Events
* The American Section of the International League of Aviators resurrects the National Trophy, a Harmon Trophy awarded from 1926 to 1938 to the outstanding aviator of the year in each of the 21 member countries of the now-defunct League. It will be awarded until 1949 amid much controversy, with the awards going largely unrecognized. * The Electric Boat Company purchases Canadair from the Government of Canada, an important step toward the 1952 founding of General Dynamics Corporation. * The ''Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses pour la Sécurité de l'Aviation Civile'' (BEA), or Bureau of Investigation and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety, is formed as the Government of France, French government agency responsible for investigating aviation accidents and incidents and making safety recommendations based on what is learned from those investigations. * The Nicaraguan airline LANICA begins flight operations.January
* Aeropostal Alas de Venezuela (LAV) inaugurates its second international route, offering service between Venezuela and Aruba in the Netherlands East Indies. The route connects LAV with KLM′s international route structure. * January 1 **A British South American Airways Avro Lancastrian becomes the first commercial flight to depart from London Heathrow Airport. **East African Airways begins flight operations. **Middle East Airlines begins flight operations, flying three de Havilland Dragon Rapide, de Havilland DH.89A Dragon Rapides between Beirut, Lebanon, and Nicosia, Cyprus. * January 6 – Pennsylvania Central Airlines Flight 105, a Douglas DC-3, Douglas DC-3-393, crashes while landing at Birmingham Municipal Airport in Birmingham, Alabama, killing three and injuring five of the 19 people on board. * January 8 – The U.S. Joint War Plans Committee reports that by July 1946, as a result of post-World War II demobilization, the United States Army Air Forces will have only five heavy bomber Group (military aviation unit), groups in Europe, with only a 65-percent readiness level, and a reserve force of five heavy bomber groups in the United States, with only a 20-percent readiness level. It also reports that the United States Navy will have 13 aircraft carriers at a high state of readiness by that time. It finds that in the event of war with the Soviet Union, the only effective American response will be the delivery of atomic bombs by aircraft of the U.S. Army Air Forces and the United States Navy, and recommends atomic strikes by Army Air Forces Boeing B-29 Superfortress, B-29 Superfortress bombers based in England; Foggia, Italy; Agra, India; and Chengdu, Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China, on 17 Soviet cities to target administrative and research and development centers and aircraft and munitions factories, with an expectation of a B-29 loss rate of 35 percent. It recommends an inventory of 196 atomic bombs in order to carry out this campaign. * January 10 – A Sikorsky R5 sets an unofficial helicopter altitude record of 6,400 m (20,997 ft) at Stratford, Connecticut, Stratford, Connecticut. * January 12 – The U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff note that the use of atomic bombs alone will be insufficient to defeat the Soviet Union in the event of a war, and that substantial conventional air, ground, and naval forces will remain necessary. * January 14 – Pan American Airways becomes the first airline to offer transatlantic Lockheed Constellation service, beating its rival Transcontinental & Western Air in providing transatlantic Constellation service by three weeks. * January 18 – The most decorated United States Navy ship of World War II, the aircraft carrier , arrives at Bayonne, New Jersey, Bayonne, New Jersey, completing the second of her two round-trip voyages between the New York City area and Southampton, England, to bring American military personnel back to the United States as part of Operation Magic Carpet. She never puts to sea again. * January 26 – United States Army Air Forces Colonel William Councill sets a new U.S. transcontinental speed record of 4 hours 13 minutes in a Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star. * January 28 – Iraqi Airways begins flight operations, offering a service to Syria using five De Havilland Dragon Rapides.February
