1954 in aviation
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1954:
Contents |
[edit] Events
- The United States Navy adopts the probe-and-drogue aerial refueling system.[1]
[edit] 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.
[edit] February
- February 23 – Flying a Douglas XF4D-1, Robert Rahm climbs to 10,000 feet (3,048 meters) in 56 seconds.[2]
[edit] March
- No. 845 Squadron, Fleet Air Arm, begins service as the Royal Navy's first operational antisubmarine helicopter squadron.[3]
[edit] April
- 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.
- April 8 - a Royal Canadian Air Force Canadair Harvard collides with a Trans-Canada Airlines Canadair North Star over Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, killing 36 people on the aircraft and 1 person on the ground.
- April 29 - Convair becomes a division of General Dynamics.[4]
[edit] May
- May 1 - The Myasishchev M-4, the first Soviet bomber designed to reach the United States and return to the Soviet Union, is displayed to the public for the first time.[5] In reality, it lacks the range to reach the United States and return.[6]
[edit] 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.
[edit] July
- July 1 – The Japan Air Self-Defense Force is founded.
- July 1 – Vought becomes an independent company for the first time since 1929, taking the name Chance Vought Incorporated.[7]
- 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 – Soviet Air Force Lavochkin La-7s attack two U.S. Navy AD Skyraiders searching for survivors from the Cathay Pacific Airways flight. The Skyraiders in response shoot down the La-7s.
[edit] September
- 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.
[edit] October
- 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.[8]
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.[9]
- 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.
[edit] First flights
[edit] February
- February 22 - Convair R3Y Tradewind[10]
[edit] March
- March 4 – Lockheed XF-104, prototype of the F-104 Starfighter[11]
- March 19 – Auster A.O.P.9[12]
[edit] June
- June 14 – PAC Fletcher
- June 16 – Lockheed XFV-1 (first official flight)[13]
[edit] July
- July 15 – Boeing 367-80, 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[14]
[edit] August
- August 1 – Convair XFY-1 Pogo[15]
- August 3 – Rolls-Royce Thrust Measuring Rig (free flight).
- August 4 – English Electric P.1A, early prototype of the English Electric Lightning.[16]
- August 23 – Lockheed YC-130 Hercules, prototype of the C-130 Hercules, from Palmdale, California, to Edwards Air Force Base, California.
[edit] September
- September 29 - McDonnell F-101A Voodoo, flown by test pilot Robert C. Little.[17][18]
[edit] October
- October 3 – Douglas XF4D-1
- October 6 – Fairey FD.2
- October 28 – North American FJ-4 Fury[19]
[edit] Entered service
[edit] February
[edit] 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
[edit] 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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, 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.
- ^ Donald, David, ed., The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, ISBN 0-7607-0592-5, p. 90.
- ^ 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.
