October 28 – Taylorcraft Ranch Wagon[23]
November
- November 25 – Kawasaki KAL-2[23]
December
- December 28 – Nord Norelfe[23]
Entered service
February
May
September
- North American FJ-3 Fury with United States Navy Fighter Squadron 173 (VF-173)
- September 27 - North American F-100 Super Sabre with the United States Air Force's 479th Fighter Wing
See also
References
- ^ Crosby, Francis, The Complete Guide to Fighters & Bombers of the World: An Illustrated History of the World's 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: Anness Publishing Ltd., 2006, ISBN 978-1-84476-917-9, p. 47.
- ^ Isenberg, Michael T., Shield of the Republic: The United States Navy in an Era of Cold War and Violent Peace, Volume I: 1945-1962, New York: St. Martin's Press, ISBN 0-312-09911-8, p. 176.
- ^ globalsecurity.org F4D (F-6A) Skyray
- ^ Thetford, Owen, British Naval Aircraft Since 1912, Sixth Edition, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991, ISBN 1-55750-076-2, p. 26.
- ^ Isenberg, Michael T., Shield of the Republic: The United States Navy in an Era of Cold War and Violent Peace, Volume I: 1945-1962, New York: St. Martin's Press, ISBN 0-312-09911-8, p. 607.
- ^ Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 97.
- ^ Crosby, Francis, The Complete Guide to Fighters & Bombers of the World: An Illustrated History of the World's 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: Anness Publishing Ltd., 2006, ISBN 978-1-84476-917-9, p. 283.
- ^ Wikipedia Myasishchev M4 article.
- ^ Isenberg, Michael T., Shield of the Republic: The United States Navy in an Era of Cold War and Violent Peace, Volume I: 1945-1962, New York: St. Martin's Press, ISBN 0-312-09911-8, p. 240.
- ^ Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, ISBN 0-517-56588-9, p. 429.
- ^ Isenberg, Michael T., Shield of the Republic: The United States Navy in an Era of Cold War and Violent Peace, Volume I: 1945-1962, New York: St. Martin's Press, ISBN 0-312-09911-8, p. 611.
- ^ Isenberg, Michael T., Shield of the Republic: The United States Navy in an Era of Cold War and Violent Peace, Volume I: 1945-1962, New York: St. Martin's Press, ISBN 0-312-09911-8, p. 598.
- ^ Hallion, Richard P., "Across the Hypersonic Divide," Aviation History, July 2012, p. 40.
- ^ Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, ISBN 0-517-56588-9, p. 352.
- ^ Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, ISBN 0-517-56588-9, p. 353.
- ^ Swanborough, Gordon, and Peter M. Bowers, United States Navy Aircraft Since 1911, London: Putnam, 1976, ISBN 0-370-10054-9, p. 422.
- ^ a b Polmar, Norman, "Historic Aircraft: Great But Impractical Aircraft," Naval History, June 2012, p. 13.
- ^ a b Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 282.
- ^ Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, ISBN 0-7607-0592-5, p. 70.
- ^ Mondey, David, ed., The Complete Illustrated History of the World's Aircraft, Secaucus, New Jersey: Chartwell Books, Inc., 1978, ISBN 0-89009-771-2, p. 55.
- ^ Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, ISBN 0-517-56588-9, p. 249.
- ^ Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 105.
- ^ a b c d e f g Bridgman 1955, p. 40.
- ^ Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, ISBN 0-7607-0592-5, p. 90.
- ^ Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, ISBN 978-0-7607-0592-6, p. 88.
- ^ City of Lancaster, CA honors test pilot Robert C. Little
- ^ Joe Baugher's F-101A History
- ^ Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, ISBN 0-517-56588-9, p. 349.
- ^ Bernier, Robert, "Ensign Eliminator," Aviation History, July 2012, p. 15.
- Bridgman, Leonard. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1955–56, New York: The McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1955.