* Misr Airlines, the future EgyptAir, ceases all flight operations until 1946 in aviation#May, May because of three accidents in late 1945 and resulting strikes demanding that the airline acquire newer, safer aircraft. * February 4 – Pan American Airways begins its first Transatlantic flight, transatlantic landplane service, scheduling seven Douglas DC-4 flights per week from LaGuardia Airport in New York City to Bournemouth Airport, Hurn Airport at Bournemouth in England and two per week between LaGuardia Airport and Lisbon, Portugal. The flights to Bournemouth take 17 hours 40 minutes one-way and those to Lisbon take 20 hours 45 minutes one-way. The flights are a great advance over Pan Am's one-every-two-week Boeing 314 flying boat service from LaGuardia to Lisbon, which requires 29 hours 30 minutes one way, and the airline soon ends flying boat service. * February 5 – Transcontinental and Western Air, the future Trans World Airlines, inaugurates its first international service, using Lockheed Constellations on the route New York City–Gander, Newfoundland–Shannon, Ireland–Paris, France.TWA History TimelineMarch
* March 3 – The second jet fighter to serve in the Royal Air Force, the De Havilland Vampire, enters service with No. 247 Squadron RAF, 247 Squadron. * March 8 – The Bell 47 receives the worlds first type certificate awarded to a civil helicopter. * March 9 – The United States Army Air Forces establish the Air Materiel Command. * March 10 – The Australian National Airways Douglas DC-3 VH-AET 1946 Australian National Airways DC-3 crash, crashes into Frederick Henry Bay off Seven-Mile Beach, Tasmania, Seven-Mile Beach south of Cambridge Aerodrome just after takeoff from Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, killing all 25 people on board. At the time it is the second-deadliest aviation accident and deadliest civil aviation accident in Australian history. * March 12 – The U.S. Army Air Forces redesignate the Army Air Forces School at Maxwell Air Force Base, Maxwell Field, Alabama, as the Air University (United States Air Force), Air University. * March 14 – The Royal Canadian Navy Ship commissioning, commissions its first aircraft carrier, , which the United Kingdom has transferred to Canada. She will serve until replaced by in 1948. * March 21 – A major reorganization of the United States Army Air Forces creates the Strategic Air Command, the Air Defense Command, and the Tactical Air Command. * March 23 – The Royal Netherlands Navy commissions its first aircraft carrier, the Escort aircraft carrier, escort carrier HNLMS Karel Doorman (QH1), HNLMS ''Karel Doorman'' (QH1). Formerly the British carrier , she will serve until replaced in 1948 by the Fleet aircraft carrier, fleet carrier HNLMS Karel Doorman (R81), HNLMS ''Karel Doorman'' (R81). * March 29 – Maszovlet (the Hungarian-Soviet Civil Air Transport Joint Stock Company) is founded as Hungary's first post-World War II airline. In 1954 in aviation#November, November 1954 it will be renamed Malév Hungarian Airlines. * March 31 **The U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff assess that a U.S. atomic arsenal and bombers capable of delivering it promptly could deter the Soviet Union from launching a war. ** Transcontinental and Western Air inaugurates international service from the United States to Rome, Athens, and Cairo.April
* April 5 ** Brewster Aeronautical Corporation is dissolved by its shareholders. ** A Fleet Air Arm Vickers Wellington, ''HE274'', 1946 Rabat Vickers Wellington crash, crashes into a residential area in Rabat, Malta, Rabat, Crown Colony of Malta, Malta during a training exercise, killing all 4 crew members and 16 civilians on the ground. * April 9 - The Indonesian Air Force is founded by Republic of Indonesia, Indonesian Republican forces in the Netherlands East Indies. Initially it is equipped with a limited number of small aircraft left behind by Japanese military forces at the end of World War II.May
* Pacific Ocean Airlines initiates air passenger service between the continental United States and Hawaii.Aviation Hawaii: 1940-1949 Chronology of Aviation in HawaiiJune
