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This is a list of aviation-related events from 1952:
[edit] Events
[edit] January
- United Nations forces in Korea begin Operation Moonlight Sonata, which uses the illumination effect of the moon on snow to allow night-flying aircraft to find enemy trains operating at night and isolate them by bombing the tracks in front of and behind them, with carrier-based naval aircraft destroying the isolated trains the following morning. Several trains are destroyed in this way by the spring of 1952.[3]
- The Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm makes use of a helicopter in a major rescue effort for the first time when a Westland Dragonfly attempts to rescue two men from the sinking cargo ship SS Flying Enterprise. Although the attempt is unsuccessful, the Dragonfly proves capable of flying in conditions previously thought to preclude helicopter operations.[4]
- January 5 – Pan American World Airways commences transatlantic freight services.
- January 22 – The de Havilland Comet 1 became the first turbojet-powered civil airliner to be awarded a certificate of airworthiness.
- January 22 – American Airlines Flight 6780, a Convair CV-240, crashes into a house in Elizabeth, New Jersey, while on final approach to Newark Airport, killing all 23 people on the plane and seven people on the ground. It is the first fatal accident involving a Convair CV-240. Among the dead are Robert P. Patterson, a jurist and former Undersecretary of War under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and former Secretary of War under President Harry S Truman; former war correspondent John F. Chester; and U.S. Civil Aeronautics Administration officials George T. Williams and John D. Rice, both engaged in the development of airport radar systems and navigational aids at the time.
[edit] January-February
- The U.S. Navy carries out Operation Package, an effort to use carrier air power to interdict enemy road and rail traffic in northeastern Korea, in conjunction with Operation Derail, a shore bombardment campaign against coastal roads and railroads by surface warships. The two operations are only partially successful.[5]
[edit] February
- April 11 – The Pan American World Airways Douglas DC-4 Clipper Endeavor, operating as Flight 526A, suffers the failure of two engines and ditches in rough seas in the Atlantic Ocean 11.3 miles northwest of San Juan, Puerto Rico, nine minutes after takeoff from San Juan-Isla Grande Airport. The plane breaks up and sinks in three minutes, with many panicking passengers refusing to leave the sinking aircraft; 52 of the 69 people on board die, and the United States Coast Guard rescues the 17 survivors. After this accident the implementation of pre-flight safety demonstrations for over-water flights is recommended.
- April 25 – John Jay Hopkins founds General Dynamics Corporation.[7]
- April 28 – The Pan American World Airways Boeing 377 Stratocruiser 10-26 Clipper Good Hope, operating as Flight 202, crashes in the Amazon Basin 410 km (220 nautical miles) southwest of Carolina, Brazil, killing all 50 people on board.
- June 13-16 - Soviet Air Force MiG-15s shoot down a Swedish Air Force C-47 Dakota on an intelligence gathering mission over the Baltic Sea, and the PBY Catalina that is sent to search for survivors.
- June 23-27 - United Nations aircraft conduct concentrated attacks on 13 North Korean electric power generation facilities which previously had been off-limits to air attack in the most intense use of airpower of the Korean War. Aircraft of the United States Air Force, United States Navy, and Marine Corps all participate as do all four aircraft carriers - USS Boxer (CV-21), USS Princeton (CV-37), USS Bon Homme Richard (CV-31), and USS Philippine Sea (CV-47) - of Task Force 77, with U.S. Navy and Marine Corps aircraft flying 1,200 sorties on June 23-24. The attacks result in extensive and sustained blackouts in North Korea and in bordering areas of the People's Republic of China, some of which last for months.[8]
- June 28 – American Airlines Flight 910, a Douglas DC-6, collides with a privately owned Temco Swift while on final approach to Love Field in Dallas, Texas. The DC-6 lands with no injuries to any of the 60 people on board, but the Swift crashes, killing both occupants.
