1953 in aviation
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1953:
[edit] Events
[edit] January
[edit] February
- June 1 – The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds are activated as the 3600th Air Demonstration Team at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona.
- June 11 – The second prototype of the Gloster Javelin crashes. Gloster test pilot Peter Lawrence ejects at an altitude of about 400 feet (122 m) but is killed.
- June 15 – The Royal Navy aircraft carriers HMS Eagle, HMS Illustrious, HMS Implacable, HMS Indefatigable, HMS Indomitable, HMS Perseus, and HMS Theseus, the Royal Canadian Navy aircraft carrier HMCS Magnificent, and the Royal Australian Navy aircraft carrier HMAS Sydney and 37 squadrons of Fleet Air Arm and Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve aircraft – including Fireflies, Sea Furies, Seafires, Attackers, Vampires, Skyraiders, Sea Hornets, Meteors, Avengers, Gannets, Wyverns, Sea Venoms, Sea Hawks, and Dragonflies – take part in the Coronation Review of the Fleet for Queen Elizabeth II. The ceremonies include a fly-past by 300 naval aircraft.[7]
- June 18 – A U.S. Air Force C-124 Globemaster II crashes near Tokyo, Japan, killing 129 people in the worst air crash in history at the time and the first with a confirmed death toll exceeding 100. The toll surpasses a 1952 crash in Moses Lake, Washington, in the United States, also involving a U.S. Air Force Globemaster II.
- June 18 – René Fonck, the top-scoring Allied and second-highest-scoring ace overall of World War I with 75 kills, dies in Paris, France at the age of 59.
- June 30 – A SNCASO S.O. 4000 (prototype of the Sud Vautour fighter-bomber) becomes the first European aircraft to exceed the speed of sound in a shallow dive.
- Chilean President Carlos Ibáñez del Campo grants the Chilean Navy the authority to operate helicopters and transport aircraft. It is the first time that the navy has had administrative control over aircraft since 1930.[8]
- July 1 – The responsibility for air traffic control over West Germany is transferred from the Allies to West German authorities.
- July 3 – The first tethered flight by the Rolls-Royce Thrust Measuring Rig VTOL aircraft takes place.
- July 8 – Sabena begins the first international helicopter services, linking Brussels (Belgium) with destinations in the Netherlands and France
- July 17 – Lieutenant Guy P. Bordelon scores his fifth aerial victory, becoming the United States Navy's only ace of the Korean War. He had scored all five victories since June 29, using an F4U-5N Corsair night fighter to shoot down North Korean light aircraft making night harassment raids.[9]
- July 24–26 – Operating off the east coast of Korea, the U.S. Navy aircraft carriers USS Boxer (CVA-21), USS Lake Champlain (CVA-39), USS Philippine Sea (CVA-47), and USS Princeton (CVA-37), supporting United Nations ground forces, break records for the number of sorties flown with the highest sortie rates of the Korean War. They average 170 sorties per day, and Princeton aircraft fly 184 sorties on one day.[10][11]
- July 27 – The Korean War ends.
[edit] August
[edit] September
[edit] October
- October – Chapter One of the Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based Experimental Aircraft Association is formed in Riverside, California.
- October 3 – Flying a Douglas XF4D-1, U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander James F. Verdin sets a world airpseed record over a 3 km (1.9 mi) course of 752.944 mph (1,211.487 km/hr). It is the first time that a carrier-capable combat aircraft in its normal configuration sets a world speed record.[12][13]
- October 10 – A Royal Air Force English Electric Canberra wins the Christchurch Centenary air race, flying 11,792 miles (18,977 km) from England to New Zealand in 23 hours 50 minutes.
- October 16 – Flying a Douglas XF4D-1, Robert Rahm sets a world airpseed record over a 100 km (62 mi) closed-circuit course of 728.11 mph (1,171.53 km/hr) at Muroc Dry Lake, California.[13]
- October 20 – A Transworld Airlines Lockheed Constellation makes the first non-stop scheduled passenger flight across the United States.
- October 29 – The British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines Douglas DC-6 Resolution, operating as Flight 304, crashes near Woodside, California, while on initial approach to San Francisco International Airport in San Mateo County, California, killing all 19 people on board. Among the dead is pianist William Kapell.
- October 29 – Flying a North American YF-100A Super Sabre, U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Frank K. "Speedy Pete" Everest sets a world speed record of 755.149 mph (1,216.021 km/hr).[14]
[edit] November
[edit] First flights
[edit] January
[edit] September
[edit] October
[edit] December
[edit] Entered service
[edit] January
[edit] Retirements
[edit] References
- ^ ICAO statement, 29 December 1953.
- ^ Scheina, Robert L., Latin America: A Naval History 1810-1987, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1987, ISBN 0-87021-295-8, p. 194.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 280.
- ^ Sturtivant, Ray, British Naval Aviation: The Fleet Air Arm, 1917-1990, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1990, ISBN 0-87021-026-2, p. 182.
- ^ a b 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. 400.
- ^ Sturtivant, Ray, British Naval Aviation: The Fleet Air Arm, 1917-1990, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1990, ISBN 0-87021-026-2, p. 174.
- ^ Scheina, Robert L., Latin America: A Naval History 1810-1987, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1987, ISBN 0-87021-295-8, p. 200.
- ^ 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. 61.
- ^ 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. 64.
- ^ 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. 21.
- ^ globalsecurity.org F4D (F-6A) Skyray
- ^ a b 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. 190.
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ 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. 264.
- ^ Swanborough, Gordon, and Peter M. Bowers, United States Navy Aircraft Since 1911, London: Putnam, 1976, ISBN 0-370-10054-9, p. 413.
- ^ 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. 104.
- ^ 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. 350.
- ^ 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. 100.
- ^ Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 282.
- ^ Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 305.
- ^ Angelucci, Enzo, The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 341.
|
|
|
| General |
|
|
| Military |
|
|
| Accidents/incidents |
|
|
| Records |
|
|
] in Korea.[6]