* The United States possesses nine atomic bombs, two of them earmarked for use in tests. * The United States estimates that the Soviet Air Force has 14,000 combat aircraft and that the Soviet Navy has 2,000 aircraft. * With post-World War II demobilisation underway, 100,000 members of the British Women's Auxiliary Air Force have left the service. * June 4 – SABENA inaugurates its first Transatlantic flight, transatlantic route, using Douglas DC-4 airliners to fly between Belgium and New York City. * June 8 – A London Victory Celebrations of 1946, celebration of the Allies of World War II, Allied victory in World War II is held in London. It includes a flypast of 300 British aircraft over the city that stretches for 60 miles (97 km), led by a Hawker Hurricane that had fought in the Battle of Britain in 1940. * June 11 – Capitol Airways is founded.planespotters.net History of Capitol AirwaysJuly
* The Government of Iran establishes the Iran Civil Aviation Organization as Iran's civil aviation authority. * July 1 **As part of Operation Crossroads, the U.S. Army Air Forces 509th Bombardment Group B-29 Superfortress ''Big Stink (B-29), Dave's Dream'' drops an atomic bomb on Bikini Atoll in the central Pacific Ocean in nuclear test ''Able''. The bomb detonates at an altitude of 520 feet (128 meters) but inflicts less damage than expected on target ships anchored around the atoll because it misses its aim point by 2,130 feet (649 meters). **The U.S. Navy establishes VX-3, Experimental Squadron 3 (VX-3). Equipped with Piasecki HRP Rescuer, Piasecki HRP-1 Rescuer helicopters, it probably is the worlds first official all-helicopter squadron. **With post-World War II demobilization well underway, the U.S. Navys force of aircraft carriers has dropped to 23 of all types with more Ship decommissioning, decommissionings planned, while its aircraft force has declined from 41,000 to 24,000 within the past year and continues to decline rapidly. * July 4 – The aircraft carriers and are among ten U.S. Navy ships participating in the celebration at Manila of the independence of the Republic of the Philippines. * July 11 – A fire begins in the baggage compartment of the Trans World Airlines, Transcontinental and Western Airways Lockheed Constellation, Lockheed L-049 Constellation ''Star of Lisbon'' during a training flight with no passengers on board designated TWA Flight 513, Flight 513. The fire spreads and the plane crashes near Reading, Pennsylvania, Reading, Pennsylvania, killing five of the six people on board. As a result of the accident, all Constellations are grounded from July 12 to August 23 for the installation of cargo fire detection equipment. * July 21 – A McDonnell Aircraft, McDonnell FH Phantom, XFD-1 Phantom executes the first intentional and controlled landing by a purely jet-powered aircraft aboard a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, . * July 26 ** The U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff report that the Soviet Union has 4,000 combat aircraft based in Germany at a high state of readiness and able to strike virtually without warning.Ross, Steven T., ''American War Plans 1945-1950: Strategies For Defeating the Soviet Union'', Portland, Oregon: Frank Cass, 1996, , p. 9. ** Trans-Pacific Airlines (the future Aloha Airlines) begins non-scheduled interisland service in Hawaii. *July 31 – Philippine Airlines becomes the first Asian airline to cross the Pacific using a chartered Douglas DC-4 on the first of several flights to ferry home 40 US servicemen. Each crossing took 41 hours with fuelling stops at Guam, Wake, Kwajelein and Honolulu.August