[edit] August
- A massive strike by United Nations aircraft against industrial targets in and around Pyongyang, Korea, completes the destruction begun by the similar strike on July 11, 1952.[10]
- August 4 – Off Korea, the explosion of an aircraft fuel tank causes a fire on the flight deck of the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Boxer (CV-21) which kills nine and injures 30 men and destroys or damages 18 aircraft.[11]
- August 9 – Four Royal Navy piston-engined Hawker Sea Furies encounter eight MiG-15s near Pyongyang, Korea, and Lieutenant Peter Carmichael of No. 802 Squadron FAA aboard HMS Ocean shoots one down. It is the Fleet Air Arm's first kill of the Korean War and first MiG-15 kill.[12][13]
- August 12 – A bomb explodes aboard a Transportes Aéreos Nacional Douglas C-47A while it is in flight near Palmeira de Goiás, Brazil. The airliner crashes, killing all 24 people on board.
- August 28 – The first launch in combat of a guided missile by an aircraft carrier occurs when Guided Missile Unit 90 on board the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Boxer (CV-21) launches a pilotless F6F-5K Hellcat loaded with explosives as a remote-controlled drone against a railway bridge at Hungnam, Korea. The unit fires five more Hellcat drones at the bridge between August 28 and September 2, scoring two hits and one near-miss.[14]
[edit] September
[edit] October
- A U.S. Navy helicopter from the heavy cruiser USS Helena (CA-75) makes a 105-mile (169-km) flight, often under heavy enemy enemy antiaircraft fire, during which the enemy attempts to jam its communications with Helena and builds fires to lure it closer to antiaicraft guns. The rescue attempt, extremely lengthy for its time, is unsuccessful.[18]
- October 1 - The United States Navy reclassifies all of its "aircraft carriers" (CV) and "large aircraft carriers" (CVB) as "attack aircraft carriers" (CVA).[19]
- October 8 - Twelve F2H Banshee fighters of U.S. Navy Fighter Squadron 11 (VF-11) embarked aboard the aircraft carrier USS Kearsarge (CVA-33) escort U.S. Air Force B-29 Superfortress bombers in a raid on the rail and supply center at Kowon, Korea. Minutes later, 89 aircraft from USS Essex (CVA-9), USS Princeton (CVA-37), and Kearsarge follow up with a bomb and rocket attack on Kowon.[20]
- October 26 - a BOAC Comet is badly damaged in an accident during take-off from Rome-Ciampino airport
[edit] November
[edit] December
- December 6 – A Cubana de Aviación Douglas DC-4 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean shortly after takeoff from Kindley Air Force Base in Bermuda, killing 37 of the 41 people on board and leaving all four survivors injured. It remains the deadliest aviation accident in the history of Bermuda.
- December 20 – A United States Air Force C-124 Globemaster II, 50-100, c/n 43238, crashes on take-off from Larson Air Force Base in Moses Lake, Washington, in the United States, killing 87 servicemen, the highest confirmed death toll of any accident in aviation history at the time.
- December 26 – Wisconsin Central Airlines changes its name to North Central Airlines, and moves its headquarters from Clintonville, Wisconsin, to Minneapolis, Minnesota.
[edit] First flights
[edit] January
[edit] February
[edit] August
[edit] September
[edit] October
[edit] November
[edit] December
[edit] Entered service
[edit] January
[edit] August
[edit] November
[edit] References
- ^ Sturtivant, Ray, British Naval Aviation: The Fleet Air Arm, 1917-1990, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1990, ISBN 0-87021-026-2, p. 216.
- ^ Sturtivant, Ray, British Naval Aviation: The Fleet Air Arm, 1917-1990, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1990, ISBN 0-87021-026-2, p. 216.
- ^ Knott, Robert C., Attack From the Sky: Naval Air Operations in the Korean War, Washington, D.C.: Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center, 2004, ISBN 0-945274-53-1, pp. 52-54.
- ^ Sturtivant, Ray, British Naval Aviation: The Fleet Air Arm, 1917-1990, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1990, ISBN 0-87021-026-2, p. 184.
- ^ Knott, Robert C., Attack From the Sky: Naval Air Operations in the Korean War, Washington, D.C.: Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center, 2004, ISBN 0-945274-53-1, p. 52.
- ^ Knott, Robert C., Attack From the Sky: Naval Air Operations in the Korean War, Washington, D.C.: Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center, 2004, ISBN 0-945274-53-1, p. 44.
- ^ Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 204.
- ^ Knott, Robert C., Attack From the Sky: Naval Air Operations in the Korean War, Washington, D.C.: Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center, 2004, ISBN 0-945274-53-1, p. 54.
- ^ Knott, Robert C., Attack From the Sky: Naval Air Operations in the Korean War, Washington, D.C.: Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center, 2004, ISBN 0-945274-53-1, p. 54.
- ^ Knott, Robert C., Attack From the Sky: Naval Air Operations in the Korean War, Washington, D.C.: Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center, 2004, ISBN 0-945274-53-1, p. 54.
- ^ Knott, Robert C., Attack From the Sky: Naval Air Operations in the Korean War, Washington, D.C.: Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center, 2004, ISBN 0-945274-53-1, pp. 54-55.
- ^ 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 13579108642, p. 37.
- ^ Knott, Robert C., Attack From the Sky: Naval Air Operations in the Korean War, Washington, D.C.: Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center, 2004, ISBN 0-945274-53-1, p. 56.
- ^ Knott, Robert C., Attack From the Sky: Naval Air Operations in the Korean War, Washington, D.C.: Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center, 2004, ISBN 0-945274-53-1, p. 56.
- ^ Muir, Malcolm, Jr., Sea Power on Call: Fleet Operations June 1951-July 1953, Washington, D.C.: Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center, 2005, ISBN 0-945274-53-X, p. 24.
- ^ Knott, Robert C., Attack From the Sky: Naval Air Operations in the Korean War, Washington, D.C.: Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center, 2004, ISBN 0-945274-53-1, p. 57.
- ^ Knott, Robert C., Attack From the Sky: Naval Air Operations in the Korean War, Washington, D.C.: Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center, 2004, ISBN 0-945274-53-1, pp. 60, 62.
- ^ Muir, Malcolm, Jr., Sea Power on Call: Fleet Operations June 1951-July 1953, Washington, D.C.: Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center, 2005, ISBN 0-945274-53-X, p. 35.
- ^ Knott, Robert C., Attack From the Sky: Naval Air Operations in the Korean War, Washington, D.C.: Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center, 2004, ISBN 0-945274-53-1, p. 57.
- ^ Knott, Robert C., Attack From the Sky: Naval Air Operations in the Korean War, Washington, D.C.: Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center, 2004, ISBN 0-945274-53-1, p. 57.
- ^ Polmar, Norman, "Historic Aircraft: The Flying Banana," Naval History, August 2010, p. 16.
- ^ Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 187.
- ^ Knott, Robert C., Attack From the Sky: Naval Air Operations in the Korean War, Washington, D.C.: Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center, 2004, ISBN 0-945274-53-1, p. 63.
- ^ Knott, Robert C., Attack From the Sky: Naval Air Operations in the Korean War, Washington, D.C.: Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center, 2004, ISBN 0-945274-53-1, p. 63.
- ^ Knott, Robert C., Attack From the Sky: Naval Air Operations in the Korean War, Washington, D.C.: Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center, 2004, ISBN 0-945274-53-1, p. 187.
- ^ Knott, Robert C., Attack From the Sky: Naval Air Operations in the Korean War, Washington, D.C.: Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center, 2004, ISBN 0-945274-53-1, p. 60.
- ^ 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. 402.
- ^ 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, says that the first flight took place on "April 19 or May 19, 1952", but also places the date on May 19, 1952, in an accompanying table.
- ^ Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, ISBN 0-7607-0592-5, p. 21.
- ^ Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, ISBN 0-7607-0592-5, p. 273.
- ^ Swanborough, Gordon, and Peter M. Bowers, United States Navy Aircraft Since 1911, London: Putnam, 1976, ISBN 0-370-10054-9, p. 233.
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