* The United Kingdom loans the aircraft carrier to France, which commissions her as French aircraft carrier Arromanches, ''Arromanches''. ''Arromanches'' becomes the French Navys first non-experimental fleet aircraft carrier. France will purchase the ship outright in 1951. * The first peacetime deployment of American naval air power in the Mediterranean Sea in history begins with the arrival there of the aircraft carrier . * August 1 – The United Kingdom establishes British European Airways as a state-owned corporation. * August 5 – The U.S. Joint Warfare Planning Committee predicts that after 1950 the Soviet Union will be able to strike the United States with guided missiles and strategic bombers armed with atomic weapons, seize territory in Alaska and Canada from which to launch air attacks against the United States, and employ airborne forces to attack vital targets. It recommends that the United States develop air warning, air defense, and antiaircraft artillery systems with which to counter such operations. * August 9 – As three U.S. Army Air Forces A-26 Invader attack aircraft make a low-level pass during an air show at the North Montana State Fair in Great Falls, Montana, Great Falls, Montana, two of them collide 750 feet (228 meters) from a grandstand crowded with 20,000 spectators. The wing of one A-26 shears off the tail of the other. The tail-less A-26 crashes into a horse barn, killing three crew members, three people on the ground, and twenty thoroughbred horses; the other A-26 continues to fly for between one and five miles (1.6 and 8 kilometers) (sources differ) before crashing in a field, killing one of its crewmen. The third bomber in the formation lands safely. * August 15 – The U.S. Joint Warfare Planning Committee submits Plan Gridle for the defense of Turkey against the Soviet Union, which finds that the Turkish Air Force of fewer than 700 aircraft could offer only token resistance against a Soviet offensive and would have to be reinforced by ten American fighter Group (military aviation unit), groups, followed by the establishment of U.S. Army Air Forces heavy bomber bases in Turkey. * August 23 – The U.S. Joint Intelligence Staff assesses that by 1948 the Soviet Union will be able to deploy 2,000 bombers against sea lines of communication in the Mediterranean Sea. * August 30 – Bell Aircraft, Bell's chief test pilot, Jack Woolams, dies in a plane crash while flying the Bell P-39 Airacobra, P-39 "Cobra I" over Lake Ontario preparing for an Air racing, air race the following day.September
* Frank N. Piaseckis P.V. Engineering Forum is renamed Piasecki Helicopter Corporation. * Operation Magic Carpet, which returns millions of American military personnel to the United States after World War II, concludes. Sixty-three U.S. aircraft carriers have taken part as temporary personnel transports. * September 1 – Using Douglas DC-4 aircraft, Northwest Airlines initiates service between Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, and Anchorage, Alaska, as the first leg of its proposed United States-Japan North Pacific route. * September 7 – A Royal Air Force Gloster Meteor flown by Group Captain E. M. Donaldson establishes a new Flight airspeed record, world absolute air speed record of 615.65 mph (990.79 km/h) off the coast of West Sussex, England. The same day, a U.S. Army Air Forces Republic F-84 Thunderjet, Republic P-84 Thunderjet narrowly misses the world record, setting a United States speed record of 611 mph (983 km/hr).Angelucci, Enzo, ''The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present'', New York: Orion Books, 1987, , p. 399. * September 9 – Trans Australia Airlines begins flight operations with a domestic flight in Australia from Laverton, Victoria, Laverton, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, to Sydney. The flight carries a number of VIPs and only one paying passenger. * September 16 **The Italy, Italian airline Alitalia is formed. **Seaboard & Western Airlines is founded, operating a fleet of Douglas DC-4 aircraft. It will change its name to Seaboard World Airlines in 1961 in aviation#April, April 1961. * September 17 – A Sabena Douglas C-47 Skytrain, Douglas C-47 Skytrain (registration OO-AUR) crashes on takeoff from Haren Airport in Brussels, Belgium, killing one crew member. The other two crew members and four passengers on board survive. * September 18 – A Sabena Douglas DC-4 (registration OO-CBG) crashes 35 km (22 miles) short of the runway while on final approach to Gander Airport in the Dominion of Newfoundland, killing 27 of the 44 people on board. A United States Coast Guard team from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, Elizabeth City, North Carolina, led by Commander (United States), Commander Frank A. Erickson disassembles two helicopters, ships them to Newfoundland in fixed-wing aircraft, reassembles them, and uses them to rescue the 17 survivors.uscg.mil United States Coast Guard Historian′s Office: Captain Frank A. Erickson, USCG (1907-1978)October
* Under pressure from Pan American World Airways, Pan American Airways, the Government of Mexico suspends the operating permit for the airline Braniff International Airways#Aerovias Braniff formed, Aerovias Braniff, which has operated onoy since March 1945. With the U.S. Civil Aeronautics Board denying Braniff Airways' request to merge with Aerovias Braniff, the brief history of Aerovias Braniff comes to an end. *October 3 – Carrying mostly wives and children of United States Army personnel serving in Germany, the American Overseas Airlines Douglas DC-4 ''Flagship New England'' crashes into a mountainside shortly after taking off from Stephenville, Newfoundland and Labrador, Stephenville in the Dominion of Newfoundland bound for Shannon Airport in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, killing all 39 people on board. It is the worst U.S. civil airline accident in history at the time. *October 15 – Hermann Göring commits suicide by poisoning himself in his jail cell at Nuremberg, Germany, the day before his scheduled hanging for war crimes. A World War I Flying ace, ace with 22 victories and one of the leaders of the German Nazi movement and government, he had served as Supreme Commander of the German ''Luftwaffe'' from 1935 to 1945. *October 23 – Orient Airways, the first and only Islam, Muslim-owned airline in the British Raj, is founded. It will begin operations in 1947 in aviation#June, June 1947.November
*November 6 – An American intelligence report predicts that by 1956 the Soviet Union will have a strategic air force and as many as 150 atomic bombs, while the United States will have 350 to 400 atomic bombs. It assesses that the Soviet Union would withhold its atomic weapons during a war in order to deter an American nuclear attack on Soviet targets. *November 10 – A U.S. Army Air Forces C-53 Skytrooper 1946 C-53 Skytrooper crash on the Gauli Glacier, crashes on Switzerland's Gauli Glacier, posing a challenge for an assemblage of rescuers from the United States and the United Kingdom and Swiss aviators in spotting the downed plane. They rescue all twelve people (four crew members and eight passengers), partly through the Swiss use of a pair of Fieseler Fi 156 Storch ski-equipped STOL, short-takeoff-or-landing (STOL)-capable aircraft. *November 23 – An Avro Lancastrian powered by two Rolls-Royce Merlin piston engines and two Rolls-Royce Nene turbojets turns off its Merlins and, operating using only the Nenes, becomes the first commercial aircraft to fly solely on jet power,Donald, David, ed., ''The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft'', New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, , p. 84. making the trip from London to Paris in just 41 minutes. *November 27 – Monarch Airlines (1946–1950), Monarch Airlines begins scheduled air service with a flight from Durango, Colorado, Durango, Colorado, using a Douglas DC-3.December
* The Soviet Air Forces first jet fighter, the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-9 (NATO reporting name "Fargo"), becomes operational. * December 20 – The U.S. Joint Warfare Planning Committee reports that air forces in Italy consist of 112 British Royal Air Force fighters and 198 obsolete operational aircraft of the ill-trained Italian Air Force, which has low morale, and that in an invasion of Italy by the Soviet Union and its allies these forces would face 642 Yugoslav Air Force combat aircraft. * December 24 – Western Air Lines Flight 44, a Douglas DC-3, Douglas DC-3A (registration NC45395) crashes into the east slope of Cayupaipe Mountain in the Laguna Mountains while descending to a landing at Lindbergh Field in San Diego, California, San Diego, California, towards the end of a flight from Holtville Airport, in Holtville, California, Holtville, California, killing all 12 people on board. * December 25 – Three passenger planes, all flying in from Chongqing, China, crash due to fog in separate incidents in Shanghai, China, killing at least 62 of the combined 68 passengers and 9 crew members aboard. Two of the planes belong to China National Aviation Corporation and one to Central Air Transport. * December 30 – A United States Navy Martin PBM Mariner, PBM Mariner supporting Operation Highjump 1946 Antarctica PBM Mariner crash, crashes at Thurston Island, Antarctica, during a blizzard, killing three of the nine people on board. The six survivors are rescued 13 days later by aircraft from the U.S. Navy seaplane tender . * December 31 **The Portugal, Portuguese airline ''Transportes Aéreos Portugueses'' (TAP) – the future TAP Portugal – begins its 12-stop ''Linha Aérea Imperial'' ("Imperial Air Line") service to Portuguese colonies, including stops at Luanda, Portuguese Angola, and Lourenço Marques, Portuguese East Africa. **The U.S. Navys inventory of combat aircraft stands at 1,461, a 64 percent decline from the force it had available at the end of World War II on 15 August 1945. It has 10,000 naval aviators.First flights
* OKB-1 EF 131 (or Junkers EF 131)January
* January 19 – Bell X-1 (unpowered)Donald, David, ed., ''The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft'', New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997, , p. 115.February
* February 4 – Republic XF-12 Rainbow * February 28 – Republic XP-84 ''45-54975'', prototype of the Republic F-84 Thunderjet, F-84 ThunderjetMarch
* March 10 – Avro Tudor, Avro Tudor 2 ''G-AGSU'' * March 31 – Percival PrenticeBridgman 1951, p. 70c.April
* April 17 – Avro Tudor, Avro Tudor 7 * April 24 **Mikoyan-Gurevich I-300, the Soviet Union's first jet **Yakovlev Yak-15 (three hours after the I-300)May
* May 7 – Handley Page Hastings * May 10 – SECAN Courlis * May 17 – Douglas XB-43, first U.S. jet bomber ''44-61508'' * May 19 – Handley Page Marathon, Miles M.60 MarathonBridgman 1951, p. 63c. * May 21 – Junkers EF 126 (unpowered) * May 22 – de Havilland Canada DHC-1 ChipmunkJune
* June 6 – Aérocenter NC.3020 Belphégor * June 7 – Short Sturgeon prototype ''RK787'' * June 14 – Fairchild F-11 Husky * June 25 – Northrop XB-35 ''42-13603'', prototype of the Northrop YB-35 flying-wing bomberJuly
* July 7 – Hughes XF-11 * July 8 – Convair CV-240 family, Convair Model 110 * July 10 – Douglas DC-6 * July 27 – Supermarine Attacker prototype ''TS409''August
* August 8 – Convair XB-36 ''42-13570'', prototype of the Convair B-36 Peacemaker * August 16 – Northrop XP-89, prototype of the Northrop F-89 Scorpion, F-89 ScorpionSeptember
* September 11 **Lavochkin La-150 **North American XFJ-1, prototype of the North American FJ-1 Fury, FJ-1 Fury, the first jet aircraft to enter service with the United States Navy * September 20 - Martin XP4M-1, prototype of the Martin P4M MercatorOctober
* October 2 – Vought XF6U-1, prototype of the Vought F6U Pirate, F6U Pirate * October 7 – Fairchild XNQNovember
* Ryan XF2R Dark Shark, Ryan XF2R-1 Dark Shark * November 9 – Lockheed R6O Constitution, later R6V Constitution * November 11 **Avions Fairey Belfair ''OO-TIA'' **SNCASO SO-6000 Triton, France's first jet * November 13 – Sukhoi Su-9 (1946), Sukhoi Su-9 * November 16 – Saab 90 Scandia prototype ''SE-BCA'' * November 27 – North American XFJ-1, prototype of the North American FJ Fury, FJ Fury, by George Welch (pilot), George WelchDecember
* December 2 – Beechcraft T-34 Mentor * December 9 – Bell X-1 (first powered flight) * December 12 *– Westland Wyvern ''TS371'' * December 21 – Northrop N-23 PioneerEntered service
* Aeronca 11 Chief * Fairchild F-11 HuskySeptember
* September 1 - Vickers Viking with British European Airways (''G-AHOP'') * September 30 - Short S.26 with BOAC ''Golden Hind (G-AFCI)''November
* November 24 - Douglas DC-6 with American Airlines and United AirlinesRetirements
* Vought OS2U Kingfisher by the United States Navy.Johnson, E. R., "Workhorse of the Fleet," ''Aviation History'', November 2011, p. 49.References
* Bridgman, Leonard. ''Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1951–52''. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company, Ltd, 1951. * {{Aviation timelines navbox 1946 in aviation, Aviation by year